454 The Size and Tenure of Farms in France. 



agricultural holdings in France in 1892 in five leading 

 groups : — 



Classes of Holding. 



Number 

 of 



Holdings. 



Total Area 

 of these 

 Holdings 

 (including 

 Woods and 

 Forests and 

 Uncultivated 

 Land). 



Of which 

 the 

 Area, 

 Cultivated 

 is 



Under i hectare (2^ acres) - 



I to 5 hectares (2^ to 12^ acres) - 



5 to 10 hectares (12^ to 25 acres) - 



10 to 40 hectares (25 to 100 acres) 



40 hectares and over (100 acres and over) 



Totals, 1892 - - - - 



2,235,405 

 1,829,259 

 788,299 

 711,118 

 138,671 



Acres. 

 3,278,500 

 13,558,300 

 14,216,100 

 35,354,100 

 55,558,700 



Ac)-es. 

 2,824,000 

 1 1,424,900 

 11,731,500 

 28,032,500 

 31,745,800 



5,702,752 



121,965,700 



85,758,700 



The columns of this table indicate once again the 

 numerical predominance of the small properties of France. 

 More than 39 per cent, of the whole number are of less 

 than 2 J acres in extent, whereas in Great Britain, where 

 the smallest group enumerated ran from i to 5 acres, 

 the proportion so classed was but 23 per cent, of the total. 

 French holdings of under 25 acres account for 85 per cent, of 

 the whole : British holdings not exceeding 20 acres reached 

 5 1 per cent. only. So, too, at the other end of the scale, the 

 French holdings of 100 acres and over only form 2| per cent, 

 of the whole, while the British holdings exceeding 100 acres 

 made up more than 19 per cent, of those enumerated in 1895. 

 Of course, as with ourselves, the greater part of the surface 

 is farmed in the larger holdings ; but not quite 75 per cent, 

 of the total area of France was found in holdings over 

 25 acres, while 94 per cent, of the surface accounted for in 

 1895 in Great Britain was held in farms exceeding our 20 acre 

 limit. In France there are 139,000 farms whose total area, 

 including woods and waste, was 100 acres or more. These 

 larger farms contained 37 per cent, of the cultivated surface 

 of France ; whereas- in Great Britain the 100,000 farms which 

 exceeded 100 acres absorbed no less than 70 per cent, of 

 the cultivated land of the country. 



The new French Returns afford us also means of learning 



