374 



Agricultural Holdings in Belgium. 



of such holdings (excluding woods) accounted for is 829,625, 

 divided into four classes according to the status of the 

 occupier — whether he be the owner or the tenant, and, as 

 regards holdings cultivated partly by owner and partly by 

 tenant, whether he occupy more or less than half. Assuming 

 that one hectare is equivalent to 2 J acres, the holdings may 

 be grouped according to their size as follows : — 





Occupied by Owner. 



Occupied by Tenant. 



_. . 





Size of Holding. 



Whole. 



More than 

 Half. 



More than 

 Half. 



; 



Whole. 



Total. 



1 5 acres and under - 

 l£ to 5 acres - 

 5 to 10 ,, 

 10 to 50 ,, 

 50 to IOO ,, 

 Over 100 ,, 



No. . 

 109, 169 



27,395 

 12,089 

 16,690 

 2,021 

 903 



No. 



8,759 

 19,544 

 13,873 

 18,909 



1,497 



470 



No. 



34,779 

 58,829 

 30,340 

 33,443 

 3,315 

 i,4i7 



No. 

 305,4L3 

 70,465 

 25,006 



28,387 

 4,517 

 2,395 



No. 

 458,120 

 176,233 

 81,308 

 97,429 

 ii,35o 

 5,i85 



Total. 



168,267 



63,052 



162,123 



436,183 



829,625 



Belgium may thus be considered as essentially a country 

 of small holdings, inasmuch as more than half of the total 

 number are comprised in the first group, viz., that of holdings 

 under 50 ares in extent acre). It is interesting to note 

 also that more than half of the holdings are occupied in 

 their entirety by tenants, while in the case of another fifth 

 the owner occupies less than half the land. The tenants are, 

 upon the whole, relatively somewhat more numerous in the 

 small holdings, while it may further be noted that partial 

 occupation by the owner and tenant is most common, not among 

 the largest, but in the medium-sized properties (5 — 50 acres). 



A consideration of the size of holdings in the different 

 provinces presents two or three points of interest. The most 

 striking contrast is afforded by a comparison of the two 

 largest provinces, Luxemburg and Hainaut. The former is 

 the greater, yet it contains but 43,773 agricultural holdings 

 (Limbourg aJone of the other provinces having less), while 

 Hainaut has as many as 207,816, no fewer than 157,476 of 

 which do not exceed 1] acre in extent. Of the 923 holdings 



