49 8 



Holdings in New South Wales. 



including 196 English, 3 colonial, and 23 foreign samples ; 

 in the previous year there were 173 entries, of which 143 

 were English. 



The English entries comprised samples from 28 counties ; 

 the average weight per bushel for the whole was 56-9 lbs., 

 the highest weight recorded was 59 lbs. and the lowest 

 54 lbs. per bushel. In the class for foreign exhibits, the 

 heaviest sample weighed 58-4 lbs. per bushel, and the 

 lightest 48*3 lbs. 



From the particulars furnished as to the date of sowing, 

 it appears that the largest number of prizes was awarded to 

 samples sown in the first week of March. The earliest date 

 of harvesting was July 21st, and the latest August 30th. 



The judges express the opinion that great benefit would 

 accrue if exhibits could be arranged by Agricultural 

 Colleges and County and Technical Schools of samples of 

 inferior and defective barleys unsuitable for brewing pur- 

 poses. 



Holdings in New South Wales. 



Excluding land held by the tenants of the Crown, there 

 were in New South Wales, at the end of March, 1898, 65,298 

 holdings of one acre and upwards in extent. Twenty years 

 previously, such holdings numbered 37,887. The number 

 increased during the period by over 72 per cent., while the 

 area comprised in the holdings advanced from 21,471,596 

 acres in 1879 to 43,518,921 acres in 1898. Of the number 

 recorded in the latter year, 18,784 were under 31 acres in 

 extent, 33,478 ranged between 31 and 400 acres; 7,623 

 between 401 and 1,000 acres; and 5,413 exceeded 1,000 acres 

 inext3nt. In the larger number of cases, the occupier of a 

 holding is also the owner, tenancy having made compara- 

 tively little progress. 



Of the total area occupied by the holdings, only 1,779,008 

 acres, or 4*08 per cent., are returned as under cultivation, the 

 largest proportion of cultivated land occurring on the smaller 



