36 
Report on the Farm Prize Competition 
The General System of Farming in Derhyshire. 
Distribution and Occupancy of Land. — The total area of laud 
occupied in Derbyshire, exclusive of nursery-grounds, woods, 
heath, and mountain, was on June 1, 1888, 511,541 acres. 
Of this, 462,023 acres were rented, and 49,518 acres, or about 
one-ninth, were occupied by the owners. From the returns of 
owners of land ordered by the House of Commons in 1874, it 
appears that one landlord in Derbyshire owns 83,829 acres, 
another 27,000, and a third about 13,000. These three estates 
comprise about one-fifth of the area, but only one-thirteenth 
of the rental of the county. There are 12 landowners with 
estates of 5,000 to 10,000 acres, 35 with 2,000 to 5,000 acres, 
41 with 1,000 to 2,000 acres, 73 with 500 to 1,000 acres, 510 
with 100 to 500 acres, 563 with 50 to 100 acres; 2,188 with 20 
to 50 acres, 3,472 with 1 to 10 acres, and 12,874 with less 
than 1 acre of land. 
In the Agricultural Returns for 1880, the number and 
acreage of farms, according to size, in that year were given as 
follows : — 
Fifty acres 
and under 
Fifty to 
100 acres 
One 
hundred to 
300 acres 
From 300 
to 500 
acres 
From SCO 
to 1,000 
acres 
Above 
1,000 
acres 
Number of Farms . 
10,058 
1,503 
1,319 
122 
17 
1 
Acreage of Farms . 
133,944 
108,731 
213,430 
44,857 
10,459 
1,406 
A conspicuous feature in this Table is the very large propor- 
tion of farms under 300 and even under 50 acres, which latter 
are fully three times the number of all other holdings. These 
small occupancies are chiefly in the northern portion of the county, 
and are numerous on some of the large estates. In his report 
to the Royal Commission on Agriculture in 1881, Mr. Druce 
states that, of 306 holdings on the Duke of Devonshire's estate 
in the Buxton locality, about 125 are under 20 acres, other 70 
are from 20 to 50 acres, 42 from 50 to 100 acres, and only 69 
above that figure. On the Duke of Rutland's estate there are 
426 farms — of which 250 are under 20 acres, 80 from 20 to 50 
acres, 50 from 50 to 100 acres, 46 of 100 acres or upwards — but 
only one of these above 500 acres. 
The following Table shows the proportional acreage of each 
class of holdings in Derbyshire and in the whole of England in 
the year 1880:— 
