1T.—34.

(b) The Waikato :— (i) Ngarua —the area lying between Morrinsville, Waihou, and Waharoa. (ii) Te Kowhai —the area between Frankton, Whatawhata, and Ngaruawahia. (iii) Putaruru —the area surrounding Putaruru and enclosed roughly by lines drawn from Lichfield in the south-east to Arapuni in the west, to Tirau in the north, and to Mangatapu in the east. (iv) Otorohanga —a circular area adjacent to Otorohanga but to the east of it, with a radius of about four miles. (v) Te Awamutu —the area surrounding Te Awamutu stretching to Pirongia in the west, Kihikihi in the south, about six miles to the north, and eight miles to the east. (<") Taranaki : — (i) Lepperton-Inglewood —the area stretching eight miles north of Inglewood to Lepperton, six miles north-east to Everett Park, and three miles south to Maketawa. (ii) Manaia South —the area between the Main South Road and the coast stretching from Hawera to Kaupokonui. (iii) Manaia North —a belt two miles wide lying north of the Main South Road and stretching from Hawera to Kaupokonui. (d) Manawatu : — Awahuri —the area surrounding Awahuri with a radius of approximately five miles. (e) Southland :— The area surrounding Edendale but stretching from Mat.aura to Morton Mains, Seward Downs, and Wyndham. 111. The Farmer and His Family. It will be noticed in some of the tables given below that the total number of cases discussed differs from that given in other tables. This is due to the fact that complete information was not secured for certain sections of some schedules. Analysis has been made so as to secure for each section of the schedule the maximum number of reliable cases. (a) The Farmer :— (i) Tenure Group : Of the 448 North Island farmers giving information as to tenure and complete occupational history, 295 (66 per cent.) were owners, 80 (18 per cent.) tenants, 51 (11 per cent.) share-milkers, and 22 (5 per cent.) managers. The tenure classification of these farmers among the four major areas is as follows : —

Table I. —Tenure Groups.

(ii) Age : The average age of all farmers was 45 years, owners being the highest (46 years) and share-milkers the lowest (40 years). The farmers were distributed in the age groups as follows : 40-44 years 17 per cent, of the total ; 15 per cent, were in the group 45-49 years ; 14 per cent. 30-34 years ; 14 per cent. 35-39 years ; and 12 per cent. 50-54 years. (iii) Occupational History : One of the interesting sections of the information concerning the farmer is that dealing with his occupational history. Details of the occupations followed by the farmers since leaving school as well as analyses of dairy-farming experience were obtained from 448 farmers. Non-dairying experience was classified on the basis of the 1936 New Zealand census.

Table II. —Occupational History for Main Tenure Groups.

74

North Auckland waikato. Taranaki. Manawatu. Total, North Island. Tenure Group. Number. Number. Number. Number. Number. Per Cent. Owners .. 61 143 77 14 295 66 Tenants 9 28 23 20 80 18 Share-milkers 8 31 10 2 51 11 Managers 5 8 8 1 22 5 Total .. 83 _210 H8_ 37 448 100

Number of Occupational History. — — — Owners. Tenants. Share-milkers. Managers Total number in group* .. . . .. 295 80 51 22 Whole life engaged in dairying .. .. 87 21 13 9 Whole life not engaged in dairying— Agricultural and pastoral .. .. 86 25 14 8 Commercial .. .. .. .. 52 17 7 3 Industrial . . .. .. .. 107 29 22 5 Transport .. . . .. .. 30 11 12 2 Others .. .. .. .. 32 4 5 * Because several persons had experience in different occupations, the individual items do not add up to the total shown.