I—l 7

The following table, extracted from successive censuses from 1901 to 1936, together with an estimate for 1945, gives the number of males and females actively engaged in farming pursuits : —- f

Table No. 79. —Table showing Number employed in Farming Pursuits from 1901 to 1945 (In Thousands)

The figures are not strictly comparable over the period, but show a general trend. The figures for 1945 must be taken with caution as they are computed on a basis entirely different from, although equally exhaustive, as the censuses. If we take the year 1901 as a datum line when most of the available suitable land was taken up, we find a steadily increasing agricultural population until 1921, which would be in line with the steady developmentvof "cultivated" land over the period. From 1921 begins the period of intensive dairy-farming with increasing mechanization. This resulted in some fall in rural population. From 1926 begins the period of increased carrying-capacity due to better farm management and the greater use of fertilizers. This fact, coupled with the drift to the country as a result of urban •employment falling off during the depression, resulted in a greatly increased rural population in. 1936. The importance of primary production during the war, the •development of such new avenues as linen flax, and the increased attention to grain farming, all led to the increase in 1945. This latter increase, however, may not be as large as the figures prove on account of the difference in computation. The following table gives a comparison between the growth of male agricultural population and the total population of the Dominion between the years 1901 and 1945

Table No. 80. —Table showing Index Numbers of Male Agricultural Population and Total Male Population as at the various Censuses from 1901 to 1945

The above table shows the relative trend away from agriculture. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the trend is not so marked as is generally thought. The last Iwo figures, however, which show a marked increase over previous figures, perhaps hide the real trends in that in 1936 the Dominion was just emerging from the depression, which as one of its incidental effects caused a temporary reversal of the drift to the ix)wns, and the 1945 figures are influenced by the war-time agricultural drive.

60

Year. Males. Females. Total. 1901 85-3 3-9 89-2 1906. .. 93-5 3-5 97-0 1911 102-6 7-5 110-1 1916 .. 107-7 9-7 117-4 1921 122-6 9-0 131-6 1926 117-0 3-3 120-3 1936 144-5 6-3 150-8 1945 154-0* 8-0* 162-0* * Estimate by Employment Department.

Male Agricultural Total Male Year. Population. Population. 1901 1000 1000 1906 1096 1160 1911 .. 1203 1310 1916 .. 1263 1359 1921 1437 1535 1926 1372 1691 1936 1694 1863 1945 ] 1805 2029* * This figure makes allowance for troops overseas.