H—29

can be expected unless the present labour force is considerably augmented. Table YII shows the trend in numbers engaged in farm-work in relation to volume of farm production.

Table VII—Persons Engaged in Full-time Farm-work in Relation to Volume of Production

* Persons engaged on farms : the figures for 1928-29,1929-30, and 1946-47 are as collected in the annual Agricultural and Pastoral Statistics, with an estimated addition of 2,000 to allow for persons engaged on land inside boroughs and on holdings of less than 1 acre. The figures for 1935-36 and 1944-45 are from the 1936 and 1945 census returns, including the Maori census for 1936, and an estimate of the number of Maoris engaged in farm work in 1945. Because of differences in classification the two census figures, though comparable with each other, are not strictly comparable with the figures for the other three years. Mechanization There is a limit in the extent to which mechanization displaces labour, particularly in live-stock farming. Machines enable work to be done more quickly and more easily, eliminating much backbreaking drudgery, but there are many periods in the farmer's year when no machine can replace a watchful eye and a skilled pair of hands. The powerdriven milking-machine and the cream-separator have probably been most instrumental in aiding farmers to maintain high production levels with a reduced labour force. In 1925, only 59-79 per cent, of the cows were machine milked, but by 1948 the figures had reached 91-88 per cent. Formerly used almost exclusively in arable farming and in land-development, the agricultural tractor is now replacing the horse on dairy-farms. The development of farm mechanization is illustrated in Table VIII.

Table VIII—Statistics of Some of the Major Items of Mechanical Equipment on Farms, 1920-48*

5

Year. (1) Numbers Engaged j in Farm-work I (000',s).* (2) 1 Index Nos. of (1), 1928-29 = 100. (3) Volume of Farm Production, 1928-29 = 100. 1928-29 140-6 100 100 1929-30 140-1 100 105 1930-31 ! 106 1931-32 106 1932-33 122 1933-34 125 1934-35 122 1935-36 160-8 114 128 1936-37 132 1937-38 132 1938-39 127 1939-40 129 1940-41 147 1941-42 140 1942-43 137 1943-44 133 1944-45 128-5 91 143 1945-46 135 1946-47 126-4 90 139

Year. Agricultural Tractors. Milking Plants. Creamseparators. Electric Motors. Shearing Plants. Internalcombustion Engines. 1920 324 8,806 26,678 456f 5,155 13,981 1925 1,026 15,561 44,656 3,451 5,728 19,894 1930 3,891 20,415 48,302 16,456 7,394 19,169 1935 5,349 25,630 55,920 31,631 8,174 22,117 1940 11,278 29,564 55,773 56,511 10,634 23,276 , 1946 18,940 31,805 47,783 76,946 13,544 21,473 1947 21,156 32,596 48,194 82,721 14,564 23,109 1948 23,423 33,461 48,457 88,282 15,468 24,922 * Agricultural and Pastoral Statistics. 11921 figure.