Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/630

 282

THE BEITISH EMPIRE: — NEW ZEALAND

If the area of Crown lands under pastoral leases be deducted, tho area of occupied land in 1898 Avas 24,523,194 acres; in 1891, 19,951,925 acres; in 1886, 17,077,074 acres. The average annual increase of land occuj)ied by settlement in the seven years 1891-98 was about 653,000 acres, as compared with 574,900 for the preceding five years, but the figures for 1898 include the area of certain Maori holdings formerly left out.

At the census of 1896 there were in New Zealand 83,300 persons engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, of whom 31,204 were farmers, 16,473 relatives assisting on farms, 20,236 farm labourers, 1,638 runholders, and 6,742 station hands.

The acreage and produce for each of the principal crops are given as follows : —

Wheat

Oats

Barley

Hay

u

c3   s <*»

i

25-11 27-40 29-30 23-72 1

CO

s

<

o

242,737 148,575 •245,441 315,801

4,892 3,613 6,844 5,670

376,646 351,852 304,788 354,819

12,153

10,221

12,264

9,738

32-27 29-05 33-62 27 '44

28,857 36,519 35,356 29,920

725 1,001 1,036

710

60,740

56,614 96,818 67,865

86,198

78,489 140,837

1-42 1-39 1'50

The live stock of the colony consisted in 1898 of 252,834 horses, 1,209,165 cattle, 19,687,954 sheep (in 1858, 1,523,324 ; 1864, 4,937,273 ; 1874, 11,704,853 ; 1886, 16,580,388) ; and 180,027 pigs.

The following table shows the statistics of the leading manufactories and works (excluding mines and quarries) in the colony : —

Years

Number of

manufactories

and works

Hands employed

Estimated Capital

Estimated Produce

1895 1890

1885

2,459 2,254 1,946

27,389 25,633 22,095

£ 5,796,017 5,261,826 5,096,930

£ 9,549,360

8,773,837 6,711,379

The largest items in the estimated value of manufactures and produce in 1895 were : meat freezing and preserving, 1,615,219^.; tanning, wool scour- ing, &c., 1,237,252Z. ; saw mills, 898,807/.; grain mills, 874,656/.; clothing and boot factories, 616,158/.; butter and cheese factories, 501,274/. ; iyon and brass works, 302,815/.