Mr. F. OWENasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state, for each county in Wales, for the years 1913 and 1929, respectively, haw many regular and casual workers were employed on agricultural holdings, stating in each case how many of these were males above and below 21 years of age and how many were women and girls?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONI regret that, owing to a difference in the process of collection and the fact that they included farmers' wives and domestic servants, the figures obtained in 1913 are not comparable with those available for later years. The following statement gives the particulars required for the years 1921 (i.e. the first year in which particulars of employment were obtained on the 4th June schedule) and 1929. The table shows the number of workers (excluding the occupier, his wife and domestic servants) returned as employed on agricultural holdings above one acre in extent on the 4th June in each county in Wales: 1299W
1300W1301W
Counties Regular Workers Casual Workers. Total Workers. 1929. 1921. 1929. 1921. 1929. 1921. Males 21 years old and over. Males under 21 years old. Women and Girls. Males 21 years old and over. Males under 21 years old. Women and Girls. Males 21 years old and over. Males under 21 years old. Women and Girls. Males 21 years old and over. Males under 21 years old. Women and Girls. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Anglesey. … … … 1,736 588 580 1,771 634 490 591 46 124 704 186 142 3,665 3,927 Brecon … … … 1,655 649 801 1,584 660 763 315 50 97 388 101 150 3,567 3,646 Cardigan. … … … 2,431 1,049 1,604 2,340 1,126 1,418 478 71 178 766 143 325 5,811 6,118 Carmarthen … … 3,112 1,619 2,765 2,805 1,464 2,059 687 123 259 925 289 387 8,565 7,929 Carnarvon … … 2,218 651 495 2,281 910 594 578 66 92 689 210 179 4,100 4,863 Denbigh … … … 3,173 1,223 1,210 3,221 1,273 828 825 101 180 1,342 306 257 6,712 7,227 Flint … … … 1,814 613 594 1,777 725 549 318 42 81 486 153 126 3,462 3,816 Glamorgan … … 2,605 1,192 1,058 2,902 965 906 569 132 142 1,030 319 252 5,698 6,374 Merioneth … … … 1,336 490 619 1,247 552 485 331 53 89 418 133 103 2,918 2,938 Monmouth … … 2,442 1,034 652 2,538 1,121 743 649 123 120 879 272 151 5,020 5,704 Montgomery … … 2,733 1,142 859 2,597 1,074 1,034 595 94 104 659 206 219 5,527 5,789 Pembroke … … … 2,946 1,186 2,035 2,805 1,234 1,793 670 104 186 808 229 358 7,127 7,227 Radnor … … … 1,228 578 264 1,135 640 427 226 29 24 277 46 56 2,349 2,581 Total—Wales … 29,429 12,014 13,536 29,003 12,378 12,089 6,832 1,034 1,676 9,371 2,593 2,705 64,521 68,139
Mr. OWENasked the Minister of Agriculture the number and acreage of statutory small holdings in each county in Wales in December, 1913, and December, 1929, respectively; and the
Counties and County Boroughs. Statutory Small Holdings. Unsatisfied Applications. At 31st December, 1913. At 31st December, 1929. At 31st December, 1913.‡ At 31st December, 1929.‡ No. Area. No. Area. No. No. Acres. Acres. Anglesey … … 44 1,163 246 6,262 25 126 Brecon … … … 23 417 58 1,169 21 21 Caernarvon … … 71 2,057 92 3,031 116 13 Cardigan … … 50 3,153 57 3,303 41 2 Carmarthen … … 33 613 179 4,024 15 4 Denbigh … … 150 3,692 268 5,823 131 97 Flint … … … 46 851 155 3,577 62 77 Glamorgan … … 54 2,225 214 6,098 60 54 Merioneth … … 66 2,581 129 3,939 26 4 Monmouth … … 92 2,755 185 5,637 50 293 Montgomery … … 96 2,939 264 7,633 34 123 Pembroke … … 47 1,660 189 5,417 9 123 Radnor … … 22 374 95 2,640 14 23 Cardiff … … … 1 Assn 258 27 465 1 67 Newport … … 6 230 5 248 1 — Swansea … … — — 2 19 — 9 Total … … 800 & 1 Assn.* 24,968* 2,165† 59,285† 606 1,036 * In addition, 7 holdings with an area of 194 acres had been provided and sold. † In addition, 76 holdings with an area of 1,698 acres had been provided and sold. ‡ The figures for 1913 only include approved applicants; those for 1929 also include applicants whose credentials had not, at that date, been examined, or whose cases had been postponed for various reasons.
Mr. F. OWENasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state, for each county in Wales, for the years 1913 and 1929, respectively, how many acres of marshland are unsuitable for rough grazing; and how many acres of marshland are suitable for rough grazing; and how many acres of these two classes of land could be improved by draining?
§ Mr. BUXTONI regret that I am unable to supply the information required, but for an estimate of the amount of land in Wales in need of drainage I would refer the hon. Member to the first part of my reply of to-day's date to the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. C. Davies).
§ Mr. C. DAVIESasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state, for each
1302Wnumber of unsatisfied applications which were outstanding at each date?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe particulars desired are given in the following table:
county in Wales, in the years 1913 and 1929, respectively, the number of owner-occupiers of agricultural holdings, stating the number of such holdings in the following classing: above one acre and under five acres; above five acres and under 20 acres; above 20 acres and under 50 acres; above 50 acres and under 100 acres; above 100 acres and under 150 acres; above 150 acres and under 300 acres; and above 300 acres?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe following table shows the number of agricultural holdings owned or mainly owned by the occupier as returned on the 4th June, 1913 and 1927, in each county of Wales. Information as to ownership has not been collected since 1927, but there is no reason to suppose that any marked changes have taken place since that date.
1303W1304W1305W
Counties. Above 1 and not exceeding 5 acres. Above 5 and not exceeding 20 acres. Above 20 and not exceeding 50 acres. Above 50 and not exceeding 100 acres. Above 100 and not exceeding 150 acres. Above 150 and not exceeding 300 acres. Above 300 acres. Total. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. 1913. 1927. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Anglesey … … … 121 269 252 560 146 308 58 154 30 55 31 46 4 7 642 1,399 Brecon … … … 30 80 46 132 55 189 71 256 28 112 24 98 8 22 262 889 Cardigan … … … 144 335 342 879 175 581 144 545 59 205 23 85 — 3 887 2,633 Carmarthen … … 114 306 241 893 258 925 201 860 81 334 47 109 6 8 948 3,435 Carnarvon … … 106 385 194 708 102 356 54 153 15 47 9 21 2 10 482 1,680 Denbigh … … … 70 290 129 550 119 487 59 383 39 146 26 83 5 6 447 1,945 Flint … … … 69 289 105 408 62 281 28 187 14 70 14 45 — 3 292 1,283 Glamorgan … … 46 162 81 296 60 271 54 192 17 62 7 19 4 6 269 1,008 Merioneth … … 32 78 78 189 65 208 52 153 15 49 13 20 1 2 256 699 Monmouth … … 81 268 171 409 104 314 66 232 26 126 24 110 4 18 476 1,477 Montgomery … … 78 245 146 589 98 525 93 531 29 204 22 127 3 11 469 2,232 Pembroke … … 68 212 175 621 135 608 102 410 45 226 55 165 12 9 592 2,251 Radnor … … … 26 68 73 143 40 121 48 163 30 107 34 104 1 6 252 712 Total—Wales … 985 2,987 2,033 6,377 1,419 5,174 1,030 4,219 428 1,743 329 1,032 50 111 6,274 21,643
§ Mr. C. DAVIESasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state, for each county in Wales, for the years 1913 and 1929, respectively, how many acres of arable and grass land required draining; how many acres of such land have been drained since 1st June, 1929, with the help of Government grant; and what was the amount of the grant and the number of men employed?
§ Mr. BUXTONI regret that I am unable to give the information requested in the first part of the question, but it is estimated that 143,000 acres in Wales are capable of improvement by drainage, of which 115,000 acres are urgently in need of drainage. These figures refer to improvement by means of arterial drainage, and do not include land which might be improved by ordinary field drainage, as to which no figures are available. Since the 1st June, 1929, eight schemes of arterial drainage in Wales have been approved for grants. It is estimated that the grants will amount to nearly £6,500, and that 178 men will be employed, but I regret that it would be impossible to say how many acres of land will be improved. Since the same date, 45 schemes of field drainage in Wales have also been approved for grants estimated to amount to about £1,100. These schemes will employ 135 men and will improve 1,124 acres of land.