De veranderingen in het grondgebruik in een zandgemeente (Hengelo Gld.) in de jaren 1900-1950

Changes in land use on farms at Hengelo were remarkably more frequent than was usually supposed in such areas. The larger farms had a general tendency to decrease in area, while the smaller farms tended to increase in area.

It was considered that there was a tendency to strive for a certain farm size. Before 1925 this area was slightly less than 15 ha and after 1925 slightly more than 10 ha. A relation with the labour requirement seemed plausible. The most important origin of land to enlarge farms was the reclamation of waste land, followed by renting and then buying of supplementary land.

Part of the change in farm area was not voluntary. The majority certainly was. The number of voluntary changes indicated a strong desire to adapt the size of the family farms to changing circumstances. It was shown that legislation influencing the land market slightly limited the changes in land use.

The establishment of new farms was considerable; the liquidation of farms was less frequent but was a regular occurrence.