It has been estimated that there are almost l,OOO,OOO acres of light land on the Canterbury Plains. The term light land is really a misnomer in that it _ bears no relationship to the actual texture of the soil. The term is merely one which has come into general use in Canterbury to refer to land where there is a shallow depth of soil lying on top of the gravel or shingle. There is no clear definition of what constitutes light land, but it would probably be reasonable to assume that any land where the depth of soil and subsoil overlying the gravel is 16in. or less would be classed as light land.
