KUEAL. ECOiSTOMICS. 



389 



On December 31, 1910. S9.253 acres had been actually acquired or agreed to be 

 acquired for small holdings by county councils in England and Wales, of which 

 53.642 acres had been purchased for £1,695,836 and 35,611 acres leased for rents 

 amounting to £44,489. Of this land 65.923 acres had been actually let to 4,846 

 individual small holders, and 52 acres sold to 7 small holders. It is regarded as 

 significant that such a small percentage of the applicants desired to purchase 

 holdings. 



In addition to the text, tables are given showing in detail the work of the 

 board regarding applications for small holdings, rents, loans or other advances, 

 compulsory orders, voluntary schemes, etc. 



The Burwell small holdings after four years of tenancy, J. IT. Diggle 

 {Jour. Bd. Agr. [London'], 18 {1911), No. 1, pp. 1-9). — This article reports the 

 progress made during 4 years' tenancy and reviews the work with special 

 regard to the employment of labor, the productivity of the soil, the output of 

 stock and produce, and the economic result generally of the conversion of a 

 large Cambridgeshire estate into small holdings and allotments. 



It is shown that the estate contained 917 acres and was let to 80 tenants in 

 1906. Previous to that time it was formed at a loss. Now it is self-supporting 

 and a margin is available to meet the cost of small Improvements and pro- 

 gressive equipment. The following returns indicate the success of the tenants 

 since the division of the estate and their entry on the land : 



Census of live stock on the Cambridgeshire estate. 



Other tables are given illustrating the progress of the tenants in several 

 ways. " The tenants, satisfied that their tenure is secure, and holding the 

 land at a moderate rent, are encouraged to put their best into their work, and 

 thus to reap the reward of their thrift and personal labor." 



CooiTerative agricultural societies in the United Kingdom (Bd. Trade 

 Labour Gaz., 19 {1911), No. 1, pp. 7, 8). — It is pointed out that the main 

 object of these agricultural societies is to enable the members more efficiently 

 and profitably to carry on their daily occupation as individual farmers and 

 producers, and they are classified as "productive" and "distributive" societies. 

 The "productive" societies are occupied in buying, manufacturing, and selling 

 the produce of individual members, and are confined chiefly to the dairy in- 

 dustry. The "distributive" societies are usually formed for the collective pur- 

 chase and distribution of the seeds, manures, implements, etc., required by the 

 members, and for the sale of cattle, eggs, poultry, etc., produced by the 

 members. 



The membership of the 653 societies in 1909 numbered 85,272 with a total 

 share capital of £221,268. Their loan capital amounted to £2.32,358, and reserve 

 and insurance funds to £165,161. The sales of the "productive" societies show 

 an increase in 1909 over 1899 of 210.8 per cent and the "distributive" societies 

 an increase of 369.1 per cent. About 66^ per cent of the total increase for 

 the "distributive" societies has taken place in England and Wales, while 84.8 

 per cent of the increase for the " productive " societies is attributable to socie- 

 ties in Ireland, 



