92 Large and Small Holdings 



is with the reservation that they are excepted 1 ." The working farmer, 

 on the contrary, flourishes 2 , and especially the Scottish immigrants, 

 who, as one of them said to the present writer, work like any day- 

 labourer. Mr Pringle noted this fact as among the causes of the 

 success of the Scottish farmers, and it marks them wherever they are 

 found in England. 



It will now be clear that the large farm is not to be defined as 

 one where the occupier does not take part in the manual labour. 

 But he is occupied in the first place with the work of organisation. 

 Moreover even his manual work is distinguishable from that done by 

 the occupier of a medium-sized farm. The latter is to some extent 

 simply in the position of an additional labourer on his holding. 

 Without his work the business would not be got through at all. 

 The large farmer, on the other hand, does indeed need to put his own 

 hand to the work in view of the present-day requirements of more 

 continuous activity, more careful attention to details, and more 

 economical methods. Especially at harvest time he must be on the 

 spot and give active assistance. But his personal share in the work 

 is only occasional. Here and there he acts as foreman : here and 

 there he does a job which he does not care to entrust to hired labour. 

 Even his manual work is really of the nature of supervision. It is 

 direction in deed as well as in word. It is supplementary to the work 

 of the labourers, not of the same kind with it. 



It follows from what has already been said that it is vain to 

 attempt to draw conclusions as to the economic character of a holding 

 from any exterior marks, and more especially from its mere area. 

 On the other hand it is necessary to combine some economic 

 conception with the statistical information supplied. Making all 

 allowance for exceptions it may therefore be useful to sum up as 

 follows. Allotments proper, which are only a by-employment to 

 their occupier, will as a rule cover from \ to 4 acres : allotment 

 holdings of the larger kind from 5 to 10 acres. Small holdings may 

 be taken as covering from 10 to 80 or 100 acres. Holdings of 100 to 

 250 or 300 acres will be medium-sized farms, and all above that size 

 will be large farms. But such a classification must not be used 



1 Cp. the interesting evidence of Mr Carrington Smith, himself a farmer, in the Report 

 of 1894, qu. 8038; 8105-8117. 



* Pringle. op. cit. pp. 45 f. ; see also H. Levy, Die Lage der englischen Landwirtschaft in 

 der Gegenwart, in Conrad's Jahrbuchern, 1904, pp. 734 ff. In the Small Holdings Report, 

 1906, the Scottish farmers are described as "an exceptionally energetic and successful race." 

 Minutes, qu. 7225. 



