Conclusion 205 



According as the market turns in favour of this or that product will 

 the problem of the unit of holding be determined in favour of this 

 or that size of farm. 



The future outlook, so far as it is ever possible to foresee the 

 future, now becomes fairly clear. Much will depend on whether or 

 not England holds to her present Free Trade policy. After what 

 has just been said, it is not necessary to draw out the consequences to 

 the unit of holding if the market for home-grown corn were to be 

 artificially improved, as it was from 1815 to 1846. The revival of the 

 small holding from 1880 onwards is the work of unconditional Free 

 Trade. To give up Free Trade would be to undermine the founda- 

 tions of this form of holding, whose development during the period 

 of falling corn-prices has been greeted with so much satisfaction by 

 social reformers of all parties. However, England has not so far 

 adopted the proposals of Mr Chamberlain and his followers : and 

 what we have to discuss at present is the probable evolution of 

 the unit of agricultural holding if the present Free Trade system is 

 maintained. 



The possibility of a further development of small holdings and 

 replacing of large farms by small has been questioned on two grounds. 

 In the first place it is said to be doubtful whether the consumption of 

 the agricultural produce proper to the small holding can be so extended 

 as to lead to any considerable increase in such holdings. It is thought 

 that production may increase faster than consumption, and so small 

 holdings become less profitable. In the second place it has been said 

 that even assuming that demand would continue to expand, production 

 could not be increased to meet it, since these particular products 

 cannot be obtained everywhere, nor to an unlimited amount. This 

 last was the consideration in the mind of the Commissioners of the 

 nineties when they made their often repeated assertion that small 

 holdings could only supply a remedy for agricultural distress where 

 they could enjoy such conditions as were favourable to their particular 

 products. 



In regard of the first objection, that the consumption of the smaller 

 agricultural products will not rise sufficiently to allow of an increase 

 of small holdings adequate to compensate for the great decay of the 

 large farm system, it is of the first importance to remember how 

 greatly such consumption has increased in recent years. The figures 

 for the imports of certain classes of such goods show this clearly. 

 The following table gives the amounts and values of such imports 

 into the United Kingdom from 1886 onwards ; but of course only 



