SIZE OF FARMS, AND DIVISION OF PROPERTY. 383 



who, on account of its limited extent, carry their cultivation to 

 a high perfection, and often in the number, variety, and quantity 

 of their crops on these small pieces of ground, astonish one by 

 their success. Very often these pieces of land are owned by 

 persons engaged in severe mechanical trades in the cities, who 

 find health and needful recreation in their cultivation. One 

 thing is quite certain in such cases that no land thus situated 

 will be left uncultivated ; and under the system of minute econ 

 omy to which it is subjected, will unquestionably be rendered as 

 productive as possible. 



If we look at large farms in Great Britain, I mean farms of 

 hundreds of acres, with the exception of some of the best culti 

 vated districts, such as the Lothians in Scotland, for example, or 

 the counties of Northumberland, Lincoln, and Norfolk, and only 

 some farms in these counties, we shall find that even these are 

 by no means always fully cultivated ; and that, either for want 

 of skill, or enterprise, or capital, large portions of them are 

 wholly unproductive. This is far less frequently the case with 

 small farms, for the simple reason that the owners cannot afford 

 to neglect their land, and that the management is much more 

 easy. It is to be added likewise, that in very small holdings, of 

 six, or ten, or twenty acres, the great expense of a team, and of 

 costly implements, is dispensed with. In some parts of England, 

 though very rarely, but in many parts of the Continent, and 

 especially in Switzerland, the small farmers use their milch-cows 

 for work, thus getting a double advantage from them ; and a 

 milch-cow, used tenderly, and treated liberally, may be worked 

 from four to six hours a day without injury to her milk. This 

 saving is a great circumstance. On large arable farms it may be 

 calculated, that from a fourth to a third of the produce must be 

 counted for the support, and equipments, and cost of the teams. 

 The saving of this expense is a great affair ; and this is accom 

 plished on small holdings where cows are kept, which pay the 

 expense of their keeping by their labor and their calf; or where, 

 as in many cases, the whole cultivation is performed by human 

 instead of brute labor by the spade instead of the plough. I 

 believe, therefore, it will be found, that in a fair comparison, the 

 small farms are in fact more productive than the large ones ; that 

 they are managed at less comparative expense, and, in propor 

 tion, leave more for human consumption. 



