RURAL COUNCILLORS. 115 



whole, shown a commendable spirit of enter- 

 prise in acquiring land. Travelling to the fen- 

 lands of Lincolnshire, I heard a Norfolk estate 

 agent remark to a gentleman in the train, 

 " This is like the good old days of thirty years 

 ago. I have been selling a 300-acre farm 

 to-day at £50 an acre." The price went over 

 the County Council reserve price, and it was 

 bought by a family of farmers. 



The Norfolk small holdings are not as 

 noticeable as those of Worcestershire, because 

 they are more scattered ; neither have they 

 the good fortune to possess the striking houses 

 and buildings of the Lincolnshire Crown land 

 holdings. Nevertheless, the Norfolk County 

 Council take the lead in 1911 with 6231 acres 

 to their credit since the 1st of .January 1908. 

 Somerset and Cambridge come next, each 

 with 4000 acres, whilst Lincolnshire, divided 

 into three county areas — Holland, Kesteven, 

 and Lindsey — has acquired over 2000 acres 

 in the same period. The progress made by 

 the Cambridgeshire County Council is largely 

 due to the efforts of the chairman of their Small 

 Holdings Committee, Mr. E. O. Fordham, who 

 has now, I am glad to see, been appointed one 

 of the six new Commissioners. Cambridge- 



