SMALL HOLDINGS 23 



due to the fact that even where the County 

 Council Small Holdings Committees are not 

 actively or passively hostile to small holdings, 

 they do not feel such a responsibility in regard to 

 duties which have been thrust upon them as to 

 approach the matter as a problem of great national 

 importance. In fact, it is doubtful whether a 

 committee of a County Council is the right body 

 to deal with the development of small holdings. 

 The County Councils are buying land in scattered 

 and isolated pieces at great expense and with too 

 little advantage ; and they are settling men on 

 the land in the way least calculated to secure their 

 success, instead of buying large areas of land in 

 suitable places and settling the men in colonies. 

 The Colony System is the one and only system 

 by which the bona fide small-holder ought to be 

 developed. 



Small holdings serve many purposes and must 

 vary in character according to the district. We 

 have at Fairby an example of what a small holding 

 colony can do in a fruit-growing and market- 

 gardening district. There are a central depot and 

 staff, the functions of which are to develop un- 

 cultivated land and supply small-holders with help 

 and advice. 



The Cheshire County Council have given an 

 interesting demonstration of the colony system 

 applied to larger farms in a dairy district. The 

 total acreage of their colonies is 3,277 acres. 



