BRITISH AND FRENCH AGRICULTURE. 179 



(culture directe) either by himself and family alone, or 

 with the aid of others, 36 per cent, was rented (fermage), 

 and 11 per cent, was farmed under the system of metayage 

 (metayers). In Great Britain about 13 per cent, is culti- 

 vated by the owners, and Sy per cent, rented. 



The size of agricultural holdings in France may be 

 indicated by the following figures, which refer to 1892 : — 



Holdings. 

 Under 2I acres (trds petite culture) 



4 to 25* :; }^tite culture) 



25 to 100 ,, (moyenne culture) 

 Over 100 ,, (grande culture) 



No. 



2,235,405 



1,829,259 

 788,299 

 711,118 

 138,671 



5,702,752 



So far as it is possible to give comparable figures, the 

 following statement shows the relative size of holdings in 

 Great Britain and Ireland respectively : — 



It will be observed that in the French figures there is 

 no lower limit, so that every " holding," however small, 

 is included, while the figures for Great Britain and Ireland 

 do not include any plot unless it exceeds an acre. In 

 Ireland there are 74,890 holdings of 1 acre or less, while 

 in Great Britain, if we were to include allotments of 1 acre 

 or less, the number of " holdings ' of land would be 

 immensely increased. According to the special returns 

 published by the Board of Agriculture, there are about 



N 2 



