SMALL HOLDINGS OR LARGE FARMS? 143 



sawing wood, can keep its whole staff going on 

 wet days, especially if wagons and implements, 

 which have to be cleaned and repaired, are 

 under cover, and there is a smithy or forge, as 

 well as a carpenter's shop, attached to the farm. 



On the other hand, the small farmer, especially 

 on heavy clay land, with very limited out- 

 buildings is often at his wit's end in wet weather 

 to keep his men employed. The same applies 

 to the small market gardener, who has no glass- 

 houses, and the tendency is, as wages rise, 

 together with the cost of farm implements, 

 repairs, fertilisers, and feeding stuffs, for the 

 small farmer on a holding, say, from twenty to 

 eighty acres insufficiently equipped, to dispense 

 with hired labour altogether and to rely entirely 

 upon the labour of his family. 



This is no matter for surprise. In indus- 

 tries other than farming can be seen the same 

 tendency, which leads me to the conclusion that 

 for the next year or two we shall see an ex- 

 tension of large farms either managed by one 

 individual or by joint-stock companies. We 

 must remember that the tractor has come to 

 stay. 



