34 THE BOSTON DISTRICT 



OWNERSHIP VERSUS TENANCY. 



In a general consideration of this district in con- 

 nection with the whole small-holding question, the 

 following facts relating to the question of ownership 

 and tenancy are very prominent : 



1. That the demand for small holdings to rent is 

 very much greater than the supply. 



2. That there appears to be little demand for 

 small holdings to purchase. 



3. That the experience of those men who have 

 risen from agricultural labourers to large farmers is 

 that a man without capital must begin by renting 

 a piece of land of such a size that he can manage 

 while still in regular employment ; and that when 

 he has saved more capital he must rent a large 

 enough piece to maintain himself, and add to it by 

 degrees. 



They attribute financial failures to the purchasing 

 of land on borrowed capital, without sufficient 

 means to tide over bad seasons ; and they maintain 

 that the secret of success is never to get beyond 

 what they have sufficient capital to work profitably. 



4. The freeholders appear, as far as it is possible 

 to obtain reliable information, to be paying as much 

 in interest on mortgage as the rent of adjoining 

 land per acre. 



Facilities for obtaining working capital and for 

 purchase on the instalment system would no doubt 

 modify some of the present difficulties relating to 

 ownership. On the other hand, ownership appears 



