PREFACE 



THE matter contained in this book is based on 

 information which has been collected during the 

 last three years for the Co-operative Small Holdings 

 Association. This society realized the want of facts 

 on which to base legislative or other reforms for a 

 greater settlement on the land, and commissioned 

 the author to visit the various districts in England 

 where small holdings were already established, with 

 a view to ascertaining the conditions under which 

 they succeed. The survey, undertaken with this 

 object, does not pretend to be in any way exhaus- 

 tive, especially of those districts where small hold- 

 ings of natural origin occur. There is still room 

 for much research work in this connection, which 

 would throw considerable light on many of the 

 points which are open to argument. It is hoped, 

 however, that the districts and undertakings 

 described in the present volume will serve to 

 illustrate the various types which are found all 

 over England at the present time, and help to 

 dispel the too common opinion that small hold- 

 ings in this country are necessarily either failures 

 on known lines or experiments on new ones. 



