INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE 255 



if a small-holding system might be the path lead- 

 ing from the one to the other. 



Garden cities and the re-establishment of petty 

 trades in rural districts may bring this about in one 

 direction ; but, from what we have studied in the 

 foregoing pages, it would seem as if the mere 

 supply of land to artisans in places where there 

 exists a healthy demand for it is likely to prove a 

 means of leading men gradually from industrial to 

 agricultural pursuits. 



We know that amongst the abiding charac- 

 teristics of modern industry are the periods of 

 slack trade and diminished employment, not to 

 speak of the seasonal fluctuations, producing 

 annually the same results in a minor degree. 



Moreover, there is a necessity in many trades 

 (though more especially in those relying on casual 

 labour) for the existence of a standing reserve of 

 labour ; it is to the extent that the unemployed 

 problem is due to this reserve (as distinguished 

 from surplus) labour that a system of connecting 

 industrial pursuits with the cultivation of the land 

 would solve the question of unemployment. 



Finally, we see how, in the case of the boot and 

 shoe industry, a small holding has taken the place 

 of an old-age pension to those older men who are 

 getting displaced by younger labour. 



In the case of trades, what we have to deal with 

 is not so much unemployment as part employment. 

 As regards the land, we can often only cultivate 

 it profitably on a small scale with the help of 



