296 SIZE OF HOLDINGS 



Twelve acres are considered sufficient for an 

 entire living. Many Forest men consider this the 

 maximum size that can be profitably worked with 

 the aid of the family only. 



The size of the Forest holdings is important. 

 Here, as elsewhere, experience has shown that 

 there is a certain acreage which is specially adapted 

 to local requirements. In this case the size of the 

 holdings is regulated in the case of 



1. Cottage holdings, by the amount of stock the 

 wife and family can manage while the husband is 

 out at work ; 



2. Small farms, by the amount of land a man 

 can cultivate himself with the family, without 

 having hired labour. 



As the sons grow up, a bigger farm can be 

 worked while they remain at home. But the sons 

 marry and go on to little places of their own, and 

 the shrewdest Forest men are content when they 

 get to 12 acres. They consider that there is more 

 profit to be got out of this acreage by working the 

 Forest in connection with it than could be made 

 on a larger farm without common rights. 



Labourers without land, having rights attached 

 to their cottages, can also turn out stock on the 

 common. In this way they accumulate stock or 

 capital until such time as they have an opportunity 

 to take land. I have been told that it is a common 

 thing for labourers to double their wages in this 

 way. It also enables grown-up sons, living at 

 home and working for wages, to get a start. The 



