LESSONS OF VARIOUS SCHEMES 437 



Secondly, it is necessary to admit that certain 

 schemes, fostered by idealists and faddists, although 

 valuable as affording distinct lessons, have not been 

 generally successful when viewed from the stand- 

 point of the object of their creation ; but that at the 

 same time their failure can in no way be regarded 

 as an argument for the failure of small holdings. 



Again, in the case of commercial land companies, 

 we see how the land is mostly taken up by town 

 men with some capital, many with no knowledge 

 of cultivation ; and while there will be found a 

 sprinkling of successful men amongst these, the 

 agriculturist proper, with local knowledge, fights 

 shy of acquiring land in this way. 



But to turn to the other side of the picture. 

 Where such schemes have been carried out with 

 local knowledge and real understanding by in- 

 dividual enterprise, whether through private 

 transactions, or the formation of Small Holdings 

 Associations, or by the action of landowners on 

 their estates, the success is very marked : de- 

 population is stayed, poor relief diminishes, 

 public-houses disappear, and a closer settlement 

 on the land is accomplished at no cost to anyone. 



We see, moreover, how, in connection with 

 Industrial Co-operative Associations in the neigh- 

 bourhood of small manufacturing towns or in- 

 dustrial centres, a successful system of small 

 holdings has arisen through the endeavours of the 

 men themselves, and with no assistance from out- 

 side sources. 



