238 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



of with many individual tenants, there is the possibility that 

 the rents charged to the members of the co-operative society 

 would be higher than those charged to individual tenants, 

 by reason of the margin which must needs be left for cover- 

 ing the society's working expenses. The saving to the 

 County Councils being considerable, there ought to be an 

 equivalent allowance made in their management charges. 



The question of longer leases is regarded as of the utmost 

 importance in view of the decision of the Local Government 

 Board that the period of repayment for loans advanced for 

 the expenses of adaptation of small holdings cannot be for a 

 longer period than the term of the lease. 



The fact that the Executive Council did print the memo- 

 randum in their " Official Circular " suggests that the views 

 expressed were regarded by that body as being at least 

 deserving of serious consideration by County Councils in 

 general. 



CENTRAL LAND RENTING SOCIETIES. 



In some cases it has been sought to meet the difficulty 

 experienced by groups of would-be small holders in obtain- 

 ing land owing to the County Council not being satisfied 

 with the guarantee offered by the formation of a Central 

 Land Renting Society for a section of the county, the idea 

 being that the Central Society should acquire the land from 

 the County Council, on offering an adequate security, and 

 re-let to the individual applicants. 



LAND SOCIETIES AND LAND OWNERS. 



The majority of the Land Renting Societies which have 

 succeeded in getting land at all have obtained it through 

 the County Councils, but many have treated direct with 

 land-owners, who, in turn, have their advantages in dealing 

 with a group of occupiers acting as a single body instead 

 of with the same number of persons acting individually. 



The Mansfield Woodhouse (Notts) Small Holdings Society 

 has gone still further than land renting, having bought from 

 the Duke of Portland 40 acres of land for division among 



