BRITISH AGRICULTURE 115 



by growing the same crops as the larger farmers, 

 it is clear that success does not lie along that 

 road. The reports of the Small Holdings Com- 

 missioners bear witness to the economic truth that 

 it is impossible to make an adequate profit out 

 of a small turnover. " The Reports on Successful 

 Small Holdings," in the Commissioners' latest 

 publication, shows that fruit, bulbs, market 

 garden produce, and with respect to the maximum 

 holdings under the Act, dairy produce, run in 

 conjunction with market garden produce, are 

 the first to succeed. It is obvious that the output 

 of the small holdings will not compete with the 

 larger farms. The economic unit of production 

 of the staple products of agriculture is the 

 farm, varying in size, according to the district. 

 In estimating the home output of staple food- 

 stuffs we must consider the land taken for 

 smallholdings, small though it may be, as to 

 some extent curtailing production. It may 

 be added that in France which is frequently 

 quoted as an instance of successful smallhold- 

 ings, by far the larger proportion are situated 

 in the wine growing or other suitable districts, 

 and not in the areas mainly devoted to the pro- 

 duction of staple food products. 



If it is not too great a presumption to imagine 

 a national agricultural policy perhaps a few sug- 

 gestions as to its objective may not be out of place. 



