12 THE RURAL PROBLEM. 



Thus, the proportion of arable land and the number of sheep 

 increase with the size of the farm, but the number of poultry, pigs 

 and cattle decrease. And as the group of small holdings not 

 more than 50 acres in extent contains a large number of very 

 productive market-gardens, there can be no doubt that small 

 holdings are rather more productive than large farms. There is, 

 however, a grave question whether the comparative pain and cost 

 of producing a certain amount of goods is not greater on a small 

 holding than on a larger farm. The small holding is not an 

 economical unit in the use of implements, machinery or power. 

 As shown by the table, the number of horses employed on small 

 holdings is greater than on larger units, and, although the amount 

 of horse-power is not exactly shown by the number of horses (as 

 the horses may be smaller), more horses are kept on small holdings 

 than on large farms with a larger proportion of land under the 

 plough. This often means that horses are sometimes unemployed, 

 while they still have to be kept, and consequently horse-labour is 

 expensive. If the necessary machinery is present on small holdings, 

 then it is not fully employed, and capital is both " lying dead " 

 and depreciating. If it is not present, as is too often the case, there 

 is wastage of human effort. Something may be done to improve 

 methods of using machinery and power on small holdings by 

 organising a co-operative supply, but even then use is less economical 

 than on large units. In the sphere of sale and distribution of 

 produce the small holding suffers from grave disadvantages. If 

 the consuming market for goods is near, these disadvantages are 

 not so evident, although eight carts may be sent to to"wii with 

 milk from eight holdings of 25 acres each, while one cart would 

 do the work on a farm of two hundred acres. Where produce is 

 sent to a distant market it must be packed, graded and grouped ; 

 and unless this is done co-operatively it is done by a middleman, 

 who is the only person with an adequate knowledge of the market, 

 and the small holder suffers from lack of knowledge of methods 

 and prices on the market. Even an organisation of forty small 

 holders on 1,000 acres of land camiot work as economically as a 

 single unit of management on the same area. 



In certain areas the number of small holdings could be increased 

 to advantage, especially if accompanied with various forms of 

 co-operative organisations, but it is to be feared that a vast exten- 

 sion of small holdings would make life harder for the majority 

 of people engaged on the land the}' cover.* It is also noticeable 

 that small holdings are not such stable units in rural economy as 

 larger farms. The possibility of adaptation to the circumstances 

 of the market is apt to be very small. This was proved in the 

 early part of the nineteenth century, and, although it would be 

 unwise to give too much weight to their disappearance at that 

 time because effective public opinion and law were not in their 



* For a fuller statement on this subject see 'An Economic Survey of Small 

 Holdings in Oxfordshire,' by the present Avriter, now in the piets. 



