SCATTERED PARCELS 239 



no adequate opportunity for developing the best agri- 

 cultural methods ; and there is a great waste of land in 

 paths and boundary water-courses. 



So serious, in fact, are these results that the whole 

 matter has been made the subject of earnest investiga- 

 tion by the Niederlandsch Landbouw-Comite" (Dutch 

 Agricultural Committee), a body which, subsidized by the 

 State, represents all the leading agricultural interests in 

 Holland. The evils are readily recognised. The diffi- 

 culty is in finding an effective remedy. There can, in 

 fact, be no hope of securing that remedy until some 

 such system of redistribution is arranged as will give 

 each proprietor practically the same amount of acreage 

 in one piece, or, at least, in considerably fewer pieces 

 than at present. 



Attempts have been made from time to time to effect 

 arrangements on this basis by voluntary effort. But 

 experience shows that, although the majority of the 

 members of a family, or of the proprietors in a certain 

 district, may be willing, and even anxious, for such a 

 redistribution, there is generally a minority which, from 

 sheer obstinacy, or from complete indifference to the 

 general welfare, refuses its assent, and so nullifies the 

 proposal. The question now being discussed in Holland 

 is whether or not a law should be passed laying down 

 that, where such a majority shall be in favour of a 

 redistribution scheme, and where the scheme itself is 

 in accord with public interest, the minority shall be 

 obliged to surrender ; but in what manner the problem 

 will eventually be solved the future must be left to 

 show. 



Meanwhile the Dutch farmers and cultivators find 

 economic salvation in excessive toil, scrupulous thrift, 

 and plain living, combined with a most comprehensive 

 system of organization which enables them to effect 



