OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY. 129 



they should be encouraged. This view had been rather 

 disturbed by Mr. Newton, who had said that the land must 

 be good, the man a hard worker, and some rural industry 

 added. He would like more evidence. Comparison had 

 been made between large farms and small holdings, but 

 were the conditions comparable ? There would be great 

 changes in the future, but would small holdings be the best 

 conditions in which they could be applied ? With the 

 development of science, could small holdings hope to hold 

 the same position in the future as they had in the past ? 



Mrs. Wilkins said she regarded the creation of small 

 holdings more as a national than an agricultural policy. We 

 wanted a small holding race. Very few of the holdings under 

 50 acres were self-supporting, but were carried on as an 

 adjunct to some other industry. In Holland she had been 

 struck by the connection of industries with the land, and 

 gave as an instance fishermen being available at harvest 

 time. In England many men engaged in the boot trade 

 had allotments, and when they became too old to work at 

 their trade they used their allotments as old age pensions. 



Mr. Acland said Mrs. Wilkins had started a fertile line of 

 thought. He did not believe small holdings and industrial 

 farms were antagonistic. He hoped that small holdings 

 would lead to co-operation and the cultivation of areas in 

 common with the equal sharing of proceeds. 



Mr. S. Kidner said a wide line of country had been opened. 

 Mrs. Wilkins had said that there must be a subsidiary 

 industry to small holdings. He thought that new industries 

 would have to be arranged as the old ones would not be a 

 success. If we only had small holdings and large farms 

 where would they get a ladder ? All the small holders in 

 his county were doing well on the land he had helped to get 

 for them. His experience was that they farmed on similar 

 lines to the large farmer and not intensively. 



Mr. F. E. Green said on his 24 acres he had made a profit 

 of 220 with the help of his wife, who made the butter, and 

 one very lame old man. With regard to reconstruction, he 

 would like to see each county with its small holding colony. 

 He had asked some New Zealanders if they would rather 



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