PEASANT PROPRIETARY 231 



the towns would cease and the current of migration 

 would be turned the other way. 



Schemes for emigrating men and for placing them 

 on the land at a cost of ;^300 per family are looked 

 upon with favour, but schemes for helping these quiet, 

 unobtrusive self-helpers receive scant attention. 



Denmark is frequently quoted as an example of 

 what might be done in England in the way of small 

 cultivation, co-operation, etc. But it is impossible 

 to do in England what is carried out successfully in 

 Denmark, because the two systems are totally different. 

 In Denmark every encouragement and assistance is 

 given to small holders. Consolidation of holdings 

 into large farms is forbidden by law. A little under 

 5 per cent of the whole annual revenue of the country 

 is devoted to the improvement of agriculture. If the 

 same proportion of the annual revenue of the United 

 Kingdom were used for the same purpose, about seven 

 millions sterling would be placed at the disposal of the 

 Board of Agriculture, instead of the poor sum of about 

 ^136,000. 



Those who wish to see what can be done in the 

 way of intensive culture by small holders should visit 

 the Channel Islands and examine the farms there. 

 The islands are only seventy-five square miles in 

 area, but had a population at the last census of nearly 

 100,000 persons, being far more thickly populated 

 than any other country in Europe. The people are 

 prosperous, and their prosperity arises almost wholly 

 from the superior yield of the soil. From notes 

 taken on the spot a few years ago a typical Channel 

 Island farmer may be thus tlescribed : — 



" Mr. is a hale, cheery-looking man. His house 



is a good one and comfortably furnished. In one 



