246 ^ LAND REFORM 



evidence of a most practical kind. The Committee 

 was not satisfied with receiving evidence, but its 

 members visited the principal fruit-growing centres 

 and saw for themselves the condition of the industry. 



The present land tenure and its effect on the fruit 

 industry were subjects that received great attention 

 during the inquiry. Under the Market Gardeners' 

 Compensation Act a tenant of a holding, which he 

 rents, by agreement, for the purpose of a market 

 garden, may plant fruit and put up the necessary build- 

 ings without the consent of his landlord, and at the 

 end of his tenancy is entitled to compensation. Many 

 experienced fruit - growers, some of whom were 

 tenants, insisted that these Acts, instead of encourag- 

 ing the fruit trade, were a deterrent to it, because 

 landlords refused to let land for fruit-growing, so as 

 not to become liable for large sums in the form of 

 compensation. "On the other hand," the Report 

 points out, " in the case of a fruit plantation, the 

 tenant increases immensely the value of the land by 

 his skill, his enterprise, and the expenditure of large 

 sums of money, all of which would become the 

 property of the landlord unless there were a proper 

 scheme of compensation, while, if his consent to each 

 separate improvement had to be obtained the tenant 

 would be seriously hampered in the extension of his 

 business." 



After carefully weighing the evidence, and fully 

 considering the various methods for adjusting, in a 

 satisfactory manner, the claims of both landlord and 

 tenant, the Committee came to the conclusion that 

 "The ideal solution of the difficulty would be that 

 every fruit-grower should be the owner of the soil," 

 a conclusion in which they were abundantly supported 



