SMALL AND LARGE HOLDINGS 119 



the \vife and children attend altogether to the cow and 

 holding, while the man is working for a wage. 



The carrier and the carter really require some grass 

 land, and the small village tradesman too is often keen 

 to have a field. But this class of holder is prone to 

 regard his land just as a convenient run for his horses, 

 or an odd beast or two, and to neglect it. These men 

 have a right to have this land only if they can tend it 

 properly. 



It is well to bear in mind that there are two main 

 divisions into which smallholders fall — the first, those 

 whose aim is to make their entire living off their farm ; 

 the second, those who are more or less dependent upon 

 some other source for their livelihood, and who regard 

 their holding as supplementary. 



There are districts in which a man would find it hard 

 to make a living solely from his holding, and yet where 

 it would be a most profitable adjunct to some other 

 occupation. In other words, there are cases where a dual 

 occupation is more profitable than a single one ; in many 

 countries the system of dual occupation has been much 

 more developed than with us. To give an example, 

 afforestation work and work on a small holding make a 

 most happy and profitable combination. 



In the eastern half of England the small holdings — 

 again averaging from 30 to 50 acres largely of arable 

 land — produce a certain amount of corn (in some 

 districts specializing on potatoes) and beasts and some 

 sheep, rather than cows. And it is this type of farm that 

 should be gradually transformed into arable dairy farms, 

 and the necessary conditions created to secure their 

 success. For the farmer with less than 50 acres cannot 

 afford grass as a crop in the eastern counties. He should 

 go in for lucerne and other fodder crops that may suit his 



