SMALL HOLDINGS. 73 



because we consider that nothing will in- 

 duce a man to take the same interest in his 

 land and to cultivate it well as the feeling 

 that it is his, and that he can hand it down 

 to those who come after him. 



" Now that, after all, is not a mere dream 

 or theory. The thing is done in other 

 countries. Look at Germany, at France, 

 at Belgium, at Denmark. You will find, I 

 think, in the last two of these countries 

 that something like 88 per cent, of the 

 whole of the land is cultivated by the 

 people who actually own it, the remaining 

 12 per cent, being in the position of tenants. 

 With us it is exactly the opposite — that is, 

 12 per cent, ownership and 88 per cent, 

 tenancy. No one has ever been able to 

 satisfy me that if this thing can be made 

 to succeed and lead to good cultivation, 

 to a larger proportion of live stock per 

 acre, as it does on the Continent — no one 

 has ever been able to persuade me that we, 

 with our much better land, should not be 

 able to make it a success in this country 



also. 



3a 



