16 



scope and where the road to independence and a competency is 

 broader and more easy of access. It is indeed impossible not 

 to recognise that the ordinary career of the agricultural 

 labourer offers little scope for ambition. If he is intelligent 

 and quick-witted he may practically have become a master of 

 his craft by the time he is 21, but after rising to the position of 

 horse-keeper or shepherd, or perhaps foreman, there is little 

 further outlook and small hope of increased wages. It is not 

 surprising that in many cases he declines to settle down for life 

 in a calling which does not in the Ordinary course provide pos- 

 sibilities of advancement to an independent position. 



Desire for Advancement to the man who lives by the land means in 



land. the end the occupation or the ownership of land for himself, 



and the presence or absence of a reasonable prospect of attain- 

 ing this goal must no doubt affect the willingness of young 

 and enterprising men to persevere in farm work. The recog- 

 nition of this fact led the Board to make specific enquiry as to 

 the existence of difficulty in obtaining land for allotments and 

 small holdings. 



Allotments, So far as Allotments are concerned, there is a very general 

 consensus of opinion that requirements are as a rule well 

 satisfied. In not more than some half a dozen counties differ- 

 ing as widely as Hertfordshire, the East Hiding, Denbigh and 

 Caithness is a scarcity of available allotments mentioned. 

 From the large majority of counties it is reported that there 

 is no difficulty in obtaining all the allotments wanted, while 

 in many cases it is stated that the demand for them is less than 

 it used to be and that frequently they have been given up by 

 labourers who at one time held them. The opinion is expressed 

 by several correspondents that the attachment of a good 

 garden to a labourer's cottage is more desirable and more 

 highly appreciated by the labourer than an allotment which 

 may be at some distance from his home. The provision of an 

 adequate amount of garden ground attached to every labourer's 

 cottage is advocated by many correspondents. 



Small On the subject of Small Holdings the reports are much 



Holdings. more varied in tone, but they will be found to Contain, not only 



a large amount of interesting local information, but in many 



cases comments and suggestions which are well worth attention. 



The term " Small Holding " receives a different interpre- 

 tation in different districts. In some instances it is used 

 almost as if it were synonymous with an allotment or with 

 occupations of not more than half a dozen acres. In other 

 cases it is extended so as to include what in many parts of 

 the country would be considered large farms. In Berwickshire, 

 it is reported "there is a great demand for holdings of 100 to 

 " 200 or 300 acres, such as a man and his family can work with- 

 out much hired labour, and for these higher rents are offered 



