17 



" than for larger holdings of the same quality." There is said, 

 in the same county, to be practically no demand for holdings 

 under 100 to 150 acres. On the other hand, in Shropshire hold- 

 ings of three or four acres of grass land are referred to as not 

 being sufficiently plentiful, and in Sussex holdings of five to ten 

 acres are said to be in request. 



The definition of a small holding which is generally 

 accepted is such an area of land as is sufficient to employ 

 the whole labour of a man and his family and not enough 

 to necessitate the employment of hired labour. This may 

 be as little as five acres, or even less where intensive cul- 

 tivation or market gardening is practised (especially where 

 glass is used), while in grass or mixed farming from 40 to 60 

 acres may be required. The limits adopted in the Small Hold- 

 ings Act, viz., land which exceeds one acre and does not exceed 

 50 acres, may be accepted for present purposes, the more so as 

 statistics are available showing the number of holdings within 

 those limits. According to the returns of this Department for Size of 

 1905, the distribution of holdings in the four classes in which Holding 

 they are grouped for statistical purposes was as follows : 



It must be remembered that in this classification of holdings 

 no account is taken of mountain and heath land used for 

 grazing, considerable tracts of which may be in many cases 

 attached to comparatively small farms.* If this were taken into 



The extent of "rough grazings" and of cultivated land respectively is, 

 in 1906, as follows : 



25176 



