75 



farm as a separate holding." This has occurred particularly in Small 

 the case of very small holdings 15 to 20 acres which formerly Holdings 

 were held in connection with village industries. "With the and 

 loss of these industries and therewith the loss of casual employ- Allotments, 

 ment in the way of carting, &c., the small holder had 110 

 opportunity of augmenting his income, whilst the profits from 

 the land itself also dwindled so that they were not sufficient 

 by themselves to maintain the man and his family." 



LANCASHIRE. There appears to be very little unsatisfied 

 demand either for small holdings or allotments. If wanted, 

 they can readily be obtained. Near towns there is some 

 demand for land for market gardens. 



CHESHIRE. Mr. Davies writes : " I candidly confess that the 

 lack of more small holdings has contributed to the decline of 

 the agricultural population. I am a strong believer in the 

 multiplication of small holdings as the best means (in Cheshire) 

 of checking this migration to towns, and enabling farmers to 

 secure a better class of workmen and of indoor female labour 

 for the dairy farms." 



The difficulty in the way of creating more small holdings is 

 not in obtaining land but in the cost of putting up the requisite 

 buildings. 



Mr. Beecroft states that most of the labourers have good 

 cottages and gardens, and in many instances sufficient land tr> 

 keep a cow ; while Mr. Ravenshaw states that in the same dis- 

 trict the resident labourer has a small holding or allotment or, 

 failing this, is usually allowed potato ground. 



DERBY. It is not thought that the demand for small hold- 

 ings has increased, and as regards allotments, Mr. Waite 

 observes that such land soon goes out of cultivation for want 

 of manure, when several plots will be thrown together and let 

 to farmers for roots. 



STAFFORD. There is no difficulty in obtaining allotments 

 in fact, many are tenantless. Mr. Carrington Smith writes: 

 k ' During the fifty years spent by me in the occupation of my 

 present farm, I have seen one block of allotments given up ; 

 the old allotment field has been added to the small holding 

 of the village blacksmith. Whereas thirty to fifty years ago 

 it paid a labourer, earning from 2s. to 2s. 4d. per day, to dig 

 for beans, barley, or other grain with which to feed a pig, it 

 now no longer pays him to work for himself ; his wages being 

 25 per cent, higher and allotment produce (say) 30 per cent, 

 lower, the economic status of spade husbandry has been revolu- 

 tionised.'' Small holdings of 20 to 60 acres are, Mr. Smith states, 

 decidedly in demand ; on such holdings very little hired labour 

 is required. There have, however, been no applications to the 

 Staffordshire County Council. Captain Levett writes : "Of course 

 the great difficulty of small holdings is the question of capital 

 for the necessary buildings, as many a man would like to try 



