230 SUBDIVISION IN OTHEE COUNTEIES 



inhabitants, stating that they had not understood the 

 matter, but now they quite appreciated the advantages of 

 the operation which had in many cases trebled the value of 

 the land affected." 



In the above cases restripment was carried out under the 

 law upon the application of a majority of the land-holders 

 affected. 



Some* of the most recent legislation for preserving 

 economic holdings intact has been passed in Schwartzburg 

 Sondarshausen. A law of 1888 required the previous consent 

 of the Provincial Governor before estates could be sub- 

 divided ; but this was found to be inadequate. A " New 

 Law against subdivision of land " passed in 1912 enacts that 

 this consent to subdivision shall be given only on three 

 conditions : — 



(a) Payment of a fixed tax. 



(6) Right of retrocession. 



(c) Right of pre-emption for the Commune and Rural 

 Bank. 

 The object of this law is to prevent subdivisions of land 

 which are anti-economic and disastrous to the good working 

 of farms. 



. D. Switzerland. — In Switzerland subdivision and fragmen- 

 tation has been carried to such lengths that in one canton 

 (Ticino) the average size of a farm is only 9 acres and the 

 average number of separate parcels in each farm is 35, the 

 average area of each parcel being £ of an acre. When 

 legislation was first introduced for restriping (i.e. readjust- 

 ment of scattered holdings) the opposition on the part of 

 the land-holders was great. The necessity for overcoming 

 evils caused by this minute subdivision and for improving 

 means of communication was so great, however, that the 



* " Bulletin of the Bureau of Social and Economic Intelligence " for 

 October, 1912, p. 203, published by the International Institute of 

 Agriculture, Rome. 



