54 SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 



wise." An Interim Report was presented in September 

 1915 (but was not published) recommending a free 

 course of training at an agricultural college for fifty 

 disabled sailors or soldiers. Part I of the Final 

 Report, dealing with " settlement " (that is to say, 

 with small holdings) was pubHshed in January 1916. 

 The witnesses examined by the Committee were of 

 the first ability and had an intimate knowledge of 

 their subject. The Committee, after hearing them, 

 were convinced that it was desirable to promote a 

 policy of closer land settlement. They came, in fact, 

 to the same conclusion that was expressed by the 

 Board of Agriculture in their Report on the Small 

 Holdings Act of 1909, that " the establishment of 

 small holdings involves the application of more 

 capital and more labour to the land." That is the 

 experience in every foreign country where intensive 

 farming is practised. Such farming is mainly the 

 creation of the small holder. Part I may now be 

 summarised. 



II 



SMALL HOLDINGS SO FAR 



When the Committee inquired what had been done 

 60 far to create small holdings, they found that the 

 united efforts of all the county councils in England 

 and Wales had provided land directly for only about 

 15,000 applicants in seven years. They recommended, 

 therefore, that the Board of Agriculture should pro- 

 vide land for ex-Service men who are prepared to 

 become members of a colony of small holders, where 



