CHAPTER VII 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE FARM 



We have endeavoured to give a clear and im- 

 partial account of four propositions which have 

 successfully created groups of small owners. 

 Although each experiment has arrived at 

 almost precisely the same conclusion, the 

 methods employed differ to an extraordinary 

 degree. The terms of payment for the land are 

 singularly at variance ; and while the initiators 

 of three of the schemes satisfactorily settled 

 the successful applicants on their holdings, but 

 encountered signal failure in an attempt at 

 organization later, the creators of the " Fairby 

 Farm " deemed it advisable to place the 

 facilities for organization and education ready 

 at hand for small owners to avail themselves of 

 as soon as they took possession of their pro- 

 perties — a course which met with instan- 

 taneous success. The conditions of payment 

 for the land under the latter scheme, however, 



no 



