SIZE OF HOLDINGS 121 



But for the man who proposes to make an 

 entire Hving for himself and family by the cul- 

 tivation of a holding, poor, heavy arable land 

 is impossible ; and, although by constant appli- 

 cation of manures a light and indifferent soil 

 can be worked up to a suitable state, the large 

 expenditure involved would never be com- 

 pensated for by the cheap price of the land. 

 To earn a prosperous and satisfactory living a 

 small owner must start on a good loam land, 

 capable of being worked at all times and of 

 bearing crops in quick rotation. 



It is impossible to dictate any definite size 

 for a holding on a village farm. Where a living 

 for a whole family can be comfortably made 

 in some districts on five or six acres of land by 

 a certain cultivation on a certain soil, ten or 

 twelve acres may be required in another place, 

 where the land would have to be put to quite 

 a different use. The area necessary for each 

 man can only be discovered from a knowledge 

 of local conditions, which must be carefully 

 studied before a scheme for the creation of a 

 particular village farm can be drawn up to 

 give satisfaction. 



The proposed organization for the small 



