SMALL HOLDINGS 16T 



roots from farms of 160 acres in Canada, but 

 in England they do not possess enough 

 intelligence to look after five or ten acres ! 

 To some members of our richer and more 

 comfortable classes the English poor appear 

 feeble and vicious except when, by transfer- 

 ence to the colonies, they are suddenly 

 metamorphosed into " Empire builders." 

 Colonials in dented hats and coloured shirts 

 are constantly presented to us by Mr. Rudyard 

 Kipling and his school as infinitely superior 

 beings to the inert and effeminate inhabitants 

 of these islands : as if, to go no further, the 

 hard life-struggle of an agricultural labourer 

 were not quite as " strenuous " as that of a 

 cowboy or rancher ! 



But quite apart from colonial analogies, 

 abundant proofs exist in England itself that 

 small holdings can and do succeed under 

 reasonable conditions. These conditions vary 

 considerably ; and sometimes afford good 

 prospects of success in spite of the absence of 

 good soil or a specially favoured climate. 

 One such factor, for example, is the proximity 

 of a market ; another, the existence of Common 

 rights ; a third, the possibility of obtaining 

 in the neighbourhood some kind of piece- 

 work, by which the small holder can 

 supplement the earnings of his farm. Some 



