168 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



examples may be cited of such varied types 

 of small holdings. 



In 1895 the Lincolnshire Small Holdings 

 Association leased from Lord Lincolnshire a 

 farm of 250 acres on the fen lands in the south 

 of the county a district rich in its soil but 

 flat and monotonous to the eye, and inter- 

 sected, not by hedges, but by the deep dykes 

 which serve to drain it. They let the land in 

 plots of from forty acres downwards to the 

 members of a Small Holdings Club, which had 

 previously been formed at Spalding among 

 labourers and others who were anxious to 

 have a piece of land of their own. The old 

 farmhouse was adapted to accommodate two 

 families. The farm buildings (an example 

 which has been followed with great advantage 

 in other places) were divided up into no less 

 than seven portions, the farmyard presenting 

 a star-shaped appearance with railings which 

 meet at the pond in the centre. The arable 

 land has needed no division ; but the grass 

 has been divided by post and wire fences. 

 This and other expenses necessitated by the 

 division of the land have been incurred by the 

 Association, and have been repaid by their 

 tenants in the form of a slight addition to 

 their rent. After nine years, the unpaid rents 

 amounted to 6 6s. only, out of a gross rental 



