SMALL HOLDINGS 67 



assistance of his employer or another in 

 that portion of his work which involves 

 ploughing and other forms of horse cultiva- 

 tion. By this means he can supply his family 

 with bread and potatoes, and still further, 

 with bacon and eggs from his pigs and poultry ; 

 for not only is he able to find straw for his 

 pigs, but a large quantity of potatoes in 

 addition, his offal corn providing a portion 

 of the food for his poultry. In some in- 

 stances where opportunity presents itself, 

 the acre proving a success, it is doubled 

 or trebled, but it seldom happens that a 

 man, however able, can see his way to 

 abandon constant employment and depend 

 solely upon himself, without a large hold- 

 ing of land. 



In some English districts in which labour 

 is scarce, farmers are often glad of the 

 assistance of small tenants, and thus it is 

 that with employment to hand when they 

 want it, labourers are able to start for 

 themselves and gradually to increase their 

 stock and the area of their land. Once 

 visiting an occupying owner in Touraine, 

 we found that every labourer employed 

 upon his farm was the owner and occupier 

 of a handsome cottage and at least a 



