SMALL HOLDINGS 187 



before embarking in his undertaking he 

 should have been patient and waited for 

 experience. 



The points to which we propose to refer 

 are intended to assist those who have acquired 

 sufficient experience to warrant their under- 

 taking to form a small dairy upon their 

 holding. It will have been already determined 

 whether the milk should be sold or butter 

 or cheese manufactured. We will suppose, 

 however, that it is intended to sell the mJlk, 

 and we therefore base our first calculation 

 upon the average wholesale price of the 

 year. To large numbers of men the ques- 

 tion whether a cow produces 3 J or 4 per 

 cent, of fat is a matter of indiffereiuce, nor 

 do they make a point of ascertaining with 

 accuracy facts with regard to the quantity 

 of milk produced by the cows they propose 

 to purchase. In taking a farm a proposed 

 tenant usually decides for himself how much 

 the land is worth per acre; he knows that if 

 he can grow 30 cwt. of hay in an average 

 season, or 5 qrs. of wheat, he can afford to 

 pay a few shillings per acre more than if the 

 land were capable of only producing 20 cwt. or 

 4 qrs., and, in consequence, he prefers to rent 

 the richer land. 



