Farm Settlements. 



[mar. 



The settlements at Bosbury and Wantage are being specially 

 set apart for ex-officers. At the former, there are at present 

 7 ex-officers with small holdings and 2 employed on the central 

 farm, and at the latter 8 ex-officers working on the profit-sharing 

 farm. At Wantage, 12 ex-land army women are also working 

 on probation. The Ministry is endeavouring to increase the 

 number of openings available for women who have served in 

 the forces or have been engaged on agricultural work during 

 the War, and it is hoped to take a small number of women at 

 each of the settlements. 



A fine agricultural estate at Sutton Bridge (Lines) has^ 

 been purchased from the governors of Guy's Hospital. It 

 covers 6,542 acres, practically arable land, alluvial in 

 character, and of a most fertile nature, eminently suitable for 

 intensive cultivation and capable of producing heavy crops of 

 potatoes, fruit, and other market -garden products. It is 

 ripe for closer settlement and offers a unique opportunity for 

 the development of small holdings on co-operative lines. No 

 ex-Service men have yet been settled on this estate, as vacant 

 possession of the first portion of the land will not be obtained 

 until April next. 



The Ministry has also purchased an estate at Wainfleet 

 (Lines) comprising 1,778 acres. It will provide about 30 

 small holdings of from 30 to 40 acres in extent suitable for 

 mixed farming, the Ministry retaining a portion of the land for 

 a central farm. About 250 acres of the estate will come into 

 hand at Lady Day next, and the remainder at Michaelmas. 



The total number of ex-Service men who have been received 

 at the settlement is 536, of whom 84 have left for reasons of 

 iU-health, etc., leaving 452 at the settlements at present. This 

 number is made up of 271 settlers, 107 probationers, and 74 

 other ex-Service men working as wage-earners. The settlers 

 consist of 200 men provided with small holdings, and 71 men 

 on profit-sharing farms who have completed their six months' 

 probationary period. The small holdings provided comprise- 

 in all 1,971 acres. In addition, 12 ex-land army women have 

 been settled at the Wantage Farm Settlement which is devoted 

 to dairying, and i at the Pembrey Farm Settlement in South 

 Wales. 



Progress with the development of all settlements has been 

 greatly hindered by difficulties of housing accommodation^ 

 The estates when purchased are equipped only with the number 

 of houses and cottages necessary for extensive farming, and 



