Agricultural Finance 



52 



[July, 1910. 



management of the small holdings, the 

 extent to which each prevails being 

 determined apparently by the distance 

 from a market. 



Holdings for Market Gardening.— 

 Within ten miles of Liverpool along the 

 route mentioned, market gardening is 

 extensively practised. No cattle or 

 sheep are kept, even on the larger farms, 

 beyond a cow or two for the supply of 

 the farmer's family. The whole of the 

 holder's energy is devoted to the pro- 

 duction of crops which he can market 

 without the aid of cattle or sheep. The 

 crops cultivated include the whole range 

 of garden crops with the exception of 

 those which require to be raised in 

 glass-houses. Even on the smallest 

 holdings there is rarely any glass beyond 

 what is necessary for raising early 

 plants for transplanting out of doors. 

 All the produce is disposed of in the 

 market at Liverpool, and the waggons 

 haul dung from the town on the "return 

 journey. Small-holdings on this area 

 range from about 6 to 40 acres, the 

 latter being quite a usual size, On the 

 smaller holdings cases of failure or even 

 of partial failure have been by no means 

 common ; at the same time instances of 

 the occupiers increasing their capital 

 and moving on to larger holdings, which 

 are reported to have been frequent 

 thirty or more years ago, have been rare 

 in recent times. Holdings of 30 or 40 

 acres, however, appear to be a useful 

 and convenient size, and there are 

 numerous cases of men doing extremely 

 well on small farms of this size. Rents 

 average about £3 10s. to £1 10s. per acre 

 for the latter class of holdings ; for the 

 smaller ones they range as high as £5 

 per acre. 



Ten miles is evidently the maximum 

 distance which it is considered conve- 

 nient to haul farm or garden produce to 

 market, for beyond the tenth mile or so 

 from Liverpool a different system is 

 practised in the management of the 

 holdings and the disposal of the produce. 



In the district lying midway between 

 Liverpool and Preston there are few 

 very small holdings, though farms of 40 

 acres or so are numerous. The tendency 

 of late years has been to add farms much 

 smaller than this to larger ones, as they 

 become vacant. Previous to the deve- 

 lopment of the Jersey early potato 

 trade, about thirty years ago, there were 

 many holdings of 3 to 6 acres in this 

 district, and their occupiers were quite a 

 successful class of men. They worked 

 for farmers in the neighbourhood, and 

 in addition to keeping a cow and pigs, 

 they secured a fair income from the 

 cultivation of early potatoes and onions, 



System of early Potato growing for- 

 merly practised. — Considerable quanti- 

 ties of early potatoes were grown by 

 these men upon a system which is now 

 only of historical interest. The ground 

 was laid out in plots 9 ft. wide surround- 

 ed by banks of turves about 15 in. high. 

 Each year the plots were dug, manured 

 with dung, and well prepared by means 

 of hand labour, and were then planted 

 with sprouted potatoes about 9 in. apart 

 each way. During the early stages of 

 growth the potatoes were protected 

 by means of screens, made of straw 

 and strengthened with sticks or small 

 branches which were supported by the 

 turf banks and three light structures 

 of wood, a higher one down the middle 

 of the plot, and a lower one on each side. 

 The screens, which thus formed a sloping 

 roof on each side of the plot, were remov- 

 ed during the day, except in bad wea- 

 ther, and replaced at night until there 

 was no longer danger of frost. High 

 prices were regularly realised for the 

 early crops grown in this way, fre- 

 quently as much as Is. per lb. at the 

 commencement of the season. 



Onion Cultivation. — The cultivation of 

 onions was not confined to the small 

 holdings. A partnership was arranged 

 between the small holder and a neigh- 

 bouring farmer ; the former supplied 

 labour and seeds, while the latter fur- 

 nished land and manure and did the 

 hauling. The crop was divided equally 

 between them at harvest time. Many 

 farms had 10 or 12 acres of onions, and 

 the arrangement was found profitable 

 to both parties. It may be observed 

 that in the cultivation of both the early 

 potato-crop and the onion crop, when 

 planting was accomplished, practically 

 the whole of the remaining labour was 

 of alight character, hoeing and weeding, 

 and was performed mainly by the wife 

 and children of the small holder. Child- 

 ren were engaged in this work at an 

 age at which they must now be in attend- 

 ance at school. 



Small Farms.— The system of cropping 

 the small holdings in this district, which 

 it has already been stated are mostly 

 about 40 acres in area, is similar to that 

 adopted on the larger farms in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. A few cattle 

 are generally kept, say three or four 

 cows and some young stock, but no 

 sheep. The rotation usually practised 

 is a five-course one, consisting of early 

 potatoes (with catch crops of cabbages, 

 cauliflowers, &c), oats, late potatoes, 

 wheat seeds (clover and rye grass). An 

 alternative course of cropping adopted 

 to a less extent is early potatoes with 

 catch crops, late potatoes, wheat, oats 



