53^ Decline in Agricultural. Fopula.tion. [dec, 



is][such an area of land as is sufficient to employ the whole 

 labour of a man and his family and not enough to necessitate 

 the employment of hired labour. This may be as little as five 

 acres, or even less where intensive cultivation or market gar- 

 dening is practised (especially where glass is used), while in 

 grass or mixed farming from 40 to 60 acres may be required. 

 The limits adopted in the Small Holdings Act, viz., land which 

 exceeds one acre and does not exceed 50 acres, maybe accepted 

 for present purposes, the more so as statistics are available 

 showing the number of holdings within those limits. It may be 

 allowed that a considerable proportion, probably the majorit)-, 

 of holdings of five acres and less are occupied by persons 

 whose principal avocation is not farming ; but even if the whole 

 of this category were ignored, the existence of nearly a quarter 

 of a million holdings from five to 50 acres, or little short of halt 

 the total number, provides ample evidence that small holdings 

 constitute a very important factor in the utilization of the land 

 of Great Britain. 



Demand for Small Holdings. — The reports are very diverse 

 in their indications of a demand for small holdings and the 

 extent to which its non-satisfaction has affected "nural depopula- 

 tion." From about a* score of counties it is reported that small 

 holdings are little in request, or at any rate that no specific 

 instance of a desire to obtain a small holding has come under 

 the notice of the correspondent. It is possible, of course, that 

 an apparent absence of demand may be due, to some extent at 

 least, to the recognition of the futility of asking for what is 

 practically unobtainable ; but at the same time there is certainly 

 some evidence of a disinclination among those who have been 

 brought up on the land to undertake the risks of farming. 



Deficient Supply of Small Holdings. — The majority of the cor- 

 respondents, however, report that there is a demand for small 

 holdings, which is not satisfied for reasons which many of them 

 specify. The belief that their provision would tend to keep the 

 population on the land is expressed in many reports. One cor- 

 respondent in the East Riding puts the case succinctly : — It is 

 absolutely necessary that those employed in farm work should 

 have a prospect of rising by their own thrift and perseverance ; 

 for this purpose there should be cottages without land for the 



