434 



Crop Prospects, September, 1907. [oct., 



to you from time to time, but the Board think it desirable to call the attention of 

 your Council at once to the fact that the Act provides that County Councils may 

 themselves take the initiative in preparing a draft scheme or schemes for the provision 

 of small holdings for their county. 



At a later period the Board hope to be in a position to nominate officers to confer 

 with your Council as to the administration of the Act, but they would suggest in the 

 meantime that your Council should at once set on foot preliminary inquiries as to the 

 extent of the demand for small holdings in their county, and as to the possibility of 

 satisfying those demands by the acquisition of suitable land either within or without 

 the county. The Board are of opinion that these preliminary inquiries should be as 

 little formal as possible, and they think that no better method could be adopted than 

 to invite the individual members of the Council to interest themselves in the matter 

 by making informal inquiries in their respective districts. 



It will also be necessary that the provisions of the Act should be made known to 

 the class who are likely to take advantage of it, and in this connection I am to 

 observe that experience has shown that very useful information is often obtained by 

 the insertion in the local newspapers of advertisements, framed in simple language, 

 inviting applications from men who desire land for small holdings, and requesting 

 applicants to forward particulars as to the quantity of land desired, the locality 

 preferred, the extent of their experience in agriculture, and the amount of their 

 capital. With this information in their possession your Council would be in a 

 position to consider the steps to be taken to satisfy the demand so soon as the Act 

 comes into operation. 



I am further directed to call the attention of your Council to the fact that the 

 small holdings provided by County Councils under the Act of 1892 have in no case 

 resulted in any charge being placed on the rates of the county, and that where small 

 holdings are provided under the Act of this year the possibility of any such charge 

 arising has been very considerably diminished. Under section 17 of the Act the 

 Board are authorised, subject to regulations to be made hereafter by the Board with 

 the approval of the Treasury, to repay to County Councils the whole or any part of 

 the expenses incurred by a Council in relation to the acquisition of land for the 

 purposes of small holdings (other than the purchase money, or any compensation, or 

 rent payable in respect of the land), and in pursuance of section 14 of the Act, the 

 term for the repayment of loans for the purchase of land may be extended to 

 80 years, and County Councils will be able to borrow from the Public Works Loans 

 Commissioners on favourable terms. In addition, in cases in which the carrying out 

 of a scheme under the new Act has resulted or is likely to result in a loss, one-half of 

 that loss will be borne by the Exchequer, subject to certain conditions, which will be 

 set out in a Treasury Minute to be subsequently issued. 



I am to add that the expression " County Council" in the Act of 1892 and in the 

 new Act includes the Council of a County Borough. 



Copies of the new Act are now obtainable, either directly or through any book- 

 seller, from Messrs. Wyman and Sons, Ltd., Fetter Lane, London, E.C. 



I shall be glad to forward to you additional copies of this circular on application. 



I am, &c, T. H. Elliott, Secretary. 



The general summary of the Reports of the Crop Estimators of the Board issued 

 on the 23rd September, is as follows : — 



Since the last Report the weather continued cold for a 

 Reports On Crop while, but the first fortnight of September has generally 

 Prospects, September, been fine and dry, with more warmth to ripen the crops, 

 1907. anc ^ some improvement may accordingly be noted. 



Generally the prospects are best in the south, and the 

 north has been less favoured, although it can hardly be said that the Scotch crops as 

 a whole are below average. 



