8 4 



Small Holdings in Hampshire. . [may, 



The Naval depot at Portsmouth in the south of the county, 

 and the Military Quarters at Gosport, Winchester, and 

 Aldershot are doubtless responsible for a general dearth 

 throughout the county of young able-bodied men as workers on 

 the land, the result being that on the majority of farms the 

 labourers usually consist of young boys who have recently left 

 school, and men many of whom are considerably over fifty or 

 sixty years of age. In some cases, ' ' service ' ' men find their way 

 back to the land, but by far the greater percentage make for 

 the towns, not unfrequently returning to the country when 

 they are no longer fitted for town life. It is in the purely 

 market-gardening and fruit-growing districts of Hampshire that 

 the best types of farm or garden labourer are to be met with ; 

 here the unskilled labourer (by which is meant the man whose 

 sole knowledge of agriculture or horticulture is the correct 

 handling of a spade or fork) can earn at least four shillings a 

 day piece work, and never less than three shillings when 

 engaged by the day ; whereas, a man of like physique and age 

 if engaged in similar work on an ordinary farm would not 

 receive more than sixteen shillings per week, or in many cases 

 fourteen shillings, apart from extra earnings and allowances. 



Soils. — As regards variety of soils, possibly no county in 

 England can compare with Hampshire. It often happens that 

 within the area of one small farm, or even sometimes one 

 particular field, many different soils may be found. In seasons 

 of considerable rainfall, as in 1907, many of the lighter soils, 

 and particularly those overlying chalk formations, are 

 exceedingly productive, the crops being unusually healthy and 

 free from disease. This state of things is the exception rather 

 than the rule, and might be the means of deceiving those who 

 are not familiar with the district. 



Although much of the soil is poor, the tillage of Hampshire 

 is, on the whole, good ; and excellent fields of corn, roots, and 

 fodder crops are grown. The richest soils in the county 

 are those of the Upper Greensand, which yields a comparatively 

 dry and friable loam, especially where it is the joint product 

 of the Upper Greensand and the overlying chalk marl. The 

 arable sheep farms of the upper chalk districts represent 

 the lowest rented soils, these being only suited to grazing and 

 the cultivation of arable crops for sheep food. 



