328 Small Holdings in Herefordshire, [august, 



and varies from light land in the south, well suited for corn and 

 sheep or for potato culture, to a strong loam or a moderately 

 stiff clay elsewhere. Both soil and climate appear to be specially 

 favourable for the apple crop. Apples grown in the county 

 develop a finer colour than is attainable in many localities, 

 and growers meet with a considerable amount of success at 

 important shows all over the country. 



Markets. — There are no large towns and the total urban 

 population at the last census amounted to only 37,377, so that, 

 in the event of any considerable increase in the produce of 

 small holdings, a market for it will have to be found outside 

 the county. A good fruit market established by the Corpora- 

 tion is held weekly at Hereford during the season, and is well 

 attended by buyers from South Wales. The Hereford Co- 

 operative Fruit Grading Society, started three years ago by 

 the Herefordshire Fruit Growers' Association, deals with a 

 considerable amount of fruit, and the committee are now 

 considering the desirability of adding the collection and grading 

 of eggs to the useful work they are already doing. A very 

 successful egg-collecting society, working on co-operative 

 principles, has been in operation for some time in the Eardes- 

 land district. There is good railway communication with 

 London, Bristol, South Wales, Birmingham, and the North, so 

 that the county is favourably situated for sending produce by 

 rail, and no difficulty is experienced in getting it. to the markets 

 in the large centres of population. Large quantities of straw- 

 berries and other fruit are sent away regularly during the 

 season. 



Hereford, Ross, and the Wye Valley generally, Colwall, and 

 other places attract large numbers of visitors during the 

 summer and are apparently increasing in popularity as holiday 

 resorts, and visitors occasionally, after returning to their homes, 

 have their supplies of butter, eggs, poultry, and fruit forwarded 

 regularly from a farm in the district where they spent their 

 holiday. The railway companies now afford special facilities 

 for this class of trade, forwarding the goods, collecting the cash 

 in payment for them, and generally acting as the seller's agent. 

 This is a method of marketing particularly suited to the small 

 holder, and is capable of considerable extension in districts 

 frequented by holiday visitors. There are no middlemen's 



