330 



Small Holdings in Herefordshire. . [august t 



implements. From the condition of these small mixed holdings 

 and the history of their occupiers in the past, they are not, so 

 far as can be judged, a success on the whole, unless the holder 

 goes in for some special branch of farming, such as fruit 

 culture, strawberry growing, or cider-making. The last of these 

 is an important industry in the county, well suited to small 

 holders, many of whom have taken it up successfully. 



Fruit Cultivation. — Holdings devoted mainly to fruit culture 

 are not nearly so numerous as grass or general mixed holdings. 

 The soil and climate, however, are acknowledged to be 

 specially favourable for fruit, and its cultivation is increasing. 

 Old grass orchards of standard apple trees, mainly cider 

 varieties, are numerous and have existed here for ages. The 

 production of cider fruit is likely to receive more attention in 

 the near future than it has in the past, for while the trade in 

 cider has developed considerably the orchards have degene- 

 rated, and little planting of cider varieties has been done. 

 A good many large fruit plantations have been established 

 during recent years, and small holders have now gone in 

 for fruit culture to some extent. 



For fruit culture there is in the county plenty of land as 

 suitable as any to be found in districts where the industry has 

 been long established, and it is let at a lower rental — the 

 average being about £i ios. to £1 15s. per acre. The principal 

 disadvantages connected with this class of small holding are 

 the large amount of capital required per acre, the time taken 

 for the trees to come into full bearing, and the uncertainty 

 of the crop, owing to late frosts and other unfavourable condi- 

 tions of weather. Tenants possessed of the necessary technical 

 training and the landlord's permission to plant, may get over 

 the need of a large capital at the commencement by planting a 

 small portion of land each season and raising the trees themselves, 

 a system which has been adopted in establishing most of the 

 existing plantations, and also by underplanting with small 

 fruit which soon comes into bearing, such as gooseberries, 

 currants, or strawberries. The difficulty arising from the 

 uncertainty of the fruit crop is overcome by planting several 

 kinds of fruit and a few varieties of each, including both early 

 and late ones. It is rarely that more than one or two kinds of 

 fruit fail to produce a crop, or that both early and late varieties 



