442 Report on Small Holdings. [sept., 



was attacked by Dry Rot (Leaflet No. 113) ; tomatoes from 

 Taunton were infested by " sleepy disease " (Leaflet No. 116) ; 

 tomatoes from Rletchley with Leaf -curl (Leaflet No. 164) ; 

 turnips from Chester with " Finger-and-Toe " (Leaflet No. 77) ; 

 mangolds from Abergele with Heart Rot (Leaflet No. 144) ; 

 potatoes from Chester, Norwich and Dalston (Cumberland) 

 with Potato Disease (Leaflet No. 23) ; and potatoes from 

 Reading, Baldock, Norwich, and Manchester with Potato 

 Scab (Leaflet No. 137). 



The action taken by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 under the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts up to the 



30th of June, 1908, is described in an 

 Report on Small interim report by the Small Holdings 

 Holdings. Commissioners (Cd. 4245. Price 5^.), 



from which it appears that over 19,000 

 persons have applied for small holdings of a total acreage 

 of over 300,000 acres. These applications are being con- 

 sidered by the committees and sub-committees of the county 

 councils concerned. A large proportion of the applicants 

 appear to be thoroughly suitable men, and the amount of 

 capital they possess is greatly in excess of what was generally 

 anticipated. Only in a very small percentage of cases is there 

 any desire to purchase, and in the majority of cases the 

 applicants do not ask for houses or buildings. This is probably 

 due to the fact that most of them are men who are already 

 resident in the country and who desire land within reach of 

 their present homes. 



The extent to which the original number of applications has 

 been reduced after investigation varies in different part of the 

 country. In the Isle of Wight practically the whole of the 

 applicants are regarded as being likely to prove suitable tenants. 

 In Cambridgeshire the applications of 865 persons for 8,203 

 acres were investigated, and the sub-committees have approved 

 673 applications for 5,080 acres. In some counties, on the 

 other hand, mainly owing to the adoption of a somewhat 

 narrow view as to the description of person who is entitled to 

 take advantage of the Act, the sub-cornmittees have ruled out 

 a number of applications from village tradesmen, carriers, &c, 

 who desired land as an adjunct to their present employment. 



