1908.] 



Official Circulars and Notices. 



465 



Small Holdings. 



Definition and Method of Application. — A " small holding " for the purposes of 

 the Small Holdings Acts, means an agricultural holding which is more than one acre 

 and not more than fifty acres in extent. It may, however, exceed fifty acres provided 

 the annual value for the purpose of income tax is not more than £*f>. 



Applications for small holdings should be made to the Clerk of the County Council, 

 or in the case of residents in a County Borough to the Town Clerk. 



Persons Eligible as Applicants. — There is no restriction in the Small Holdings 

 Acts as to the class or sex of persons that may apply for small holdings, except that 

 they must "themselves cultivate the holding." This expression is not to be under- 

 stood in a narrow sense. The Acts define " cultivation " to mean the use of the land 

 for any purpose of husbandry, including the keeping or breeding of live stock, poultry, 

 or bees, or the growth of fruit, vegetables, and the like. Applicants will be expected 

 to satisfy the Council that they have sufficient experience and means to work a small 

 holding with the prospect of success. There is no provision in the Acts for the 

 advance of money out of public funds to individuals taking up small holdings. 



Acquisition of Land. — Councils can purchase or hire land for small holdings either 

 in or outside the county or borough. If they are unable to obtain land by agreement, 

 they can, with the sanction of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, acquire land 

 compulsorily subject to the restrictions referred to in the case of allotments. 



Councils have certain powers of adapting land for the purpose of small holdings, 

 ncluding the power to erect dwelling houses and other buildings. 



Sale or Letting of Small Holdings. — Land that has been bought by a Council by 

 agreement can either be sold or let to a small holder ; but land taken on lease, or 

 acquired compulsorily, can only be let. 



Rent. — The rent to be paid by a small holder will be fixed by the Council at a 

 sum not less than is sufficient to cover the rent or the interest on the purchase money 

 paid by the Council, with the addition of a fair proportion of the cost Of adapting the 

 land for small holdings, and a sum to cover management and other expenses. 



Terms of purchase. — The terms upon which a small holding may be purchased are 

 as follows : — 



At least one-fifth of the purchase money, including the cost of adaptation, must be 

 paid down. One-fourth may be secured by a perpetual rentcharge, and the payment 

 of the remainder of the purchase -money, together with interest, will be made in half- 

 yearly instalments, which may be spread over a period not exceeding fifty years. 



Every small holding sold by the County Council will, for twenty years, and 

 thereafter until the whole of the purchase money is paid, remain subject to certain 

 conditions drawn up to ensure that the holding shall not be diverted from the 

 purposes of agriculture. 



Assistance to existing Small Holders to buy their Holdings. — If the tenant of a 

 small holding under a private landlord agrees with him for the purchase of the holding, 

 the County Council may advance not more than four-fifths of the purchase-money. 

 The money is repayable to the County Council upon the same terms as in the case of 

 a small holding sold by the Council, and the holding will become subject to the 

 same conditions. 



Lettings to Associations. — Councils may, with the consent of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Fisheries, let land for the purposes of small holdings or allotments to associa- 

 I tions. 



Persons desiring to form such an association, and to acquire land from a Council 

 for the purpose of sub-letting it in small holdings or allotments to the members of the 

 association or others, should communicate with the Secretary of the Agricultural 

 Organisation Society, Dacre House, Dacre Street, Westminster, S.W., with a view to 

 their adopting the necessary rules and becoming registered societies. 



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