1908.] Official Circulars and Notices. 543 



Appoint mint of Small Holdings and Allotments Committee. — The first step to be 

 taken by a Council to bring the Act into operation is the appointment of a Small 

 Holdings and Allotments Committee, which may include non-members of the Council. 



The Council may delegate all their powers under the Acts to the Committee, 

 except the power of raising a rate or of borrowing money, and with a view to avoiding 

 unnecessary delay, it is desirable that full powers should be delegated and that the 

 Committee should be authorised to conduct all correspondence relating to the Acts 

 and to carry out inquiries, &c, without having to refer each point to the Council. 



In the case of a County Borough, the members of the Committee might 

 conveniently be appointed allotment managers under the Allotments Acts. 



Applications. — After Councils have made known the provisions of the Acts through- 

 out the county or borough by advertisement, &c, applications should be invited, and 

 forms of application supplied, which should contain inquiries as to the experience of 

 the applicant, and whether he or she has sufficient capital to work the holding with a 

 reasonable prospect of success. 



Applicants should also be asked to state in the form of application how much land 

 they desire, and whether arable or grass, whether they desire to purchase or hire the 

 land, whether they require a house or buildings, whether they desire any particular 

 land if it can be obtained for them, and whether they are occupying any land at the 

 time of making application. 



Rules. — Rules for the sale and letting of small holdings are required to be made 

 by Councils. These rules must be confirmed by the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, who have issued model rules for the information and guidance of Councils. 



Inquiries as to Stiitability of Applicants. — On the receipt of applications for land, 

 a Council should satisfy themselves as to the qualifications and suitability of the 

 applicants by means of inquiries at which they can be interviewed personally. 

 For this purpose the best course will be to appoint sub-committees, consisting partly 

 of members of the Small Holdings Committee, and partly of members of the minor 

 local authorities and other suitable persons, for each parish or other convenient area 

 from which applications have been received. 



In dealing with the applications it will be necessary to consider the provisions 

 contained in the Act of 1892, which require that "applicants must themselves 

 cultivate the holdings." It seems clear that these provisions are intended to be read 

 with section seven of the Act of 1892, which requires the Council to make rules 

 guarding against any small holding being held by a person who is unable to cultivate 

 it properly, the object being to secure that the small holder shall personally apply the 

 requisite skill and ability to the cultivation of the holding. 



The words should not be interpreted in a narrow sense, and persons who require 

 land as an adjunct to their present occupations should not be refused on that account, nor 

 should their applications be given a secondary place as compared with those of men who 

 propose to devote their whole time to their holdings. In this connection it should be 

 remembered that section twenty of the Act of 1892 defines " cultivation " to include 

 the use of land for any purpose of husbandry, inclusive of the keeping or breeding ol 

 live stock, poultry, or bees, and the growth of fruit, vegetables, and the like. The 

 provision that the small holders must themselves cultivate their holdings does not 

 exclude the use of hired labour to assist them in the cultivation. 



Appointment of a Special Officer. — If ihe work of the sub-committees is to be 

 carried out properly, it will probably be found necessary for the Council to appoint a 

 special officer to act as their land or estate agent, and to deal with the business arising 

 under the Acts. Such an officer should act as clerk to the Small Holdings and 

 Allotments Committee, and he might also be responsible for attending and reporting the 

 meetings of the local sub-committees, and for making such inquiries as the Committee 

 might direct into the suitability of the applicants for land and the best means of meeting 

 their demands. In addition, he could undertake the management and supervision of the 

 small holdings, when established, and the collection of the rents, and could act 



