THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol, XVI. No. 5. 



AUGUST, 1909. 



CO-OPERATION IN THE TENURE OF SMALL 

 HOLDINGS. 

 Mrs. Roland Wilkins (L. Jebb). 



The extension of small holdings under the Act of 1907 has 

 brought the subject of co-operation very much to the front. It 

 is, at any rate, not overstating the case to assert that 

 where the isolated small holder is likely to fail, a group of 

 small holders banded together has a chance of succeeding. 

 Already, before the passing of the new Act, in old-established 

 small-holding districts, people complained that they no longer 

 received the prices they formerly enjoyed owing to the com- 

 petition arising out of the local extension of small holdings. 

 Instead of their position becoming stronger by the advent of 

 fellow-workers, each new recruit was merely one more added 

 to the number who were cutting the throats of their neigh- 

 bours. There is a danger that this local experience will be 

 extended all over England if serious attention is not paid to 

 the question of organising the production and sale of produce 

 on the thousands of newly-acquired holdings scattered about 

 the country. 



We are all familiar with the propositions of co-operation 

 for the purchase of requirements, the hiring of machinery, 

 the sale of produce, &c, and endeavours have been made in 

 various parts to persuade already existing small holders to 

 form co-operative societies for these purposes. I propose in 

 this paper to describe a movement which goes nearer the root 

 of the whole question, viz., co-operation in the initial process 

 of acquiring and holding land. 



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