354 Co-operation in Tenure of Small Holdings, [aug., 



Apart from the benefits, to be subsequently enumerated, as 

 regards the tenure of the land itself in this manner, the system 

 forms a bed rock on which to build from the very beginning- 

 other co-operative methods in the whole process of small- 

 holding cultivation, from the provision of working capital for 

 initial expenses to the ultimate disposal of produce. 



1 propose, first, to give a very general indication of the 

 present position, which will involve a review of the possi- 

 bilities introduced by the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 

 1908. I shall then proceed to explain what is being advocated 

 by those who wish to carry out the policy of co-operation in 

 the tenure of land, and, finally, give a short description of one 

 or two places where the work has been already begun. 



The formation of societies for land-holding is no- new idea ; 

 but so far it has not taken much root in purely country dis- 

 tricts. In the neighbourhood of some manufacturing towns, 

 especially those engaged in the boot trade, voluntary associa- 

 tions have been formed amongst members of the industrial 

 classes for acquiring an estate, which is let out in small lots 

 amongst themselves. In this way individuals who would have 

 been unable single-handed to obtain land have acquired plots 

 on which they work in their spare time and to which they 

 retire to earn a part living in their old age or in slack times. 



It is, however, only quite recently that the countryman has 

 attempted anything of the kind. There are, it is true, instances 

 such as the Lincolnshire and the Norfolk Small Holdings As- 

 sociations, where the association largely consists of men with 

 capital who guarantee the rent paid by the smaller men who 

 hold and cultivate the land. But the associations which I am 

 advocating, and propose to describe, differ in this way : it is 

 the small holders themselves who form the association, pay up 

 so much share capital, and guarantee the rent of the society 

 as a whole — that is to say, each man is individually respon- 

 sible for his share of the rent of a defaulter. 



There have been from time to time various isolated 

 endeavours to apply co-operative methods to land-holding; 

 but it is to the Agricultural Organisation Society that is due 

 the first attempt to carry out this idea on a definitely organised 

 basis. This Society exists for the purpose of introducing and 

 encouraging co-operation in all its branches in the agricultural 



