i9io.] 



Small Holdings in Surrey. 



9 



the bushes to make vigorous growth tends to stop the attacks 

 of the fungus; whereas the opposite is the case with the 

 American Gooseberry Mildew, which most severely attacks 

 vigorously growing bushes. The former characteristic is 

 illustrated by the following case : A number of "Crown Bob " 

 bushes on which the current year's growth of wood 

 had died back through being badly attacked by Botrytis' 

 were planted in an old arable field, part of which was heavy 

 clay with plenty of moisture, and part was of a much more 

 friable nature, with a gravelly subsoil. All the bushes were 

 pruned into two years' old wood before being transplanted. 

 Those bushes which were planted in the heavy clay land made 

 excellent growth the next season and showed no disease, 

 while the remainder, which were on drier soil (though in the 

 same field and adjoining the others), grew less vigorously 

 and again became severely attacked by Botrytis. 



SMALL HOLDINGS IN SURREY. 

 Gordon Harley Grellier, P. A. S.I. 



Although it is generally thought that there are few small 

 holdings, as the term is popularly understood, in the county 

 of Surrey, there is still a substantial number of holdings of 

 from 5 to 50 acres, the occupiers of which are either 

 dependent on the land for a living, or use it to supplement 

 their incomes. Speaking generally, these holdings are not 

 found grouped together, but scattered over the county. In 

 wide unbroken stretches of agricultural land, the farms are 

 generally from 200 to 1,000 acres in extent, but even in these 

 districts, and where least expected, small holders may be 

 found. Surrey, however, is a county of commons, heaths 

 and woods, and it is in and about these that many of the 

 small holdings are located. 



Climate and Soil. — The climate upon the whole is dry, 

 particularly on the open sandy heaths about Bagshot, but the 

 soil varies considerably, and it may be said that Surrey 

 contains some of the best land and some which is as poor as 

 any in the country. The largest area of uniform soil is that 

 of the flat low-lying district in the south, known as the Weald, 

 which can only be profitably worked by those possessing 

 considerable capital and skill, and is therefore unsuitable for 



