Large and Sina^ Holdinjs 
3 
"Under, small ; and a farm between those two limits, medium- 
sized." But I fear that I can only afford to treat of two classes, 
:ind I must therefore for my purpose include large and medium- 
sized farms in one division, and all holdings under 100 acres 
in the other. It is obvious that medium-sized farms, which are 
sufficiently large to allow the general use of implements and 
machinery, and to utilize the benefit which arises from classified 
and concentrated labour, may be rightly termed large, as com- 
pared with those smaller holdings where such advantages can 
rarely be adopted. 
There is no doubt that what may be called a large farm in one 
district may be regarded as small in another ; and it is com- 
monly supposed that one county possesses mostly large and 
another mostly small farms, and that the two classes of holdings 
do not exist together. As a rule, small farms are common in 
grass counties, and large ones in arable districts. But in 
Lincolnshire and Norfolk, for instance, which are the premier 
grain-producing counties, and which possess more large farms 
than any county, save Wiltshire, there are no less than 20,000 
holdings in the former, and 12,000 in the latter county, under 
50 acres. Upon this Mr. Druce observes, 
" That these counties, which are the two pre-?mineatly agricultural counties 
■of England, contain so large a number of both large and small farms, tends 
to show that large and small farms can and do exist in large numbers, so 
to say, side by side." 
At the Central Chamber of Agriculture, in March 1886, 
Mr. Lipscomb, from the West Riding of Yorkshire, proposed 
and carried these resolutions : — 
" 1. Large farms are most suitable where the conformation of the country 
allows of large, evenl}' shaped inclosures, and where the soil and climate are 
specially adapted to the growth of cereals, and the rearing of sheep. 2. Small 
farms are preferable in hilly or rugged districts, where fields are necessarilj' 
small, and where the soil and climate are specially favourable to permanent 
grass, consequently where a lari^e proportion of pasture prevails, and dairy 
produce forms a main source of income." 
Then followed a third resolution about market gardens and 
allotments, which was also carried. At the Norfolk Chamber 
of Agriculture two very similar resolutions had previously been 
passed, with a third, which stated that " some small farms and 
separate plots of land, and a proper proportion of allotments, 
as well as of good cottage gardens, are necessary in every parish." 
But labourers' allotments and market gardens, except when the 
latter form a portion of a small farm, must be considered outside 
the contrast which I have been requested to draw. 
With regard to large and small farms, the experience of 
those who live in the country will uphold the main principles 
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