Large and Small Holdings, 
11' 
The small occupier cannot stand against these losses; he 
may have to put up with small profits, but he must have 
certain, if not quick returns. Even in the growth of common 
vegetables, those that come earliest to market may give a good 
profit, while those that are only a few days late are sold at a 
loss. The means of rapid and extended transit enable the 
small farmer of the present day to send his perishable com- 
modities to market from greater distances than in past years 
but if it be true that the carriage of eggs to the Metropolis costs 
as much from the West of England as it does from Italy, and 
that poultry can be sent as cheaply from the South of France as 
from Wales, it follows that the foreign peasant, with his sunnier 
skies and drier climate, has obtained still greater advantages- 
from steam communication. 
Railways have been the means of wonderfully developing the 
milk trade, but the expenses of carriage and of distribution are 
so considerable, that some farmers only netted ^d. per gallon 
for their milk during the summer of last year. The man who 
keeps a single cow can never contract for a regular supply 
of milk. Being bound to furnish a certain quantity for a given 
time is one great drawback to the profit of the large dairy 
farmer. The little man who can retail his milk to his neigh- 
bours may do so with advantage, but more generally the produce 
of a very small dairy is turned into butter, and in rare instances 
into cream-cheese. So taking dairy produce all round, small 
farms have no advantage over large ones, though in its distri- 
bution the wife of the small farmer, if a good market-woman,, 
can generally make a considerable profit. 
It is in pigs and poultry, and now and then in calf-rearing, 
that the live-stock advantages of la petite culture are most 
prominent. Pigs delight in warm food, comfortable beds, and 
absence of overcrowding. All this they more generally receive 
from the small than the large farmer. Poultry always do best 
in small lots. Gigantic poultry establishments, however scien- 
tifically managed, invariably come to grief. Six hens will 
generally lay more eggs per fowl than a dozen, and a dozeft 
than a score. 
The necessity of dividing poultry into small lots is now 
generally felt where great quantities are kept. Instead of all the 
fowls on a good-sized farm being congregated around the home- 
stead, wooden houses upon wheels are constructed, in which 15 
or 20 hens lay their eggs and roost. These houses are moved to 
various parts of the farm, and the fowls, by having access to 
fresh ground, find plenty of insects, and after harvest eat a 
quantity of corn that would otherwise be wasted. Fowls by 
this means are not only fed more cheaply, but they lay more 
