22- 
Large and Small Holdingsi 
ago at Moulsford, and more recently as agent to the Maristow 
Estate, must be well known to many members of the Royal 
Agricultural Society. 
Eemabks ox the Contrast of the Products of Large antj Small 
Farms in the vicint;ty of Plymouth. 
" The advantages which the small farmers in this locality possess over the 
large ones are, that their simple mode of liviug and their industrious habits 
enable them to do better than the large farmers, who, having to pay lor 
everything which they have doue, are being ruined by the very low prices 
of all kinds of stock and produce, and increased price of labour. 
" The small farmer, with his wife and criildren in most instances, not only 
milks and feeds the cows, rears the calves, looks after the poultry and the pigs, 
but the wife, after also attending to her dairy and butter making, takes all 
the produce she can spare fiom the dairy, poultry, all kinds of vegetables, 
fruit and even tiowers to market herself; and by these means generally pro- 
vides the rent by the time it is dup, besi<les occasionally selling the primest 
joints of pork and black and white puddings, beicig content to live them- 
selves on that which is not so easily converted into money. 
" The farmer himself with his eldest boys works harder, and many more 
hours than a paid labourer does now-a-days, and always has a watchful eye 
on all the live stock ; he employs as little outside labour as he can possibly 
do without ; he frequently hires his machines and other implements from his 
neighbours on the larger farms. 
"The small farmer grows but little mure corn than he can profitably con- 
sume himself, but he generally manages to sell sufficient to repurchase his seed 
com, consequently the low price of com has but little affected him, and he 
has been comparatively a thriving man until the last two years, during 
which time the great depreciation in the price of all live stock has so re- 
duced him and his capital, that he can no longer pay the rent which he 
formerly did. 
" For my own part, I do not take this gloomy view of the aspect of things, 
for if the small farmer will only adapt himself to the altered circumstances of 
affairs, he might still hold his own very favourably against the large farmer. 
" Since my retirement from the more active duties on the Maristow Estate, 
I have had the opportunity and leisure to discuss this matter over very 
freely with the farmers, and have inspected several small farms in this 
neighbourhood. 
" I will give one instance, which I think fairly represents their system and 
management of live stock. 
" In the summer of last year I went over a farm, not exceeding 100 acres, 
on which I found about 60 head of cattle of different ages, besides 6 dairy 
cows and about 150 sheep. The cattle comprised about 15 beasts over three 
years old, 15 over two years, 14 yearlings and 16 or 17 rearing calves. 
" I first came upon the 15 old beasts, and afterwards the yearlings and two- 
year-olds. On askinir the farmer why he was keeping these old cattle, he 
replied that the price he had been oflered for them was so miserably low that he 
could not make up his mind to sell them. 1 then enquired if they were not 
worth the same or more money 12 months ac;o, and he admitted that they 
were. I said : ' By keeping them, and giving them all the best roots and 
grass on the farm, you have been starving all your younger cattle.' If he 
liad sold tiiem in the autumn of last year at whatever price he could have 
made of them, and given the lood which th(y had since consumed to the 
young stock, the 30 yearlings and two-year-olds would have been worth 
juore money than the whole 45 feeding cattle, and by giving them a little 
