24 
Large and Small Holdings. 
who keeps, say, two horses, and goes in for corn and roots, labours, in my 
opinion, under many disadvantages. Tiie family of the small farmer is 
usually well schooled in habits of frugality, thrift and application to hard 
labour, and is therefore a class of the community, wliich it is desirable to 
increase, but as to any advantages which accrue to the country by increased 
production, I think it is the other way. If the labour of the farmer and his 
family is debited to the farm, as it ouf;ht to be in all cases, it will indeed 
generally be found to be cheap labour." 
Coming now to the Midlands, my friend Mr. Albert Pell 
puts forth two prominent advantages that small farmers possess 
over large ones : " 1, Contentment ; 2. Ability to pay rent, and 
that hardly ever a low one." It is pleasant to find anywhere a 
farmer who does not grumble, but paying a high rent is no 
evidence of a large produce, or even of the tenant's prosperity. 
Mr. Pell then gives two instances of successful small farmers — 
one, who is still a labourer and who first "joisted" a cow and 
has now 27 head of cattle, and " who never deserted his master 
in harvest or time of need." The other is the under-manager 
of a stocking factory, and rents 12 acres. But as these two 
worthy men were both once Mr. Pell's ploughboys, and can now 
have " all the money they want, without interest," from their 
old master, they assuredly possess some substantial advantages 
which do not fall to the lot of every small farmer. Another 
more common case mentioned by Mr. Pell is that of a farm 
bailiff's widow, who with her son hires 25 or 30 acres. The 
widow " sells milk, carries it out herself morning and evening, 
and makes cream-cheeses in the summer." The last illustra- 
tion he gives is that of a retired shopkeeper, who lives in his 
own house, owns some land, and hires 20 acres more. This 
tenant seems to be an excellent farmer, but is reported as 
" rather fond of harrowing the dung off my land to his ; but 
that is natural, and shows knowledge of the value of dung." 
Mr. Pell concludes thus : — 
"Now if you were to ask me, how these people make it paj% you would 
pose me ; it is a thing no man can understand." 
Arriving now at Herefordshire, Mr. Thomas Duckham says : 
" You have set me a task. 1 am utterly at a loss to know where the puU 
is that a small holder has over a large farmer, beyond the fact, that, with 
a small holding sufficient to occupy his whole time, he may by dint of 
perseverance and hard work earn a little more than when working as a day 
labourer." 
Mr. Duckham then mentions two small holdings which 
have been merged in his farm, the former occupiers having lost 
money and deteriorated the land, and he then gives an interesting 
and detailed account of men who have raised themselves by 
adding a little land to their other employments, and concludes : 
