Small Holdings in Cornwall. 891 
realise that it has been a great mistake to allow agriculture to 
decline. 
We should probably in such circumstances have hasty, ill-advised, 
and drastic legislation affecting the land, which timely action might 
have avoided. 
The avowed purpose of increasing the number of small holdings 
is to endeavour to increase the proportion of the population who shall 
live on the land. That this is desirable all are agreed ; people only 
begin to differ when plans are proposed to accomplish it. 
Some few persons maintain that the best plan would be to 
reimpose such a tax on imported wheat and flour as should again 
make it profitable to grow wheat. In this case it is said a far 
greater number would be employed on the land. 
Another plan of accomplishing the same object is that of pro- 
viding a sufficient number of small holdings, to be occupied, as 
tenants or prospective owners, by the most energetic and thrifty of 
the labourers. 
It is of this plan, as it is now before the public, that we wish to 
inquire, Is it economically sound and socially desirable ? Can it 
be proved that food cannot be produced as plentifully and as cheaply 
on small holdings as on large ones ? If so, whatever other reasons 
may favour their establishment, they Avould be commercially a 
failure. 
At first sight it would seem that this must be the case, seeing 
that small holdings, relatively to large ones, require a larger outlay on 
buildings, and consequently must pay a proportionately higher rent ; 
also that on small holdings it will not pay to purchase the various 
expensive labour-saving appliances which prove such an economic 
advantage in the cultivation of large farms. On examination, how- 
ever, these disadvantages are more than counterbalanced by the 
advantages of a closer personal supervision, and the fact of the 
larger proportion of the labour, frequently the whole of it, being 
performed by the occupier and his family, all of whom have the 
utmost possible interest in the success of the undertaking. This is 
an advantage that can be fully appreciated by those who ha^ e to 
depend on hired labour ; and seeing that all the expensive machinery 
required, such as steam threshing-machines, can always be hired on 
reasonable terms, it far outweighs the disadvantage of a few shillings 
per acre additional rent. 
There are other considerable advantages which small holdings 
have over large ones. It will be admitted that they are best adapted 
for dairying, the rearing of cattle, and the production of pork, 
poultry, and eggs ; also for the grOAvth of vegetables, fruit, and 
flowers, inasmuch as these operations require a larger amount of 
skilled labour and personal supervision than the growth of cereals, 
and the production of mutton, beef, and wool. 
It is obvious that if a large holding were devoted to the raising of 
vegetables, fruit, and flowers, a number of experts would be required 
to superintend the various departments. These would require a 
high rate of wages, and after all would lack the direct interest in the 
