394 
Small Holdings in Cornwall. 
Parish 
No. o£ 
Hold- 
ings 
from 5 
to 50 
acres 
No. of 
Occu- 
piers 
once 
Labour- 
ers or 
sous of 
Labour- 
ers 
No. of 
Hold- 
ings 
from 50 
to 100 
acres 
No. of 
Occu- 1 
piers : 
once ! 
Labour- ' 
ers or 
sons of 
Labour- 
ers j 
No. of 
Hold- 
ings 
from 100 
acres 
upwards 
No. of 
Occu- 
piers 
once 
Labour- 
ers or 
sons of 
Labour- 
ers 
Percentage 
of 
Occupiers 
once 
Labourers 
(1) Entirely agricultural 
St. Germans .... 
36 
0 
9 
0 
28 
0 
0 
St. Keyne 
15 
a 
9 
3 
24 
6 
29-16 
Pillaton 
7 
2 
7 
1 
7 
1 
19-04 
St. Dominic .... 
30 
11 
12 
3 
8 
2 
32 
(2) Partly mining 
St. Ive 
45 
36 
11 
r> 
16 
6 
65-27 
Callington 
33 
8 
13 
0 
3 
0 
16-32 
Menheniot 
14 
6 
11 
2 
29 
2 
18-61 
South Hill 
36 
4 
10 
2 
10 
2 
14-28 
1 
Total . . 
216 
72 
' 82 
16 
126 
19 
These figures show that slightly over half the holdings in this 
part of East Cornwall are between five acres and fifty, and that one- 
third of them are occupied by those who were once labourers or are 
the sons of labourers ; and that of the next class, viz., holdings 
between fifty acres and a hundred, about one-fifth of the number 
are so occupied, whilst of holdings of over one hundred acres, nearly 
one-sixth are occupied by those who were once labourers or are the 
sons of labourers. The total number of holdings of all sizes above 
five acres is 423, and the total number of occupiers who were 
labourers or are the sons of labourers is 107, or about one-fourth of 
the whole. 
The other point we propose to consider in connection with the 
increase in the number of small holdings is the social advantage it 
offers. 
The evil sought to be mitigated, if not entirely overcome, is the 
depopulation of the rural districts. One of the chief causes in- 
ducing the smartest labourers to leave the country districts is the 
fact that they see only a remote chance of advancement if they remain. 
Small holdings are frequently so few, compared witli the number 
who desire them, that it is a tiresome thing to wait the chance 
of getting one on anything like reasonable terms. Without such a 
tenancy as a stepping-stone to something better, labourers feel that 
nothing remains for them if they stay on tlie land but to be labourers 
all their days. They consequently determine to seek their fortunes 
elsewhere. Many emigrate, others migrate to the towns, thus 
leaving the rural districts poorer, not only in men, but in young 
men of ambition, energy, and thrift, — young men, who, if a fair 
chance, in the first instance, had been afforded them by a better 
supply of suitable dwellings (those now in existence being too often 
insufficient in number, and many of them totally unfit for human 
habitation), and in the next by a sufficient supply of small agricul- 
