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The Nation's Library.

The outstanding feature of the Nation's Libra Rr
is speciaUsed information by the most capable and com-
petent authorities, and every subject dealt with is
brought right up to the point of its relationship to modem
life and thought.

Nothing obsolete finds a place in this series; each
book provides ample material for thought in its particular
direction and presents knowledge in its most modem
dress.

The volumes already issued or in preparation
include ;—

SOCIALISM AND SYNDICALISM. Philip Snowden.
M.P.

AVIATION. Claude Grahame-White.

SANE TRADE UNIONISM. W. V. Osborne (of the

Osborne Judgment).

INDUSTRIAL GERMANY. William HARBUxr
Dawson.

EUGENICS : A SCIENCE AND AN IDEAL. Edgar
Schuster, M.A. (Oxon.), D.Sc, Fellow of New
College, Oxford, sometime Galton Research Fellow
in National Eugenics at the University of London.

THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF SMALL HOLDINGS.
James Long, Member of Departmental Committee
on Small Holdings.

MODERN VIEWS ON EDUCATION. Thiselton
Mark, B.Sc, D.Lit., Lecturer on Education in
the University of Manchester.

WHY OUR RAILWAYS SHOULD BE NATIONAL-
ISED. Emil Davies (Chairman Railway National-
isation Society).

THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT. Ethel Snowden
(Mrs I'liilip Snowden).

S.II. * A

2 THE NATION'S LIBRARY— Continued

CANADA AS AN IMPERIAL FACTOR. Hakar
Greenwood, M.P., Barrister-at-Law.

A HISTORY OF TRUSTS. M. E. Hirst, M.A. (Birm.),
sometime Scholar of Newnham College, Cambridge.
With an Introduction by F. W. Hirst, Editor of
The Economist.

WHY OUR RAILWAYS SHOULD NOT BE
NATIONALISED. Edwin A. Pratt, Author of
American Railways,

THE PRINCIPLES OF EVOLUTION. Joseph
McCabe, Author of The Story of Evolution, The
Evolution oj Mind, etc.

MODERN COMMERCE: A SURVEY. H. H.
Bassett, Editor Financial Review of Reviews.

A BOOK OF FOLK-LORE. Rev. S, Baring-Gould,
M.A.

THE MODERN BRITISH NAVY. Commander
Charles Robinson, R.N. (Ret.).

BURNS. Rev. Lauchlan MacLean Watt, M.A.,
B.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A. (Scot.).

OIL FUEL. Vivian B. Lewes, F.I.C, F.C.S., Professor
of Chemistry at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich,

CO-OPERATION AND CO-PARTNERSHIP. Lang-
ford LovELL Price, M.A., Fellow and Treasurer
of Oriel College, Oxford, Reader in Economic History
in the University of Oxford.

POVERTY AND THE STATE. Geoffrey Drage,
M.A. (Oxon.).

THE STAR WORLD. A. C. de la C. Crommelin,
B.A., D.Sc. (Oxon.), Assistcint at Royal Observatory,
Greenwich

THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF
SMALL HOLDINGS

\ -4 I V .' { ,

7 D£C.!320

q

SMALL
HOLDINGS

JAMES LONG

CONTENTS

I.

II.

III.

<:

QC
CO

IV

V

1

VI

;•

VII

o

UJ

a

VIII
IX

X

C3

XI

INTRODUCTION ....

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS .

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SMALL HOLD

INGS MAY BE OBTAINED .
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE S3IALL HOLD

INGS ACT ....

SMALL HOLDINGS — I. . . .

SMALL HOLDINGS — II. . . .

THE SELECTION OF A HOLDING
THE SOIL OF THE SiLA.LL HOLDING .
STOCKING A HOLDING
DAIRYING ON A SMALL HOLDING
SPECIALISED AND MIXED FARMING .
EQUIPMENT, ENTRY, PROSPECTS .

APPENDIXES :

SMALL HOLDINGS AND ALLOTMENT
SOCIETIES . . . . .

CREDIT SOCIETIES . . . .

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . , . .

INDEX .......

7
11

2T

33

46

73

95

110

138

185

214

232

245
253
256

261

112835

INTRODUCTION

The Author's earliest connection with the
Small Holdings movement dates from 1880,
when making an agricultural tour in Cheshire,
details of which were published in the Man-
chester Guardian. On this journey he was
enabled to see something of the work con-
ducted by the tenants on the estate of Lord
Tollemache, an ardent and devoted helper
of small occuj)iers of land. It was owing to
this visit and to subsequent correspondence
with Lord Tollemache that he was induced
to pay close attention to the subject; to see
something of the practice in various countries
on the Continent; and later to make a more
extended inspection of the colonies of small
holders established in England. This event-
ually led to the direction of attention to
the lack of allotments, a matter in which
Lord Onflow — one of the ablest and most

8 INTRODUCTION

disinterested advocates of a system destined
to become a power in the land — took a
prominent part.

In 1902 the writer again paid a visit to
Cheshire, on the invitation of the Right Hon.
James Tomkinson, M.P., of Wilhngton Hall,
an enthusiastic supporter of the system.
Subsequently visiting various portions of
Lord Carrington's property in Lincolnshire,
the colony at Swaffham, and the fruit-
growers in Hampshire, he was fortunate in
making the acquaintance of Sir Robert
Edgcumb, who had founded a colony of small
holders near Dorchester, and Major Poore,
who had succeeded in accomplishing similar
work for the benefit of others at Winter-
slow. Both gentlemen afforded valuable in-
formation which materially assisted the writer
in founding the Small Holdings Association,
of which Mr Tomkinson became chairman,
and, subsequently, the Newdigate Colony.
The latter is now divided into from thirty-
five to forty holdings, the large majority of
which are equipped with handsome homes.

INTRODUCTION 9

although prior to the purchase of the property
the buildings were confined to the homestead
and a single cottage.

In 1904 the writer became a member of
the Small Holdings Committee of which the
Earl of Onslow was chairman, and travelled
with him through Worcestershire for the
purpose of inspecting Small Holdings and
similar undertakings in which men were
engaged in making a livelihood upon small
areas of land.

Amongst others who became closely associa-
ted with this movement mention must be
made of the Rt. Hon. Jesse CoUings, M.P.,
who has for a quarter of a century exerted
himself in the interests of agriculture ;
of Sir James, now Lord, Blyth; Mr J.
H. Whitley, M.P., now Chairman of the
Committee of the House of Commons; Mr
Spear, M.P., now Sir John Spear; and Mr
Samuel Whitley.

THE PRACTICAL SIDE

OF

SMALL HOLDINGS

CHAPTER I

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Although public interest in Small Holdings
has only been keenly aroused during the past
ten years, the system has been established
in various parts of England for a long period
of time.

The author pointed out in a paper read
before the Manchester Statistical Society in
1904 that in some parts of England farming
was becoming impossible, that large areas
of land were being neglected or abandoned
altogether, while the country population
were drawing a large proportion of their
supplies of farm and garden produce from
large cities, in spite of the fact that the
quality was inferior and the prices exor-
bitant. We expressed our belief that the
difficulty was partly educational, and partly
that the younger men and women were dis-
satisfied with the humdrum routine of an
unpromising country life — a dissatisfaction

12 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

which is fanned by their friends in the
towns and by the glamour and fascination
of the music-hall and other alluring forms
of excitement.

As to whether there is a remedy for
this state of affairs, we believe that
there is, and that it lies in the natural
desire of man for the possession of a
home, of land, and of live stock, and
that in order to acquire possession of
the one or the other he will undertake re-
sponsibilities which demand unceasing labour
and a simple and frugal mode of life. The
lot of the agricultural labourer to-day is by
no means a promising one. His only hope
is in the receipt of higher wages, and this
hope can only be gratified, as he believes,
by obtaining employment in a town, where,
however, though he fails to recognise the
fact, his increased expenses absorb more
than the increase in his pay. There are
no prizes in the service to which he
belongs, while his small wages practically
precludes the possibility of his saving
money.

Yet, what frequently follows migration
to town? The young and vigorous
countryman is gladly employed by those

SMALL HOLDINGS 13

who are in want of strong arms and
steady nerves, at wages which are com-
paratively high, and, in spite of higher
rents and more extravagant rations, Hfc
swings merrily along, and he is gradually
drawn into the vortex by which so many
fine fellows are overwhelmed. His robust
constitution, however, his frugal training,
and his native air have served him well,
and he survives to marry and to settle in
one of those dismal, gardenless terraces,
involving a costly addition to his rent.
Gradually he sinks into the usual type of
overworked, unhealthy-looking town em-
ployee, struggling to rear a still more un-
healthy family, with the result that one more
group of human beings is added by the
countryside to the still swelling town popula-
tion, with its submerged tenth, its hospitals,
and its workhouses. This is how human
life — the very pith and marrow of our man-
hood— is being used up.

What will be the outcome of the Small
Holdings movement? Among the results we
look for are the following : —

(1) The repopulation of the country dis-
tricts.

(2) The improvement of the health and

14 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

physique of the people. We hold that it
is impossible for children to live among the
green fields and to be fed upon milk, home-
made bread, and fresh vegetables and fruit,
without a change being effected in their
weight, their size, and their mental and
physical condition.

(3) The prosperity of a larger number of
people. The existence of a colony or
garden village will be accompanied by
beneficial results to the working inhabi-
tants of the district; and where, as is
already the case in existing instances, the
colonists succeed, it follows that prosperity
is increased.

(4) The employment of an increased number
of workers — (a) on the land, for the intensive
culture of the small holder demands abundant
labour; {b) in the building trade; (c) in road-
making, well-sinking, brick-making, hauling
timber and other materials from the railway
to the colony, in the manufacture of building
materials, joinery, metal-work, and a hundred
other articles; (d) in the handling of produce
grown in increased quantities on holdings
of small size, and in the conveyance of this
produce to the consumer or to the large
market.

SMALL HOLDINGS 15

(5) The occupation and improvement of
uncultivated, abandoned, and derelict land.

(6) It will contribute to a much larger
extent to our ability to feed ourselves as a
nation. So long as manure is obtainable,
there is scarcely a limit to the capacity
of a skilled man to produce food of many
kinds.

(7) it will diminish the rates and taxes
payable in rural districts by reducing the
number of paupers and unemployed, and
consequently the poor rate.

The motor has brought our villages
nearer to the towns and the railways,
and to each other, and it will, in our
judgment, play an important part in the
establishment of Small Holding colonies
and garden villages. Experience thus far
has shown that there are thousands of
country-bred townsmen who are anxious
to change their occupation for rural life,
although it is probable that not more than
ten per cent, have the means or capacity
to make a start on the purchase system.
Of the 1200 applications for land which
were made to the writer in 1903, a small
proportion consisted of those impossible
persons, shopkeepers' assistants and clerks.

16 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

who have no experience of the country or
of any rural occupation. Of one fact we
are assured — that the rural labourer, with
very few exceptions, is not the man who
will occupy land, allotments excepted, either
under the hire or the purchase system,
except in a few particular districts ; but that
the man who really needs it is the country-
bred townsman, who has never lost his
attachment to the farm, and who has
acquired sufficient business experience to
enable him to combine with the labour
of cultivation the capacity to sell his
produce.

Our own ideal of a Small Holding colony
or garden village is a compact and not too
expensive property, situated in a district in
which agriculture is not highly prosperous,
and in which the population chiefly depend
for their food upon foreign produce. The
land should be of a substantial character,
well supplied with water, adjacent to the
village, church, chapel, and school; drained;
its fields conveniently divided by fences and
ditches, and all accessible from good roads.
The houses should be at once substantial,
simple, artistic — for most men take a pride
in a prettily constructed home — and con-

SMALL HOLDINGS 17

veniently equipped for warmth, cooking, and
all necessary domestic purposes. The arrange-
ment of the land, whether adjacent to the
house or not, is a matter for the decision of
the occupier, and will be controlled by his
system of culture; but, in any case, he should
provide a garden of sufficient size to supply
his own table, and this should include a
poultry yard, a piggery for a breeding sow
or two, and, in the absence of a cow,
one or two milch goats for the provision of
milk for his children.

A common or club room should be estab-
lished for tne use of the whole colony, and in
some way supplied with newspapers, especially
those representing farming and gardening,
with technical books, some innocent games,
and a few works of reference. There should
be a co-operative society controlled by a
committee elected by the colonists themselves,
and intended for the purchase and supply
of food — whether for the home or the
stock — manure, seeds, implements and
utensils, coals, and the provision of the
more costly articles of farm equipment, to
be used in turn.

The committee, too, should be charged
with the conduct of the repair of the

18 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

private roads, and they should represent
the whole body where cases of appeal are
essential against local rates, and in such
instances as may occur in which the well-
being of the colony is threatened. Little
difficulties which may cause personal incon-
venience and disagreement should be referred
to this committee. Co-operation, which has
raised Denmark to the position of one of the
richest countries in the world for its size,
is the lever which is employed by peasant
owners in every country but England. The
position of Co-operation with us is owing to
the small numbers of the men for whom it
was primarily designed, and in consequence
there are very few village banks, mutual
insurance societies, local cattle-breeding clubs,
and other organisations such as the Swiss,
the Danes, the Germans, and even the Luxem-
bergers have established for national utili-
tarian purposes.

We have no doubt that some of the many
who are constantly asserting that small
farming will not pay have commenced to
believe their assertions to be true, they have
made them so often; but we would point out
that the profits of the soil depend chiefly
upon labour and skill, and both are usually

SMALL HOLDINGS 19

rewarded. There are thousands of acres
of land within sight of St Paul's Cathedral
which do not return a gross profit of £5 per
acre per annum, and yet within the same
limited area there are market gardeners
and nurserymen — the majority of whom are
hiunbly born and imperfectly educated, but
who by experience have become accomplished
and skilled men — who are able to realise from
£100 to £1000 per acre for their produce —
in large part, it is true, by the aid of glass.
if this is not farming in the accepted sense
of the word, it is crop production, and the
margin between the figures we have sug-
gested is just as wide, and no wider, than
the capacity which exists between man
and man.

Great Britain is the only European country
of agricultural importance in which Small
Holdings are confined to a comparatively
small area. The total number of persons
employed upon the whole of the farms in
Great Britain in 1908, inclusive of the occu-
piers, amounts to 1,340,000, of whom 324,000
are females. The number of agricultural
holdings of land is 508,629, or, making
allowance for those cases in which one farmer
occupies more than one holding, we get, 'in

20

THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

round numbers,' — to use the words in the
official report — five hundred thousand persons.
The number of holdings of from 1 acre to 5
acres in 1908 was 108,094; the number
between 5 and 50 acres was 231,819; and from
50 to 300 acres the number was 151,002;

Size-group.

Arable.

Pasture.

Acres.

1-5

5-50

50-300

300-Over . . . .

Acres.

105,068
1,591,243
8,776,397
4,322,809

Acres.

235,727

3,133,757

10,190,238

3,856,147

while over 300 acres the number of farms
reached 17,714. Thus, we have 339,913
holdings imder 50 acres in extent, or con-
siderably more than half the total number
of holdings in the country. The total area
of arable and pasture land included in each
size-group of holdings, together with the
total area of rough grazing attached to the

SMALL HOLDINGS

21

holdings in each group (1908), are given on
pp. 20-21.

Thus it appears that if the rough grazing
were included in the area of the holdings as
classified into size-groups, the number below
50 acres in extent would be substantially

Rough
Gkazings.

Average Size.

Total.

Cultivated
Land

ONLY.

Including

Rough
Grazings.

Acres.

Acres.

Acres.

Acres.

340,795

561,327

3-2

8-3

4,725,000

4,576,747

20-4

40-1

18,966,635

6,379,829

125-6

167-8

i

8,178,956

1,284,071

461-7

534-3

reduced, while the number between 50 and 300
acres would be proportionately increased.
Apart from the rough grazings, the area of
land occupied by small farmers — i.e. those
occupying less than 50 acres — is, in round
numbers, 5 million acres, as against 27 million
acres occupied by farmers holding over 50
acres. Comparing the number of Small

22 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Holdings between 5 and 50 acres in extent
with 1885, we find that, while there has been
an increase in the area from 4,481,354 acres to
4,725,000 acres, there has been a slight diminu-
tion in the number, the figures being 232,955
for 1885 and 231,819 for 1908. On the other
hand, farms between 50 and 300 acres in extent
have increased from 144,000 to 151,000,
while farms over 300 acres have diminished
from 19,364 to 17,714. Small Holdings, 5
to 50 acres, now average 20| acres in extent,
while the largest holdings average 462 acres.
It is worthy of remark that of the 108,000
holdings between 1 and 5 acres in extent,
59,000 odd are pasture, while only 22,000 are
mixed holdings; on the other hand, among
the holdings from 5 to 50 acres, 93,000 are
pasture and 104,000 mixed, while only 34,000
are arable.

The total number of horses upon holdings
of from 1 to 50 acres is 391,000, the total
number of cattle 1,548,000, of sheep 4,789,000,
and of pigs 1,073,000. Thus, the small
holders keep considerably more cows, pigs,
and horses per acre than the large farmers;
on the other hand, large farmers keep a
larger number of cattle — other than cows —
and sheep. Again, it is worth remarking

SMALL HOLDINGS 23

that, while the quantity of whole miik
produced per 100 acres upon farms be-
tween 50 and 300 acres in extent was
2841 gallons, the quantity produced on
farms between 5 and 50 acres was 3307
<,^allons per 100 acres. Small farmers
were also much larger producers of butter.
Thus, on farms between 1 and 5 acres
in extent, the butter produced per 100
acres was 154 lb.; that produced on farms
of 5 to 50 acres was 206 lb.; while on the
larger farms of 50 to 300 acres the yield
reached only 119 lb., the largest farms of all,
those over 300 acres, producing only 41 lb.
per 100 acres.

Poultry-keeping, again, is a guide to the
productive powers of the small holder. On
farms between 1 and 5 acres in extent the
number of fowls kept per 100 acres was 946,
of ducks 80, of geese 8, and of turkeys 7;
on farms of 5 to 50 acres the number was
244 fowls, 21 ducks, 4 geese, and 3 turkeys;
while on farms from 50 to 300 acres the
number of fowls kept per 100 acres was 77,
of ducks 7, of geese 2, and of turkeys l?;
the poultry kept upon the largest farms
of all being almost insignificant. The
small holder, therefore, not only keeps

24 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

more stock than the large farmer, but he
produces considerably more milk, poultry,
and eggs, while he employs more labour.
On the smallest holdings the number
of persons permanently employed per 100
acres reached 13 •4, on holdings of 5 to
50 acres 6*5, on farms of 50 to 300
acres 3 '3, and on farms over 300 acres
2*6 persons per 100 acres. These facts
are of great significance, for they point not
only to the greater productive power of
the small farmer, but to the fact that
the extension of the Small Holdings
system means a marked increase in the
rural population.

In 1908 the estimated value of the
farm crops grown in Great Britain was
125 millions sterling, but a very large
proportion of this produce was consumed
upon the farm — partly by the household
of the farmers themselves, but chiefly
by stock. The value of the produce
which was sold for cash was estimated
at £46,600,000. The total value of the
produce of the year, including animals sold,
wool, fruit, flowers, timber, dairy cows, and
poultry, was estimated at £150,800,000, or,
taking the number of persons employed upon

SMALL HOLDINGS 25

the land, either as occupiers or permanent
labourers, at 1,673,000, a gross output of
£90 per head. The area of the land from
which this produce was obtained was
47,795,000 acres, which included 12,800,000
acres of mountain and heath land used for
grazing. The gross value of the produce,
therefore, amounted to £3 3s. Id. per acre,
or, omitting the woodlands, which are esti-
mated to have returned 6s. per acre, and the
rough grazings, which were valued at 10s.
to 12s. per acre, a total gross sum of £4 10s.
per acre on the 32 million acres of cultivated
land.

Such is the result of the exhaustive inquiries
and estimates of the Board of Agriculture.
Great Britain at the commencement of the
Twentieth Century, with the help of scientific
teaching, improved seed, abundance of arti-
ficial manure of the most valuable character,
the highest skill in cultivation, and the
greatest market in the world, is unable to
show a return of £5 per acre for her cultivated
land, in spite of the facts which are revealed
in the following pages, not only as to the
capacity of the soil to produce infinitely
more valuable crops, but of the ability of
its occupiers. If wc add to the gross value
s.H. * B

20 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

of the marketable crops the value of the
imports, less the exports — which reaches a
net total of £178,349,000— we arrive at a
gross total of £329,149,000, which practi-
cally represents the foodstuffs consumed
by the population of this country, and
the market in which these foodstuffs are
sold.

SMALL HOLDINGS ' 27

CHAPTER II

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SMALL HOLDINGS
MAY BE OBTAINED

A PERSON who desires to obtain a Small
Holding must apply upon a form prepared for
the purpose to the Clerk of the Council of
the county in which he resides. Should he,
however, reside in a County Borough, he
must apply to the Town Clerk of that borough.
An applicant may be either male or female,
and conditionally upon his agreeing to culti-
vate his own holding he is not restricted to
class. It does not follow, however, from the
terms employed in the Act, that a small
holder is compelled to dig his land; he may
use it for poultry keeping or for live stock
of any kind; he may plant an orchard or con-
vert it into a garden for the production of
crops; he may grow what he likes; and he is
not restricted in the sale of his produce.
A prospective small holder, hov,ever, must

28 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

convince the Council that he is in a position
as regards means and experience to manage
his holding successfully.

According to the Small Holdings Act a
'small holding' is an agricultural holding
which exceeds one acre and is no more than
fifty acres in extent. If, however, the annual
value as based upon the income tax assess-
ment does not exceed £50 a year, it may ex-
ceed fifty acres. A County or Town Council
may either purchase or hire land for the
provision of Small Holdings within or without
the county or the borough over which they
have authority. Where it is impossible to
obtain land by agreement with the owner,
a Comicil has power to acquire it without his
consent, subject to certain restrictions. Thus,
they cannot acquire compulsorily land which
forms part of any holding v/hich does not
exceed fifty acres in extent. No land, how-
ever, can be thus acquired until the value
has been fixed by an arbitrator, nor without
the confirming order of the Board of Agri-
culture. A Council has the power to erect
a dwelling-house and buildings suitable to
the holding, and to adapt the land to the
purpose required. Where a Council acquires
land upon a lease or compulsorily, they can

SMALL HOLDINGS 29

let, but they cannot sell it; where land has
been acquired by agreement it can be either
let or sold to a holder. The rent which is
fixed for a Small Holding must be sufficient
to cover the cost of management and other
expenses.

Where an arrangement has been made by
a prospective holder to purchase land from
a Council he must pay down one-fifth of the
purchase money, together with the cost of
adaptation; he may leave one-fourth of the
sum on a perpetual rent charge, while the
remainder, with the interest, must be paid in
half-yearly instalments, which may be spread
over a term not exceeding fifty years. A
Small Holding purchased from a County
Council must not be diverted from the
purposes of agriculture for a period of twenty
years, or until the whole of the money is
paid. To this end a purchaser must agree
to certain conditions, which are specially
prepared for the purpose. Where a small
holder buys his land from a private owner,
he may obtain not more than four-fifths
of the purchase money from the County
Council who have the power to grant it.
The sum must be repaid on the same condi-
tions as are provided where a holding is sold

80 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

by the Council. Where registered associa-
tions are formed for the purpose of pro-
moting Small Holdings, they may be able
to acquire land from a County Council under
certain conditions. Details of these condi-
tions, together with information respecting
the formation of such associations, may be
obtained from the secretary of the Agricul-
tural Organisation Society, Dacre Street,
Westminster.

Persons residing in rural parishes and
desiring an allotment, which may reach
Obtaining an five acrcs in extent, must
Allotment. apply to the Parish Council, or

where no such Council exists, to the chairman
of the Parish Meeting. Where an applicant
resides in an urban district, however, he must
write to the clerk of the District Council or
to the Town Clerk, stating what he requires,
and especially noting any particular piece
of land which is available. An applicant
for an allotment can only rent the land; he
cannot buy it, nor sub-let it. Where a tenant
of an allotment has improved it, he is entitled
on giving it up to compensation for the im-
provements which are unexhausted. Land,
however, can only be let for allotments to
members of the labouring population, male

SMALL HOLDINGS 31

or female. The Board of Agriculture explains
the term 'labouring population' as including
all persons whose main occupation involves
manual labour. If, however, an applicant
does not belong to the labouring population,
and requires more than an acre, he can
make an application to the County Council
under the Small Holdings Act, as suggested
above.

Although Councils are not compelled to
provide allotments extending to more than
one acre, they may provide them up to five
acres. Where, therefore, a Council declines
to provide a larger area than one acre, the
applicant must apply to the County Council
under the Small Holdings Act. Should a
Parish Meeting or District Council, however,
fail to satisfy the demands of those who
require allotments, they may inform tlie
County Council, who are empowered to provide
allotments up to one acre at the expense of
the defaulting authority. Should the County
Council fail in the same way, the applicant
may apply to the Board of Agriculture for
redress. The local authorities already named
have power to erect dwelling-houses for
applicants of one acre and upwards. They
can either purchase or hire land for allotment

32 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

purposes within or without their parish,
district, or borough, and they can adapt
the land for the purposes required. As in
the case of Small Holdings, a Borough or
District Council may purchase or hire land
compulsorily under certain restrictions where
they are unable to acquire it by agreement.
Where a Parish Council or Parish Meeting
is unable to obtain land for allotments, they
may report the facts to the County Council,
who may proceed at once to acquire land
compulsorily on their behalf, conditionally
upon the order being confirmed by the Board
of Agriculture. The rent charged to an
allotment holder, one-fourth of which the
Council may require to be paid in advance,
must be fixed at a sum sufficient to cover
the expenses incurred in providing and
adapting the land, together with the cost
of management. Where a house is erected
on the land the rent fixed must be sufficient
to cover the cost.

SMALL HOLDINGS 33

CHAPTER III

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SMALL
HOLDINGS ACT

The administration of the Small Holdings
Act is usually conducted by a committee
appointed by the Council. To this committee
full powers are given to conduct all corre-
spondence, to make inquiries, and to negotiate
for the acquisition of land. A committee,
however, has no power to borrow money or
to impose a rate. A Small Holdings Allot-
ments Committee may be strengthened by
the inclusion of non-members of the Council.
One of the first steps taken by the committee
is to invite applications by advertisement
or by any other means which their judgment
suggests, and to prepare forms of application,
which should contain questions relating to
the experience of the proposed small holder,
to his possession of capital, and to his prospect
of achieving success. Each applicant should

84 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

be required to state upon the form what
area and class of land he requires, whether
he desires to purchase or hire, whether he
requires a house and suitable buildings, whether
he desires any particular land, and whether
he is already in occupation of land. The
committee, too, will draw up a code of rules
for the sale and letting of Small Holdings,
which must be confirmed by the Board of
Agriculture.

Applicants for land should be personally
interviewed by the committee, or, better,
by the sub-committee, consisting partly of
the Small Holdings Committee and partly
of members of minor public bodies and other
suitable persons, so that each district or parish
should be properly represented by men who
may know both the land and the applicants.
Although the Council will prepare rules by
which applicants are rquired to cultivate
their holdings themselves, there is nothing
in the Act which excludes the use of hired
labour to assist the holder, or to prevent
persons who require land as an adjunct to
their present occupations being prevented on
that account. The Board of Agriculture
suggests that the words of the Act should
not be interpreted in too narrow a sense,

SMALL HOLDINGS 35

and that applications from persons who are
ah'eady occupied in some other way should
not be given a secondary place as compared
with those of men who propose to devote the
whole of their time to the cultivation of
their land.

When a CouncO desires to obtain land,
either by purchase or hire, the committee,
through its officers, should make inquiries
from adjacent landowners as to their willing-
ness to sell or let, while attention should
also be given to any announcements of land to
be sold. One of the most important questions
in relation to either hire or purchase, is that
of rent. Complaints have been frequently
made to the effect that small holders are
required to pay much higher rents than
farmers for land of similar quality, and that
their prospects of success are in consequence
diminished. It is not essential that the
required land should be within the County
Council's administration. The Council may
acquire land under a scheme or not, as it
chooses, but in the latter event it forfeits
the right of claim to the repayment of a sum
of money representing half of any loss which
may be incurred, and which is irrecoverable.
Where it is decided to adopt a scheme, a

36 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

contract must be prepared for the purchase
or hire of the land, and this, with a report
by the Small Holdings Committee, must be
sent to the Board of Agriculture for their
provisional sanction. The report must con-
tain full details of the land, its rental and
rateable value, together with its purchase
price and the sums it is proposed to charge
for each holding. When the scheme has been
sanctioned it must be advertised, and then,
should there be no objections raised, it will
be confirmed, and the contract can be com-
pleted. Where it is proposed to purchase
land at a sale by auction, the land must be
valued, and the valuation, with a report
upon it, sent to the Board of Agriculture.
If both are regarded as satisfactory, the
Council will be authorised to bid up to a
sum named by the Board.

Where Councils are unable to obtain land
for Small Holdings or Allotments, they have
the power to acquire it compulsorily. Having
selected the land which it is proposed to
acquire, they must obtain the sanction of
the Board to its acquisition, but it is important
to notice that a Council must, as far as
possible, avoid taking an undue or inconvenient
quantity of land from one owner or occupier;

SMALL HOLDINGS 37

that they can acquire no land in this way
which forms part of a holding of less than
fifty acres, nor which forms part of a park,
garden, pleasure ground, or of the home
farm of a mansion, or which is required
for the convenience of a dwelling-house.
Where an owner of land which has
been let to a Council can prove to
the satisfaction of the Board of Agriculture
that it is required for building, mining, or
other industrial purpose, he may resume
possession by giving twelve months' notice
to the Council. No valuer, however, who is
employed to assess the rent to be paid for
land which is hired compulsorily may take
into account any prospective value which
may attach to it on either of these accounts.
Thus land which has a prospective value,
as for building, may be hired by a Council
for occupation by small holders or for allot-
ments at an agricultural rent.

A Council has the power to let out holdings,
to fence, to provide roads, water, and drainage,
and to erect houses and buildings, or to
adapt such houses and buildings as exist upon
the land, but they may not erect more than
one house upon one holding. To enable a
Council to complete its purchases, it is

1 1.2825

38 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

empowerefl to borrow money from the Public
Works Loan Commissioners at the rate of
3i per cent., but it must obtain the sanction
of the Local Government Board, which is
prepared, as a general rule, to agree to the
full term of eighty years which the Act allows
for the purchase of land for Small Holdings.
The Act of Parliament authorises the Board
of Agriculture, subject to certain regulations,
to pay either the whole or part of the expense
incurred by a Council in such proceedings
as they may take in relation to the acquisition
of land. Under the regulations of the Board
it appears that they undertake to pay the
whole of the expenses which have been
necessarily or reasonably incurred. The most
important items under this head, however,
refer to the cost of the report and valuation
of land which the Council haye under con-
sideration, the cost of the proceedings for
obtaining a compulsory order, the arbitra-
tion and valuation expenses where land is
purchased or hired compulsorily, the cost
of conveyancing, and of the registration
of title.

When a Council sells or lets land to a tenant,
the sum fixed must be sufficient to recoup
to the Council the whole of their expenses

SMALL HOLDINGS 39

in its acquisition and adaptation, always
excepting such sums as are repayable by the
Board of Agriculture. Thus, the amount
fixed should cover the tithe, land tax, repairs,
management, and contingencies. The rent,
however, should not include rates and taxes,
which should be paid by the tenants. Where
land is sold to a small holder, the Council
may require the payment down of at least
one-fifth of the purchase money upon the
completion of the purchase. A sum not
exceeding one-fourth of the purchase money
may, at the discretion of the Council, remain
as a perpetual charge upon the holding, the
purchaser paying interest on that sum annually.
The balance of the purchase money, together
with the interest, must be paid by the pur-
chaser half-yearly, and spread over a period
not exceeding fifty years. Under given
conditions, however, the Council have the
power to postpone the repayment of instal-
ments for five years. The purchaser of a
holding on these terms, however, is required
to agree to certain conditions, which last
for twenty years from the date of purchase,
or as long as' any portion of the purchase
money remains unpaid. These conditions
arc framed with the object of securing the

40 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

holding as an agricultural holding. The
occupier, therefore, must commit no breach
of his agreement which would render him
liable to lose possession.

A great feature of the Small Holdings
legislation is the fact that County Councils are
permitted to encourage and to assist associa-
tions which are formed with the object of
creating, or promoting the creation of, Small
Holdings or Allotments. To this end the
Board of Agriculture has made a grant of
money to the Agricultural Organisation
Society, conditionally upon the Board being
entitled to nominate six members on the
committee of the society. County Councils,
too, may make such a society as that referred
to a medium through which they may render
financial assistance to local societies. Thus,
a co-operative society may rent land from a
County Council sub-divided into holdings
which they may let to individuals at rents
which are intended to cover the cost and
at such risk as they may foresee. Thus, the
association would collect the rents from the
tenants, as they would be responsible, and
pay them over to the public authority. It
is obvious that by the adoption of this method
the rent paid for a farm or a large area of

SMALL HOLDINGS 41

land intended to be subdivided into Small
Holdings would be less per acre than the rent
which would be chargeable by a County
Council when fixed for separate allotments;
an association, too, would prove beneficial
to the small holders, enabling them to organise
for the purchase of stock foods, manures,
seeds, and other requisites, and for the sale
of their produce.

This movement has already borne good
fruit, inasmuch as 4000 acres of land were
let by English County Councils to thirty
Co-operative Associations during the first
three years in which the Small Holdings Act
was in operation. Thus, in Berkshire, the
North Berks Small Holdings and Allotments
Society pays £391 for 465 acres of land;
the Waylands Society in Norfolk pays £300
for 285 acres. This land, which comprised a
farm at Watton, and which is leased by the
County Council for fourteen years, has been
sublet to the Waylands Society. The farm
is now divided into eight holdings, and is
worked upon the four-course system, five
occupiers earning their entire livelihood upon
the land. The Mere Society in Wiltshire
pays £380 for 452 acres of land. This farm,
which belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall,

42 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

is rented on a twenty-one years' lease from
the Wiltshire County Council. Ther^; are
twenty-nine holdings, which vary from one
to thirty acres in extent. The tenants pay
rents varying from 22s. to 44s. per acre,
the society paying the rates and doing repairs.
The number of stock on the farm includes
142 head of cattle, 120 pigs, and 11 horses,
showing a very large increase in the course
of three years. It will be useful to add that
the North Bromsgrove Market Gardeners'
Society, which is really a limited company,
rents land from the County Council of Worces-
tershire for the production of fruit and
vegetables, of which the occupiers send 600
tons annually to Birmingham, where it is
sold by a co-operative society known as the
Federated Growers, Limited. We have had
the advantage of inspecting several of the
Worcestershire holdings, which chiefly extended
to five acres, and of witnessing the prosperous
character of the work. In one of several
instances of a similar character the occupier
had sold strawberries grown upon less than
an acre of land in the Birmingham market
for £80. The fact that so many of these
societies based on the co-operative system
are working successfully is sufficient evidence

SMALL HOLDINGS 43

of their value and of the importance of their
extension. We have, however, but touched
the fringe of the question, and only when such
organisations number thousands shall we
be able to compare advantageously with
the results which have been achieved on
similar lines in Luxembourg, Denmark, and
Holland.

The conditions under which the Allotments
Acts are administered by Councils are very
similar to those which relate to Small Holdings.
In first dealing with the question of allot-
ments a Council, through its members or
its responsible officer, institutes an inquiry
with the object of ascertaining whether there
is a demand among members of the labouring
classes for allotments which is not satisfied.
Where a Comicil decides not to provide
allotments larger than one acre in extent,
it is their duty to refer applicants who require
more than one acre to the County Council.
Where a Parish Council decides to purchase
land for allotment purposes they should
obtain the consent of the Parish Meeting,
and then apply to the County Council and
the Local Government Board for permission
to raise the money. A loan can be obtained
in accordance with the Act of 1894 for a

44 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

period not exceeding sixty years, or for the
lesser period of fifty years, from the PubUc
Works Loan Commissioners. The latter
course is recommended by the Board of
Agriculture owing to the probably lower rate
of interest. The sum charged by the Com-
missioners at the present time is 3| per cent,
for loans for a term not exceeding thirty years,
or 3| per cent, for loans obtained for a period
between thirty and fifty years. A Parish
Council can raise money for general expenses
in providing allotments not exceeding a rate
of 3d. in the £, or, with the consent of the
Parish Meeting, of 6d. in the £. These general
expenses appear to include any annual charge,
whether of principal or interest, in respect of
any loan. When a Council provides allot-
ments it may provide regulations dealing
with the terms and conditions of their
tenancy, but these regulations must be con-
firmed by the Board of Agriculture. The
Council must also keep accounts showing
the receipts and expenditure under the
Allotments Act, together with the register
showing details of the tenancy, acreage,
and rent of every allotment, whether less
or not.

A Council may also acquire common

SMALL HOLDINGS 45

pasture land on the authorisation of the
County Council, to whom their scheme must
be submitted, but the rent paid for this land
must be sufficient to cover the cost of its
acquisition. A Council may also acquire
land for grazing, which may be attached to
the allotments. Where a Council is unable
to obtain land for those who apply for it,
they may apply to the County Council,
who may acquire it compulsorily, their order
being confirmed by the Board of Agriculture.
Where a County Council declines to accede
to their request for the compulsory acquisi-
tion of land, the Parish Council may petition
the Board. Where, however, a Parish Council
or the Council of an urban district, not being
a borough of the Council, fails to meet the
requirements of applicants, the County
Council must intervene.

46 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

CHAPTER IV

SMALL HOLDINGS. — ^I

Since the appointment of the Departmental
Committee on Small Holdings, there have
been various publications which were
apparently intended by their authors to
describe their own experience, or to indicate
how a man may succeed in earning his liveli-
hood upon a small area of land. We have
observed that although some useful informa-
tion has been supplied, there has been a general
lack of initiative, which was in all probability
owing to a natural cause. There are numbers
of men who are thirsting for land; they are
anxious to rent or to buy it, to purchase
implements and stock and set to work in
good earnest, but they lack experience.
There are others, much less numerous, who
are at work; some are failing to succeed,
others are succeeding. We have received
many applications for advice on this subject,

SMALL HOLDINGS 47

and never hesitate to reply that farming is
a difficult business, and that it would be as
reasonable to undertake it without experience
as to start business as a watchmaker vv ithout
the slightest knowledge of the trade. We
have been told by men of great capacity
that without any knowledge of agriculture
they could manage a farm while sitting in
their study chair, although there is probably
no more complicated business than that
of the farmer. We are anxious to say
nothing to induce the reader to believe
that experience is not essential, or that
nothing is more simple than to dig
the soil and plant the seed, and thus secure
a paying crop, still less that stock can be bred
and fed successfully, given the means to buy
it and its food. If the crops on the farms of
a dozen tenants were inspected, we should
find that in spite of their long experience
they were not all alike. In some instances
they might be abundant, owing to the fact
that the growers were blessed with brains,
in others they would be more or less inferior,
or absolutely foul. In no business or profes-
sion do men succeed alike, so much depends
upon their grip of principles, their mastery
of and their devotion to their work. Success

48 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

is not a form of luck or chance: it is the
reward of honest work; and if a man is
determined to take a Small Holding of land
he must make up his mind that success
rests almost entirely with himself, his acquisi-
tion of the requisite knowledge, and his power
to put it into daily practice by the aid of his
nmscles and his brain.

Let us examine the class of work of which
a small holder should possess experience,
on which, indeed, his practice should be
grounded. The first question which probably
arises in his mind when he is ready to com-
mence is : In what locality shall he rent his
land? He must consider the cost or the rent,
the method by which he will sell his produce,
the means of its conveyance to buyers,
the distance to a station, a doctor, a post office,
a school, and the proximity to a place of
worship — which may assist him to fight
life's battle successfully. There are many
districts within easy reach of a large popula-
tion which may suit him very well; there are
others which are too far from populous towns
to enable a tenant, however energetic he may
be, either to find time to call for orders or
to deliver what he sells. The question of
locality must be carefully thought out,

SMALL HOLDINGS 49

especially by those who engage in petife
culture, where the produce is more varied
and adapted for sale to private customers.
On larger holdings where the cultivation
is less intense, the produce consisting of the
usual agricultural crops and stock, locality
is less important, but the land should be
within easy reach of a station and a market
town.

There are some questions into which a
small holder must look very closely if he
intends to achieve success. He may deserve,
but he cannot command, prosperity if these
are absent or ignored. In the first place the
soil must be sufficiently good for his purpose ;
thin chalk, sand, gravel, or brick earth must
be left severely alone. Far better leave the
land altogether and seek a new vocation
than waste money, time, thews, and sinews
on an impossible holding. Good work has
been accomplished, and will be accomplished
again, on poor soils, but it is not for men
dependent for their livelihood to attempt
what, with the means at their disposal, is
impossible. The soil selected should be of
medium character, deep, and workable in
all weathers — the worst excepted — with a
single horse, unless the farm is large enough
s.H. * c

50 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

to maintain two. Its condition should be
clean, and it should be carefully examined
not only when the crops are ripe, but when
they are in their early stage of growth. The
soil will in this way show its hand; e.g. its
freedom from weeds or otherwise, and its
richness in plant food. The richest soils,
however, are easily played out, and Just as
easily enriched by skilful cultivation and
liberal manuring.

Where land is drained, care should be taken
to ascertain if the drains are in working order,
or it may be found essential to put them in
repair. This would involve heavy expendi-
ture where the land is purchased, or an
increase in the rental if the owner undertakes
the work. Land which needs draining but
is undrained had better be avoided altogether,
although there are occasional instances in
which a skilled man may undertake the
work himself with good results, but let us
add that in no instance in which doubts
arise as to the policy of acquiring a given
field should a risk be taken unless a
man feels himself to be master of the
situation.

The position of a holding is important.
If the altitude is too high, the crops may be

SMALL HOLDINGS 51

too much exposed, in which case the varieties
to be grown will be restricted. This would
prove too serious where it is proposed to
cultivate garden plants or crops for the early
market which require warmth. Land which
lies on a gentle slope facing the south is much
to be preferred, but it should not be exposed
to the north or to east winds. In all cases,
indeed, a wind-brake or shelter of some kind
is desirable. In some instances growers of
fruit and other crops which are so easily
damaged by wind, first plant quick-growing
evergreens to break its force. It is important,
too, to remember that fruit-trees in particular
should not be planted in low-lying soil,
which is subject to the frequently recurring
mists of early spring. These mists may be
often seen in valleys by those v/ho live on
the higher ground, and whose fruit is saved
in spite of the lower temperature to which the
trees are exposed. When the fruit-trees are
in bloom, the moisture is deposited on the
delicately-constructed organs of the flower,
with the result that if frost follows they
may be destroyed.

As we have already pointed out, no trouble
should be regarded as superfluous which is
intended to ensure the acquisition of land

52 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

suitable for the purpose a small holder has
in view. There are instances, more especi-
ally among the chalks, the heavy and the light-
est soils, in which the crops are failures in
a dry summer. It is important — nay,
imperative — that there should be no possi-
bility of failure from lack of moisture. A
soil which is well stocked with humus, or
decayed organic matter, not only contains
more water than another, but it has greater
power of absorption, while it loses less by
comparison. It is for this reason that a
garden soil so seldom fails ; hence the
importance of converting the Small Hold-
ing into a garden soil by manuring
with large quantities of dung and heavy
cropping. Humus materially assists in the
improvement of texture, so that land
is more easily and quickly tilled, while
constant tillage, whether with spade or
plough, and heavy manuring, increases its
depth and productive power. If in his
estimation of the value of the land
which he seeks to take, a farmer makes
a point of noting the quality, depth,
and texture of the soil, its condition
with regard to drainage, its altitude and
aspect, the climate as suited to his stock

SMALL HOLDINGS 53

and crops, and the natural shelter which
is afforded, he will scarcely fail to acquire
what will most assuredly help him to
succeed, if he is able to turn it to good
account.

Let us next indicate how good land may
be distinguished from that which is undesir-
able. The land should be flat or sloping
to the south, not low-lying, but drained,
clean, free from sponginess, deep in staple,
rich in colour, dark brown or red being
preferable — unless it be alluvial, warp, or
fen land. The trees and hedges should be
vigorous, the pasture luxuriant, a brilliant
green in colour, and rich in clover. Where
the natural plants in the land are tough
and wiry, and daisies, mayweed, moss,
sedge, and the creeping bents or couch
abundant, or where the trees which
prevail are those which are common
to poor land, a holding should be left
alone. It need hardly be added that
the farm roads should be sound, the
hedges or fences in good repair, each
grass field supplied with never-failing water,
and the buildings for stock, implements,
and grain sufficient for the purpose of the
tenant.

5i THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

'We propose to divide holdings under five
acres into two classes, one relating to land
Holdings under which is practically a garden,
five acres. with or without glass, while

the other is adapted to a system of petite
culture, providing those varieties of produce,
tiie management of which the tenant under-
stands. We take a holding of three acres
as an example, chiefly for the reason that
it represents a successful and going con-
cern. The occupier, who is also the owner,
was a gardener with experience in the cul-
tivation of plants adapted for sale in the
market. When commencing business for
himself he purchased his land and built
two glass houses to which he could turn his
attention during winter, when, owing to
the small size of his holding, he could
otherwise have little to sell. His crops are
restricted in variety, but they are managed
with great ability, and manure is supplied
in abundance. One of the houses — which
are thirty yards in length — is devoted to
roses, the other to tomatoes. In each house
are climbers, including Marechal Niel, Niphe-
tos, and Bouquet d'Or ; while the main
portion of the rose house is planted with
dwarfs of those popular varieties which

SMALL HOLDINGS 55

realise high prices in the early season.
These houses are equally adapted to
chrysanthemums, cucumbers, and grapes,
and such other plants as nurserymen
grow in great profusion in the neigh-
bourhood.

Outside the soil is cropped with apples
■on high standard trees, and roses, both
dwarf and standard, in great numbers,
the chief variety being La France, which
are sent by hand to Covent Garden or
to private customers in the early morning
of the day on which they are likely to
be at their best. The standard briers are
purchased from men who cut them from
the hedges and sell them at a penny each,
while the dwarfs, which are chiefly
teas, are grown from cuttings or grafted
on briers grown from seed, both methods
being far superior to that of growing on
the Manetti stock. The Manetti is found
to be too vigorous for the tea rose,
which, so delicate in constitution, is more
easily overpowered.

The rose may be induced by good
culture to grow almost anywhere, except
in the vicinity of smoke, if the soil is
suitable. This should be of a rich, clayish

56 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

loam, or a rich loam of deep staple resting
on a subsoil of clay. Where the soil is
unsuitable it may be made in a glass house
without much expense, and we cannot do
better than recommend the process of the
late Mr Baker, once a famous grower at
Reigate, who in describing it, said : ' In
preparing the beds, we measured a space of
4 ft. for the first trench, all subsequent
trenches being of the same width; this
affords plenty of space for getting sods,
manure, etc., in evenly. The top spit,
which consists of good old fibrous turf,
was then wheeled to the farther end of
the bed, and kept separate on one side ;
also the next spit below, so as to be at
hand for filling up the trench. The bottom
spit was taken away as useless, leaving a
trench 2 ft. deep. This was filled in in the
following manner : at the bottom was
placed a layer of yellow clay, some inches
deep, so as to retain moisture — the subsoil
was gravel — on this a light covering of small
chalk, and then about half the sods which
constituted the first spit of the next trench,
placed turf downwards, and loosely broken
up; a thick layer of rotten cow manure was
then put on, to which was added a coating

SMALL HOLDINGS 57

of chalk, coarsely triturated. The remainder
of the succeeding trench was now used>
broken up smaller, then the first sods
covered with cow manure and fine chalk
as before, and finally filled up with the
second spit of the following trench, the
bottom spit of every trench being
dispensed with to allow room for clay,
chalk, sods, and manure, as I have
described. '

Among the best varieties for market use
are, in addition to those already mentioned,
Catherine Mermet, excellent under glass;
Perle des Jardins, W. A. Richardson, Sunset,
The Bride, Rubens, Devoniensis, and Reve
d'Or. Some of the choicest hybrid Per-
petuals are Charles Lefevre, which many
experts place first of all. La France,
General Jacqueminot, Captain Christy,
Baroness Rothschild. It may be well
to point out that good roses budded on
standard trees can be sold at from 12s. to
18s. a dozen in their second year, while
standards grown from cuttings or on briers
equally pay their way. The standard should
not, however, be the only form of rose,
especially in exposed situations, where dwarfs
are more easily preserved.

58 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

A small holder who proposes to grow
roses should first learn his trade, unless
he has already gained experience. As
in the case of other plants, there are
many things to learn, especially in rela-
tion to budding, planting, manuring,
pruning, disbudding, marketing, and pot-
ting where roses are grown for sale in
pots.

Although the cultivation of the tomato,
the cucumber, and the chrysanthemum is
quite simple to the expert, it is by no
means so easy as it looks, and while
our suggestion in relation to these plants
are intended rather for those who have
had some experience in garden work than
for others, we may at least remark that
their cultivation is worth the careful study
of those who propose to occupy a Small
Holding with a little glass, especially in
those districts where tomatoes can be
grown successfully in the open air, as
in Cornwall, where in an instance well
known to the writer a quarter of an acre
realised over £50 a year in three successive
years, and v/as followed by a crop of
broccoli, which also paid a good profit to
the grower. The chief points in the

SMALL HOLDINGS 59

culture of the tomato are the seed, especi-
ally as between the outdoor crop and that
grown under glass, the temperature of the
house, the treatment of the seedlings,
manuring, ventilation, and management of
the fruiting plants. All these points should
be studied not only in practice, but in
the light of experience, and to this end a
few visits to experts will assist materially in
giving a young grower a good grip of his
subject, especially in the prevention of
disease.

To the cucumber and the chrysanthemvmi
these remarks will equally apply ; no in-
experienced man should attempt to grow
either for the market until he has learned the
way. The cucumber must be large and
straight, and, like the tomato, be ready
when prices are at the highest point. We
would also recommend the vegetable
marrow, which may be grown under
glass in winter like the cucumber, and
which Ave learn from one of the largest
growers, whose crops we have examined,
realises an excellent price.

Whether a garden of a more general
character should be worked in conjunc-
tion with glass or outdoor roses and

CO THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

tomatoes is a matter for each holder to
decide, but it is a better plan to include
in a cropping programme a few other
popular plants than to restrict them too
much or to grow too many varieties. An
acre of early potatoes will make an excel-
lent return if the land is well adapted to
the crop, and this is especially the case if
the grower understands his work, is able to
use manure with liberality, and is within
easy reach of a town in which good prices
are obtained. Potato growing is a simple
and successful way of cleaning and
repairing land for better crops. Aspa-
ragus, celery, rhubarb, brussels sprouts,
cauliflowers, and broccoli are all useful
additions to a market garden, and if
these are well managed they will seldom
fail to pay.

Where fruit-trees are grown in the garden
soil-^for recent experience has shown,
especially on the fruit farm of the Duke of
Bedford, upon which experiments were con-
ducted for some years by Professor Pickering,
that they thrive much better than on grass,
a fact which we have verified for ourselves —
care must be taken not only to select robust
varieties of apple in particular — and this

SMALL HOLDINGS 61

fruit should be preferred, but to obtain
them from growers of high repute before
the best trees have been selected by
other buyers. Dwarfs are preferred to
standards, as they produce fruit much
earlier and are more easily pruned.
Spraying for the destruction of pests is
more thoroughly performed, and this should
be an annual job. The varieties chosen
should be restricted; it is less difficult to
sell a quantity of a few good varieties at
a remunerative price than a mixture of a
large number of varieties of various sizes,
some of which are dessert and others
cooking apples. There should be no
mixture of variety or size in a market
consignment. Among the best apples for
cooking are 'Golden Noble,' 'Peasgood's
Nonsuch,' 'Warner's King,' 'Ecklinville
Seedling,' 'Lord Suffield,' 'Prince Albert,'
and 'Early Victoria'; while for table 'Cox's
Orange Pippin,' 'King of the Pippins,*
'Ribston Pippin,' and 'Sturmer Pippin'
may be preferred. It is, however, well to
consult the most experienced gardeners in
the neighbourhood in which it is intended
to plant the trees, and to learn from them
whether either of the fruits selected fails to

62 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

grow successfully, and whether others which
have not been named respond better to
the conditions which the locality provides.
As in the cultivation of other plants, it is
essential that a grower should know his
business, or at least as much as enables
him to plant, to prune, and to spray
successfully. The finest trees, the best
varieties, with ample capital, will fail if
these essential features of the work are
misunderstood.

Let us next suppose that an occupier
of a Small Holding of less than five acres
in extent has decided upon a plan, and
that he proposes to cultivate one acre as
a French garden. It may be well to
mention that a holding cropped somewhat
on the lines which w^e have indicated, with
the addition of this acre, would require
as much capital as one of much larger
size when managed as a farm. In addi-
tion to the cost of the glass-house, the
fruit-trees, and such plants as rhubarb,
asparagus, and potatoes, we have to con-
sider the cost of the equipment of the
French garden. Here the object is to
produce three or even four or five crops
in succession within the year, and by the

SMALL HOLDINGS 63

aid of frames, with mats for their protec-
tion, cloches or bell glasses, and abundance
of manure. Just as the crops grown in
glass-houses are pushed forward by the aid
of hot-water pipes, so are these which are
planted in frames or beneath bell glasses
grown by the aid of heat produced from
decomposing horse dung. This is used so
freely that with time the top four inches
become an almost equal mixture of soil
and manure, with the result that the heat
created forces the growth of the unpro-
tected plants as well as those in the
frames. We take an example case: strong-
plants of the cauliflower are placed in hot
beds under frames in December, and out-
side in groups in March, cloches being
provided for their protection. On the soil
around each group are turnips, carrots,
lettuce, radishes, and other hardy plants,
all pulled while small and tender, and sell-
ing at good prices. The secret of success
which we noticed in Continental cities,
as long ago as twenty years, is in the
fact that these very young and tender
crops are incomparably superior to the
coarser produce of the later months, and
coming in so early realise a much higher

04 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

price. It is quality, not quantity, which
the buyer needs. There is no reasonable
limitation to the varieties of garden plants
which can be grown with profit in the
French garden; the chief point is by using
special seed and abundance of manure to
grow early crops, having in reserve young
plants for quick successions. All this needs
constant labour and attention, for every
square yard is cropped, while it may be neces-
sary to move every light and cloche at least
twice in the day's work for the admission of
air and for protection against frost or
cold winds.

With regard to the cost of equipment of
an acre, much depends on the experience and
means of the intending grower. A man with
a thousand pounds at his disposal would find
it none too much to cover the cost of a three
acre holding, apart from the cost of land.
An acre will accommodate 800 to 1000 cloches,
and a hundred frames of 4 ft. 6 in. x 12 ft.
6 in. X 9 in. at the back, sloping to 7 in. in
front. The cloches would cost a shilling each
in quantities, and frames with three lights
30s. to 35s. The manure required in the first
year would reach some 300 to 400 tons,
sufficient for an average dressing of 30 acres of

SMALL HOLDINGS G5

agricultural land. The cost would vary
with the cost of carriage or the distance
from a town from 5s. to 6s. 6d. a ton.
A shed would be required for packing
and protecting tools, mats, and other
requisite materials ; mats to cover the
lights, and a well-arranged system of
providing water for the beds which would
reach at least £50, or still more where there
is no regular supply. Apart from these
important items, there is the cost of seed,
packages, tools, roots, and plants in variety,
with which to make a start, as, for example,
asparagus, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce,
celery, and cauliflowers. We should, how-
ever, prefer to recommend the French garden
on a holding to be limited to a rood until
experience is gained. It could be extended
from time to time, and perhaps in directions
which are not yet foreseen, when so much
capital would not be required. The com-
bination of a glass-house and a French
garden would prove of great value to
the latter, for many kinds of plants could
be started in the one and transferred to
the cloches or frames, and in some in-
stances hardened off for planting in the
open air.

66 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

The efforts which are made by many
hard-working men to earn a livehhood
by growing the ordinary crops of the
farm upon too small an area have often
failed, in spite of the assistance of a
cow, some pigs, and poultry. The reason
is quite obvious ; for in most instances
they are only able to obtain a single
crop. The winter is too long, manure too
costly, to permit of double cropping. When
the harvest is completed the grower is com-
pelled to wait twelve long months for his
next returns. The addition of glass, or a
French garden, would enable him to largely
augment his productive powers without
materially diminishing the area of his land.
We have noticed that on one of the exist-
ing colonies of Small Holdings the tenants,
chiefly farm labourers, followed the prac-
tice of the farmers in the neighbourhood,
their chief produce being corn, roots, and
potatoes, a few only possessing a small
head of stock. The results were unfor-
tunate, and we should hesitate in making
any suggestion in the pursuit of this
practice. The farm labourer may cultivate
an acre of wheat or potatoes with material
success when he is able to obtain the

SMALL HOLDINGS 67

assistance of his employer or another in
that portion of his work which involves
ploughing and other forms of horse cultiva-
tion. By this means he can supply his family
with bread and potatoes, and still further,
with bacon and eggs from his pigs and poultry ;
for not only is he able to find straw for his
pigs, but a large quantity of potatoes in
addition, his offal corn providing a portion
of the food for his poultry. In some in-
stances where opportunity presents itself,
the acre proving a success, it is doubled
or trebled, but it seldom happens that a
man, however able, can see his way to
abandon constant employment and depend
solely upon himself, without a large hold-
ing of land.

In some English districts in which labour
is scarce, farmers are often glad of the
assistance of small tenants, and thus it is
that with employment to hand when they
want it, labourers are able to start for
themselves and gradually to increase their
stock and the area of their land. Once
visiting an occupying owner in Touraine,
we found that every labourer employed
upon his farm was the owner and occupier
of a handsome cottage and at least a

68 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

hectare — 2| acres — of land. When asked
how he managed to spare them when they
desired to till it and to gather in the
harvest, he replied that having a large
acreage of land himself they never asked
him for time when they knew that they
were wanted, while he never refused them
time when they could be spared. It was
in reality a matter of common sense on
both sides.

We have endeavoured to establish the
position that the success of a Small Hold-
ing under five acres depends upon garden
cultivation, with a little glass, or upon
the intensive culture of a variety of
leading kitchen garden crops, and some
fruits — apples and gooseberries in par-
ticular, to which in suitable instances
strawberries might be added, for there is
no class of fruit which pays better in the
hands of a clever grower, when he is within
convenient distance of a market. The
alternative to glass is an acre under culture
as a French garden, or a similar area devoted
to the cultivation of garden flowers. Let us
here remark that this suggestion is the result
of an examination of a case of successful
practice. With the increase in our town

SMALL HOLDINGS 60

population the demand for flowering plants
for garden work is increased as well. Tens of
thousands of individuals, town and suburban
dwellers, like to see their gardens gay, but
in few instances are they in a position to
produce their plants. They prefer to buy,
it saves both the trouble and the expense.
No doubt in many instances the plants
required are obtained from adjacent nurserips,
but we believe the great majority find it
cheaper to send their orders to country
amateurs who make a special business of
growing garden plants for sale and de-
spatching them by post. We have
taken the trouble to see how this work
is done, and have found that it pays
extremely well.

Here, for example, is a garden of about
an acre in extent, with a small greenhouse
which is used for growing seedlings and
striking cuttings of those plants which require
heat. Near at hand is a shed in which are
tools, packages, and the various materials
required for daily work. The garden is laid
out in beds in which rows of many varieties
of seedlings and other plants are growing,
among them are pansies, wallflowers, canter-
bury bells, petunias, zinnias, asters, sweet

70 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Williams, stocks, polyanthus, phlox, carna-
tions, delphiniums, lupins, and lilies of
the valley. There are many others kept
to name and colour, and in particular dwarf
and standard roses, and herbaceous plants
in fair variety. The grower caters for the
many, and in consequence his plants are
limited in accordance with their means.
Beds in good condition, good seed, and
knowledge of their culture, enable him —
and in some instances the grower is a
lady — to produce flowers by the thousand,
and to sell them at moderate, yet paying,
prices, with labels attached to each
variety, on which are full particulars of
their management and cultivation. Experi-
ence in the cultivation of annual, biennial,
and many other garden plants is not
difficult to gain, and in no instance with
which we are acquainted can a portion of a
Small Holding be planted more advan-
tageously. We have been much astonished
to find in a simple country garden so
many thousand plants of named varieties,
still more so to find so many orders filled
to the satisfaction of the buyers. Once
established, the grower advertises in various
papers what plants he has to sell, and it

SMALL HOLDINGS 71

is possible to send post free quite a number
of pretty flowers, such as sweet peas,
nasturtiums, and lobelias for a shilling.
It will be obvious to those who know any-
thing of flower culture that there is
scarcely any lim^it to its extension, given the
ability to do the work and to prepare
descriptive labels and advertisements.

The present cost of a glass-house may be
based on the following figures, which repre-
sent the actual charges by makers who supply
nurserymen at special prices, and the paj^ments
made by nurserymen themselves. Where
two or more small houses are built side by
side the cost would reach 12s. per foot run,
or slightly more for a single house. For
larger houses, 27 ft. in width, with four
rows of 4-inch hot water pipes, 21s. to
23s. per foot run, the saddle boiler being
used unless the pipes exceed 1000 feet in
length, in which case a tubular boiler is
usually preferred.

The woodwork would cost for ridging,
per hundred feet, 1| x 7, ICs. 6d.; capping,
1x4, 6s. 6d.; rafters and plates, 3| x 4,
17s.; purlin bevelled, 2| x 31, 10s. 6d.; gutter
posts, 3x3, 12s. 6d,; sash bars, 1| x 3, 6s.;
gutter boards (pitch pine), 1| x 11, 4|d. per

72 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

foot; plates (pitch pine), 2^ x 3, 16s. per
100; two bar ventilators, 1| in., 4s; purlin
posts, 2| X 3, 10s. 6d.; ventilator seats,
1| X 2|, 5s. 6d.

Sheet glass (box size), 12, 13, or 14 in. wide,
20s. 6d.; 15 or 16 in., 21s. 6d.; 18 in., 22s. 6d.
— all per 200 ft. box.

Paint, ready made, 20s. per cwt., with cash
discount.

Putty made with linseed oil, 8s. per cwt.

Rhubarb, early red, 4s., giant, 9s. per
dozen, with substantial discount to the trade.
By the thousand crowns the price would be
much lower.

Asparagus, 5s. to 7s. 6d. at two years old,
Colossal variety.

SMALL HOLDINGS 73

CHAPTER V

SMALL HOLDINGS. II

We now come to another type of a five acre
holding. In this instance Hve stock play
an important part, and in consequence it
is essential to supply them with as large a
quantity of home-grown food as possible.
Our suggestion is that two cows, a breeding
sow, turkeys, and poultry should be kept,
for the sale of milk, or butter — as may be
preferred — pigs, eggs, and poultry. Two
acres might be devoted to grass, one
acre being reserved for pasture and the
other for mowing in alternate years. As
this area would be insufficient for the
cows, we would add half an acre of
lucerne in those districts where this crop
will grow successfully, an acre of oats for
straw and corn, with seeds consisting of
a mixture of clover and suitable grasses,
an acre of cabbage and roots, leaving half
s.H. * D

74 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

an acre for potatoes, rhubarb, asparagus,
celery, tomatoes, and other of the better
class of plants of the market garden, or
strawberries in lieu of these.

In this case the small holder would
practically work on the system of petite
cultui'e, making every effort to sell his
produce in his own locality. His first
object would be to provide food for his
cows, pigs, and poultry. It is essential to
point out that on so small an area the land
should be as highly tilled as a market
garden. In no other way can a tenant
hope for success. The grass which is
mown for hay should produce at least two
tons, thus providing ten pounds a day for
each cow during seven months of the year,
without resorting to lucerne or the clover
mixture, a part of which could be converted
into hay. The grass retained for pasturage
should not be touched until the cows are
turned out to graze in summer, when it
should be tall and thick, especially at
the bottom, and not quickly eaten down,
as would be the case if they v/ere fre-
quently turned out for daily exercise.
An acre would be insufficient, but if well
manured it should go far to provide a

SMALL HOLDINGS 75

summer's food, supplemented as it would
be by lucerne, clover, and cabbage. It is a
common practice where pasture is abundant
to rest satisfied with grass, but if a tenant
is willing to be guided by experience, he will
supply his cows with 2 lb. to 4 lb. of decorti-
cated cotton cake per day. When grass is
scarce and lucerne and clover are sup-
plied, similar quantities of maize meal or
desiccated grains, which should be soaked
for 24 hours before using, may replace
the cake.

It is the practice of the great majority of
those of our dairy farmers who grow corn
crops to use a portion of the oat straw as
food. It is chaffed with hay and mixed
with pulped roots, grains, and cake or
meal, but in the case we are describing
the straw would be insufficient for this
purpose, as it would be required as litter
for the cows and pigs ; indeed it would
be necessary to exercise the greatest care
to make it last. The weight of straw
grown depends very largely upon the
variety of grain, but it may be in-
creased by the judicious use of nitrate of
soda, Vv^hich encourages the growth of leaf
as in the case of cabbage and mangolds.

76 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

It is of great importance that a holder of
five aeres should be able to distribute his
labour as far as possible throughout the
year. Milking, feeding the stock, sowing,
hoeing, and harvesting occupy most of the
time between April and October, leaving
live months for other operations on the
land. How should these months be spent?
The cultivation of the arable land is alone
a formidable task, but apart from the
saving effected by digging instead of
ploughing, and it might be necessary to
plough twice or still more often for roots,
cabbage, and potatoes, we nmst not forget
the fact that where land is trenched or
double dug, there is a much smaller
need for manure, while the land is greatly
improved.

Instead of stirring the subsoil with a
subsoiler, it is turned over in its place and
broken up with the spade or fork much more
effectively, while the surface soil, dug as
deep as possible, is simply turned over. A
small holder known to the writer cultivated
his garden on this plan in the first year of his
occupation, and, entirely without mar#are,
produced, and still continues to produce, large
crops in great variety. THe work is hard,

SMALL HOLDINGS 77

but it is the kind of work that pays, and time
should be found during a long winter to com-
plete it. Double digging confers two advan-
tages at least; the subsoil is aerated, so that
in the course of time the food which it contains
in a latent condition is prepared for the use
of plants, while it is rendered more porous,
an important point in a heavy soil through
which water passes with difficulty in a rainy
season. The roots of plants, too, are more
easily enabled to penetrate the subsoil, as in
the case of lucerne, clover, and all deep-
rooted plants, some of which, like kidney-
vetch, yarrow, and Burnet, should invari-
ably be sown in grass mixtures which are
to remain down over three years in search
of food and water,

Although spade cultivation may be re-
garded as the chief feature of the winter's
work, there are many other items of labour
which a tenant will find that it is
important should be done. When digging
or other work on the land is impossible,
owing to snow, hard frost, or heavy rain, he
will mend his fences, clean out his ditches
and his drains, repair his buildings and his
gates, limewash, tar, or paint where either
is required ; for if he is a handy man, as a

78 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

small holder with no capital to spare for
paying tradesmen should be, he will learn
to use such tools as are essential in rough
carpentry, and in laying bricks or tiles.

Although it is the custom of the majority
of farmers to cart manure from the stock-yard,
or from a heap which has been built elsewhere,
to the land when it is hard with frost, we may
point out that it is by no means an economical
plan. It has been shown repeatedly that
manure, both liquid and solid, should be
carried to the land when fresh, inasmuch
as the loss is materially reduced. Where
farm-yard manure is kept for a length of time,
its volume is quickly diminished, and this is
a valuable asset to the soil, owing to its
influence in improving its texture. It also
loses nitrogen during decomposition, and in
the drainage which passes from it — especially
if it is exposed to rain — a portion of its
most valuable mineral constituents. Here,
then, is further labour for the winter.

Turning to the live stock of the five acre
holding, we suggest that two cows should
be kept, but much depends upon the care
with which they are selected. No man can
afford to buy cheap cows; they should be
young, gentle in disposition, broad across

SMALL HOLDINGS 79

the hips and between the buttocks, provided
with lengthy heads, strong muzzles, fore-
quarters sloping towards the back, well-
sprung ribs, giving plenty of room for the
vital organs, and a large udder, globular in
form as in the Jersey, with a prominent milk
vein, teats of good size, set well apart, and all
yielding milk. No purchase should be com-
pleted without full knowledge of the yield
and fat percentage of the milk. It is wiser
to pay an extra guinea for the privilege of
seeing each cow milked morning and evening,
and taking a sample, than to buy a mere
scrub which fails to pay her way. The
success of a holding may depend entirely upon
the contribution of the cows. Each cow
should yield an annual average of at least 700
gallons, or if she is intended for butter
production, 350 lb. Thus the milk should
contain from 4| to 5 per cent, of fat, and it
can be found in dairy shorthorns, or cows
bred between these famous milkers and the
Channel Islands breed. It should not be
forgotten that the calf of a big milker is
always saleable at a better price than if it had
no breed behind. When service is required,
no effort should be spared to obtain the ser-
vices of a bull of first-class milking stock.

80 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

and the owner should be asked for the records
of his dam and the dam of his sire. In
this way good milking heifers will be ensured;
nor should the fee stand in the way. To use
inferior stock because it costs less money is
to fail, just as surely as if the cows were
deprived of a portion of their food, or the land
of the manure which is essential to the growth
of a crop.

If the milk is sold to a dairyman, it should
return, at an average price of 7|d. per gallon
net, on the basis of a yield of 700 gallons
per cow, £21 17s. 6d. On the other hand,
if sold by retail in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the farm, this sum should be doubled.
In this case it could be delivered twice daily
by a lad whose remaining time would be
available for other work. A farmer owning
six to eight cows, and knowing his work,
can feed and milk them himself and subse-
quently deliver his milk with the help of
a horse, but he must be an industrious
man.

In some instances small cow-keepers may
find it advantageous to sell cream instead
of new milk, and if they are able to obtain
customers in sufficient numbers this will
pay them quite as well. A hand separator

SMALL HOLDINGS 81

would be necessary, while the cream should
be extracted at the rate of 10 per cent. This
should be thick enough for any ordinary
purpose if the milk is rich in fat, and a gallon
would thus yield a pound, or four-fifths of
a pint, which weighs 20 oz. The best cream
is retailed at 2s. a pint, but if it were sold at
Is. 6d. it would pay extremely well, for it
will be noticed that the offal, or separated
milk, would be available for calves or pigs, or
it might be sold at 3d. to 4d. per gallon. On
these terms the price obtained for the milk
would exceed Is. 2d. a gallon.

Butter-making we should scarcely recom-
mend upon so small a farm. Assuming, how-
ever, that the cows were yielding 2| gallons
per day, or in all 5 gallons, and that the
butter produced reached 2 lb., the daily
returns, on the supposition that the butter
realised Is. 2d. per lb., would reach 2s. 4d.,
or with the separated milk, if this were sold
at 3d. per gallon — about 4 gallons in quantity
— 3s. 4d. In some instances skimmed milk
will fetch Id. to l|d. a quart, but its sale
at these prices can never be guaranteed,
and the remark equally applies to butter,
which, owing to close competition, might
sometimes fail to reach the price suggested.

82 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

On the other hand, milk sells well in winter,
when it is not difficult to realise 9d. to
9|d. wholesale, after paying the cost of
carriage for a short distance; but should it
happen that other producers are competing
for the local trade, it may be found better
to sell cream, butter, or, during the summer
season, cream and curd cheese, the produce
of new milk.

The reader will find detailed descriptions
of the management of the cow, and the
construction of the cowhouse and its fittings
in some of the books named at the end of
this paper, but we may remark that on many
Small Holdings, especially in Yorkshire, we
have found that a plain floor made of chalk
and covered with beaten earth answers very
well for the stalls. There are no racks or
mangers; the hay is placed in front of the
cow, and the prepared ration in a strong
and well-painted tub, which is removed and
cleaned after each meal. The stalls are short,
so that the hind feet of the cow are almost
level with the gutter in which most of the
manure falls. They are warm, clean, and
require less bedding than where they are larger
and provided with a manger. It may be
added that where the milk, cream, or butter

SMALL HOLDINGS 83

is sold to private customers, the cows should

calve some months apart. One cow, for

example, should calve in September or

October, in order that there may be a good

winter supply, and the other early in the

spring; thus there would be a supply of

milk throughout the year. Close attention

should be paid to the time of rest — i.e. the

period of at least six weeks between drying

and calving — to calving, to malk fever, and

other dominant diseases, to dangerous

attacks like hoven, and to the rearing of

the calf.

If a calf is not good enough to rear for

sale or milking purposes, it should be

converted into veal as rapidly

The Calf. ., , , . , . , ^ /

as possible, drinking from the

pail ; if, however, it is a good one, in all

respects, it should be reared on whole milk

for two to three weeks, after which the

cream may be rentoved in increasing

quantities and supplanted with cod-liver

or cotton seed oil, until, when the milk

being entireh'^ skimmed, the oil supplied

will have reached four table-spoonfuls, or

two ounces daily, given at four meals. The

subject of feeding calves, however, is a

study of itself. Various substitutes are used

84 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

with separated milk, as mixed meals, linseed
cake meal, linseed meal, and boiled linseed.
We cannot, however, do better than recom-
mend the practice of paying visits to successful
farmers and seeing how they do their work,
and of reading the agricultural papers in
which this and cognate subjects are fre-
quently described. It is important, to
add that the success obtained in rearing
calves depends almost entirely upon the
breed, careful and liberal feeding, perfect
cleanliness, and freedom from disease, the
worst of which is scour, or diarrhoea, which
usually follows uncleanliness or careless feed-
ing, or infection through the navel cord.
There are instances in which it would be folly
to feed a calf at all unless it were of excep-
tional value, as, for instance, when the whole
of the milk is required for retail customers;
but where a calf is a strong heifer, the produce
of a first-rate milker and of a bull of equally
first-rate blood, it is better to purchase milk
for a few weeks for the supply of customers
until it can be fed at a cheaper rate.

The pig is at all times a factor on a
Small Holding, especially where the land
is devoted to the culture of potatoes. It
may be safely estimated that by good

SMALL HOLDINGS 85

management a sow will return a profit of

25 per cent, upon the money expended

upon her and her litters. Thus, if
Pigs. ^

the cost for food is £20 a year,

the profit should be £5. This is the
dictum of successfui men, although there
are times when this sum is much ex-
ceeded, while under bad conditions a year's
work may show a loss. The breeder
should not be guided either by the cost of
pigs or foods. The practice of ceasing to
breed or to feed when prices rise and of com-
mencing again when prices fall is most
disastrous. As in the case of the cow, great
care should be taken to select good stock.
A sow should either be of pure breed, such as
the large white or large black, or a cross
between these varieties, or one of these and
the Berkshire, but in any case she should be
large. Young pigs cannot grow into large
ones if they are the produce of a small sow
or an immature gilt, whatever the breed of
the sire. She should possess great length
of body, width of loin, great depth of flank,
large hams, a head inclined to be long, with
ears to match. Short heads and ears with
short snouts which are dished or inclined
upwards are indicative of aptitude to lay

86 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

on too much fat, especially if the collar is
short. Opinions differ as to the hair, which
in some animals is thick and coarse, while in
others it is bare and thin and of a silk-like
texture. The great point, however, is to
secure a sow which has produced strong litters
which have grown quickly into large size.
If, hovv'ever, a gilt is purchased, she should be
of a prolific breed on both sides, strongly
built, with a good constitution as far as can
be judged. One of the most important features
in a breeding sow is a good supply of milk,
and in consequence the udder should be well
developed and provided with sufficient teats
to enable her to feed a good litter. The
difference in the supply of milk by different
sows of similar size and breed is so remarkable
that whereas in one case a litter of ten may
be large and fat at the end of nine weeks, in
another the majority may be small and
unthrifty, and quite unfit for sale. Small
size in the sow not only diminishes the size
and weight of the young pigs, but the number
in a litter.

Whether a litter should be sold when weaned,
fed for porkers or bacon pigs, the owner must
decide. He should in consequence keep him-
self acquainted with market prices and note

SMALL HOLDINGS 87

the quantity of food required in each case,
that he may the better reahse which will pay
him best. From time to time, as it may be
found advisable, the best gilt of a good litter
should be reserved for stock, but, as with
a cow, service should be obtained elsewhere.
On this point the greatest care should be
exercised in selecting what boar should be
used. In our experience many owners of a
sow pay no regard to this point, but pay
their half-crown to the nearest ovvner.
Anything on four legs is apparently suffi-
cient for their purpose, although the Htter
which follows may not be worth halt
the money it would have realised in good
hands.

An important point in pig-keeping is to
breed to time. A sow should produce two
litters in a year, and in consequence the litter
must not be left with the sow too long. A
sow farrowing in spring should feed her litter
off quickly, and after service graze on the
pasture, grass being supplemented by garden
produce, middlings, house wash and skim
milk, where this is available. If she litters
late, the pigs will have to contend against
the coldest weather, while the utter of tlie
following spring will be later still, and thus

88 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

breeding will be so much delayed that a
litter may be lost.

In some instances small pig-keepers make
a larger profit by killing pigs at home and
retailing the joints, for which they have
obtained orders. Where this plan is adopted
the litter should be fed until they reach the
porker size, one being killed at a time as
orders are obtained; this form of dealing pays
a larger profit than sales in the ordinary way.
There are some persons who are glad to
purchase sides or hams for curing, and these
may be a little larger, but there is usually
an objection to meat which is too fat. An
examination of the choicest cuts at a good
provision dealer's shop will help the feeder
to realise exactly what the buyer wants and
to feed accordingly. Where pigs are sold to
bacon curers it is imperative to send the best,
as if there is too much fat, or if the fat is
the produce of maize feeding, it is usual to
pay a lower price.

With regard to food, a great deal may be
said, but while we refer the reader to works
upon the subject, in which he will find a fund
of information, we give a short outline of
the best practice in feeding. Many pigs are
fed upon butcher's offal; this should be

SMALL HOLDINGS 89

avoided altogether, for although a pig is
omnivorous, she should be entirely restricted,
with one exception — milk — to vegetable food,
grain, pulse, grass, forage plants, and roots.
When a sow is with her litter she should
be fed on middlings, and in course of time
the young ones will feed with her from the
same trough. When they feed with regu-
larity a separate trough should be provided
in an adjoining pen which they alone can
enter. The food supplied in this pen should
consist at first of middlings, with the addition
of a small quantity of barley meal, which
may be increased, so that by the time they are
weaned they will be fed upon a fattening
ration. To barley meal, when middlings are
abandoned, skim milk may be added by
degrees instead of water, and steamed potatoes
in small quantities, these foods forming the
best ration, as shown by results. The practice
of cooking grain is not followed by similar
success. Young pigs should not receive house
wash or garden waste, but be kept growing
in the sty until ready for sale. If, how-
ever, they are intended for stock, they
may be turned out for daily exercise,
inasmuch as a well-fed animal is thus
better fitted for reproductive purposes than

90 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

one which has been confined exclusively to
the sty.

One of the most important questions
relating to pigs is that of disease. No pig
should be purchased from a herd which has
been affected by swine fever or tuberculosis,
nor should straw or any other materials be
obtained from the farm. It is also obvious,
and for the same reason, that there should
be no communication with an affected farm
either for breeding or for any other purpose
whatsoever.

Bronze turkeys will pay better on a five

acre holding than a flock of sheep of the

„ , same number, if we leave out

Turkeys.

of the account the benefit which
the farmer derives from their manure v/hen
the sheep are folded and fatted for the
butcher on the land. The best cockerels
of this variety reach 25 lb. in weight, or
more, at Christm.as, while old birds will
scale up to 45 lb. The hens are rela-
tively smaller, but unless the breeder is
prepared to pay the price for the largest,
and they should weigh at least 16 lb.
apiece, he had better leave the breed
alone.

A good start may be made with a cockerel

SMALL HOLDINGS 91

of 25 lb. weight — which had better be reduced
by short feeding for a while, or he may
damage the hens severely — and half a dozen
hens, which have reached their second season.
Details of breeding, feeding, and management
may be found in the works suggested at the
end of these remarks. We would caution
the breeder against investing money in a
flock of turkeys miless he knows exactly
what to buy, and further, how to manage them
successfully. Books which deal with this
subject are of great assistance to the breeder
when they are the work of practitioners, for
after all actual experience is the only safe
guide.

A small flock such as we have named may
help the breeder to realise a hundred pounds,
if he is able to obtain sufficient Christmas
orders for all he rears, and he should make a
point of reaching 18 lb. to 20 lb. at least for
his cockerels, which should realise an average
of a guinea each, and of keeping the largest
and most healthy pullets for use or sale as
hens, when he should obtain considerably
more. Where turkeys are unusually large,
as they may be if the stock is of the best,
and the feeding good, many of the finest of
the flock may be sold at enhanced prices

92 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

for exhibition breeding stock. Briefly, if
proper care is exercised, we may look upon
the turkey as one of the most profitable
adjuncts of a Small Holding.

The poultry should be selected from those
varieties which are prolific layers and use-
ful— whether crossed or no— for
Poultry.

table purposes. In the latter case

the chickens should be fattened artificially
in pens while still quite young, and sold
before the main crop of the country is
ready for the market. We would suggest
that large gray Dorking hens in their
second year be mated with a cockerel of the
Indian game, if table fowls are required, for
the reason that they realise the highest price.
If, however, it is intended to provide eggs
with less regard to meat, the white Wyandotte
may be preferred.

One of the chief points in breeding poultry
on a five acre holding is to obtain the chickens
early, but this involves winter laying. A
breeding flock should therefore consist of hens,
or pullets if preferred, which were hatched
in January or February at the latest. Under
good management they should commence to
lay by July, and continue for some months,
when they may possibly moult, again com-

SMALL HOLDINGS 93

mencing and producing eggs at the required
time.

For hatching purposes broody hens may
be purchased either from neighbouring farms,
or an incubator may be used. If it is
decided to use this machine, it is essential
to exercise great care in its selection. It
is a good plan to visit a few poultry-
breeders who possess an incubator and to
see it at work, and to learn what results
have been obtained.

The poultry-keeper will usually find it
better to sell his eggs and poultry near
home. The belief that London is the
great emporium where high prices are
obtained is a mistaken one. Nor would
he do much better at hotels or provision
dealers' shops. Private customers who know
where the produce is grown will pay
much better prices, for owing to the great
facilities with which eggs and poultry are
landed on our shores, they can be placed
in the trader's hands fresh enough to
sell as English grown. A small holder
is seldom able to obtain more than a
shilling a dozen for eggs, whereas the
trader's prices vary from Is. 2(1. to Is. 3d.
a dozen.

94 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Let us now suggest what prices should
be paid for the stock to which refer-
ence has been made. Cows, £21 to £25
each; breeding sow, full grown, £5 to £7;
gilts, 9 to 12 months old, £4 to £6;
turkeys, cockerel (before Christmas), 21 lb.
to 24 lb., 25s. to 35s., hens, 25s. to 40s.;
white Wyandottes and Langshans, Dorkings,
and Fleche, of large size, without regard to
'fancy' points, 10s. each.

SMALL HOLDINGS

CHAPTER VI

THE SELECTION OF A HOLDING

The first point of importance to which the
small holder will naturally devote his atten-
tion in making the selection of his land will
be that which relates to the nature of his
undertaking. If he intends to keep cows for
the production of milk for sale it will be his
object to obtain land, a portion of which
is old pasture or meadow of good staple,
which will enable him to produce forage,
root, and other useful crops; to see that the
water supply is suflTicient for his purposes;
that the holding is well drained and fenced;
that the grass land is well sheltered from cold
winds and driving rains; and that the climate
is sufReiently mild and the aspect as nearly
as possible south. Stock, and especially
cow stock, are much influenced in their
productive poAvers by genial climate, the
altitude not being too high, and by the warmth

9C THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

of the sun, which should not be excluded by
hills, woods, or timber trees.

The profit derived by a small holder from
the sale of milk depends very largely upon
his proximity to a population. Land near a
large village which affords an opening for
his work, or within easy distance of a town,
will afford him an opportunity for effecting
sales. Where there is no chance of selling
milk at retail prices the small holder will do
well to turn his attention, should he keep cows,
to the production of butter or cream. The
wholesale price of milk after the deduction
of carriage by rail and the cost of conveyance
to the station being too low to enable him to
realise a sufficient profit. In most Continental
countries the occupiers of the land are chiefly
small holders. The majority of these people
keep cows, but they take advantage of the
co-operative system which enables them to
realise a higher sum for their milk than they
could possibly attain by the home production
of either butter or cheese. In France, Italy,
and Switzerland the milk is collected and
conveyed to a creamery or a cheese factory,
the price being estimated on the basis of its
productive power. We have had the advan-
tage of inspecting numerous factories in these

SMALL HOLDINGS 97

countries, and are persuaded that the principle
on which they are based is worthy of imita-
tion by British small holders. In Denmark,
where small cowkeepers are very numerous,
the same principle is adopted, although the
system is more perfect, butter being the chief
article of produce, while pigs are fed upon the
skimmed milk, and subsequently sent to the
bacon factory, which is conducted upon the
same plan. In Holland, although there are
some instances in which co-operation has
been invoked successfully, the majority of
the small farmers make their cheese and
butter on the farm. Our own experience
of the work in Holland, however, leads us to
believe that the profits realised are smaller
than where the milk is manipulated in a
co-operative factory.

Where milk-selling is impossible, and it is
still determined to keep cows for the manu-
facture of butter or cheese, it is not so important
that the holding should be so near to a town,
for it must be remembered that the rent
is determined very largely by the position
of the land. Pasture and meadow land
frequently realise £8 to £lO per acre when
adjacent to a large population, while land
of the same character can be rented at 15s.

S.H. * E

98 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

to 20s. a few miles away. Experience has
shown that the small holder will find it
advantageous to select his land as near as
possible to those who are following the same
industry as himself, and however much he
may object to be a member of a colony, he
will find that by combination he will be
able to save money in various directions
and frequently to complete his work more
quickly than if he were isolated. If we run
through the holdings of these colonies of
small holders with which we are acquainted
we shall find that no two men work on the
same plan; each holder appears to possess
ideas of his own, and in some instances
special gifts which enable him to carry
them out successfully. From this point
of view each man should select his land in
accordance with his views. We take a
few instances which will indicate our
meaning.

In one case the occupier of a small farm
had some experience with cows. In selecting
his holding he took great pains to obtain
the best grass he could command, together
with a plot of arable land, in order to
provide himself with roots, green forage,
and straw. The holding he secured was

SMALL HOLDINGS 99

in the immediate vicinity of a small town,
and in consequence he was compelled to
pay a higher price. In this case a know-
ledge of the work and a well-selected farm
have been followed by success.

In a second instance the occupier, an
experienced gardener, was of necessity com-
pelled to buy his land, as it was essential
that he should remove the turf for use under
glass. It need hardly be mentioned that,
with this object in view, grass land could
scarcely be rented. Owing to the necessity
of spending almost all his capital in the
purchase of his holding, this man was com-
pelled to choose a plot of three acres four
miles from a railway station, land more
conveniently situated being too costly for
his purse. His intention was to grow plants
of two classes — those under glass, which
consisted of tomatoes, cucumbers, and roses,
while those outside chiefly consisted of roses
and fruit. For his purpose, therefore, clay
loam was selected, the turf from a large por-
tion of the holding being removed as required
for the benefit of his glass crops. In this case
it was essential to consider the importance
of a direct water supply from the main,
the cost of the haulage of coal, and the

100 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

conveyance of produce to the railway
station. All having been well arranged, and
the work well conducted, the result was
thorough success.

In a third case the holding was restricted
to some three or four acres of land of a medium
character, the object of the holder being
the intense cultivation of a number of market
garden crops which it would be requisite to
send to market during the season almost
every day. Here, again, it was important
to secure a supply of water from the main,
to provide for the conveyance of manure
from the town, and of produce to the
market. The land selected was three miles
from a railway station, but although the
holding was small, abundant manure, fre-
quent watering, and a regular succession
of suitable crops ensured an excellent
profit.

We have seen that the area of a holding, as
well as its position, its distance from a town
and a station, as well as the soil, depends to
a large extent upon the nature of the work
which the holder intends to caiTy out. It
should be needless to say that in no case
should land be selected which is of too sandy,
gravelly, or chalky a nature. A sandy loam,

SMALL HOLDINGS 101

although greedy for manure, is sometimes
invaluable for given crops; but soils of all
kinds, and especially chalks and gravels,
which have a thin surface, should be ignored.
The farmer, and, still less, the small holder,
cannot afford to till soil which may fail him
in a dry summer, unless he follows the modern
system af market gardening. For this reason
all types of soil which suffer from drought
should be regarded as useless, and to those
we have already mentioned may be added
heavy clay.

It is important that there should be nine
to twelve inches of surface soil, and that
the subsoil should be deep. A good subsoil,
although of little use in its primitive condition,
may, by deep cultivation, be gradually
added to the surface soil, tlie depth of which
is consequently increased. By the term
'subsoil' we mean that portion of the soil
which lies below that which has been culti-
vated and which has been practically un-
touched by farm tools or implements. Thus
if, when ploughing to the bottom of the
surface soil, a subsoiler is drawn behind the
plough, the upper portion of the subsoil will
be stirred or broken up and submitted to
both light and air, with the result that as

102 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

this process is continued portions gradually
decompose, and supply feeding matter to
plants, the roots of which are enabled to
penetrate within it.

There are few systems of cultivation adapted
to the Small Holding in which both grass and
arable land are not required. The market
gardener may prefer a holding which is entirely
under tillage, but should 't be necessary for
him to keep a horse he will find a plot of grass
land advantageous. Small holders who keep
cows, pigs, or poultry, or a combination of
each class of stock, will also find a plot of
grass essential. The pig is as natural a grazer
as the cow, the horse, or the sheep, and
although young pigs bred for pork or bacon
are better kept in the sty from weaning to
sale or slaughter, the sow will derive consider-
able benefit from daily exercise on a plot
of pasture land.

Both her vitaity and her prolificacy depend
to a very large extent upon her liberty and
the fresh air and exercise she obtains in
consequence. Grass, too, is highly beneficial
as a food for sows, especially when they are
compelled to graze and earn their living.
All things considered, however, arable land
provides the heaviest crops which can be

SMALL HOLDINGS 103

grown in such great variety, for which reason
it is that we strongly urge the importance
to small holders of holdings which are chiefly
under tillage, but only on condition that they
have experience in connection with the
crops they propose to grow, and sufficient
capital to enable them to conduct their
work in the most thorough manner
possible.

Although Small Holdings are worked success-
fully in all parts of England, and in almost
all climates which prevail in these islands,
a wise man will seek for land which is not at
too high an altitude, in which the climate is
fairly mild, and where he will be able to grow
crops in such variety as he pleases. In some
parts of England it is possible to grow in
the open air crops of the most profitable
character, whereas in other parts these crops
are grown only under glass or in highly
favoured positions. In a southern county,
for example, a friend of the writer produced
early potatoes in a field some acres in extent,
which realised in his first year sufficient money
to pay the cost of the land. The success of
a Small Holding depends, therefore, very
largely upon the climate and aspect, which is
an important feature, as well as upon the soil

104 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

and the skill of the grower. Large numbers
of working men, however, are severely
handicapped, sometimes by their want of
knowledge of the system of cultivation of
the most lucrative crops, and sometimes by
the character of the soil and the climate in
which they live. Where a field slopes from
north to south it obtains a much larger share
of sunshine than one which is flat or sloping
in any other direction, while a field which
slopes from south to north — and such fields
are quite common in hilly districts — obtains
scarcely any sunshine at all, with the result
that the crops are later and less abundant.
The heat of the sun, too, is absorbed much
more freely upon dark soils than upon those
which are light in colour; hence, the moist
black soils which prevail in some countries
are more productive.

Again, no matter what the type of culti-
vation is intended to be followed, it is
important for the successful working of a
Small Holding that it should be well watered.
Water is imperative for stock, and should be
found in every grass field at all seasons of
the year. However good other conditions
may be, and however tempting the land
and the situation, it would be foolish of a man

SMALL HOLDINGS 105

whose livelihood depends upon his crops and
stock to take a holding in which the water
supply is defective. Apart from the require-
ments of stock, the modern or intensive system
of cultivation demands abundant water.
Intensive cropping means the liberal supply
of manure, which should form a large proportion
of the top six inches of the soil, and profuse
watering in hot weather. The manure warms
the soil and feeds the plants, with the result
that by supplying water freely the crops
grow earlier and later in the year, and with
great rapidity, owing to the fact that they
are practically forced.

It is important that every field should be
well divided from its neighbour by a vigorous
hedge or a substantial fence. Hedging is an
art which is not too freely practised by small
holders, but it is to their advantage to maintain
their hedges in perfect condition. The object
of trimming, pruning, or laying is to induce
a hedge to grow quickly at the bottom as well
as elsewhere. As stock, especially sheep and
pigs, frequently make gaps in the bottom of
a hedge, it should be thickest at this point,
gradually diminishing until it forms a ridge,
a flat- topped hedge being objectionable and
contributing to its weakness.

106 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

The condition of the soil is almost as
important as its character or composition.
Where land is foul it is costly to cultivate,
and if foulness is indicated by the weeds upon
the surface, it is rational to suppose that it
is equally foul with seeds which will germinate
on the least provocation by the implements
of the farm, and smother or partially de-
stroy young plants growing from seed which
was sown for a coming crop.

It is specially important for the prospec-
tive small holder to notice whether either
grass or arable land is foul with couch
or twitch grass, which every man who pro-
poses to take land for cultivation for a liveli-
hood should be able to recognise with ease.
If he is not, and if the more destructive weeds
are unknov/n to him, he has missed his voca-
tion and had better seek some other, for the
recognition of the enemies of the farmer is
among the first of his qualifications.

The common bent grasses, especially those
with creeping roots, the sedges, charlock,
poppy, mayweed, daisies, and buttercups also
indicate foulness or poverty in the soil. Among
the more prevalent and troublesome weeds on
arable land are the poppy, charlock, the thistle,
and the dock. The two latter are difficult

SMALL HOLDINGS 107

to eradicate, owing to their vitality and the
resistance of their roots, while charlock and
the poppy are notorious for the quantity of
seed they grow and distribute on the soil,
and, in consequence, for the ease with which
they cover a field. The presence of heath
is also indicative of poor soil. Again, if the
timber consists largely of the fir or the beech,
or, in the absence of these varieties, of trees
which are stunted in their growth, suspicion
should be aroused. Poor grass land, too,
is frequently covered with moss and tufted
hair-grass. Moss, however, is not of such
great importance on land which has a good
staple, but which has become poor owing
to careless cultivation or want of liberality in
the employment of manure. If land of use-
ful character is carefully cleaned, good culture
and judicious manurings will quickly bring it
back to condition and enable it to grow
excellent crops, but land which is thoroughly
foul should be avoided altogether.

Before taking a farm upon which so much
depends, the intending occupier should make
an effort to inspect it during the two important
seasons of the year, and especially when it
is carrying a summer crop. A meadow is best
examined before it has been mown, a pasture

108 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

when it has produced abundant feed, one
object in each case being to ascertain whether
clover forms, as it should do, a large
portion of the herbage — at least 25 per cent.
— or whether it is practically absent and its
place more than occupied by weeds. It is
true that a pasture or meadow can be easily
improved, but the business of the small holder
is to make a living and not to spend his first
few years in improving land with the object
of ultimate success, unless the conditions of
his tenancy or of his purchase make it worth
his while.

We have pointed out that thin land is use-
less; we may also remark that wet land is
equally bad. Although foul land is to be
avoided as a rule, there are instances where
good land produces weeds owing to the care-
lessness of the occupier. The best farm in
the country, given half a chance, would pro-
duce more weeds, and weeds with a stronger
vitality, than the poorest farm; and this fact
should be borne in mind, for the thistle, like
the dock, is no respecter of farms. Both
plants, like couch grass and charlock, are
versatile pests, and, as a matter of fact, they
will grow with greater luxuriance on good than
on poor land.

SMALL HOLDINGS 109

Rich land can easily be recognised by careful
examination with a spade. For example, a
hole is dug to a depth of two feet ; if the soil
is rich the top nine inches will be dark in
colour, and similar throughout; it will contain
too, a large proportion of organic matter,
much of which may be recognised by the eye
in the form of rootlets and other vegetable
substances resembling the decayed matter
which is found beneath the herbage growing
on pasture land.

110 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

CHAPTER VII

THE SOIL OF THE SMALL HOLDING

We have seen that the value of land as a
crop-producmg medium depends upon a
variety of conditions; its position, its alti-
tude, its aspect, and the rainfall of the district
in v/hich it is situated. Land of inferior
quality, however, can be materially improved
by skilful management, but its value can be
more easily diminished by carelessness in
cultivation and by inadequate manuring.
On the other hand, land of inferior quality
can be improved in value, because its power
to produce crops can be increased. The land
is the raw material upon which the small
holder must depend not only for the pro-
duction of saleable crops, but for the food
which his stock require; and we think we
may justly say that his most important duty
is not merely to maintain, but to be continually
improving, its condition.

SMALL HOLDINGS 111

The soil may be divided into two parts :
the mineral matter, and the decayed or
decaying vegetable matter, both of which
provide food for plants; but the capacity of
the soil to grow crops depends not only upon
the quantity of this food, but the condition
in which it exists. Living plants consist to
a very large extent of water. Thus, in the
turnip we have 90 per cent, in round numbers,
and 10 per cent, of solid matter, most of
which is nutritious and digestible, and,
consequently, food for stock; but only a
small portion of the solid matter of plants
is derived from the soil, i.e. that which is
of mineral origin. The feeding matter of
plants is usually divided into four parts :
the protein or albuminous matter, of which
the albumin of the egg, the gluten of wheat,
and the legumen of pease and beans, all of
which contain nitrogen, are examples, and
which, in consequence, are utilised for the
construction of the muscular and other nitro-
genous tissue of the body of the animal; the
carbohydrates, which chiefly consist of starch
and sugar; the oils and fats and the minerals.
The carbohydrates and the fats, however,
are derived from the atmosphere, although
the elements of which they are composed

112 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

are not absorbed by plants in the same
way as the nitrogen to which we have
referred, but which is also derived from the
atmosphere, although indirectly. All culti-
vated plants, however, are able to obtain
nitrogen, which is present in the soil in a
combined form, as in the organic matter of
plants, roots, and dung, and from such man-
ures as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia,
nitrate of lime, guano, and farm-yard manure,
both liquid and solid. The method by which
soil nitrogen becomes available for the use
of pla its and the manner in which it enters
their system are fully explained in such
handbooks as The Chemistry of the Farm,
which will repay a reader who desires to know
the functions of soil and manure. It is
sufficient for us to point out that just as it
is imperative to feed a cow with liberality
to enable her to provide a large quantity of
milk, or a bullock, a wether sheep, or a pig
to increase its production of meat, so must
we feed the soil, for without liberal treatment
it cannot respond.

Let us employ an illustration that the reader
may better realise the importance of what is
generally described as 'fertility' in the soil;
and we include under this term not onlv

SMALL HOLDINGS 113

the food v/hich plants appropriate, but those
invisible germs which are known as bacteria,
and which are necessary in its preparation.
Thus, although farm-yard manure contains
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash — all
of which are essential to plants — these
materials are not available until it has
passed through a process of decomposition
in which the micro-organisms of the soil
play an important part.

Again, we have referred to the fact that
leguminous plants are enabled to obtain
nitrogen from the air with the help of specific
bacteria, but if the seed is sown in what we
may regard as a sterile field — a field in which
there are no such bacteria — germination,
indeed, takes place, and the plant obtains a
start in life, but, having exhausted the
nitrogen present in its seed, it dies and there
is consequently no crop. In such circum-
stances, therefore, it is not only imperative
to supply the mineral manures — phosphoric
acid, potash, and lime — but also the bacteria.
In this case, the seed having germinated,
the bacteria assist the young plants to
obtain the nitrogen they require, and
this, in conjunction with the minerals
which have been supplied in artificial

114 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

manures, enables them to grow and to
produce a crop,

Looking at the subject from this point of
view, we may regard the soil as a medium
for the production of crops rather than as
their source. Before the discovery of the
fact that bacteria were the means of assisting
leguminous plants to obtain atmospheric
nitrogen, many experiments were made in
order to determine how and from what source
nitrogen was obtained by growing plants in
field culture in those cases in which, like
clover, a larger quantity was removed in
the crop than was known to be present in the
soil.

It is now well known that although clover
is rich in nitrogen, the roots which are
left in the soil after the removal of a crop
may contain more nitrogen than was present
in the soil before the seed was sown. Thus,
when barley was sown upon one portion of a
field at Rothamsted, which had grown cereal
crops in the preceding five years, barley with
clover being sown upon the other portion,
the quantity of nitrogen removed by the
barley crop grown alone was 37 lb. per acre,
while that removed in the clover crop reached
151 lb. per acre. In the third year barley

SMALL HOLDINGS 115

was again grown over the whole field, but the
crop which was grown on the clover land
obtained 30 lb. more nitrogen than that
which followed the barley grown alone, in
spite of the fact that the previous clover
crop has removed 114 lb. more nitrogen per
acre than the first barley crop. After the
removal of the clover and barley in the
second year analysis showed an excess of
nitrogen in the clover land to a depth of
9 in., much greater than that in the barley
land. Long before the discovery of the
medium which enabled clover and other
leguminous plants to obtain free nitrogen
from the atmosphere, opinions were expressed
by a number of scientific agriculturists,
including the late Dr Voelcker and the French
chemist, Ville, that the atmosphere was the
source from which they obtained their nitrogen,
although in what way there was no evidence
to show. In 1886, however, the German,
Hellriegel, discovered that when farm plants
such as the grasses were grown in sterile
sand, they practically grew in proportion
to the quantity of combined nitrogen supplied,
and that they died as soon as the supply in
the seed was exhausted.

A similar result followed the attempt to

116 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

grow clover itself and other plants of the
leguminous order in sterile sand to which
mineral fertilisers alone were supplied.
When, however, a small quantity of fertile
soil was added as a watery extract to the
sand, the still-living plants continued
to grow and mature, assimilating atmo-
spheric nitrogen. On the roots of these
plants small clusters of nodules were found,
which may be also found upon the roots
of the leguminous plants of the farm which
are growing under ordinary conditions. These
nodules were found to contain bacteria now
known as Bacteria Radicicola. Thus, these
organisms live in symbiosis or cohabitation,
as it were, with the plants on the roots of
which they exist for mutual benefit.

A simple experiment will prove the above
facts to be true. If a few seeds of the clover
plant, or the pea, are placed in sterilised sand
in a flower-pot, they will germinate and grow
until they have exhausted the reserve food
which the seed contains, when, having nothing
to fall back upon to continue the life process,
they die. If, however, the sand is supplied
with mineral plant foods, and a small quantity
of the soil-extract to which we have referred,
the young plants will continue to grow to

SMALL HOLDINGS 117

maturity, nodules will be found upon their
roots, and the quantity of nitrogen which
they contain will be largely in excess of that
which was present in the seed. Thus, with-
out a supply of nitrogen in the soil, this element
has been appropriated of necessity from the
atmosphere through the medium of the
bacteria in the nodules. Thus farmers are
shown why the nitrogen in the clover roots,
which remain after the removal of a heavy
crop of clover hay or forage, may be larger
in quantity than that present in the soil
before the clover seed was sown; and, there-
fore, why a wheat crop succeeds when it is
sown after a clover ley. The examination
of a clover, trefoil, or pea plant will reveal
the presence of the nodules in which the
bacteria are so actively engaged in providing
nitrogen for their assimilation of plant life.
Reference has been made to this subject
in order that the principle of manuring may
be better understood. A case in point
may be taken, and it is one in which the
writer was personally concerned. A large
field of extremely poor soil was sown with
barley and manured with basic slag, ex-
cepting upon a small portion, which was
dunged. When the barley had reach'^d a

118 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

height of two to three inches lucerne was
drilled across it and rolled in. The seed
germinated well, but when the young plants
had reached a height of some two inches they
died off, except upon the land which was
dunged. Here they continued to grow with
great luxuriance, until at harvest they had
reached a height of fourteen inches. The
failure on the land which received the slag
was not occasioned by vv^ant of food, for it
was well supplied with two materials in
which it was originally deficient — phosphoric
acid and hme; the third material, nitrogen,
lucerne is able to obtain from the atmos-
phere when the soil contains the requi-
site bacteria. These organisms, however,
were absent, as shown by the result, and,
being consequently unable to obtain free
nitrogen, the plant died off and the crop
v/as lost. On the other hand, the roots of
the lucerne growing in the land which was
dunged was well furnished with nodules,
and the plants were consequently enabled to
obtain free nitrogen in addition to the combined
nitrogen in the dung. The value of dung,
therefore, consists not only in the fact that
it provides plant food, but that it supplies
the soil with bacteria. For this reason the

SMALL HOLDINGS 119

small holder should not be induced to replace
dung by artificial fertilisers for use on poor
soil intended to grow leguminous crops,
inasmuch as bacteria are as essential as the
plant food the dung supplies.

There is, however, another value in dung
to which reference may be made; and here
again we deal both with the principle of
manuring and the principle of cultivation.
We refer to its mechanical value. The success-
ful cultivation of heavy land depends very
largely upon the employment of dung, and
especially that containing a large quantity of
straw. Clay, of which heavy land is chiefly
composed, is a plastic material which is not
easily reduced and mellowed. The admixture
of coarse dung, however, reduces its plasticity,
and by its continual employment, and es-
pecially if it is supplemented by the use of
lime, sand, ashes, or the ploughing-in of green
crops, a loam-like condition is ultimately
reached. Thus the improvement of a clay
soil depends, apart from good cultivation,
almost entirely upon the introduction of
organic matter.

We have seen, then, that dung possesses
the property — and on this point it is a
purely mechanical property — of improvmg

120 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

the texture of heavy soil by reducing its
tenacity, improving its working capacity,
and, in consequence, its power to retain
moisture. Dung also exerts a marked in-
fluence upon light soils, but in this case
short dung is superior to dung which is rich
in straw. Thus, pig or cow manure assists
in making a lighter soil more compact,
substantial, and homogeneous. Light soils,
like the heavy clays, contain comparatively
small quantities of organic matter, for which
reason they should be well supplied with short
manure. Green crops, too, may be grown
upon them and ploughed in, until, in course
of time, the per cent, of organic matter is
materially increased; when they become more
substantial, and contain larger quantities of
plant food.

In Germany, a famous agricultural reformer,
who had received a scientific training in
agriculture, purchased 600 acres of sandy land
which was described as desert, at a cost of 12s.
per acre. Its poverty in plant food was
such that for the purposes of taxation its crop
valuation was fixed at 9|d. to 14|d. per acre.
By the application of marl and artificial
manure green crops were grown and ploughed
in for a series of years. This enrichment with

SMALL HOLDINGS 121

organic matter and the consequent provision
of nitrogen and mineral fertilisers gradually
increased the fertility of the land, until it was
able to produce fine crops of grain, pulse,
clover, potatoes, and mangels. This work
was a revelation to the farmer's felloAv-
countrymen. He was sent to Parliament,
and was there the means of establish-
ing a State station for research, and of
showing thousands of farmers how the
poorest land might be converted into
a fertile garden.

Similar work has been carried out for years
in this country on a Kentish farm by Dr
Bernard Dyer and his coadjutor, Mr Shrivell.
Here, by the use of dung combined with
artificials, a practically barren field has been
actually converted into a garden, which
produces luxuriant crops of a large variety
of vegetables and fruits. In this case the
crops produced have been prodigious. Thus,
on the average of ten years, the annual weight
of cauliflowers on the best system of manuring
exceeded 25 tons to the acre, autumn-cut
cabbages reached 31 tons, savoys 28 tons,
brussels sprouts 800 sieves, summer lettuce
80 tons, winter lettuce 17 tons, summer
spinach 10 tons, winter spinach 36 tons,
S.H. * F

122 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

rhubarb 63 tons, the actual average of five
years' potatoes 11 f tons, and onions 15 tons;
gooseberries yielded 3750 lb., black and red
currants 1600 lb., and raspberries 2380 lb.
Plums, strawberries, apples, damsons, cob
nuts, asparagus, and various other crops
were equally productive.

Reference to this subject has been made
in order that the small holder may realise
the fact that, however small his holding, it
possesses great potentiality. Good seed, per-
fect cultivation — in which the small holder
should excel — and liberal and skilful manuring
are invariably accompanied by excellent crops,
and if tlie principles which we are endeavour-
ing to explain are perfectly digested and the
work conducted upon the lines which they
indicate, there is no reason why every Small
Holding in the land should not become a
prosperous concern.

We have seen that farm-yard manure and
the system of green manuring by ploughing-
in leguminous crops are beneficial both to
light and heavy land, as well from the point
of view of the improvement of their texture
as for the provision of plant food. Let us
next deal with the question of the texture of
the soil, that we may obtain some idea both

SMALL HOLDINGS 123

of its mechanical composition and its feeding
value. It is now recognised that an ideal
soil is that v/hich combines perfection of
texture, the power to retain moisture, depth
of staple, with richness in organic matter and
lime. The term 'organic matter' specially
refers to the vegetable matter in the soil —
such as the roots of plants and dung, both
being in a decomposed or decomposing condi-
tion. It is true that anim^al matter is 'organic,'
but in connection with this discussion such
matter practically finds no place. There is,
for example, a considerable amount of organic
matter in old pasture land, as m all soils
which are abundantly manured, and which,
being farmed on the rotation system,
are constantly replenished by the clover
roots, by the stubble of cereals and pulse,
and by the leaves and haulm of bulbs and
potatoes.

During a long series of investigations in
which different crops were grown upon soils
of varying character, it was found by a French
scientist that the most productive land was
that which consisted of equal parts by volume
of four soils — those of a sandy, clayey, peaty,
and chalky character. Thus, the clay pro-
vided substance, the peat the organic

124 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

matter, which, Hke the sand, improved
the texture, these being assisted by the
chalk, which also provided lime. A mixture
of such soils would not only be porous,
promoting the passage of extraneous mois-
ture into the subsoil in wet weather, while
retaining sufficient moisture for the use of
plants in dry weather, but, owing to its
excellent texture, it could be easily tilled
and cleaned.

Reference may now be made to the impor-
tance of lime as an aid to the production of
crops. Lime is itself a plant food; it promotes
the decomposition of farm-yard manure — a
fact which may be recognised if a handful of
quicklime is mixed with a spadeful of dung,
when ammonia will be released; while it
exerts a physical power which is highly
advantageous to the majority of soils. Thus,
it increases the cohesive and water-retaining
power of a light soil, and, on the other hand,
renders a stiff soil less exhaustive, gives it
great friability, and thus renders it more
porous, enabling an excess of rainfall to pass
through it. It is of great value on sour soil,
inasmuch as it neutralises the acids, and in
consequence promotes the growth of culti-
vated plants at the expense of the weeds

SMALL HOLDINGS 125

which flourish in this medium. Lime, how-
ever, should not be used upon vmdrained
wet land.

It is a curious geological fact that land,
especially that which is of heavy character
like the clays, though frequently found
overlying chalk, is constantly in want of
lime. We have noticed that the remains of
limekilns may sometimes be found on land
of this kind, clearly showing that in the
distant past farmers were in the habit of
sinking shafts into the chalk and making
lime for themselves. The practice of chalking
is now quite uncommon, although a heavy
dressing may last for some years, but owing
to the difficulty of obtaining chalk sufficiently
fine it is now practically abandoned in favour
of lime. The best lime for agricultural
use is obtained from chalk which yields ninety
per cent., and mountain limestone which is
almost equal, but lime made from magnesian
limestone, which is common in Yorkshire
and neighbouring counties, is much less valued
by farmers, owing to the large quantity of
magnesia which it contains.

The value of lime depends not only upon
the material from which it is produced, but
the degree of fineness to which it is brought.

126 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Lime sold by builders often sets when it is
mixed with water, and is, in consequence, of
little use, while lime obtained from the purer
carbonates is much more easily slaked and
pulverises very readily, so that it can be
thoroughly distributed on the land in the form
of an almost impalpable powder. The best
classes of limestone vary in their contents of
calcium carbonate from 94 to 98 per cent.,
while a sample of Silurian limestone con-
tained only 44 per cent. There should
be as great discrimination in employ-
ing lime as in using marl, which varies
enormously in its content of carbonate of
lime. Where chalk is used instead of lime,
it should be spread before a frost — all the
better if it is in a wet or moist condition —
that it may pulverise when the thaw arrives.
Chalk, as we have seen, is chiefly carbonate,
a condition to which lime returns on exposure
to the air. When chalk is burnt in the kiln
it becomes oxide of calcium or quicklime,
possessing caustic properties, but when mixed
with water it slakes and becomes hydrate
of lime, and is then fit for spreading on the
land. In the past, and occasionally at the
present time, farmers deposited quicklime in
heaps on their ploughed land and allowed

SMALL HOLDINGS 127

it to slake naturally, or covered it with soil
and subsequently spread it. If allowed to
remain exposed too long lime absorbs carbonic
acid, and loses its caustic properties, being
little better than ground limestone or
chalk.

The best system of liming land is to broad-
cast it in a ground condition when it is
extremely fine. In this state 10 cwt. per acre
used in alternate years, or in some cases
yearly, will be found more beneficial than much
larger quantities supplied at greater intervals.
Ground lime has the advantage over slaked
lime or chalk, in that it is much less costly to
buy, to cart, and to distribute, while, owing to
the fact that it is in a powdered condition,
it does not cake. Ground lime should be the
produce of chalk or rich mountain limestone
and not of gray lime, which is quite unfit
for the land. Lime should not be used on
poor land which is unmanured, or it will
become poorer still. Acting as a base, lime
promotes the oxidation of the humus of the
soil by combining with the organic acids
v/hich are the result of decomposition, thus
increasing the formation of nitrates, and pro-
viding rich food for plants. It is partly for
this reason that alkaline manures such as

128 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

basic slag are so much more useful on sour
than on sweet soils. Lime has also the
faculty of converting certain insoluble phos-
phates, especially those present in clay soils,
into phosphate of lime, which is more easily
utilised by plant life, while it assists in
rendering potash soluble for the same pur-
pose. Thus, lime not only provides plants
with food, but it is an important agent
in providing crops with the latent nitrogen,
potash, and phosphoric acid which most
soils contain.

We have seen that dung or farm-yard manure
possesses two important properties — in a
word, that it not only provides food for plants,
but that its mechanical action in the improve-
ment of the soil enables plants to grow with
greater freedom, and to appropriate more
easily the food which it supplies. It is
important, however, to discriminate between
the dung produced by each class of stock,
and the quality of that dung as it is influenced
by the food which the stock consume. Fresh
dung produced by cows, when mixed with
straw, contains less nitrogen, phosphoric
acid, and potash than fresh dung produced
either by the horse, the sheep, or the pig.
The manure produced by sheep contains much

SMALL HOLDINGS 129

more nitrogen and more potash than that
produced by horses or pigs, while the manure
of the horse contains more nitrogen and
phosphoric acid — which is the dominant con-
stituent of all phosphatic manures — than the
pig, but less potash. Again, the urine or
liquid excrement of the sheep contains more
nitrogen than that of either the cow, the
horse, or the pig, but the horse takes next
position, the urine of both horses and sheep
being rich in this element, while the urine
of the pig is essentially poor. The liquid man-
ure produced, however, by both horse and pig
is rich in phosphoric acid, of which fertiliser
the urine of the cow and the sheep contains
a sufficient quantity to make it worth salvage;
indeed, the urine of all classes of stock should
be saved with great care and distributed
on the land at the earliest moment, or, if this
is impossible, mixed with a sufficient quantity
of water to prevent the loss of ammonia.
The urine of each class of stock, the pig
excepted, is rich in potash.

The fertilising value of dung depends almost
entirely upon the character of the food con-
sumed by the stock. Thus the dung pro-
duced by fatting stock kept in boxes is much
richer tlian that produced by cows, while

130 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

all forms of manure produced under cover
and kept from the rain are of greater value
than manure which is exposed, and to which
rain-water is easily added. For this reason
covered stock-yards are of greater utility
than open yards to which rain has access
and into which hundreds of tons may be
poured in a short season, thus reducing the
value of the dung so considerably that it may
be scarcely worth carting away. It has been
shown that a herd of cows varying in weight
from 850 lb. to 1500 lb., and averaging
1000 lb., produced an average quantity of
dung — liquid and solid, without litter —
v/eighing 70 lb. per day, or 12| tons in the
year. These figures, however, are subject
to considerable variation. Thus cattle kept
in open yards produced a much greater weight
of dung during a given period than cattle
kept in covered yards; the excrement varied
but little, but the weight of the litter supplied
in the open yards was twice as great as that
in the covered yards, for obvious reasons,
while, in addition, the rain-water added largely
to the bulk. It has been estimated that a ton
of dung produced in an open yard consists
of only 10 cwt. of excrement and litter, the
balance being rain-water.

SMALL HOLDINGS 131

Thus it is of great importance to pro-
tect the dung produced upon a Small
Holding, and to prevent its too rapid de-
composition. A ton of manure of average
quality should contain about 12 lb. of
nitrogen, 12 lb. of potash, and 7 to 8 lb. of
phosphoric acid. The supply of rich food
to the stock would increase the quantities
of these materials, while their quantity would
be diminished in proportion as the food
is poorer, especially in such materials as
cotton cake, linseed cake, beans and pease,
which are rich in nitrogen.

In estimating the weight of manure,
however, it must not be supposed that a
load actually weighs a ton. As a matter of
fact it seldom exceeds 16 cwt. Heavy dung
is usually well fortified with rain-water, if
we except that which is produced by cows
or fatting bullocks, which is comparatively free
from litter. The mixed manure of a dung
heap in which straw is not abundant is con-
siderably reduced in weight after fermenta-
tion or decomposition. Thus, a given
quantity of fresh dung is largely diminished
both in volume and weight by the process
of rotting.

Although rotten dung is not infrequently

132 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

employed by fanners in the belief that it is of
greater assistance to plants, its manurial
value, as compared with that of fresh dung,
is reduced, and in accordance with the time
which has elapsed since it was voided. This
reduction in value applies not only to its
provision of food, but also to its mechanical
value.

Long manure, i.e. dung containing plenty
of straw, exerts, as we have seen, a specific
influence upon heavy soils. When, however,
the dung has rotted the straw has largely
vanished, and in consequence its mechanical
influence is lost. Similarly, the rotting
process is followed by a loss of nitrogen
in the form of ammonia, and where a
dung heap is exposed to the rain there is
a further loss of the mineral constitu-
ents, which are carried off in drainage
water. For these reasons dung should be
conveyed to the land at the earliest possible
moment, and some farmers have consequently
found it advantageous to keep a dung-cart
near the stock-buildings, that it may be filled
as the stalls are cleared daily, and the
dung carried to the fields. This practice
applies equally to the liquid manure which
is so easily k)st unless a receptacle is

SMALL HOLDINGS 133

constructed to retain it until it is removed
to the land.

The value of the fertilising matter in a
ton of farm-yard manure of average quality —
estimating the ammonia at 6d. per lb.,
the phosphoric acid at 3d., and the potash
at 2d. per lb. — is from 7s. 6d. to 10s. It
is, however, always difficult to prevent loss
as between the time that the manure is
voided by the cattle and ploughed beneath
the soil.

There is also a loss of the fertilising
matter, owing to the conversion of a portion
of the nitrogenous matter in the urine into
carbonate of ammonium, which is a volatile
substance, and therefore easily lost. It was
estimated by Sir John Lawes and Sir Joseph
Gilbert that owing to the slowness of action
of dung, and to the losses of fertilising matter
which occur during its preparation as a food
for plants, its actual money value was not
more than one-half as much as that of the
excrement originally produced by the stock.
This opinion, however, was expressed on
the assumption that the prices for the nitro-
gen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the dung
were estimated at the same rate as in chemical
manures. It is thus doubly important that

134 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

dung should be conveyed to the land while
still fresh, and with as little loss of weight
as possible. We have seen that by keeping
it to decompose or rot a considerable portion
is lost, but in addition to this, loss occurs
from the use of rotten dung, owing to the fact
that the ammonia which it contains combines
xAth certain soil materials to form insoluble
compounds, which are but very slowly avail-
able for the use of plants. Where dung is
allowed to heat in bulk the temperature
should not be permitted to rise above 86° F.,
and vvuth this object in view a dungheap
should be built with perpendicular sides, to
prevent loss by waste and drainage, and
should be under cover. It should stand above
a tank into which the liquid should be drained,
and which is provided with a pump, the
object being to pump up the liquid for
distribution on the solid manure from time
to time, not only for the purpose of keeping
the heap cool and thus preventing fermenta-
tion, but in order that with the removal of
the solid as much liquid may be taken with
it as it will absorb.

The quantity of farm-yard manure of
average quality which is required to replace
the fertilising materials removed from the

SMALL HOLDINGS 135

soil by an acre of grass converted into hay
has been placed at 6 tons; for an average
crop of wheat, barley, or oats, 5 tons; for a
crop of cabbages or mangels, 20 tons; turnips
or swedes, 12 to 15 tons; and potatoes, 10
tons; but it will be easily understood that
where a smaller quantity of dung is employed
in the manuring of land, whatever the crop,
the deficiency must be made up with the
aid of artificials.

Successful farmers are now in the habit
of using the two manures in conjunction for
a variety of crops, and especially for roots
and potatoes. On certain soils crops can be
grown with complete success by the aid of
artificials alone, but where it becomes essential
to conserve moisture it is advisable to employ
dung to some extent, inasmuch as it acts as
a mulch and, in consequence, assists in the
retention of sufficient moisture to provide
for the crop. This practice is confirmed by
the excellent results which are obtained in
dry seasons. Dung, too, however rich it may
be, is comparatively^ slow in action, and
consequently leaves a residue which assists
in the supply of food to a crop in the following
year, or, it may be, for two or three years
in succession. It will be well to observe,

136 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

however, that the evaporation of moisture
is prevented by hoeing.

The term 'Dry Farming' has been
given to a system of cultivation of soils
deficient in moisture and situated in dis-
tricts where the rainfall is low. The chief
feature of this system, apart from ploughing
and the usual operations of land culture,
consists in hoeing the surface soil to a
depth of some three inches, the object being
to prevent the escape of the moisture
from below.

The ' Dry Farming ' system is based upon
the principle that the moisture of a subsoil rises
to the surface by capillary action, and that
where the soil is firm and compact through-
out it escapes by evaporation. Thus, after
ploughing, cultivating, harrowing, and rolling,
with the object of producing a perfect tilth,
and the soil is pulverised, the particles are
pressed close together, while not cohering
to form a plastic or homogeneous mass.
While the particles of soil are in this position
water is conveyed from one to the other,
inasmuch as they are in contact, constantly
rising upwards until the surface soil is reached.
If, however, the surface soil is kept loose
with the hoe to a depth of two to three inches,

SMALL HOLDINGS 137

this ascent of water is checked and evapora-
tion prevented, the loose soil acting as a mulch.
Thus the grov/th of crops is promoted dur-
ing dry weather by hoeing the surface soil
and keeping it in a loose condition. This
practice has been long abandoned in connec-
tion with grain crops on large farms owing
to the cost of labour, but the small holder
will find it a profitable if arduous under-
taking, for it will enable him to materi-
ally increase the weight and value of his
crops.

138 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

CHAPTER VIII

STOCKING A HOLDING

From what has been said already the reader
will have realised the value of stock on a
Small Holding. So far, however, no reference
has been made to the particular varieties
which it is desirable to secure. There is no
country in the world in which purity of breed
is regarded with such high favour as Great
Britain. In times past the man who intended
to buy a cow went into the market and made
his own selection from among the ordinary
stock of the district in which he lived; he
paid no regard to breed, but a great
deal to the form, age, quality of the coat and
skin of the cow, and the formation of her udder,
as well as to her temperament and general
character. Purity of breed was the last
consideration — if, indeed, it were ever con-
sidered at all. Owing, however, to the im-
provement which has taken place in the

SMALL HOLDINGS 1C9

milking capacity of our most important
breeds of dairy cows, purity of blood has
taken a higher place. Thus, we find the
Scottish dairy farmer, especially in the great
milk-producing counties of the South-West of
the country, almost invariably maintaining
a herd of pure-bred Ayrshires; in the East of
England the Red Poll is kept for milk produc-
tion more extensively than cows of any other
type; in Wales the black cattle of the country,
usually of pure blood, are the prevailing milk
producers; in the West of England the
Devons are kept with the same object; in
many of our best dairy counties — Lancashire,
Cheshire, parts of Yorkshire, Cumber-
land, Westmorland, and some of the
Midland and Western counties, the Dairy
Shorthorn is bred with great success; while
in all parts of England amateurs and many
farmers breed the Jersey, the Guernsey,
or the Kerry. The majority of these
varieties have been bred to points of
great perfection, and it is therefore easily
understood why the}^ are preferred to the
average cross-bred cow which is found in
all parts of England, and in far too great
numbers.

It is not our object to suggest that the small

140 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

holder should select pure-bred stock for his
dairy. The points in favour of good cross-
bred cows are probably more numerous than
those in favour of purity of breed; but,
while we cannot regard the Dairy Shorthorn
as cross-bred, it is impossible to place it in
the category of pure breeds owing to its lack
of pedigree. It is, however, owing to its
many qualifications, the most valuable type
of cow we can name for the purpose we have
in view. It is large in size, rapid in growth,
easily converted into beef, and, in consequence,
less likely to lose money where it is intended
for sale after milking; it is a deep milker, and
where careful selection is made cows can be
obtained which also yield extremely rich
inilk; it is a good feeder, and produces calves
which are always saleable. The fact that the
Dairy Shorthorn is so excellent and economi-
cal a cow, however, does not prevent us from
also recommending cross-bred cows which
may be found of two or three types. We
would refer especially to a cross between the
Dairy Shorthorn and the Guernsey, the
Dairy Shorthorn and the Dutch cow, and the
extremely hardy animals which are bred
between the Dairy Shorthorn on one
side and the Devon, the Welsh, or the

SMALL HOLDINGS 141

Ayrshire on the other. In Devon and
Somerset a good non-pedigree Red Devon
cow can frequently be obtained at a normal
price, and, Hke the cross-breds to which we
have referred, she may be utilised with
some confidence owing to the fact that she
is a producer of rich milk.

Our object in making these suggestions is
to induce the small holder to look not only for
cows which produce large volumes of milk,
but milk of high quality, and, by no means
least, cows which possess strong constitutions
which are easily imparted to stock by crossing
between the healthy parents of two varieties,
and which are calculated to feed well when
they have been milked sufficiently long. In
the words which some farmers employ, the
cow which they prefer to select is the animal
which 'keeps the money together.' It is
too often regarded as inevitable that when
a cow is sold her owner should be prepared
to receive a few pounds less than she cost
to buy, but unless she is some years older
there is no reason why this should be the
case. The mature cow sold out of the
dairy should be sold out fat, and if she
has been gradually fed during the last few
months of her existence in the stall she

142 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

should have put on sufficient meat to make
her worth approximately as much money as
she cost.

In suggesting that a cross-bred cow will
be found an economical servant to the small
holder, we have in view a type oi beast which
is frequently utilised by farmers in various
parts of England. Thus type is consistent,
although the animal is not always the same.
For instance, in parts of Cornwall v.-e have
frequently seen large deep-bodied, well-formed
cows which are the produce of a cross xnth.
the Guernsey. A good beast of this type,
with wide loins, plenty of breadth between the
buttocks, fine neck and shoulders, and a good
milking head, is frequently useful, yielding
large quantities of very rich milk; indeed, it
is owing to its propensity in this direction
that it is kept by Cornish farmers chiefly
for the production of clotted cream, which,
Cornishmen insist, is superior to that produced
in Devonshire, where Devon cows are invari-
ably employed. Quality in milk is of as
great importance as quantity, except, perhaps,
in those cases where large farmers make a
practice of selling the whole of their supply,
but even here there is doubt whether they
would not realise a larger net profit by

SMALL HOLDINGS 143

supplying the dealers with whom they have
contracted with a smaller quantity of rich
milk than they are accustomed to send. The
small dairy farmer cannot afford to be left in
the lurch. If his milk is unsaleable at a
remunerative price, he is able, if the quality
is good, to sell cream, butter, or cheese,
but where the quality is poor neither of
these products will pay.

The objections which are usv.ally raised
against the employment of pure bred Jerseys or
Guernseys, owing to their want of flesh, and
the difficulty of fattening them after their
milking days are over, or of converting their
calves into beef, does not apply to the half-
bred Guernsey, which invariably responds
to good feeding, assuming that on one side
she contains the blood of a good-feeding
variety. Thus, a heifer bred from a large
Guernsey cow which has been crossed by a
Shorthorn or Devon bull of milking pedigree,
should prove both a good milker and a good
feeder, although where it is possible to make
the cross, better results are obtained by using
a pure Shorthorn or Devon cow and a Guernsey
bull. It may be pointed out that well-
selected Guernsey cows are among the best
milkers known in the British Islands, and

144 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

this fact is amply recognised by the small
farmers on Guernsey Island who frequently
exhibit cows at their exhibitions which have
produced a thousand gallons of milk in a year,
although this quantity has been frequently
and very largely exceeded.

The fact cannot be too strongly empha-
sised that purity of breed does not of
necessity mean that a pure bred cow is a
good milker, for the large majority are
not. There are thousands of Jerseys,
Guernseys, and other pure-bred cows in the
country which would be dear to the small
holder at a gift if he were compelled to
keep them in his herd. This fact is largely
owing to the want of knowledge of amateurs
who have bought to please the eye rather
than to fill the pail. A Jersey heifer in her
prime is an extremely handsome beast how-
ever badly she may milk, but to the man who
looks for milking properties, form, and colour,
she is of no value whatever. That the principle
so long adopted at our agricultural shows
of awarding prizes to the best-looking beasts
is responsible for this, there can be no doubt.
Cows, especially those of the Channel Islands
breeds, are still exhibited in large numbers,
although they would not have a remote

SMALL HOLDINGS 145

chance of obtaining a prize in a milking or
butter-making competition. These cattle are
taken into the ring and paraded before the
judges, who award prizes upon the basis of
appearance, inasmuch as no test is made
to ascertain their value as milking stock.
It is for this among other reasons that
the small holder should be guided by
milking tests rather than by the appearance
of a cow.

We have pointed out that a small holder
should hesitate to add a dairy to his farm
unless his experience of cows and the manage-
ment of their produce warrants the under-
taking. The experienced man cannot be
instructed in the line to follow through the
medium of a book. Reading as an adjunct
to experience is of the highest value, but
while a description of the points of a good cow
will help the man who knows something about
them to make a good selection, it will not
help the man who has had no experience
at all. There are many persons who, having
seen nothing more than the inside of a cattle-
house with the cows standing in the stall,
have the impression that they could succeed
better than the owner if they only had the
chance; such men have often tried and
S.H. * G

146 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

failed. Let us suppose, hov/ever, that a
man who possesses some knowledge of dairy
cows proposes to take a holding and to form
a little herd of four : what is his best method
of procedure in making a selection; should he
attend a sale of pedigree stock where he can
rely upon the information in the catalogue?
We think not. On such occasions the best
cows usually realise fancy prices. Should he
attend a market, fair, or auction sale and use
his judgment? We think he would be unwise.
No facts would be forthcoming, and judgment
is very fallible. We should recommend one
of two courses : a visit to a few well-known
bre:^ders of dairy cov/s who will be able to
point to the dams and the sire of the stock
they have for sale, or an application to a
dealer of reputation. A reliable dealer can
almost invariably place his hand upon first-
class cows if the buyer is willing to pay a
good price, but in either case the best-looking
milkers should be milked clean in the presence
of the proposed buyer both morning and
evening, and the milk accurately weighed,
a gallon being estimated to weigh roundly
10 lb. A sample should then be taken from
the well-stirred volume at each milking and
tested by the Gerber Tester, which every

SMALL HOLDINGS 147

small holder should possess in order to
ascertain the quality of the milk as de-
noted by its percentage of fat. To submit
samples to an analyst is to cause con-
siderable delay, and we are not prepared
to advise those who desire to do the very
best for themselves to adopt any less
thorough course.

If we assume that an average cow yields
500 gallons of milk in a year, it follows that a
cow which yields 600 gallons will earn £3 to
£4 more, and that her value is in consequence
at least two or three pounds in excess; nor
should this money be grudged by the buyer
because it happens to be slightly above
the market price for average cows. He should
recognise that market price is precisely what
the seller is able to obtain, and that the quota-
tions which appear from week to week are
in this sense misleading. If a 600 gallon cow
is worth two or three pounds more than a
500 gallon cow, it follows that one yielding
700 is worth still more, and the higher
the yield the greater the proportionate value.
A word of caution, however, is necessary.
Because a cow is yielding 500 gallons of milk
at the time she is purchased, it does not follow
that she will of necessity continue to milk

148 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

freely until she calves. It is one of the un-
certainties of dairying that some cows fre-
quently yield large quantities of milk for some
weeks after calving, then gradually fall off,
while others which yield a less quantity
after calving maintain their yield for a
greater length of time. It is for this
reason that it is so important to learn
what has been accomplished by the
parent stock; and hence the inference that
pedigree tells.

In breeding calves the small holder is
frequently at a disadvantage. He cannot
keep a bull, and it may happen that there is
no stud bull in the neighbourhood which is
sufficiently good for his purpose. In breeding,
therefore, he must rely upon his own efforts
to find the animal that he requires, and, having
found it, he should not hesitate to pay a
liberal fee if it is demanded. The calves
which the four cows will drop in due course
should be of great value if the bull is all
that could be desired, but should the
owner carelessly put his cows to a bull
with no milking character he might as
well give his calves away, for they would
be of little value. There is always a de-
mand for first- class dairy stock, hence, by

SMALL HOLDINGS 149

employing the best blood obtainable and
rearing his heifers well, he will be able to
sell them at handsome prices should he
desire to do so.

As a rule sheep are not a very desirable
adjunct to a Small Holding, unless, as in
Sheep on the the case in some mountainous
Small Holding, districts — especially in Scot-
land and Ireland — the tenant has an
upland run or the liberty to turn
out sheep upon a mountain side. In
this case a small flock, sixteen to twenty
head, may be kept at extremely small cost,
not only paying their way, but leaving a
handsome profit behind, especially if twins
are numerous. The variety of sheep adapted
to the work are usually those which are
common to the country. Thus, we find Ex-
moors in Devonshire, the Welsh sheep on
the Welsh hills, the Herdwicks on the hills
of Cumberland and Westmorland, and the
Black-faced Homed sheep on the Scottish
mountains — all being peculiarly adapted to
the requirements of farmers living in each
district. Scotch mountain ewes are, how-
ever, frequently brought south and bred
upon the lowlands, but they frequently cause
considerable trouble, owing to their wandering

150 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

character and their capacity, owing to the size
and strength of their horns, to break through
the strongest hedge and commit damage
in a neighbour's field. Sheep-breeding,
however, is not adapted to a Small Holding
of average type, this branch of farming
being usually conducted with two objects in
view : the production of lambs either for
selling fat or for running on and selling as
wethers, the ewe lambs being brought into
the flock; and the manuring of the arable
land by folding. Thus, on a large arable
farm, where it becomes impossible to provide
sufficient dung from the stock-yards, green
and fallow crops are grown in the course
of the rotation in order to provide food for
the sheep and to act as a medium for the
production of corn. Thus, roots and forage
crops frequently follow wheat. The land is
cleaned in the process of cultivation, and the
crops are consumed by the sheep, which
receive cake, com, and hay, and in conse-
quence prepare for a succeeding grain crop
which is followed by seeds, usually clover or
clover and rye-grass, which remains down one
or two years, as the case may be, when wheat
comes in again. In this way the fallow and
forage crops ansv/er two purposes : they

SMALL HOLDINGS 151

provide for the requirements of the flock,
and they enrich the soil. Thus, where turnips
are grown by the aid of superphosphate and
consumed by sheep which are receiving rich
dry food, the lambs or tegs are fatted off, and,
at the same time, a large proportion of the
superphosphate and of the manurial con-
stituents of the cake and corn is returned
to the land in the manure voided by the
flock. Obviously, a small farmer is seldom
in a position to farm on a strict rotation
system ; his root and forage crops are usually
valued at something more than sheep food;
but if this were not so it is quite possible
that in most instances the labour involved
in folding off a small plot of land eveiy
day for a few head of sheep would occupy
too much of the time at the command
of the tenant, who would be better
occupied.

A few breeding ewes of large size and
strong constitution — and when purchased
they should not have more than four
permanent teeth — can always be kept
with advantage where there is room for
them. Should the grass land permit of
their addition to the grazing stock, so
much the better ; but it cannot be too

152 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

strongly impressed upon the reader that
his land should never be overstocked.
Where, owing to any circumstance which
cannot be avoided, the food is insuffi-
cient to feed the stock in hand, the
farmer is placed at a great disadvan-
tage, for he must either buy food — which
will absorb his profit — or sell a portion
of his stock below its value. From this
point of view it is better to be over-rented
than overstocked.

We would finally point out to those who
contemplate the addition of a few ewes to
their stock that, like every other branch
of work upon the farm, sheep demand special
knowledge and experience if they are to be
successfully managed. They invariably give
some trouble, although this is minimised by
care at the hands of the owner during
summer, especially from foot-rot, which is
easily caught, as it is most contagious,
and the attacks of flies, while they are
especially liable to a foul and costly com-
plaint known as 'scab,' which is caused
by the presence of a very active organism
which finds its way beneath the skin.
Washing, shearing, and dipping are also
essential, and all involve labour.

SMALL HOLDINGS 153

There is no variety of live-stock which is of
greater value to a small holder than the
Pigs on the pig. Most men who contem-
Sraall Holding, plate the acquisition of land
have kept a breeding sow, and are acquainted
with her habits, her requirements, and her
value as a money getter. As a rule, however,
their experience is limited to the type of
pig which is kept in the district in which
they live. This may or may not be unfortu-
nate, for it is not every man occupying a
small position who is able to obtain a sow
of first-class variety or type from a distant
breeder and to pay him market price. Small
pig-keepers, too, are frequently mistaken in
their method of production, and, in common
with large numbers of agricultural labourers,
they are accustomed to buy a small pig and
to feed and fatten it in a stye for a long
period — until, indeed, it has reached a con-
siderable weight.

It should be accepted as an axiom that when
pigs have exceeded a given weight — which
depends largely upon the breed employed
and the method of feeding adopted — they
cease to pay, and the longer they are kept and
fed, the more money they lose. Modern
pig-keeping — and we are naturally speaking

154 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

of profitable pig-keeping — is based upon early
maturity, the attainment of a given weight
in a given time. Buyers demand young pigs
whether for sale as porkers or baconers, and
it is seldom that it is found profitable to
exceed a live weight of 200 lb. or 150 to 160 lb.
in the carcass. This being the case, it is
obvious that the breeding stock should be
large, thrifty, and full of vitality; that sows
should not be used for breeding until they
have reached maturity and attained both
size and weight; that they should be mated
with boars calculated to assist in the produc-
tion of strong, vigorous, growing pigs, which
will feed rapidly and produce a fair proportion
of lean meat to fat, excessive fatness being
as objectionable as actual leanness, for neither
is profitable. The bacon factor pays a higher
price for pigs in which the fat meat is not
excessive, but he also devotes some attention
to the method of feeding. He prefers meat
which is firm, instead of meat of a soft and
oily character, which is produced by unskilful
feeding.

A breeding sow should be lengthy, broad
across the loins, deep bodied, and with plenty
of flank; the belly portion of the carcass
providing abundance of streaked meat, good

SMALL HOLDINGS 155

hams, necks of medium length instead of the
short thick necks with fatty collars, heads of
medium size, not erring on the side of short-
ness, ears of fair size not pricked, and broad
foreheads; the face should not be dished, nor
the snout turned up, short dished heads with
turned-up snouts, short ears, and thick necks
denoting aptitude to fatten too heavily as
well as want of size. The hair is also an
indication of capacity to produce good meat.
It should be medium in quantity, fine, and
silky — coarse, bristly hair being more objec-
tionable than no hair at all. It is true that
hair denotes constitution, as in the case of
the wild boar, but when in excess or too coarse
it indicates leanness, agility, restlessness, and
no aptitude to fatten. Bearing these facts in
mind, the breeder will note the form and
points of his sow, or sows, should he possess
more than one, or he will take them into
consideration when he is making his selection.
As few men are able to obtain sows which are
absolutely perfect, or even approximately so,
without the expenditure of a large sum of
money, they may, if able to utilise the services
of good boars at will, be able to produce
large strong litters of pigs adapted to their
purposes by employing boars possessing those

156 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

points in which the sows are deficient. Thus
if a sow is too short-headed, with small ears
which are pricked, heavy neck, and a carcass
indicative of aptitude to produce pigs which
are too fat, the selection of a boar in which
these points are replaced by points of an
opposite character will assist in the correction
of the faults. As a rule, however, small
farmers usually possess sows which are lengthy
not only in the body, but the head, the ears,
and the neek, and which are usually too lean
for breeding purposes, although they are well
calculated to produce rapid growth in the
young.

Pig meat is consumed in this country to
so large an extent that there is a never-
ceasing demand both for pork and bacon;
and the man who breeds pigs consistently,
not ceasing when prices are low or corn
dear, or breeding more when prices are better
or corn cheaper, will be well rewarded for his
pains. Small holders are frequently in a
position to realise better prices for their pigs
than farmers who breed much larger numbers.
Thus, instead of killing a batch of youngsters
when they are fit for the market and sending
them to a London salesman in the carcass,
they are in a position to kill one at a time,

SMALL HOLDINGS 157

and in this way to realise Id. or 2d. per lb.
more by retailing than would be paid them by
a dealer or the butcher in their nearest market
town. Occasionally a small holder is skilled
in curing bacon, but although this work is
not intended to deal with technical questions
of this character, it may be remarked in pass-
ing that young pigs adapted for curing pur-
poses will pay their breeder well if he is able
to convert them into bacon and hams for
sale direct to the consumer.

Although the cost of curing, however, is
extremely small, it is essential to devote
daily attention to the meat as it lies in
pickle. It will be well, however, to remark
that bacon cured by the private individual
is now invariably cured with salt, sugar,
and a small quantity of saltpetre, whereas
that cured by the bacon factor is preserved
by the aid of a large proportion of boric
acid — a material which the small holder
will be well advised to ignore, for if he fails
to cure bacon for sale to his customers
he will probably cure a small quantity for
himself.

In days gone by farm labourers were in the
habit of keeping fat pigs for their own consump-
tion during winter. They almost invariably

158 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

preferred meat which was excessively
fat. In these days, however, the public
demand bacon containing a large proportion
of lean. The object of the writer in referring
to these facts is to point out to those who
cure bacon for their own consumption that
the fat meat of old times is a superior food.
The consumption of excessive quantities of
the lean meat of bacon is deleterious to the
consumer, partly owing to the fact that the
digestion of salted lean meat is a ta,x upon
the system, and partly because the salt is
deleterious. This fact is emphasised in the
case of lean bacon which has been cured in
a factory, for in addition to an excessive
quantity of salt the buyer consumes boracic
acid.

We may take it as a general rule that the
small holder should utilise the breeding sow
as a portion of his stock. Where the waste
in the garden or on the farm is considerable,
or where the crops produced are peculiarly
adapted to pig feeding, a small farmer may
keep two, or even three, breeding sows,
but he should make haste slowly, beginning
with one and adding a second only when he
can see his way. Bills for barley meal and
other foods supplied to pigs are apt to become

SMALL HOLDINGS 159

too large if great care is not exercised in
their management and in accordance with
the returns obtained. Many a poor man has
found that his corn bill has reached a sum
that would not be covered by the sale of the
pig he has fattened, but this position is not
likely to be reached by careful men who
know what they are about. Before it is
decided to buy a breeding sow the small
farmer should think out the question of food.
What proportion of her requirements can he
grow upon his own land? We do not suggest
that he should grow barley for feeding
purposes, inasmuch as it would not pay.
Barley meal can be purchased at less money
than it can be grown for milling, but it is
always possible, unless a farm consists entirely
of grass, to grow potatoes — the unsaleable
chats being reserved for the pigs — mangels
and swedes — both of which latter are excel-
lent additions to the winter ration — cabbage,
clover or lucerne, sainfoin or tares, all of which
are equally well adapted for summer feeding.
When there is a garden there is always a
certain quantity of waste material which
should find its way to the sty before it
has commenced to decompose, but we may
take it that except when a sow is in-pig or

IGO THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

with her Htter she can be almost entirely
supplied by the products of the farm. She
should be allowed to graze during the summer,
receiving a few handfuls of corn every day in
addition to the waste material which is
provided from the garden or the home; while
in winter, although she may be turned out
to grass for exercise, she may still be supplied
with potatoes, mangels, or swedes. Many
successful breeders supply their sows through-
out the year with middlings or 'ran-dan, '
the ration being materially increased when
she has produced her young, this food
being regarded as excellent for milk pro-
duction, but at no time need she be fed
upon such fatting food as barley or maize
meal.

The importance of good blood in a sow is
indicated by her power to maintain herself
in good condition upon a comparatively
small quantity of food. This power is owing
chiefly to her disposition. The nearer a sow
approaches to the type of the wild pig, the
more restless she becomes. Instead of the
quiet contented product of the modern
breeder's art — which chiefly lives to sleep and
feed — the narrow-bodied, long-headed, coarse-
haired sow of no breed at all is ever on the

SMALL HOLDINGS 161

move, expending energy, seldom resting, and,
in consequence, failing to lay on fat. From
this point of view, too, it is important to
remember that where pigs are fed upon such
foods as slop, which they can swallow rapidly,
they waste almost as much as they digest.
Nature has provided the pig with teeth which
are intended to chew and assist in the mastica-
tion of their food. Without thorough mastica-
tion and salivation, as is the case where the
food is too sloppy, it escapes the first form of
digestion — that which occurs in the mouth,
at the very door of the digestive system.
Although it is true that a second opportunity
is afforded for the digestion of the starchy
matter of grain, and pig food consists chiefly
of starch, the results are by no means equal
to those obtained where the starch is chiefly
digested in the mouth and in the stomach by
the aid of the saliva with which it is intimately
mixed.

With regard to the best breed of pig for
use upon the Small Holding, it may be pointed
out that as the breeder requires two qualifica-
tions, size and quality, by which we mean
the ability in the young pigs to grow to
sufficient size and weight as quickly as possible
and to produce a marketable quantity of

162 thp: practical side of

lean to fat, it is necessary not only to look to
those breeds which are best adapted to
fulfil these requirements, but to individual
animals of the breed. The Large White, for
instance, is exceptionally valuable, but this
remark cannot, and does not, apply to all
pigs of this variety. The great majority of
the pigs of any pure breed are inferior, and
useless for the purpose indicated. We have
therefore to look for good representatives
of the variety which we select, and it is for
this reason that a first-class Berkshire pig,
which is much smaller then either of the
large breeds, is superior to second-class
specimens of either. If a Large White sow of
exceptional size and quality is compared
with sows which are so frequently seen in
breeders' yards, and which are supposed to
be normal specimens, the difference will be
recognised as ludicrous. One of the most
important reasons why this is the case may
be explained. A breeder of pigs is anxious
to obtain a good strain of a given variety.
He has seen magnificent specimens in the
show-yard or in the piggery of some other
breeder, and he determines, in consequence,
to purchase a sow for breeding purposes. lie
applies to a successful exhibitor for a young

SMALL HOLDINGS 163

pig which will grow into the sow which he
desires to use, and in due course it is supplied.
Owing to his inexperience with the breed,
he fails to recognise its inferiority, until,
having arrived at maturity, he is disappointed
at its size and general character; he has
been supplied, in fact, v/ith an inferior pig.
However large and perfect a breeding sow
may be, she invariably produces some inferior
pigs. Breeders with a large demand for
stock pigs are induced to sell these specimens,
which in their turn produce litters, and
gradually both size and character are dimin-
ished in value until the pigs are merely
Large Whites in name ; they have lost
their distinguishing points by careless breed-
ing. There can be no doubt that in the
great majority of litters of pigs of pure
varieties at least one half should be fed
for the butcher as being unfit for breeding
purposes.

What applies to the Large White applies
equally to the Large Black and to the curly-
coated pig of Lincolnshire. All these breeds
are of large size; good specimens attain great
weights and grow v/ith rapidity, but only
good specimens. If the small holder is able
to obtain a really fine sow of either variety,

164 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

he should make the most of her, and invariably
mate her with a boar which is equal to herself.
The Small White need simply be mentioned
for the purpose of indicating its uselessness
for breeding. The Middle White pig is
occasionally useful, but owing to its aptitude
to lay on too much fat it should only be used
for crossing purposes, and then through the
medium of a boar. A good Middle White
boar is excellent for the purpose of crossing
upon lengthy, long-headed sows, which are
apt to produce lean, slow-growing litters.
This breed is eminently adapted for supplying
those points in which many common sows are
deficient.

The Red Tamworth pig is an excellent
variety for profitable use, but it should be
large and fleshy. A sow of this variety is
admirably adapted for crossing with the Large
White or the Berkshire, while the Berkshire
pig, which is full of quality, producing excel-
lent pork or bacon, may be increased in size
by judicious crossing with one of the larger
breeds. The owner of a Large White or
Black sow may, in the absence of a
boar of either breed which is adapted to the
purpose, safely employ a Berkshire boar, but
he should not be too small nor too chubby

SMALL HOLDINGS 165

in appearance; he should possess good hams,
deep sides, a head of good length, and plenty
of hair of fine quality. The breeder should
remember that a pig is very much what he
chooses to make it. Some men have a pecu-
liar genius for breeding to a good type. A
man with an ill-bred sow of fairly large size
may, by judicious crossing, and by the
continuous selection of the best gilts, produce
almost any type of pig he requires in the course
of a few years; hence, by a recognition of the
type of pig which produces the most saleable
meat and rapid-growing youngsters, he may
be able to evolve that type by the practical
exposition of his art. The same work is
accomplished by the breeder of cattle and
horses, but a much longer period of time
is required in either case than with the pig,
which, owing to the rapidity of its growth
and productive powers, can be transformed
from a model of imperfection to a model of
perfection in a comparatively short space of
time.

The skill of thousands of men has
Poultry been displayed for many years

Breeding. in the production of highly

perfect specimens of the many pure-bred
varieties of poultry which exist in these

1C6 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

islands. These birds, however, have been
bred with one object — that of winning
prizes at poultry exhibitions. The breeder's
aim has been to produce perfection in
the colour and markings of the feather,
the form of the comb and the ear-lobe, the
colour of the legs and feet, the size and form
of the tail, the symmetry of the body, and size
generally. Although we cannot but admire
the pertinacity and ingenuity which have
affected such marvellous changes in so short
a space of time, and which have produced
so many specimens of great beauty, we cannot
but deplore the fact that so many men have
exercised their skill to so little purpose.
The Brahma fowl, for example, has been bred
for nearly fifty years with the object to which
we have referred, with the result that as a
utility variety of poultry it is a mere wreck
of what it should be — practically useless on
the table, an inferior layer of small eggs in
comparison with its size, it stands as a mere
monument to the art of breeding to feather.
What applies to the Brahma applies equally
to birds of such varieties as the Cochin, the
Polish, the Malay, the Long-legged Game fowl,
the Spanish, and, to a more or less marked
extent, to all the remaining varieties; the poultry

SMALL HOLDINGS 1G7

'fancier' has, in a word, spoiled everything
which he has attempted to improve. These
remarks are made with the object of pointing
out to the poultry-breeder for profit the
danger of relying upon pure-bred varieties.
Happily, the facts we have mentioned were
recognised some fifteen years ago, when a
movement was started with the object of
breeding poultry for utilitarian purposes.
Hens are naturally intended, as we are bound
to believe, for the production of food for man,
and in consequence of the acceptance of this
fact utilitarian poultry-breeders set to
work with the object of improving the
laying and meat-producing powers of those
breeds which are best adapted to the pur-
pose, and their efforts have been accom-
panied by marked success, although the
system for breeding to feather is equally as
strong.

Among the more modern varieties of poultry,
such as the Wyandotte, the Orpington, the
Leghorn, and the Plymouth Rock — the last-
^amed was introduced into this country by
the writer of these lines nearly forty years
ago — there are some which possess consider-
able value for utility purposes, but it
may be remarked that tlie more modern the

168 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

variety the more it approximates towards
the standard of the utilitarian fowl. A new
breed is the result of crossing between two
or more varieties, and just as a half-bred fowl,
like half-bred stock of larger kinds, is usually
of greater economical value than either of
the breeds from which it is derived — for it
partakes of the good qualities of both — so is
a breed of recent manufacture an improve-
ment upon the varieties which have been
used to produce it. This is believed to be
chiefly owing to the improvement of its
constitution, to its increased vitality, and, in
consequence, to its greater power to lay on
flesh or to produce eggs. In the process of
time, however, as by constant crossing with
birds of the same variety, the breeder aims
to fix a standard of form and feather, to say
nothing of minor points, its vitality is
diminished, it gradually loses its utilitarian
character, and, like the older breeds, its
productive power diminishes, and it is set
aside for something new. Thus in breeding
for profit — in other words, for the production
of large numbers of eggs and strong-growing
chickens with meat adapted to table purposes,
— a small farmer should bear in mind the fact
that he will do better work by crossing

SMALL HOLDINGS x69

between two breeds or by improving his
own stock, assuming that to be of no
breed at all, by the systematic introduc-
tion of male birds of good type than by
the maintenance of the purity of any one
variety.

It is probable that the average number
of eggs laid by the average hen in this country
does not exceed 80, but in competitions which
have been held in England, in America, and
in Australia, extending over a long period of
time, sometimes a whole year, young hens
have averaged as many as 240 eggs per annum;
and since the introduction of the trap-nest,
which enables the breeder to actually count
the number of eggs laid by individual hens,
and, consequently, to select the best layers
for his breeding stock, great improvements
have been made, and it has become possible
to adopt the process of selection for breeding
up to a higher standard of proficiency than
was ever possible before. Just, therefore, as
the owner of a few head of cows makes
every effort to obtain the best milkers
that he can afford to buy and to ascertain
their yield of milk from day to day and
month to month by the aid of a record,
just, too, as a farmer can improve his pig
s.ii. * H

170 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

stock by the introduction of improved
blood, so can he, if he chooses to take
the pains, increase the egg-producing
powers of his flock of hens, or, on the
other hand, produce chickens which will
realise in the market fifty per cent,
more money than would be possible if
he continued to breed from unimproved
stock.

Chickens bred from barn-door hens, mated
with stags but little better than themselves,
are rejected by poulterers — indeed, by ail
who require good chickens for the table;
but where, by careful study of the subject
and by the acquisition of good birds such
as those we have named, fine chickens are
bred and well fatted on the modern plan,
so that they are ready for the table in
sixteen weeks or thereabouts, they will
find a ready sale at remunerative prices.
The poultry-keeper should not be satisfied
with less than 7s. as a minimum for each
couple of young birds he sells, and he
should aim at still higher prices ; nor should
he be content with less than 140 eggs per
hen per annum. On this point, however,
something further may be said.

The age of a hen exerts enormous influence

SMALL HOLDINGS 171

upon her productive powers. Chickens
hatched in the first three months of the
year should commence to lay by the end
of August or September. The writer
has owned birds which commenced to
lay in June. During the first year, com-
mencing with the first egg, the number
laid should be the maximum of which
the bird is capable. In her second
autumn she moults, laying ceasing until
she is newly clothed; but the number of
eggs which she lays in the second year
of laying — i.e. the year commencing with
her first egg after moulting — will not be
so numerous as in her first year, and as
with each year she diminishes her number
of eggs, it will, unless in exceptional
cases, be advisable to sell her before her
second moult while she is still in good
condition. It will be observed that if
this plan is adopted the number of eggs
laid during two laying years will be required
to cover the cost of feeding from hatching
at the commencement of the first year until
the end of the summer in the third year,
or about two and a half years in all.
Assuming that each hen costs Id. per week
— which should be quite sufficient where

172 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

the birds are at liberty on the farm and
are provided with a quantity of waste
food — the actual cost of feeding will
amount, in round numbers, to lis., whereas
the value of the eggs, averaged at Id. each
— purposely placed below the market price
— would in the two seasons reach 23s. 4d.,
assuming that the average of the two years
reached 140. This figure might be exceeded,
or it might not be reached. Be that as it
may, bearing in mind the fact that eggs
in autumn and winter realise higher prices
than Id., we hold the opinion that the
poultry-keeper should at least obtain a
return per hen of lis. per year. The
most prolific hens, assuming them to be
large, healthy, and vigorous, should be
retained for stock and mated with a cock
which is the produce of a good laying hen.
The cockerels should be kept in separate runs
in groups and fed off for market, just
before they have reached crowing age. The
best pullets should be retained year by year
for laying, and those of second-rate quality
fattened for sale. Where birds are of first-
rate table quality they should find a ready
market among private consumers. Such cus-
tomers are worth attention, and if well

SMALL HOLDINGS 173

served will come again. Retailing in this way
enables the breeder to obtain a shilling a
couple more than is paid by the dealer, who,
apart from this, is more particular, rejecting
many birds which less critical buyers are
ready to accept.

Among the breeds of poultry which should
be rejected on a Small Holding are Spanish;
the Hamburg varieties, which are too small
and entirely unfit for the table; the modern
Minorca, which has lost its laying powers;
the Andalusian, which was at one time one
of the best known laying varieties; the Brahma,
the Cochin; the modern Game; the Houdan
and the Creve Coeur. There arc various
breeds of fancy fowls which are still more
inappropriate and practically useless upon a
farm. It need scarcely be remarked that the
laying power of a hen cannot be discerned
or distinguished by her size, colour, or form.
The White Wyandottes, the Orpingtons, the
Leghorns, and the Plymouth Rocks have
all taken high positions in laying competitions,
but the reader must guard against the supposi-
tion that because of this fact hens of these
breeds are necessarily good layers; this is not
the case. Whatever the presumption may be,
we cannot depend upon the birds of any breed

174 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

unless the strain of that breed is recognised
for the laying propensity of the birds it
produces. On the other hand, it is quite
possible to judge of the meat-producing
power of birds from their appearance. Thus
the Dorking, like the Shorthorn among cattle,
the Lincoln, the Hampshire Down, the Oxford,
and the Shropshire among sheep, or the Large
White among pigs, is, in its formation, a
typical meat-producer. It possesses a long,
deep, broad breast which carries abundant
meat, and that of the highest quality. If we
contrast it with the Brahma or the Cochin,
we may find similar size, but form of quite
another type. The breasts are narrow and
contracted, the keel short, the meat
deficient in quantity and defective in quality,
less white in colour, less tender, and less
agreeable on the palate; and these remarks
apply with still greater force to such
varieties as the Hamburg, the Leghorn, the
Minorca, and other breeds of poultry which
have no claim to table purposes.

When, however, we come to the group of
modern fowls to which we have already re-
ferred— the Wyandotte, the Orpington, and
the Plymouth Rock — we find something
approximating more closely to the Dorking.

SMALL HOLDINGS 175

These birds are large, they possess good
constitutions, and produce a fair quantity of
flesh, while they make useful crosses; but they
cannot compare with the Dorking in the quan-
tity of meat which they produce, especially
on the best parts of the carcass, or with its
quality. For this among other reasons we
strongly urge the poultry-breeder who devotes
his attention to the production of chickens
for the table to employ the Dorking either in
its pure condition or by using it for crossing
with his hens. If he adopts the latter course
he should make a point of selecting the best
half-bred hens — those which resemble the
pure Dorking most nearly — and again crossing
them with the Dorking cock. By the con-
tinual introduction of Dorking blood he will
improve the size and the table properties
of his birds. If, however, a first cross is
preferred between two pure breeds, the best
plan is to select large-framed Dorking hens
— for the size of the chickens is influenced
by the size of the female parent — and mate
them with an Indian Game cockerel. In
this case the two pure breeds would of
necessity be employed each year as breeding
stock, the chickens, all of which would be
half-bred, being sold for table purposes.

176 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

The majority of poultry-keepers, however,
especially the class to which we appeal, prefer
general-purpose fowls, their object being to
obtain as many eggs as possible and to sell
their surplus chickens for the table. There
are no means of producing birds, however
carefully we may select the stock, which will
at the same time lay large numbers of eggs
and produce chickens equal in table proper-
ties to the Dorkings or the Dorking and the
Indian Game.

One of the best crosses with which we are
acquainted is more difficult to make owmg
to the fact that the variety of hens which
should be employed are but little kept in
this country. We refer to the Fleche, so
well known in France. These hens are large in
size, square, deep-breasted, black in plumage,
with large white ears and combs similar to
the head of an arrow, from which they take
their name. They are non-sitters, but they
produce a great number of large white eggs.
If these hens are crossed with the Black
Langshan — and for the purpose a deeper-
bodied, shorter-legged bird than is common
should be selected — they will produce fine-
growing, strong chickens, which provide
fine white flesh, and which are soon ready for

SMALL HOLDINGS 177

the table. The cross-bred pullets, too, are
first-class layers, and with care in breeding
and judgment in selecting we believe they
might be made to yield as many eggs as any
birds which are known. Their uniformity in
colour is also an advantage, if not an important
one.

Crosses may be made between the Wyan-
dotte and the Orpington or the Plymouth
Rock, with the result that pullets useful
for laying and cockerels for table will be
grown. As it is possible, however, that
the great majority of small farmers already
possess some few hens and prefer to retain
them, we refer to an earlier suggestion, and
once more emphasise the importance of
introducing a Dorking cock for crossing and
only selecting the best pullets for stock, with
the certainty that, in the end, the flock will
be immensely improved.

Although poultry-keeping does not of

necessity involve the breeding of ducklings for

table purposes, this branch of
Ducks. ^ ^

the poultry industry is distinctly

profitable, simple in practice, and occupies

but a small portion of the year. Well-bred

ducklings, by which we mean birds of large

size and well furnished with flesh, command

178 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

high prices in London and other cities in
the early season. The birds are mated in
November, they commence to lay in Decem-
ber, and the eggs are hatched under hens and
reared in groups of twenty to thirty until
they are fit for sale. Many of the cleverest
breeders of ducklings prefer large White
Pekin ducks which they mate with a young,
well-bred Aylesbury, which has a flesh-
coloured bill, and, as a natural consequence,
delicately-coloured skin, which is an indica-
tion of the quality of the meat. Size is secured
by the Pekins, which are large and which lay
large eggs, and it wdll be found that the size
of the duckling depends largely upon the size
of the egg. During cold weather the birds
are kept in small compartments, sanded or
covered with straw in an outhouse which is
artificially warmed, one of the best methods
being to place a stove in the centre and to
turn the newly-hatched ducklings into a
compartment which is close to it, removing
them back to other compartments as their
places are taken by new batches of young
ones. In this way they are gradually
hardened off, until, reaching the compart-
ment near the wall which is farthest from the
stove, they become fit for removal into

SMALL HOLDINGS 179

similar compartments which are placed in
sheds, but which are larger owing to the
increased size of the birds.

Young ducklings are forced by good feeding,
which consists to some extent of offal from a
butcher's shop, including fat, or, in its absence,
tallow chandler's greaves; but the highest
type of feeding is practically confined to the
employment of oatmeal, barleymeal, or maize-
meal, or these foods mixed in appropriate
quantities and stirred into a thick paste with
milk, a little chopped suet being added.
The chief trouble with ducklings is their
liability to diarrhoea or scour, but this can
be obviated by the exercise of the greatest
cleanliness in the preparation of their food,
and the provision of their water. Care
must be taken to prevent the possibility
of their consuming food or water which
is tainted with manure, their own drop-
pings, or with tainted soil.

The duck industry, which involves three to
four months' work in the year, is of a suffi-
ciently profitable nature to make it worth
the while of the small holder to learn
something of the system, which he
may do by paying visits to farmers
like himself in Bucks, where large numbers

180 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

of ducklings are bred for the London
market.

We have already pointed out that, except
in special cases, sheep are not an adjunct to
Turkey the Small Holding which can

Breeding. ]jq confidently recommended,

and we have given reasons why this
opinion has been expressed. Our refer-
ence to the breeding of turkeys as a branch
of profitable poultry-keeping must be made
with a similar precaution. The production
of the turkey is one of the most profitable
branches of petite culture, but, in the first
place, no man is warranted in taking up the
work, in justice to himself, unless he
has had some experience. The risks
of failure are considerable where the habits
and requirements of the birds are not
thoroughly understood, and when we add
that the loss of a well-bred chick means
the loss of a guinea at Christmas or
thereabouts, we feel we are fully warranted
in cautioning the small holder against ventur-
ing upon a branch of industry with which he
is not fully acquainted. Again, the turkey
demands considerable time and attention,
and however skilful a breeder may be he will
do well to calculate the cost of adding turkeys

SMALL HOLDINGS 181

to his stock if he has ah'eady undertaken
to accomplish as much work as is justified
by his circumstances. Where the wife of a
small holder, or some member of his family,
is able to undertake the management of a
poultry-yard, turkey breeding may be re-
garded as a very valuable addition; but the
management of a flock of young birds between
spring and Christmas involves the expendi-
ture of considerable time, and by no
means a small sum in the purchase of
food. Broadly speaking, a young turkey
is as profitable as a lamb, and a flock
of eight hens and a gobbler, all of which
should be of the highest quality, will return
a larger net profit than an equal number
of breeding ewes.

It is a recognised fact that poultry of all
kinds thrive better upon the drier soils,
especially chalks and gravels; but they will
do well upon loam, or loam with a clay sub-
soil which is well drained; indeed, in good hands
poultry of all kinds will thrive upon any class
of soil which is well protected from cold winds
and which is not absolutely wet. From this
point of view it may be added that land
which is suitable for cultivation as a Small
Holding should be equally suitable for poultry.

182 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

We have referred to the question of soil
owing to the fact that the turkey is pecuharly
sensitive to wet land and to bleak situations.
If by want of knowledge, by the employment
of unsuitable stoek, or by conditions which are
insanitary, a number of turkeys are lost
after they have reached a considerable size —
and it should be observed that they frequently
die, w^here the conditions are unsuitable,
just before they m.ature, or when, as is
sometimes remarked, they 'shoot the red'
on their heads— the loss involved is con-
siderable, for the cost of food is much
greater than that consumed by poultry
of other kinds.

Success in breeding turkeys is chiefly
determined by the character of the stock,
which should be of the Giant Bronze variety,
the hens, which should be in their second or
third year, weighing not less than 16 lb.
apiece, while the cockerels should exceed 20 lb.
Without large hens it is impossible to obtain
large birds for Christmas, when sales are
usually made, and it should be specially noticed
that price depends almost entirely upon size,
assummg that the birds have been well
fattened. One turkey weighing 20 lb. is worth
considera.bly more than two weighing 10 lb.

SMALL HOLDINGS 183

each, the price per lb. being higher as weight
increases; hence the importance of obtaining
birds as large as possible. To raise such birds
as these it is useless to employ British breeds
— the Norfolk or the Cambridge, or white
turkeys of any kind. The usual practice
is to sell the young cock birds for the Christ-
mas table and the smaller pullets, retaining
two or three of the best cockerels and the
largest pullets for stock or sale later on. There
is a never ceasing demand for cockerels of
great size and large hens, both for breeding
and exhibition purposes, so that the breeder
need have no fear of failure to obtain good
prices for birds of both classes if they are well
reared and in good health.

Turkeys provide another source of income;
we refer to the sale of their eggs, which are
worth Is. each for hatching purposes. Bearing
all these facts in mind, the turkey breeder
will realise the importance of paying liberal
prices for the very best at his command.
Without such stock he will be far wiser to
leave the industry alone. We may justly
state that fifty young birds reared to maturity
should realise an average price of a guinea
each. Thus, if we place the cost of feeding
and other expenses at 10s. per bird, there

184 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

should be a net profit of lis., or £27
upon the flock. Although account must be
taken of the smaller weights attained by a
certain number of the birds and their conse-
quent failure to reach the average price, we
have suggested that birds weighing 20 lb.
and upwards would realise more. A 20 lb.
cockerel, for example, is worth 15d. per lb.,
whereas birds weighing 23 to 25 lb. are worth
16d. to 18d. per lb., and in the experience
of the writer there has been for many
years past a much greater demand for
birds of this size than has been met by
the supply.

SMALL HOLDINGS 185

CHAPTER IX

DAIRYING ON A SMALL HOLDING

The production of milk is one of the most
convenient and lucrative adjuncts to the
Small Holding, but it should be clearly pointed
out at the commencement of these remarks,
and solely in the interests of those who
contemplate the adoption of this branch of
farm industry, that although cow-keeping
pays those who are experienced in the manage-
ment of stock, in the sale of milk, or in the
manufacture of butter or cheese, it may prove
disastrous to an inexperienced man. There
are so many who are under the impression
that the management of a dairy requires very
little knowledge and is an easy road to
competence, that a word of warning will not
be thrown away. We venture to believe that
those who hold such optimistic views upon
this subject would hesitate before embarking
in the business of a baker, a tailor, or a watch-
maker without possessing sufficient mastery
of the work, and yet they would apparently

186 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

exhibit no hesitation in investing their capital
and their time in the purchase and manage-
ment of cows. In the first place, none but
men of experience can buy cows advan-
tageously, and nothing is of greater import-
ance than the acquisition of suitable stock,
upon which everything depends. The novice
who makes the attempt, which we urge him
to abandon until he has acquired experi-
ence, will find that if he is compelled to rely
upon his own knowledge and judgment, the
selection of first-class cows will be impossible.
His object should be to acquire cattle which
are young, healthy, full of vitality, well
formed, with perfect udders, newly calved or
down-calving, gentle in disposition, and
producers of large quantities of rich milk.
He will, however, be unable to decide correctly
upon either of these points, and if he attempts
to make his own selection he will assuredly
fail. On the other hand, should he decide
to place his order in the hands of an experi-
enced man, he will soon find himself in the
same position. Cows may be acquired by
such assistance, although at greater cost,
but, being ignorant of their management,
he but defers the evil day, and when too
late he will find out for himself that

SMALL HOLDINGS 187

before embarking in his undertaking he
should have been patient and waited for
experience.

The points to which we propose to refer
are intended to assist those who have acquired
sufficient experience to warrant their under-
taking to form a small dairy upon their
holding. It will have been already determined
whether the milk should be sold or butter
or cheese manufactured. We will suppose,
however, that it is intended to sell the mJlk,
and we therefore base our first calculation
upon the average wholesale price of the
year. To large numbers of men the ques-
tion whether a cow produces 3 J or 4 per
cent, of fat is a matter of indiffereiuce, nor
do they make a point of ascertaining with
accuracy facts with regard to the quantity
of milk produced by the cows they propose
to purchase. In taking a farm a proposed
tenant usually decides for himself how much
the land is worth per acre; he knows that if
he can grow 30 cwt. of hay in an average
season, or 5 qrs. of wheat, he can afford to
pay a few shillings per acre more than if the
land were capable of only producing 20 cwt. or
4 qrs., and, in consequence, he prefers to rent
the richer land.

188 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Let us take another case for analogy. The
experienced farmer who has been accustomed
to employ artificial manures is aware from
what he has already accomplished that the
sum he expends in the purchase of 3 cwt. of
superphosphate and 1 cwt. of nitrate of
soda may be returned in the crop with 50 per
cent, interest, and in consequence he invests
his money in the purchase of these fertilisers.
It is precisely the same with the cow. Where
the trouble is taken to ascertain how much
milk a cow yields and how much fat that
uiilk contains a buyer is justified in paying
a higher price. Nor is it possible to determine
the approximate yields of two cows of similar
type standing side by side, for one may
produce 700 gallons of rich milk and the other
500 gallons of poor milk. Although it is
impossible to ignore the fact that some men
are better judges of a cow than others, yet
there is no royal road to the selection of
milking stock, still less of cows which give
rich milk. In support of this statement
it may be remarked that for many years the
writer has examined the cows which are placed
in competition for three sets of prizes at the
London Dairy Show. They are first judged,
and the prizes awarded, upon the basis of

SMALL HOLDINGS 189

their appearance; they next compete in the
milking trials, and finally in the butter test,
and the fact remains that year by year the
best judges to be found fail to select the best.
They take great pains, but they subsequently
find that there is no rule to the effect that the
best looking cow produces the largest yield
of milk. In some instances champion milkers
have received no prizes on inspection; on
the other hand, the prize cows on inspection
frequently fail to obtain any notice in the
l^Iilking Trials or the Butter Tests.

Reference to this question has been made
v/ith the object of inducing small holders
to take the greatest pains in the selection of
their stock, and not to be afraid to pay a pound
or two more than market price for cows which,
as they have ascertained, yield large quantities
of rich milk. Let us make a simple compari-
son between an average cow and a first-class
milker. The average yield of the cows of
this country is believed to be 460 gallons;
but in order that we may not be charged
with making too low an estimate, we will
assume that the average is 500 gallons, and
that a good milker yields 750 gallons, although
it is possible to buy cows which produce from
800 to 1000 gallons, and still more. At an

190 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

average price of 8d. per gallon the returns
from a 500 gallon cow would reach £16 3s. 4d.,
a small herd of five cows thus returning
£83 6s. 8d. Taking the average cost of
feeding a cow of full size to be £13 a year,
this leaves a gross profit of £3 13s. 4d. per
cow, or £18 6s. 8d. for a herd of five.
Obviously, therefore, cows which yield an
average quantity of milk fail to pay, for while
a small holder could obtain a livelihood
from keeping five good cows, he would be
unable to pay his rent from the produce of
five bad ones.

We do not propose in a work of this
kind to discuss the details of the cost of
feeding, but while we have fixed that cost
at the lowest estimate, we may remark that
considerable skill is required in the purchase
and preparation of food to feed a large cow
for less than Is, l|d. per day during the
period in which the cows are kept in the stall,
and which commences with October and ends
with the first or second week in May. The
difference in the value of the milk produced
by a good cow may be seen by a similar
estimate based upon a yield of 750 gallons.
At the price already named this quantity
ivould return some £25 per year, or £12 after

SMALL HOLDINGS 191

the deduction of the cost of feeding, leaving
the sum of £60 to represent the gross profit
upon a herd of five. The cost of feeding two
cows of equal size is practically the same,
but every gallon of milk produced by the one
in excess of that produced by the other is
net profit, and for this reason it is obvious
that a buyer can afford to pay a considerably
larger sum for stock upon which he can rely.
There are many small holders who are able
to keep ten good cows upon a comparatively
small area, producing, as they do, large
quantities of forage, root, and corn crops
for their summer and winter use.

An experienced man can manage ten cows,
and, with the help of a strong youth, pro-
duce the crops essential for their maintenance;
but we do not suggest that he would be able
to deliver the milk by retail : that would be
impossible. The milk of ten cows sold at 8d.
per gallon would return, less the cost of
feeding, £120 or thereabouts, for we do not
propose to fix the actual cost of feeding in
an arbitrary way. Milk retailed at 4d. per
quart would be followed by a return of almost
double the figures named, but assistance
would be essential. A milk 'round' means the
purchase and maintenance of a pony and

192 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

cart and occasional bad debts. In some
cases milk is retailed at 3d. per quart in
summer and 4d. in winter, but it should not
be sold below these figures. At all times
the small holder should make a point of re-
cording the yield of his cows. If he takes a
deep interest in the welfare and improvement
of his herd he will find that the time occupied
in this process adds very little to his work,
but if daily weighing and recording is objec-
tionable, the work should be performed at
least twice weekly, while, by the aid of a
Gerber Tester, the quantity of fat can be
frequently and accurately ascertained.

It is important to notice that, as one of the
chief features of the Small Holding is the
production of food for the house, a cow should
invariably be kept where it is requisite to
provide for a family. How great is the
assistance which a cow can render may be
shown by the following case. Some years
ago a friend of our own living in one of
the London suburbs was anxious to provide
milk, cream, and butter for his family by
maintaining a cow upon his own premises,
to which no grass land was attached. As he
would be compelled to purchase the whole
3f the food, he was doubtful whether he could

SMALL HOLDINGS 193

make it pay. By our advice he purchased
a cross-bred cow of medium size which
was producing a large quantity of milk — :
between 5 gallons and 6 gallons per day
—with the result that he was not only
able to provide all the milk required in his
household, but all the butter, and to sell
sufficient milk to his neighbours to pay for
the cost of the food.

A cow producing milk containing four per
cent, of fat would also produce 4 lb. 3 oz.
of butter from 100 lb. or 10 gallons of milk.
Thus a cow yielding 5 gallons of milk per day,
which was less than the average yield during
the first portion of the period of lactation
of the cow referred to, would supply 4 quarts
per day for the household and 4 quarts for
setting for cream, leaving 12 quarts for sale.
This milk at 4d. per quart would return
28s. per week, or much more than sufficient
to pay for the cost of the food where all is
purchased. The milk set for cream would,
on this basis, produce, in round numbers,
3 lb. of butter, so that, as actually happened
in this instance, the house was supplied for
a large portion of the year with milk and
butter free, together with a quantity of
skimmed milk which was left after the cream
s.H. * 1

194 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

had been removed, and which is a valuable
food, especially when employed in the manu-
facture of bread or of the various dainties of
the dinner table. It may be further pointed
out that by the addition of 1 oz. of finely
chopped suet to a quart of separated milk,
its feeding value is brought back to that of
new milk. Thus by the selection and careful
management of a cow, it is not only possible
to supply milk and butter — and cheese, if
cheese is required — for family use during ten
months of the year, but to sell sufficient milk
during a great portion of that period to cover
the cost of feeding, and to leave a substantial
profit behind.

The retail sale of milk affords a medium
through which the small holder can sell other
products of his farm, such as cream, eggs,
butter, fruit, vegetables, poultry, and pig-
meat, and for this reason the cow-keeper who
sells his produce in the neighbourhood of
his farm will be well advised not only to
keep pigs and poultry, but to convert a
portion of his holding into a market garden
or a garden in which he can grow produce
upon the best market-garden system. Here
we may urge the importance of following
the same course in the production of pigs.

SMALL HOLDINGS 195

poultry, and garden produce as we have
suggested should be adopted in the pro-
duction of milk.

We turn now to the production of butter
on the Small Holding, Where the milk

produced is sufficient to in-
Butter.

duce the small holder to sell

the whole at market price if he can do so
advantageously, it is evident that butter-
making is out of the question; but where a
portion is sold by retail or the whole retained
upon the farm, butter may frequently be
produced with profit to the maker. Where
milk is retailed, customers are sometimes
induced to order butter, believing it to be
superior to the imported article which they
obtain at the grocer's shop. This being the
case, the maker should employ every means
in his power to produce a sample which will
give satisfaction and consequently increase
his sales. Butter-making as an industry is
of no value to a man who does not make the
best and realise the highest price obtainable.
It is only when the milk is rich, and the cows
are fed upon suitable rations, inasmuch as
there are many foods which are adapted to
the production of milk intended for sale
which impart a disagreeable flavour or

196 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

character to butter, that a fine article can
be produced and butter-making made to
pay.

Let us suppose that owing to difficulties
of position or distance from a market, a small
cowkeeper is compelled to skim his milk and
convert the cream into butter. His first
object will be to secure not only deep-milking
cows, but cows which produce rich milk.
This point is more essential than in those
cases where milk is sold. Although milk
intended for retailing need not of neces-
sity contain more than 3'0 per cent, of
fat, and although it is quite true that
milk which is richer gives greater satisfac-
tion to retail customers, it is of greater
importance to the butter-maker that the
milk he produces should contain not less than
4 per cent, of fat. As we hold the opinion
that butter-making is not worthy of attention
unless milk of this quality is obtained, we
base the following argument on this per-
centage : —

An average cow yielding 500 gallons of milk
producing 1 lb. of butter per three gallons
will return, for butter sold at 14d. per lb.,
a gross sum of £9 14s. 3d. If the separated
milk is estimated to be worth l|d. per gallon

SMALL HOLDINGS 197

— which is the approximate value for stock
feeding, whether calves or pigs — we get a
total gross return of £12 10s. 6d. per
cow. If, however, we estimate the value
of the butter produced by a cow yielding
700 gallons of milk and producing 1 lb.
of butter per 25 lb. or 2| gallons, we
get a gross return by the same method
of calculation of £20 7s. lid. per cow, or
£101 19s. 7d. for five cows, while for ten cows
the return would represent £203 19s. 2d.
We have seen that the cost of feeding a cow
cannot be placed at less than £13 a year,
so that an average cow employed to produce
butter will lose money for her owner, while
the profits realised from a small herd of five
cows yielding 700 gallons of milk of much
higher quality would fail to pay sufficiently
well to enable him to make butter his chief
article of produce.

Prima fade, a cow returning £20 7s. lid.
should be regarded as a useful animal, and
one which could be depended upon to
assist the small holder to pay his rent;
but the fact remains that it is more profit-
able to sell milk at the average wholesale
price of 8d. per gallon than to make butter at
lid. per lb. The question arises : What is

198 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

the best way out of the difficulty, or how can
the returns be increased? The answer is
obvious : first, by increasing the yield of butter
either by obtaining an increase in the yield
of milk, or by improving the fat percentage,
or, next, by improving the quality of the
butter and obtaining a higher price. All
these propositions are possible, and where
the small holder has no other source of income
from his cows than that obtained by making
butter, he must of necessity turn his attention
in these directions. How far he is able to
go may be realised by a knowledge of one fact
— that it is possible to obtain an average
yield of 450 lb. of butter per cow in a herd
of much larger size. In order that this
suggestion may not be regarded as an exag-
geration, we may point to the fact that the
herd of cows owned by Dr Herbert Watney
has frequently averaged 450 lb. of butter
per cow, and if we are not mistaken — for we
speak from memory, deriving our information
from Dr Watney's lips and from inspections
of his herd and balance-sheet — the price
realised was Is. 6d. per lb.

In reference to cases of this kind it is
frequently remarked by those who are urged
to do likewise, that men of means are'fable

SMALL HOLDINGS 199

to do much better work than farmers who
are compelled to look at every pound they
spend. There is probably something in the
argument, but not much that is worth
defending. A man who depends entirely
for his livelihood upon the produce of his
stock, and who makes a point of selecting
them himself, should, and does, stand in
a better position than Lord Rothschild, who
has also done pioneer work in the same direc-
tion, inasmuch as this gentleman, like Dr
Watney, is practically compelled to leave the
selection of his cows in the hands of an
employee, whose power of securing excep-
tional stock, apart from the fact that he is
better able to pay the price, is no greater
than that of the small holder, who is
equally able to go from market to market
or farm to farm in search of the cattle he
needs.

Reference may now be made to the impor-
tance of knowledge of the system of cultiva-
tion of those crops which are grown
upon the farm to feed the cows.
We have suggested that the minimum cost
of feeding a full-sized dairy cow is £13 a year;
but the reader will not assume that the whole
of this sum is spent in purchased foods. A

200 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

large proportion of the ration provided for
the cows should be grown upon the farm.
Small holders will of necessity purchase cake,
meal, bran, grains, and other concentrated
forms of nourishment, which will serve the
double purpose of increasing the value of
the rations and the quality of the manure.
The bulky foods, however, such as hay
straw, roots, cabbage, and forage crops
of various kinds should form a large pro-
portion of the produce of the soil. Cow-
keeping is therefore a means of enabling the
small holder to realise profit in two directions —
first, that derived from the sale of milk,
butter, or cheese; and, next, that gained by
the cultivation of the crops to which we have
referred. Had we based our estimate of
the profit earned by each cow on the sum
remaining after deducting from her gross
returns the cost of purchased food alone, we
should have been able to show a much larger
net result.

Assuming, for example, that a cow con-
sumes 8 lb. of cake and meal daily during
the two hundred odd days of winter feed-
ing, and 2 lb. per day for the remainder
of the year, and taking the average cost
of these foods at |d. per lb. — which is

SMALL HOLDINGS 201

approximately near the mark — the total
sum would amount to £6, leaving a balance
of £7 to cover the cost of that portion
of the ration produced upon the farm.
On this basis the maintenance of five
dairy cows would be followed by a much
larger net profit, but as it is manifestly im-
possible to determine what foods would be
grown, and in what quantities per acre,
for each man is a law unto himself in rela-
tion to the system of cropping and the
liberality with which he uses manure, the
only safe plan is to estimate the cost of the
food consumed, basing our figures upon
normal prices. It will thus be seen that
the cost of feeding the cows is, soil and
weather apart, entirely in the hands of the
farmer. If he is satisfied with an average
crop of hay, roots, or forage, his cows will
cost him more than they should do; if, on
the other hand, his hay crop yields from 35
to 40 cwt. per acre, his roots 40 tons or more,
and if he is able to obtain 40 to 50 cwt. of
oat straw for forage and litter, and other
crops in proportion, his cows will be fed to
the greatest advantage, and in consequence
they will return an increased profit.

The general tendency of occupiers of

202 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

Small Holdings is to attempt to feed their
stock with as little recourse as possible
to purchased foods, and their land solely
upon farm-yard manure. These attempts
to economise are the road to failure, for
it is impossible to sell milk continuously
without impoverishing the land. The value
of the fertilising matter in the milk of an
average cow is approximately £l per annum,
and although this sum is comparatively small
the loss of fertility soon begins to tell. There
is, however, a very natural tendency to
increase this loss, and we cannot doubt
from past experience that the real loss
sustained is equal to £2 per cow. We may
give one among other reasons why this
increase is so large.

The most important item in the manure bill
is nitrogen. By the careless manipulation of
manure, such as the heating of the dung heap,
large quantities are lost in the form of
ammonia. Manure is wasted upon the aver-
age farm in many ways; a ton of solid dung
produced in the cattle-house being practically
reduced to 15, and sometimes 12, cwt. before it
is ploughed under the soil. Again, weight
for weight, the value of the urine or liquid
excrement produced by cows is greater than

SMALL HOLDINGS 203

that of the solid dung, and unless great care
is taken to prevent its decomposition the
nitrogen which it contains, and which is
considerable, is lost, and it is practically true
that upon nine farms out of ten, whatever
their size, three-fourths of this liquid never
reaches the land. The small holders of this
country will do well to follow the example
of the small farmers of Belgium, Holland,
and other Continental countries where the
greatest pains are taken to prevent the loss
of the smallest portion of the excrement
of the live-stock of the farm.

One of the most important aids to milk
production is phosphatic manure. There is
no form of fertiliser which is so suitable
to the production of grass, inasmuch as it
influences both the weight and the quality.
Systematic manuring with superphosphate,
basic superphosphate, bone manures, or basic
slag, is followed by an increase in the clovers
and a corresponding diminution in the weeds.
The grasses, like cereals, respond to manures
containing nitrogen, and as the clover herbage
is rich in this element, the more abundant it
is the richer the manure produced by the
stock feeding upon it, and the more abundant
the grass. Thus the employment of phosphates

204 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

upon grass-land is followed by an increase
in the yield of milk. This fact has been
amply demonstrated on the farm attached
to the Midland Agricultural College near
Derby. Two plots of land, each four acres
in extent, were dressed with 10 cwt. of ground
lime per acre. One of these plots, however,
received in addition to the lime 4 cwt. of super-
phosphate and 1| cwt. of sulphate of potash
per acre. Cows were fed upon both plots
during three seasons, with the result that
while the yield of milk upon the unmanured
land was 5586 lb., it reached 8921 lb.
on the land receiving the phosphates and
potash. In the first year the increase in
the milk reached 84 gallons, in the second
86 gallons, and in the third year 81 gallons.
At a value of 6d. per gallon the total profit
returned per acre after the deduction of the
cost of the manure was £4 16s. 6d. It was
not only found that the manured land pro-
duced more milk, but that it kept more
stock. The small holder may therefore
take it for granted that by the judi-
cious employment of phosphatic manure
he will be able to keep more stock upon
his land, and, in consequence, produce more
milk

SMALL HOLDINGS 205

What is thus accompHshed with cows may
be also accompHshed with cattle and sheep.
Experiments have been conducted by the
Bath and West of England Society, by the
Highland Society of Scotland, by the experts
of the Northumberland County Council, the
Edinburgh College of Agriculture, and by
the Agricultural Department of Cambridge
University, in the feeding of sheep, or sheep
and cattle mixed, upon grass-land, both un-
manured and manured with various combina-
tions, and in every instance it was found that
the weight of the animals was considerably
increased by the employment of phosphatic
manures, whether combined with potash or
not. When, however, cattle and sheep were
mixed upon the same land the increase in
the live weight grown was greater than with
sheep alone.

There are no means of testing the value of
herbage other than that of grazing by stock.
To weigh the crop is to mislead the grower.
The weight of a hay crop, for example, is
no guide to the feeding value of the grass, which
is more digestible and nutritious when young.
Thus, where stock are grazing upon a pasture
field they are continually consuming young
herbage, whereas if left to inaturc for

206 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

conversion into hay its character is entirely
changed. Again, the employment of manure
effects a great change in the variety of the
plants of which the herbage is composed; the
clovers increase, the weeds diminish in
number, while, owing to the richness of the
clovers in nitrogen — to which the grasses
respond — the grass herbage is increased in
future years. Thus the herbage is improved
by the increase in the clovers directly, and
indirectly by the increase in the grasses.
Chemical analysis is equally as fallacious as
weight, as so much depends upon the palata-
bility and digestibility of the grass. It may
also be pointed out that land which is manured
with phosphates is ready for grazing earlier
in the season, and can be grazed longer.
That mixed stock such as cattle and sheep
improve a pasture field better than sheep
alone is evident from the fact that while
sheep bite closely, like horses, they leave a
large proportion of the rougher herbage, and
partially owing to the feeding value of this
herbage, which cattle consume, greater
weights are attained. To this evidence much
might be added, but it is sufficient to add
on the basis of what has been said that by the
liberal but judicious employment of phosphatic

SMALL HOLDINGS 207

manures the small holder can depend upon

increasing his returns.

We come next to the manufacture of

cheese, to which it is essential to refer,

although there are comparativelv

Cheese. ^ • ii *

tew men occupymg small areas of

land who turn their attention to this branch

of dairy work. We have already referred to

the fact that in some Continental countries

small holders deliver their milk to co-operative

cheese factories, receiving in return its money

value as determined by the price obtained for

the completed product. We may add to this

fact, however, that it is the practice of small

milk producers in some parts of France,

Germany, and Italy to employ their milk,

however small the quantity, in the production

of certain varieties of cheese of small size.

We have had the advantage of visiting farm

after farm in one county in Normandy in

order to see the process of manufacture of a

variety of cheese known as Neufchatel, which,

resembling the well-known Bondon in shape,

is about 2 1 in. in height by 1| in. in

diameter, and like a diminutive Stilton

or Cheddar Loaf. One gallon of milk produces

about four cheeses of this type, so that the

smallest cowkeeper is able to manufacture

208 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

for himself, although, as a matter of fact,
the makers are usually the farmers' wives.
These cheeses are of a refined character,
being kept some weeks to ripen and to
acquire the blue mould which permeates the
cheese, as in the case of Stilton. Although
large numbers send their produce to Paris
or some other important market, the small
makers retail them in the adjoining market
town, and are enabled to realise from lOd. to
Is. per gallon for their milk. Cheese of other
types, such as the Limburg and Munster of
Germany, and the Livarot, Gournay, and
Mignot of France, are similarly made and
marketed. In our own country, remembering
the fact that the production of soft cheese
is comparatively small and confined to the
summer season of the year, the small holder
has only two sources open to him : he may
consistently produce a small Cheddar Loaf
or Baby Stilton weighing about 8 lb., assum-
ing that he is able to produce 8 to 10 gallons
of milk per day, or he may follow the practice
to which we have referred, selling his milk
either wholesale or retail and producing, as
he obtains orders from his customers, such
soft or cream cheeses of some special variety
as may be required.

SMALL HOLDINGS 209

Soft cheese-making is now taught at all
our Dairy Institutes, and it is within the
power of the simplest individual to learn the
process in the course of three to six weeks.
Soft or curd cheese, especially when ripened,
pays better than the sale of milk or the
manufacture of butter or pressed cheese,
and it is worth the while of the small holder
to take this fact into consideration. If it
were possible for him to follow the system
adopted by the French, he would be able
to utilise the whole of the milk he produced
in this direction, and to realise an average
sum of lOd. to Is. per gallon for his milk
in the summer season, when the wholesale
price seldom exceeds 7d. net. Unfortunately
however, there is no market which resembles
that of Paris and the great provincial towns of
France. The English small farmer must
therefore depend upon his retail customers
if he determines upon the production of
soft cheese.

Some years ago the author gave demonstra-
tions in soft cheese-making at the annual
exhibitions of the Bath and West of England
Society. Recognising the importance of the
soft cheese industry, the Society has since
conducted some experiments with the object

210 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

of ascertaining as far as possible the value
of milk of different quality for making soft
cheese in three varieties : Coulommiers, Pont
I'Eveque, and Camembert. The result was
in one case unusually satisfactory, for the
Coulommiers cheeses, which averaged 12|
oz. each, were valued at 9d. when made from
Jersey milk, and 8d. each when made from
Shorthorn milk, when they averaged 13§ ozs.
each, and at 5d. each when made from Kerry
milk, weighing in this case 11 1 ozs. each.
Each cheese being made from two quarts of
milk returned the equivalent of 18d. per
gallon for the Jersey niilk, lOd. for the Short-
horn milk, and 5d. for the Kerry milk. The
Coulommiers cheeses were finally weighed,
judged, and valued at the end of ten days.
The Pont I'Eveque cheeses, which are of a
firmer character, consequently weighing less
than the comparatively new Coulommiers,
were weighed and judged at the end of three
weeks. Those made from the Jersey milk
weighed 14^ ozs., and were valued at lOd.;
those made from the Shorthorn milk weighed
12| ozs., their value being placed at 9d.;
while those made from the Kerry milk
weighed 12 ozs. each, and were valued at 8d.
Each cheese, however, required 7^ lb. or 3

SMALL HOLDINGS 211

quarts of milk for production, so that the
value of the milk was considerably reduced.
The Camembert cheeses, which were judged at
the end of four weeks, were ripened, and
consequently weighed considerably less than
the Coulommiers. Fifteen pounds, or six
quarts of Jersey milk, produced two cheeses
each weighing 12 ozs. and valued at lid.;
the same quantity of Shorthorn milk produced
two cheeses weighing 11 1 ozs. and valued at
lOd. each; while six quarts of Kerry milk
produced cheeses weighing 10| ozs. each
and valued at 9d. It should be remarked,
however, that the values of the cheeses of each
variety are higher than the prices charged
by retail traders, and although the results
were most encouraging, we do not think that
a producer could obtain more than 8d. for
a Camembert or Pont I'Eveque, or 9d. for a
Coulommiers. It will be noticed that, the
cheeses being made from the same quantities
of the same milks, the greater weight
of one variety as compared with another
is due to the larger quantity of water it
contains.

We have suggested that the alternative is
the manufacture of small Cheddar or Stilton.
Whether or not a small farmer keeping from

212 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

two to six cows will be wise in taking up cheese
manufacture depends entirely upon the condi-
tions which govern his particular case. If
his wife or daughter is able to undertake the
work, one of the chief difficulties is removed,
but even in this case everything depends
upon the ability of the maker. To make
cheese of second quality would be useless;
it should be first or nothing. Cheddar cheese
of an inferior type comes into competition
with the imported cheese of Canada and
Australia, and therefore fails to realise more
than the imported price. First-class Cheddar,
however, can be sold at lOd. per lb. by the
whole cheese, and Stilton at a still higher
price, an average of Is. being easily obtainable
during the winter months. If, therefore, a
small holder can depend upon making a first-
class cheese of either variety he will be wise
to keep his milk at home in those cases in
which he is unable to sell it advantageously
in its raw condition.

The chief points at which to aim in cheese
manufacture are quality and quantity.
Assuming that the maker is sufficiently well
skilled to carry out the work successfully,
both points depend upon the quality of the
milk. The richer the milk in fat, therefore,

SMALL HOLDINGS 213

the greater the weight of cheese made and
the better the quahty, for where two cheeses
are made side by side, the one containing an
average per cent, of fat, say 8|, and the other
as high a percentage as 4|, the latter will
be the richer and the finer, as well as the
much heavier cheese. The weight of the
cheese produced from one gallon of milk,
which nominally weighs 10 lb., averages
1 lb. as between April and October, but rich
milk such as that to which we have referred,
will produce from 18 to 19 ozs., so that the
increased profit realised by the employment
of milk rich in fat is sufficiently marked to
warrant a farmer making every effort to
produce it.

214 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

CHAPTER X

SPECIALISED AND MIXED FARMING

Among the ranks of farmers there are many
who speciaUse, and who in consequence make
larger returns. Thus, the profits which are
derived from the breeding of pedigree stock
are much larger than those which are obtained
by breeding and feeding for meat. The
production of stock, however, for breeding
purposes demands both experience and skill
at the hands of the farmer, but these qualifica-
tions must be supplemented by sufficient
capital to enable him to buy specimens for
crossing from time to time, and to cultivate
a sufficiently large area of land. A glance at
the catalogues of our horse and cattle shows
will be sufficient to enable any one to realise
the fact that there is no variety of the live-
stock of the farm in which tenant farmers do
not specialise, and in which they have not
failed to achieve success which is sometimes
of a remarkable character. The Shire, the

SMALL HOLDINGS 215

Clydesdale, and the Suffolk horse are bred
by large numbers of men who occupy land of
a suitable character, and who are enabled
to make annual sales at high prices. In some
parts of the country, notably in Yorkshire,
the Cleveland Bay, the Coach Horse, and the
Hackney are bred by horse-loving farmers
with almost equal success, and there is probaby
no county in England in which there are not
a fair proportion of men who, if not actual
specialists, employ the services of thorough-
bred stallions with the object of producing
foals of an improved type. Some farmers,
too, who make a practice of riding to hounds,
have proved themselves skilful breeders of
hunters, which they are enabled to sell with
advantage owing not only to their knowledge
of the requirements of hunting men, but to
the fact that they are excellent horsemen,
and are in consequence enabled to prepare
the colts which they breed for sale to liberal
buyers. Specialisation in horse-breeding,
however, is out of the question in the case
of the small holder. Yet there are small
occupiers of land who are compelled to keep
a horse either for purposes of haulage — ■
which they sometimes undertake for other
people — or for the cultivation of their land,

216 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

for many a man is compelled to plough, harrow,
and roll with a single animal. In such cases
a useful cart mare may become the medium
of earning two profits : first, by work upon
the land, or by haulage; and next, by breeding
a colt. It is in view of this possibility that
the small holder is strongly recommended,
where he requires a horse, to keep, if he is
able to pay the price, a large, strong
mare, with good legs and feet, and to
put her as occasion requires to a stallion
of a suitable breed — if she is a cart mare,
to a Shire, Clydesdale, or Suffolk; or if she
is of a lighter-build capable of producing a
carriage horse or a hunter, either to a
Cleveland Bay, a Coach Horse, or a Thorough-
bred, the stallion in any case being of pedi-
gree blood.

A still larger number of farmers specialise
with cattle, of which there are so many
varieties in this country. The Shorthorn is,
perhaps, bred more extensively than cattle
of any other type. The object, however,
in most cases is the production of bulls for
sale for reproductive purposes. The owner
of a recognised strain of pedigree Shorthorns
is invariably able to obtain substantial prices
for healthy, symmetrical, and generally good

SMALL HOLDINGS 217

stock, either from farmers who select the
Shorthorn for the improvement of their
herds, or for export. The Shorthorn is not
pecuHar to any locality, but is bred to great
excellence in all parts of England and
Scotland. In the East of England the Red
Polled cattle are largely bred by farmers,^
many of whom maintain pure strains of blood.
In Devon and Somerset three types of Devon,
Reds are bred with the same objects : the
production of bulls for breeding purposes,
or of milk. In Sussex and parts of Kent
there are many farmers who specialise with
the Red Sussex breed. In Hereford and
adjoining counties the Hereford breed is
predominant, and largely bred for beef and
stock purposes; and the remark equally
applies to the Black cattle of Wales; the
black polled Aberdeens and Galloways, the
Ayrshires as milking stock, and the West
Highlanders, all of which arc bred in Scot-
land. There are only two varieties, how-
ever, which are peculiar to Ireland : the
Kerry and the Dexter, both of which are
bred by numerous small farmers for milk
production.

Reference has been made to this subject
in order to show the reader that there are

S.H. * K

218 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

great possibilities in connection with every
British breed, and that the small holder who
is unable, owing to his limited capital and the
smallness of his farm, to specialise to any
extent with the larger breeds of stock, may at
least make a point of keeping the best where
he keeps cattle at all, and, in consequence,
place himself in a position to realise much
higher prices than he could possibly obtain
with slock of an inferior character. Although
sheep are not very frequently found upon
Small Holdings, those who breed them will be
well advised to specialise as far as their means
will permit. The fact that good sheep cost
no more to feed than sheep of an inferior type,
while they realise much higher prices, should
be emphasised. It is not essential in keeping
a small flock of ewes that each animal should
be of pedigree blood, but it is important
that they should be as perfect as possible in
form, size, and wool, and that they should
invariably be mated with a pedigree ram.
It is not suggested that the small holder
should breed pedigree stock for sale in
imitation of the ram-breeding flockmaster,
but that, by the production of first-class
lambs, he should be able to realise higher
prices than the average breeder owing to

SMALL HOLDINGS 219

the fact that his sheep are of superior
quahty.

We have met from time to time small
occupiers of land who have specialised with
pigs; and here there is every opportunity
for the small holder to succeed in the produc-
tion of stock of the highest class, the one
condition being the possession of the requisite
knowledge to buy and to breed. A man
accustomed to the management of pigs, and
master of his work, may safely pay a long price
for a breeding sow of the Large White or
the Large Black variety. Accustomed to rear a
litter of pigs for the butcher or the bacon
curer successfully, he will devote still more
attention — if that is possible — to the require-
ments of the sow which has cost him a larger
sum of money, with the result that he will
rear to maturity if necessary a number of
excellent youngsters, the best of which he will
be able to sell with comparative ease for stock
purposes. It is perfectly true that such a man
will be unable to compete with large and
popular breeders whose reputations have been
acquired by years of successful exhibiting,
but there are always buyers of exceptionally
good pigs in every district in which they are
all too few, and we have therefore no

220 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

hesitation in expressing our belief that they
will sell easily and leave a substantial
profit.

The breeder of pigs must remember that
while the name of a breed is important, it
is the type which the buyer requires, and that
no pedigree, however lengthy, will sell an
inferior pig. The Tamworth and the Berk-
shire are also worth consideration, for it is
usually advisable to breed pigs in accordance
with the demands of those residing in the dis-
trict. In some parts of England neither
farmers nor butchers will buy pigs of the
White breeds, while in others the Black breeds
are practically ostracised. Although the
Berkshire breed is not a large variety, it is
important that size should be maintained,
as there is a growing objection to small pigs.
This, too, is an important point in breeding
the Tamworth, a red pig of great value for
bacon, which is worthy of attention in those
parts of the country where the Tamworths
are kept more generally than other varieties.
However good a stock sow may be, a breeder
of good pigs should not lose sight of the
ordinary market, to which he should make a
point of consigning the inferior pigs of his
litters when they have reached the requisite

SMALL HOLDINGS 221

weights. There is nothing more essential
in breeding and feeding Uve-stock for sale
for breeding purposes than the practice of
selling only the best. The majority of buyers
of stock pigs are persons who are not good
judges, and who rely upon the breeder to
make them a good selection, and if they
are well treated they usually buy again.
Thus a business is built up on a founda-
tion of straightforward dealing which never
fails.

Although specialist breeders of poultry
do not belong to the ranks of the Small Holding
class, it is probable that they are equally
numerous, and that a very large proportion
realise excellent profits from the production
of pure-bred birds. The cost of exhibiting
poultry is practically limited to the payment
of an entrance fee and the railway carriage
to and from the exhibition. For this reason
there are large numbers of persons who make
a practice of exhibiting the best of their
birds, which so frequently form a lucrative
hobby among those who are better off than
the small holder. Poultry-keeping is usually
associated with farming in a small way,
although the majority of poultry -keepers
prefer egg production to the production of

222 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

chickens. Breeding poultry for the table
occupies a great deal more time than the
management of a flock of laying hens. The
specialist poultry-keeper, however, is compelled
by the nature of his work to breed chickens
more extensively, and to rear them as well
as he can. In these days in which poultry
are kept so extensively, a flock of barndoor
or mongrel hens is out of place; such birds
produce comparatively few eggs, they are
worthless for table purposes, and they fail
to pay. On the other hand, a flock of well-
bred hens of either of the utilitarian varieties
can be depended upon to lay and produce
excellent table chickens. The demand for
live poultry is always extensive; buyers are
not confined to the rural districts — indeed,
they are more numerous in country towns
and the suburbs of large cities — and as the
great majority of private poultry-keepers
take some pride in their birds they prefer
hens of a pure variety, for which they are
willing to pay larger sums than are realised
by the sale of table chickens.

The average poultry-keeper can scarcely
hope to obtain more than 6s. a couple for
the chickens he breeds, but by breeding good
hens as a specialist does he can sometimes

SMALL HOLDINGS 22 3

obtain 10s. apiece, and if he takes the trouble
to advertise he will find the demand exceed
his expectations. Higher prices, hoAvever,
are seldom paid for birds which have not
some exceptional merit, and these are usually
confined to the yards of exhibitors.

Success in breeding poultry on the lines we
have suggested involves something more
than the possession of a flock of hens.
However skilful the management, the
owner must take a pride in his flock
and give them the advantage of good
housing, with large runs enclosed by well-
constructed fences, all being displayed to
the best advantage. Buyers are influ-
enced by appearances, and the birds are kept
cleaner and in better condition on a run
well covered with grass, the house being
smart, clean, and well lime-washed within,
than where they are at liberty, and where
in consequence they congregate in the
vicinity of a shed in which they roost,
and near which they are fed, with the
result that the soil is tainted and covered
with pools of water in wet weather, the
plumage of the birds is soiled, and their
general appearance extremely unsatisfac-
tory. Buyers can always be invited to see

224 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

a flock of birds which are for sale with
the assurance that they will be gratified if,
in addition to their smart appearance, the
run is planted with a few fruit-trees, the
roosting-house painted or tarred, and the
fences covered with climbing roses like the
crimson rambler, or backed by evergreens,
which add an additional attraction to the
whole.

Practically speaking, a specialist in poultry-
keeping should be a 'fancier' in the strict
sense of the term; in other words, he should
be a thorough judge of the variety he breeds,
and, consequently, a master of this branch of
his business. The value of hens in these
days of keen competition can only be appreci-
ated by those who are excellent judges, but
while it frequently happens that the unskilled
amateur overestimates the value of his
stock, he seldom possesses specimens which
are of greater value than he has placed upon
them. Imperfect knowledge of a subject
like stock-breeding is usually accompanied
by mediocrity in the stock, but the acquisi-
tion of knowledge which is the result of
experience is followed by the acquisition
of superior birds, either by breeding or
purchase.

SMALL HOLDINGS 225

Many large farmers and small holders alike
specialise in the production of such crops as
Specialising POtatoes, celery, asparagus,
with Market cauliflower, rhubarb, and other
Garden Crops. i . • i • i_ . i

plants, for which there is a

great demand. There are large numbers of
growers who make no special effort to
produce either unusual quantities or
exceptional quality ; this is reserved for
the specialist. Thus, the potato grower
makes a special point of obtaining
seed from Scotland or some other distant
part of the country; indeed, he secures
the best seed he can find without regard to
expense; his crop is an annual experiment
which guides him in his future work; he spares
no effort to produce the requisite tilth in his
soil, and to supply it with abundance of food.
He recognises that if he would obtain a
lucrative crop his treatment of the soil must
be generous, and that good judgment and
liberal expenditure will be followed by a
commensurate return.

The Education Committee of the County of
Wiltshire have shown that potatoes can be
grown upon suitable soil with much better
results than are believed to be possible. Thus,
while the average British yield is only 6 tons

22G THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

per acre, the Committee grew 13 tons at
Warminster by close planting, and 17 tons
4 cwt. at Tloningham, this being extended to
18 tons 18 cwt. by wide planting — i.e. 18 in.
to 20 in. from row to row, and 15 in. to 18 in.
from plant to plant. In a second test with
home grown seed versus imported seed, the
former yielded 18 tons 13 cwt. and the latter
17 tons 3 cwt. These crops were grown under
two system.s of manuring, with 32 tons of
dung to the acre, and a complete fertiliser
consistmg of 4 cwt. each of nitrate of soda,
superphosphate, and kainit, this combination
producing as good results as the heavy
dressings of dung. On the other hand, when
the quantity of dung employed was only half
as large the results were but little inferior.

We have seen potatoes grown in Cornw^all
upon a light, friable, ricli soil of an ideal
character, which was manured wdth a mixture
of dung, seaweed, and white sand at the rate
of 160 small loads per Cornish acre, equal
to 11 Imperial acres, each rod, which is
slightly larger than the Imperial rod, thus re-
ceiving one load of manure. In addition
each acre received 1| tons of nitrate of soda,
or some fifteen times as much as is supplied
by an ordinary potato growler. The land

SMALL HOLDINGS 227

upon which the crop was grown, although
exceptional in every way, was rented at £9
per acre. In spite, however, of these heavy
expenses, the crop, chiefly Myatt's Ashleaf,
was dug and sent to market in May, realising
a high price, and being followed by a crop
of broccoli, which was planted immediately
the potato crop was off without further plough-
ing. There is plenty of soil of an equally
suitable character in various parts of England,
but the Cornish grower has the advantage
of climate, and in consequence he specialises
and is not afraid to lay out his money, experi-
ence teaching him that it will be returned
with ample interest.

The potato is especially adapted to the
requirements of the Small Holding, inasmuch
as it needs personal treatment, which is more
easily given on a small than on a large area.
The possibilities of potato culture were vividly
shown by the members of the Hallam Field
Garden Association, in Derbyshire, in 1911.
Fifty-four members competed for prizes offered
for the greatest weight of potatoes grown from
a pound of seed and the heaviest crop grown
upon a single root. In spite of the dry weather
which prevailed during the summer months
the results were remarkable. The winner of

228 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

the first prize in the former class divided his
pound of seed into 110 sets, with the result
that he produced 181 lb. of potatoes. The
winner of the second prize, however, produced
only 67 sets, his crop weighing 173 lb. These,
like most of the competitors, employed both
dung and artificial manures. It will be ob-
served that the winner obtained slightly more
than 1| lb. of potatoes per plant, but one
competitor, who grew only 47 lb., produced
4| lb. per plant. Obviously, this individual,
by growing an acre in a similar way, would
be rewarded by a prodigious crop. The
heaviest weight of potatoes grown upon a
single root was 11| lb. These facts, the results
of the labour of working men, are a further
testimony to the importance of potatoes as
a crop for a Small Holding. Although a heavy
soil is not so well adapted to potato culture
as a medium or sandy loam, it can be made to
grow a heavy weight of potatoes by the
exercise of skill in cultivation and by the
judicious application of long dung, to
which artificials may be added, but without
long dung no such attempt should be made
upon soils of a plastic and tenacious character.
In the growth of rhubarb with the Victoria
or large variety Dr Bernard Dyer and his

SMALL HOLDINGS 229

coadjutor, Mr Shrivell, have grown upon
the average of five years from 40 to 63 tons
per acre, a quantity which is so large that it
is difficult to conceive why this lucrative
plant is not more generally grown upon the
same system of cultivation. By the expen-
diture of £5 upon an annual dressing of 12|
tons of dung, the weight of rhubarb grown
was 41 1 tons per acre. When the dung was
increased to double the quantity the yield
was 57| tons. When the smaller quantity
of dung was supplemented by phosphates,
potash salts, and 6 cwt. of nitrate of soda,
costing £9 14s. per acre, the crop reached
63f tons, and, be it remembered, these are
no isolated cases, but the actual average of
five successive years. Although these crops
were grown upon a Kentish soil which was
orignally a poor clay loam, or brick earth rest-
ing upon heavy clay, we would however warn
the reader not to presume too far, and to be
wary of soils which are plastic almost to the
surface, which are extremely difficult to drain
and clean, which poach easily in wet weather,
and which bum during heat. We have seen
instances in which experienced men have
attempted to grow rhubarb and crops of a
similar nature upon soils of this class, but

230 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

which have entirely failed. Wherever it is
possible to obtain a fine tilth, of 9 in. to 12 in.
in depth., thers^, with town dung or long farm-
yard manure, good crops may be grown.

On the farm already referred to, cauli-
flowei* has averaged over 25 tons to the acre
dm'ing eleven successive years, autumn cab-
bage has reached 27| tons, savoys 25f tons,
brussels sprouts 291 sieves of 40 lb. each,
summer lettuce 31 tons^ winter lettuce 17 1
tons, winter spinach 36^ tons, winter
onions 15 J tons, and asparagus 2014
bundles averaging 17*2 oz, per bundle, for
nine successive years. Referring to the value
of these crops, we may take lettuce as an
example. A yield of 30 tons to the acre is
equivalent to 67,200 lb., or, estimating each
lettuce to wei^h 1| lb., 44,000 plants, which
at |d. each would be worth £91 sterling.
At the time of writing we are paying 2d. per
lettuce, and are glad to get them. Again,
on the same farm, lucerne yielded in one year

23 1 tons, averaging 15| tons during a period
of twelve years. Scarlet-runners averaged
during a period of eight years 13,700 lb.
per acre j5icked green for the market, with
over 8000 lb. of haulm. Gooseberries averaged
3750 lb. during eight years; Victoria plums

SMALL HOLDINGS 231

7580 lb,; strawberries as much as 5000 lb.,
although the weights varied remarkably in
accordance with the variety of strawberry
grown. We have had the advantage of
inspecting many plots of land on Small
Holdings upon which strawberries have
been successfully grown, Worcestershire
holders of five acres having in the
season during which we visited the farms
realised as much as £80 for onc-
and-a-quarter acres gathered without the
expenditure of a shilling for hired labour,
and sold wholesale in the Birmingham market.
This Kentish farm, which has produced
vegetables and fruits in great variety, the
latter including apples, cobnuts, damsons,
raspberries, and currants, is an existing
testimony to what is possible in the produc-
tion of crops upon poor heavy land occupied
by men who are at once able to till it and
provide it with the requisite manure.

232 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

CHAPTER XI

EQUIPMENT ENTRY PROSPECTS

The cost of the equipinient of a Small Holding
depends not only upon the system which is
adopted by the occupier, but his capacity
to construct buildings for himself. The cow-
house should be a substantial structure, and
it will be essential to employ a skilled trades-
man to build it. There are few among the
tillers of land who are able to handle bricks
and mortar, although there are many who are
capable with carpenters' tools, and who are
consequently well fitted to construct their
own piggery, poultry-house, and tool-house
or implement shed. The whole question
of buildings, however, is one which must be
decided by each man for himself. On a new
holding the buildings should be erected by
the OAvner either to let to a tenant or for his
own use should he also be the occupier. In
view of the fact, however, that the occupier
of a Small Holding will find the whole of his

SMALL HOLDINGS 233

time employed attending to his stock and
land, it will usually be found a much wiser
plan to leave the whole of the work to a
builder. Nurserymen who grow their produce
under glass usually erect their own buildings,
simply employing a tradesman to lay the
foundations in brick, and to construct their
furnaces, but they are able to buy the wood-
work ready-made; they have simply to put
it together after thoroughly painting, and to
glaze it, the glass being purchased to size.
It is true that there are many handy-men
with tools, who are able to find the time to
erect their less extensive buildings, employing
lads to assist them in general work, but it
is a great mistake to spend money and time
in constructing buildings which soon prove
useless owing to inferior workmanship.

It is important to protect the stock
thoroughly, to provide a good water supply,
and a roof for the manure heap to protect
it from rain. On all holdings the equip-
ment should include the tools and im-
plements requisite for use in the garden,
on the arable, and the grass land. These
should include a chain-harrow, seed-
harrows, drag-harrows, a suitable roller of
medium weight that it may be employed

231 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

both upon grass and arable land, the type
depending upon the texture of the soil; hay-
making implements, including a scythe, a
horse-rake, a hay-drag, a sheet for protecting
the hay-stack against rain, and the usual
smaller implements, including forks and rakes.
The equipment of a Small Holding, however,
whether it be chiefly arable or grass, depends
entirely upon whether the occupier is a member
of a Co-operative Society. In many instances
there are already Co-operative Societies in
existence where the small holders are able
to provide implements and machinery for
use among themselves, but where there is
no such organisation it becomes imperative
that each man should provide the major
portion of his own implements and tools.
If for no other reason than that a large
proportion of this money might be saved,
small holders should co-operate wherever a
sufficient number are living in proximity to
each other.

Where cows and pigs are kept, together
with a dairy, the occupier will require a
hand-separator for skimming the milk, a
cream-pan, a churn, a butter-worker, a
draining trough for the butter, and butter-
making implements, together with milk pails

SMALL HOLDINGS 235

and measures, a railway churn if milk is
sent away, a milk barrow with a delivery
churn if it is retailed, and a pony and cart
where such are required to deliver a large
quantity of milk. Where the milk is sold
wholesale a refrigerator or milk cooler will
be required, a weighing machine to v,eigh the
milk from each cow, chains to tether the cows
to the stalls, a feeding skip, a machine for
breaking cake, a root-pulper, a chaff-cutting
machine, a wheel-barrow for the removal of
the manure, a liquid manure tank for the
conveyance of the liquid to the fields, pig
troughs, bins for the protection of grain,
cake and meal both for cows and pigs, a
hay-knife for cutting the hay from the stack,
and such hand-tools as are essential for the
various purposes which are common on the
farm and in the garden. In some instances
where the small holder is skilled in the breed-
ing and feeding of poultry he may find it to
his advantage to buy an incubator, together
with a brooder or rearer, that he may be better
enabled to hatch and rear chickens in the
winter season when sitting hens are difTieult
to buy.

Although we have made the above sugges-
tions it is obvious that each man will prepare

236 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

his own programme of operations in accordance
with his own experience and the capital at
his command, and decide what Lis equipment
should be. We would press home the point
that the experienced man needs few sugges-
tions with regard to the expenditure of his
capital for the equipment of his farm. We
would, however, point out that the cow affords
the simplest means of obtaining ready money.
Assuming that a small holder has got into
liis farm, on which he has plenty of grass,
the purchase of a single cow will enable him
to obtain an immediate return, both milk and
butter being easily sold. A flock of laying
hens, if young and healthy, will add to the
immediate income from the cow by the
production of eggs. It is for the reason given
that cow-keeping is so common among small
holders in all the countries of the world in
which modern agriculture is prospering. As
the milk from one cow is sold, a second can
be added, while additions can be made from
time to time as the demand is warranted,
and as far as the land is sufficient to feed
them.

Pig-keeping, however, affords a less rapid
return. A man possessing little capital may
be compelled to buy a gilt and to wait until

SMALL HOLDINGS 237

she has arrived at maturity before she is
ready for breeding, and then he must wait
still longer for the production of her litter,
which will not be of the best. Where possible
it is far wiser to purchase a mature sow about
to farrow with her second or third litter,
and then to feed the youngsters either for
local sale or for the auction mart or the butcher,
and thus to obtain a return. Where the small
holder is compelled to depend upon his crops,
whether of the garden or the farm, he has to
wait a much longer period for his return,
this depending upon the time at which he
enters the holding. In any case his capital
must be sufficient to enable him to live and
pay his way until his crops are sold. This
remark applies to the system of rotation
cropping — corn, roots, clover, and grass; to
market gardening whether upon the English
or the French system, and to flower and fruit
culture. All demand capital at the hands
of the grower. French gardening, however,
which requires a much larger expenditure of
capital, produces a much quicker return.
These facts are sufficient to show the impor-
tance of mixed farming as opposed to crop
growing alone.
A small holder may take over land under

238 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

the most advantageous conditions at Lady
Day, or, in some cases, grass-land at mid-
summer, but in the latter case the grass should
neither have been grazed nor mown. Entry
at Michaelmas means the loss of the best
portion of the grass crop, for after the meadows
are mown and the pastures grazed up to the
end of September what remains for winter
grazing in an average year is very small,
for not only is the grass much less plentiful,
but its feeding value is diminished. Entry
on a farm at Michaelmas or Christmas practi-
cally means that where stock are kept food
must be purchased, and in most cases this
would involve considerable loss unless milk
is produced for sale at retail prices. Where a
small holder enters upon a farm at Lady Day,
should there be arable land under cultiva-
tion, it will be necessary for an arrangement
to be made with the outgoing tenant. If the
outgoing and the incoming tenants can agree
upon terms made either between themselves
or with the aid of a valuer, it will be more
advantageous for the incoming tenant to
take over the growing crops and to pay for
the various cultivations; but where a tenancy
commences at Michaelmas the hay and corn
crops will have been harvested, and should

SMALL HOLDINGS 239

there be potatoes, roots, or seeds on the
ground, the whole or part of these may be
taken by valuation, or left to the outgoing
tenant to dispose of as he thinks best. It will,
however, obviously be to the advantage of
the incoming tenant to take over the roots
and seeds, and to pay for such cultivations
as may have been carried out. The incoming
tenant should not regard these payments as
a tax upon his purse, for they are usually
to his advantage, and they place him in the
same position as the outgoing tenant would
have occupied. The better, therefore, the
latter has farmed the land, the better for
his successor.

Whether the farm is occupied at Lady Day,
Midsummer, or Michaelmas, the garden, or
the land which it is intended to convert into
a garden, should be handled at once. If a
portion of the grass-land is to be brought under
garden culture, it should be well trenched at
the earliest opportunity — preferably as soon
as the grass crop has been removed. Bearing
this fact in mind, it is important that the land
should be of deep staple, in which case
trenching will prove as useful as a good coat
of manure. There is probably no process or
act of cultivation which is followed by such

240 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF

good results. The land will feel the effect of
trenching for years, and the crops will respond
accordingly, but it is equally true that where
this form of cultivation is neglected there
will be a corresponding loss, for no form of
manuring will make up for the absence of
trenching. Land which is prepared in this
way is followed by the best results when it
is subjected to frost, especially if the work is
so suitably done that the frost can penetrate
to the depth of the trench. In this case from
18 in. to 20 in. of soil will be thoroughly
pulverised, and thus a tilth will be provided
which will ensure the productive growth of
a great variety of plants.

Land intended for market gardening, if
not demanding the same capital which is
essential to stock-keeping or French garden-
ing, still demands liberal expenditure for
tools, seeds, frames, the provision of a water
supply — than which nothing is more essential
— and plenty of dung. If a man is master of
his work he will find that the addition of frames
and bell-glasses will help him to increase the
variety and value of his crops, inasmuch as
he will be able to place them on the market
at an earlier date, and in consequence reap
the advantage of high prices.

SMALL HOLDINGS 241

The prospects of success upon a Small
Holding depend chiefly upon the occupier;
although suitable soil is essential, and although
good seed, liberality in manuring, and climate
all play a prominent part in the process of
production, it is brains that tell in the end.
Thus without knowledge and the power to
apply it we cannot honestly say that a small
holder has much prospect of success. There
is no class of produce, animal or vegetable,
for which there is not an excellent market;
and while there are times when, owing to
adverse conditions, such as bad weather,
the results of labour are disappointing, yet,
taking one year with another, the man who
knows his business and who has consequently
taken precautions to acquire land which is
suitable to his purpose, should have no cause
to complain.

S.H.

APPENDIXES

SMALL HOLDINGS AND ALLOTMENT
SOCIETIES

ENGLAND

Bedfordshire —

Biggleswade and District Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Stotford Co-operative Small Holdings, Ltd.

Wootton (Bedford) Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Potton and District Small Holders, Ltd.

Kempston Small Holders' Society, Ltd.

Arlesey Allotments and Small Holders' Co-
operative Society, Ltd.

Berkshire —

Nortli Berkshire Small Holdings and Allotments
Society, Ltd.

Uflington and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Abingdon Small Holdings Society, Ltd.

Reading Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Shrivenham and District Small Holdings Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Stanford and Charney Small Holdings Society,
Ltd.

Buckinghamshire — •

Cuddington Small Holders, Ltd.
High Wycombe and District Small Holders and
Allotment Holders, Ltd.

246 APPENDIX

Cambridgeshire —

Coates and District Small Holders' Society, Ltd.

Over Small Holdings Association, Ltd.

Sutton Small Holdings and Allotments Association,

Ltd.
Cottenham Small Holders, Ltd.
Elm and District Small Holdings Association, Ltd.
Witcham Small Holders' Association, Ltd.

Cheshire —

Birkenhead Allotments Association, Ltd.
Higher Bebington Allotments Association, Ltd.

Devonshire —

St Budeaux Allotments Association, Ltd.

Dorset —

Sturminster Newton Small Holdings, Ltd,
MarnhuU Small Holdings, Ltd.
Sherborne Small Holdings, Ltd.
Buckhorn Western Small Holdings, Ltd.
Stour Small Holdings, Ltd.
Borough of Poole Allotments Association, Ltd.
Newtown Allotments Association, Ltd.
Hamworthy Allotments Association, Ltd.
Poole Small Holdings Association, Ltd.
Oakdale Small Holdings Association, Ltd.
White House Hill Allotments Association, Ltd.
Okeford Small Holdings, Ltd.

Durham —

Cleadon and Whitburn Small Holders, Ltd.
Ryton and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Co-operative Society, Ltd.

Essex —

Little Waltham Co-operative Allotments and

Small Holdings, Ltd.
Woodford Allotments. Ltd.

APPENDIX 247

Hampshire —

Winchester and District Allotments Holders'
Society, Ltd.

Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotments Co-operative
Association, Ltd.

Alton and District Co-operative Land Society,
Ltd.

Passfield Co-operative Land Society, Ltd.

Soberton Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Herefordshire —

Herefordshire Small Holdings and Allotments,
Ltd.

Hertfordshire —

Bushey Co-operative Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Association, Ltd.

Potton End Small Holdings Association, Ltd.

King's Langley and District Co-operative Small
Holdings Society, Ltd.

Sleaps Hyde Small Holdings Society, Ltd.

Cheshunt Land Club Co-operative Society, Ltd.

Croxley Green Co-operative Small Holdings
Society, Ltd.

Huntingdonshire —

North Hunts and District Central Small Holdings
Association, Ltd.

Somersham Small Holdings and Allotments
Association, Ltd.

Farcet Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Kent —

Swanley Small Holders, Ltd.
West Mailing and District Co-operative Land-
holding Association. Ltd.

248 APPENDIX

Kent (Continued) —

Bromley Small Holders, Ltd.

Sutton Valence Small Holders, Ltd.

Sevenoaks Co-operative Small Holdings Society,

Ltd.
Westerham Allotment and Small Holders, Ltd.
Welling and District Co-operative Small Holders,

Ltd.
Edenbridge Land Club, Ltd.

Erith and District Allotment Holders Society, Ltd.
Halstead Small Holders' Society, Ltd.
Orpington and District Small Holdings and

Allotments Co-operative Association, Ltd.
Lancashire —

Clitheroe Small Holdings, Ltd.
Leicestekshire —

Aylestone Co-operative Allotments Society, Ltd.
Newfoundpool Co-operative Allotment Society,

Ltd.
Leicestershire Co-operative Small Holdings Associa-
tion, Ltd.
Lutterworth Co-operative Allotments Society, Ltd.
Oadby Co-operative Small Holdings Association,

Ltd.
Lincolnshire —
South Lincolnshire Small Holdings Association,

Ltd.
Timberland and District Agricultural Union, Ltd.
London —

Brotherhood Trust Extension Society, Ltd.
Plumstead Common Allotments Society, Ltd.
Middlesex —

'All for Each' Allotment and Small Holders, Ltd-
Ruislip-Northwood Co-operative SmaU Holdings

and Allotments Society, Ltd.

APPENDIX 249

Monmouthshire —

Trelleck and District Land Association, Ltd.

Norfolk —

Wayland Small Holdings Association, Ltd.

Northamptonshire —

Mid-Northants Small Holdings and Allotments
Society, Ltd.

Moulton and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Far Cotton and District Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Clipston and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Flore and District Small Holdings and Allotments
Society, Ltd.

Wootton and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Crick Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

Piddington, Hackleton, Horton, and District
Small Holdings and Allotments Society, Ltd.

Rothwell Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

St James 's (Northampton) and District Allotments
Society, Ltd.

Harpole Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

Long Buckby and District Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Nether Heyford Small Holdings and Allotments
Association, Ltd.

Yardley Hastings Small Holdings and Allotments
Society, Ltd.

Spratton Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

250 APPENDIX

NoRTKAMPTONSHiRK [Continued] —

Finedon Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

Kingsthorpe and District Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Kislingbury and District Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Brafield and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Welford and Sulby Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Hargrave Small Holders, Ltd.

Higham Ferrers Small Holders, Ltd.

Irchester Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Creaton and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Wellingborough Small Holdings, Ltd.

Rushden Co-operative Land-holding Association,
Ltd.

Newborough District Land Society, Ltd.

Wollaston Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

Northumberland —

Wallsend Small Holdings, Ltd.

Ashington and Hirst Small Holders, Ltd.

Blyth Small Holdings and Allotments Association,

Ltd.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Small Holdings Society, Ltd.
Nottinghamshire —

Mansfield Woodhouse Co-operative Small Holdings
and Allotment Society, Ltd.
Somersetshire.
Street and District Small Holdings Association,
Ltd.

APPENDIX 251

Somersetshire (Continued) —
Brislington Allotments, I-td.
Bath Co-operative Allotments Society, Ltd.
Radstock and District Small Holdings Society, Ltd.

Suffolk —

Bardwell and District Small Holdings Society, Ltd.

Surrey —

Woking and May bury Allotments Society, Ltd.
Addlestone Co-operative Small Holdings and

Allotments Society, Ltd.
Epsom and Sutton District Small Holdings Society,

Ltd.
Haslemere and District Co-operative Allotments

Society, Ltd.
Richmond and District Agricultural Co-operative

Society (Surrey), Ltd.
Merrow Land Club, Ltd.

Croydon Allotments and Small Holdings Co-
operative Society, Ltd.
Dormansland Small Holdings and Allotments

Society, Ltd.
Reigate Small Holders, Ltd.
Battlebridge Allotments, Ltd.
Woking Village and Mayford Allotments and

Small Holdings Association, Ltd.
Guildford and District Allotment Holders' Society,

Ltd.
Mitcham and District Small Holders' Co-operative

Society, Ltd.

Sussex —

Hastings Small Holdings and Allotments Co-
operative Society, Ltd.

252 APPENDIX

Warwickshire —

Nuneaton Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Coventry Allotments, Ltd.

London Road Allotments (Coventry), Ltd.

Shirley Allotments, Ltd.

South Leamington New Allotments Association,
Ltd.

Wiltshire —

Mere and District Small Holders, Ltd.
West Lavington Small Holders' Society, Ltd.

Worcestershire —

East Worcestershire Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Co-operative Society, Ltd.

North Bromsgrove Market Gardeners, Ltd.

Sidemoor and Perryflelds Small Holdings and
Allotments Society, Ltd.

Cradley and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Society, Ltd.

Yorkshire —

Barnsley Small Holdings and Allotments, Ltd.

Bridlington and District Small Holdings and
Allotments, Ltd.

Pickering Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Morley Small Holdings and Allotments Association,
Ltd.

Kilham District Small Holders, Ltd.

Pocklington and District Small Holdings Society,
Ltd.

Broomfleet Small Holders, Ltd.

Hornsea and District Small Holders, Ltd.

Driffield Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

APPENDIX 253

WALES
Cabnarvonsiiire —

Carnarvon Small Holdings and Allotments Society,
Ltd.

Glamorganshire —

Barry Small Holdings Tenants' Association, Ltd.

Cardiff Allotment and Small Holders, Ltd.

Cardiff Land-holders' Co-operative Society, Ltd.

Porthcawl Small Holdings and Allotments Associa-
tion, Ltd.

Coychurch Lower Small Holdings and Allotments
Association, Ltd.

Cadoxton and District Small Holders' Association,
Ltd.

CREDIT SOCIETIES

ENGLAND

Bedfordshire —

Clophill Credit Society.

Buckinghamshire —

High Wycombe Credit Society.
Drayton Parslow Credit Society.

Cambridgeshire —

Coates and District Small Holders' Credit Society.

Essex —

Coggeshall Credit Society.

Tiptree and District Credit Society.

Hampshire —

Hedge End Agricultural Credit Society.

Herefordshire —

Froome's Hill Co-operative Credit Society.

254 APPENDIX

Hebtfordshire —
Barley Credit Society.

Kent —

Bromley and District Credit Society
Halstead Small Holders' Credit Society.
High Halstow (Kent) Credit Society.

Leicestershire —

Freeby Agricultural Credit Society.
Brookvale Credit Society.
Mountsorrel and District Credit Society.
Oadby Credit Society, Ltd.

Lincolnshire —

Scawby Agricultural Credit Society.

Spalding and District Agricultural Credit Society

Friskney Agricultural Credit Society.

Middlesex —

'All for Each' Credit Society,

Norfolk —

Wiggenhall Agricultural Credit Society.
Whissonsett Small Holders' Credit Society
Gedney Dyke and District Credit Society.
Trunch and District Credit Society.
Stiffkey Credit Society
Wayford Credit Society.

Nottinghamshire —
Mansfield Woodhouse Co-operative Credit Society

Oxfordshire —
Heyford Agricultural Credit Society.
Islip and District Credit Society.

APPENDIX 255

Surrey —

Dormansland Small Holdings and Allotments

Credit Society.
Limpsfield and District Credit Society.
Croydon Co-operative Credit Society.
Epsom Small Holders' Credit Society.

Worcestershire —

Castlemorton Agricultural Credit Society.
Far Forest Agricultural Credit Society.
Cradley and District Small Holdings and Allot-
ments Credit Society.

WALES

Glamorganshire —

St Fagan's and District Credit Society.
Cadoxton and District Credit Society.
Barry and District Credit Society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GENERAL WORKS

DuMSDAY, W. H. The Laiv of Allotments and Small

Holdings. 1909. Hadden, Best. 5s.
'Home Counties' : The Townsman's Farm. 1908.

Cassell. 6s. net.
Jhbb, L. The Small Holdings of England. lUus.

National Land and Home League. 10s. 6d. net.
Jebb, L. How Landlords can create Small Holdings,

National Land and Home League. 6d. net.
Martineau, H. My Farm of Two Acres. 1906.

Fjfleld. 6d.
M' CoNTSTELL, P. The Agricultural Notebook. 8th

Edition. 1910. Crosby Lockwood. 7s. 6d. net.
Potter, T. Buildings for Small Holdings : Materials,

Cost, and Methods of Construction. 1909. Batsford.

3s. net.
Small Holdings and Allotments Act (1907) and the

related Acts. National Land and Home League.

Is. net.
SmaU Holdings and Allotments Act (1908). Official.

Annotated. National Land and Home League.

5d.

Warington, K. The Chemistry of the Farm. 20th
Edition. 1909. Vinton. 2s. 6d. net.

SOILS AND FERTILISERS

Dyer, B. Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs. 5th
Edition, revised 1908. Crosby Lockwood. Is. net.

Dyer, B., and Shrivell, F. W. E. The Manuring
of Market Garden Crops. 1903- Vinton. Is.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 257

Soils and Fertilisers (Continued) —
M'CoNNELL, P. Soils : Their Nature and Treatment.

1908. Cassell. Is. 6d. net; sewed, Is. net.
Percival, J. Artificial Manures, and How to Ust

Them. 1909. Author, Reading. Is. net.

FRUIT

Beckett, E. The Book of the Strawberry. 1902.

J. Lane. 2s. 6d. net.
BuNYARD, G. Fruit Farming for Profit. 1907.

Simpkin. 2s. 6d.
Castle, R. L. Grading and Packing Fruit ana

Vegetables. Fruiterers' Company. Is.
Cheal, J. Practical Fruit Grooving. Bell. Is.
Pickering, S., and Theobald, F. V. Friiit Trees

and Their Enemies. 1908. Simpkin. Is. 6d. net.
Udale, J. Handy Book on Pruning, Grafting, and

Budding. 1909. Simpkin. Is. Cd. net.
Wright, J. Profitable Fruit Growing for Cottagers

and Small Holders of Land. 1896. Journal of

Horticulture. Is.
Yates, L. H. Successful Jam Making and Fruii

Bottling. 1909. Rebman. Is. 6d. net.

FLOWERS

D'Ombrain, Rev. H. H. Roses for Amateurs.

L. Upcott Gill. Is. net.
Prior, J. D. Roses, and How to Grow Them.

Routledge. Is.
Ravenscroft, B. C. Chrysanthanum Culture. L.

Upcott Gill. Is.
Robinson, W. The English Flower Garden. 11 tb

Edition. 1911. J. Murray. 15s. net.

258 BIBLIOGRAPHY

MARIiET GARDENING AND VEGETABLES

Castle, R. L. Book of Market Gardening. 1906.

J. Lane. 2s. 6d. net.
May, W. J. Cucumber Culture for Amateurs.

L. Upcott Gill. Is. net.
Ravenscroft, B. C. Tomato Culture for Amateurs.

L. Upcott Gill. Is. net.
Sakders, T. W. Green Crops and Herbs for Profit.

1903. Collingridge. Is. net.
Sanders, T. W. Vegetables for Profit. 4 vols. 1903.

Collingridge. Is. net each.
Wythes, G. The Book of Vegetables. 1902. J. Lane.

2s. 6d. net.
Wythes, G. The Book of Rarer Vegetables. 1906.

J. Lane. 2s. 6d. net.

INTENSIVE CULTURE

Anton, E. K. French Gardening. 1908. K. Paul.

9d. net; sewed, 3d. net.
Mackay, C. D. The French Garden in England.

1909. 6d. net. Daily Mail.
NusSEY, H., and Cockerell, O. J. A French Garden

in England. 1909. Stead's Publishing House.

Is. net.
Smith, J. French Gardening. 1909. Clarion Press.

2s. 6d. net.
Weathers, J. French Market Gardening. 1909.

J. Murray. 3s. Gd. net.

LIVE STOCK

Brown, E. Potdtry-keeping as an Industry for
Farmers and Cottagers. 5th Edition. 1906.
Arnold. 6s. net.

BIBLIOGRArHV 259

Live Stock — Continued
Brown, E. Industrial Poultry-keeping. Arnold. Is
Carrington, W. T., Gilbert, G., and Others.

Live Stock. Vinton. 28. 6d. net.
Hurst, J. W. Successful Poultry Production. 1010.

Rebman. 2s. 6d. net.
Jones, B. E. Incubators and Chicken Rearers,

CasscU. Is. net.
rx)NG, J. Book of the Pig. L. Upcott Gill. 6s. net.
M'CoNNELL, P. Live Stock. 1909. Cassell. Is. 6d.

net; sewed. Is. net.
MuiR, J. H. Sheep : Their Management and Breeding,

1909. Collingridge. Is. net.
Palmer, W. Poultry Management on a Farm.

Constable. Is.
Pegler, H. S. H. Book of the Goat. 1910. L.

Upcott Gill. 6s. net.
Rayson, C. Management of Rabbits. L. Upcott

Gill. Is. net.
Wright, L. Practical Poultry-keeper. 1912. Cassell.

3s. 6d.

BEES
British Beekeepers' Association. Modern Bee-

keeping. 1895. Longmans. 6d.
Harrison, C. Book of the Honey Bee. 1903. J.

Lane. 2s. 6d. net.

DAIRY FARMING
Long, J. Dairy Farming for Small Holders. 1912.

Pearson. 2s. 6d. net.
Long, J. Elements of Dairy Farming. 1894. Collins.

2s.
Long, J., and Benson, J. Cheese and Cheese-making,

Butter, and Milk. 1890. Chapman & Hall.

3s. 6d.

260 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dairy Farming — Continued

Matthews, A. T. Successful Dairy Work. 1909.
llebman. Is. 6d. net.

Mattiikws, E. Economic Dairy Farming. 1903.
Newnes. 7s. 6d. net.

MuiR, Prof. J. Manual of Dairy Work. Macinillan.
Is.

Sheldon, J. P. British Dairying. 1908. Lock-
wood. 2s. 6d.

Sheldon, J. P. Dairying. 1912. Cassell. 7s. 6d.
net.

Sheldon, J. P. Tlie Farm and the Dairy. 1911.
BeU. 3s. 6d.

INDEX

Allotments, compulsory

acquirement, 36.
Apple-trees, 61.
Arable land, cultivation,

76.

Bacon, curing, 157.
Bell-glasses. See Cloches.
Butter, 195-199.

Caxves, rearing, 83.

Cheese, 207-213.

Chrysanthemums, 59.

Cloches, 64.

Co-operation, 18, 234.

Councils, Powers of
borrowing, 37, 44.

Cows, breeds, 139-148.

, feed for, 74, 199-

202.

, management, 82.
, selection, cost feed-
ing, 79, 139-148, 185-
206.

Cream. See Butter and
milk.

Crops, 54.

, protection of, 51.

Cucumbers, 59.

Dairying, 23, 185-213.
Dry-farming, 136.
Ducks, 177-180.

Eggs, 168-177.

Fertilisers, 117-137.

, phosphatic, 203-^

Flowering plants, 69.
French gardening, G2.
Fruit-trees, soil, 60.

Glass, growing under, 58.
Glass-house, cost of, 71.

Holding, attractions of,

16.
, conditions making

for success, 98.

, entry, 238-240.

, equipment, 232.

, selection of, 48, 53,

95.

-, stock for, 138.
-, taking up land.

27, 39.
-, working the, 96.

Horses, 214-216.

Intensive culture, 105.

Land, liming, 126.
Leguminous plants and

bacteria, 114.
Lime, 124-127.
Live stock, 73.
Loans, 37, 43.

262

INDEX

Manure, fresh, 78. See

also Fertilisers.

, liquid, 202.

, phosphatic, 203.

Market Garden Crops,

specialising in, 225-

231.
Milk, percentage of fat,

187, 193.

price of, 80.

Mixed farming, 214-231.

Organisation, 17.

Parish Council, allot-
ment by, 30.

Pasture land, manuring,
203-206.

Petite culture, 74.

Pigs, 85.

, breeding, 87.

, breeds, feeding

values, 153-164.

, feeding, 88.

Plant food, 111-115.

Pork, curing, 157-158.

Potatoes, 225-228.

, early, 60.

Poultry, breeds and
breeding, 165-177.

, productiveness.

, selection and breed-
ing, »2.

, specialising in, 221-

224.

Poultry, (table), 174-176.

prices, 170.

Poultry-keeping, 23.

Rent, 39.
Rhubarb, 229.
Roses, 54-58.

Sheep, 149-152.

Small-Holders, general
considerations for, 46.

Small-Holdings, benefit
to nation, 13.

, Denmark, 18.

, Great Britain, 20.

Small-Holdings Act, 28.

, Administration, 33.

SoU, 101.

, composition, varie-
ties, fertilisation, and
productiveness, 110-
137.

Soils, 49, 63.

Specialising in farming,
214-231.

Stock, specialising in,
214-231.

Straw-feed, 75.

Tenants, 41.
Tomatoes, 58.
Turkeys, 90.
, breeding, 180-184.

Vegetable marrows, 59.

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