§ MR. CORRIE GRANT (Warwickshire, Rugby)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he can state the number of acres of land for small holdings applied for in each county of England and Wales under the Small Holdings Act of last year, the number of applicants, and generally how the Act is working.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) Our information as to the applications made to county councils for small holdings under the Act of last session is by no means complete, but the following statement shows that in twenty-seven counties in England over 4,700 persons have applied for nearly 87,000 acres—
| county. | Number of Acres applied for. | Number of Applicants. |
| Bucks | 5,353 | 253 |
| Cambridge | 4,631 | 641 |
| Chester | 867 | 39 |
| Cumberland | — | 17 |
| Derby | 610 | 24 |
| Devon | 1,853 | 98 |
| Dorset | 2,300 | — |
| Durham | 2,742 | 161 |
| Gloucester | 3,722 | 182 |
| Hereford | 2,951 | 131 |
| Herts | 1,500 | — |
| Hunts | 6,000 | 430 |
| Isle of Ely | 2,000 | 300 |
| Isle of Wight | 853 | 44 |
| Lancaster | 1,250 | 95 |
| Lincoln (Parts of Holland) | 7,276 | 346 |
| Lincoln (Parts of Kesteven) | 2,368 | 159 |
| Lincoln (Parts of Lindsey) | 2,007 | 75 |
| Norfolk | 5,000 | — |
| Oxford | 10,235 | 518 |
| Rutland | 1,200 | 58 |
| Somerset | 8,300 | 600 |
| Suffolk, East | 842 | 40 |
| Suffolk West | 725 | 33 |
| Wilts | 6,000 | — |
| Worcester | 5,923 | 438 |
| Yorks (West Riding) | 465 | 18 |
| Totals | 86,973 | 4,700 |
§ So far as the Board are as yet able to judge the statutory committees are in almost every case carrying out their duties with energy and despatch, and landowners in all parts of the country appear ready to assist in the matter. We have every reason to be satisfied up to the present with the way in which the Act is working.