§ Mr. ROWLANDSasked the President of the Board of Agriculture the number of acres of land acquired for small holdings by the Kent County Council up to 31st December, 1912; the number of applicants this will satisfy; the number of approved applicants to be supplied; and the acreage of land required?
§ Mr. RUNCIMAN1,995 acres 3 roods 33 perches have been acquired by the Kent County Council, and 1,858 acres 1 rood 33 perches have been let in small holdings to 113 persons. There remain 9G approved applicants unsatisfied, for whom it is estimated that 1,200 acres are required.
Mr. LEICESTER HARMSWORTHasked the Secretary for Scotland if he can state how many farm servants in Caithness and each of the Highland counties have applied for new holdings under the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act; and how far the number of farm-servant applicants is affected by the difficulty experienced by this class in providing capital for the purpose of stocking, etc., new holdings.
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe number of applicants from these counties who have stated in their applications for small holdings that they are farm servants, is given in the following table, distinguishing between those with and without: capital:—
— With Capital. Without Capital. Total. Argyll 85 19 104 Caithness 17 7 24 Inverness 77 38 115 Orkney 14 4 18 Ross and Cromarty 32 18 50 Shetland 4 5 9 Sutherland 22 10 32 251 101 352 In addition to the foregoing there are 387 applicants from these counties who state that they have "farming experience," and in many cases this probably means that they have been farm servants. It would be difficult to form an opinion as to how far the number of farm servant applicants is affected by the difficulty referred to in the last part of the question.