This  applies  in  a  high  degree  to  the  Western  Provinces,  like
Rhineland  and  Westphalia,  where  the  numher  of  small  proprietors
and  small  leasehold  farmers  is  exceptionally  large.  In  some  dis-
tricts of  the  Ehineland  it  is  estimated  that  at  least  a  third  of  the
entire  area  is  held  hy  leasehold  tenants,  who  are  willing  and  ahle
to  pay  high  rents,  particularly  in  the  neighhourhood  of  towns,
where  market  gardening  can  he  combined  with  grazing.
In  the  adjoining  province  of  Westphalia  are  found  all  forms
of  tenure  and  cultivation — large  estates,  similar  to  those  in  the
East,  though  few  in  number,  peasant  holdings  of  various  size,
and  a  host  of  small  "  parcels  " — and  in  spite  of  the  inroads  made
by  industry  town  and  country  still  develop  satisfactorily  side  by
side.
The  Land  Commission  which  has  for  twenty  years  worked  the
settlement  scheme  in  the  Polish  districts  of  Eastern  Prussia
stated  in  a  recent  report : —

"  The  future  of  the  great  estates  is  threatened  by  the  uncertainty
of  the  supply  of  labour.  Hence  the  assured  form  of  agriculture
to-day  is  that  of  the  small  and  medium  peasant  with  a  property
of  from  25  to  50  acres.    Dearth  of  labour  does  not  aifect  him,  and

18


258  THE  EVOLUTION  OP  MODERN  GERMANY

the  sinking  of  corn  prices  does  not  hit  him  so  directly  or  so
severely,  since  he  needs  the  greater  part  of  his  corn  for  his  cattle.
