276 REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURE OF DUMFRIESSHIRE. 



Section II. — Causes which have contributed to the Advancement 

 of Agriculture in Dumfriesshire. 



The advancement which the agriculture of Dumfriesshire has 

 made during the present century has been very marked. The 

 extent of this improvement may in some degree be inferred from 

 the respective valuations of the county at the close of the last 

 century and at the present time. The real rents of land in this 

 county, as computed betwixt the years 1790 and 1800 (assumed 

 as corresponding to 1795J, were estimated at L.109,700. The 

 annual value of real property had risen in 1815 to L.295,621 ; 

 but the intelligent reader will not require to be told that this 

 large increase was owing only in a very small degree to any 

 improvement which had been wrought in the condition of the 

 land, but was almost entirely occasioned by the extremely high 

 prices which agricultural produce commanded during the time 

 of the war. A few years after the close of the war, landlords had 

 to give a very large reduction of the rents of their farms, so that 

 about 1820 the real rental would not be more than, if indeed as 

 much as, one-half of what it was in 1815. The valuation of the 

 county in 1866-67 was L.389,561, being L.279,861 of an increase 

 since 1795, or fully three and a-half times as much as at that 

 period. This is exclusive of the valuations of the four parlia- 

 mentary burghs, and of L.117,500 for the railways which run 

 through the county. But at no period has the advancement 

 made been so great and striking as during the twenty-five years 

 over which this report extends. The very great increase in the 

 valuation now is principally owing to the improvements which 

 have been wrought on the land ; and it ought not to be over- 

 looked that Dumfriesshire being strictly an agricultural county, 

 the rise in value must be traced almost entirely to the greater 

 productiveness of the soil. It is different in this respect from 

 Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and other mining counties, for they are 

 largely indebted to their minerals for their increased wealth. 

 To illustrate this increase further, the Eeporter appends a state- 

 ment of the rental on a particular property, and also of a single 

 farm at various periods. The rental of the property in question 

 had risen in 1815 (in consequence of the war) to L.20,000. In 

 1830 it had fallen to L.14,000. It is now L.22,000, and if let at 

 the rates which have been current during the last seven years, 

 it would yield a good deal more. The farm referred to was 

 rented in 1792 at L.65. In 1815 it was L.280 ; in 1823 it was 

 reduced to L.140, and it is now L.230. In both instances, as in 

 the case of the county generally, this very large increase is prin- 

 cipally owing to the extensive and varied improvements which 

 have been carried out. 



