392 Agricultural Jottings from the General Report of the 



environ not merely our wealthy manufacturing cities, but are 

 spreading also in the outskirts of most of our rural towns. To 

 this class of houses, inhabited by the wealthy manufacturer 

 and the thriving tradesman, we may attach a considerable portion 

 of the increase of gardeners, who now amount to 116,757, oi 

 whom 2240 are women, as compared to 93,154 in 1861, in- 

 cluding then 1773 women. It is amongst the same class that 

 the great demand for domestic servants has arisen, — a startling 

 sign of the increased means of comfort and of luxury amongst 

 our population. The domestic servants' class has increased as 

 follows : — 



Male. 



Female. 



1851 

 1861 

 1871 



124,595 783,543 



134,443 : 976,931 

 152,971 1,225,014 



Persons. 



908,138 

 1,111,374 



1,377,985 



Increase. 



203,236 

 266,611 



The increase in these classes we may suppose to have been 

 very considerably drawn from the agricultural labourers, who 

 have generally filled up the ranks of domestic servants and of 

 gardeners. 



Another indication of the wealth and prosperity of the urban 

 population is found in the increased value of the houses which 

 they inhabit. During the ten years ending with 1871 the num- 

 ber of houses which were assessed to the inhabited house duty, 

 that is, houses of the annual value of 20/. and upwards, increased 

 44 per cent., viz. from 519,991 to 748,719 ; while the number 

 of those below that value only increased 9 per cent., viz. from 

 3,219,514 to 3,510,398. This augmentation has no doubt prin- 

 cipally arisen in towns, although the decision to assess and 

 subject farm-houses to inhabited house duty will have made 

 some addition to the increase here noticed. Although the great 

 rise in prices of building materials and of labour has affected 

 very considerably the rents of houses, we cannot be blind to the 

 very marked improvement in the size and value of the houses, 

 built not only in London and our principal cities, but in most 

 of our provincial towns, where many of the tradesmen and the 

 professional class no longer live, as in old times, at their places 

 of business, but to a considerable extent reside in country 

 villas. 



We shall shortly see how enormously personal property and 

 the profits from manufacturing industry have increased the 

 power to purchase the productions of agriculture ; and our next 

 inquiry must be. What are this class of producers doing ? Are they 



