148 A Journey to London in 1840. 



short intervals farmhouses with their neat and substantial range 

 of office buildings, and their barn yard in many instances still 

 containing not a few stacks. The farmer in the best districts is 

 a person of capital, of enterprise, intelligence, and of no incon- 

 siderable rank. His house is large and substantial, suited for the 

 residence of a man of from £300 to £600 of clear annual income. 

 Altogether a good farmhouse gives us in Scotland an idea of com- 

 fort, prosperity, and independence. I saw no such sight in Eng- 

 land. I saw nothing resembling our respectable farmhouses, 

 and no stackyards. The truth is, the agricultural tenantry in 

 England are evidently not men possessed of the same rank or 

 advantages as the same class in Scotland. They inhabit inferior 

 houses, have less capital, and altogether are not men of the inde- 

 pendence and importance of Scottish farmers. 



I have referred to the circumstance of so many horses being 

 employed in tillage. This is a fertile .source of loss. I believe 

 that one-half of the horses might be dispensed with, but say a 

 third. Now it is estimated by the best authorities that there are 

 1,200,000 horses .so employed, exclusive of coach, mail, hack, 

 and pleasure horses of all kinds. The third of these is 400,000, 

 which large number might be spared if the Scotch mode of 

 industry was introduced into England. This is a serious view of 

 die case. Supposing each cost on an average £15, the total 

 amount vested in superfluous horses is not less than £6,000,000. 

 Not onlv is this sum insecurely invested inasmuch that a good 

 manv of the horses die yearl_\-, but the interest of the money, 

 which, at 3 per cent., would be £180,000 yearly, is entirely and 

 for ever lost. But this, however bad, is not the worst. Not only 

 is the large sum of £6,000,000 dormant or rather invested in- 

 securely, and the interest which it might otherwise produce lost 

 to the owners and the public, but the horses have to be kept. 

 This is a still more fertile source of loss than any other mentioned. 

 I shall state the expense in two different wa} s. (1) It is estimated 

 that the extent of land necessary for the maintenance of a horse 

 engaged in husbandry is 5 acres, including oats, hay, potatoes, 

 etc. Now if 1 horse requires 5 acres, 400,000 horses will need 

 2,000,000 acres ; the very idea of which is striking and ought to 

 make the English farmer think. (2) Let the expense be estimated 

 in money. The keep of a horse may be set down at say £10, 

 ■which, however, I consider below the mark. Even at this low 



