1864. | Agriculiure. 443 
“1. By the plan now to be submitted, the cost is not expected to exceed 
3,000/. a year—an amount which, compared with the object, is not worth 
a moment’s consideration. 
“9. Neither the names nor the boundaries of individual farms will be 
known, and neither the persons making the inquiry, nor those to whom 
the results are communicated, can tell the precise farius to which the re- 
turns refer. The complaint of inquisitorial inquiry cannot, therefore, 
arise. 
“3. The typical districts will be fixed quantities—say 100,000 acres 
each—laid down on the Ordnance Maps. Every acre within that limit 
will be exhausted, so that absolute accuracy will be attained. 
“ We believe that the more this subject is considered and discussed by 
intelligent agriculturists, the readier will they be to admit the advantage 
which the agricultural, as well as the commercial interests of the country, 
must derive from the information which the prosecution of Mr. Caird’s 
plan must furnish.” 
Meanwhile it is satisfactory to know that a resolution affirming 
the importance and need of a national inquiry into the subject was 
the other day carried in the House by Mr. Caird. 
The last subject to which we refer in our Agricultural Chronicle 
of the past quarter is the condition of rural cottages. Under the 
general question of the dwelling of the labouring class, this was 
lately made the subject of a conference before the Society of Arts, 
when a number of influential men united to consult on a remedy for 
the glaring evils which imperfect house accommodation inflicts. It was 
resolved, that much of the existing mischief is due to the Law of Set- 
tlement and the limited area of the Poor Law rating; that the tenure 
of property and the legal difficulties in obtaining sites are much in 
the way ; but that— 
‘*« By proper attention to economy, by building to the extent only re- 
quired by each district, and by the utmost care in avoiding unnecessary 
outlay in preliminary expenses, proper dwellings for the labouring classes 
can be provided which will realize im towns a fair dividend on the capital 
expended ; and that although in rural districts, commonly speaking, the 
pecuniary return for capital invested in labourers’ dwellings, considering 
the rate of their wages and their general circumstances, and the cost of re- 
pairs, can only be moderate, yet it may be regarded as satisfactory, when 
the consequent improvement of the character of the cccupants, their com- 
fort, their health, and the additional value of their labour are taken into 
account.” 
The chairman of the conference urged that, in the various Land Im- 
provement Acts and in the Government Drainage Acts, there is ample 
precedent for Government loans, at a low rate of interest, for the express 
purpose of cottage improvement. And Mr. Akroyd, of Halifax, de- 
scribed the way in which, with the aid of building societies, no less a 
sum than 1,200,000/. had been spent in three towns of the West 
Riding, chiefly by the working men themselves, in the erection of 
good cottages, now or fast becoming the property of their tenants. 
In agricultural districts where low wages interfere with the possi- 
bility of the labourer thus helping himself, there are especial facilities 
in the way of the landlord. 
VOL, I. 245 
