28 



He has sank a conbidorable sum of mouey iu improvements, 

 althongli neither he nor his representatives can make any claim 

 for tenant-right. For the year 1885 the profits amounted to 

 lU. 6s. 6d. But if the rent is placed on the debit side (250Z.), 

 the acconnts show a loss for the year of 2351. 13s. Gd. (5) In a 

 fifth case the glebe consisted of 130 acres of useful land, within 

 a ring fence, and advantageously situated. The land was robbed 

 by two successive tenants, and finally thrown upon the parson's 

 hands in an exhausted condition. The glebeowner is a man 

 of considerable experience in high-class farming. But the times 

 have been too much for him. He has sunk 1,000Z. of private 

 capital ; he has received no interest upon the principal, and he 

 has no security, as has been pointed out, for his investment ; he 

 has of course received no i-ent. This year, after six years' work, 

 the accounts for the first time meet — withoat rent or interest 

 (careful accounts have been kept). The best stock has been bred 

 OQ the farm ; the best labourers are employed, and interested in 

 their work by a modified system of co-operative farming. The 

 glebeowner has failed to farm with profit because the land had 

 to be reclaimed from the deplorable condition in which it was 

 left at a heavy expense and in the midst of falling prices. These 

 instances might be multiplied. They afford a fair sample of 

 the results where incumbents have been compelled to farm their 

 glebe-land3 for themselves. Probably scarcely one has farmed 

 arable land at a profit in 1886 ; the yield of corn is bad, and the 

 prices of cereal produce low ; cattle of all sorts are making poor 

 prices ; and sheep alone give the farmer an absolute profit. Without 

 private means it is obvious that, in the last four instances, which 

 are samples drawn almost at random from a host of examples, 

 incumbents could not afford the luxury of parochial duties ; not 

 only would they be unable to meet the heavy calls which are 

 made on clerical incomes, but they would literally and without 

 metaphor starve. 



The alternatives to farming at almost certain loss are to 

 accept any offer that is made for the land, or, if it is impossible 

 to let the glebe, to allow it to fall out of cultivation. In one 

 case the timely expenditure of private capital has saved the 

 land. A glebe farm consisted of 500 acres of strong land, 

 requiring careful drainage and attention. In good years it had 

 been let at a rental of l,000i. a year. In 1880 the present 

 glebeowner found the land in a very neglected condition. Of 

 the 500 acres, 360 were grass, forty-five arable, fifty nominally 

 arable, but really uncultivated, and a mass of twitch and 

 weed. Forty-five acres were laid out in allotments, two-thirds 

 of which were out of cultivation. The present incumbent 

 was fortunately a man of practical experience, possessed of 

 private means, and accustomed to the management of land. 



