38 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



amounting in many cases to scores of thousands of acres, and in 

 one instance within my knowledge, to seventy-five thousand 

 acres ; and in another, I believe, to more than a million acres. 



2. THE FARMERS. Next come the farmers, who lease the 

 land of the landowners. These men are not like farmers in the 

 United States, who themselves labor in the field ; they rarely do 

 any personal labor whatever. They are, in general, a substan 

 tial and well-informed body of men ; and many of them live in 

 a style of elegance and fashion. Many of them are persons of 

 considerable property, as indeed they must be in order to manage 

 the farms which they undertake. The capital necessary to 

 manage a stock or an arable farm must be always estimated at 

 double or treble the amount of rent ; and, in general, cannot be 

 set down at less than 10 sterling, or 50 dollars, per acre. The 

 stock required for a grazing is, of course, much more than for an 

 arable farm ; but in no case can success be looked for without 

 ample means of outlay. In no respect does the agriculture of 

 England differ more from that of the United States, especially 

 from that of the Northern States, than in regard to capital. Our 

 farmers, in general, have little floating capital. They attempt 

 to get along with the least possible expenditure. Under such 

 circumstances, they operate to very great disadvantage. They can 

 never wait for a market. They cannot bring out the capabilities 

 of their farms ; and the results of their farming are consequently 

 limited and meagre. The difference between a new country 

 contending, as it were, for existence, and an old country operat 

 ing with the accumulations of years and centuries, is most sensi 

 bly marked ; the expenses incurred on some farms in England 

 solely for manures purchased, exceeding thousands of pounds 

 sterling, and the cost merely of grass seeds, are perfectly surpris 

 ing to an American farmer ; yet experience has demonstrated 

 that, in these cases, the most liberal outlay of capital is the most 

 sure to be followed by successful results. 



The farmers in England, as far as I have had the pleasure to 

 meet with them, are a well-informed set of men, especially on 

 subjects connected with their particular pursuits. There, of 

 course, is the variety among them which is to be found in other 

 classes ; but their manners, without exception, are courteous and 

 agreeable, their hospitality distinguished, and their housekeeping 

 and I speak with the authority of a connoisseur in these mat 

 ters is admirable. Indeed, it has not yet been my misfortune 



