140 EVIDENCES AS TO DATE OF VI] 



Such, however, is by no means universally the case, nay, 

 it is rather the other way. Indeed, as I began the task of 

 summarizing the results of my returns I was forcibly re- 

 minded of Sheridan's remark to Fox, ' these d d facts 



are knocking the bottom out of my motion.' Thus, in 

 Table VI, for 21 Oxfordshire parishes, though there 

 is, between the years 1772-1802, a decline in the total 

 number of owners holding over 6 acres (219 to 203, 

 i. e. 16), and of those owning and occupying under 

 6 acres (38-36, i. e. 2), there is a rise in the number of 

 those who own and occupy above 6 acres, from 68 to 76 

 (i. e. an increase of 8), as well as in the number of those 

 who own below 6 acres (4 to 33). 



Again, if you will look at Table VIII you will see that 

 in the 295 Oxfordshire parishes the number of owners 

 and occupiers increases from 1133 to 1179, as well as the 

 acreage they occupy. 



Now, turning to Wilts. (Table VII), we find during the 

 same period in 46 parishes a decrease in the number of 

 those who own both above and below 6 acres 593 to 574 

 and 259 to 241 ; but a slight increase, 172 to 178, of those 

 who own and occupy above 6 acres. 



In Kent (Table X) in 37 parishes a decrease in number 

 of owners between 1753-98, but a very striking increase 

 in the number of occupying owners (137 to 459) of those 

 owning over 6 acres, and of 87-123 in those owning less. 



In these three counties, Oxfordshire, Wilts., and Kent, 

 therefore, the tendency is for owners who do not farm their 

 own lands to decrease, but for owners farming their lands 

 to increase, and this conclusion is supported by Tables XV, 

 XVI, and XVII, which deal with owners only, and here it 

 is noticeable that the large owners appear to add to their 

 f . properties at the expense of smaller owners who do not 

 occupy, rather than of those who do. 



