ENGLAND. 



737 



Statistic*, 



Agricultu- 

 rl capital. 



Profit* from 

 tar ii ling. 



raw value 

 tt landed 



perhaps, be thought, that as we before averaged the 

 rent of land at 20s per acre, we over- rated it, since, 

 at this estimate, the total rent would be greater than 

 this Table proves it to be ; but in our estimate, we took 

 into account only such pasture land as is let by the 

 acre ; and of course excluded all the downs, sheep- 

 walks, &c. 



5. About twenty-four years ago, Mr Young estimated 

 t ne capital employed in agriculture at L. 4 the acre ; 

 since that time it has increased very much/probably it is 

 more than doubled ; so that if we take every thing into 

 account, it will now require L.10 per acre, or at least 

 L. 8. The number of cultivated acres has been esti- 

 mated at 31,000,000, which, at L.8, would require a 

 capital of L" 248,000,000 ; and, at the latter rate, of 

 L.3 1 0,000,000 : Let us take the medium, and the 

 agricultural capital will amount to L.279,000,000. On 

 this point Dr Becke's statement is very much at variance 

 with ours ; for he estimated the farming capital in 

 1800 at L. 1 25,000,000, taking it on an average at 5 

 clear rents, viz. pasture 2 to 3, and arable 5 to 7 rents; 

 but as he estimates the average rent of England and 

 Wales only at 16s. the acre, this would be making the 

 capital only L.4 the acre; a sum, even at that period, 

 mucli too small. Besides, he estimates the net profits 

 of the farmers at L. 1 5,000,000, which we shall imme- 

 diately prove is little more than the amount of half 

 their profits ; and consequently, as the profits must al- 

 ways bear a certain proportion to the capital employed, 

 if the statement respecting the profits is only about 

 half of the truth, the statement respecting the capital 

 must be erroneous in much the same ratio. 



6. The same Table (Xo. 2. p. 736.) which exhibits the 

 amount of the annual value of the land in England and 

 Wales at rack-rent, gives also an account of the annual 

 amount of profits arising from farming land, drawn up 

 from the returns made to the tax-office respecting the in- 

 come tax, and presented to the House of Commons. From 

 this column of the Table it appears, that the farming pro- 

 fits are L.29,476,852, or nearly the amount of the rent. 

 Now, in order to arrive at the amount of the capital 

 employed in agriculture, from the amount of agricul- 

 tural profit., it will be necessary, in the first place, 

 to fix the rate per cent, of the profit. This certainly 

 cannot be reckoned at a lower rate than 10 per cent. 

 which would make the agricultural capital amount to 

 L.294, 768,520, which, considering the magnitude of 

 the sum, and the imperfection of the data on which we 

 are obliged to proceed, does not differ very considerably 

 from L.279,000,000, the amount of agricultural capital 

 at which we arrived by calculating it at L.9 per acre. 



7. The next enquiry into which we shall briefly en- 

 ter, respects the absolute value of the landed property 

 in England and Wales. Having ascertained the amount 

 of the rack-rent, we shall have little difficulty in eluci- 

 dating this point, provided we can determine the num- 

 ber of years' purchase at which land is sold ; that is, 

 how many rents ought to be given for the fee-simple of 

 land. Mr Arthur Young, in his Enquiry into the pro- 

 gressive Value of Money, estimates the rate at which 

 land was sold in the year 181 1, at 28 years' purchase. 

 As this, howe'ver, must have been on the real, and not 

 on the rack-rent, some deduction must be made on that 

 icore ; while, on the other hand, no addition ought to 

 be made to the rate since 1811, as the value of land 

 certainly has not increased since that year. Assuming, 

 therefore, that L.28,000,000 was the amount in that 

 year, either of the actual rent, or of the rent of such 



VOL. VIII. PART II. 



estates as were within a very short period of the expira- ^Statistic*. 

 tion of their leases, we shall have the total amount of the ^V"* 

 value of the landed property of the kingdom, if we 

 multiply this sum by 28 ; this will give L.78,400,000 

 as the result. 



8. By the returns under the population act in 1811, Number of 

 it appears that the number of families employed in agri- P e P ] ^ em - 

 cultural operations in England was 697,353 ; and in ! r *j!" 

 Wales 72,846, making a total of 770,199. The average S 

 number of people in a family is about 4.5, which will 

 make the whole number of people employed in agricul- 

 tural operations 3,465,895. The number of farmers, 

 or persons occupying farms, is supposed to be about 

 200,000. On this supposition, if we take the amount 

 of their profits at the round sum of L.30,000,000, the 

 average profit of the farmers will be about L. 150 per 

 annum. 



It is scarcely necessary to repeat the observations 

 which we have already made more than once, that the 

 result of all these calculations must be considered as 

 merely approximations to the truth. We are also sen- 

 sible, that, with respect to some of the statements which 

 we have made, they differ from those given by statisti- 

 cal writers. This difference is accounted for, we trust, 

 favourably to the superior accuracy of our statements, 

 by our grounding them on the results of Table No. 2. p. 

 736; which must be regarded as resting on more minute, 

 careful, and extensive enquiries, than any private indi- 

 viduals could make. In defence of the accuracy of our 

 statements, we would likewise observe, that they are at 

 variance with statements made 1 or 15 years ago ; and 

 we need not remind our readers, that, even within that 

 short period, the advance on the value of every thing 

 (from whatever cause proceeding) has been great- 

 There is only one point on which we feel hesitation and 

 doubt ; and that is, respecting the capital per acre re- 

 quired in agriculture. Yet if Mr A. Young came near 

 the truth in estimating the English capital employed in 

 agriculture in 1 789 at L.4 an acre, whoever reflects on 

 the increased price of all the expences attendant on a 

 family and a farm, as well as on the different manner 

 in which farmers now live, will not deem L.9 per acre 

 as an overcharged estimate of the capital which a farmer, 

 who expects to do justice to himself and his farm, ought 

 to possess for every acre on which he enters. 



Before we conclude this branch of our subject, for 

 the length of which we must apologise on the ground 

 of its extreme importance, we shall offer a few histori- 

 cal notices on English farming at various periods. This 

 will enable our readers to judge of its progress, and to, 

 compare its former with its present state ; for statistical 

 enquiries, which are confined entirely and exclusively 

 to the present state of a country, are neither so interest- 

 ing, instructive, nor even so intelligible and connected, 

 as those that also embrace some notice of its former 

 state. 



The first decided and important epoch in the history Historical 1 

 of English agriculture may be fixed in the reign O f n o tic ^ 8of 

 Henry VII. when a notion began to prevail among the En 8" 9 

 nobility and gentry, that their estates might be render- " a 

 ed much more valuable to them, by being employed in 

 grazing than in tillage. In consequence of this opinion, 

 which was acted upon for this and the two succeeding 

 reigns, there was much discontent among the lower 

 classes of the people ; till at length in Elizabeth's time,, 

 acts were passed for promoting and encouraging til- 

 lage, which were supported by Lord Bacon, and oppo- 

 sed by Sir Walter Raleigh, who thought it impossible t. 

 5 A. 



