60 THE LANDED INTEREST. 



established political institutions of the country ; 

 loyal as a subject ; often available in case 

 of need as a mounted yeoman ; and constantly 

 in requisition as a juryman in the Courts of 

 Law. 

 Their The farmers are six times as numerous as 



numbers 



and the landowners, there being 560,000 in Great 



capital. 



Britain, and 600,000 in Ireland, the holdings 

 there being on a smaller scale. They employ a 

 vast capital in the aggregate, upwards of four 

 hundred millions sterling, and, unlike that of 

 the landowners, much of it is in daily use, 

 circulating among tradesmen and labourers. 

 Land- Between the landlords and farmers there is 



agents. 



an intermediate class, the land-agents, to whom 

 on most large estates the details of transacting 

 business with the farmers, and looking after the 

 cultivation and buildings and general condition 

 of the property, are committed. These gentle- 

 men, in most cases, are prepared by a course of 

 special training and education for the very 

 important and delicate duties thus entrusted to 

 them. Where they possess such an amount 

 of general knowledge as enables them to carry 



