88 SCIENCE WITH PEACTICE, 1812 TO 1845 



per cent, on the rentals of 1790. Agriculturists demanded 

 that foreign corn should be prohibited ; but the Committee 

 of 1822 hinted that Protection was undesirable, and pro- 

 posed nothing. Violent fluctuations in prices continued to 

 overthrow all calculations ; the wheat area now swelled 

 and now shrivelled, and the sliding scale of 1829 only- 

 increased the speculative character of the farmer's trade. 

 Select Committees sat again in 1833 and 1836, and evi- 

 dence was given that farmers had lost all they had, and 

 were working on the road ; in the weald of Kent and 

 Sussex there was scarcely a solvent tenant. The last 

 ten years proved more prosperous ; but the improvement 

 was mainly due to better farming, the growth of population, 

 the alteration of the poor laws, and the Tithe Commu- 

 tation Act of 1836. Such is a brief epitome of the agricul- 

 tural history of a period which will be examined in more 

 detail. 



The advance made in farming between 1812 and 1845 

 was effected in the face of almost unexampled distress. 

 During the years 1773 and 1793 English imports and ex- 

 ports of grain balanced each other, and these twenty years 

 mark the turning-point when the nation passed from 

 growers into consumers of corn. Within the next two 

 decades of years the war and deficient harvests forced up 

 the price of agricultural produce. While the East drained 

 England of its bullion, Pitt's issue of paper money inflated 

 prices. As bank notes circulated in greater quantities, 

 prices rose higher and higher. Wheat in 1800 and 1801 

 was driven up to the unprecedented height of 110s. 5d. 

 and 115s. lid.; for the five years 1809-13 it averaged 

 103s. lOd. Buyers of land paid forty and forty-five years' 

 purchase, raised heavy mortgages on their estates, charged 

 them extravagantly with annuities, and loaded them with 



