110 SECONDARY RESULTS 



as well as profits. The same basis of calculation was adopted 

 in the Eeport of the, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries on 

 the Agricultural Output of Great Britain l made in connexion 

 with the Census of Production Act, 1906. In applying this 

 measure of net output to the agricultural industry the 

 method is to value the farmer's capital at the beginning 

 of the year and to add to this figure all live and dead stock 

 bought during the year, foods, manures, tradesmen's bills, 

 on-cost and establishment charges, &c., and to deduct the 

 total from the sales during the year added to the valuation 

 of the farmer's capital at the end of the year. Figures 

 collected in this way from a sufficient number of farm 

 accounts would not only afford valuable evidence of the 

 comparative productivity of the industry, but also would 

 assist in the regulation of wages by an examination of the 

 distribution of the net output between the three interests 

 concerned namely, the return received by the landlord on 

 his capital, that received by the farmer as a return on his 

 capital and for his own remuneration, and that received by 

 the workers as a reward for their labour. Only in the case 

 of the workers is this share of the net output available as 

 net income. The landlord has to incur a considerable 

 expenditure upon the farm in the way of repairs and main- 

 tenance, and this must come out of his share of the net 

 output. From an inquiry conducted by the Land Agents' 

 Society in the year 1909, it appeared that about 30 per cent, 

 of the rent received by the landlord is expended by him 

 in repairs, insurance, management, and similar payments 

 necessary to maintain the property in a condition to produce 

 the rent. 2 The farmer, too, may have certain expenses to 

 meet not covered by those deducted in arriving at the net 

 output, and his share of this figure has also to cover some 

 rate of interest on his working capital besides the reward 

 due to him for the exercise of his managerial functions. 

 Thus, in considering the distribution of the profits of agri- 



1 Cd. 6277. 



2 The figure is the average expenditure on 224 estates extending to some 

 2,000,000 acres. See Journal of the Land Agents' Society, viii. 214 (1909). 



