THE LANDED INTEREST. 



CHAPTER I. 



HOME AND FOREIGN SUPPLY OF FOOD. 



One of the most important functions of Govern- 

 ment is to take care that there shall be no hin- 

 drance to the people supplying themselves with 

 food and clothing, which are the first necessaries 

 of Hfe. And as these are, in one form or another, 

 annual products of the earth, dependent for their 

 abundance on the skill, capital, and labour 

 employed in its cultivation, much of the safety 

 and welfare of a country arises from the condi- 

 tion of its agriculture. That of England has 

 attained an exceptionally high productiveness 

 The best of our land has long been occupied, 

 and, though there is yet much of the inferior 

 class that admits of improvement, it has become 



