Increasing Value of Land. 95 



other the landowner in these cases has been 

 made entirely safe. 



And in the nature of things in this country- 

 such must be the case wherever reasonable 

 judgment has been shown in expenditure on 

 land improvement. The improver is dealing 

 with a limited article, for the produce of which 

 there is an ever-increasing demand. Nature has 

 given us a climate more favourable to the pro- 

 duction of meat and milk, vegetables and grass, 

 than that of any other European State. These, 

 in proportion to their value, are the least costly 

 in labour, and therefore the least affected by a 

 rise of wages. The growing demand for them, 

 and their consequently increasing value, exer- 

 cise a constant pressure for increased production, 

 which can still to some extent be obtained by 

 improving the land we have. A large propor- 

 tion of the improvable land under cultivation 

 admits of this, and much of that vast tract 

 which has hitherto been left to nature might 

 also be profitably reclaimed for the rearing of 

 sheep and cattle. 



