The Landowner 



expenditure was in the building department, 

 and even there it was necessary at first to 

 spend more than the annual average in order 

 to get the buildings into such a condition that 

 a permanent reduction would be possible. 

 And here I found my training as an architect 

 most valuable. On many large estates a poor 

 return is got for the money spent on building 

 and repairs. The accounts relating to this 

 department are often inaccurate, as estate 

 timber and estate hauling, etc., are frequently 

 left out of the statement of the cost of building. 

 Even with an efficient clerk of the works it 

 is hard to get a fair amount of labour out 

 of the building staff on an estate situated at 

 some distance from the dwelling-place of the 

 owner and agent : ( — and though my land is all 

 in one county, one part of the estate is 50 miles 

 away from the rest). I came finally to the con- 

 clusion that it would pay me best to do building 

 and repairs by contract on the part of the 

 estate on which I did not live, and consequently 

 I disbanded the building staff, with distinctly 

 good results. But the most pressing problem 

 was how to deal with the land in hand. Again 

 my former training as an architect helped me 

 greatly : by utilizing outlying buildings, and 

 turning cottages into farmhouses, I was able, 

 at a small outlay of capital, to let off 1,200 

 acres within three months, and as the area was 



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