The Farmer 



small a proportion, much smaller than it was 

 in the good old days of English agriculture, 

 before the sturdy yeoman disappeared. 



Just as it is an evil for the landed estates of 

 England to fall into the hands of a few, so is it 

 an evil for the large tenant farmer to lay farm 

 to farm until he holds several thousands of 

 acres. In the interest of the agricultural indus- 

 try as a whole, no landowner should own more 

 than 20,000 acres (of average agricultural land) 

 at the outside, or should have more than one 

 large place ; and on the other hand it would 

 be well were it impossible for a tenant to hold 

 more than 1,000 acres. Land of average 

 agricultural quality is here referred to. The 

 absentee farmer is really more injurious to 

 the industry than the absentee landlord. 

 The farm on which the farmer himself lives 

 will always produce more per acre than the one 

 which he runs with a foreman. 



A first-class farmer on 500 acres will get as 

 much produce from each acre as he possibly 

 can ; he will also be making a good living, but 

 to ensure this he must do his best by the farm. 

 The case is quite different when this man takes 

 a second farm of 500 acres — there is not the 

 same incentive to do his best by the new farm, 

 for it is not necessary to obtain his entire 

 living from it. If he makes a profit of only £100 

 net this sum will pay him, for it will add an 



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