i8 LAND REFORM 



liberal in the employment of labour, as the land is naturally so poor and 

 hilly that, if it were let and rack-rented for a term of seven years, no tenant 

 farmer would give more than los. an acre for it. Sixty years ago the 

 farm was valued at ^55 a year. Last year (1904) the whole of this 

 Union was valued by a well-known firm of valuers, and my farm was 

 assessed by them at ;!^2ii a year. 



" I am bounded on three sides by tenant farmers who have no interest 

 in improving their land. I have had the curiosity to look into the past 

 and present rateable value of their farms, and find it is now just what it 

 was many years ago, about 12s. an acre, although the land is, to say the 

 least, quite as improvable as mine. Obviously the output of food from 

 these farms is very small as compared, acre for acre, with that of my 

 own farm, and the national loss, due to this system of tenancy, is, as 

 a consequence, very great. Some people thought that Lord Derby was 

 drawing the long-bow when he said the produce of the soil of England 

 could be doubled. It is all nonsense, it could be done easily, very 

 easily. 



"Singularly enough, one farm that adjoins me has for many years 

 been cultivated by the owner, and I must confess that it has increased 

 in value even more rapidly than my own." 



The writer of this letter takes a prominent part in local work, educa- 

 tion, etc., shows a keen interest in agricultural and other public questions, 

 and is a member of the County Council. The arrangements and sur- 

 roundings of his comfortable and well-equipped homestead show the 

 special attributes of a permanent home. This is the type of farmer 

 which it is sought, for the public good, by the proposals made, to increase 

 by thousands in number. No doubt he works hard, but, as a yeoman 

 owner, he enjoys what he himself describes as " one of the healthiest 

 and most independent of occupations under the sun." 



