A HISTORY OF DORSET 



appear to be indicated by the survey of the soils. Wood covers almost exactly five per cent, of the 

 county area. Reckoning the area of the county at 632,272 acres we get the following table : — 



Acres 



Deep rich loam .......... 63,227 



Cold clay .... 



Chalk 

 Sandy formations 

 Rock . 

 Mixed soil 



126,454. 



158,068 

 94,842 

 63,227 



126,454 



Total . , . 632,272 



It must be remembered that no exact figures are available, and the above are only estimates 

 which, however, will be found approximately correct. 



Agricultural depression reacted on the landowners as well as upon the tenants. It is estimated 

 that during the nineteenth century rents in Dorset declined in value by a half to a third and the 

 fee-simple from forty to sixty per cent. In the light sand districts, where there are no special 

 advantages by way of proximity to a town, it is found that even with careful management, after 

 making necessary repairs to buildings and paying the land tax, there is practically nothing left 

 as a net income for the owner, unless he has been fortunate enough to let his house and shooting at 

 a good rental. In the best parts of the dairy districts the rents do not exceed 40J. per acre, and 

 some land is let at I 55. per acre ; the arable districts are let at from 251. to as little as ioj. per acre, 

 all these rentals being tithe free. We do not wish to burden the reader with figures, but the 

 following comparisons show how the value of rents in Dorset has declined : — 



Acres Rent 



1S74 1S94 



800 ..... ;^666 (with tithes ^162) . ;^300 (lithe free) 



186 2^20 2>'7 



1,400 ;Ci.+°° £7°o 



These three instances will give a fair idea of the decline in rent values. Yet there are few 

 farms in hand, and the demand for farms up to 80 acres is fairly brisk. For larger farms the demand 

 decreases in proportion to the number of acres. In regard to leases, the majority of farmers showed 

 themselves as reluctant at the end of the nineteenth century to take a long lease as they were at the 

 beginning. In 1 800 leases were rarely granted for a longer period than twenty-one years, and even 

 then contained a proviso to the effect that the tenant could yield up possession at four, five, or seven 

 years if he so wished. Yearly tenancy is now the rule rather than the exception, though where a 

 good tenant desires a lease he rarely has any trouble in getting it. There are few restrictions now 

 included in the leases, though it is a commentary on the methods of cropping pursued by the Dorset 

 farmer at the beginning of the nineteenth century when we find in the leases granted at that time 

 restrictions as to sowing two corn crops together and the cultivation of flax and hemp. Also, it was 

 stipulated that if two corn crops were sown together they should not be both of the same kind, and 

 some grass was to be sown with the last crop. 



The practice as to entry upon the land has not varied much. The incoming tenant enters 

 upon the land at Michaelmas and takes the hay crop, though the late occupier took the after-shear. 

 Formerly an obligation was upon the occupier to sow grass seeds among crops, but this is now 

 generally done by the incoming tenant. This practice was dropped, as it was found that the out- 

 going tenant sometimes sowed infertile seeds, or baked the seeds before sowing. Repairs are 

 mostly done by the owners. 



The size of the holdings has increased. Since 1873, the first year for which accurate returns 

 are available, the average size of the holdings has increased from 86 acres to 95 acres in 1906. 

 Dorset is amongst the first counties in showing a large number of holdings of 1,000 acres and over. 

 There are several farms in the county, held by father and sons and farmed as one holding, of over 

 2,000 acres, and one even reaches the huge size of 6,000 acres. Farms of 1,000 acres are quite 

 common. As showing the decline in the number of acres farmed by landowners and yeoman 

 farmers it may be mentioned that in 1871 an estimate gave 200,000 acres as farmed by their 

 proprietors, whilst in 1906 the total was only 43,296 acres. In 1873 the Returns gave the acreage 

 of inclosed land at 466,120 acres; in 1906 the figures stood at 476,140, showing that the 

 inclosure of land was still on the increase. The increase in the size of the holdings is to be 

 accounted for, too, by the fact that the number of men cultivating land has decreased. In 1873 

 the number of farmers making returns was 5,420 ; in 1906 the number stood at 5,012. 



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