THE FARM ACCOUNTS 79 



cent, on his capital, and would have left the owner with 

 a rent of 8s an acre.^ 



A strong "wold " farm in Louth Union, 491 acres,^ of 

 which 99 are grass, shows since 1888 averages — labour, 

 ^499 ; manures, feeding stuffs, etc., £$3^', rent with 

 rates, tithe and taxes, £64S. Without charging interest 

 on capital or for management, the tenant has lost 

 ;^5i 13s 8|d a year. But here, as in several other 

 Lincolnshire accounts, there is an ample margin in the 

 rent out of which to construct a small profit for the 

 tenant. 



The result of the six years' farming is that the owner 

 has drawn in rents ;^387i, out of which it appears only 

 £121 4s, has been remitted in 1893, and 1894 — while the 

 occupier has lost nearly 10 per cent, of his working capital, 

 ;£"3400, and has had as his share the use of the farmhouse, 

 and an average of £iys worth of produce for his 

 housekeeping.^ 



The accounts of a large " middle marsh " farm in the 

 same district, 1200 acres, one third grass, show average 

 outlay on labour, £i24g, and on feeding stuffs and 

 manures, ;^535. The loss between 1884 and 1894 has 

 averaged ^^38 9s 6d a year, without interest on capital 

 or charge for management, or even taking anything from 

 the farm for housekeeping. But the rent has averaged 

 no less than ^^^1579, and even now stands at ;i^i25o, or a 

 a little over 20s an acre. The owner has drawn in the 

 ten years no less than ^15,793, while the accounts prove 

 that the tenant has employed a capital of ^7407, in keep- 

 ing up the farm at a good and uniform level of labour 

 and manuring, and has not only received nothing, but 

 has lost nearly ^^"400 of his capital. A reduction of the 

 rent to los an acre would have left the tenant in 1893-4 

 with a profit of about ;^300, or about 4 per cent. It may 

 be added, too, that this tenant's rates stand at the high 

 figure of ;{^298^ which would have been materially re- 

 duced if the rent fiad been adequately reduced a few years 

 ago.* 



1 Wilson Fox, Line, App. A. i. B., p. 118. Farm Accounts, p. 128. 

 ' Ibid., App. A. I. C., p. 119. * Farm Accounts, p. 129. * Ibid., p. 131. 



