84 BURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



per hectare), and is beyond comparison the richest part 

 of the three kingdoms. As we recede from the heart of 

 the country, the rent of land declines : in the south- 

 Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire it falls to 1 5s. per acre ; 

 in the north Cumberland and Westmoreland to 10s. ; 

 and in the west, and the poorest parts of Wales, to 3s. 

 The average for the whole of England is 24s. per acre 

 (75 francs per hectare). 



In the Lowlands of Scotland, the million of hectares 

 upon the two firths of Forth and Tay are rented at 

 nearly as much as Leicestershire and the counties adjoin- 

 ing it ; but in like manner, as we recede from these fa- 

 voured lands, rent falls, and the average of the entire 

 Lowlands becomes equal to that of its English neigh- 

 bours, the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, 

 and the Principality of Wales. * 



In Ireland, we find in County Meath, in Leinster, and 

 in the adjoining counties of Louth and Dublin, another 

 million of hectares where the rent is as high as the centre 

 of England, but at the same time we find a much lower 

 average in the mountains on the west, and in the whole 

 of Connaught. 



In review of the whole, and adopting the same classi- 

 fication as when estimating the gross production, we have 

 the following result : 



Average rent per hectare. 



England, . . 75 francs, or, per acre, 24s. 



Lowlands of Scotland and Wales, 36 12s. 



Highlands of Scotland, . 3 Is. 



Three-fourths of Ireland, . 50 16s. 



North-west of Ireland, . 20 6s. 6d. 



General average, . 50 16s. 



But we have to reduce these figures 20 per cent, 



* What are properly understood by the Lowlands of Scotland yield a higher 

 average rent by 3s. to 4s. per acre than the districts to which they are above com- 

 pared. T. 



