260 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



rocks which one would have thought goats only could 

 have reached. The working of the mineral wealth of the 

 county encourages this movement. 



Though Derbyshire is a country of large property, the 

 farms are principally of middling and small size. The 

 Duke of Kutland's estates, in particular, are laid out in 

 small farms. Altogether this high land, naturally so un- 

 productive, is one of the most prosperous parts of England. 

 Manufactures and agriculture are there equally balanced. 

 To these two sources of wealth, that expenditure which 

 the ducal residences involves has to be added, and also the 

 money spent by tourists and those who attend the baths 

 at Matlock. We find here large property and small 

 farming harmoniously combined ; both have their ad- 

 vantages; the first moderates rents and increases useful 

 expenditure, while the second secures a larger gross pro- 

 duction. The population of the county is large, num- 

 bering nearly one for every two acres, and no class 

 appears to be ill off; not even since the fall in prices. 

 The average rate of wages, that criterion of prosperity, 

 is 2s. per day. 



