270 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



Netherby, a large property belonging to Sir James 

 Graham, occupies the north-west extremity of the county, 

 bordering upon Scotland, at the further end of the 

 Solway Firth. Its extent is thirty thousand acres in a 

 ring fence, and it merits the character of being one of the 

 best managed properties in the kingdom. Sir James is 

 one of the leading men in the House of Commons, and, as 

 a statesman, seems to be the best qualified to succeed Sir 

 Eobert Peel : he exhibits, too, great ability in the manage- 

 ment of his own affairs, and is a first-rate agriculturist. 

 The starting-point of his improvements was, to get rid of 

 the small farms, and to lay out the land in large holdings. 

 In 1820, the property contained three hundred and forty 

 farms, averaging ninety acres each ; now there are only 

 sixty-five. This reduction in the number of farmers admit- 

 ted of a selection of the best such as, from their capital, 

 skill, and energy, offered the best security ; and on entry, 

 Sir James offered them fourteen years' leases in place of 

 seven. The curtailment of the number of farms rendered 

 a large number of buildings useless, which were conse- 

 quently cleared away ; and where the subdivision of fields 

 was too great, hedges were removed. By these means 

 rents were advanced as high as 30s. per acre for the best 

 lands, the average of the whole being 22s., although the 

 land generally is wet. Sir James is a great Free-trader ; 

 he felt bound to prove that, upon well-conducted proper- 

 ties, low prices should not necessarily bring about a re- 

 duction of rents. He made no reduction on his leases, 

 but extended the draining considerably at his own ex- 

 pense, upon the usual condition of the tenant paying five 

 per cent upon the outlay. 



The farther we go west and north, the more necessary 

 and efficacious does draining become. Nowhere in Eng- 

 land is the benefit more observable than on the lowlands 



