54 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF chap. IT. 



residence upon their own estates, is incompati- 

 ble. And there are some, who have been led 

 by matrimonial connections to take up their 

 abodes in other parts of the world. But a great 

 majority of the proprietors are constantly or 

 occasionally resident ; a circumstance highly 

 favourable to their own private interest, as well 

 as to the general prosperity of the county to 

 which they belong. 



Management of Estates. It has been already 

 observed, that the. small heritors, who are very 

 numerous, usually farm their own lands, and 

 many of them have been equally spirited and 

 successful in their improvements. But the great 

 landholders let their grounds to husbandmen, 

 who farm them under lease. Several of the 

 gentlemen, however, of this description, having 

 acquired a taste for agriculture and rural em- 

 ployments, have been in use, for some years 

 past, to retain a portion of their land, in their 

 own possession, and, in some instances, to a con- 

 siderable extent, to be cultivated and improved 

 under their own direction : This plan has pro- 

 duced very happy effects. Their judicious and 

 successful exertions have not only contributed 

 to their own amusement and advantage, but 

 have been the means of awakening a spirit of 

 industry, and improving the knowledge of hus- 

 bandry, through the county at large. 



Most of the principal landholders, and even 

 some of smaller fortune, whose employments in 

 life oblige them to be absent, commit the ma- 

 nagement of their estates to factors, whose pro- 

 vince it is to let the lands, to receive the rents, 

 *ind, in general, to transact all business with the 



