6 CHALK FARMING IN WILTSHIRE 



At the time of our visit the sheep farmer was not 

 in a very happy position, for the extraordinary drop 

 in prices that had taken place within the previous 

 two years still persisted ; wool, however, remained 

 profitable, and the corn crops had latterly more than 

 paid their way. Throughout the district there was 

 evidence of a general quiet prosperity among the 

 farmers ; every one still remembered the bad times 

 and the ruin which followed, but those who had 

 managed to live through the early 'nineties, or who 

 had taken their farms about that time on the reduced 

 rents, were doing well enough. Of course rents had 

 fallen to something like one-half of the old figures, and 

 averaged about los. per acre for the kind of farm we 

 have been describing, with its considerable proportion 

 of bake and down, which, however, valuable as part 

 of the system, are in themselves capable of earning 

 very little. Buildings were poor, fences and gates 

 were not numerous ; so the landlord was relieved of a 

 good deal of expenditure, which in other parts of the 

 country makes heavy inroads upon his rent. Wiltshire 

 holdings run large, 800-1400 acres; but, despite the 

 large capital they thus involve, farms were in demand, 

 and a stranger had then little chance of getting in. 

 On the chalk small holdings may almost be said not 

 to exist ; for many years the drift had been the other 

 way, towards putting little farms together into some- 

 thing which could be worked broadly and cheaply. 

 As a consequence the population purely dependent 

 on the land was sparse enough, but the Wiltshire 

 labourer, often quoted as one of the worse paid in the 

 country, could make up to 2Os. a week, with his cottage 

 if he were a shepherd or a horseman. Day labourers 

 got 143. to 1 6s. a week, with certain extras and 

 customary payments, and the supply was generally 



