THE YEOMAN FARMER 257 



With this exception we were a little disappointed 

 with the farming of the Vale of Eden, perhaps because 

 we had been led to expect too much. The land is 

 sound without being of exceptional quality; it does 

 not always seem to be farmed to the top of its 

 capacity, and the stock kept are good without being 

 in any way out of the common. In some places 

 rabbits were a curse and really seemed to be getting 

 most of the keep that was being produced in that dry 

 summer. Rents were not high, about 2os. per acre, 

 and the buildings were excellent indeed, in many 

 cases the houses seemed substantial and extensive, out 

 of proportion to the size of the farm. This may 

 represent the decay of the yeoman farmer. In one 

 village we were told that half a century ago there were 

 fifty " statesmen " i.e. owners in the parish, which had 

 then become the property of a single man. Whatever 

 might be our opinions about the relative advantages 

 of large or small holdings, we could not but regret a 

 change which had merely exchanged owner for tenant 

 without any justification in the way of creating a more 

 economic holding. But the Cumberland statesman 

 has gone and with him has gone much of the independ- 

 ence and originality "which was the birthright of the 

 Northerner. 



