78 Rents, Wages, and Profits in Agriculture 



capital value of land, and in the early 

 seventies there was a great demand for 

 land by small occupiers. In Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and Lincoln, for example, we are 

 told in the Report of the last Royal Com- 

 mission on Agriculture (1897) tnat at this 

 time many farmers bought their land at 

 the high prices that then prevailed. In 

 most cases a large part of the purchase 

 money was borrowed on mortgage. 



In 1879 the Richmond Commission was 

 appointed to inquire into the depressed 

 condition of agriculture, and from that 

 time there has been little real recovery. 

 This Commission reported in 1882 that 

 the depression was mainly due to bad 

 seasons ; and foreign competition was only 

 mentioned as a secondary cause. The next 

 Commission was appointed in 1893, an d 

 reported in 1897. It is stated at the be- 

 ginning of this report that since 1882 the 



