Rural Depopulation 155 



the manor would enable him to support 

 a large number of retainers and to make 

 considerable purchases in the markets and 

 fairs. 



By 1770 (we may say the time of Arthur 

 Young), the yield of wheat had increased 

 from eight to twenty-four bushels, and less 

 labour was required in the cultivation. 

 The produce was three or four times as 

 great, and the population also was three 

 or four times as great, and the greater 

 part of the increase in the population was 

 of necessity non-agricultural. 



If we take a broad, historical survey and 

 consider the progress of agriculture in 

 England over centuries, we see at once 

 that of necessity it has involved a propor- 

 tionate diminution of the rural population. 

 This was the case even when the country 

 was, as regards the great bulk of its food 

 supplies, self-supporting. But during the 



