Rural Depopulation 163 



interests of the labourers themselves are 

 concerned, it is probable that a considerable 

 rise in money wages would be insufficient 

 to induce them to prefer the country. 



If, on the other hand, we look at the 

 question from the point of view of capital, 

 there is every inducement to resort to 

 economies of labour. With the present 

 range of prices of produce, and the rise in 

 wages of labour, the tendency is for less 

 land to be ploughed, and more kept in 

 grass, less labour is employed on draining 

 and cleaning the land in many cases — that 

 is, generally the farming is less intensive ; 

 and all sorts of labour-saving machinery 

 have multiplied. 



On the whole, it is to the interest of 

 capital to employ less and less labour 

 directly on the land. 



Finally, as regards the landlords, history 

 shows that with falling profits in agriculture 



