448 THE BRITISn ISLES. 



has gone, and his place is filled by the agricultural labourer. Small estates are 

 being swallowed up by large. The law of entail, which prevents numerous land- 

 owners from selling or dividing their estates, no less than the universal tendency 

 of landed proprietors to enlarge the boundaries of their domains, more than 

 balances the small changes effected by these purchasers of small freehold plots. 

 There are counties in which estates of middling extent have ceased to exist. The 

 ancient manor-houses stand empty, or have been converted into farmsteads. In 

 Dorsetshire, for instance, there are 129 rural parishes, out of a total of 252, 

 without a single resident landowner. The only portion of the British Islands in 

 which the subdivision of the soil is carried to the same extent as in France is the 

 Channel Islands, and there prosperity is universal. 



The vast estates carved out of the British Islands are naturally divided into 

 farms, and most of these are far larger in extent than are the plots owned by the 

 vast majority of continental peasant proprietors. The size of farms averages 56 

 acres in England, 57 in Scotland, and 26 in Ireland.* The tenure under which 

 farmers hold their land varies considerably, and although leases are granted in 

 numerous instances, and as a rule throughout Scotland, the bulk of the English 

 farmers are tenants at will. Oftentimes, however, farmers remain on the same 

 estate for generations, and in these cases the relations between landlord and 

 tenant are not unlike those which existed between the Roman patrons and 

 their clients. Not only does the landlord rest content with a small rent, but 

 he expends a considerable portion of his income upon improvements, such as 

 drainage works, labourers' cottages, and homesteads, t Within the last few years 

 landlords of this class, in consideration of a succession of bad harvests, have 

 voluntarily granted a reduction of rent. Nevertheless many farmers have given 

 up their holdings in despair. In Ireland tenants virtually enjoy a fixity of 

 tenure — subject, of course, to the paj^ment of rent ; and outgoing tenants are 

 entitled to compensation for any unexhausted improvements which they may 

 have made. 



In proportion as estates grew large, so did the agricultural population decrease 

 in numbers. If the census returns can be trusted in this respect, it fell from 

 2,084,150 in 1851 to 1,833,650 in 1861, and to 1,447,500 in 1871. Farming has 

 almost become a manufacturing industry, and the steam applied to agricultural 

 machinery of every description does more work than is performed by human hands. 

 The labourers whose services have been superseded by this powerful agent join 

 their brethren in the manufacturing and mining towns, or seek new homes across 

 the ocean. No other country in Europe enjoys such advantages for the develop- 

 ment of steam culture as the British Islands. Coal and iron are cheap and 



• Xumber and average size of farms : — 



Xumber of 



Occupiers. 



1874. 



England and Wales . . 480,178 



Scotland .... 81,007 



Ireland .... 590,000 



t De Laveleye^ " Patr!a Belgica," tome 1er. 



