20 THE BOOK OF MARKET GARDENING 



determine the satisfactory character of the water before 

 occupation is authorised, and through not making a prior 

 inquiry on this point considerable difficulties and expense 

 have been caused at times. Lord Carrington has stated 

 (see Times, Oct. 12, 1905) that upon his estates in 

 Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire, between the years 1873 

 and 1897, 43 cottages have been erected at an average 

 cost of £l$6 9 !3 S ' each, and the rent charged to the 

 occupiers is one shilling per week. In reply to inquiries 

 upon the subject he further stated that the value of the land 

 is reckoned at £2$ per acre ; and allowing a quarter of 

 an acre to each cottage ( = £6, 5 S «) a &d the estate agent's 

 expenses in preparing plans, etc. , at two shillings per cottage, 

 the total cost is brought to £163. Obviously the rent 

 charged pays no appreciable interest upon the capital sunk, 

 but the owner very truly adds, " A farm without 

 security of labour does not command anything like such 

 a high rent as one on which there are cottages for the 

 labourers." 



This applies with far greater force to land employed 

 for fruit and market garden purposes, where there is more 

 urgent need for manual labour ; and as wages are 

 higher, rents range from 2s. 6d. to 4s. per week. Upon 

 a large holding the fact of having a sufficiency of 

 permanent labour will increase the annual value of the 

 land by 5s. to ios. per acre, and in this way a sub- 

 stantial interest is certainly secured. We know practical 

 business men who regard the matter in this light, and who 

 consider their outlay as one of the most satisfactory parts 

 of their expenditure. 



The amount of permanent labour required must be 

 regulated by the character of the cultivation, the crops, 

 the nature of the land, and how far the arrangements or 

 methods permit the employment of horse labour or steam 

 power. Upon an agricultural estate in the Midlands we 

 have found the average over some thousands of acres to 



