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PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. [D6c. 1895. 



agricultural depression in the county, but Mr. Fox points out 

 that depression nevertheless exists, though not in so acute a form 

 as in corn-growing counties. Upon owners of land the eftect of 

 the depression is said to have manifested itself in a reduction of 

 l3etween 15 and 25 per cent, in their rentals, while the selling 

 value of their land has decreased from between 30 and 85 to 25 

 years' purchase. Nevertheless, Cumberland landowners must, in 

 Mr. Fox's opinion, be considered fortunate compared with those 

 in other counties, in that they have all their land let, and, gene- 

 rally speaking, no arrears of rent. Tenant farmers in the county 

 are reported to be just holding their own at present prices and 

 rents. They have felt the decline in the the price of cereals 

 very little, as they look more to cattle and sheep for their profits, 

 which are frequently augmented by the sale of butter, cheese, 

 poultry, and eggs. Mr. Fox thinks, too, that the character of the 

 Cumberland farmers has contributed towards staving off" the 

 evil times which would have fallen upon others less thrifty and 

 resolute. He says : — 



The Cumberland farmer is a working farmer, who takes his full 

 share of the daily toil, and sets his labourers an example in zeal and in- 

 dustry. Hard-headed, hard-working, honest, and thrifty, this splendid 

 race of men, of whom the country may be proud, are well fitted to face 

 and grapple with difficult times. There is no false pride among Cumber- 

 land farmers, though, as a class, they are proud and independent. 

 N"early everyone, whether on a large or a small holding, takes his share 

 in the operations of the farm. He is up with his men at daybreak, not 

 only superintending but participating in their daily work. On a large 

 farm the farmer is usually the working foreman, on a small farm he and 

 his family are the labourers." 



The class of yeomen or " statesmen " as they are called in 

 Cumberland, is stated to have been diminishing in numbers for 

 many years, and the position of some of them is apparently now 

 worse than that of tenants, owing chiefly to the charges which 

 they or their ancestors have put upon the land. Speaking of 

 the relative merits of large and small farms, Mr. Fox remarks 

 that the advocates of a rural arcadia composed entirely of small 

 holdings would find a very unsympathetic audience among the 

 hard-headed agriculturists of Cumberland, be they farm servants 

 or farmers ; they would find that small farmers in Cumberland 

 look on their farms as the means to an end, their one ambition 

 being to become larger farmers, and to accomplish this they toil, 

 and strive, and save. 



In Cumberland the majority of the farm servants are hired 

 by the half year at Whitsuntide and Martinmas, and live and 

 board in the house. These are always unmarried men. Married 

 labourers live in cottages on the farm or in villages and are 

 nominally engaged by the week. Odd men or casual men, of 

 whom there are said to be comparatively few, are called 

 " darrickers," and are engaged by the day. The standard of 

 labour in the county is high, and this, it is thought, may be 

 attributed to a considerable extent to the system of hiring. 



