Condition of the English Agricultural Labourer, 1871. 3i3 
to many steadings in a dilapidated condition. This, we trust, 
may not continue long in the present age of improvements, and 
especially where tenant-farmers are so liberal in their outlay for 
manures. Good tenants, assuredly', must be deserving of suf- 
ficient and commodious buildings, without which they cannot 
fully carry on the proper cultivation of the land. We were glad 
to find cottage accommodation upon farms for the labourers ; 
and in all instances they were highly appreciated by the tenants. 
Only one farm in our inspection, namely, Mr. May's, of Elford 
Park, Avhose farm we highly commended, was^ without this con- 
venience. His labourers had to walk two miles night and 
morning ; and the difficulty of securing good workmen with 
this drawback, is, Mr. May informed us, becoming constantly 
greater. 
We cannot close our remarks without acknowledging the very 
kind reception we received throughout our inspection, and the 
marked attention given us, as well as the willingness to render 
every detail connected with profit and loss. It was also satis- 
factory to find that there was not one competitor who was unable 
to give us the information which we required. 
(Signed) JOHN WheATLEY. 
W. Sanday. 
G. Jackson. 
XIII. — The Present Condition of the English Agricultural 
Lalourer. 1871. By John Dent Dent, M.P. 
A QUARTER of a century has passed away since Mr. George 
Nicholls wrote his Prize Essay in the ' Royal Agricultural 
Society's Journal ' on the condition of the English agricultural 
labourer, with suggestions for its improvement. At no period 
probably has a greater change taken place in the condition of all 
classes of society than during these twenty-five years ; and it is a 
fair matter for inquiry whether the agricultural labourer has made 
as much progress as the rest of his countrymen. Some people, 
no doubt, believe that his position has been comparatively un- 
altered — nay, that in many respects he is worse off now than he was 
five-and-twenty years ago, inasmuch as the enclosure of waste 
lands, the enlargement of farms, and the consequent necessity for 
a greater amount of capital being invested in agricultural under- 
takings, have deprived him of privileges, and removed beyond his 
reach means of improving his social condition, to which he might 
otherwise legitimately aspire. Added to this, some will say that he 
is unimaginative, ill-clothed, ill-educated, ill-paid, ignorant of all 
