298 = 32 
Class of yeo- 
men, farming 
their own land, 
now in very 
small propor- 
tion to that of 
tenant- 
farmers. 
Peasant pro- 
prietors in 
Ireland. 
British Agriculture. 
i 
pared with that of the other industries. Fifty years ago a fifth 
of the working population of England was engaged in agriculture. 
At the present time there is less than a tenth. 
The land of the United Kingdom may be said to be now ! 
almost wholly cultivated by tenant-farmers. The class of yeo- ' 
men, or small landowners farming their own land, is found here 
and there in England, but scarcely at all in Scotland, and i 
now bears but small proportion to the whole. Many of the 
larger landowners retain a farm under their own management I 
for home supplies, or for the breeding of selected stock ; very \ 
few as a matter of business, or for profit. The general system I 
is, that the landowners make the permanent works on theirl 
estates, their income being paid in rent by tenant-occupiers ; the' 
tenants in their turn direct the cultivation, provide the farm- 
stock and implements and all the necessary capital and skill, ; 
and employ and pay the agricultural labourers by whose work | 
the land is cultivated. The system is so general in the United i 
Kingdom, that we really cannot be said to know any other, and i 
yet, with reference to almost every country but our own, is so j 
exceptional in Europe, that some description of it may here b( \ 
useful. 
The circumstances of Ireland eight years ago appeared favour i 
able for the creation of a class of peasant proprietors, am \ 
Parliament resolved to give the principle a trial. Two oppor i 
tunities presented themselves ; first, in 1869, on the disestablish I 
ment of the Church, which possessed upwards of 10,000 smal v 
holdings of land, in the benefices situated all over the country 
The pre-emption of these was offered to the tenants on term 
most favourable to them, both as to price and payment, an 
nearly two-thirds of the offers were promptly accepted. Agaii 
1870, the Irish Land Act contained provisions express) 
an 
favouring the system ; but, though great advantages in regai 
to terms of payment were also offered by that Act, the resul 
hitherto have been comparatively small. The cause of tl 
difference is very plain. In the first case the disposal of t! 
lands was imperative, and did not occasion the subdivision 
property ; while the vendors, the Church Commissioners, havii 
no one to consult but themselves, offered these small holdin 
at low fixed prices without competition. In the second ca 
on the other hand, it is the duty of the Landed Estates Court ■ 
get the best price they can for the landowner, who may v([ 
naturally object to allow small portions to be sold here a I 
there out of his estate to suit the convenience of individ I 
tenants. The farmers, moreover, begin to find themselves \ T 
secure in their possession as tenants, under the clauses of 
Act, and have thus less inducement to buy the fee-simple; «'4 
