British Agriculture. 
299 = 53 
the landowners, participating in the general prosperity, are no 
longer under pressure to sell at the low prices hitherto realised. 
It is thus not from any defects in the Land Act, but from the 
improved condition of the country, and the increased security 
^iven to farmers' capital by the Act itself, that this branch of it 
has become less operative than was anticipated. 
CHAPTEK V. 
Landowner, Farmer, and Labourer. 
The landowners are the capitalists to whom the land belongs. The land- 
Their property comprises the soil and all that is beneath it, owners ; their 
and the buildings and other permanent works upon it required duUes^'and 
for the accommodation of the people, and of the working stock influence: 
employed in its cultivation. Thus, where the land itself may 
be worth 35/. an acre, the buildings, roads, fences, and drainage 
may have cost the landowners 15/. an acre more. The landowner 
has thus two capitals in the land, one of which is permanent and 
growing rapidly in value with the prosperity of the country, the 
other liable to decay and occasioning cost in repair. In nearly 
all permanent improvements arising from the progress of agri- 
culture he is also expected to share the cost. And he is necessarily 
concerned in the general prosperity and good management of 
his estate, and in the welfare of those who live upon it, with 
which his own is so closely involved. He takes a lead in the 
business of his parish, and from his class the magistrates who 
; administer the criminal affairs of the county, and superintend 
;its roads, its public buildings, and charitable institutions, are 
selected. Nor do his duties end here, for the landowner, from 
his position, is expected to be at the head of all objects of public 
utility, to subscribe to, and, if so inclined, to ride with the 
hounds, showing at once an example to the farmers and trades- 
men, and meeting them on terms of neighbourly friendship and 
acquaintance. The same example is carried out in his inter- 
course with the clergy and schoolmaster, and his influence, 
where wisely exercised, is felt in the church, the school, the farm, 
and the cottage. 
This class in the United Kingdom comprises a body of about their number, 
180,000, who possess among them the whole of the agricultural ■"^'^d the im- 
land from 10 acres upwards. The owners of less than 10 acres value* oTtheIr 
each, hold not more than one-hundredth part of the land, and may property, 
here be regarded as householders only. The property of the 
landowners, independent of minerals, yields an annual rent of 
sixty-seven millions sterling, and is worth a capital value of two 
