324=55 
British Agriculture. 
its extent, 
and results. 
Quality and 
occupation of 
persons to 
whom waste 
lands passed. 
whole are capable of improvement by reclamation, drainage, or 
planting. Previous to the passing of the General Inclosure Act 
of 1845, 2500 inclosures had been sanctioned by private Acts 
of Parliament, under which 2,142,000 acres of waste land wcrt 
inclosed. The inclosures since 1845 have added 600,000 acres, 
so that up to the present time 2,757,000 acres altogether har4|l(i)i 
been thus redeemed from waste. i j)^ 
The results of the inclosures since 1845 present some interestn \ 
ing facts in regard to the subdivision of land, and the addition r 
made to the number of small landowners in the country, and thii i 
public works of improvement carried out under the process » ui 
inclosure, which are worthy of record. This is altogether in » 
dependent of the individual and public advantages arising frot k 
the reclamation and agricultural improvement of the land itseL li 
The 600,000 acres dealt with since 1845 have been divide Jl 
among 26,000 separate owners, in an average proportion ( 
44J acres to each lord of the manor, 24 acres to each commoi 
right owner, and 10 acres to each })urchaser of the lands sold ' 
defray part of the expenses. In many cases the expenses we 
raised by rate among the persons interested, but this was option! 
since such persons had the alternative of selling a portion oft 
land for that purpose. With that object 35,450 acres were sol 
chiefly in small lots, to 3500 purchasers. The lords of t 
manors, 620 in number, received as compensation for their rigl 
in the soil, on an average, about one-fifteenth of the acreage 
the wastes. These wastes of manors were, under the Act 
1845, made subject to the setting out of allotments for pul 
purposes, and in this respect were distinct from the coinin' 
able lands, which are undivided private property, and were 
made subject to public allotments. 
As this is the largest and most general distribution of li 
into small properties that has taken place in t)iis country 
recent times, it was desirable to know the quality and occupat 
of the persons into whose hands these lands have passed, 
discover this, the legal description both of allottees and of 
chasers of sale allotments, was taken from inclosures in wl 
that description is given, one in each of the following coun 
viz. Bucks, Cumberland, Chester, Devon, Essex, Hants, H 
Lancaster, Norfolk, Oxford, Stafford, Sussex, Worcester, am 
Wales, Carnarvon and Carmarthen. Upon this basis, aa 
far as such an average can be accepted, the proportionate i 
bors of the different classes of the 26,000 landowners am(^ 
whom the land has bdfen divided are as follows: — Yeomen nd 
farmers, 4836 ; shopkeepers and tradesmen, 3456 ; labourer.' wl 
miners, 3168 ; esquires, 2624 ; widows, 2016 ; gentlemen, 1^1 
clergymen, 1280; artisans, 1067; spinsters, 800; charity tru 
IK 
Bt 
ii\ 
Vow, 
i 
