402 
Farming of CormcaU, 
Dijrcsl,' in 1831 we had 3613 persons of this description, and 
4608 farmers who employed labourers. 
3. The inHuence which this numerous body of small farmers 
exercises on the rental of farms in some locali'.ies is very con- 
siderable. Estates varying from 20 to 50 acres let at full 20 
per cent. hig:her than those of 200 acres and upwards. But 
notwithstanding this, it is a question for veiy serious considera- 
tion, whether in many instances it would not be good policy on 
the part of the landlords, as those small farms fall in haml, to 
join three or four into one; for if we were to deduct from Cornish 
agriculture rJl the farms where the most approved systems of 
farming are pursued, we shall have left just the management of 
small farms. I do not mean by this that good management 
exists on all large farms — for, from the want of sufficient capital, 
a great many large ones are very badly cultivated ; but it is a 
very rare case to witness anything approaching to good husbandry 
on very small ones. The improved and skilful management 
carried on upon farms of 150 and 200 acres occasions the pro- 
duction of a considerably greater quantity of acreable produce — 
in addition to which there would be a far greater certainty of the 
landlords obtaining their rents, although there might not appear 
so large a sum on their " rent-rolls." 
Proc/ress of Improvement since Worgan's Survey in 1810-1 1. 
4. A brief description of the farming at the time of this survey 
will be sufficient to show the very considerable improvement since 
that period. The acreable extent of corn crops was probably 
as great as at the present time, which arose from the excessively 
high prices of wheat, averaging from 96s. to 112s. per quarter. 
Corn followed corn crop, until complete exhaustion threw the land 
out of production, and it was not a very uncommoncase after a piece 
of ground had been completely exhausted by frequent tillage in 
this manner, to take a farewell crop of grain called " mida arena' 
— a kind of naked oat, used chiefly for the feeding of pigs. The 
breadth too of green crops cultivated was very insignificant. This 
was the greatest defect in the husbandry of that period. Worgan 
mentions vetches as having been tried without success ; carrots, 
too, had met with a similar failure; sainfoin and lucerne had 
been cultivated but by a few gentlemen by way of experiment; 
swedes had not long been introduced ; and white turnips was the 
principal crop to be depended on. This crop was very indiffer- 
ently cultivated ; the drill system of husbandry had been prac- 
tised by very few; hoeing was very imperfectly performed, and in 
many districts turnips were not hoed at all. 
5. The greater extension of turnip culture which commenced 
