The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-11-21
The Probable Fate OF the Small Farms
Of England.


The results of Lord Derby's motion for Il
parliamentary return oil the owners Oh lana
IN England will no doubt excite interest ana
provoke discussion. We shall, however, be
SURPRISED if it leads to much change. The Eng
lish have found that agriculture on large
scale pays, and they see that in France, on a
small scale, it has not done so. Where there
is so little land it becomes very essential that
the most should be made OF it; and I'M
d2ubtedly great proprietors have been the
pioneers of Improvement where small ones
could not possibly (even had they possessed
the requisite will and intelligence) have been
80. And experience is rather against their
possessing these qualities.
When, in 1776, Mr.. Coke succeeded to the
great estate of the Leicester family, at Holk-
ham, in Norfolk, he found one part of 1t u
blowing Sand, another sharp tlinty gravel,
and no part of the soil was superior. On
these strata, aided by skill, capital, and en-
terprise, there now exists one OF the most
fertile estates In England. When an emf
nent agriculturist visited Holkham in 1916
he WAS astoniShed ut the eXuberance OF the
crops, the richness Of the soil, aud its free
dom from weeds. Yet so sterile had this
portion Of the estate been considered that a
large tract had been let, 1.-THE free, at three
shi!lings an acre, and Mr.. Coke offered an.
other lease of twenty-one years at five shil.
hngs an acre, but the tenant had not cour-
acc to take it. Yet Mr.. Coke made 1t yield
double the average crop of the best land in
the county, and nearly treble that Of many
counties.
When the father of Turner, of Barton, q
breeder of cattle and sheep famous on both
sides of the Atlantic, began to drill turnips, q
well-to.do neighbor said TO his son, 81 suppose
vo,,r father will be sowing pepper out of q
cruet next" Sir Robert Peel presented 9
farmers club In 1885 with two iron plought
Of the best construction. On his next visit
the old plouShs were again at work. "Wt
tried the iron, Sir Robert" said member o
this enlightened society, "but we all be 0
one mind that they made the weeds grow"
II has only been by patience, perseverance
and the expenditure Of enormous sums tina
the present high state of agriculture in Grea
stances the fruits of the enterprise were 10
reaped until long years after the seed wa
sown.
There is q district in the north of Englan
which, at the commencement Of the century
was almost entirely owned by yeomen hole
ing from two hundred to six hundred acre.
who were called statesmen" But by d
greeS this clasS--a very valuable one--hl
died out, having, like larger owners. found
answer better to sell their land for hig
price and put their money into more pr
titahle investment. In one instance the so
Of u Cumberland statesman, who has mad
an immense fortune in China, as bis brother
have also, retains bis ancient heritage, bu
has added extensively to it, and now owns
great estate surrounding the little patrimon
which had belonged to his forefathers fc
centuries. In some Of the outlying counties
notably in the lnoorland parts OF Devonshire
good many Of the Statesmen" still exist
aud their venerable gabled mansions, oak
panelled parlors, and snug homesteads ar
very pleasant features in the rural life 0
Ensiand.--From Land O,caers IN Enc
laha,n by Reginald Wwford, in the Decefn
ber No. Of L,ppincotPs Naeozine.