The Red Cloud chief., 1882-06-08
THE ENGLISH FARMER.

THE ENGLISH FARMER.
Not as on Your side. the Engiisl
farmer is rarely n freeholder, that il
owning the lanl he cultiyates. II such
lac would be- callet a "yeoman farmer
hut these are few, indeed. in man,
neighborhoods nonresident. Even The
designation "ycoman." once in com
mos use, is nows seldom heard, and then
more rs n shadowy recalling of the past
Than any present reality. When be-
slowed, "A il occasionally *, il does no,
scnsibly elevate the bearer above that
general, / NAV saw universal. class
known - Tenant farmers" who hold
their farms by tenancy and pay rent for
Them. Any social distinction between
the 'wo kinds will depend on wealth and
other accidents of lie, rather than a diff.
ierercc ia the mode of tenure of their
lanI-
NAV here mention another class of
n~gricu,turists. distinguished rs ..gentle-
men farmers" Most Americans. and
many Englishmen, too. will very natur-
ally imagine that a gentleman farmer"
Is one rich enough To- lead the life of n
gentleman. Yet such Interpretation of
the title wculd be altogether rroncou
Riches have naught 10 do with IL. neither
hns the cultivation of an extensive
acreage. ! know some men farming
between n thousand and two thousand
acres. wealthy men. too, who are not,
gentlemen farmers. They NAV like the
name, court it, and occasionally have il
given them in a complimentary way. as
II Is n times loosely bestowed. Still il
Is not theirs, i'm the sense usually un-
derstood throughout England. where
h gentleman farmer il simply n
gentleman by birth, who has made
choice of and follows farming for an oc-
cnpaiIon. He may not even own the
land he tills-often does not, but rents
II like others-nor Is the amount OF
acres any factor as regards his getting
the distinctive speculation.
Leaving these exceptional and some
what visionary titles at one side. | re-
turn To the real subject of this letter
The 'tonant farmer" He holds under
a landowner. his landlord. who may be
anybody or anything: Squire, rich cler.
gyman. noblcman. wealthy merchant
who has purchased an estate. or, rs in
many cases, a corporation either tenn
porai or ecclesiastical. The great land
ed proprie,ors, however. are mostly
grandees of the titled class. a very linn
tied number of whom W thrce-fourths
OF all the land in England. and | NAV
add also Scotland and ireland. The
farmer has sometime a lease of his
holding: but generally. and more of
late. his tenancy is from year to year, |
with, on either side, n six months no
tie 10 terminate il. The amount of
rent, payable in h~alf-yearly instalments,
depends on the quality OF the land, with |
its convenience TO a market town and
ether like circumstances. Some farms
are rented at Is the English statute
acre; a few even higher; while others,
In a different district of the country,
Will he only 81. The average for fair
" productive land may be put at e. the
acre. These scere the prices some time
ago: but now all is changed. and
through the present agricultural derres-
sion, hundreds, thousands of farms are
1~noceupied, their m seeking ten
ants Tor them on almost any terms
certainly with rentals much reduced.
English farms are generally of large
acreage; If L mistake not, larger than
Americans suppose them 10 be. Hold
Ing> OF 1000 acres are not uncom-
mon, and there are some of :, 900 or
even more. This depends a good deal on
he county; farms in the strictly arri-
'u'fural shires being the largest, and on
ONE OF these the live and dead stock
viii be valued at fl0,oo0 or El5. uo0.
IN h other hand. there are farms of
MY acres, or even Twenty-Five. though
hey are not numerous enough. For !
farm holdings and peasant pro-
have ever been unpopular {
n England. the powers that be not I
lang them. Yet they are jus, the thing |
-rgiand wants, though her people, I
srsnsc 70 say. are little aware of il. j
he landowners do all they can to dis |
our'ge the practice, prcferring to let ]
heir land in large tracts and get their 1
in a lump sum. with certain other
accruing. Up to the n c
nj time they have had their own way 8
bout this. the farmers playing into :
hesr hands. For If one of these came !!
D grief and had TO turn out, there was d
Q fear of his farm lying ~unoccupied. {
he farmer bordering upon it was only b
ready to take it in. as an addendum to 2
haf he already held, Mt the same or 9
rem an increased rental. In the way {
aAnd. the English farmer is as Oliver. q
sser asking for more" Never knew 81
one who, in his W estimation. had O
nough. and scarce know / one who has Il
OF nearly double the quantity ne is
apabie OF cultiyating as it should be Gull
yased- l could point to many who. wear !,
aer year. have large fields living fallow =
4nnproorct,ve, simply because they !
'ekSaee strength in hands and horses to h
OP them at the required time. En- n
'eeeA weather is proyerbially tickle, and II
9A0 has not the means to take ai- 4;
os its ~favoring spells may lose
rgely BY the want Of them. Money
~ nesrfy always accomplish this-fhe
soy FASH to pay laborcn' wages and -
= thSH up as BY drum-beat. But If n
41o024f De not there, and 3 week of Ok
4Gee5he- be missed, or sometimes p'
. single day, there may be no other ~
lfkoe tor seed TO be got into the =
u1nd - il should be, or crop taken
Its From Just such cause 1 have seen
lPkth OF hay lying rotten on the L
single farm. and in tr
A no means exceptionally fiji
zx0E11ee Tor hay-mskins. In Y,
fact the holders of du
e! thus Handicapped ~ q,