Page:Landholding in England.djvu/150

 A comparison between Champion Country and Severall—"Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry."

The "Country Farmer" gives an instance of aparish enclosed about 40 years before he wrote. Before enclosure, it contained 82 houses, of which 20 were small farms and 42 were cottages with common rights. There were 1800 acres of common field arable, 200 of rich common cow pasture, and 200 of meadow, commonable after hay harvest. The common pasture fed 200 milch cows and 60 dry ones till hay harvest, when they were turned into the meadows, and their place taken by about 100 horses. 1200 sheep were fed on the stubble. He gives the gross produce of the parish before enclosure as:

On enclosure, the twenty farms were made into four, the whole area was devoted to grazing, sixty cottages were pulled down or otherwise disappeared, and the necessary work was done by four herds (one for each farm) at £25 a year each, board included, and eight maid-servants at £18 a year each, board included. The gross produce after enclosure was:

But while the gross produce was reduced about one-third, the gross rent was raised from £1137, 17s. to £1801, 12s. 2d. Thus sixty families were driven out in one parish of about 2300 acres.