Page:VCH Rutland 1.djvu/308

 A HISTORY OF RUTLAND 97 acres ; woods, coppices, and plantations 3,819 acres, and it is worthy of mention that Rutland is the only county in England which returns no mountain or heath land used for grazing. In live-stock the number of cattle during the last quarter of a century has grown considerably, and there were in 1905 nearly three times as many as a hundred years betore ; on the other hand sheep have greatly decreased in number. The totals for 1905 are — Horsea 3,196 Cattle 19,429 Sheep 73.917 Pig* 2,232 With regard to the sizes of the various holdings number of the smaller class in the following table : — a marked decrease is to be noticed in the 1875 18S0 1905 50 Acres and under 950 865 522 Between 50 acres and 300 336 315 Above 300 66 (>! 84 the average size of the holdings in the county for the last year being 94*9 acres, a size- exceeded by only four counties in England,'^ and of these 79,165 acres were occupied by tenants, and 8,232 by owners. In the average yield per acre of various crops for the ten years 1895 to 1904 the following is the position of Rutland as compared with the average for the whole of England. Wheat Barley Oats Beans Peas Rutland England 30-60 30-53 29 32 Potatoes •03 •58 3+-5I 4071 Turnips and Swedes 26-91 27-39 Mangolds Rutland England • • • • • • 4-90 5-84 I 1*26 11-91 Hay from artificial grasses Hay ■^•+'lTons. •8-39J from permanent pasture Rutland England • • • • • • • • . 21-90 . 2879 '9791 Cwt. 23-61 J During the severe depression of the last thirty years rents in Rutland as elsewhere have come down from twenty to thirty and even fifty per cent., though in the last few years they mav be described as stationary. Poor tillage is let as low as 71. bd. an acre, and inferior pasture at loi., but the better sort of the former still fetches 25$. an acre, and really good pasture as much as 50J., while of course accommodation land is still dearer. The western portion of the county to-day is mainly grass, and the eastern and southern arable, the north being divided roughly between the two, and though there is a considerable amount of dairying most of the grass is used for grazing. The most common rotation of crops on the arable land is the old four-course system, varying however, with the nature of the soil. The Stamford district is one of the most famous barley-producing areas in England, its crops commanding a high price from the Burton brewers, and in Rutland generally barley has proved the most profitable of all crops. Nearly all the farms are let on yearly agreements, as in so many parts of England, usually from 6 April, old Lady Day, or from 1 1 October, old Michaelmas Day. In spite of fallen rents and growing burdens most landlords have managed to keep the farm buildings in a good state of repair, and though in some cases this is not so, their general condition may be described to-day as fair ; and cottages, in some cases ancient with poor accommodation, in others modern and very comfort- able, are sufficient in number for the decreased rural population ; they are let too at a low rent, often at ij. a week, and a rental of ^^5 per annum is about the maximum. The important question of the labour supply is not so black as it looked when Mr. Rider Haggard was in Rutland in 1 90 1, when he was told that the shortness of labour combined with low prices was bound to throw much of the land out of cultivation^* ; and the supply to-day is generally sufficient. But here, as everywhere else, the complaint of the deterioration in the " Rural Engl, ii, 273. 248
 * Dorset, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, and Wilts.