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' ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL…

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ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES. Copy of the Queries, and the Abstract of the Communications received by the Board of Agri- culture, in Answer to Queries transmitted to several-; Correspondents, 011 the present State of the Agri- culture of the Country.—Laid before Parliament. QUERIES. 1. Are any Farms in your neighbourhood nnoccupied by Tenants?—and, have Landlords in consequence, been obliged to take them into their own hands?—Please to state the number of Forms alio their 2. Have any Tenants within your knowledge given notice to their Landlords of quilting their partus at Lady-day, or any other period ? 3. Have any Farms been lately re-let at an abatement of rent ? and it so, what is the proportion ofsltch abatement ? .4. What circumstances denoting the distress of the Farmers have come to your ImowJedge which may not be included under the above Queries? 5. Is the present distress greater on arable, or or; grass Farms ? 6. Have Flock Farms suffered equally with others? 7. Does the country in which yon reside suffer irom a diminished circulation of paper. 8. What is the state of the Labouring Poor what is the proportion of Poor Hates compared with the years 1811 and 1812 ? 9. What remedies occur to you for alleviating these difficulties ? The Letters received in reply to the preceding Queries have been arranged under the heads of those Counties in which the writers reside, -and the results registered distinctly under each Query, have been brought into one view under the respective titles. The replies already received amount to 288. F1 li s T Q u e n y—Occvpan cy. TVo hundred and seventy-nine replies, describing the State of Occupation, have been received, which may be thus arranged — No. ot Letters, Letters mentioning farms unoccupied by tenants, being thrown on the landlords' hands M-9 Letters in which no such want of occupancy occurs 11 j Letters in which farms are stated to have become uncultivated, fur want of being occupied by the land lords 17 2-¡-9 Jt is necessary to observe, in relation to the 113 letters, that their uu't containing the article ot occupation by tenants, is not SiHglyto be taken as a sign of prosperity as a great number of them are amongst those the roost descriptive ol agricultural distress. it may be further remarked, thdt the letters represent a very large quantity of J and to be uncultivated. SECOND QUERy-Notices to Quit. Two hundred and sixty-five replies have been received to this Query, winch may be thus arranged ;—. No.ot Letters. Letters in. whIch the expression is. many farmers have given notice to quit 94 Letters in which the 'esoressions are, several or a few have given notice to quit 90 Letters in which the expression; is all that can have given notice to quit 19 Letters in which the expressed is, none have given notice to quit 62 265 It is scarcely necessary, to remark, that, until the present period of declension commenced, such an idea as giving not)cetoquitnf..rm, except for the purpose of hirillg a better one, may be said to be almost unknown in the kindom and no circumstance can more clearly mark the present degradation of the employment, than these notices to quit. THIRD QUERy-Reduction if Rents. There have been 190 returns specifying the propor- tionate reduction of rent; and the average of them all is 25 per cent. It should, however, be remarked, that this applies only to the letters which specify the amount of the reduction many others speak of the same fact, without giving pre- cisely the proportion.' The land rents of the kingdom, according to the Returns of the Property-tax, have been stated at 34 millions if the real fact should exceed this by only two millions, the total will be. 36 millions, and the-loss of 25 per cent, will give a total of nine millions to landlords alone but this will, loJv no means, according to the letters received by the Board, be the whole of one year's loss, as the amount of unpaid arrears is stated ill many of the letters to be very great indeed. FOUHTII QUEHy-Gcrwml State of Husbandry in the present period. By far the greater number of the letters enter into con- siderable details on the circumstances which denote the present deplorable state of the national agiieultor-e, bank- ruptcies, seizures, 'executions, imprisonments, and fanners become parish paupers, are particularly mentioned by many oi the correspondents with great arrears ol rent, and in many cases Tithe and Poor Rates unpaid. These cir- cumstances are generally expressed in language denoting extreme distress, and absolute ruin, in a variety of in- stances. FirTH and SrxTH QUERIEs-Arable aneZ Grass Land, and Flock Farms compared. The replies to the Fifth Query very generally assert the distress to be much greater on Arable than on Grass Land but many of them observe, that of late the prices of grass land produce have so much declined, that the difference ,e promises soon to be but small. In general it is asserted, that flock farms have suffered much less than others, but they have begun to feel it heavily, yet not equally in all cases, with arable land. SEVENTH QUERy-Circulation of Paper. There is in the replies some difference of opinion upon this point: much mischipf is noted from the failure of country banks. Many of the correspondents are of-.opnv.on that agriculture suffers much for want of a larger and safer circulation; and not a few complain heaVily of the defi- ciency of paper being an extreme, that they are iorced to sell their product under a great depreciation of price merely for want of notes to pay for them. But 11 few others are of opinion that the present amount of paper is adequate to the object of buying and selling at the present reduced prices. EIGHTH QUERY—STATE of the L"abouring PEAR end I Poor Rates. The total number of letters containing replies en the first of these subjects amounts to Std. Two hundred and eleven letters describe the state of the poor under various expressions, denoting a want of employment in terms more or less forcible. Ninety-six of the above letters, expatiating on the degree of this want of employment, describe the extreme distress resulting from it as amounting to great misery and wretch- edness, and in some cases to an alarming degree. Sixteen letters describe the state of the labouring poor as neither better nor worse than formerly. Ninetctm letters give a favourable report, representing their state as not in want of employment, and therefore not distressed. These 35 cases, so much more favourable than the rest, require a few words of explanation, as in 14 of them there occur circumstances tending strongly to shew that whatever the present state may be, it will soon become not superior to that ot the rest. In seven of these cases they are at- tended by mimites of unoccupied farms and notices to quit. In two others the Poor Rates are stated to be high and increased. In one other the, favourable report combines with the fact of 51) farmers being distrained for rent. In another case die favourable report is confined to one or two parishes with much distress in their vicinity. In one other, in which the poor are represented as not suffering, it is admitted that they have less employment than heretofore. In another case employment is found by manufacturers. And in one, the reporter employs all the poor of his parish Oil a principle of charity. POOR RATES. The letters containing returns descriptive of Poor Rates are to the following purport oi Letters. Letters in which the rates have increased since 18 i 1 and 1 til 2 129 N. li. In forty-nine of these letters the pro- portional rise is given, and amounts 011 the average to 42 per cent. ;— decreased 24 N. 13. Tn seven of these letters the propor- tional fall is given, and amounts 011 an average to per cent. ■ are stationary, that is,neither higher nor lower than 1811 and 18i2 72 225 But this table gives by no means a sufficient idea of the distress at present arising from this heavy tax, as in a variety of instances the farmers who lately paid to these rates have been obliged to give up their and are actually become paupers themselves,-and receive parochial allowances like other paupers mid'this increased burthen in many parishes occurs while some farms are unoccupied or run waste and in cases the most favourable, the bur- lhen blls witb increasing weight 011 the landlords. The letters contain many complaints, that while the manufac- turers who have (Iccasioned the chid burthen pay scarcely any thing to the rates, the accumulated weight falls on the occupiers of land. J;!f!t the surprising circumstance of this result is, th» in- crease being so geueral at the very period in whiz:ÍJ. fronl liie reduced price of provisions, a directly contrary effect might have been expected. The great object of the Board in these inquiries has been 1<<> collect facts. If it be asked, what conclusions are to be drawn fram tllese facts? :Such will of course suggest themselves .with the greatest clearness to ific Ateiiibers of, the Legislature. With this expectation before us, we cannot be surprised at the anxiety felt, and the apprehensions ex- pressed by many of the ablest persons (being Magistrates of extensive jurisdictions), amongst the correspondents whose letters are the basis of this general result. But the Board cannot forbear making one observation, as it may be extremely important to the future state of the country.— When it is considered that the tracts absolutely unculti- vated arc of considerable extent, and that a great number of farms are thrown upon "the Landlords' hands, in a period when it must of necessity be extremely inconvenient to attempt their cultivation, in many cases heavily burthen- some, and in some ruinous, it must be evident that the management of these farms may ptobablv be so very im- perfect as to occasion a great defalcation in the produce of corn. It niayafso be observed, that among the circum- stances mentioned in reply to the fourth query, is that of:1 very general neglect of the use of all purchased manures, together wilh a discharge of labourers formerly employed to an amount that must considerably atfeet tbe future cul- tivation of the soil. These points, if duly considered, may afford no slight reason for apprehending a considerable declension in the amount of future, productions; and should such an effW-t arise, it 111."11)" cow ut c» ,rue in the pressure wiil be more severely felt. MACCLESFIELD, President.

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