s, were let as grass runs for stock at a nominal rent The rent of
an estate near Chelmsford of 1,418 acres had fallen from L1,314 in
1879 to L415 in 1892, or from 18s. 6d. an acre to 5s. 10d.[683] The
net rental of another had fallen from L7,682 in 1881 to L2,224 in
1892, and the landlord's income from his estate of 13,009 acres in
1892-3 was 1s. an acre. The balance sheet of the estate for the same
year is an eloquent example of the landowner's profits in these
depressed times[684]:

11:12 AM 7/25/2005RECEIPTS.
L s. d.

Tithe received 798 5 9
Cottage rents 495 8 6
Garden " 213 5 10
Estate " 7,452 14 8
Tithes refunded by tenants 530 15 2
--------------
L9,490 9 11
==============

PAYMENTS.
L s. d.

Tithe, rates and taxes 2,964 1 9
Rent-charge and fee farm rents 179 0 4
Gates and fencing 8 7 8
Estate repairs and buildings 4,350 12 8
Draining 170 6 1
Brickyard 170 1 8
Management 936 14 7
Insurances 58 11 5
Balance profit 652 13 9
---------------
L9,490 9 11
===============

In the great agricultural county of Lincoln rents had fallen from 30
to 75 per cent.[685] The average amount realized on an acre of wheat
had fallen from L10 6s. 3d. in 1873-7 to L2 18s. 11d. in 1892[686];
and the fall in the price of cattle between 1882 and 1893 was a little
over 30 per cent. Many of the large farmers in Lincolnshire before
1875 had lived in considerable comfort and even luxury, as became men
who had invested large sums, sometimes L20,000, in their business.
They had carriages, hunters, and servants, and gave their children an
excellent start in life. But all this was changed; a day's hunting
occasionally was the utmost they could afford, and wives and daughters
took the work from the servants. The small farmers had suffered more
than the large ones, and the condition of the small freeholders was
said to b