GOOD LAND AT FOUR SHILLINGS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sra,—Will Sir W. Beach Thomas give us the real cost of this " cheap " land referred to in the paragraph under the above heading ?
It is unfortunate that the idea land is cheap should get about among the non-farming folk. To compare the cost of a farm in England with a farm in one of our Dominions you must add up all the payments in taxation and tithe and capitalize the result at the current rate of interest on British Government Stock. It does not require a very large well- found farm in England for Schedule A and B, Land Tax, Tithe, Rates, and Drainage to amount to £100 a year.
In such a case for comparison you must add 22,857 to the
market purchase price of the farm. It matters not whether you buy this farm when it is made, or carve it yourself out of a waste, £2,857 is the price this country charges you for the " offence " of rendering a barren area productive. Does this, perhaps, explain why when a man- wishes to produce wool and butter for the London market he leaves derelict land fifty miles from this very market and goes to the other side of the globe ? In fact, if there is any cheap land in England, perhaps Sir W. Beach Thomas will supply some more particulars about it.—I am, Sir, &c., COLONIAL.
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