§ MR. JEFFREYS (Hants, Basingstoke)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture if he can state the reason why 38a. 3r. 27p. of glebe land at Saxlingham, belonging to the rectory of Thetford St. Cuthbert, Norfolk, were sold for £112, or less than £3 an acre, as stated in the Return of Glebe Lands (Sales) recently presented to Parliament; who was the purchaser of the said land; and if £3 per acre is the average price of land in that locality?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. CHAPLIN,) Lincolnshire, SleafordI am informed that the property in question was in a deplorable condition, entirely uncultivated, one mass of water grass and weeds, the arable part of it, upwards of 35 acres, not having been ploughed for years, the surface soil very thin and strong, on a subsoil of tenacious clay, and the property altogether of a very undesirable character. For four years previous to 1888 no tenant could be found for the farm, which is nearly 50 miles from the benefice of Thetford, to which it belonged, and the tenant to whom it was afterwards let was unable to pay any rent. For these reasons, and because it was a source of trouble and anxiety to the incumbent, and for the interest of the benefice, the property was sold. The land is subject to a tithe rent-charge, and the purchaser was Mr. Frederick Wilson, a farmer, living about two miles distant. The case is quite exceptional, and there is no reason to suppose that £3 an acre is the average selling price of land in the locality.