Blacksmiths, whitesmiths, collar makers, ropers, carpenters, and many other tradesmen with whom the farmer dealt, raised their prices threefold; and it was openly asserted that the high prices of grain and stock were not proportionate to the increase of other prices. Much of the grass land broken up in the earlier years of the war was before the close in a miserable condition, for it was cropped year after year without manure, and was worn out. On the whole it may be doubted if the bulk of the farmers of England made large profits during the war; many no doubt profited by the extraordinary fluctuations in prices, and it was those men who 'kept liveried servants'; but there must have been many who lost heavily by the same means, and the rise of rent, taxes, rates, labour, and tradesmen's prices largely discounted the prices of corn and stock. The landowners at this period have generally been described as flourishing at the expense of the community, but their increased rents were greatly neutralized by the weight of taxation and the general rise in prices. A contemporary writer says that owing to the heavy taxes, even in the war time, he 'often had not a shilling at the end of the year.'[546] The following accounts, drawn up in 1805,[547] do not show that farmers were making much money with wheat at 10s. a bushel: Account of the culture of an acre of wheat on good fallow land: Dr. L s. d. Two years' rent 2 0 0 Hauling dung from fold 10 0 Four ploughings 2 0 0 Two harrowings 4 0 Lime 1 18 0 Seed, 2-1/2 bushels 1 5 0 Reaping 5 0 Threshing 10 0 Wages 5 0 Tithes and taxes 15 0 -------- L9 12 0 ======== Cr. L s. d. 20 bushels of wheat at 10s 10 0 0 The straw was set against the value of the dung. The tailend wheat was Eaten by the family! --------- L10 0 0 ========= And on a farm on good land in the same county the following would be the annual balance sheet at the same date: Dr. L s. d.