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no interest in doing the work in a proper manner. Wherever, therefore, a Martinmas entry, and the necessity of a summer fallow, exist together, it is better simply to reserve power to cultivate the fallow land of the last year, so that, if the old tenant will not do it in a proper manner, it may be done by hired labour, or otherwise.

Of the stipulations peculiar to the Martinmas entry, it is only necessary to advert to two; the others, indeed, may be considered as common to the Martinmas and the Whitsunday entry.

1st, As the tenant under the Martinmas entry may have turnips or other similar green crop in the last year, the proper time of consuming which is in winter, that is, subsequent to his regular removal from the premises, he ought to have the power reserved to him of consuming the produce of these crops upon the farm. He may be allowed until the 1st of February in the subsequent year, for this purpose; and, if it is inconvenient to consume the turnips where they grow with sheep, he ought to have a field, or more, allowed him, to which he may lead them to be consumed.

2d, The other circumstance to be adverted to is of less importance, but it should not be overlooked. We shall see that a power must, in all cases, be reserved to sow grass-seeds with the old tenant's waygoing crop. Where the old tenant removes at Whitsunday and the separation of the crop of that year, he has no material power of injuring the grass-seeds, after the last corn crop is reaped; but, when the removal is at Martinmas, the old tenant has an interval, from the period of harvest until his removal, in which, by over-pasturing, he may injure very materially the young grass plants. In all cases of the Martinmas entry, therefore, the old tenant should be prohibited from pasturing the land sown down with grass seeds in the last

year.

It is always highly important to prevent the exhaustion of a farm, by the carrying off of straw or fodder. It is necessary, therefore, to stipulate, that all the straw produced shall be consumed upon the farm; or that, where local circumstances make the sale of straw part of the ordinary management, an equivalent, in the form of forage manure, shall be brought back to the farm. In many cases, the straw is delivered over from

VOL. II. NO. VII.

I

the tenant in possession to his successor, in what we have already termed steelbow. Where this admirable system exists, the landlord has one of the best securities afforded him, that the lands will not be exhausted by carrying away the produce. It is to be regretted, however, that the system of steelbow-straw is only confined to a few districts; and that, over the greater part of the country, the power is given of carrying away entirely the straw of the waygoing crop. Where the better system prevails, some peculiar stipulations are necessary, whether the entry be a Martinmas or Whitsunday one.

1st, The old tenant does not in this case sell his last crop upon the ground, but thrashes it out in a regular manner, delivering over the straw to his successor, as the grain is thrashed, and disposing of the grain itself as if he were still tenant of the farm. This requires that he shall continue to possess the barns and barn-yards, and have also such stable-room afforded him as is required for the horses employed in carrying his produce to market. He ought to have these privileges granted him until at least the Whitsunday following his regular removal. We shall point out the mode of providing for this in the formula of the Lease, to be afterwards given.

Whether the entry is at Whitsunday or Martinmas, it is necessary to reserve power to sow grass-seeds with the last or waygoing crop. It is not necessary, however, to reserve power to do this upon the whole farm, but only on such part of it as had been summer fallow, or manured green crop, in the preced ing year; because this is the only part of the white crop which is, generally speaking, suited for being sown off. In general, it is perfectly fair to stipulate that the old tenant shall harrow or roll in these seeds in a proper manner; and if this was done to him, free of charge, when he took possession, he, of course, ought to do it free of charge to his successor. The expense of the mere labour is quite trivial, though it is frequently contended, and, no doubt, often with reason, that the white crop is somewhat injured by grass-seeds being sown with it. In all cases, claims of this kind should be fixed precisely at a specified rate per acre. Fifteen shillings per English acre is in general sufficient as an indemnification for loss sustained, and one shil

ling per acre where the mere expense of labour is to be paid for.

An important stipulation in every lease, is that which relates to the keeping in repair of houses and fences. The burden of building, though a heavy one on landed property, must necessarily be borne by the owner, in order to allow him to obtain the full rent for his land, and to enable the lessee to cultivate it

in a proper manner. It cannot be hoped that tenants in general will consent to erect the necessary buildings at their own expense on a lease of common length-and none, certainly, will do so without obtaining a full equivalent in a diminution of the rent. But this is not all the evil of laying upon them a burden disproportionate to their interest in the land. They have no interest in executing the work in a manner more substantial than is required for endurance during their own limited period of possession; and, besides, their time and capital are diverted from the proper objects. It is greatly to be regretted that the charge of erecting buildings is, in too many cases, thrown upon the tenant. Wherever such a practice exists on any estate, the sooner it can be abolished the better; for it is not too much to assert, that no landed property can be held to be in a satisfactory state where such a practice prevails. It is frequent, indeed, to stipulate, that the tenant shall lead forward the materials required. Even this is to divert his funds and attention from the cultivation of his farm; but the defence of this practice is, that the tenant can, at spare times, carry forward the materials of building at greatly less expense than can be done by contract.

The extent of building will depend on the nature and size of the farm; and the arrangement and dimensions of the several parts will also be affected by the same circumstances. Small farms require a greater proportional extent of building than large, and arable farms greatly more than pasture farms. Enough of building should be afforded for the real accommodation of the tenant; but neither the first cost, nor the expenses of a subsequent reparation, should be increased by buildings that are superfluous. As it is almost always expedient to build by contract, too much care cannot be bestowed in specifying the details of the work, the manner of execution,

and the nature of the materials. It need hardly be observed, that the best covering for the roofs is slate, and that the Swedish, Norway, and other northern timbers, are preferable to those of home-production.

The common stipulation, when the necessary buildings are erected, and in a proper state of repair, is, that the tenant accepts of them as in good and sufficient tenantable condition, and binds himself to keep them up and leave them in the like state at the termination of the lease. The words "good and sufficient tenantable condition," are doubtless somewhat vague; but it is sometimes difficult to substitute expressions more precise, and not always safe to deviate from those in common use. Under this stipulation, farm-buildings, originally good, may be delivered over for a very long period from tenant to tenant, each in his turn becoming bound to keep them up in the state in which he receives them. The waste of time, however, will prevail in the end; but the difference of the time necessary for entirely rebuilding, will vary so prodigiously with the original good or bad execution of the work, as to make attention to this subject a highly important one on every well regulated landed estate.

Of enclosures, too, the expense ought generally to be defrayed by the proprietor. For, besides the injury of diverting the time and capital of the lessee to other objects than the cultivation of the farm, it is of so much importance that the work be well executed at first, that the execution ought not to be devolved upon the lessee, whose interest is only temporary. It is perhaps superfluous to observe, that the value of land will scarcely ever fail to be increased by enclosing. Without it, cattle of different sorts cannot be divided, improved, or fed undisturbed. A due admixture of tillage and pasture cannot be resorted to, and often even mere tillage cannot be properly conducted, from the difficulty of defending the growing crops from trespass.

Fences should, as much as possible, be made straight lined, and be so situated as to favour the descent of water. Similar soils should, as far as practicable, be included in the same fields, and care should be taken to have water in every division. No precise dimensions can be fixed on as the best for enclosures. In general, the size should vary with that of the farm. When a country is totally under culture by the plough, it matters less

what extent the fields are; but when there is a mixture of grass and tillage, the fields should be of moderate dimensions, perhaps from thirty to forty acres, even on the largest farms. Fences of stone are the most costly; but then they become useful as soon as made; whereas thorns require many years of care and protection. But thorns should be preferred, wherever soil and climate will permit them to be reared. Such fences afford shelter, assist the drainage, and add to the beauty and value of

estates.

The stipulation regarding the keeping up of fences, is generally similar to that for farm-buildings. The tenant accepts of them as in good and sufficient tenantable condition and repair, and binds himself to leave them in the like state at the termination of his lease; and he should also be bound distinctly to keep the ditches and drains clear. Too much vigilance cannot be bestowed in enforcing these obligations; for thorn-fences, when once ruined by neglect, can scarcely be restored. The state of thorn-fences throughout the greater part of Scotland is altogether disgraceful. They are generally suffered to fall into ruin nearly as soon as made; and, consequently, thus fail in adding to the value of estates, or serving the purposes for which they were intended. The persons who thus neglect and ruin the fences entrusted to their charge, would do well to look at the diligence which English farmers exhibit in executing this part of their duty, although the lines of fences are generally, from the smalness of the enclosures, four times more extensive. Formerly, in Scotland, the usual practice was for the landlords to bear one-half of the expense; and still this is sometimes practised, where the difficulty of rearing and preserving these plants is considerable, or where gentlemen are desirous of a more liberal expenditure upon them than tenants are generally willing to in

cur.

The next point to which we request attention, is the kind of Rent payable, and the terms of payment.

Rents, in Scotland, are paid either previous to the first crop being reaped, when they are called fore-rents, or they are paid subsequent to the reaping of the first crop, when they are termed back-rents. In England, it is believed that, with a few exceptions in the Border counties, back-rents are not in use. The

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