128 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



TENUEE OF LAND I:N" THE WEST. 



BY G. F. MAITLAND, LEXINGTON, MO. 



Perhaps the greatest drawback to successful horticulture among 

 farmers, is the short tenure of ^and, or the annual renting of farms, in 

 the states in the Mississippi valley. In the older settled States this is 

 not the case — at least to such an extent as in the restless new West. 



One of the chief causes of this annual moving, is that land here is 

 held merely as a speculation, and not as a permanent investment which 

 will return a steady, regular income to the landlord. It is very much 

 to be regretted that this speculative holding of lands should be so 

 almost universal as to include not only the large land holders, but a 

 vast majority of those who own farms of moderate size. 



Many men will not plant fruits because they want to sell out and 

 go to some far off Utopia, only to wish, when they get there, that they 

 were back on their old farm. But it is to the large class of farmers 

 known as " renters" that this injurious system of renting only for one 

 year proves such a drawback. Many young men just starting in life 

 are compelled to rent for some years before they are able to buy, and 

 having a sweet remembrance of the fruits on the "old farm," would 

 like to plant berries and standard fruits: but not having the assurance 

 of retaining their farms for more than one year, do not plant anything, 

 and at last drop into the slovenly habit of "letting things go." 



In Great Britain the leases run from seven to nineteen years, and 

 are so favorable that the tenant can plant all the small fruits, and also 

 many of the standards, knowing that he will reap the benefit of his in- 

 dustry and enterprise. Many tenants live on these farms from baby- 

 hood to old age, and it is not by any means a rare thing for a farm to be 

 held under lease for generations by the same family. 



As a matter of -social and political economy, this kind of land ten- 

 ure is very much to be desired, as it promotes a spirit of improvement, 

 regular habits, and a more settled and social state of society. 



Long leases also create an intense love of home, a desire for the 

 refining influences of beautiful flowers, stately tree and high class 

 practical horticulture. 



It is a singular fact that the richness of the soil in any section of 

 country has but little to do with the material wealth, refinement or in- 



