1804. Agyuultural Intdllger.ce — Scotland^ 103 



The uncommon fine weather fince harveft haa permitted pluiigliiiig x-o; 

 be far advanced, even in our clayey diflridl, (an uncommon occurrence) 4 

 it fcarcely met with any interruption till the froil let in. Tlie prtfent 

 circumllances of the coinatry have put an entire (loj) to ahnod every 

 improvement beyond the ordinary routine of farm operition'. ; nevcrtht»- 

 lefs, the wages of labourers are very high, — mafons and carpeatcrs fi-om 

 15s. to 188., and labourers from 9s. to i28. per xveek ; but, at facia, 

 rates, it will always be found mofl advifeable to have all work thut can 

 pofiibly be executed by the piece, done in that way ; f )r it almoft fcemt 

 a fort of ellablifhed principle, that the higher the daily wages are, the 

 lefs work is dene, Tlie property tax has not excited fo ilrong a fenfa-. 

 tion here amongil the farmers, as in many other places,; becauf?^ bein^' 

 generally on a frnall fcale in this dilbich, few of them are reached by it 

 at all; and they are not aware thai; the principle of it may, at one time 

 or other, apply to them with a vengeance. Why any hypothetical data 

 fhould be alTumed on which to affefs the profits of the farmer, more than 

 thofe of the manufajftin-er or trader, is a qucHion to which no good anfwcr 

 can be given. It will furely not be faid that the farmer is a lefs virtu- 

 ous fubjecl than the other; confequently lefs likely to make a fair retura 

 of his real annual profits. I can difcover no other rcafon than this, that 

 the farmer, like the quiet beaH he employs, tacitly fubmits to the 

 burden without a murmur 4 w'ncreas, the others, at fimilar treatment,, 

 would have briftled up like hedgehogs, fent the hue and cry from one- 

 end of the kingdom to the otlier, and endeavoured to perfuade the 

 nation that their interelt, no doubt more connccled v/ith the fiiuttle and 

 the hammer than with the plough, v.oidd be ruined by the meafure. 

 As many farmers and other plain men are a good deal puzzled with tlie 

 intricacies of the pi'operty aft, perhaps the following particulars may 

 affift fome who have not yet returned their fcheuules, or enable them to 

 amend them if returned on erroneous data. The way in v/hich they are, 

 affeffed to the landlord's part is very plain ; but the tenant's is net equally 

 obvious. From the a6t, I conceive that they are to deduct from the. 

 annual value of their pofTeffionG, if not fubjeft to tithes, one eighth ; 

 and if fubjeft to teind, then fuch a fum as, together with it, will amount 

 to one eighth. After this dedudlion is made from the annual value, then 

 ^ne half of the remaining amount is the fum on which the tenant's tax 

 is to be affeffed in Scotland. From tliis it follows, tliat unlefs the 

 annual value of his poffefSon exceed-j 137I., he u not liable to the tax 

 at all, inafmuch as his income, eftirr.ated according to the adl, would not 

 .amount to 60I. ; and alfo, on the fame principle, the annual > amount 

 of his poffeflion muft exceed 340I. before he is liable to the maximum 

 tax. In England, the cedu6lions arc the fame ; but the tenant's in- 

 come is taken at three fourths of the aunual value of his poffeffion. 

 I have no authority to vouch for the above interpretation of the 

 adl, which is not a httle obfcure ; but, on a careful perufal of it, 

 as well as the expofition thereof, it appears to me tlie flrid: letter, 

 if not the legitinuite intention of it, as to the manner of affefllag the 



G 4 tenant'! 



