•l804' ^^ ^^^^ Mode of Strlhing E. Lothhin Flan, 199 



c\\\ hardly be difputed that thofe, who pay by the fiars, muft, 

 without all pcradventurc, be coiifidcrable TuiFerers. 



To make the matter more plain, I beg leave to mention fomc 

 circumilanees which have lately come to my knowledge, the 

 truth of which you may depend upon. On a farm of good 

 wheat foil, and vihere a r^jgular thrafiiing of that grain had 

 gone forward ^.nce Lift autumn, I fmd that, of a quantity ap- 

 proaching to Sno bolls, the average price thereof, which, of 

 courfc, is the ail:ual value received by the farmer, amounted pre- 

 cifely to 25s. \o\i\. per boll; whereas, according to the plan ad- 

 opted .by the Sheriff, already detailed, the fir-ft fiars, had they been 

 formed from the wheat of this farm, would have amounted to 

 27s. 7;^d., or 2i\. per boll higher than what is fixed by interlocu- 

 tor of Court. This refult proves two things ; \J}^ That the 

 wheat in quefiiion was at leaft equal in quality to what was de- 

 poned to in the proof, feeing tliat the fiars formed from it, are 

 fomething higher than the general refult \ 2nd, Tbit the She- 

 riff's figures may be received as corredl, becaufe they approxi- 

 inat^ to this private ftatetnent. But having made thefe admif- 

 fions, I cannot avoid remarking, that the refult likev/ife fliows, 

 in the mo(\ convincing way, that the highefl: fiars are (truck up- 

 on imjiropcr principles. If the farmer alluded to was liable 

 in a wheat rent, payable according to the fiars, he would actu- 

 ally have b-^en obliged to pay one flnlHng and feven pence more 

 for each boll than he got for it, even notwithftanding that the 

 fiars formed from the wheat he had fold, exceeded the rate afcer- 

 lained by the Sheriff, 



Allow me now to urge a few worde concerning the two and 

 one half per cent, addition. 



I never could rightly underdand the cnufe of this additional 

 cliarge, though I have heard fe-veral alligned in favour of it. 

 By Come, it has been faid, that it was on account of the increaf- 

 ed value of fummer thrafhed grain : but furely, when applied 

 to rent or dipend, this renfon bears no force; for grain, p;iYabIe 

 as rent or (lipend, is deliverable betwixt Chriflmas and Candle- 

 mas, confequently cannot be benefited by fummer drought. O- 

 thers allege, that it is on account of credit given upon grain ; 

 but this, if true, would lead us to believe that neither rent nor 

 i-lipend could be demanded till Michaelmas, a circumftance con- 

 tradicted by the pra6\ice of the country. In i'lort, the addition 

 is altogether unjuftifiable, and ought to be departed from. 

 Thofe who fell the grain, who take all the trouble, and run 

 every rifk, ought rather to have a dedudion from the average 

 price, than be faddled with an addition. In mercantile con- 

 cerns, confignees receive commiffion from their employers; but 



N 4 in^re 



