AGRICULTURE. 



combined with the most perfect ventilation, we 

 would recommend to visit some that were built 

 not long ago on the property of Lord Kinnaird, 

 Rossie Priory, Perthshire. As a general rule, 

 farm-steadings are erected at too great an expense. 



Choice of a Farm. 



Farms, as to size, are usually divided into small 

 farms under 100 acres ; moderate - sized farms 

 from ico to 250 acres ; and large farms of from 

 250 to 1000 acres and upwards, of land fit for 

 cultivation. Each of these sizes is adapted to 

 particular districts and other circumstances 

 especially to the degree of fertility and the amount 

 of capital employed. It is a common but injurious 

 mistake to suppose that the more land a farmer 

 holds, the greater must be his profits. The profit 

 does not arise from the land itself, but from the 

 manner of using it ; the best soil may be made 

 unproductive by bad management, and the worst 

 may be rendered profitable by an opposite course. 

 In Ayrshire and Wigtonshire, where dairy hus- 

 bandry is well understood, and has arrived at 

 greater perfection than in any other part of Scot- 

 land, the farms are of moderate size, being in 

 general from 60 to 1 60 English acres. A farm of 

 about 127 acres is reckoned a good size, and on 

 this from ten to twelve cows are kept. On many 

 farms from 50 to 100 cows and upwards are kept ; 

 but in these cases the cows are let at a rent per 

 annum, the farmer supplying the cows and food, 

 while the manual labour and the marketing of the 

 produce is undertaken by the contractor, known 

 as the bower. 'Where the soil,' says Sir John 

 Sinclair, ' is of a light description, a larger extent 

 is necessary, as in such soils sheep and cattle are 

 frequently fed in large numbers ; and a farm of 

 this description, of from 600 to 1000 Scotch acres, 

 or 762 to 1270 English, is not considered too 

 large. Where farms are almost entirely employed 

 in pasturage, or in the breeding of sheep or cattle, 

 as is usually the case in hilly districts, there can 

 be no precise limits to their extent ; some in the 

 Highlands of Scotland, devoted to sheep-pasture, 

 reach 25,000 English acres.' 



The selection of a farm requires the whole 

 ability and experience of the farmer. He must 

 attend to all the advantages and disadvantages 

 regarding it, so that he may fully make up his 

 mind as to the amount of rent he considers it 

 worth, taking care neither to be too cautious nor 

 too rash. There is one common but very erroneous 

 rule which guides the choice of a farm namely, 

 the success of the outgoing tenant. If he has 

 made money in it, or is leaving it for a larger one, 

 numbers will flock after it, and offer a high rent, 

 without even inspecting it. But if the tenant be 

 unsuccessful, all his misfortunes are attributed to 

 the badness of the land, not to his own mis- 

 management ; and few will be found willing to 

 take the farm even at a reduced rent. These 

 notions are very absurd ; for the management o: 

 various farmers is so essentially different, that 

 success or misfortune may be said to depend more 

 on that than on either rent or quality of land. 



Leases and Rents. 



A farm is seldom conducted properly for the 

 legitimate advantage of either landlord or tenant 

 except a lease of considerable duration be granted 



'or if the tenant be at all times liable to be dis- 

 jossessed at the mere will of the proprietor, he 

 can have no interest in improving the land, and 

 therefore cannot afford to pay a sum suitable to 

 the actual capabilities of the soil. According to 

 he modern practice of agriculture, the profits of a 

 arm are frequently prospective ; a number of 

 years must sometimes elapse before the ground 

 epays the farmer for his sunk capital, and his 

 trouble in effecting improvements. The duration 

 of a lease consequently depends on the nature 

 and condition of the soil, as well as some other 

 minor circumstances. It is well known that a 

 ong lease is a much greater stimulus to spirited 

 arming than a low rent. At the commencement 

 of every lease, great exertions are made to effect 

 mprovements, and to add to the manurial con- 

 dition of the soil. The continuation of these 

 improvements depends much on the ability, 

 energy, and education of the tenant, while many 

 : ear having to pay additional rent, on account of 

 improvements made by their own skill and capital. 

 It appears from all experience in Scotland, that 

 leases shorter than nineteen or twenty-one years 

 decidedly check the outlay of capital by farmers, 

 in what may be considered permanent improve- 

 ments. If tenants had a legal claim for all capital 

 expended on a farm which, in the opinion of 

 skilled men, enhanced its value to the succeeding 

 tenant, a greatly increased produce over the whole 

 kingdom would speedily take place. The immense 

 expenditure on manures and feeding-stuffs now 

 annually made, renders a revision of the laws 

 betwixt landlord and tenant a necessity, in the 

 interests of the general public. 



The connection between landlord and tenant is 

 that of a disjunctive copartnery. The tenant 

 trades upon a certain sunk capital of the landlord. 

 The question, then, as to what is to be paid in the 

 form of rent, is determined by the value of this 

 capital, and what return it will produce annually 

 on an average of years. From this return the 

 tenant is supposed to draw one share, while the 

 other is handed to the proprietor of the ground. 

 With respect to grazing-farms, they are let on the 

 principle of how much stock they can regularly 

 maintain ; and not being liable to the same 

 expenses for management, both landlord and 

 tenant receive larger shares out of the gross 

 product In some instances, proprietors, from 

 negligence or a wish to retain an undue power 

 over their tenants, delay the renewal of the 

 farmer's lease till the period is almost expired. 

 This is highly injurious to both parties ; as, while 

 uncertain if he is to continue on the land, the 

 tenant will naturally be slack in his exertions to 

 improve it, or even to maintain it in a fair con- 

 dition. This evil might be easily avoided, by the 

 proprietor renewing the lease of his tenant a few 

 years before the expiration of the time. Should 

 the land have materially increased in value during 

 the lease about to expire, it will be found most 

 advantageous for the landlord to nominate a 

 judicious valuator, and to offer the farm at the 

 declared rental to the existing tenant, without 

 bringing it to public competition. 



In drawing up leases, it is customary to intro- 

 duce clauses restricting the tenant to certain 

 rotations of crops, manuring, &c. applicable to the 

 few years which precede the termination of the con- 

 tract. These clauses, and also others respecting 



