CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the keeping of fences and roads in repair, are 

 sufficient in all ordinary cases. Some landlords 

 may be desirous of prescribing the exact mode of 

 management of their farms ; but this has a dis- 

 couraging and injurious effect, and should there- 

 fore be avoided, except in what may be called 

 improving leases, or engagements to improve the 

 land in a certain manner. With regard to the 

 form of a lease, it should commence, says Sir John 

 Sinclair, ' with the necessary preamble, stating the 

 parties contracting, the situation of the property 

 to be leased, the extent of the farm a plan of 

 which ought to be subscribed by the contracting 

 parties the duration of the lease, and the time of 

 entry: it is then proper to enumerate, 1st, The 

 powers and privileges reserved to the landlord ; 

 2d, The obligations incumbent on the tenant ; and 

 3d, The stipulations obligatory upon both. Leases 

 thus drawn up would not be liable to much uncer- 

 tainty or dispute ; and lest any should occur, it is 

 expedient that a mutual obligation for settling by 

 arbiters should be inserted.' 



In modern farming, rent is altogether payable 

 in money, or partly in money and partly in 

 grain. The system of grain-rents was at one 

 time highly popular with tenants in Scotland, 

 as it equalised in a great measure the risk 

 of bad seasons and low prices between farmer 

 and landlord not requiring from the former 

 a fixed amount of rental from an uncertain 

 and fluctuating source. Thus, for example, a 

 farm at the nominal rental of ,500 a year would 

 be let for ^250 or ,300 in money, the remainder 

 being payable in so many quarters of wheat, 

 barley, and oats, at the fiars prices * of the county. 

 However, tillage farmers do not now depend on 

 the returns from grain-crops, at least to the extent 

 they formerly did, for payment of their rents. 

 From thorough draining, the use of artificial 

 manures and feeding-stuffs, and the advantage of 

 railway communication to all parts of the kingdom, 

 the growth of potatoes and feeding of stock have 

 enormously increased, and quite changed the 

 character of farming within the last thirty years. 

 As a rule, landlords prefer knowing their exact 

 income, and farmers what they have to pay, so 

 grain-rents are being gradually superseded by a 

 fixed money payment. It should not be forgotten 

 that grain-rents were first introduced into Scot- 

 land by John, Earl of Hopetoun, in 1822 and 

 whose example was speedily followed by most of 

 the large landed proprietors an event which in 

 that year reduced rents one half, and thus saved 

 the tenantry from total ruin. 



The periods of the year at which tenants 

 remove from and enter farms are very various. 

 In many parts of England, Michaelmas, or 2Qth 

 of September, is the period for both grazing and 

 arable farms, that being the most suitable on 

 account of the number of great stock-fairs held at 

 that time, and other circumstances. In Scotland, 

 Martinmas, or nth of November, is the usual 

 period; though in East Lothian and the Border 

 counties, Whitsunday is the more frequent term 

 of entry. It is considered to be a most advan- 

 tageous rule, that in all cases the removal of an 



* Fiars prices in Scotland are the average prices for each 

 county, as fixed by the sheriff with a jury, upon the evidence of 

 the principal buyers of grain within the district. The average is 

 usually struck about the beginning of March for the crop of the 

 preceding year. 

 536 



outgoing tenant should be entire, not partial, as 

 bit-by-bit removals too often lead to disputes 

 between the retiring and entering individuals. 



Arrangement and Management. 



With respect to the arrangement and manage- 

 ment of a farm, we cannot do better than extract 

 the excellent digest of rules from the Code of 

 Agriculture : 



' i. The farmer ought to rise early, and see that 

 others do so. In the winter-season, breakfast 

 should be taken by candle-light, for by this means 

 an hour is gained, which many farmers indolently 

 lose, though six hours so lost are nearly equal to 

 the working-part of a winter-day. This is a 

 material object where a number of servants are 

 employed. It is also particularly necessary for 

 farmers to insist on the punctual performance of 

 their orders. 



' 2. The whole farm should be regularly in- 

 spected, and not only every field examined, but 

 every beast seen at least once a day, either by the 

 occupier himself or by some intelligent servant. 



'3. In a considerable farm, it is of the utmost 

 consequence to have servants specially appro- 

 priated for each of the most important depart- 

 ments of labour ; for there is often a great loss of 

 time where persons are frequently changing their 

 employments. 



'4. To arrange the operation of ploughing, 

 according to the soils cultivated, is an object of 

 essential importance. On many farms there are 

 fields which are soon rendered unfit to be 

 ploughed, either by much rain or severe drought. 

 In such cases, the prudent farmer, before the wet 

 season commences, should plough such land as is in 

 the greatest danger of being injured by too much 

 wet ; and before the dry period of the year sets in, 

 he should till such land as is in the greatest danger 

 of being rendered unfit for ploughing by too much 

 drought. The season between seed-time and 

 winter may be well occupied in ploughing heavy 

 soils, intended to be laid down with beans, oats, 

 barley, and other spring-crops, by means of the 

 scarifier. On farms where these rules are attended 

 to, there is always some land in a proper condition 

 to be ploughed. 



' 5. Every means should be thought of to 

 diminish labour, or to increase its power. For 

 instance, by proper arrangement, five horses may 

 perform as much labour as six, according to the 

 usual mode of employing them. One horse may 

 be employed in carting turnips during winter, or 

 in other necessary farm-work at other seasons, 

 without the necessity of reducing the number of 

 ploughs. When driving dung from the farm-yard, 

 three carts may be used one always filling in the 

 yard, another going to the field, and a third 

 returning. By extending the same management 

 to other farm-operations, a considerable saving of 

 labour may be effected.' 



To this digest it may be added, that the farmer 

 should habituate himself to keep regular accounts 

 of his affairs, which may be done by means of a 

 cash-book for all outlays and receipts as they take 

 place ; a labour-book, in which to mark the com- 

 mencement and time of work of every individual 

 employed ; a journal for entering daily transactions 

 and memorandums ; and a ledger, in which a 

 special debtor-and-creditor account is kept of 



