Security of Tenure.* In order to grow maximum 

 crops, it is necessary to clean, manure and cultivate the 

 land well. It is sometimes requisite to put a lot of work 

 into the fences and water-courses round the arable land. 

 All these improvements mean expense. They may last 

 for several years, and if the tenant has to leave unexpectedly 

 on account of the farm having been sold, he may not be able 

 to realise the amount of money he has invested in improving 

 the land. 



The experience of not a few Tenant Farmers has been 

 that a bad Farmer has usually been allowed to go on, more or 

 less, at the old rent, while the hard-working, progressive 

 tenant who has improved his land, has often to face the 

 alternative between an increase in Rent or a notice to quit. 

 Such a clog on the Food Production wheels ought not to be 

 possible : the moral and practical results are both very 

 bad indeed. 



It is quite hopeless to build a healthy, vigorous scheme 

 of increased Food production on the shifting sands of insecu- 

 rity of Tenure. 



The compensation for improvements made has so 

 often proved unsatisfactory to the outgoing Tenant, that 

 the only way to get the maximum amount of Food pro- 

 duced is (1) To have some check on Rent raising on the 

 Tenants improvements, and (2) To give "good" Farmers 

 security of tenure, or failing that, the option of a two 

 years notice to quit instead of one. A good Land Purchase 

 Scheme would no doubt accelerate Food production wonder- 

 fully, as long as the Private money-lenders are either kept 

 out or controlled by the State. 



Shortage of Labour. The labour difficulty has 

 been very trying indeed, but Farmers like other folks show 

 themselves to be quite willing to put up with the inevitable. 



On the other hand it has been difficult to convince many 

 men in authority that a skilled Farm Workman is exceed- 

 ingly hard to replace. 



Many genuine attempts have now been made to supply 

 the Farmers with the best labour obtainable under existing 

 conditions. 



* See also English Farming, Past and Present, by R. E. Prothero, pp. 399 & 401. 



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