462 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



compensation varies according to the state of cultivation of the 

 land and the time of taking possession of it. 



In the southern districts, where the leases commence in Octo- 

 ber, the Pachters-regt applies only to the half-exhausted manure 

 and the manure kept in tanks, and does not exceed 70 or 

 80 francs per hectare on an average ; whilst in the neighbour- 

 hood of Ghent, where the farmers take possession at Christmas 

 or on the ist of March, the indemnity is paid for the crops in 

 the ground as well as the manure, and amounts to 400 or 

 500 francs for every hectare sown with corn (cmblav^). 1 



In Mr. Caird's " Letters on English Agriculture " it is stated 

 that in the counties of Surrey and Essex an inventory is usually 

 drawn up, similar to the Flemish prisy, which is an inventory 

 of unexhausted improvements. However, Mr. Caird is not very 

 much in favour of a custom which, in his opinion, is attended 

 with the following two drawbacks : 



ist. Costly valuations, lawsuits, and law expenses. 



2nd. The compensation for the inventory exhausts the resources 

 of the incoming tenant. 



Neither of these two drawbacks exists in Flanders, and neither 

 ought to exist in England. The inventory is drawn up by ex- 

 perts, and frequently by the notary of the locality, at a trifling 

 expense, and litigious proceedings hardly ever arise from this. 

 Where the crop in the ground is to be valued, as in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Ghent, the operation is indeed attended with some 

 difficulties ; but where the new-comer takes possession in October, 

 as in the environs of Courtrai, nothing need be valued except 

 the farmyard manure (of which the cubic volume may be readily 

 ascertained) and the half-exhausted manure ; and the inventory 

 is taken with the greatest facility. 



As regards the alleged diminution of the incoming tenant's 

 resources, this charge is groundless ; on the contrary, the prizy 

 increases his capital. He pays for manure on the spot, which he 



1 In an interesting manual for valuers of indemnities to be paid to outgoing 

 tenants, entitled " Het Pachters-regt ; door L. Delarue en van liockel," I find 

 valuations of compensations for lands sown with barley, colza, and wheat, amount- 

 ing to from 400 to 500 francs per hectare ; of which upwards of 300 francs are 

 for manure. 



