496 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



Sect. III. Of the Kinds and Tenures of Landed Property in Ireland. 



3163. The kinds of landed properti/ in Ireland are limited to freehold and leasehold; 

 there are no manorial rights apart from the soil as in England, or feudal rights or holdings 

 as in Scotland. 



3164. The tenure of lands in Ireland is very simple. It is in general derived 

 from grants made by the crown on the payment of a certain quit rent received by the 

 excise collector of the district. This is the fundamental tenure, and the only other 

 is leases granted by such proprietors ; some of these leases are for ever, or on lives, re- 

 newable for ever on payment of a certain fine for the insertion of a new life when one 

 drops, or for leases of 999 years, and almost every variety of term with and without 

 lives between that and 21 years. There are no feudal tenures in Ireland ; the only 

 abstract right being that of tithes and parochial or other taxes. (See WakefiekVs Account 

 of Ireland.) 



Chap. II. 



Of the Valuation of Landed Property. 



SI 65. When lands are valued with a view to sale or jnirchase, the tenure is the first 

 subject of attention. Tlie nature of the tenure often occasions some diflficulty in as- 

 certaining its value, but by ascertaining the value of the fee-simple, or freehold tenure, 

 the value of inferior holdings may be found by known rules of calculation, the prin- 

 cipal of which we have already noticed (3094). 



3166. The fee- simple value of lands is liable to fluctuation, by general causes ; and is 

 likewise affected, and in much higher degree, by local circumstances. Lands of the 

 selfsame quality are of fivefold value, in one situation, comparatively with what they are 

 worth in another : not merely, though principally, on account of the rental value, or 

 the current price they will let for, to tenants, in different situations ; but through 

 other less permanent causes ; as the quantity of land at market, and the number and 

 value of purchasers, in a given district ; as well as the temporary spirit which prevails 

 in it, witfi respect to the possession of landed property, at the period of sale : cir- 

 cumstances that are worthy of attention, by a purchaser whose views are not confined 

 to any particular spot. 



3167. The usual method of coming at the fee-simple value of land is, to ascertain its 

 fair rental value, or price by the year, and to multiply this by the number of years' 

 purchase which the existing demand for land will bear, in the given situation, at the 

 time of sale. 



3168. The number of years'' purchase, or the ratio between the rent and the sale 

 value of lands, varies greatly, as from twenty to forty, twenty-five to thirty being the 

 more ordinary numbers. Thus, a parcel of land whose fair rental value is one hundred 

 pounds, is, in common cases, worth from two tliousand five hundred to three thousand 

 pounds. 



3169. But the real rental value, which is the only firm groundwork tp proceed upon, 

 whether in the purchase or the management of landed property, cannot easily be ob- 

 tained. Speaking generally of the lands of England, it is what very few men are able 

 to set down. It is true, that, in every district, and almost every township, there are men 

 who tolerably well know the rate at which the lands of their respective neighborhoods 

 are usually let. But interchange them, reciprocally, into each others districts, and their 

 errors would be egregious, for reasons already suggested. Nor can a mere provincial- 

 ist, especially in a district which is unenlightened by modern improvements, be aware of 

 the value, even of his own farm, under the best course of management of which it may 

 be capable : nor can he see, through the double veil of ignorance and prejudice, the 

 more permanent improvements that may be made upon it, so evidently as one who has 

 a more general knowledge of rural subjects, and is in the habit of detecting and prose- 

 cuting such improvements. Yet it very materially concerns an intended purchj^ser, in 

 these improving times, to know, before he make his last offer for an estate, whether it is, 

 or is not, capable of being improved beyond its existing value ; and what, if any, is the 

 probable amount of improvement : for he is else liable to lose a valuable purchase, 

 through his being out-bidden by a better informed candidate. These facts being evident, 

 it follows, that before an offer be made, especially for a large purchase, it is no more 

 than common prudence, in a man who is not himself a judge, to call in two- 

 fold assistance : a provincial valuer, to estimate its fair market price, to the tenants of 

 the neighborhood in which it lies ; and a man of more general knowledge, to check 



