232 IMPROVEMENTS IN CLAY-LANDS. 



tlie system to be followed witli the first improved portion of 

 tlie farm ; but eacli year a similar quantity is to underg'o the 

 same process, and to be cropped similarly, until the whole 

 larm has been subjected to a complete overturn. The fencing- 

 of the fields is the next operation to be considered. The 

 most suitable fences for a farm, consisting* wholly of clay, 

 are, in my opinion, those composed of thorn or furze. The 

 furze is superior to the thorn, inasmuch as it forms a suffi- 

 cient fence in a much shorter time, and, if kept down and 

 jH'operly trimmed, very soon grows into a useful and orna- 

 mental fence. It is formed thus : — a narrow ditch is to be 

 cast round the field, and the soil taken from it to be formed 

 into a mound by the side of it. On the top of this mound, 

 and while the earth is yet fresh and moist, the seed is to be 

 sown and carefully covered up. A pound of seed is sufficient 

 to sow 200 yards, and the best season for sowing" it is in 

 April. This sort of fence is often objected to, on account of 

 want of durability; but, if kept reg"ularly pruned once a 

 year, in June, it will last for many years. In Wig'tonshire, 

 the furze-hedge is very much adopted, and there they are to 

 be seen 6 feet high ; and being" kept as before noticed, they 

 form an ornamental fence, as well as a shelter to the fields 

 adjoining". Having" thus endeavoured to point out the sys- 

 tem upon which clay land is to be improved, I shall now 

 proceed to the second head of my subject, namely, " How 

 this system is to be most effectually secured." It is obvious 

 that upon the relationship which exists between landlord 

 and tenant depends, very materially, the march of improve- 

 ment in agriculture, as a branch of public industry. A 

 certain amount of capital is essential to the successful culti- 

 vation and improvement of the land. But the owner of this 

 capital must first be satisfied that he can employ it with 

 advantage, beibre he will be induced to lay it out. The 

 uncertain tenure, then, by which a great proportion of the 

 Ifind throughout England is held, serves as an insuperable 

 barrier to the investment of capital in the cultivation thereof. 

 It thus appears that a farmer, in expending" mone}'' in im- 

 proving the land he uses, must have some security for a 

 return adequate to the capital he has sunk. This security 

 is only to be found in a written covenant, subsisting" a de- 

 finite and adequate period. It will be seen, then, from the 

 foregoing remarks, that, to form a proper relationship between 

 landlord and tenant, "the lease" must be substituted for 



