TWENTY-FIVE YEARS' WORK. 17 



tious of certain ruin under such a rent. Three or 

 four years m every case have, however, altered the 

 story. Every single man has thriven. They had 

 no choice but industry and manuring the land, and 

 these soon made a much greater difference to them 

 than the higher rent, and both the tenants and 

 farms are now in quite other condition than they 

 were in when the purchases were made. I need 

 not add the purchases pay a good deal better interest 

 than that at which they were bought. Two unfor- 

 tunates were so unwise as to refuse the offers made 

 to them ; many and bitter have been their lament- 

 ations since. 



So plain has the whole thing become, that hav- 

 ing lately taken an old tenant, in whose judgment 

 I had confidence, to help me in valuing land I 

 wished to buy, I had to discuss with him how much 

 the rents might be raised. In giving his opinion 

 that a much higher rent might be charged, he added, 

 " Of course they will grumble, and maybe at first 

 have hard work to pay, but in five years they will 

 be as well off as the rest of us." I was met not 

 long ago with the following speech : — " I cannot 

 understand how it is. Your property is let one- 

 third higher than many others in the neighbour- 

 hood, and yet your tenants are twice as independent 

 and well to do as those who are paying so much 

 lower rents." 



The answer, I believe, is in the facts stated above, 

 c 



