The Organisation oj the Industry. 9 



membered also that, on a large number of estates, the 

 improvements were the work of the tenants and the 

 increased rents resulting- from these improvements have 

 been secured by the landlords. In Scotland the system 

 of " improving leases " was a method by which 

 impecunious landowners let land at low rents to the 

 tenants, who found the rents raised on them at the end 

 of the leases, thus paying for their own improvements. 

 There was also the system of tenants paying interest on 

 the cost of improvements, which meant that they really 

 paid for the improvements. 



It is claimed that, besides providing the land and its 

 permanent equipment, the landowners perform a necessary 

 service to agriculture by managing and maintaining the 

 estates ; by selecting and guiding tenants ; by sharing in 

 the losses through reductions in the rent, and by acting 

 as the natural leaders in the industry. So long as the 

 land is cultivated by tenants, the management of the land 

 will be a separate function and it is contended that the 

 interest of the private owner secures this management 

 most efficiently. 



How far the private ownership of land in the past may 

 be defended on these grounds I am not concerned to dis- 

 cuss at the moment. What we have to consider is, whether 

 the landowner to-day is providing the necessary permanent 

 equipment to enable the industry to develop, and whether 

 his management of the land results in the best use being 

 made of the soil. In other words, is the landowner a 

 partner in the agricultural industry who is performing a 

 useful function which could not be performed better by 

 any other agency? Considered from the point of view of 



