THE FARMERS' CABINET, 

 AMERICANHERD-BOOK, 



DEVOTED TO 

 AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. 



"The Productions of the Earth will always b<- in proportion to the culture bnstowfld upon it." 



Vol. VII No. 3.] 



10th mo. (October,) 15th, 1842. 



[Whole No. 93. 



JOSIAH TATUffl, 



PROPRIETOR AND PUBLISHER, 



No. 50 North Fourth Street, 

 PHILADELPHIA. 



Edited by the Proprietor and James Pedder. 



Price one dollar per year. — For conditions see last page. 



For the Fanners' Cabinet. 



Hints for the Improvement of Agri- 

 culture. 



Under the above head, there are contain- 

 ed some invaluable remarks in the last num- 

 ber of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 

 on the effect of Leases in the holding of farms, 

 whether as it regards the welfare of landlord 

 or tenant The writer observes, " My object 

 is, to suggest to the land-owners, the propri- 

 ety of abandoning the practice of letting their 

 farms from year to year, and of adopting in 

 lieu thereof, short leases (!) of, say from 

 twelve to twenty years. The first grand 

 evil of the tenant-at-will system is, that it 

 checks the spirit of agricultural improve- 

 ment. When agriculture was, to all appear- 

 ance, a stationary practice, this method of 

 letting the land might have little effect of 

 consequence to the farmer ; but now, that it 

 has become a progressive science, how many 

 impediments does the system oppose to its 

 equal progress as a practice ? We know that 

 every change from evil to good in manage- 

 ment, involves an outlay of capital ; we 

 know, too, that in every field there is an 

 unworked mine of agricultural wealth — but 

 it cannot be brought to light without an ex- 

 penditure of money, which, once sunk in the 

 soil, can only be recovered in the course of 

 years. Can the farmer then, who has his 

 farm from year to year only, with justice to 

 himself and family, enter freely on this out- 

 lay ? He may do something, but how much 

 less than he ought to do? and how many are 

 there who will do nothing in such cases, 

 except what is compulsory; and are they 

 blamable? Human prudence, family affec- 

 tions, aye, and selfish care, will oppose many 

 and pungent obstacles to a man's investing 

 his capital in a speculation, the proceeds of 

 which he may never be permitted to reap ; 

 Cab.— Vol. VII.— No. 3. 



for though he may actually be safe, he has 

 no real security that he is so ; and the very 

 idea of this, is enough to alarm his worldly 

 prudence, and effectually to put away his 

 ideas of permanent improvements or large 

 outlays. But were the tenant ever so confi- 

 dent in the faith of his landlord, his landlord 

 is but a man, and as such he may err, and 

 he must die! and the same rule applies to 

 the tenant himself; yet if either of these 

 contingencies should happen to one or the 

 other, what is the consequence ? If either 

 of the parties should err — and the tenant 

 can no more answer for himself than he can 

 for the owner of his farm, and necessity may 

 tempt either to do that which is not strictly 

 just — misconceptions might arise and pro- 

 ceedings result, the consequence of which, 

 if it be merely a separation of interests in 

 the eye of the land owner, is ruin to the too 

 confiding tenant, whose little whole is in- 

 vested in the soil. And again, if either 

 should die, where is the tenant's capital ? 

 If the event brings a change of ownership, 

 who can answer for the conduct of the new 

 possessor] he may look with a mistaken 

 view on the subject; and if he has purchased 

 the farm, he may suppose he has purchased 

 it as it is, and not as it was before the ten- 

 ant had employed his capital upon it; and 

 then the latter will have the hardship of 

 paying interest, in an increase of rent, for 

 his own money. Or trustees may become 

 in possession, and justice to the interests of 

 their ward, may overbalance generosity to 

 the tenant. And should the tenant, under 

 these circumstances, die — what is his death- 

 bed consolation? Why, that with him dies 

 that which should have ministered to the 

 comfort of the widow and the fatherless ! 

 And this is a case which has been too often 

 verified — can it then be maintained that the 

 system of year by year leases, does not check 

 the progress of agricultural improvement? 

 When we look around and see how many of 

 the present race of yearly tenants have pro- 

 gressed in intelligence — when we witness 

 what advances they have made in the prac- 

 tice of agriculture in spite of this miserable 

 system, we may judge of the improvement 

 which would spread over the face of the 



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