Rent. 5<r 



rent should be payable in money, and part in corn, not in kind, 

 but in money, according to the average value of a number of 

 years. This plan is enforced by law, to the extent of one- 

 third, in college leases ; and thus an income is secured, in some 

 degree proportioned to the value of money. 



This mode, however, is not without its difficulties. The 

 amount of rent, for improvable, and well-cultivated farms, 

 does not depend so much on the price of grain, as is common- 

 ly imagined. A large proportion of such farms, usually pro- 

 duce green crops, the value of which depends upon the prices 

 of beef, mutton, and wool, and not on that of grain. Various 

 circumstances also may arise, which may reduce the price of 

 particular sorts of grain below its usual level, (for example, 

 barley, when the distilleries are stopped) ; or may raise it dis- 

 proportionably much higher, in case a large proportion of the 

 wheat crop should be destroyed by rust or mildew ( l95 ). But 

 if the proposed payment, by the conversion of corn into money, 

 be extended to the various sorts of grain usually cultivated 

 in the district, and be restricted to one-half of the rent, it does 

 not seem liable to any material difficulty. If the payment al- 

 so, depends on the average of seven or more years, the main 

 objection to a corn rent, that the farmer is often liable to pay 

 the most, when he is the least able to do it, is removed. On 

 the same principles, the rent of sheep farms, ought to be at 

 least partly regulated by the price of wool, and of dairy farms, 

 by the prices of cheese and butter. 



3. Periods of payment. These ought to be made so con- 

 venient to the tenant, that he may not be under the necessity 

 of selling the produce of his farm to disadvantage, for the sake 

 of ready money ; nor should he be compelled to pay his rent 

 out of his capital, for that would cripple all his future exer- 

 tions. The periods should vary according to the nature of 

 the occupation, and the time when the tenantcy commenced. 

 It is advisable, however, to have the rent payable at two pe- 

 riods of the year, in order to divide the burden of the payment, 

 and that the tenant may not have any money unemployed, 

 which too often leads to waste, and unnecessary expenses. 



On the whole, the most successful farmers are those, who 

 embark a capital sufficiently large in their undertaking; 

 who feel it their duty to watch over that capital with unceas- 

 ing care, and to add to it whenever it is practicable ; and 

 who have agreed to pay a fair, but not a speculative rent for 

 the lands they cultivate ( I9<J ). 



