18 Of Leases. 



for a determined period, he can have no inducement to make any sub- 

 stantial improvement *. Tenants at will, from the very nature of 

 their tenure, are almost precluded from the possibility of making im- 

 provements, whilst they have it in their power to ruin the land they 

 occupy f. Such is the difference between a precarious and a certain 

 tenure, that the same land, which, at will, is only worth 20s. per 

 acre, is considered to be worth 40s. with a lease of 21 years J. It 

 has been justly observed, that it is of little consequence whether a far- 

 mer is possessed of a capital, if, from want of security in his posses- 

 sion, he is afraid to lay it out : and if he has no capital, he cannot 

 procure any assistance from others, to invest in improvements, how- 

 ever profitable they might be with this essential security . 



The periods for which leases are usually granted, are : Short leases 

 for 3, 5, or 7 years; Moderate leases for 14, 19, or 21 years; 

 Long leases for 25, 31, or 57 years; Leases for one life; Leases 

 for two or three lives ; and, Leases upon the payment of a fine. 



1. Short leases are better than none, provided they extend to at 

 least the number of years included in the course of cropping that may 

 be adopted ; and they may be less exceptionable, where a farm is in 

 good condition and well cultivated ; but under such leases, agriculture 

 can never be carried to a high degree of perfection ||. A tenant on 

 a short lease, has no inducement to try experiments ; and consequent- 

 ly, agriculture, on his farm, must remain for ever stationary. A man 

 who has a considerable capital, and wishes to employ it in extensive 

 farming, has a right to look for the comforts and conveniences of life, 

 for himself and his family, with some degree of certainty and indepen- 

 dence ; and if he obtain no security for possessing them in the line of 

 agriculture, under adequate leases, he will most assuredly renounce 

 so unpromising a profession, and employ himself and his capital in 

 some other pursuit. . Leases of considerable duration, therefore, are 

 most essential requisites, for promoting the interests of agriculture, in 

 all cases. 



2. Leases for about 20 years <[[, are greatly preferable to shorter 



* In particular cases, tenants at will do place such implicit confidence in 

 the honour of a great family, distinguished by immense wealth, and hereditary 

 virtues (for instance on the Devonshire estate), as to lay out to the amount of 

 some thousands of pounds on single farms, Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 36. 

 But such cases are rare, and many have suffered in other districts from mis- 

 placed confidence. See Cornwall Report, p. 22. 



f Middlesex Report, p. 83. 



j Oxfordshire Report, p. 2. In Norfolk, the difference of having a lease, 

 is reckoned worth twenty per cent. Kent's Norfolk, p. 124. 



Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 56, and vol. iii. p. 634. 



y Marshall recommends leases for six years certain, with ,a condition, that 

 if neither party gives notice to quit before the expiration of the first three years, 

 the term be then prolonged for nine years, and so on from six years to six 

 years, until three years' notice be given by either party. On Landed Property, 

 p. 365. This is much better than no lease, but still it does not furnish an ade- 

 quate encouragement to expenditure and improvement. 



f The exact number of years ought in some measure to depend upon the 

 course of crops ; for the tenant ought to have the advantage of at least three 

 complete rotations. 



