278 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



It is generally agreed among landlords that a tenant will do 

 better if he can plan to remain for three or five years, than if 

 he is uncertain how long he may remain. One year is required 

 for the tenant to become acquainted with the farm. 



On a dairy farm, where stock is let with the land, it is much 

 better that the same man should have charge of the cows for 

 a long period than for the tenants to be changing from year 

 to year. In case the cows are owned in partnership it is very 

 unsatisfactory to be dividing the herd every year. The follow- 

 ing quotation from a letter from a Wisconsin farmer, who lets 

 land on shares and furnishes a part of the stock, will help to 

 put this matter in a clear light : 



"If I knew the man to be a good one, and one that would suit, I 

 would prefer to let for a term of years, say from three to five years, 

 as a man only gets started the first year, for he has the farm to learn, 

 and it is not best to be changing stock every year. I think if a tenant 

 knows this to be his home, he will take more interest in keeping up 

 the place. But if you are not sure the man will suit, or be satisfied 

 to stay, I should rent for one year, as it is very easy to continue the 

 old contract or make a new one, as the case requires." 



If there is any difference, there seems to be more reason for 

 letting land for a number of years when let for cash than when 

 on shares. It is thought that the tenant will take much better 

 care of the land when he has it for a number of years. 



The system of crop rotation should be taken into account in 

 determining the period of the lease, so that the tenant may have 

 time to complete the rotation. It is a well-recognized fact that 

 where the land is so operated as to prove most profitable in the 

 long run, the tenant is required to make investments in the form 

 of labor in improving the tilth of the soil, in hauling manure, and 

 sowing grass seeds, on which he can realize the full return only 

 after a number of years. For this reason it is thought best to let 

 land for several years at a time. 



In Scotland this long ago led to the introduction of 19- and 

 2i-year leases, yet these very long-term leases have their objec- 

 tionable features even in Scotland, where the land is held in 

 large estates by rich men who have no thought of anything 



