CHAPTER IV. 



ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT AS TO FRUIT 

 PLANTING IN DIFFERENT COUNTIES. 



Devonshire, where an orchard is re 

 garded as a necessary part of a farm hold- 

 ing, the estate provides the trees and 

 plants them, the tenant giving such assist- 

 ance as is required. The tenant does all 

 the subsequent tending and is held re- 

 sponsible for the trees. A great part of 

 the work done on the Devonshire estate 

 consists of the less satisfactory oj^eration 

 of planting up old orchards, which 

 have become very much dilapidated. 

 Wherever the tenant and the circum- 

 stances warrant the necessary outlay, a 

 new orchard is laid out to replace the old 

 one. In granting applications for trees, 

 consideration is always given to the char- 

 acter of the tenant. In the majority of 

 cases the tenants tend their trees satisfac- 

 torily, but they require a certain amount 

 of teaching and looking after. It is 

 noticeable that nearly all the applications 

 are for good sorts of market apples, and 

 not for cider apples. 



Cambridgeshire, around Thorney. Here 

 the practice has been quite different. The 

 orchard was not considered an essential 

 part of a farm, and any planting done has 

 been done entirely by the tenants. The 

 estate supplies the trees and labour at 

 cost price to the tenants if they wish it, 

 and the estate has also encouraged them 

 by giving a certain amount of assistance 

 by demonstration and teaching. 



Bedfordshire. — The small amount of 

 planting that has been done has been for 

 cottagers and growers (not ordinary 

 farmers). With the cottagers the plant- 

 ing has been purely philanthropic. The 

 estate supplies the trees and bushes, 

 plants and tends them. It also removes 

 them whenever it thinks fit. The idea 

 was for the estate to tend the trees for 

 oae or two years only, but it has done so 



for a longer time, as the cottagers are shy 

 of doing anything to them, chiefly through 

 fear of spoiling them, though it is believed 

 a small additional rent would willingly be 

 paid. In a few cases where growers have 

 planted, they have provided the trees and 

 done everything themselves, under an 

 agreement with the estate that on quitting 

 their tenancy their plantations should be 

 valued by an expert and paid for by the 

 estate. No instance has yet occurred of 

 such a tenant having to be compensated. 

 Anything but yearly leases are opposed 

 to the principles of the estate. Each case 

 of proposed planting would be considered 

 on its merits and modifications in the 

 arrangements made if necessary, always 

 preserving the two principles that the 

 tenant should be paid a proper value for 

 what he leaves for the landlord, and that 

 the landlord shall be called upon to pay for 

 no planting for which he has not given 

 his consent.* 



Cambridgeshire : Isle of Ely. — The 

 arrangements made between landlords and 

 tenants as to fruit planting vary accord- 

 ing to circumstances. Some few tenants 

 will plant small pieces at their own cost 

 and take the risk as to getting compen- 

 sation, but this is not done to any great 

 extent. In some cases the landlords will 

 provide the trees, bushes, etc., in which. 

 case there is usually an agreement that 

 he pays no compensation to the out-going 

 tenant. In other cases, previous to the 

 passing of the Market Gardeners' Act, 

 landlords would agree for the tenant to 

 plant at his own cost, and allow him com- 

 pensation on leaving. This is now pro- 

 vided for under the said Act, the only con- 

 dition being that the tenant shall not plant 



*Mr. Spencer Pickering, on the Duke of Bed- 

 ford's estate. 



