12 



to say, to plant and fence the trees. The 

 old custom was for the landlord to find 

 trees and the tenant to fence and plant, 

 but everything depends upon the planting 

 and the tenants will not, as a rule, incur 

 the expense of doing this work thoroughly. 

 For instance, every hole when planting in 

 pasture land should be dug 6 feet in 

 diameter and 2 feet deep, otherwise the 

 trees will run the risk of being " root 

 bound." Then, again, the fencing should 

 be done in such a way as not only to pro- 

 tect the trees from the stock, but to in- 

 sure that the bark of the tree shall not be 

 injured. Too much importance cannot be 

 paid to " mulching " of the trees. 



It is absolutely essential that the trees 

 shall be well mulched with manure in the 

 spring, as it will not only feed the young 

 tree, but keep the roots cool. But expert- 

 ence shows that comparatively few tenants 

 will attend to all this — they invariably say, 

 " the trees will not come to full bearing 

 in my time, and why should I have the 

 trouble of looking after them." 



It would seem to be almost better to 

 have a separate agreement with respect 

 to newly planted orchards, clearly defining 

 the obligations of the landlord and the 

 tenant, and if the farm be let on lease it 

 might be well to fix the rent on a sliding 

 scale, as it is only fair to remember that 

 for the first few years the tenant would 

 really derive very little profit from the 

 plantation.* 



Worcestershire. — Mr. Albert Buck, of 

 Worcester, wrote : " I am all in favour of 

 settling terms with a tenant before he 

 plants," and quoted the following ex- 

 ample of the difficulty that may arise if 

 this is not done : — 



A small farm situate about two miles 

 from here, containing about fifty-four 

 acres, was let for a term of fourteen years 

 from the 29th September, 1885, rent £175. 

 Of the fifty-four acres about thirty-two 

 were arable. Some time previous to the 

 expiration of the lease the lessee obtained 

 the lessor's consent to plant this arable 

 with fruit trees ; the latter did not realise 

 that he was incurring any liability. 



" At the time the lease expired the 

 " thirty-two acres was a plantation of 



*Messrs. Bruton Knowles and Company, 

 Gloucester. 



" plums, gooseberries, and currants, just 

 " in full- bearing. The lessee claimed the 

 " sum of £10,500, the amount of compen- 

 " sation which, under the Agricultural 

 " Holdings Act, 1883, and the Market 

 " Gardeners' Act, 1895, he was entitled to. 



" The claim was, no doubt, very exces- 

 " sive, but as it was made on the basis 

 " of a valuation by a nurseryman of good 

 " standing here, it would, if contested, 

 " have been an exjoensive enquiry, and 

 " the lessors had not means to devote to 

 " the purpose. It ended in our selling the 

 " irhole property to the lessee for £5,500, 

 " he foregoing his claim. The year 1899 

 " was an exceptionally good year for plums 

 " and gooseberries, both as regards 

 " quality and price, and if we had fought 

 " the case I have no doubt £3,000 or 

 " £4.000 may have been recovered; it is 

 ■' impossible to say what would have been 

 " the result. I wish the lessor had been 

 " able to fight; it would have been a valu- 

 " able test case. I fancy there have been 

 " many of the same kind." 



Worcestershire : The Evesham System 

 OF Free Sale. — In reply to a question : 

 " What advantage to the landlord is the 

 planting of fruit if there is free sale of 

 tenant right?" Mr. G. New has kindly 

 replied that the advantage to the landlord 

 if the tenant plants trees is that the former 

 is able at the end of the tenancy to get 

 more rent for the land. But if he allows, 

 as is more often the case, the outgoing 

 tenant to sell to the incoming tenant, in 

 the first place he always secures a good 

 substantial tenant and has in addition a 

 considerable security in case rent gets in 

 arrear, by the value of the ingoing. It 

 may also be said that he keeps up the 

 rent which for Evesham land is cei'tainly 

 high. 



Mr. G. Jones, of Evesham, also replied 

 to this question: — "The land insures a 

 " good tenant, and if there is a change of 

 " tenancy the incoming tenants will often 

 " pay a slight increase of rent voluntarily. 

 " Take this case, for instance. Lady 

 " Northwich had a farm which, as a 

 " farm, let at 10s. per acre, it was cut up 

 " into thirty tenancies. Rent started at 

 " £1 to £2 per acre, tenants commenced to 

 " plant and the whole farm became fruit 

 " plantations; it was then offered for sale 

 " for the purchaser to compensate the 



