DURHAM AND NOllTnUMBERLAND. 9 



the first corn or pulse crop is taken." I.eases are not very general in 

 the county. Lord Portman has granted very long ones to his tenants, 

 half the rent being fixed at a money price, and the other half regulated 

 by the price of barley and wheat, taken on the average of the United 

 Kingdom, as returned by the London Gazette, 



Durham and Northvmlcrland.—TliQ customs in Northumberland and 



Durham arc much alike. Some estates are let on an annual tenancy, 



but the best cultivated and most productive, are let on leases. Fifteen 



years is a common term of lease, but on large farms, or where much 



improvement is contemplated, involving a large outlay by the tenant, a 



term of 21 years is not unusual. The general time of entry is the 13th 



of May ; but it is stipulated that the outgoing tenant shall preserve 



uneaten a certain portion of new grass for meadow, and of old meadow 



land, if there be any, from the end of the preceding October, the 



incoming tenant finding the grass seeds, or paying for them afterwards. 



The away-going crop belongs to the outgoing tenant, by whom it is 



sown, and he is entitled to reap it, and to retain the stack garth, barns 



and granaries till the 13th of May ensuing ; but it is a better plan, and 



becoming customary, to bind the out-going tenant to sell, and the 



incoming tenant to purchase, the standing crop at harvest, by the 



valuation of two parties mutually chosen, who shall choose an umpire, 



leaving the prices to be determined by the market averages of the 



district at three periods, — November, February, and May, at each of 



which a payment shall be made. The threshing machine, if a fixed 



one, is also transferred by valuation in like manner, so that the entering 



tenant gets possession of the whole of the premises and produce at once. 



The new tenant has a right to enter into, and plough the stubble land 



intended for fallow or root crops in the ensuing year, after October, 



and to cart out manure to it during the winter, but it is better, and 



frequently stipulated for, that such work shall be done by the out-going 



tenant, who has little occupation for his draughts, and that he be paid 



per acre for doing so, by the incoming tenant. The tenant is bound 



to the repair of buildings and fences (walls, roofs, and main timber 



excepted). Tenants are required to insure against fire. Draining is 



done by the landlord, the tenant carting materials, and paying five per 



cent, upon the outlay for labour and pipes. In some cases, as on the 



estates of Lord Grey, the Greenwich Hospital, and others, compensation 



is given, on a fixed ratio, for lime and purchased manures applied 



during the last three years of the term, in case the tenant leaves the 



farm. In all cases the manure made upon the premises must be applied 



to the farm. 



