352 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF chap. XVI. 



" And as the tenant is thus certain, that, at 

 the very worst, his family must be entitled to 

 draw a reasonable remuneration for the exer- 

 tions of his industry, he can never find the small- 

 est tendency to slacken his endeavours in any 

 way. 



" By stipulating in the original lease, in the 

 same manner, that, at the end of the second 2 1 

 years, the lease shall be continued for 21 years 

 more ; and so on at the end of the third, and 

 fourth, and any farther number of periods of 

 2 1 years, on agreeing to pay a specified rise of 

 rent ; reserving to each party the same privile- 

 ges as above described, the lease might be conti- 

 nued to perpetuity, without either party ever 

 being in danger of having an undue advantage 

 over the other. The tenant will always be cer- 

 tain of having a preference given him over eve- 

 ry other person, and will, of course, go on with 

 unceasing exertions to better his land, which 

 will, of necessity, tend to augment the income 

 of the proprietor much more than could have 

 happened under any other system of manage-* 

 ment." 



At first sight this appears to be the most per- 

 fect plan of a lease ever yet devised ; and, to be 

 completely calculated, at once to accelerate the 

 improvement of the soil, and to secure the inte- 

 rest of both landlord and tenant. And yet, if it 

 does really possess the excellence ascribed to it, 

 how comes it that it has never found its way in- 

 to general practice. I have never heard of its 



