LAND-AGENCY. 13 



As to those who have had practical training in purely agricultural 

 details only, they are, undoubtedly, much safer as land-agents than the 

 mere theorists ; still, they cannot be said to be fully qualified to carry 

 out the management of an estate in the highly enlightened way which 

 is found necessary to secure the permanent success expected in the 

 present age of improvement. The mere practical man is best qualified 

 for carrying out improvements on land under the directions of one of 

 higher attainments, but he is disqualified, from his want of theoretical 

 and general knowledge, from examining into the cause and effect of 

 things generally in the management of an estate, and from dealing with 

 the higher branches of business devolving on one who undertakes the 

 onerous duties of a land-agent. In the ordinary business of cultivating 

 the lands of an estate I have seldom seen a merely practical man go 

 far wrong, but, generally speaking, I have found him inclined to be 

 narrow in his ideas, and therefore deficient in taking broad and intelli- 

 gent views in regard to conducting the general affairs of a large estate 

 to a definite and satisfactory conclusion. 



Members of the legal profession are frequently put in charge of 

 estates, but, so far as I have had an opportunity of seeing their manage- 

 ment of landed property, I must say that it is, in general, of a very 

 defective kind. This, no doubt, arises from their want of training to the 

 outdoor departments of the business, their province being among the 

 accounts and law matters connected with it, while the improvement of 

 the property is either entirely neglected or but partially carried out. 

 I have, generally speaking, little hope of the improvement of an estate 

 when I see it managed by one who is merely a member of the legal 

 profession and nothing else, for in most cases he is more disposed to 

 draw money from it than to lay out any on it. I do not mean to infer 

 that this is always the case in regard to estates managed by law-agents, 

 for I have seen some properties highly improved under the management 

 of such men ; but, as a rule, agents of this class are unfit, from their 

 habits and education, to act as successful improvers and managers of 

 landed property. They view most things through the medium of the 

 law, and hence, in many cases, arise disputes with tenants and others, 

 and in this way the machinery becomes clogged, and does not work well. 



With regard to the men who have had both a practical and theoretical 

 education to fit them for the business of estate agents, there can be only 

 one opinion, and that is, that they are the kind of men who are most 

 likely to succeed and give all parties satisfaction. A man who has 

 undergone a thorough practical training in agricultural pursuits, on a 

 first-class farm and under a highly intelligent farmer, if he is at all of 

 good natural abilities, and has a desire to succeed in the pursuit, must 



