CHAPTER VI. 



HOME PAEMS. 



THE term " Home Farms " is applied to the farms which landed pro- 

 prietors retain under their own management. They are usually kept in 

 hand for the purpose of affording a pastime and amusement to the land- 

 lord and his family, and also for the purpose of supplying the numerous 

 articles of farm produce required by a large establishment, and occa- 

 sionally with the view of showing an example in farming to the tenants 

 on the estate. Many proprietors take, from time to time, farms into 

 their own management which have got into poor condition, or one in 

 need of improvement, but what I more immediately mean to treat of 

 under this head is the lona fide " home " or domain farm as first men- 

 tioned. It is a notorious fact that very few home farms are considered 

 remunerative as agricultural speculations. Where this is the case they 

 cannot be shown off as examples to the tenants, as of course it is all 

 very well cultivating the land in a very perfect manner, and having the 

 stock, buildings, and everything else on it of the most approved descrip- 

 tion, but so long as the home farm does not return a fair profit it cannot 

 be regarded as a model worthy of imitation. A proprietor has many 

 opportunities for conducting operations in a superior manner on his 

 home farm, with the view of inducing his tenants to do the same ; but 

 so long as these operations, whatever they may be, are not conducted 

 profitably, they must fall short of the object in view. It is a very com- 

 mon opinion that home farms cannot pay. They are looked upon as 

 experimental farms, or as the hobby of the landlord. I cannot see, 

 however, why home farms should not pay, unless the proprietor inter- 

 feres too much with a good farm-bailiff, or unless the farm-bailiff is 

 incompetent. 



Let us look into some of the reasons why home farms do not pay ; 

 and, in the first place, I have found a very common opinion amongst 

 labourers employed on such farms, that they* need not work so hard for 

 a proprietor of a farm as they would have to do for a tenant. This is a 

 great evil, and unless the farm-bailiff is sharp enough to prevent any 



