62 THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



be certain to deal with their subjects were they but allowed to act for 

 themselves, because they, as well as gardeners, see that it would be 

 profitable for them I mean, of course, the advanced class of farmers. 



"With regard to leases, therefore, my opinion is, that no educated 

 and skilful farmer, having abundant capital for the proper working of 

 his farm, should be restricted under heavy penalties to a certain mode 

 of cropping, from which he dare not depart under any circumstances ; 

 but he should be bound to keep up a high state of fertility in the land 

 he may occupy, and thus far only viz., that he is to maintain his land 

 in the "highest possible state of fertility, and to keep it perfectly clear of 

 weeds, at all times during the currency of his lease. With a well-quali- 

 fied class of tenants, having ample means at command, there would be 

 no further restrictions found necessary, as their own interest would 

 lead them naturally to attend to this. With poor, ignorant, and un- 

 skilful tenants, however, the case is very different. One thing seems 

 clear in regard to the practice of restricting farmers in their leases 

 to certain modes and rotations of cropping ; to wit, that if landlords 

 continue to enforce these restrictions, they will get only inferior tenants to 

 submit to them, as it is not to be expected that any really independent 

 and well-educated man will submit to be tied down in the way indicated 

 by the letter of the leases hi general use. It should therefore be a matter 

 of serious consideration with proprietors how far they can Secure an 

 improvement in this respect when letting the farms on their estates. 



The following remarks on this point, from Wilson's ' British Farming,' 

 deserve consideration : 



It is common enough for landlords or their agents to tie down the tenantry over 

 large estates to the rigid observance of some pet rotation of their own. In an 

 unimproved state of agriculture, and for a tenantry deficient both in capital and 

 intelligence, such trammels, kindly enforced, may be as beneficial to them as to their 

 landlord. But when the culture of the soil is undertaken by men of good education, 

 who bring to the business ample capital, and skill to use it to the best advantage, 

 such restrictions are much more likely to do harm than good to both parties. It is 

 to be observed in regard to those restrictive clauses usually inserted in farm leases 

 such as that two grain crops shall never be taken in immediate succession ; that no 

 hay, straw, or turnips shall be sold from the farm ; that only certain limited quanti- 

 ties of potatoes or flax shall be grown ; that land shall be two or more years in grass, 

 &c. that they all proceed on the supposition that the farm is to maintain its own 

 fertility. They obviously do not contemplate the stated purchase of large quantities 

 of guano, bones, and similar extraneous manures, or the consumption by live stock of 

 linseed-cake, grain, or other auxiliaries to the green crops produced on the farm. 

 Now, not only are such clauses incompatible with such a system of farming as we 

 have just now indicated, but their direct tendency, if enforced, is to hinder a tenant 

 from adopting it even when disposed to do so. We hear nowadays of tenants who 

 are annual purchasers of these extraneous fertilising substances to the extent of 20s. 

 to 30s. worth for every acre occupied by them. To enforce the same restriction on 



