64 THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



fited by giving leases as the tenants are themselves ; in fact, in my 

 opinion, a landlord gains much more by a system of leases on his estate 

 than the tenants do. A lease is a great advantage to a tenant, and it is 

 much more so to the landlord. Where a tenant has his farm from year 

 to year, he has no security beyond twelve months before him, and the 

 consequence is, that he does not feel justified in expending his capital 

 on the farm, as he knows well that he is liable at any time to receive a 

 few months' notice to quit. He may know that it would benefit both 

 himself and the soil he tills to have it thoroughly trenched or subsoiled ; 

 but he also knows that it will take some years for him to reap sufficient 

 benefit from such improvements, and consequently when he has not got 

 a lease he has no security for such an outlay. 



A liberal application of manures, along with a thorough opening up 

 of the soil, will give an increase of produce for many years ; but a 

 tenant holding a farm without a lease cannot be expected to make 

 such improvements when he is liable to be ejected from his farm the 

 following season. In fact, a yearly tenant only does such work as will 

 benefit himself for the year he has no encouragement to look beyond 

 the year ; and we cannot blame a man in such a position for not expend- 

 ing his capital when he has no security for its return. On many 

 estates, if a tenant-at-will were to lay out his capital in improvements, 

 and thereby enhance the value of the land, the rent of that farm would 

 be raised; and this in many cases is a prohibition against the improve- 

 ment of his farm by a tenant-at-will. 



In recommending leases for tenants, it must be understood that I 

 only do so for tenants who are intelligent, trustworthy, and who have 

 capital at command. I have met with many farmers too many, I am 

 sorry to state who are so far behind the age, and who are men of no 

 education, that I could not consistently recommend any landlord to 

 give them a lease. It is much better to have a yearly tenant than to 

 have a poor ignorant tenant with a lease, who is a fixture on the estate 

 for a number of years, and cannot be got rid of. 



Although I am of opinion that any stringent rules in leases are unneces- 

 sary when dealing with farmers of intelligence and capital, yet I think that 

 a landlord ought to have it in his power to put a stop to bad farming 

 when this may take place with ignorant farmers. When a landlord has 

 a really good tenant, he should give him full scope to crop as he may 

 think best ; but yet, I repeat, where poor farmers are apt to get wrong, 

 there ought to be sufficiently stringent rules in their leases to prevent 

 them from impoverishing their farms. No doubt a farm will always be 

 kept in high condition by a good farmer, but there are so many different 

 classes of men who take to farming in these days, that it is necessary to 



