80 THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



may cause it to be too expensive for him to bring it to his farm. Tak- 

 ing all things into consideration, I should be in favour of handing the 

 straw and manure over to the incoming tenant at a valuation that is to 

 say, two valuers should be appointed, one by each party, or one man 

 mutually chosen, who shall value all the straw and manure on the farm, 

 for which the incoming tenant pays the outgoing one. This causes all 

 parties to pay more attention to the making of manure and the preserva- 

 tion of the straw. 



Where the crop is valued standing, and handed over to the incoming 

 tenant at that valuation, it is generally done in the following manner : 



It is estimated, in the first place, how many quarters or bushels there 

 may be to the acre. This is charged at so much per quarter, according 

 to the price of the kind of gvain at the time ; and the value of the straw 

 is also taken, if it has to be paid for. The expenses of reaping, leading, 

 and thrashing the grain are then deducted from the gross amount. 



We will presume that there is a crop of oats to value, and that we 

 estimate the quantity at six quarters per acre. Then it would stand 

 thus : 



Six quarters oats at 30s., 900 



Straw, worth 6s. per quarter, 1 16 



10 1C- 

 Deduct per acre 



Reaping, 10 



Leading, 050 



Thrashing and preparing for market, Is. 



per quarter, 060 



1 1 



Value of the crop per acre, . . 9150 



Wheat straw is iisually taken at about 9s. to 10s. per quarter on a fail- 

 crop, and barley straw at about 4s. 6d. per quarter. 



In the form of lease given it is stated, rule 21, "the price of the 

 corn and straw to be fixed and determined in like manner immedi- 

 ately after the fiars prices of the county in which the farm is situ- 

 ated has been struck." This mode of arriving at the value of grain, 

 which is practised in Scotland, is far from being correct. It may at 

 times come somewhat near the truth, but, as a rule, it is only a rough 

 mode of coming at a fair valuation. The average price is taken in the 

 months of February and March, and at that time in Scotland a large 

 proportion of the grain is not sold, a great many farmers purposely 

 holding back until the fiars prices are declared. After the averages are 

 taken, many changes might take place in the sale of grain, and thus 



