REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE FEUIT INDUSTRY. 529 



custom the general law as regards fruit plantations. As the law stands 

 now, a tenant holding under a yearly agreement is entitled to compensation, 

 whether the landlord gives him notice to quit, or he gives the landlord 

 notice. In the case of the landlord giving notice, no change is suggested. 

 If he chooses to get rid of his tenant, he must, in justice, compensate him 

 for any unexhausted improvements the latter may have made. The case, 

 however, is far different where the tenant gives notice. He may have 

 planted fruit rashly, or have made a large loss, and then may throw up 

 his holding, in the hope that the landlord may have to pay him a large 

 sum by way of compensation, even though, in fact, no incoming tenant 

 can be found. It is proposed, therefore, that, in order to establish a right 

 to compensation in cases where the tenant gives notice, the outgoer must 

 present to the landlord an incomer who is willing to become the tenant 

 of the holding at the same rent, and to buy the outgoer's interest in the 

 unexhausted improvements. The landlord, then, would neither pay nor 

 receive any money, and there would be no valuation as between him and 

 his late tenant — the outgoer and the incomer settling this between them. 

 But the landlord would have the option of refusing the nominee of the 

 outgoing tenant, only, if he did so, he would have to compensate the out- 

 goer, exactly as he has to do under the present law. In the event of the 

 tenant failing to find an incomer who would take the holding over, he 

 would not be entitled to receive any compensation ; but this would rarely 

 occur, as the tenant would in all probability not give notice until he had 

 made arrangements with a successor. The Committee have been dealing 

 thus far with yearly tenancies, but there would be no insuperable difficulty 

 in making the same principle apply in the case of leases. 



35. This plan has great advantages to recommend it. In many cases 

 it would get rid of the valuation difficulty altogether. The matter is put 

 upon its proper basis : — If the fruit upon the holding is of any value, the 

 outgoing tenant will have no difficulty in finding a successor : — If he 

 cannot find one, the presumption is that there is no value, and the land- 

 lord is not likely to be more successful in fie ding one than the tenant 

 was ; and, as there is no value, there should be no compensation. At the 

 same time, the landlord's control over his estate would not be destroyed : — 

 He could refuse the nominee of the outgoing tenant, and, if so, he would 

 pay compensation under the present law, and be no worse off than he is 

 now. The greatest advantage, however, would be the removal of what 

 has been the chief drawback to the successful working, for the benefit of 

 the tenant, of the Market Gardeners' Compensation Acts — namely, the fear 

 on the part of landlords that they may have to pay large sums by way of 

 compensation, and receive in return what is practically of little value. 

 This would to a great extent disappear, and in consequence they would 

 probably be more willing to let land for fruit-growing than they are at 

 present. On the other hand, it may be objected that it is, to some extent, 

 a curtailment of the privileges enjoyed by existing tenants under the 

 Market Gardeners' Compensation Acts. This difficulty could be met by 

 enacting that it should not apply in the case of existing tenancies ; and, 

 with regard to tenants in the future, the advantage of being able to obtain 

 land for the cultivation of fruit, easily, and without the restrictions now 

 made by landlords and their agents, would far outweigh the right to 



