40 JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Second Day, October 11, 1905 (Afternoon Conference). 



Subject — 



" LAND TENURE AND RATING DIFFICULTIES." 



Chairman — Arthur S. T. Griffith-Boscawen, Esq., M.P. 



In opening the proceedings the Chairman said : The branch of the subject, 

 or rather I should say the branches of the subject — because the question 

 of Land Tenure and the question of Rating are two distinct questions—- 

 the two branches we are discussing this afternoon might appear somewhat 

 dry and dull after the most interesting discussion which I had the pleasure 

 of hearing this morning, and the very interesting discussion which I am 

 informed you had yesterday afternoon. But they are both very important 

 questions for the future development of our industry, and therefore they 

 are questions which we ought to consider, and upon which we ought to 

 try to come to some right conclusions. I am one of those — and I gained 

 my experience from the fact that it was my privilege to preside over the 

 Government Committee last year — I am one of those who believe that a 

 great and further expansion in our fruit-growing industry is possible. 

 I think that for two reasons. I think the public demand for fruit is a 

 growing one, and I hope that it is ; and secondly I believe that if certain 

 difficulties and drawbacks, which the grower in this country has to 

 encounter at the present time, were removed, we might produce in this 

 country a great deal of the fruit which now has to be imported from 

 abroad. But if there is to be an expansion of the industry two conditions 

 are certainly necessary. In the first place we must be able to obtain the 

 land that we require for the purpose of fruit growing, and in the second place 

 we must take care that the occupiers of such land are not unfairly treated 

 in the way of taxation, whether it be imperial taxation or local taxation, 

 but that they are placed upon a footing of equality with the occupiers 

 of land used for other purposes. For that reason therefore, if we are to 

 have any expansion of the industry, as I firmly believe we shall have, the 

 solution of these two questions is most important. 



Well, now, dealing for a very few moments with the first question, the 

 question of land tenure, the matter is undoubtedly an exceedingly difficult 

 one. It must be remembered that land under fruit, especially land 

 where fruit is cultivated and where there has been a great expenditure of 

 capital, that land is in a different position from that used for ordinary 

 farming. In the case of ordinary farming in this country a great many of 

 the improvements are permanent improvements and are made by the land- 

 lord. In the case of the fruit-grower it is quite different : the improve- 

 ments due to the planting of fruit trees are in most cases entirely done 

 by the tenants, and the value of the land might be trebled, or quadrupled, 

 or even multiplied five times. No improvements which the fruit-grower 

 can make can be described as absolutely permanent, though they are often 

 of a lasting kind, so that where you have the case of landlord and tenant 

 it is easy enough to see that a great part of the value of the land under 

 fruit is entirely made by the tenants, and the real difficulty is that we 



