On the Agricultural Improvements of Lincolnshire. 299 
its 30,000 acres of good turnip-land, divided by clipped hedges 
of thorn, where Mr. Young saw miles of gorse, and of course 
thousands of rabbits, I thought I had made tlie discovery of a 
domain equal in the spirit, magnitude, and rapidity of its im- 
provement to the well-known estate of Holkham ; and, having 
seen it again last October — though, in consequence I suppose of 
the weather, the turnips did not look so well as before — I think 
so still. Mr. Young was informed by the late Lord Yarborough 
that his wold-land then let for 5s. an acre. I may state that, tithe- 
free, it is now worth five times that amount : and great as is the 
change on the Brocklesby estate, it is not greater than the general 
change of these chalk-hills. The first step was of course grubbing 
the furze, paring and burning the rough peaty grass ; the latter 
costing a guinea per acre. Then there was brought a heavy 
dressing of chalk, 80 cubic yards to the acre, costing at the time 
665. ; last followed 60 bushels of bones, for bones were cheap 
in those days, and a bushel cost but l.v. 2x1., making another item 
of nearly At. I am told that the wolds have been chalked twice 
over ; and that, without chalking, the turnips are destroyed by 
the excrescence called " fingers and toes :" but even the first out- 
lay of the tenant amounted to more than 8/. per acre — a great sum 
for the individual farmer, and a very large amount upon the acreage 
of the whole district. And here, though I would by no means 
argue against the granting of leases, but think, on the contrary, 
that when a tenant is ready to sink his money upon a farm, he is 
entitled to that security, if he desire it, I must state in fairness that 
this large sum of 8/. per acre, or 8000/. on a farm of 1000 acres, 
has been expended on the farms at Brocklesby (according to the 
practice of Lincolnshire) only through well-merited confidence 
in the owner : and I must also mention, that whereas in East 
Lothian, where leases run in general for nineteen years, the lease 
and the tenancy are often ended together ; here, on the other 
hand, the farm, though on a yearly tenure, passes, almost as a 
matter of course, from father to son ; in one case, when a farmer 
dying left a son three years old only, two neighbouring tenants 
undertook, and were allowed by the landlord, to manage the farm 
for the infant, in trust until his majority. Nor has the spirited 
outlay on the part of the farmers been without its return. The 
parish of Limber, 4000 acres, was formerly let to four tenants, at 
J 25/. each, or 2.v. 6(i. an acre, and all four became bankrupts. It 
has been enclosed, is now well farmed, excepting what has been 
planted, and at the present rent the tenants are doing well. In 
some instances considerable fortunes even have been made. I 
may cite the case of Mr. R. Dawson, well known in the county, 
who occupied the entire parish of Wilhcall, 2G00 acres of ploughed 
ground, with one barn at the homestead. He was one of the 
