171 Norlhumbertancl and Durham in 1887. 64^ 
Mr. George Drysdale's Farm, Great Ryle, Alnwick. 
First Prize in Class III. 
This farm, of about 900 acres, is the property of the Earl of 
Ravensworth, and has been for many years in the occupation 
of Mr. Drysdale, who holds under a twenty-one years' lease, 
from the 12th of May, 1870. By the conditions of this lease 
the tenant undertakes to repair and insure the buildings, to 
manage in a husbandlike manner, to cultivate on the four-course 
system, and not to sow two white straw crops in succession. 
At the conclusion of the lease the outgoing tenant is to " hain " 
one-eighth of the grass (excluding the hill) from the 25th of 
March ; he is not to keep more than the usual number of stirks 
on the grass in the last six months, nor less than the usual 
quantity of cattle in the foldyards. The landlord enters on the 
lands for fallow on 1st December, and the tenant gets an away- 
going crop from one-half of the tillage lands coming in course 
for corn. The landlord is to lead this crop into the yard and 
to thresh it gratis. 
The rent of the farm is under the lease 1160/., but abatements 
of 10 and 15 per cent, have been made in recent years. There 
is a tithe rent-charge of 6/. a year, and the rates amount to 
about 70/. If the rent including tithe be apportioned on the 
quantities of arable pasture and hill given in the certificate of 
entry, probably the following relative prices will not be unfair : 
arable 35s., pasture 45s., hill lis. 6</. 
Great Ryle is a township in the parish of VVhittingham. 
Mr. Drysdale's farm lies about 12 miles west of Alnwick and 
8 miles north of Rothbury. Up to the present time these have 
been the nearest railway stations, but the new line of railway 
from Alnwick to Cornhill will give a nearer station and 
improve the means of communication with the outer world. 
The farm is an irregularly shaped figure, though entirely within 
a ring fence. On the south the river Aln is the boundary. 
From the river the farm runs for nearly 1^ mile northwards. 
About half-way in this direction lies the homestead on a road 
that cuts the farm from east to west, and at this point the farm 
extends nearly f of a mile in each direction. To the south of 
this road a very large proportion of the cultivated land lies, 
and the whole of the hill is on the northern side. The ground 
level at the river side is about 350 feet above the sea. Ascend- 
ing from the river, the slope is at first very gradual, 50 ft. in 
30 chains, or about 1 in 400, it then, from 400 ft.-500 ft., becomes 
rather steeper, 100 ft. in 18 chains, or 1 in 111), i'rom the 
VOL. XXIII. — S. S. 2 U 
