510  The  Yorkshire  Farm-Prize  Competition,  1883. 
from  Bridlington  to  Scarborough  is,  however,  an  exception  to 
this  otherwise  general  rule.  Mr.  Robinson,  of  Sands  House, 
Bridlington,  had  some  excellent  swedes,  and  all  along  the  coast 
the  plants  appeared  healthy  and  vigorous. 
Fallows  all  over  the  county  bore  strong  testimony  to  the 
effects  of  the  late  wet  seasons  in  the  harvest  of  couch,  w hich  was 
almost  everywhere  being  gathered.  Some  of  the  competing 
farms  were  like  their  neighbours  in  this  respect.  On  completing 
the  inspection  of  one  farm,  the  concluding  note  in  the  book  of 
the  Judge,  whose  pet  aversion  in  matters  agricultural  is  “ twitch,” 
runs  thus  : — “ A waste  of  time  and  loss  of  money  inspecting 
such  a disgracefully  filthy  farm.”  This  farm  has,  however,  some 
redeeming  features. 
Notwithstanding  the  friction  that  has  arisen  in  some  quarters, 
the  confidence  of  the  tenantry  in  their  landlords,  and  the  mutual 
good  feeling  which  prevails,  were  in  many  cases  very  marked. 
Proof  of  this  w as  not  far  to  seek,  wrhen  on  farm  after  farm  the 
Judges  found  substantial  permanent  improvements  in  the  shape 
of  buildings,  fences,  draining,  road-making,  &c.,  done  in  no 
meagre  fashion,  entirely  at  the  expense  of  the  tenants  without 
any  more  security  than  is  afforded  by  six  months’  notice  to  quit. 
Yearly  tenancies,  so  far  as  came  under  our  notice,  seem  to 
prevail  almost  universally  ; notwithstanding  which,  the  farmers 
have  expended  much  more  capital  and  labour  than  is  usually 
done  by  tenants,  the  cases  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Watson 
being  remarkable  examples.  Though  not  carried  to  the  same 
extent,  the  same  improving  spirit  prevailed  on  several  of  the 
other  competing  farms.  These  enterprizing  men  dropped  occa- 
sional hints  that,  though  they  had  great  confidence  in  their  land- 
lords, they  would  welcome  a good  measure  to  secure  to  tenants 
“ fair  and  reasonable  ” compensation  for  their  improvements. 
After  inspecting  several  improvements  of  this  nature  on  one 
of  the  farms,  the  following  conversation  ensued  : — 
Judge. — “ Have  you  no  security  or  agreement  for  compensation 
for  all  this  ? ” 
Farmer. — “ Not  a penny.” 
Judge. — “ Do  you  think  you  are  safe  in  doing  these  things?” 
Farmer. — “ It’s  all  right  ; Squire’s  the  best  landlord  in  the 
kingdom.” 
Judge. — “ But  he  may  die.” 
Farmer. — “ Doesn’t  matter  a bit,  as  long  as  there’s  one  o' 
t’  owld  stock  left.” 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  liberal  prizes  offered 
failed  to  elicit  a single  competition  from  any  of  the  charming 
“dales”  in  the  North  Riding.  These  dalesmen  and  their 
cattle  are  so  famous  all  through  the  north  of  England,  that  their 
