Covenants. 
325 
has, however, only half the residence till the following 1st of May. 
The outgoer has the other half, a portion of the stable, the barns 
and sheds : he threshes, and sells his corn, and does not work 
out till seven months after the expiration of his tenancy. 
Arrangements between persons so situated are delicate at the 
best of times. That a system so surely fertile in causes of dis- 
agreement as this old Hampshire custom works amicably (and I 
.am told it does), speaks volumes for the good temper of Hamp- 
shire farmers, and the amiability of their wives. Still, the 
coming guest is not welcomed, the parting guest is not sped ; 
and, as refinement spreads, men of capital, and women of culture, 
cannot be expected to acquiesce in this joint occupation of house 
and land. The south is gradually discarding the system. There, 
as one man steps out, the other steps in. All arrangements 
between them are made by a valuer on each side, who call in a 
third man, if unable to agree, which, however, very seldom 
happens. The valuation of tillages, seeds, purchased manures 
(all at cost prices), hay and straw at consuming prices, and some 
arrangement for threshing out the corn in rick, are soon made by 
two practical men, to the satisfaction of both parties. The 
tenant gains in comfort, and does not suffer in pocket, if the 
valuers, as reasonable men, give their award on the fair principle 
of mutual accommodation between incomer and outgoer. The 
landlord gains much from a plan which secures to him a tenant 
of some capital. 
The Norfolk system under which payment is for the crop of 
turnips and for the hay, that is, for results, not for means, is yet 
more perfect. But whenever I have suggested it to a Hants 
farmer, the answer has been, " Turnips are a casualty crop ; no 
one can be sure of them." 
But changes of agricultural customs require, for their working 
out, much time, because interests for a series of years are 
involved, and a man expects to go out on the same conditions as 
he came in.* 
As examples of existing practice in the county, I give abstracts 
(omitting all those ordinary covenants which require no men- 
tion) of two forms of lease, both of which have been carefully 
considered with reference to existing customs and engagements 
on the one hand, and approved chalk-farming on the other. 
In the first lease the term of years, as usual, is twelve, com- 
mencing at Michaelmas. The tenant to break up no meadow or 
* These remarks sliow a more keen appreciation of the defects attendant on an 
existing system than of the difficulties connected with the proposed substitute. 
For several reasons, in Valuations the Outgoer has the advantage over the Incomer ; 
and the capital of the latter is sunk, though not lost. If the new system be 
iiukcd introduced on the " fair principle of mutual accommodation," it will be a 
boon, but not otherwise.— P. H. F. 
