14 Tlie Agricultural Holdings (^England) Act, 1883. 
fifteen years' tenancy, because that would not be in accordance 
with the principles of the Act." Mr. Woolley adds : — 
" It may perliaps be taken to indicate, as a rough-and-ready 
general rule, to be modified according to circumstances, that of 
any capital sum, representing the increased value to the in- 
coming tenant, accruing from, or, to speak accurately, developed 
by, the outgoing tenant's outlay, about half should be held to 
belong to the latter, and half to the landowner." * 
Such a basis of apportionment, publicly suggested to his fel- 
low-valuers by a gentleman of position and acknowledged 
authority, is an important step towards a solution of the problem 
set by Parliament. It may be added that, in the discussions 
which afterwards occurred at the Surveyors' Institution on the 
same question,! the President's suggestion was accepted by 
valuers of experience, as affording a fair and reasonable basis of 
settlement, subject of course to any special circumstances which 
may occur in particular cases to modify any general rule.l 
Differences of opinion, however, prevailed. Another sugges- 
tion there made for a proper basis of apportionment may 
be stated thus : — Find out the value of an improvement to the 
incoming tenant, and the outgoing tenant's outlay upon it. The 
compensation to the outgoing tenant will be based upon that 
outlay ; the surplus, large or small, belongs to the owner. An 
extreme case was put to illustrate the working of this rule. A 
20-acre field, situated on a slope, is bounded at the bottom of 
this slope by a bank which prevents the water from draining 
through its natural outlet. In this water-logged state the field 
is worth no more than a shilling an acre. The tenant employs 
a labourer, who in one day, by digging a channel through the 
bank, finds vent for the water, and the field, being thus effect- 
ually drained at the cost of half-a-crown, becomes worth 211. 
instead of 2l5. a-year. How will you apportion this improved 
yearly value when the tenant quits his holding? Answer : the 
measure of his compensation is his actual outlay ; all the rest 
belongs to the landlord, being due to the inherent capability of 
the soil. So : — 
£ s. d. 
Improved yearly v<alue, 20?., at 30 years' purchase .. GOO 0 0 
Outlay of tenant on improvement 0 2 G 
£599 17 6 
Leaving as compensation for the outgoing tenant not 300/., 
one-half the improved value, but 2s. (id. ; while the landlord 
* 'Transactions,' vol. xvi. pp. 4-7. 
t II)., ' Proceedings ' of December 3, 1883. 
I lb., ' Proceodings' of December 17, pp. 82-3. 
