84 
Report on the Aijricultare of Belrjium. 
forth; and the incoming tenant pays the outgoing one for 
performing those operations which he previously was obliged to 
do himself before the commencement of his tenancy. Then, at 
the expiration of his lease, the new tenant, according to cove- 
nant, is obliged to leave the farm as he found it ; that is to say, 
to leave the landlord an equivalent of those crops which had 
been presented to him at the commencement of his tenancy. 
With regard to straw and manure the customs also vary ; in 
some districts the farmer is obliged to leave in the barn and the 
midden all the straw and manure of the last year of his tenancy 
— these being in those cases the property of the landlord ; in 
other districts, where they arc the property of the tenant, they 
are paid for by his successor according to a valuation made by 
two experts. This leads us to the subject of tenant-right — a 
phrase which in Belgium is understood to mean a payment for 
unexhausted manures. In Flanders an incoming farmer buys 
everything that is not moveable of his predecessor, the growing 
crops, the manure applied to them, the unexhausted manure 
applied to the previous crop, and for work done since the 
previous harvest. He also buys all the hedge-row wood, if not 
more than 6 years old ; but if above that age the outgoing 
farmer cuts and sells it in the ordinary way. These valuations 
are generally made by experts, and the money must be paid 
before the incoming tenant can take possession. Generally 
speaking, farmyard manure is valued at a higher figure than 
English farmers would like to buy it at, considering the food 
given to the beasts."' It is thought to leave from one-third to 
one-half after potatoes, and one-third after wheat, if what they 
consider a full dressing has been given, otherwise only an 
equivalent proportion of those residues is allowed for. Liquid 
manure is considered exhausted by one crop, and no allowance 
is made for cake, whether used directly as manure (rape-cake), 
or for feeding. Guano is considered to leave one-fourth of its 
value behind. In most parts of the Polders lime is curiously 
estimated. Supposing it to consist of 21 parts, it is estimated 
that 15 remain after the first crop, 10 after the second, 6 after 
the third, 3 after the fourth, and 1 after the fifth. Drainage had 
been done by the proprietor in the few cases where we found 
that it had been carried out ; this was on farms held by their 
owners. Buildings are erected by the landlord and kept in 
repair by the tenant. 
In the Pays de Waes there is a very curious state of things. 
The farmhouses, with a small piece of ground, just enough for 
* The most general estimate of manure out of the ground is 1 centime per kilo., 
■wliich in our money would be about 8s. Cd. per ton. 
