Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
85 
outbuildings, and perhaps a little paddock, belong almost 
invariably to the occupiers. The land belongs to a multitude 
of small proprietors, who are very often tradesmen in the 
villages. A farmer of 7 or 8 acres frequently has 3 or 4 land- 
lords ; indeed almost every field belongs to a different person. 
There are no leases in tliis district ; but the land is let from year 
to year, commencing on October 1st, and the tenancy absolutely 
ends that day twelve months. It is easy to see what a condition 
of things this brings about. Suppose that a farmer of 10 acres 
has u landlords ; they will not impossibly be a tailor, a shoe- 
maker, a grocer, a draper, and a lawyer, all living in a neigh- 
bouring town or village. The farmer is obliged to buy boots of 
one, clothes of another, and so on, or his tenancy will not be 
continued after the end of next September. On the last day of 
that month he will get the notice to quit on the following 
morning. Another danger is that a neighbour may go to one or 
more of his landlords, and offer more rent for a part of his farm. 
In any case he receives his tenant-right, namely one-half the 
value of the manure used for the last crop, and a fixed sum of 
about 6,9. 8c?. per acre for manure applied the two previous years. 
The farmer cannot, it is true, be turned out of his own house, 
and he has, probably, so many landlords that he will be able to 
get on for a year without the piece of land which he has been 
forced to quit, and, if he has been outbid, at the end of the year 
he will retaliate ; then it is very likely that he may have heard 
of the approaching event, and provided himself with another 
field at the expense of his despoiler or some other neighbour. 
But under any circumstances the system is entirely vicious. 
Fortunately the district in which this practice occurs is very 
limited, and as tradesmen-landlords die the property is bought 
by farmers at fabulous prices, quite out of proportion to the 
rent-value. 
So great is the demand for land in the northern parts of 
Belgium that the money-value of the fee-simple has been calcu- 
lated to increase 3 per cent, per annum ; and it is said to be a 
fact that for the last 10 years the increase, on the average, has 
been at that ratio, so that land is there worth 30 per cent, more 
than it was 10 years ago. The chief reason for this increase in 
value seems to be that land is the only security in which farmers 
will invest their money. 
The transfer of land is by no means a cheap proceeding in 
Belgium, for the Government charge nearly 7 per cent, on the 
purchase money for registration of the transfer, and the purchaser 
pays the notary 1 per cent, for conveyance. The vendor's 
expenses come to more than 3 per cent, for notary's fees, advertise- 
ments and bill-posting, as every "poster" in Belgium must be 
