Farming Customs and Covenants of England. 
153 
Vale. With a Michaelmas tenancy the incoming tenant tak(;s 
to all the hay and straw at a consuming price, and pays for 
acts of husbandry and for manure used on the root crop ; but 
this paying lor the guano used with the root crops can scarcely 
be called a custom, as it only dates back some 20 or 25 years ; 
the outgoing tenant has the use of the barns, &c., to thrash and 
market his corn, until the first week in May. The Candlemas 
takings are the same as in Herefordshire. 
There is a very injurious custom in this county, which compels 
the out":oin<r tenant leavinn: at Michaelmas to knock the fruit off 
the apjile and pear trees or leave them for the incomer, and as 
the fruit is not ripe often until the end of October the trees are 
much damaged in consequence, and the* outgoer is not allowed 
the use of the cider mill to convert his fruit. 
Most of the Cotswold farms are let on lease, but the farms in 
the other portions of the county are more generally held as 
yearly tenancies. The landlord usually makes the repairs to the 
homestead, the tenant doing the hauling and finding straw for 
thatch ; the tenant also maintains the interior of the house, and 
repairs the gates, fences, tScc. 
Mr. Villar, of Portland-street, Cheltenham, has favoured us 
with an excellent paper on the tenancies of the Cotswold district, 
and we have to thank the Gloucestershire Chamber of Agricul- 
ture for a revision of the same. 
HASirsHIRE. — Michaelmas is the usual time of entry, with a 
pre-entry at May-day to sow root crops, and shortly before 
Michaelmas on a portion of the arable land to prepare for wheat. 
The hay and straw must be consumed on the farm, and the in- 
coming tenant can only purchase it by agreement. The outgoing 
tenant has therefore the right of holding the yards and barn 
until May, to consume his hay and straw, and to thrash his corn. 
The tenants do the repairs, and the landlord provides the 
timber. 
HerefORDSHIKK. — Here the holdings are for the most part 
from Candlemas, though there are a few at Christmas and Lady- 
day. On the Candlemas and Lady-day takings the outgoing 
tenant is entitled to an away-going crop of wheat, on one-third 
of the arable land, and he is paid for the acts of husbandry on 
the young clover seeds, but not rent or rates. The outgoing tenant 
keeps the house (except two rooms for servants and the stable), 
and the "boozy pasture" until the 1st May, and has the use of 
the barn and part of the stack-yard until the following 1st May, 
to thrash his corn. The incoming tenant has no acts of husbandry 
to pay for, and all the manure belongs to him ; hay and straw 
cannot be sold off. Tenants do repairs on being found materials 
in the rough, the landlord first putting the holding in order. 
