must remain completely waste, in a warm one may be rendered productive. Thus, where the climate is adapted to the culture of the vine, rocks, which in Great Britain, and in colder countries, would in general be of little or no worth, in the southern provinces of France may yield as much in valuable produce as the cultivated land in their neighbourhood. The real excellence of a climate, however, depends on its yielding, in perfection and abundance, the necessaries of life, or those which constitute the principal articles of food for man, and for the domestic animals kept for his use. In this point of view, a meadow is much more productive, and in some respects more valuable, than either a vineyard or a grove of oranges; though the one may be situated in a cold and variable climate, and the other in a country celebrated both for its regularity and warmth of temperature. 4759. Even the nature of the articles raised depends upon the climate. Thus, in many elevated parts, both of England and Scotland, wheat cannot be grown to advantage, and in some of the high-lying districts of the latter, it has never been attempted. In several of the northern counties, it has been found necessary to sow, instead of the two-rowed barley, the inferior sort called bear or big; and oats, from the hardy quality of the grain, are found to be a more certain and more profitable species of corn than any other; while in humid districts peas or beans cannot be safely cultivated, from the periodical wetness of the autumn. On the whole, without great attention to the nature of the climate, no profitable system can be laid down by any occupier of land, 4740. An inferior climate greatly augments the expenses of cultivation; because a number of horses are required for labour during the short period of the year, when the weather will admit of it, which, at other seasons, are a useless burden upon the farm. When to this are joined an uneven surface and an inferior quality of soil, arable land is of little value, and yields but a trifling rent. 4741. Exotic plants or animals can only be naturalised in climates with success by paying attention to that whence they were brought, and by endeavouring either to render the one as similar to the other as circumstances will admit of, or to counteract, by judicious management, the deficiencies of the new one. 4742. In order to ascertain the nature of a climate, the farmer, in modern times, has many advantages which his predecessors wished for in vain. The progress of science has given rise to many new instruments, which ascertain natural phenomena with a considerable degree of accuracy. It may still be proper to study the appearance of the heavens, and not to despise old proverbs, which often contain much local truth; but the vane now points out the quarters whence the winds blow, with all their variations; the barometer often enables us to foretel the state of the weather that may be expected; the thermometer ascertains the degree of heat; the hygrometer, the degree of moisture; the pluviométer, or rain-gauge, the quantity of rain that has fallen during any given period; and, by keeping exact registers of all these particulars, much useful information may be derived, The influence of different degrees of temperature and humidity, occurring at different times, may likewise be observed, by comparing the leafing, flowering, and after-progress of the most common sorts of trees and plants, in different seasons, with the period when the several crops of grain are sown and reaped each year. SECT. II. Soil in respect to farming Lands. 4743. The necessity of paying attention to the nature and quality of the soil need not be dwelt upon. By ascertaining the qualities it possesses, or by removing its defects, the profits of a farmer may be greatly increased. He must, in general, regulate his measures accordingly, in regard to the rent he is to offer; the capital he is to lay out; the stock he is to keep; the crops he is to raise; and the improvements he is to execute. Indeed, such is the importance of the soil, and the necessity of adapting his system to its peculiar properties, that no general system of cultivation can be laid down, unless all the circumstances regarding the nature and situation of the soil and subsoil be known; and such is the force of habit, that it rarely happens that a farmer who has been long accustomed to one species of soil will be equally successful in the management of another. From inattention to the nature of soils, many foolish, fruitless, and expensive attempts have been made to introduce different kinds of plants, not at all suited to them; and manures have often been improperly applied. This ignorance has likewise prevented many from employing the means of improvement, though the expense was trifling, and within their reach. From ignorance also of the means calculated for the proper culti vation of the different soils, many unsuccessful and pernicious practices have been adopted. Soils may be considered under the following general heads: — Sandy; gravelly; clayey; stoney; chalky; peaty; alluvial; and loamy, or that species of artificial soil into which the others are generally brought by the effects of manure, and of earthy applications, in the course of long cultivation. 4744. Though sandy soils are not naturally valuable, yet being easily cultivated, and well calculated for sheep, that most profitable species of stock, they are often farmed with considerable advantage; and when of a good quality, and under a regular course of husbandry, they are invaluable. They are easily worked, and at all seasons; they are cultivated at a moderate expense; are not so liable to injury from the vicis. situdes of the weather; and in general they are deep and retentive of moisture, which secures excellent crops even in the driest summers. The crops raised on sandy soils are numerous, such as turnips, potatoes, carrots, barley, rye, buck-wheat, peas, clover, saintfoin, and other grasses. This species of soil, in general, has not strength enough for the production of Swedish turnips, beans, wheat, flax, or hemp, in any degree of perfection, without much improvement in its texture, the addition of great quantities of enriching manure, and the most skilful management. In Norfolk and Suffolk it is found, that poor sandy soils, unfit for any other purpose, will, under saintfoin, produce, after the first year, about two tons per acre of excellent hay, for several years; with an after-grass, extremely valuable for weaning and keeping lambs. How much more beneficial than any crops of grain that such soils usually yield! (Young's Kalend. 123.) 4745. The fertility of sandy soils is in proportion to the quantity of rain that falls, combined with the frequency of its recurrence. As a proof of this, in the rainy climate of Turin, the most prolific soil has from seventy-seven to eighty per cent. of siliceous earth, and from nine to fourteen of calcareous; whereas in the neighbourhood of Paris, where there is much less rain, the silex is only in the proportion of from twenty-six to fifty per cent, in the most fertile parts. 4746. Gravelly soils differ materially from sandy, both in their texture and modes of management. They are frequently composed of small soft stones, sometimes of flinty ones; but they often contain granite, limestone, and other rocky substances, partially, but not very minutely decomposed. Gravel, being more porous than even sand, is generally a poor, and what is called, a hungry soil, more especially when the parts of which it consists are hard in substance, and rounded in form. Gravelly soils are easily exhausted; for the animal and vegetable matters they contain, not being thoroughly incorporated with the earthy constituent parts of the soil (which are seldom sufficiently abundant for that purpose), are more liable to be decomposed by the action of the atmosphere, and carried off by water, 4747. A gravelly soil, free from stagnant water, gives such an additional warmth to the climate, that vegetation is nearly a fortnight earlier than where other soils predominate. About Dartford and Blackheath, in Kent, such soils produce early green peas, winter tares, rye, autumnal peas, and occasionally wheat, in great perfection. 4748. Gravelly soils, iu a wet climate, answer well for potatoes; in Cornwall, in a sheltered situation, with a command of sea-sand, and of sea-weed, they raise two crops of potatoes in the same year. 4749. Poor gravelly soils full of springs, and those sulphureous, are very unfriendly to vegetation; and are better calculated for wood than for arable culture. 4750. The stony, shaley, or stone-brash soils of Gloucestershire, and the midland counties of England, are much mixed with small stones, but have more frequently sand, or clay, or calcareous loam, in their composition than gravelly soils, and are therefore generally preferable. 4751. A clayey soil is often of so adhesive a nature that it will hold water like a dish. In a dry summer, the plough turns it up in great clods, scarcely to be broken or separated by the heaviest roller. It requires, therefore, much labour to put it in a state fit for producing either corn or grass, and it can only be culti vated when in a particular state, and in favourable weather. Though it will yield great crops under a proper system of management, yet, being cultivated at a heavy expense, requiring stronger instruments and stouter horses, it is seldom that much profit is obtained, unless when occupied by a judicious and attentive farmer. The best management of clay soils is that of the Lothians. There they are found well calculated for growing crops of beans, wheat, oats, clover, and winter tares: but are not adapted for barley, unless immediately after a fallow; nor for potatoes, unless under very peculiar management. In regard to turnips, they do not usually thrive so well in clays, as in soils which are more free and open: but it is now ascertained, that the Swedish, and above all the yellow, turnip may be raised in them with advantage; that the quality is superior; that if they are taken up early, the soil is not injured; and that there is no difficulty in preserving them. Clays become good meadow-lands, and answer well for hay, or soiling, when in grass; but from their aptitude to be poached, they are, in general, nnfit to be fed by heavy cattle in wet weather. In dry seasons the after-grass may be used to feed neat cattle till October, and sheep till March. A stiff clay, when not cold or wet, with a strong marl under it, is preferred in Cheshire and Derbyshire for the dairy. 4752. On reclaimed peat-bogs, oats, rye, beans, potatoes, turnips, carrots, cole-seed, and white and red clover, may be cultivated. Wheat and barley have succeeded on such lands, after they have been supplied with abundance of calcareous earth; and the fiorin grass (Agrostis stolonifera) seems likewise to be well adapted to that description of soil in a warm climate. In Leicestershire, and other counties, they have great tracts of meadow-land; these are, in many instances, the sites of lakes filled up, and the soil is com posed of peat and sediment; the peat originally formed by aquatic vegetation, and the sediment brought down by rains and streams from the upland. This soil is admirably calculated for grass. 4753. The fens in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and several other districts in England, consist of peat 4754. Chalky soils principally consist of calcareous matter mixed with various substances, in greater or Jess proportions. Where clayey or earthy substances are to be found in such soils in considerable quantities, the composition is heavy and productive; where sand or gravel abounds, it is slight, and rather unfertile. The crops chiefly cultivated on chalky soils are peas, turnips, barley, clover, and wheat; and, however much the soil is exhausted, it will produce saintfoin. and sediment. 4755. Chalky soils are in general fitter for tillage than for grazing; for, without the plough, the peculiar advantages derived from this soil by saintfoin could not be obtained. The plough, however, ought not to extend to those fine chalky downs (called ewe leases in Dorsetshire), which, by a very attentive man. agement during a number of years, have been brought to a considerable degree of fertility as grazing land, and which are so useful to sheep in the winter season. A chalky soil that has been in tillage permits water to pass through it so freely in winter, and is so pervious to the sun's rays in summer, that it is the work of an age to make it a good pasture of natural grasses, more especially when the chalk lies near the surface. Hence, in the western counties of England, several thousands of acres of this soil, though not ploughed for thirty years, have scarcely any grass of tolerable quality upon them, and are literally worth nothing. Such soils ought to be laid down with saintfoin. 4756. Alluvial soils are of two sorts; one derived from the sediment of fresh, and the other from that of salt water. Along the sides of rivers, and other considerable streams, water-formed soils are to be met with, consisting of the decomposed matter of decayed vegetables, with the sediment of streams. They are in general deep and fertile, and not apt to be injured by rain, as they usually lie on a bed of open gravel. They are commonly employed as meadows, from the hazard of crops of grain being injured or carried off by floods. 4757. Alluvial soils, arising from the operations of salt water, called salt marshes in England, carses in Scotland, and polders in Holland and Flanders, are composed of the finest parts of natural clay, washed off by running water, and deposited on flat ground, on the shores of estuaries, where they are formed by the reflux of the tide, and enriched with marine productions. They generally have a rich level surface, and being deep in the staple, they are well adapted for the culture of the most valuable crops. Hence wheat, barley, oats, and clover are all of them productive on this species of soil; which is likewise pecu liarly well calculated for beans, as the tap-root pushes vigorously through it, and finds its nourishment at a great depth. From the great mass of excellent soil, the fertility of these tracts is nearly inexhaustible; but, from their low and damp situations, they are not easily managed. Lime, in considerable quantities, is found to answer well upon this species of soil. 4758. The term loamy soil is applied to such as are moderately cohesive, less tenacious than clay, and more so than sand, Loams are the most desirable of all soils to occupy. They are friable; can in general be cultivated at almost any season of the year; are ploughed with greater facility, and less strength than clay; bear better the vicissitudes of the seasons; and seldom require any change in the rotation adopted. Above all, they are peculiarly well adapted for the convertible husbandry; for they can be changed, not only without injury, but generally with benefit, from grass to tillage, and from tillage to grass. 4759. As to the comparative value of soil, it has been justly remarked, that too much can hardly be paid for a good soil, and that even a low rent will not make a poor one profitable. The labour of cultivating a rich and a poor soil is nearly the same; while the latter requires more manure, and consequently is more expensive. Poor soils, at the same time, may have such a command of lasting manures, as lime or marl, or even of temporary sorts, like sea-weed, or the refuse of fish, as may render them profitable to cultivate. It is a wise maxim in husbandry, that the soil, like the cattle by which it is cultivated, should always be kept up in good condition, and never suffered to fall below the work it may be expected to perform. SECT. III. Subsoil relatively to the Choice of a Farm. 4760. On the nature of the under-stratum depends much of the value of the surface soil. On various accounts its properties merit particular attention. By examining the subsoil, information may be obtained in regard to the soil itself; for the materials of the latter are often similar to those which enter largely into the composition of the former, though the substances in the soil are necessarily altered, by various mixtures, in the course of cultivation. The subsoil may be of use to the soil, by supplying its deficiencies and correcting its defects. The hazard and expense of cultivating the surface are often considerably augmented by defects in the under-stratum, but which, in some cases, may be remedied. Disorders in the roots of plants are generally owing to a wet or noxious subsoil. Subsoils are retentive or porous. 4761. Retentive subsoils consist of clay, or marl, or of stone beds of various kinds. A retentive clayey subsoil is in general found to be highly injurious. The surface soil is soaked with water, is ploughed with difficulty, and is usually in a bad condition for the exertion of its vegetative powers, until the cold sluggish moisture of the winter be exhaled. By the water being retained in the upper soil, the putrefactive process is interrupted, and manures are restrained from operating, consequently the plants make but little progress. Hence, its grain is of inferior quality, and when in grass its herbage is coarse. 4762. A stony subsoil, when in a position approaching to the horizontal, is in general prejudicial, and, if the surface-soil be thin, usually occasions barrenness, unless the rock should be limestone; and then the soil, though thin, can easily be converted into healthy pastures, and, in favourable seasons, will feed a heavy stock. They will also produce good crops of corn, though subject to the wire-worm. also produce good crops of corn, though subject to the wire-worm. 4763. A porous subsoil is uniformly attended with this advantage, that by its means all superfluous moisture may be absorbed. Below clay, and all the variety of loams, an open subsoil is particularly desirable. It is favourable to all the operations of husbandry; it tends to correct the imperfections of too great a degree of absorbent power in the soil above; it promotes the beneficial effects of manures; it contributes to the preservation and growth of the seeds; and ensures the future prosperity of the plants. Hence it is, that a thinner soil, with a favourable subsoil, will produce better crops than a more fertile one incumbent on wet clay, or on cold and non-absorbent rock. Lands whose substratum consists of clean gravel or sand can bear little sun, owing to their not having the capacity of retaining moisture, and their generally possessing only a shallow surface of vegetable mould. In England this soil was formerly called rye-land, being more generally cropped with that species of grain than any other. When such soils are cultivated for barley, they should be sown early and thick, with seed soaked forty-eight hours in water or in the exudation from a dung-heap. Thus its simultaneous germination and its simultaneous ripening may be secured. 4764. The elevation of lands above the level of the sea has a material influence on the kind and quality of their produce. Land in the same parallel of latitude, other circumstance being nearly similar, is always more valuable in proportion to the comparative lowness of its situation. 4765. In the higher districts the herbage is less succulent and nourishing, and the reproduction slower when the land is in grass; while the grain is less plump, runs more to straw, is less perfectly ripened, and the harvest is also later when the produce is corn. It has been calculated that in Great Britain sixty yards of elevation in the land are equal to a degree of latitude; or, in other words, that sixty yards perpendicularly higher, are, in respect of climate, equal to a degree more to the north. In considering the crops to be raised in any particular farm, attention ought therefore to be paid to its height above the level of the sea, as well as to its latitude. In latitude 54° and 55°, an elevation of 500 feet above that level is the greatest height at which wheat can be cultivated with any probable chance of profit; and even there the grain will prove very light, and will often be a month later in ripening than if sown at the foot of the hills. 4766. The usual maximum of elevation may be reckoned between 600 and 800 feet for the more common sorts of grain; and in backward seasons the produce will be of small value, and sometimes will yield nothing but straw. It is proper, at the same time, to remark, that in the second class of mountains in the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, where no other grain is considered to be a safe crop, rye is cultivated with success. Where the soil is calcareous, however, as on the Gloucestershire and Yorkshire wolds, from the superior warmth of that species of soil, compared to cold clays or peat, barley grows in great perfection at an elevation of 800 feet above the level of the sea. Some experiments have been made to raise corn crops, at even a higher elevation, on the celebrated mountain Skiddaw, in Cumberland, but unsuccessfully. 4767. The greatest height at which corn will grow, in the more remote parts of Scotland, so as to yield any profit to the husbandman, is stated to be at 500 feet above the level of the sea. At the same time corn has been produced, in other districts of that country, at still higher elevations, in particular at the following places : Feet above the Level Feet above the Level of the Sea. Doubruch, in Braemar, Aberdeenshire 1294 600 1564 Parish of Hume, in Roxburghshire Upper Ward of Lanarkshire 4768. These and other instances of land being cultivated on high elevations, however, are merely small spots, richly manured, and, after all, producing nothing but crops of inferior barley and oats, and seldom fully ripe or successfully harvested. It is chiefly where the soil is sandy or gravelly, that corn will answer in Scotland on such elevated situations; and even then, only when the seasons are propitious, and when there are local advantages, favourable to warmth and shelter, in the situation of the lands. SECT. V. Character of Surface in regard to farming Lands. 4769. hilly irregular surface, whether at a high or low elevation above the sea, is unfavourable to farming. The labour of ploughing, carrying home produce, and carrying out manure, is greatly increased; while the soil on the summit of steep hills, mounts, or declivities, is unavoidably deteriorated. On the sides of slopes the finer parts of the clay and mould are washed away, while the sand and gravel remain. Hence the soil in such districts often wants a proper degree of tenacity for supporting corn crops. part of the manure that is applied in such situations is likewise soon lost. various causes, also, they are colder than the plains. These have their advantages 4770. Many extensive countries have no perceptible rise. from uniformity of soil, where it is rich. In other districts, the surface is of a waving description, an inequality which contributes much to the ornament of the country, by the agreeable relief which the eye constantly meets with in the change of objects; while the universal declivity which prevails more or less in every field is favourable to the culture of the land, by allowing a ready descent to any water with which the surface may be encumbered. SECT. VI. Aspect in regard to farming Lands. 4771. Aspect, in hilly or mountainous districts, is an important subject of attention to the farmer; more especially where the climate is unfavourable. It is proved in a variety of instances, both in the central highlands of Scotland, and in other parts of the kingdom, that where the aspect of a hill is towards the north, the soil is more fertile than when it lies with a southern exposure. This is attributed to the variations from frost to thaw in the spring months, which are greater in a southern than in a northern aspect. Hence, while the soil to the north remains locked fast, and secured from waste, the other is loosened by the sun, and carried off by showers falling in the intervals of thaw. 4772. Soils which face the south are more liable to have their substance carried away by heavy rains, which are generally impelled from the south and south-west. But though the soil to the north often produces the heaviest crops of grass and hay, yet from possessing a more genial climate, and from the earlier and more powerful action of the sun, both corn and grass are harvested earlier on land which has a southern than on that which has a northern aspect; and superiority of quality thus compensates for any inferiority in the quantity of the produce. SECT. VII. Situation of Farm Lands in regard to Markets. 4773. No farming can go on without markets. The system of farming to be adopted on any particular farm, and the expense attending it, must materially depend on its situation in regard to markets; to the facility with which its produce can be conveyed, where a contiguous market is wanting; to vicinity to manure, to fuel, and to water. 4774. The advantages resulting from vicinity to a market, or to a large town, by which that is insured, are very great. Some crops, as those of potatoes, turnips, and clover, are frequently sold on the ground, without any farther trouble or expense to the farmer; and great quantities of manure may be purchased at a moderate expense. In such situations also there is a ready sale for every article the farm can produce; and the articles sold are not only brought to market at a small expense, but the payment is immediate. For all these reasons, it is contended, and apparently with justice, that the neighbourhood of a capital is the most profitable spot to farm in, notwithstanding the high rent of land, and the great expense of labour. 4775. Where markets are not at hand, the farmer ought to take into consideration what articles will best suit those at a distance to which his produce must be sent. In such a situation, unless there are facilities for the conveyance of so bulky an article as corn by good roads, or by water-carriage, it is advisable, instead of cultivating grain, to attend either to the dairy husbandry, or to the breeding of stock which can be fattened in other districts where good markets are more numerous. This plan, by which the dairy, the breeding, and the fattening of stock, are made distinct professions, is highly beneficial to the country at large. Stock can be reared cheaper in remote districts than where land is dear and labour high. On the other hand, the purchaser of lean stock avoids the expense and risk of breeding great numbers of animals. His attention is not distracted by a multiplicity of objects; he can alter his system from cattle to sheep, or from sheep to cattle, as is likely to be most profitable; his business is simplified, and the capital he lays out is speedily returned. The division of professions between breeding and feeding (though they may be united in circumstances peculiarly favourable), is on the whole a most im portant link in the progress of agricultural prosperity. 4776. In regard to facility of conveyance, the state of public roads, bridges, iron rail-ways, canals, rivers rendered navigable, and harbours, deserves the consideration of the farmer, and will most materially influence the value of produce. 4777. The situation of the farm in regard to manures, for an easy access to lime, chalk, marl, sea-weed, &c. is of essential advantage to cultivation. The price at which these articles can be purchased, their quality, their distance, and expense of conveyance, are likewise of importance. Farms, for example, possessing the advantage of sea-weed contiguous and in abundance, can pay from fifteen to twenty per cent. more rent per acre than otherwise could be afforded. 4778. Vicinity to fuel in the cold and moist regions of Europe are important considerations to the farmer. In the same county, even in England, the difference of expense is often material. In the Hebrides, from the moistness of the climate, the expense of fuel is reckoned equal to a third part of the rent of the land; and farmers who pay, in some cases, 1507. per annum, would give 2007, if the landlord would supply them and their servants with fuel. 4779. Where a farmer is under the necessity of using peat, from the labour attending the cutting, spreading, drying, and conveying it from a distance, several weeks of his horses and servants are devoted to that sole purpose; and much valuable time is lost, which ought to have been employed in the culti vation of his farm. It has been well remarked, that many farmers, to save five guineas on coal, often expend twenty, in thus misapplying the labour of their horses. 4780. Where wood is used, it occupies a great deal of ground that might often be cultivated to advan tage, and it is not of a lasting quality. Coal is preferable, for general purposes, to every other species of fuel; and besides its domestic application, its superiority for burning lime, that important source of fertility, or calcareous clay, also of much value to the farmer, is an object of great moment. The tenant, therefore, who resides in the neighbourhood of coal, more especially if limestone or calcareous substances are at no great distance, farins at less expense, can afford to pay a higher rent, and may derive more profit from the land he cultivates, than if in these respects he were differently circumstanced. SECT. VIII. Extent of Land suitable for a Farm. 4781. The extent of ground which a farmer proposes to occupy demands due consideration. If it be beyond his capital to cultivate or improve, he can derive no profit by taking it. On the other hand, a small occupation may not be worthy of his attention. 4782. Farms as to size may be divided into three sorts: small farms under 100 acres ; moderate-sized farms, from 100 to 200 acres ; large farms, from 200 to 1000 acres, and upwards, of land fit for cultivation. The expense of labour is now so great, and the rent of land so high, that the profits of a small farm are not sufficient, with the utmost frugality, or even parsimony, to maintain a family with comfort. 4783. Moderate-sized farms are well calculated for the dairy system, for the neighbourhood of large towns, and where capital is not abundant. There are few trades in which a small capital can be employed to a greater advantage than in a dairy farm, yet there is no branch of agriculture where such constant and unremitting attention is required. That is not to be expected from hired servants; but it is in the power of the wife and daughters of the farmer to perform, or at any rate to superintend, the whole business, and without their aid it cannot be rendered productive. 4784. Moderate-sized farms are general in the neighbourhood of towns. This necessarily results from the high rents paid in such situations; the shortness of the leases usually granted of land near towns; and the necessity the farmer is under of selling, in small quantities, the articles produced on his farm. On this subject it has been remarked, that farmers in the vicinity of large towns resemble retail shopkeepers, whose attention must be directed to small objects, by which a great deal of money is got, the greater part of which would be lost, without the most unremitting attention. The farmer at a distance from markets, who cultivates on a great scale, may be compared, on the other hand, to a wholesale trader, who, as his profits are less, requires a greater extent of land, for the purpose both of engaging his atten tion, and of enabling him to support that station of life in which he is placed. There is this difference also between farmers in the neighbourhood of towns, and those who reside at a distance from them, that the former find it more profitable to sell their produce, even such bulky articles as turnips, potatoes, clover, hay, and straw, than to fatten cattle for the butcher; and they are enabled to do so, without injury to their farms, as they can procure dung in return. 4785. Farms of the largest size differ in respect to the capital required. A mountain breeding farm of 5000 acres will not require more to stock it than an arable farm of 500 acres, and much less expense of labour to carry it on. In all cases the safe side for the farmer to lean to, is to prefer a farm rather under than exceeding his capital; and let him consider well beforehand whether he is going to commence a retail farmer for daily markets, or a manufacturer of produce on a large and ample scale; for the spirit, attention, and style of living of the one differs materially from that of the other. The subject of this section and the two following having been treated in a general way as between landlord and tenant in the preceding chapter, will be here only briefly noticed as on the part of the tenant. SECT. IX. Tenure on which Lands are held for Farming. 4786. Perpetual tenures, or absolute property in land, can never come into consideration with a farmer looking out for a farm. A proprietor cultivating his own property cannot, in correct language, be said to be a farmer; for to constitute the latter an essential requisite is the payment of rent. 4787. The leases on which lands are let for farming are for various terms, and with very different cove nants. The shortest lease is from year to year, which, unless in the case of grass lands in the highest order, and of the richest quality, or under some other very peculiar circumstances, no prudent man, whose object was to make the most of his skill and capital, would accept of. Even leases for seven or ten years are too short for general purposes; period of fourteen or fifteen years seems to be the shortest for arable lands, so as to admit of the tenant paying a full rent; but fourteen years, when the lands to be entered on are in bad condition, are too few, and twenty-one years much better for the true interests of both parties. In farming, however, as in every other occupation where there are more skill and capital in want of em. ployment than can find subjects to work on, farms will be taken under circumstances, both in regard to leases and rent, that are highly unfavourable to the farmer; and if they do not end in his ruin will keep him always poor, and probably not only pay less interest for his capital than any other way in which he could have employed it, but also infringe on its amount. The rapid depreciation of currency which took place in Britain during the wars against the French deceived many farmers, and flattered them for a time with the gradual rise of markets year after year. However high land might be taken at the commencement of a lease, it was always considered a consolation that it would be a bargain by the time it was half done; and that the farmer's fortune would be made during the last few years of its endurance. When the currency of Britain was permitted to find its level with that of other countries, the delusion ceased, and the majority of farmers were partially or wholly ruined. 4788. In regard to the covenants of a lease, it is necessary that there should be such in every one as shall protect both landlord and tenant. Certain general covenants in regard to repairs, renewals if necessary, timber, minerals, entry and exit crops, are common to all leases. Regulations as to manure are required where hay and straw, and other crops, are sold not to be consumed on the farm. Water meadows, rich old grass lands, copse woods, hop grounds, orchards, &c. require special covenants. Fewest covenants are required for a mountain breeding farm; and in all cases there should be a clause entitling the tenant to an appeal, &c., and a hearing from the landlord, and perhaps a jury of landlords or agents and farmers, against covenants as to cropping, repair, or renewals, which may, from extraordinary circumstances, press particularly heavy on the tenant. 4789. The power of the landlord to grant a lease, with liberal conditions, may in some cases be required to be ascertained by the tenant; and in Scotland, where it is illegal to sublet a farm unless a clause to that effect has been inserted in the original lease, a farmer may cease to be the master of his own property, unless he has taken care to see that clause inserted. In England, for the most part, subletting a farm is no more prohibited than subletting a dwelling-house or a shop. When the laws of countries shall come to be founded on equity, this will be the case every where. At present they almost every where lean to the side of the powerful party, the landlord. In the progress of things it could not be otherwise. SECT. X. Rent. 4790. The rent of land, in a general point of view, must always depend on a variety of circumstances; as the wealth of the country; its population; the price of produce; the amount of public and other burdens; the distance from markets; the means of conveyance; the competition among farmers; and other less important considerations: but |
