of February, and to the houses upon the 12th of May: the rent to be paid in equal portions, at the first terms of Whitsuntide and Martinmas thereafter. Reserves the liberty of hunting and fishing on the premises, and the property of all mines and quarries, and the iron ore, coal, lead, or other minerals contained in them. Reserves liberty to go into the inclosures to cut and dig trees of all kinds, with access to carry them off. The tenant obliges himself to pay all taxes, as well parliamentary, as other ones already imposed, or to be imposed during the currency of the lease, without defalcation from the rent. Obliges himself also to eat all his bay and straw upon the premises, and to dung a part of his meadow ground every year. Agrees not to plough any of his old pasture under a penalty of £10. per acre, nor to have above one-fourth of his farm under the plough at one time. The lease also contains a great many clauses, about attending courts, repairing fences, grinding malt and corn, &c. &c. &c. which it is unnecessary to mention. In another we observe the following conditions. Restricted from ploughing any of the meadow or pasture land. Obliged to fallow the third part of the tillage land annually, and to lay two chalders of lime upon every statute acre. To pay all parliamentary and parochial taxes at present existing, or that may be laid on during the currency of the lease. To keep up all fences, roads, bridges, &c. upon the farm. To pay the rent within twenty days after it becomes due, under forfeiture of the lease. To pay a penalty of £10. for every acre not managed agreeable to the covenants, over and above the rent. Conditions of a third lease. Entry to the farm at Candlemas. Rent payable at Whitsuntide and Martinmas thereafter. No meadow or pasture to be ploughed without consent of the proprietor. When land is sown down for grass, to be done with 12 bushels of fine hay seeds and 4 lbs. of Dutch white clover per acre. Tenant removable at 6 months warning. In other leases we saw, the tenant is expressly prohibited from breaking up all grass lands that have lain 6 years, which renders the situation of the pasture and meadow fields as immutable as the laws of Media and Persia were of old. In short, the very nature of most of the subsisting covenants are destructive to improvements; and, as it is well said in the Journal by Mr. Potter, at Tadcaster-" A good farmer will manage much better wanting them, and as for a bad farmer, they never will mend him." Rent.- -It is difficult for us to say what may be the real rent of land. We could not, with propriety, push the farmer upon this point, when he was ignorant what use we were to make of his answer; and even where we got sufficient information of what was paid the landlord, we found there was a long train of public burthens, over and above, which were not easily computed. There is, in the first place, the land tax, which is uniformly paid by the tenant, and generally amounts to I s. per pound upon the real rent. 2dly. The tithes, which are levied in so many various ways, that it is impossible to say what proportion they bear to the pound rent, much depending upon the actual state of the farm, and not a little upon the character and disposition of the drawer. Upon arable lands, where they are annually valued, the payment in money may be from 5 to 8 s. per acre, in some cases more. 3dly. The roads, the expence of which to the tenant is about 7: per cent. upon the rent. 4thly. The poors rates, for which no fixed sum can be set down. The lowest we heard of was 18 d. in the pound; and the highest 6 s. 8 d.; but from the very nature of the tax they are continually fluctuating. 5thly. The church and constables dues, which are about 1 s. in the pound. From all these things it may be supposed, that in many places the sums payable by the farmer to the church, the public, and the poor, are nearly as great as the nominal rent paid to the landlord. It will appear surprising to many, that rents are higher for grass fields than for those under the plough. This is however actually the case, and we account for it in the following manner. When in grass, few or no tithes C are paid, at least the burthen is comparatively light. The want of leases, and the restrictions do not operate half so severely upon the grazier as upon the corn farmer. The grass farmer has few improvements to make; he goes on in the same course from year to year; and the want of a lease, though it keeps him from the certainty of possession, yet does not hurt him so far as to cramp his operations. At Settle and Skipton, we found land let so high as 40s. and 50s. per acre, while, from the best accounts we could receive in the corn country, 20s. and 30s. was considered as a high rent, and in many places it is much lower. Titbes. This is a most important subject, which we shall afterwards have occasion to mention. At present it is only necessary to observe, that they are collected in various ways. In some parts, the small tithes are only drawn in kind, and a modus is taken in lieu of the great ones. In other parts, it is the custom for the tithe-owner to send a person before harvest to value the tithes in the parish, and afterwards to deliver an estimate of their value to the farmer, giving him the alternative of paying that sum (which for various reasons is generally agreed to), or having the tithes drawn in kind. Poors Rates.This is another burthen upon the farmer, which has of late greatly increased. In a country, such as the West Riding of Yorkshire, where employment abounds for persons of all ages, and even for children who are able to do any thing, it excites great surprise that the poor should be so numerous, and the rates so excessive. The subject is important, and well deserves the attention of those concerned. As for our parts, we do not pretend to understand the laws by which the support of the poor is regulated, nor have we the least knowledge upon what system the workhouses are kept. We have heard of workhouses in Norfolk, and other parts of the kingdom, that, undcr proper management, have either supported, or nearly supported themselves. We feel very sensibly for the infirmitics of old age, and are fully of opinion that due attention ought to be paid to the distresses of our fellow-creatures who are unable to support themselves. This is a Christian duty, and ought never to be forgotten. But we have reason to suspect the provident support held out by the poors laws, is often the cause of making the lower ranks more thoughtless and extravagant in the days of health and strength than they would otherwise be. Holding out large funds is the sure way to increase the number of the poor. We speak from our personal knowledge, when we say, that in the northern parts of the island, where employment is not only scarce, but wages not half so great, the lower ranks, by being temperate and frugal, well bring up large families, and are very seldom a burthen upon the parish where they reside. We know of country parishes where the number of souls is near 2,000, and the rental of the ground more than £4,000, where the annual charge of the poor does not exceed £50; and of this sum not one half falls upon the land, as it is mostly collected on Sunday at the church doors. In Scotland there is no law against settlements; no restrictions against building cottages wherever a man can procure ground to build upon, nor no bars thrown in the way of common people marrying; and yet the number of poor, who are a burthen upon the parishes, is comparatively small. From these things there are reasons for concluding, that the English poor laws stand much in need of revision; and that the laws against settlements, and building cottages, have not prevented the increase of the poor, but are only detrimental to sound morality and real religion. Rotation of Crops.-There are many rotations of crops adopted, but the one most generally practised is turnips, barley, clover, wheat. Where the turnips are properly cleaned, a better one cannot be followed, upon all soils fit for this rotation. But this succession of crops also takes place upon much land that cannot be farmed in this manner to advantage. Upon other lands, where only two crops are allowed to a fallow, wheat and beans, or wheat and oats are generally the crops. In the western parts of the Riding, oats is the principal crop, which is indeed very proper, so long as the plough is confined to the higher grounds. The grasses that are cultivated are red clover, when it is to be followed with wheat, and white clover and hay seeds for pasture. Sometimes hay seeds are sown by themselves, and a good deal of sainfoine is cultivated in the neighbourhood of Tadcaster and Ferrybridge. As for the old rich pastures about Skipton, Settle, and other places, it is not easy to say, what they have originally been sown with. There appears, among other grasses, a great quantity of what is usually called honeysuckle grass, which we suppose to be the same plant sold under the name of cow-grass by the London seedsmen. Most of the vale of Skipton has been 50 years in the same situation as at present; and the proprietors do not seem anxious for changing it. The quantity of hay seeds. sown upon an acre is very great; no less than three-quarters. Probably some people may sow less; but we had accounts from some very judicious farmers that the above, when sown with 18lbs. white Dutch clover, afforded them the best pasture. Indeed none of them can say what these hay seeds are; they may be weeds, or other noxious trumpery; this they could not explain. There is very little rye-grass sown. The people in general have a mortal aversion to it; and the clover crops, from a want of this mixture make exceeding bad hay. The old pastures are therefore frequently cut, which makes a hay of great repute, and is generally used over the whole Riding. Turnips. Although the turnip husbandry prevails over a great part of the Riding, yet the proper cultivation of them is not attended to so carefully as it ought. Except by a few individuals, they are universally sown broad-cast, and mest imperfectly cleaned. We understand that it is not much more than twenty years since they were hoed at all; and that the introduction of this most necessary practice, was principally owing to the indefatigable exertions of that truly patriotic nobleman the late Marquis of Rockingham. It may readily be supposed that a people, who so lately thought hoeing unnecessary, will still think an imperfect hoeing sufficient, which we are sorry to say is too much the case. Indeed it is only by drilling and horsehoeing that large fields of turnips can be kept in proper order, |