1805.] On Farming in the Northern Counties. 231

from commengurate, to their benevolent and Ssvirited exer- tions,"ull the Size of farms be greatly increased-"till the oc- cupiers obtain a certainty of enjoying the advantages of Substantial improvements, for a reagonable, determined Jengtb of time--till they hold their farms under the Secu- rity of leases, with liberal covenants, for fiſteen to twenty- fſve years.

What can they expect from the occupiers of the present mall farms of Cumberland, threg fourths, or four fitths of whom, hold their lands at the* of the landlord? Very Jitle more, Sir, than the Same practice which bas been pur- Sued with little, if any, variation, ever Since the days of their great grandfathers. In fact, they posSess, in general, nei- ther the necessary knowledge nor capital; and it is unrea- Sonable for the proprietors to expect, that farmers of know- ledge and property, will Settle in a district of Small farms, of Gſty to one hundred and twenty pounds a year, held under 50 Precarious a tenure, as the will of the landlord.

Letthese land owners travelto the eastward--Letthem view the state of husbandry,&c. from the Tyne to the Firth of Forth, including Roxburghshire; and above all, let them minutely enquire into the circumstances which have led to its present fourishing- State in that well managed district; and they will be convinced of the propriety of enlarging their farms, and granting long leases on liberal terms. In this county, indeed, they will discover that one estate--the Jargest in the kingdom, is n0w ocCupied by tenants at will; but they will also find that that mode of occupancy has been but lately adopted; and that the SySteim now pursued upon It, is evidently injurious.

If they advert to the state of Norfolk, and other well ma- naged distriets, the Same truths will be discovered. Their own interests, then, as well as those of the community at large, imperiously demand a change of system. A change, which 1 will venture to 8a3y, would,(without-any increase in the price of the produce of the Soll), treble the rents of most of the arable lands of Cumberland, within thirty or forty years.

Lam aware, however, that there are obstacles to improve- ment in Cumberland, which exist to a greater degree thau, perbaps, in any other county. One arises from rhe great number of Small land owners, provincially Statesmen. Mess.

Bailey and Culley Say, that this“ great obstacle to Improve- ment, Seems to arise from a laudable anxiety, in the custo- mary tenants, tv have their little patrimony descend to their children. These Small properties,(loaded with fnes, heriots, and boundaries, joined to the necesSary eXPCLCZ oi bringing 4g. Mag. Vol. 12, 11