071 the Rent of Lund, or time Con8iderattons by the Occupier 1;:ir the Laud in hr: possrs.vion.
In ancient times, the rent of land consisted in a cer tain part of the articles which it produced, :mei in servi ces often unfixed and undetermined. Money in these periods was scarce, and markets for the sine of produce were irregular, and in many places not to be found ; tht.refore the scarcity of circ Mating medium, and the general want of markets, rendered a payment or relit in kind a necessary measure. In proportion, however, as the country increased in prosperity, the necessity of pay ing tent in this manner was gradually oh\ iated, till at last it Was almost quite done away, and a fixed payment in money substituted in its place. Latterly, aim inclina tion to return to the ancient practice has been manifested by several proprietors ; but whether such a return would be of advantage to agriculture, scarcely requires to be discussed. In fact, a rent, either pal tially or wholly paid in corn, must necessarily be disadvantageous to the tenant ; because the money value of the payment is always greatest \Olen the means of paying it are lessen ed or curtailed. The price of grain in Britain is rarely high, unless when adverse seasons intervene, and cause a scarcity of farm produce. When the tenant pays in money, the augmented price compensates the deficiency of quantity ; but when in corn, the whole disposeable produce may be insufficient lot discharging the contract ed obligation ; consequently the tenant may thus be brought uncier great difficulties.
Besides what is properly called rent, several public burdens are borne by the tenant, in virtue of his lease, or by act of the legislature. In Scotland these are not of much importance, being only one half of the school master's salary, one half of poor's-rates, and the commu ted value of work steamed to he performed on the public roads ; the amount of these is trifling-, rarely exceeding two per cent. or the rental. But in England the case is different. There the whole public burdens, to which landed property is subject, are defrayed by the tenant, with the exception of the 11CW property tax, from the landlord's share of which he is expressly relieved. These
burdens are, 1. The land tax; 2. Poor-rates ; 3. Tythes, where not purchased or commuted ; 4. Road work ; 5. Church and constables' dues, &c. often amounting to a greater sum than the nominal rent stipulated betwixt the parties, though they are to all intents and purposes a part of the real rent. 'Most of these being unfixed, and some of them regulated by the mode of manage ment, (such as tythes,) render the situation of the tenant vexatious and unpleasant. Were all land tythe free ; were the public burdens to which it is liable uniformly defrayed by the proprietor ; were rent to be a fixed and determinate sum during the years of possession, and the tenant relieved from all arbitrary claims ; then the art of agriculture would be exercised with pleasure and satisfaction. It is owing to the greater freedom enjoyed by the cultivators of Scotland, and to the superiority of the system which connects them with proprietors, that the art has progressively advanced with greater rapidity to perfection in the one country than in the other. Tao same principles which have proved so beneficial to Scot tish agriculture, must necessarily produce equal advan tages, were they acted upon in other places. Physical circumstances are more favourable to agriculture ill England than in her sister country, though it is to be lamented that the oenefit of these circumstances is more than counteracted by an accumulated quantity of moral evils, which might be removed, were the legislature to bestow on these matters a portion of that attention, which it often bestows upon the melioration or improve ment of foreign possessions.
On TILLAGE.
Tillage may, in general terms, be described as an operation whereby the soil is either cleared from nox ious weeds, or prepared for receiving the seeds of plants cultivated by the husbandman. When this operation is neglected, or even partially executed, the soil becomes foul, barren, and unproductive ; hence, upon arable farms, tillage forms the prominent branch of work ; and, according to the perfection or imperfection with which it is executed, the crops of the husbandman, whether of corn or grass, are in a great measure regu lated.