1 16 ADVANTAGES OF POSSESSING LANDED PROPERTY

There is nothing more advantageous to landed property inScotland , than its being'excmpted from the payment of tithesin kind, and that poor-rates are regulated in such a way thatthey arc hardly felt, even where assessments are imposed.Tithes exacted in kind, are a heavy burden on the profits ofthe improver, and, in fact, a tax upon industry, which sapsthe foundation of exertion. In Scotland , fortunately, theministers of the church are provided for, without trenchingon the profits of the farmer. The beneficial consequences ofthis regulation, place the proprietor of land in Scotland ina more advantageous situation, than the landholder of manyother countries, because he receives the fullest return, thatcan possibly arise, from the expenditure of his capital on theimprovement of his land : he is thus stimulated to exertion,by the assurance that he shall enjoy undiminished the fruitsof his industry.

The practice of granting leases for a specified duration, isattended by the happiest consequences both to the proprietorand to the country, as it affords full security to those who arethe actual cultivators of the soil, and identifies their interestswith those of the landlord. Thus, the exertions of both par-ties are directed to the accomplishment of the same object,and the improvement of the land is inseparably connected,with the interests of the proprietor, and of the tenant. Theadvantages which result from granting leases, for a certain pe-riod of endurance, have been fully established, by the expe-rience of those proprietors who have adopted this beneficialplan, which is daily extending over every part of Scotland ,and will soon become the universal practice of the country.

The wide diffusion of agricultural knowledge, among allclasses of farmers, has spread a spirit of enterprise, that hascalled forth all the latent energies of the country. The know-ledge and experience of scientific and practical men, have beencombined and reduced to a system of management, that isfast approaching to perfection. The operations of the agricul-turist are founded upon known principles; and his improve-