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ments are not matter of doubtful issue, but in general afford,except in very unfavourable seasons, an adequate return forthe capital employed. The nature of the soil, the best modeof treating it, and the expence required to improve it, are be-coming daily better known j and, at the same time, the valueof the produce can be calculated, with a reasonable degree ofprecision. This general diffusion of agricultural knowledge,in the opinion of the most intelligent Scotch farmers, has beenmaterially promoted by the establishment of a public institu-tion, for the encouragement of agricultural pursuits ; underwhose auspices, the landholders, and the farmers of Scotland ,have had the merit of conceiving and executing plans of im-provement, which are not to be surpassed by those of anyother country.
-• The advantages attending the possession of landed proper-ty in Scotland , of a public nature, may therefore be resolvedinto the following:
1. The absolute security of the proprietor’s right, by meansof a series of records the most ingenious and complete in theworld.
2. The easy transmission of property from one man to ano-ther, by a set of forms, entitled ‘ Investiture ,’ which are sim-ple and comprehensive.
3. The exemption from the payment of tithes in kind,which, if once valued, do not afterwards increase with theprogress of improvement; and,
4. The exemption from poor-rates, except under great mo-difications.
Besides these advantages of a public nature, which arefounded on the law of the country, and which place the pro-prietors of Scotland in a more favourable situation than thelandholders of almost any other country; the following advan-tages, originating from the good sense and spirit of the pro-prietors and cultivators themselves, merit peculiar attention :