is on numerous farms urgently needed. The solution of the difficulty therefore seems to lie in a more economical arrangement of the buildings, and in the discovery of cheaper material and methods of construction.
It appears to be tolerably well agreed upon amongst agriculturists and architects that at the present time a substantial homestead—walls, roofs, and fittings, all included—cannot be built for much less than £10, while the cost often amounts to £15, a square. Haysheds, and the like, can, however, be completed for something like £3 to £5 a square.
Who Bears the Cost?—The landlord is supposed to make the needful outlay in buildings, but in reality he seldom does so. When the outlay is made a rent-charge to be paid by the tenant, it is assumed to be paid by the land. The land, however, is frequently over-rented before the outlay is made, and practically in such cases to charge the tenant interest on the expenditure is to saddle him with the entire outlay. A landlord of our acquaintance recently borrowed money under the Land Improvement Act to build a pair of cottages on one of his farms where they were much wanted; and because the tenant of the said farm refused to pay a full annual rent for the new cottages, in addition to 6 per cent, on outlay to reimburse the borrowed money, he actually did not get the use of the cottages after all.
And, on many estates—many of the largest estates in the country—it is a very common practice for the tenant to be required to draw all the materials for new buildings at his own cost. He has to do this very often, and in addition pay the rent-charge to redeem the actual expenditure. Now the horses and regular
