AN OFFER OF FERTILE VIRGIN LAND.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:]
SIR,—Fortunately I do not possess extensive wind-swept, barren tracts of wild deer forests, but I possess a peaceful and compact dairying estate situated between three and four miles from Market Drayton. The land of the estate is naturally fertile. In proportion to the acreage of the agricultural part of the estate there is too much under wood; I am, therefore, clearing thirty acres of its trees. The soil from which the trees are being removed is formed from the Red Sandstone rock, and is a fertile, reten- tive marl; especially rich is it in potash plant food; also it contains a fair amount of humus, the humus having accumulated from the leaves that have fallen from the trees for a great number of years as well as from the decay of grass and bracken. I always enjoy bringing theories, especially theories concerning country life and work, to the test of practical experience, and in addition it would afford me and my tenants and neighbours the deepest interest to watch the tussle necessary to make an area of rich, unoc- cupied, unimproved land yield a living after paying, let us say, three-and-a-half or four per cent, on the cost of the necessary house and buildings, fencing, drainage, clearing, and cultivation. For these reasons I make the following offer. (1) Thirty acres of rich land, clear of trees but the stumps in the ground, for a twenty-one years' lease at a rental of five shillings per acre ; (2) At the end of the lease, if the estate decide to take the place over, full compensation to be given for all improvements ; (3) If the lessee, before the end of twenty-one years' lease, is desirous of getting rid of the lease, he can do so provided he can find a respect- able and responsible mail to take the place over ; (4) For the settler to live and work on the spot, all accounts to be carefully kept and checked by an independent accountant and published each year in any newspapers that I may select; (5) The final terms of the lease to be settled by the Small Holding Commissioner for the district or an official appointed by the Board of Agriculture. The distance is five miles from Market Drayton, which is a good inland market for large and small produce. With the exception of one short bit of gravelled road across two grass fields, the roads are under the District Council and are in fair repair. The estate water-main runs close to the site, so that a con- nexion could be made at a small cost. All applications for the land on the terms I propose addressed to me shall receive my prompt attention.—I am, Sir, dro.,
Previous page
