2 JANUARY 1875, Page 3

Mr. G. Hope, formerly of Fenton Barns, and one of

the most .experienced large farmers in Scotland, states in the Times that, -on the whole, he believes compensation for unexhausted improve- ments a greater temptation to a farmer than a lease. His "im- provements" appear to include draining, marling, and manuring, .and he states that he never saw such farming as he saw in Lin- colnshire under that system. His ideal, however, is compensation added to a lease for twenty-one years, and he believes that if realised it would increase the produce of the land by one-third. The tenant would then have no temptation to abstain from improvement, or to work out his land during the last year of his lease.