upper parts glazed, and the lower filled in with sliding shutters, on the same principle as gates.

INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS.-The houses would all have a clear width inside the walls of 17 feet; in cow and bullocks' houses 3 feet of this would be taken up by a feeding-passage, or "angle" as it is locally termed, in front of the bullocks, and 2 feet by the width of the crib.

The cowhouse would be divided in its length into 15 spaces of 4 feet each, the division being formed by posts and rails.

The bullocks' house would be divided into 12 spaces of 8 feet each, and one space of 4 feet, the bullocks being tied in pairs, it being found by experience that no practical hindrance is thus given to the fattening process, and of course the expense is so much less.

These buildings would each be fitted with masonry cribs, each crib being sub-divided in the cowhouse into two divisions, one being 1 foot 6 inches long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep, and the other 2 feet 6 inches long, 2 feet wide, and 2 ft. 6 inches deep; the smaller one being used for cake, corn, or roots, and the other for hay; the cribs in bullocks' house would be similarly sub-divided, with, of course, a larger division in centre.

The bulls' house and infirmary would be similarly fitted.

The stable would be divided into spaces 8 feet wide and fitted with continuous manger and rack.

The implement shed does not require any special description, except to state that it is usually provided with an open tie-beam roof, which is used as a store for ladders and other articles requiring a long space.

We now come to the yearling shed-a very important feature in our homestead, as upon its position and construction depends entirely the question as to whether the young bullocks can be housed and fed during the winter in such a manner as will enable them to be taken in and fattened in the next autumn, without unnecessarily increasing the expense.

This building should be placed in a sheltered position, and should be protected, as far as possible, by the adjoining buildings. It will be seen that I have placed it in the south-east corner of the yard, and open only to the direct north-west wind, the force of which would be greatly diminished by the high buildings of the yard.

It should have a crib the entire length, and be sub-divided into three spaces by strong posts and rails, to prevent the bullocks rushing into and doing each other damage when feeding.

Next the yearling house are the calves' and pigs' houses, the arrangement of which is similar, two houses on either side of a passage, from which the whole of the feeding would be done.

The arrangements of lofts do not require much description; large trap doors would be provided in floors where necessary for the purpose of getting down straw, and also over every division in stable for putting hay down direct into the rack; and shoots would also be provided from the granary to mixing house, and from chaff room to stable.

The barn would be provided at the lower end, next double doors, with what is termed a "threshing floor," formed of oak planks, this

being used for hand-threshing the wheat, the straw of which is made into what is locally termed "reed," and used for thatching purposes on both ricks and cottages, and other buildings where necessary.

Across the road behind the barn on either side of the engine house, I have shown two enclosed spaces, and called them "mangold-caves." This is their local name. The roots being drawn from the fields about the last week in October, or at least before there is any severe frost, and carted to the most convenient spot for winter use; they are then deposited against a hedge or wall in long heaps, and are protected by a covering of loose straw thatched over, just in the same way as the rick would be.

DRAINAGE.-The whole of the drainage from the houses would be conveyed in open gutters, formed by bricks laid on edge in the floors outside the walls, where it would discharge into gullies, and be conveyed from thence in pipes into the dung pit, as shewn. This dung pit would have a fall of 5 feet towards bullocks' house end, the floor would be formed of stone, as other floors, and it would be covered with a light iron roof resting on wood open framing.

COST. I have not gone into the question of cost. We can build comparatively cheaply in Devonshire, good building stone being usually obtained at a very small cost for the material alone.

Taking, therefore, Mr. Bailey Denton's figures in his "Farm Homesteads of England" as a maximum (that a farm of between 200 and 500 acres requires an outlay of £7 per acre for house and homestead), the cost of my buildings would work out at £1,960, which sum would be, in my opinion, ample.

There may be practical points in the system which may be open to criticism by experienced land agents, but it is one that answers very well for the climate, the soil, and the stock.

When Devonshire farmers, feeling the pinch of foreign competition, are beginning to devote themselves more and more to dairy farming and stock raising, and less to corn growing, the homestead must become a much more important feature of the farm than it has ever been before, and consequently it behoves all land agents to make themselves acquainted with the best way of designing farm buildings, so that the landlord may obtain the most value for his outlay, and his tenant be enabled to work and get the most out of the farm with the least possible expenditure of time and labour, both of which mean money.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Leaseholds.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England have issued the following circular:

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have for some time past had under their consideration the various questions which have been raised with reference to the present system of leasehold tenure in London and the suburbs, with the view of ascertaining how far it might be possible to secure to their lessees the benefits arising from expenditure

made by them on the improvement of the property comprised in their leases. To do this without injury to the trust which Parliament has committed to the charge of the Commissioners has involved numerous difficulties. The Commissioners are of opinion that an equitable solution may be found in the extension of the term of the leases to 999 years (making them practically perpetual), at such an increase of rent as will compensate the Commissioners for the surrender of their reversionary interest in the property. The amount of this additional rent would be ascertained by a conversion of the present leasehold term into a perpetuity on the basis of the 3 per cent. tables.

The method proposed for adoption will be, perhaps, best understood from an examination of the following examples :

Example A.- House and garden of net annual value of £100, held on lease for an unexpired term of 87 years at a ground-rent of £10 per annum. The additional rent in this case would be £3 16s. 5d. per -i.e, the property would be held on lease for 999 years at a rent of £13 16s. 5d. per annum.

annum

Example B.-House and garden of net annual value of £40, held for an unexpired term of 65 years at a ground-rent of £5 per annum. The additional rent would be £2 15s. 7d. per annum-i.e., the property would be held on 999 years' lease at a rent of £7 15s. 7d. per annum, Example C.-House and garden of net annual value of £60, held on lease for an unexpired term of 85 years at a ground-rent of £7 per The additional rent would be £2 7s. per annum-i.e, the property would be held on 999 years' lease at a rent of £9 7s. per annum. Example D.-House and garden of net annual value of £50, held on lease for an unexpired term of 90 years at a ground-rent of £10 per annum. The additional rent would be £1 8s. per annum-i.e., the property would be held on 999 years' lease at a rent of £11 8s. per

annum.

annum.

Example E.-House and garden of net annual value of £200, held on lease for an unexpired term of 95 years at a ground-rent of £30 per annum. The additional rent would be £5 8s. 7d. per annum―i.e., the property would be held on 999 years' lease at a rent of £35 8s. 7d. per

annum.

Example F.-House and garden of net annual value of £90, held on lease for an unexpired term of 75 years at a nominal ground-rent of £2 per annum. The additional rent would be £5 13s. 3d. per annumi.e., the property would be held on 999 years' lease at a rent of £7 13s. 3d per annum.

The Commissioners are prepared to consider applications from lessees holding house property directly from them for unexpired terms of not less than 40 years.

The only expense to the lessee, where the property is not sub-leased or encumbered, will be a fixed fee of moderate amount for the surrender and the grant of a new lease, together with the amount payable for stamp duties.

The following advantage to both the contracting parties to a lease would apparently follow the adoption of the scheme :

The lessee would secure the enjoyment of the property in perpetuity, and this improvement in the tenure would give his estate an enhanced value. He would have a strong incentive to keep the property continuously in substantial repair, since he would enjoy the whole advantage of his expenditure. He could borrow money on better terms on mortgage of his interest in the property. The landlord would be fairly compensated for the loss of his reversionary interest in the property. His rent would be better secured, since the property would be maintained in a better state of repair. He would avoid the loss which would result from having to invest the proceeds of sale at 24 or 2 per cent., in the case of compulsory enfranchisement by Act of Parliament. The character of the estate would be maintained permanently to the advantage of lessor and lessee. The vexed question of dilapidations which arises at the end of short-term leases would be wholly avoided.

Statistics.

The extent to which the two groups of Counties thus distinguished differ in the area devoted to different kinds of crops, may be shown by the following Summary, exhibiting the percentage of the total cultivated acreage under each head in the year 1892.

The Grazing or Western Division includes the following counties, viz.:-Chester, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Gloucester, Hereford, Lancaster, Leicester, Monmouth, Northumberland, Salop, Somerset, Stafford, Westmorland, Wilts, Worcester, York (North Riding), and York (West Riding).

The Corn or Eastern Division includes: -Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Cambridge, Essex, Hants, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northampton, Nottingham, Oxford, Rutland, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, and York (East Riding).

CORN PRICES.

RETURN OF THE AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN, IMPERIAL MEASURE, AS RECEIVED FROM THE INSPECTORS AND OFFICERS OF EXCISE DURING THE UNDER-MENTIONED PERIODS.