three months' notice has been given in writing.

Not to break up certain lands specified in the schedule,
'under L20 an acre.'

Not to plough more than a specified number of acres of the
rest of the land in any one year, under the same penalty.

To forfeit the same sum for every acre that shall be ploughed
for any longer time than three crops successively, without
making a clean summer fallow thereof after the third
crop.

And the like sum for every acre over and above a specified
number (clover excepted) that shall be mown in any one
year.

At the time of laying down arable lands to grass he shall
manure them with 8 quarters of lime per acre, and sow
the same with 12 lb. of clover seeds, and one bushel of
rye-grass per acre.

Shall spend on the premises all hay, straw, and manure, or
leave them at the end of the term.

Tenant on quitting to be allowed for hay left on the premises,
for clover and rye-grass sown in the last year, and for all
fallows made within that time.'[489]

A striking picture of the conditions prevailing in many parts of
England at this period is given by Mr. Loch in his account of the
estates of the Marquis of Stafford.[490] When this nobleman inherited
his property in Staffordshire and Shropshire, much of the land, as in
other parts of England, was held on leases for three lives, a system
said to have been ruinous in its effects. Although the farms were held
at one-third of their value, nothing could be worse than the course of
cultivation pursued, no improvements were carried out, and all that
could be hoped for was that the land would not be entirely run out
when the lease expired. The closes were extremely small and of the
most irregular shape; the straggling fences occupied a large portion
of the land; the crookedness of the ditches, by keeping the water
stagnant, added to, rather than relieved, the wetness of the soil.
Farms were much scattered, and to enable the occupiers to get at their
land, lanes wound backwards and forwards from field to field, covering
a large quantity of ground.

It is to the great credit of the Marquis of Stafford that this
miserable state of things was swept away. Lands were laid together,
the size of the fields enlarged, hedges and ditches straightened, the
drainage conducted according to a uniform plan, new and substantial
buildings erected, indeed the whole countryside transformed