We learn from a contemporary that the experiment in co-operative farming now being made by the Duke of Portland on his Gringley estate is exciting considerable attention in the country amongst all classes. The farm referred to, consisting of about four hundred and eighty-five acres, has been let, together with all the stock, horses, and implements upon it, and with all the rights of the tenant, to an association of six agricultural labourers. It is chiefly arable, there being only thirty-six acres of grass; and the soil is a deep peat, growing good wheat, and also oats, but not barley. The terms upon which the farm is let or leased are, it is said, a fixed rent, payable half-yearly. The tenant-right has been valued by parties mutually chosen, and three per cent. is to be charged on the amount, to be paid half-yearly with the rent. The horses, stock, and implements left upon the farm have also been valued by the same valuers, and three per cent. is to be charged thereon. The tenant-right, the stock, and implements are at all times to be kept up after a style of good husbandry, and the landlord, his agent, or servants are to have every facility shown them to ascertain that the capital is being in no way deteriorated. The shooting is not let with the farm. The agreement is the one usually in force on the Duke’s estate, but it has been found necessary, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to enter into a subsidiary agreement giving power to resume possession at any time, and this document will necessarily come under the Bills of Sale Act. The amount of the valuation is said to be £2431, 10s. The farm buildings are in good order, and sufficient for the requirements of the farm. The live-stock on the farm has been valued, as also the farming implements and general stock, including sufficient seed-corn. There are four houses on the farm; but in order to meet the requirements of the six men and their families, two of the houses have been divided, and other alterations may also be made. A deed of partnership is being drawn up amongst the men, which shall be in force for seven years. Each man is to receive a wage of four pounds a month; accounts are to be balanced yearly; and after the rent, interest, and all other charges are deducted, the remainder is to be paid over towards reducing the amount of the valuation.
The Australian colonies and New Zealand, according to one of the Indian journals, drink far more tea per head of population than the British Islands. The Australians come first, with 7.66 pounds per head; the New Zealanders next, with 7.23 pounds per head; while the people of Great Britain, though appearing third in the list, consume only 4.90 pounds each. Newfoundland and Canada come next; while in the United States the consumption is only 1.30 pound per head; and in Russia, which is always regarded as a great tea-drinking country, the consumption is only 0.61 pound per head. Belgium, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, and Spain consume less than the other European nations; but there is not one nation on the continent, with the exception of Holland, in which the annual consumption exceeds one pound per head. But in certain parts of the countries named, tea-drinking is much more common than in others. In certain Russian districts, especially, tea is drunk constantly and copiously, and it is this fact which has given rise to the notion that Russia is the most bibulous of all tea-drinking countries.