HF''^'^^^'^fi'saafc

MASSACHUSETTS
STATE COLLEGE

No. 1, Vol. XXXYII.] JANUARY, 1870. Thibd Series.

THE

FAHMER'S MAGAZINE,

AND

MONTHLY JOUENAL

or

THE AaRICULTUEAL INTEREST.

IBetricatetr

TO THE

FARMEES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BY ROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.

BOGEESON AND TUXFORD,] [PRINTERS, 265, STRAND.

- _.7^'~,"TriT7~ 7. ' — ~ ' -~~~ .. - ' " "'""

rMPORTANT TO

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Veterinary
Chemist, by Appointment to His late Royal Highness
The PriQCO Consort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dover
Street Borouffh, London, hegs to call the attention ot
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
DIPPING COMPOSITION, which requires no BoUmg, and
mav be used -svith Warm or Cold Water, for effectually
destroying the Tick, Lice, and all other insects injurious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Fly and Shab,
and cleansing and pui-ifying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quality, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal. _

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Manu-
factory as above, and sold as follows, although any other
quantity may be had, if required :—

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2 0

61b. 30 „ „ „ 0 3 0

81b, 40 „ „ „ 0 4 0

101b. 60 „ „ , 5 ,^ ^

20 lb. 100 „ „ (cask and measure 0 10 o
30 lb. 150 „ „ included) '^ ^^ 2

401b. 200 „ „ „ J 2 2

60 lb. 250 „ „ „ } I I

601b. 300 „ „ „ } S a

801b. 400 ,. „ „ IH ^

1001b. 500 „ „ „ ^ ^. .

Should any Flockmaster prefer boiling the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFIOATE.
Prom Mr. Heeepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol Laboratory, Old Park, January 18th, 1861.
Sii',— I have submitted your Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the mixture neutral. If it is used according to the directions
given, I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys vermin,
it will not injm-e the hair roots (or "yolk ") in the skin, the
fleece, or the carcase. I think it deserves the numerous
testimonials published. I am. Sir, yours respectfully,

William Heeapath, Sen., F.C.S., &c., &c.,
To Mr. Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry.

Leicester House, Great Dover-street, Borough, London.

FLOCKMASTERS.

He would also especially call attention to Ms SPECIFIC,
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which wiU be found
a certain remedy for eradicating that loathsome and ruinous
disorder in Sheep, and which may be safely used in aU
chmates, and at all seasons of the year, and to all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price PIVB SHILLINGS per
gallon— sufficient on an average for thirty Sheep (according
to the virulence of the disease) ; also in wine quart bottles,

IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL.
" Scoulton, near Hingham, Norfolk, April 16th, 1855.
"Dear Sir,— In answer to yours of the 4th inst., whicn
would have been repUed to before this had I been at home, I
have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the efficacy of
your invaluable ' Specific for the cure of Scab in Sheep.' The
600 sheep were all dressed in August last vsdih 84 gallons of
the ' Noif-POisoNOiJS Specific,' that was so highly recom-
mended at the Lincoln Show, and by their own dresser, the
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd after
dressing according to instructions left ; but notwithstanding
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to have
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply of your
Specific, which I received the following day ; and although
the weather was most severe in February during the dressing,
your iSpEciFic proved itself an invaluable remedy, for in
three weeks the Sheep were quite cured ; and I am happy to
say the yoimg lambs are doing remarkably well at present.
In conclusion, I beUeve it to be the safest and best remedy
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

"For JOHN TINGET, Esq.,

" To Mr. Thomas Bigg." " R- RENNBY.

1^" Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre=
parations as "Non-poisonous Compositions:" it is only
necessary to appeal to theii- good common sense and judg-
ment to be thoroughly convinced that no "Non-poisonous"
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, particularly such
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites— creatures so tenacioua
of life. Such advertised preparations must be wholly useless,
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS £14, £5, £4,, & £3.

THE ROYAL FARMERS' INSURANCE COMPANY,

3, NOErOLK STEEET, STEAND, LONDON, W-C.

CAPITAL. — Persons insured by tliis Company liave the security of an eirtensive and wealthy pr&prietary,
as well as an ample Capital always applicable to the payment of claims without delay.

LIFE DEPARTMENT.— BONUS.— Insurers of the participating class will be entitled to four-fifths
of the profits.

FIRE DEPARTMENT,-

Ist Class — Not Hazardous .., ... Is. 6d. per Cent.

2nd Class — Hazardous 2s. 6d. „

3rd Class — Doubly Hazardous 4s. 6d. „

BUILDINGS and MERCANTILE Property of every description in Public or Private Warehouses.—
Distillers, Steam Engines, Goods in Boats or Canals, Ships in Port or Harbour, &c. &c., are Insured in this
Office at moderate rates.

SPECIAL RISKS. — At such rates as may be considered reasonable.
NEW INSURANCES.— No charge made for Policy or Stamp.

FARMING STOCK, — 5s. per cent,, with liberty to use a Steam Thrashing Machine without extra
charge. Nearly FIVE MILLIONS Insured in this Office.

SEVEN YEARS' INSURANCES may be effected on payment of Six Years' Premium only.
LIGHTNING and GAS. — Losses by Fire occasioned by Lightning, and Losses by Explosion of Gas
when used for Lighting Buildmgs will be allowed for.

RENT. — The Loss on Eent while Buildings remain untenantable through fire may be provided against.
HAIL DEPARTMENT.— (Crops and Glass.)

Policies to protect parties from Loss by the destruction of Growing Crops or Glass, by Hail, are granted on
Moderate Terms.
LOSSES.— Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.

Apply to JOHN REDDISH, Eeq., Secretaiy and Actuary,

c

\

^.

/^ ^^-TT'h^A,^^

,rmdon Bj.hlLslied ly Rogerson &Tvxfard.,2/}6 . Stra,ndJS7

tl 1>^

h ' «,f

>

.^

^

f ?■

ir^

i'

^f

.^

( ^.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1870.

PLATE I.

MR. WILLIAM SMITH, OF WOOLSTON.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

At the deatli of my father in 1837 I came ia possession
of my farm, now knowa as the Woolstou Farm, and thus
stood the representative of the family who had possessed
it for 200 years. It consisted of eighty-six acres of
grass laud and iive acres of ploughed land upon the flat,
near the house; and on the clay hill, one-and-a-half miles
from home, there was a grass field containing nine
acres, and four ilelds of what was called ploughed land,
containing together thirty-eight acres ; yet in each of these
fieldj there were two acres of roundabouts or waste land,
most of which was said to be wcwthless for cultivation.
In all 136 acres. The ploughed land was worked upon
the four-course system, viz., first year dead fallow, then
followed wheat, and after that beans, and last of aU came
wheat again. Barley or oats came as the last crop occa-
sionally. Four good horses were always kept to work this
thirty-five acres of arable land, and very frequently there
were five kept to do it with the work of the whole farm.
I at once ploughed-up the eight acres of roundabouts or
idle land in the four ploughed fields, and thus increased
my ploughed land to forty-three acres.

In 1842 r bought a ploughed field containing thirteen
acres adjoining my land upon the flat near home. Soon
after this I ploughed-up fields now known as Nos. 1, 3 part
2, 4, and 5, containing together forty-two acres, and thus
increased my ploughed land to ninety-eight acres ; and
soon after this I bought another field of grass land near
to my flat land. I at once ploughed it up and thus in-
creased my arable land to 112 acres. To work it, it
needed six good horses ; and to save the carting of the
heavy land corn and manure one-and-a-half miles, I built
a barn and yard upon it.

In 1845 — after having worked my heavy land upon the
dead fallow and three-crop system, and finding that the
crops were not over productive, about 20 bushels per acre,
fallow land included — I came to the conclusion that sub-
soiling must be good upon such land, so I had a subsoiler
made, and tried the first time on field No. 2, heavy land,
by ploughing the field across to make sure that the trial
should be fair. I subsoiled a piece across the middle,
leaving the top and bottom of the field unsubsoiled. The
land had been manured alike. In the February following
I planted the field with beans : they all came up well
together ; but in May it could be seen that those on the
subsoiled land were taking the lead, and by the end of
May they were fully eight inches the highest, and they
kept the lead up to harvest, when it could be plainly seen
that they wei-e not only the highest but the fullest of corn.
This convinced me that deeper culture was needed for

Old Series,]

beans, but with only six horses I could not find time be-
fore Christmas to plough and subsoil in the ordinary way,
a field of land a year for beans, for the plough needed
four horses to work it, and the subsoiler needed three —
seven good horses in all ; therefore, as I had only six, I
was obliged to make any shift to do a bit at all. I did
not like it, so I contrived the plan of ploughing my land
in ridge, a yard from ridge to ridge ; and then, subsoiling
round the ridges in this way, I could ridge first and then
subsoil half-an-acre a-day with four horses. The work
was heavy to the man as he had to hold the plough side-
ways all the time. In the February following the land
was planted with beans, one row on each side the ridge.
They thrived well, and I had a good crop. After harvest
I took my subsoiler and pulled it with four horses along
every ridge and thus cracked the land, and then passed a
powerful cultivator, worked with six horses, across the
ridges, smashing the whole to a depth of six inches, and
thus prepared my land for wheat the next year. I liked
the plan and continued to work upon it till 1855, when I
began to work with steam power. It had one drawback,
viz., heavy work to the man.

In 1855 it occurred to me that if I combined a power-
ful double mould-board plough and two snbsoilers together
and worked it with a steam engine, I could throw up a
ridge a yard in width and subsoil it at one operation,
and I resolved to make a trial of it by setting my black-
smith to work to make a combined ridger and subsoiler ;
and I also had made a three-tined smasher upon the same
principle, by merely substituting another subsoiler, or
rather a powerful tine in the place of the double mould-
board plough. I then provided myself with a windlass,
&c., and a seven-horse power engine, and in December
of that year, after selling-off three horses to make room
for the engine, I made a start. The first day's trial
showed many defects in my arrangement. The imple-
ments were right but the speed of the engine was wrong,
for it was much too fast, for the implement when set to
work at a depth of six inches held the engine with 501b.
pressure of steam upon it at a dead stand. We relieved
the engine by taking the implement out of the ground
two inches ; at this depth (four inches) the engine made
the implement trot across the field full five miles an hour.
The lookers-on, who looked old and shook their heads
when they saw the engine stuck fast, now laughed as they
trotted along with the implement. Yet the depth (four
inches) for ridging and subsoiling would not do for me.
The turning of the implement at land's-end would not do
with one rope in front to pull the implement along, and
,B [Vol, LXVTI.— No, 1.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tlie other hooked on behind to pull the back rope up ; for as
soon as the implement had been stopped we had to pull
with the strength of three or four men to unhook the
back rope, and at turning the first time we lifted the im-
plement with levers to place it in position for going back.
This done, and hooking on the rope, we trotted
across the field again, but as soon as we stopped the
second time I had the back rope unhooked and puUed on
to the front of the implement, and hooked il to the
stem of the front wheels with a strong S hook ; and
without the aid of any lifting and levers we set the
engine to work to pull the implement round it-
self, which it did in first-rate style, and thus
saved for ever after aU the levering and pul-
ling. Our anchorage was bad ; they were wooden
ones, needing holes dug in the ground (at the end of each
bout), three feet wide aud from two to three feet in
depth, and as I had got a number of these holes prepared
ready for the first day's trial, the lookers-on asked whether
I had got a lot of graves dug ready to bury them. I
could stand all that. Besides making use of these holes,
I had to contrive, before I started, another anchor, for
with the two that I had received as a set I could not
start ; therefore I fixed upon a stile-post for a third,
fixing the snatch-block to it with a strong rope. As soon
as the implement had crossed the field four times, I told
the lookers-on that I had seen enough, but that if they
would like to trot round again they might. They should,
was the reply, and away they went some half-dozen times,
and all was over for the day. I got new pullies put upon
the engine and windlass, to reduce the speed of the im-
plement to about two miles an hour ; a set of new
anchors (iron ones) — those now known as the Woolston
anchors ; a fourth snatch-block ; and a turning bow for
the implement, to attach the ropes to, to enable the engine
to turn it easily at land's end. As soon as I had got all this
done I started again,and got off" weU, using the smasher, and
completed two fields — No. 1 and No. 3 light land — con-
taining together twenty-five acres, and we packed the
tackle up till the March following, when we brought it
again to work No. 3 heavy land over twice for peas
(under horse culture it would have been dead fallow), and
we got on well, for we smashed the twelve acres and
crossed it by steam, and then scuffled it once by horses,
and then burnt a lot of the twitch that we had dragged
out, and then drilled in the peas. All this was done in
ten days, and at harvest I liad a good crop — 5 qrs. per
acre. We then packed up the tackle again,and after harvest
we set to again, and the best thing that can be said about
what I did then is to re-write what I wrote to the Mark
Lane E.rpress, on the 13th of November, 1856 :

" I have since harvest ploughed by steam the whole
of my farm, excepting a bit of wheat stubble left to
try an experiment on in the spring, and a bit of clover
ley ploughed with horses. It may be interesting to
some of your readers to know the results. I find that the
implements exhibited by me at Chelmsford are perfect ;
that any seven-horse engine is sufficiently powerful for
every useful purpose ; that any cold clay, hilly, and un-
even field may be ploughed ; that in ploughing my bean
and pea stubbles, at a depth of six inches, I did an acre
in one hour and thirteen minutes and an average of five
acres per day, including time for shifting from field to
field, at an average cost of 5s. 2d. per arce, including men,
coal, water, and horses, for shifting; and that in ploughing
my wheat stubbles at a depth of eight inches on the
heavy aud ten inches on the light land, I did an acre in
two hours and an average of three acres per day, in-
cluding time for shifting as above, at an average cost of
8s. 8d. per acre, including men, coal, water, &c.,
as above : to this must be added interest of money and
wear-and-tear— say, is, 6d. per acre, which will he the

outside, the tackle coming in nearly as good as it went
out. As to the value of the work, I give it you in the
words of practical fai^^ers who visited me : 'On the
wheat stubbles the common plough is of no use against
you. On heavy land the spade cannot equal yours. On
bean stubbles one ploughing with yours is worth more
than two with the common plough.' "

This was a brief report of my work done in the autumn
of 1856 ; and as soon as I had completed this work I
provided myself with a book, in which I entered all the
operations, both steam and horse power, giving the cost
of each separately, and the total cost of seed-bed on each
of my several fields, not forgetting the Is. 6d. an acre for
interest, &c., nor the kind of crop planted on each field ;
and I made like entries in it every year afterwards during
my fourteen years under steam culture, ending with the
harvest of 1869. Here is a summary of that book.
Heavy Lajjd. — Field No. 1.
One ridge ploughing and subsoiling by steam

power £0 7 3

Ten smashings by steam power 3 6 8

Eight cultivatings by horses 016 0

One subsoiling by liorses 0 3 0

Two ploughings with horses 1 4< 0

£5 16 11
Or an average of 8s. 7d. an acre a-year. The cropping has
been — Oats one, clover two, wheat four, swedes one, barley
two, and beans four.

Field No. 2.
Two ridge ploughings and subsoiling by steam

power £10 4

Eiglit smashings by steam power 3 11 5

Two cultivatings aud driUing at one operation

by steam power 0 10 0

Five cultivatings with horses 0 11 6

Two subsoilings with horses 0 6 0

One ridge ploughing with horses 0 4 0

£5 3 3

Or an average of 7s. 4^d. an acre n-year. Crops — Beans five,
wheat five, swedes one, barley two, and clover one.
Field No. 3.
Two ridge ploughings and subsoilings by steam

power , £10 4

Eleven smashings by steam power ... .;. ... 3 11 5

Three cultivatings and drillings by steam power 0 17 0

Seven cultivatings with horses 0 14 0

One subsoiling with horses 0 3 0

One ridge ploughing with horses 0 4 0

£6 9 9

Or an average of 9s. 3d. an acre a-year. Crops — Peas one,
barley two, beans five, wheat five, and swedes one.
Field No. 4.
Two ridge ploughings and subsoilmgs by steam

power £0 17 5

Ten smashings by steam power 3 6 8

Three cultivatings and drillings by steam power 0 17 0

Nine cultivatings with horses 0 18 0

One subsoiling with horses 0 3 0

One ploughing with horses 0 13 0

£6 14 1
Or an average of 9s. 7d. an acre a-year. Crops — Wheat five,
beans six, barley two, and swedes one.

Light Land. — Field No. 1.
Three ridge ploughings and subsoilings by steam

power £1 10 6

Five smashings by steam power 1 11 6

Tliree cultivatings and drillings by steam power 0 19 0

Seven cultivatings by horses 0 14 0

One subsoiling by horses 0 3 0

Two ploughings by horses 110

One ridge ploughing by horses 0 4 0

2 11

Or an average of Ss. 9d. an acre a-year. Crops — Beans three,
wheat fiye, roots two, barley two, clover one, aud peas one,

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

.. ... ... £1

7

7

3

0

0

1

2

0

0

6

0

1

1

0

Field No. 2.
Two ridge plougliings and subsoilings by steam

power £10 4!

Eive smashings by steam power 1 13 4<

Two ciiltivatings and drillings by steam power. 0 12 0

Sis cultivatings by horses 0 12 0

One subsoiling by horses 0 3 0

Three ploughiugs by horses 18 0

One ridge ploughing by horses 0 4 0

£5 12 8
Or an average of 8s. O^d. an acre a-year. Crops — Roots three,
wheat five, clover two, beans two, and barley two.
Field No. 3.
Three ridge ploughings and subsoilings by steam

power

Sis smash ings by steam power
Ten cultivatings by horses
Two subsoilings by horses
Two ploughings by horses

£5 16 7
Or an average of 8s. 4d. an acre a-year. Crops — Wlieat five,
roots three, barley two, beans three, and clover one.
Field No. "i.
Four ridge ploughings and subsoilings by steam

power £1 17 9

Two smashings 0 13 4

One cultivating and drilling by steam power... 0 7 0

Four cultivatings by horses 0 10 0

Two subsoilings with horses 0 6 0

Four ploughings by horses 115 0

£5 9 1

Or an average of 7s. 9^d. an acre a-year. Crops — Wlieat five,
beans three, roots two, barley two, and clover two.
Field No. 5.
Three ridge ploughings and subsoilings by steam

power £1 10 6

One smashing by steam power 0 6 8

One cultivating and drilling by steam power... 0 7 0

Sis cultivatings with horses 0 12 0

One subsoUiug with horses 0 3 0

Four ploughings with horses Ill 6

One ridge ploughing with horses 0 4 0

£4 14 8
Or an average of 6s. 9d. an acre a-year. Crops — Clover three,
wheat five, beans two, barley two, and roots two.
Field No. 6.
One ridge ploughing and subsoiling by steam

power £0 7 3

Three smashings by steam power 1 0 0

One cultivating and drilling by steam power... 0 7 0

Nine cultivatings with horses 1 0 0

One subsoiling by horses 0 3 0

Three plougliings with horses Ill 6

One ridge ploughing with horses 0 4 0

£4 12 9
Or an average of 6s. 72d. an acre a-year. Crops — Wheat four,
clover three, oats two, roots one, barley three, and peas one.

My land was not clean at starting, but it is clean now.
The heavy land part of my farm under horse culture had
a dead fallow every fourth year ; under steam culture it
has had none, yet it is clean.

The turn-over plough has not been in Nos. 2 and 3
heavy land during the whole period of 14 years. It has
been upon No. 1 twice, and No. 4 once, and that is all,
thereby proving that the plough on heavy land under
steam culture is of little or no use. On the light land
part of my farm it has been more used — twice on No. 1,
thrice on No. 2, twice on No. 3, four times on No. 4,
four times on No. 5, and thrice on No. 6 ; worked on all
by horse power, thereby showing that on lighter soils it
is more needed.

The average cost of seed beds, as may be seen above,

has been ou the heavy land 8s. 8d. an acre, and on the
lighter land 7s. 4id. an acre. Under horse culture the
former would cost over £1, and the latter would cost
near upon £1 per acre ; therefore I have eifected a great
saving.

The saving in horse keeping has been very great.
Under horse culture I used six to work my farm, not
over 6 in. deep. Under steam culture I have only kept
three, and they on an average have worked only 118 days
a-year. Now, if we fix the cost of the keeping of a horse,
with shoeing, &c., at £25 a-year, exclusive of the value
of its manure, I save £75 a-year by the reduction of six
horses to three. This, for 14 years, gives a total of
£1,050, the cost of two complete sets of tackle — even
three sets, if we set off half the engines to thrashing.

The increased produce question I went into in August
last, in a letter that was published, showing that it had
been quite two quarters per acre upon my heavy land.
Therefore, if we calculate it upon my 40 acres of heavy
land, leaving the light land unnoticed, we get a gain of
80 qrs. a-year for 14 years, which gives a total of
1,120 qrs., and at 40s. per qr., a value of £2,240.

You see that there is njt only a saving in the cost of
seed beds, and in the keeping of horses, but there is also
on heavy clay land a great gain by increased produce, and
the land can always be kept clean and ready for crop at
the cost shown above, provided the work is done at the
proper time.

Will the landlords and farmers of England, vrith these
facts before them, still turn a deaf ear to what I say, and
let their 800,000 acres of dead fallow, as shown by the
Board of Trade, still remain under dead fallow, when a
mere 8s. 8d. an acre could work and keep it clean for
ever?

By this summary it may be seen that I worked a com-
bined cultivator and drill. I must explain this :

In 1861, it occurred to me that such an implement
would be useful, I therefore set to to contrive and have
one made, and in February, 1862, I tried it ou No. 1
light land, that had been smashed in the autumn by
cross-cultivating and drilling in the beans at one opera-
tion. It did its work well, and I had a capital crop, but
the cost and weight of the machine was a drawback —
cost £70, weight If tons. In the March following I
worked it again on No. 6 light land, that had been roots,
fed on, cultivating the land without any previous opera-
tion, and drilling in the barley at one operation. This
did well, and I had a good crop. I also that same year
cultivated and drilled barley into No. 4 heavy land, after
swedes, fed on, and t?£e was done well without any pre-
vious operation, and I had a good crop. lu 1868, No. 2
heavy land after beans was cultivated and drilled in wheat
without any previous operation. No. 2 heavy land was
cultivated and drilled in barley, after swedes, at one ope-
ration, without any previous operation. No. 4 heavy
land, after being smashed in the autumn of 1862, was in
the February following crossed and drilled beans, at one
operation. No. 1 light land after beans was cultivated
and drilled wheat at one operation, without any previous
operation. No. 2 light land, after roots was cultivated
and drilled barley at one operation, without any previous
operation. All these crops proved good ones, and I so
liked the machine and the kind of work that I set to and
contrived anew machine, and had it made more than half
a ton lighter in weight, and £20 less in cost, and the year
following I worked it thus : No. 4 heavy land after
beans, cultivated and drilled at one operation and that
was all for the crop. No. 4 light land wheat after beans.
The land was cultivated, and the seed drilled in at one
operation, and that was all. The crops this year were
good. In 1865, the machine planted the wheat on No.
3 heavy land, and on No. 5, light land : these crops did

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

well. In 1866 I did nothing, for I began to see that
this kind of work would not do, for knot grass and other
objectionable weeds began to ])ut in their appearance, (he
land having lost the effect of a dry smashing in the
autumn, but for all that I tried it again the next year,
1867. In No. 2 heavy land the wheat was drilled by the
machine, cultivating the land at the same time, and so
was No. 3 heavy land, and so also was No. 1 light land.
No. 2 light laud was smashed first and then crossed, and
drilled wheat at once. This was the last that the ma-
chine did, for although the crops proved good my land
became full of knot and other grasses, so much so that if
I had kept on upon this plan I must soon have had a

fallow, therefore 1 condemned the machine. The wet
seasons of 1866 and 1867 no doubt had something to do
with these grasses, but an implement that cannot keep
land clean in wet seasons will not do for me. I fell back
upon the smashing one year for wheat, and the ridging
and subsoiling the other for beans and soon righted
myself; and if I had not have told this tale now, the
people would not have known that dirty grasses were
creeping in upon me in 1866 and 1867, but I tell it to
guard others against ever attempting the do too much
"system."

Now, I will show and explain the implements that I
do like :

This is my ridger and subsoiler with which I started
in 1855. It is a ridging plough and subsoiler,
arranged in a strong frame, with a pair of wheels in front
and another pair at the middle of the framing to regulate
the depth, and the front wheels are also the guiding
wheels. There is also an additional pair of wheels to
raise the plough at lands end. The subsoiler being set so
as to penetrate 4 or 5 inches deeper than the bottom of
the trenching plough. By this operation the land is

trenched, subsoiled, and laid up dry foi the winter more
effectually and in better style than is done in our gardens
with a spade. I never had a failing crop from work done
by it, and the after operations for the succeeding crop
have always been found light. The implement is but
little known, therefore I am the more desirous of giving
it here to make it more generally known, and the more
so as the work done by it is vastly valuable.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

This is my smasher, wilh which I started in 1855. It
has three tines arranged in a strong frame, and the depth
of working is regulated, and it is guided the same as my
ridger and subsoiler. It is a very valuable implement for
breaking up bean and pea stubbles in the autumn. It
clears a width of from 30 to 36 inches. I continued to
work it for several years ; but, after giving £100 and my
seven-horse engine for a more powerful engine, I had con-

structed a very powerful five-tiued implemcut upon the
same principal, covering a width of 48 inches, wilh which
I can with the more powerful engine average 8 acres a
day ; whereas, with the three-tincd implement and seven-
horse engine, I could do only 5 acres a day, therefore the
cost of operation is brought down from 5s. 2d. to 3s. 2d.
an acre.

This is my subsoiler, with which I subsoiled round
the ridges under horse-culture, before I adopted steam-
power, and which I tlnd very useful now.

Now, I will explain how I use them. My field No. 1
(heavy land) was worked after a crop of wheat with the
ridge and subsoiler. The land lay in the state in which
the implement left it until February (a careful man pre-
viously to this having walked every ridge, and took every-
thing objectionable in the shape of dock or twitch, &c.,
from it : 3 acres a day is not more than a short winter-
day's work at this job), when I planted the bean one row
on each side the ridge. This placed the rows from 18 to
20 inches from row to row. After planting, the land
was harrowed, to pull down the ridges, and cover in the
beans. The beans were haud-hoed over three times, to
keep the laud clean from seeding-weeds, and I had a good
crop of beans. As soon as the beans were harvested, I
set my smasher to work to pull up the bean stubble, and
cross-cultivated it with horses, and that was all that was
done to it before planting it with wheat. Next year this
field will be ridged and subsoiled again for beans, and go
through the same process as it did for the preceding crop
of beans, and so on — wheat and beans as long as I live.

Now, I will leave the heavy land, and go to the light
land field No. 1. It was wheat last year, and has been
manured and ridged and subsoiled for roots next year. A
cai-eful man will look over it in the winter, and take every-
thing objectionable away. He will do 3 acres a day, I
am certain. In March I shall put four horses to work to
pull my subsoiler along every ridge, and thus split them.
The part for mangolds I shall pass a harrow over, and
drill in the seeds ; and the part for swedes will get a cul-
tivating once over in April afterwards (a harrowing or
two), and the seeds will be drilled in. The horse sub-
soiler does more than the splitting of this ridged land for
root ; for with it and the common plough I ridge up and
subsoil all my headlands round my ridged work, and in
a dry spring I may on my heavy land split my ridges
before planting the beans. This in dry weather in
February is a very good operation.

In 1858 I addressed a letter to the farmers of England,
from which I now make the following extract :

" If steam power is to be generally applied to the
cultivation of the soil, every large farmer must possess a
set of apparatus of his own. Two or three small farmers
may have a set between them, or hire one of another,
according to arrangement, for September to October will
not wait, and if the work is to be done well it must be
done in those months. My own experience convinces me
that one operation of the cultivator in those months does
on clay land produce as good an effect as two ploughings."

This shows plainly how thoroughly I was impressed
with the necessity of doing our work in September and
October.

I reprinted this extract twice over in my revision of
"Facts of interest to the Farmer," which shows plainly
that in 1866 I felt the necessity of doing the work in
those months as much as ever, and in my remarks on my
fourteen years' summery it may be seen that I insist upon
having the work done at the proper time. This shows
clearly that I cannot be driven from the point ; neither
shall I, for I know that the prosperity of the farmer
under steam culture depends upon it, and so to some
extent does the price of bread to the people.

I have sketched the road that led me on to steam. I
then show my start and first year's practice, ; and then I
give a summary of my fourteen years' practice, with some
remarks thereon ; I then show the rise and fall of my
combined cultivator and drill ; then I show and explain
my implements ; then I explain how I work them ; and
then I show that I addressed the farmers of England,
impressing upon them the necessity of getting the work
done in September and October; and now I must show
that on the 29th of September, 1869, I had a new start
under altered circumstances, having bought another farm
(sixty-one acres of heavy clay) adjoining my old heavy
clay laud (ten acres of this is grass and fifty-one acres
arable), and seventy acres of grass land upon the flat,
near to my light land. I have thrown the two lots of
heavy land together, and therefore a new book of re-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

fereuce was needed, aud to make my positiou uovv quite
clear as to cost of working, &c., I will give a copy of it,
showing the cost and all particulars as to the work done
this autumn for next year's crop, which are not included
in my summary for my fourteen years' practice. Here
are the particulars :

September 15, 1869. — Finished harvest.

21. — Started the ^smasher on part of No. 3, heavy
land, 20 acres.

22.— Worked all day.

23.— Finished the 20 acres at 10.55 a.m. ; then shifted
the tackle to No. 2 heavy land, and started.

24.— Worked aU day.

25.— Finished No. 2 heavy land at 5.10 p.m., 22f
acres ; then shifted to No. 1 heavy land.

26. — Sunday.

27.— Worked all day.

28.— Worked all day.

29.— Finished No. 1 heavy land at 8.20 a.m., 16i acres.
The men were at dung-cart the rest of the day.

30. — The men at dung-cart all day.

October 1.— Tackle shifted to, and started on light
land No. 6, working the ridges and subsoiler.

2. — Worked all day on No. 6.

3. — Sunday.

4.— Finished No. 6 (14 acres) at 11.20 a.m.; then
shifted, and started the ridger and subsoiler on No. 1
light land.

5. — Worked all day.

6.— Finished No. 1 (12 acres) at 8.20 a.m.; then shifted
the tackle, and set the smasher to work on No. 4 light
land.

7.— Finished No. 4 (12 acres) at 11.50 a.m. ; then
shifted the tackle to No. 5 light land, setting the ridger
and subsoiler to work.

8. — Worked all day on No. 5.

9. — Finished No. 5 (12 acres) at 11.15 a.m., and then
packed up the tackle for the year.

The total consumption of coal has been (for the 109
acres) 9 tons 18 cwt., or an average of 1 cwt. 2 qrs. 17 lbs.
per acre. A boy only fifteen years of age worked the
implements during the whole period.

I have noticed Sundays and dung-cart to make it quite
clear as to the working "days. It may be seen that I have
smashed 71 acres in 8j days, and that I ridged and sub-
soiled 38 acres in 6f days. The former was done at a
depth of 6 inches, aud the latter from 10 to 12 inches.
Now I must give a day's working expenses when working
the ridger and subsoiler :

s. d.

Engine man 3 6

Windlass man 2 6

Two anchor men 5 0

Fifteen-year-old plough-boy 1 6

Plough-boy assistant 2 6

Two roller-boys 1 6

Water-fetcher 3 0

18 6

The plough-boy's assistant is not needed with the
smasher, therefore the cost for men at that work stands
at 16s. per day. The average daily consumption of coal
was 11^ cwt. and a fraction : 99 cwt. to smashing, and 79
cwt. to ridging and subsoiling. The seventy-one acres of
smashing in eight-and-a-half days stands thus :

£ s. d.

Men for 81 days, at 16s. per day 8 16 0

Coal, 4 ton 19 cwt., at 16s. per ton 3 19 2^

Oil, at 9d. per day 0 6 4^

thrown the fractious away. This shows ])lainly that much
as I liked my seven-horse engine and three-tined cultivator
at my start, I acted wisely by giving the seven-horse
engine and £100 for my powerful one, and by having a
powerful five-tined cultivator made, clearing a width of
48 inches ; for by this move 1 have reduced my cost for
men and coal from 5s. 2d. to 3s. 2d. per acre, and when
Is. 6d. is added for interest of money and wear-and-tear,
the total cost for the operation per acre is only 4s. 8d.,
aud when a cross cultivating by horses is added to this,
the total cost of a seed bed for wheat stands at 6s. 8d.
per acre, and that is all on my very heavy land.

The 38 acres of ridging and subsoiling in 6f days
stands thus —

£ s. d.

Men for 6f days at 18s. 6d. per day 6 4 10^

Coal, 3 tons 19 cwt., at 163. per ton 3 3 2^

Oil at 9d. per day 0 5 OJ

£9 13 1^

or an average of Ss. Id. per acre, and a very little fraction
over. If you look back you may see that my average of
this kind of work at my start stood at 8s. 8d. per acre,
excluding Is. 6d. per acre for wear-and-tear; therefore
my position here is greatly improved by using a more
powerful engine, and when Is. 6d. per acre is added to the
5s. Id per acre, at which this operation now stands, we
get a total of 6s. 7d. per acre for ridging and subsoiling
my heavy land 10 inches deep — the cost of a seed-bed
for beans, for that was all I did on my heavy land last
year.

The Is. 6d. per acre for interest of money and wear-
and-tear passed unquestioned through my fourteen years'
practice ; yet at the end of my work done for my fif-
teenth crop, it was questioned, and well it might, for it
stood forth with 3s. 2d. an acre, for men, coal, oil, and
water as the working costs, and 2s. an acre for cross cul-
tivating with horses, to represent the total cost of a seed-
bed for wheat on my heavy clay land, at 6s. 8d. an acre,
while under horse culture this very land would cost quite
14s. an acre to plough it over once. I have repeatedly
explained the matter, and I will give the explanation
here, for the public have a right to know all about it.
Here is my position at starting —

Dec. 1855. £ s. d.

Seven-horse engine 200 0 0

Windlass, &c 80 0 0

Two implements made by my own blacksmith 18 0 0

Alteration of engine and windlass, new an- 1 qq n n

chors, &c J

£331 0 0

£13 1 7
or an average of Ss. 2d. per acre, yet not quite, for I had

From this must be deducted the half of the engines, to be
placed to thrashing, £100 ; and the sale of three horses
£150, to make room for the engine ; this fixes the balance
of £81 as the extra tenant's capital needed at starting.

At my start I did 25 acres, and in the March follow-
ing I worked 12 acres over twice on my heavy land and
planted it with jjeas, which gave me a produce of 5 qrs.
per acre, value £10 per acre. This field under horse-
culture would have been dead fallow. After harvest,
I worked again, and on the 13th Nov., 1856, I wrote to
the Mark Lane Express, as I have before shown, but I
will quote a few words here from that letter, to show
what I said upon the interest of money and wear-and-tear
question. " To this must be added interest of money
and wear-and-tear, say Is. 6d. per acre, which will be
the outside, the tackle coming in nearly as good as it went
out." The quantity of work done in the autumn of
1856 was 65 acres. When writing to the Mark Lane
Express (I took into consideration the £100 for the half

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

9

of the engine for thraslilng, and the £130 for hoises sold
off, and as there would be only £4 Is. due for interest on
the extra tenant's capital needed at the following Christ-
mas ; and that I should have saved £75, the keeping of
three horses sold, and thus, gained enough in that way
to pay, uot only the interest, but nearly all the extra
tenant's capital needed, and in addition to this I had
got my £130 worth of peas instead of a dead fallow) I
knew that I was using the word " interest" just to
satisfy the public, who at that time made it a matter of
necessity that that word must appear in all matters in
connection with steam cultivation. The fact is the Is. 6d.
an acre represented wear-and-tear and depreciation, and I
am quite certain that it was a fair estimate. It may be
said that mine was a low-priced set of tackle at starting.
True ! but it answered my purpose well as an experimental
set. I have it by me now, and- am proud of it, it being
the first that worked land practically by steam power,
yet for the last ten years I have worked a four-wheeled
one ; but to make matters quite plain and fair, I will
show my case in another form, by making a fresh start
on the 29th of September, 1869, when I entered upon my
new occupation, bringing my total arable land up
to 163 acres, showing the number and cost of horses,
&c., that would have been needed to work it by horses
only, and the number and cost of horses, &c., with the
cost of an engine and a set of steam tackle to work it
upon the "Woolston system. I fix the cost of a horse
with its tackle and implements to work with, at £45, the
cost of an engine at £300, charging the half of it to
thrashing ; the cost of a set of tackle, with a five-tined
smasher and a ridger — the two implements I use — at
£216, the price at which they are offered by the makers
to the public, and the cost of the keeping of a horse
at £25.

My 163 acres of arable land consists of 90 acres very
heavy clay, hilly and uneven ; in fact, there are five
hills upon it, all at points very steep, and 73 acres of
what I call light land, but in fact is not so. It is upon
the flat, mixed gravel and clay. Under horse culture, to
work the whole 6 inches deep 10 horses would be needed;
under steam culture, to work it 10 inches deep on the
heavy clay part and 12 inches deep on the lighter part I
have started off with 5. That number will not get half
employment throughout the year, as I have a lot of
landlord's work to do, and I mean to be well up to the
mark for doing all, both landlord's and tenant's for at
least this year. The case stands as follows :

STEAM-POWER CULTURE FROM MICHAELMAS 1869 TO
MICHAELMAS 1870.

Half the cost of the engine £150 0 0

Cost of tackle 216 0 0

Cost of 5 horses, with implements, &c.,

at M5 each horse 225 0 0

Cost of keeping 5 horses at £25 each.. 125 0 0

£716 0 0

HORSE-CULTURE EROM MICHAELMAS 1869 TO MICHAELMAS

1870.

Cost of 10 horses, with implements, £ s. d.

&c., at £4-5 each horse 450 0 0

Cost of keeping 10 horses at £25 each 250 0 0

Balance on the side of horse culture... 16 0 0

£716 0 0
Therefore £16 more tenants' capital is needed to work
this 163 acres farm of mine the first year, having the

whole in crop, than would have been needed under horse
culture, having a portion fallow. The interest on the
£16 extra tenants' capital needed is but a mere trifle, and
the increased produce under steam culture can well afford
to pay it.

Now, there is a point about this tenant's capital that
is under consideration worth looking into, the word " in-
terest." Interest is never charged on horses, their tackle,
and implements, or on money for payment of labour.
When a valuation is made horse-keeping is taken into
account, their tackle and implements are also considered,
and so is their doctor's bill, and the knowledge of now
and then a dead hour is uot tossed on one side ; payment
of labour is also considered, but interest of money never
is. I will support my case by an extract from Mr. Mor-
ton's paper, read before the Society of Arts, p. 87,
1859:

" Now, the cost of horse-labour on 21 farms in differ-
ent parts of the country, of which the particulars have
been kindly given to me : Those farmers employ 282
horses, and they cost for food, for depreciation of value,
and saddlers' and blacksmiths' bills £7,815 a yeai', their
implements need £870 a year to keep them good, and the
ploughmen and boys employed about them cost £4,241 a
year in wages ; about £13,000 in all, or £46 per horse
per annum."

The farmers had to find this £13,000, yet interest
upon it is not considered. Hereafter I will drop the word
interest, for I have proved that extra tenant's capital on
a moderate sized occupation of clay land where the Wool-
ston system of steam-power culture is used is uot needed.
I shall use the word '' extras" instead of " interest" to in-
clude in it what ever there may be, with wear and tear
and depreciation.

The gains on the side of steam culture as carried ou,
by me ai'e : increase of depth of culture, from 6 inche
under horse-culture to from 10 to 12 inches under steamS
power culture, at a much less cost per seed-bed yearly,-
from quite £1 per acre under horse-culture to from 6s.
8d. to 10s. per acre. Under steam-culture a much
cleaner system of working is got than under horse-power,
the former never needing a fallow, while the latter needs one
every fourth year on our clay soils. The result from all
this is a great increase of produce, due first to having a]]
the land in crop instead of a fourth part of it in fallo^
yearly, and the remaining is due to a greater fertility ^^
the whole — in my own case full 2 qrs. per acre yearl
on my heavy clay land, and my land is not exceptional
for the Board of Trade has shown that there are yearly
800,000 acres of fallow in this country on like soil to
my heavy clay. These 800,000 acres must be multiplied
by four to represent the quantity of land worked under
the fallow system. This gives 3,200,000 acres of heavy
land especially needing steam-power upon it, and if my
data of gain is taken as a basis of calculation, and spread
over this large quantity of acres, there is shown to be a
clear gain of over £12,000,000 a year, to be had as gains
of the country. Surely such a sum as that is worth
trying foi% especially as it can be won without any in-
creased tenants' capital, excepting a httle that must be
lost in making the change from one system to the other.
In pulling down a house and rebuilding it there is always
a cost, be the old material ever so good ; yet we seldom
hear of regi'et or loss after it is done.

William Smith.

Woolston, December 13, 1869.

10

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PLATE II.
DIADEM; A Prize Hereford Heifer.

Diadem, a red with a white face, bred by Mr. W.
Tudge, at Adforton, near Leintwardine, Herefordshire,
aud calved oa August 1st, 1866, is by Chieftain 4th
(2458) out of Deborah, by Pilot (2156), her dam Dar-
ling, by Carbonel (1525)— Daisy, by The Doctor (1083)
—Dainty, by Orletou (901)— Pretty Maid, by Nelson
(1021).

Chieftain 4 th, a red with a white face, calved February
1st, 1864, was bred by Mr. T. A. Hollings, of Hill-
end, Hereford. He is by Chieftain 2nd (1917), out of
Rose of Weston, by St. Clement (2201), her dam Rose
5th, by Voltigeur (1445)— Rose 4th, by Byron (380),
and so back to Rose 1st, by Young Waterloo (2341).

Deborah, a red with a white face cow, also bred by
Mr. Tudge, and calved on August 3rd, 1863, has had
three calves : Diadem in 1866 ; Dorcas, by Artist (2934),
in 1867 ; and Duenna, by Dundee (3080), in 1868. She
is still in Mr. Tudge's herd.

At the Leicester Meeting of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England in 1868 Diadem took the third prize
of £5 in the class of Hereford heifers under two-years-
old ; Mr. Arkwright taking the first, and Her Majesty the
second with Duchess de Bronte. The judges wrote thus,
" an extremely good class, containing several excellent
animals."

M the Southampton Meeting of the Bath and West
of England Society and Southern Counties Association,
in 1869, Diadem took the first prize of £15 in the class
of heifers ia-calf or in milk not exceeding three years old,
beating Mr. Arkwright's Lady Leicester, and two heifers
of Mr. James', both of which were commended. We
hus wrote in our report of the meeting : " There was a

small but excellent class of heifers in-calf, where the
Leicester awards were reversed ; Mr. Tudge's Royal third
being now put first, and Mr. Arkwright's first being here
next best. And we certainly prefer the second reading,
as no doubt the Hereford awards at Leicester were very
open to comment ; or, at any rate Diadem must have
vastly improved in the interval, for she is at this show-
ing by far .the better looking of the two, being really
handsome."

At the Manchester Meeting of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England, Diadem took the first prize of £15
for heifers in-milk or in-calf not exceeding three years
old, beating Mr. Rogers' Queen of the Valley (2nd prize),
Her Majesty's Duchess of Bronte (3rd prize), and Mr.
Arkwright's Lady Leicester (highly commended). As
we then said. Diadem had " continued to improve, being
now a very sweet, straight heifer, of particularly fine
quality." The judges here again " considered the two-
year-old Hereford heifers excellent representatives of the
breed."

The Adforton herd was in great force at Manchester,
where Mr. Tudge took first prize for bull calves, second
for cows, and first for heifers in-calf, yearling heifers, and
heifer calves. As we said there and then, " no doubt
Mr. Tudge is a famous doer by his stock, for he shows
in high flattering condition ; but he would seem to have dis-
covered the secret of knowing just when to stop, as his
animals neither fade nor grow gaudy." Diadem and the
bull calf, Ostorious, were purchased at Manchester by
Lord Southesk, and are now located at Kinnaird Castle,
in Forfarshire, where they are replacing the black Polled
with the Whitefaces.

EARTH COMPOSTS.

15Y CUTHBERT "W. JOHNSON, F.R.S,

The deodorizing power of earth has been well known
from a remote period. Every cat, where it used a rough
kind of earth-closet, evinced this fact. This knowledge
was not confined to the Old World. The natives of
Northern America devoured the skunk, a most intensely
stinking animal. Before, however, they cooked it, they
removed the odious smell by burying it for a time in the
earth. It is therefore absurd to announce as a discovery
the use of earth as a deordorizer. Still more absurd is it
to endeavour to promote tho introduction of earth-closets
by denouncing other, and far more extensively practicable
modes of providing for the excreta of crowded districts.

At a season when much carting of manures is going
on, it may be useful if we recur to a few facts relating to
the formation of earth composts.

It is now some years since Mr. Huxtable and Mr. H.
S. Thompson directed Professor Way's attention to this
very important question. Mr. Huxtable had, in fact,
made some experiments in the filtration of the liquid
manure in his tanks, through a bed composed of an
ordmary loamy soil. He found that after its passage
through the filter-bed the urine was deprived of colour
and smell ; in fact, that it went in manure and came out

water. This of itself, as the Professor remarked, was a
singular and interesting observation, implying, as it did,
the power of the soil to separate from their solution those
organic substances which give colour and ottensive smell
to putrid animal liquids. The Professor saw at once the
importance of ascertaining the extent of this deodorizing
power. He commenced a series of experiments, the
results of which are recorded in the 11th volume of the
Journal of the Roi/al AfjricuUural Society, p. 313 (see
also a paper by Mr. H. S. Thompson, ihld p. 68). He
tried the eff"ect of passing some fluid from a London
sewer through a filter composed of 4 lbs., equal to six
inches' depth, of a red soil, from the Berkshire estate of
Mr. Pusey. This soil contained in 100 parts-
Water 20.56

Vegetable matter 6.17

Sand and clay 59.00

Carbonate of lime (chalk) 5.94

Ojiide of iron aud alumina 7.90

Potash ,.. 0.31

Soda '' 0J2

The following table gives the contents in grains of an
imperial gallon of this sewer fluid, before and'after it had
been filtered through the soil :

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

11

Organic matter and salts of ammonia ...

Organic matter

Sand and detritus of the granite from the

streets

Sohible silica

Phosphoric acid

Sulphuric acid

Carbonic acid

Carbonate of lime

Lime

Sulphate of lime

Magnesia

Peroxide of iron and alumima

Potash

Soda

Common salt

Chloride of calcium

Magnesium

Loss on analyzing, &c

Before.

After.

301.82

—

—

60.58

20.69

12.51

—

10.44

—

14.73

—

15.59

—

—

104.98

24.53

—

—

17.49

2.87

—

6.20

—

48.13

—

1.51

—

33.24

52.73

8.89

.67

—

3.16

492.26

248.50
isis that a

It will be noted from the result of this analysis that a
considerable portion of the organic matters of sewer-water
remains in the water which passed through the filter.
Now in the sewage-irrigated meads near Edinburgh a
steam engine has been erected to pump on to other meads
the water draining from the meadows previously irrigated
with the fluid as it ilows from the sewers.

The alumina of the soil was found by Way to be the
chief deodorizer, the silica and the salts of lime being
far less powerful. So that, as he observed (ibid, vol. ix.,
p. 374), this newly-discovered property of soils explains
the variations in manuring operations which are made to
suit the nature of the soil. Clay has been shown to be
the active substance in retaining manure, and sandy and
gravelly soils not possessing a sufficiency of clay are ex-
pected to be less retentive ot manure. Such is the fact,
and soils of this description are said not to " Jioid
manure." On such soils manure must be applied more
fi'equently, and in smaller proportions than on stiifer
soils, where, owing to the retentive power of the clay,
the manure for several crops may be safely deposited.

If these inferences are correct, the only way of perma-
nently improving a sandy soil is to clay it; and it is
notorious that the light sands of some parts of Norfolk
are only made to bear remunerative crops by copious
dressings of clay. And it may be observed in passing,
that where a dressing of clay is required, it very often
happens that the substance at hand is a marl, of which
more than half is carbonate of lime, which (that is, the
carbonate of lime) cannot be supposed to be a substitute
for clay, inasmuch as although it is capable of improving
the mechanical texture of a sand or a gravel, it has none of
the chemical properties of combining with manure which
clay possesses. In Norfolk this is frequently the case, and it
would often pay the farmer to go a longer distance for real
clay, rather than use that of inferior quality which lies
under the surface. The composition, indeed, of the clays
to which the landholder has access is of very great im-
portance ; for not only does this vary in most neighbour-
hoods, but the same stratum also is very different in com-
position at different depths. We may usefully recur to
the result of a few of the examinations which have been
made of various clays. For instance, an apparently
uniform clay being analyzed by Professor Phillips {ibid,
vol. vii., p. 258), was found to contain —
At 23 in.

Silica 59.0

Alumina 23.5

Peroxide of iron 8.1

Carbonate of lime 1.0

Water, sulphate of lime, &c. 4.8

Carbonate of magnesia ... 0.0

At 54 in.

72.9

13.4

6.6

0.8

5.5

9.8

The following is the analysis, by the late Professor
Johnston, of four varieties of good clay, 1 being from
Cuttle Hill, near Dumfermline ; 2, from Sherburn Hill,
near Durham ; 3, from Tullargne, county of Sligo ; 4,
from Portobello, near Edinburgh {Qiiar. Jour. Ag., 1847,
p. 31)-

Silica and sand ...

Alumina

Oxide of iron

Lime

Magnesia

Potash

Soda

Sulphuric acid ..

Carbonic acid

Organic matter and
water

1.
64.14
13.54
7.57
1.90
1.21
1.86
0.68
1.37

7.82

2.

61.09

19.91

6.75

3.36

j 2.38

3.

66.16

16.08

8.38

}l88{

j 1 2.83

1.83

3.68

—

—

4.89

53.95

25.55

8.06

0.68

1.61

1.54

8.60

It was in the course of his experiments upon the action
of burnt clay as a manure, that Professor Voelcker ex-
amined the composition of a clay in its natural state, and
after it had been exposed to the action of fire {ibid, 1851,
p. 105). He gives the analysis of portions of clay ex-
amined in four different states, viz. : I., in it natural state,
as obtained from the new red sandstone, at Huntstile,
near Bridgwater ; II., the same clay, after being exposed
to a duU red heat for half-an-hour, in a closed crucible ;
III., the same clay exposed to a similar heat in an open
crucible ; IV., the same clay exposed to a full red heat for
three hours, in an open crucible. The results will be
found in the columns marked in the following table:

I. n. III. I IV.

Water

Organic matter and water
of combination

Insoluble matter (in hy-
drochloric acid)

Soluble matter, consisting
of soluble silica

Oxide of iron and alumina

Carbonate of lime

Potash

Soda

Phosphoric acid

5.539
3.621

84.100

I

1.4501
3.0701
0.740]
0.269
0.220
0.380l

9.160

80.260

1.380
8.245
0.420
0.941
0.336
0.165

The reader will remark how materially, by burning, the
proportion of soluble potash is increased in the clay ; and
to this increase the Professor seems to attribute a chief
good result from clay burning. He says, "The agricultural
value of clay chiefly depends on the proportion of potash
and soda which it contains. Potash is an essential ele-
ment in all ashes of plants, and acts as a most powerful
manure. The high price of the salts of potash unfortu-
nately prevents their more extensive application in agri-
culture, and plants are therefore dependent, in a great
measure, on the natural sources. The chief source of
potash in ordinary soils is the clay, which forms part of
almost all soils, from which, in gradual decomposition,
potash is set free, and made available to plants." Some
valuable experiments were made upon the clays adapted
for tiles, by Professor Johnson (ibid. 1847, p. 31). He
found various infusible or fire clays to be composed : 1,
from Cool Island; 2, from Stourbridge; 3, from Stan-
nington; 4, from Howth, as follows:

Alumina

Silica

Perox. of iron and manganese

Lime

Magnesia

Potash

Water

1.

2.

3.

4.

30.8

38.8

40.9

23.2

46.2

46.1

43.0

67.96

8.4

—

—

1.19

—

—

—

1.3

—

—

0.1

0.63

0.4

—

—

—

14.3

15.1

14.7

3.79

12

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Our tile and brick clays, adds Professor Jolmston, are
usually red naturally, or become so when burned. This
stows the presence of oxide of iron, one of the ingredients
which tend to make them fusible. Many also contain
lime, some in very considerable proportion. Magnesia is
by no means uncommon, while potash and soda are always
present in quantites more or less appreciable. It is the
presence of these ingredients which gives to our bricks
and tiles the burned, glassy, swollen, and porous appear-
ance they occasionally present, and which at times, in the
hands of a careless or unskilful fireman, causes them to
run together into one melted mass.

Not only the ammonia of manure but the soil absorbs
also the ammonia and other matters deposited in rain-
water, and from the vapour contained in atmospheric air.
Hence, as the Professor remarks in another place, when
reporting his experiments on the water flowing from our
land (ibid, vol. xvii, p. 128).

The advantages to the soil of removing the land- water,
which prevents the free circulation of the atmosphere, is
self-evident. " Every acre of ground," adds the Profes-
sor, " which allows water to percolate freely benefits
equally by the nitric acid and ammonia of rain. But
whence comes the additional luxuriance which vegetation
puts on when the land is abundantly worked ? whence
the Lois Weedon crops ? Obviously Mr. Smith cannot be
satisfied with the ammonia of rain ; he must have some
from the air also; and he gets it from the air in a far
greater quantity than the rain could furnish. In fact
(adds Mr. Hoskyns), he habitually expresses his obliga-
tions to the cleto, as a more steady benefactor than the
rain, in much the same terms as might express the rela-
tion of ' daily bread' to an occasional feast. But stiU
the soil can absorb more ammonia than it acquires from
the I'ain and the atmosphere, for Liebig calculates {ibid,
p. 287) that the soil of an acre 12 inches deep can take
up of ammonia, in addition to that contained in it from
long exposure to the air —

Thin land of Dorsetshire 20.8801bs.

Light red soil, Berkshire 9.4'20 „

Stiff white clay 17.040,,

We have in this paper directed our attention to the ac-
tion of clay upon decomposing or ammoniacal manures.
But another important portion of our inquiry is as to the
fertilizing matters which certain earthy substances, in
their natural state, contain. In many cases, the earths
obtained from pits, or the sea shore, or sides of rivers, are
valuable manures, from the calcareous matters they con-
tain ; the mud of other rivers abound with organic matters
to an extent of which the adjoining landholders are little
aware. Thus, the mud of the River Thames has been
very recently carefully examined in several places between
Chiswick and Crossness. It was in giving evidence in
last July, before the Commissioners appointed to investi-
gate the Thames impurities, that Dr. W. A. Miller stated
that in conjunction with Dr. Olding he had analysed sam-
ples of mud taken from various portions of the bed of the
Thames, from that of Barking Creek, and from the bed of
the Roding above Barking town. The mud taken at Bark-
ing Creek contained 16.2 parts of organic matter, and 100
parts of this organic matter contained 3.1 parts of nitro-
gen. The proportions in the mud in the Roding above
Barking town were as follows : Organic matter 17-3, ni-
trogen, 3.17. The average character of six samples
of mud taken from the Thames between Chiswick
and Westminster was — organic matter, 15.8; ni-
trogen 3.05, insoluble and organic matter 84.2. Six
samples were also taken from the London, St. Katharine's,
East and West India, Commercial, and Victoria Docks,
and these gave the following figures: Organic matter
15.8, nitrogen 3.07, insoluble and mineral matters 84.2,

Samples from the deposits in the reservoirs at Barking
aud Crossness gave results as follows : Barking : Organic
matter 58, nitrogen 4.27. Crossness : Organic matter
37.1, nitrogen 4 51. From the Horse End a sample of
mud showed less organic matter than any of the others,
the figures being: Organic mattter 7.2, nitrogen 2.51.
Prom the bank near the works of the Chartered Gas
Company the sample taken gave the following analysis :
Organic matter 14.4, nitrogen 2.84. At Barking town
quay a sample of mud was taken which contained 25.4
per cent, of organic matter.

Such a mud as this, when drained, would make a capi-
tal compost with farm-yard manure ; and would, in fact,
if applied by itself, be an enricher of many soils.

Then, again, we have to consider what are far more
available, the earths which are so generally found on our
own farms. It was in a valuable prize essay " on com-
post heaps" that Mr. J. L. Morton had occasion to re-
mark {Trans. High. Soc, vol. xiv., p. 435), (and what he
remarks I need not even attempt to give in any other
language,) that on every farm quantities of earth, road-
scrapings, ditch-scOurings, and similar substances are more
or less available for earth composts, and may be profitably
employed. By the action of the plough on good soils
more or less earth is always being deposited on the turn-
ing ridges. If this soU is allowed to accumulate for
many years a much greater loss is entailed upon the far-
mer than he may have any conception of. Take a head
and foot ridge, each say 200 yards in length and 15 feet
broad, with a depth of deposited soil of 15 inches, and
we have 833J square yards. Allowing that a field 200
yards broad has ridges 400 yards in length, it will con-
tain 16 acres 2 roods 4 poles, and with the turning ridges
at each end, covered with carried soil to the depth above
mentioned, there will be sufficient earth to cover the
whole surface of the field to the depth of nearly half an
inch.

This is no extreme example, for very often turning
ridges are covered with a greater depth of carried soil
than 15 inches, though the ridges are less than 400 yards
in length. A top-dressing of half an inch of good soil
will often change the entire nature of a poor dry field,
and in any instance will make a great difference in the
quality of land.

In the winter of 1846, from the foot ridges of a field
of rich black soil, having considerable inclination of sur-
face, I removed 500 cart-loads of earth little inferior in
quality to police manure. The field had laid in pasture
for more than 30 years, having previously been regularly
cultivated. The soil in the foot ridge being partly allu-
vial and partly plough-carried, had remained the whole
time the field was in grass, and by long exclusion from
atmospheric action had become quite brown in colour.
Here then were 500 loads of valuable soil locked up in a
foot ridge for more than 30 years without doing scarcely
any good to the farmer. A large portion of the earth so
obtained was applied at once to the surface of a cold thin
clay soil, and the great improvement it made on the
herbage clearly proved that the loss sustained by its long
dormancy had been considerable.

" In the autumn of 1849," continues Mr. Morton, " I
had a better opportunity of testing the advantages which
may be derived from mixing soil with diff'ei'ent kinds of
manures. A sheet of policy ground extending to about
60 acres had been in pasture for many years, and for
various reasous it was deemed expedient in 1849 to allow
it to produce a crop of natural hay. To prevent the de-
terioration of the soil it was necessary after the removal
of the hay crop to give a top-dressing of various kinds of
composts. On thinking of the various substances which
might be used with advantage, my attention was directed

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

]3

to a flat alluvial spot of ground in the centre of a planta-
tion adjoining the land about to be top-dressed. A small
run of water had formerly passed through the centre of
this flat, and having periodically left deposits of rich soil
it had accumulated to a depth of about 4 feet. It was
covered with half-grown hard-wood trees ; but as they
were tolerably far apart, a great quantity of earth could
be removed without disturbing the roots. Several
hundred cart-loads of this were removed, and laid on the
pleasure ground in heaps of from 8 to 1 0 loads. This
was mixed with short manure (partially mixed with byre
and stable-dung), lime, and soot. In the manure com-
post a layer of soil was laid at the bottom 6 or 8 inches
thick, and over this was spread quite loosely a 6 -inch
coating of dung. With alternate quantities of earth and
dung, the former about 9 and the latter about 6 inches
thick, the heaps were drawn to a ridge like a narrow
potato pit. After being mixed with soot at the rate of 1
cwt. to every 5 cart-loads, and turned over once, it was
applied at the rate of from 12 to 18 tons per acre,
according to the state of the laud. Taking 15 tons as
the average, the cost per acre was as follows :

Digging and carting 10 loads of soil £0 3 4

5 loads of police manure at 4s. 9d 1 3 9

3 cwt. of soot at Is. 6d 0 4 6

Mixing, turning, and carting, &c 0 8 6

£2 0 1
For this sum per acre atop-dressing was applied, which,
along with the lime composts, so much improved the pas-

ture, that the annual rental was subsequently raised 10
per cent, above its former letting price, and left 13 per
cent, on the outlay.

A large quantity of soil so obtained was also used with
caustic lime, the composts being prepared in the usual
manner. The proportion of lime to earth was as one to
four, and with the former mixed up in a hot state au ex-
cellent compost was prepared at an expense of —

12 tons of soot, digging, and cartage £0 4 0

3 tons lime shells at 12s. 6d 1 14 0

Preparing, turning, and carting 0 8 6

£2 7 0

From careful observations of the appearance of the
pasture for several years afterwards, the lime compost
seemed to give the most satisfactory results.

Such are a few of the important questions which re-
late to the use of earth composts, and we must not fail
to remember that there are few clays, or sands, or cal-
careous strata, which are not valuable as dressings for
our land. The chemist finds that almost all of them con-
tain small portions of organic or ammoniacal substances ;
that they can often add to our soils a needed supply of
other saline matters which are essential constituents of
our cultivated plants ; and, moreover, that they have
the great advantage over organic manures, that their
beneficial influence is not confined to at most a single
rotation of crops, but that they permanently increase the
fertility of the soils to which they are applied.

A REMEDY FOR RABBITS.

" You, Mr. Editor, long before my name ever appeared
in print, did good service to the cause by speaking and
writing against the game-laws. Do for once give us your
advice as to how we ought to act and for what we should
ask. Sketch out the sort of legislative enactment that
will preserve legitimate sport, and at the same time put
an end to the ' unmitigated evil of the over-preservation
of ground game,' and you will confer a debt of gratitude
upon thousands of suffering tenants, and cause the never-
ending obligations of your faithful servant, — Clare
Sewell Read." — "I hope, Mr. Editor, that you will
put us in a way to obtain a better state of things, and if
your proposition has the approval of the majority of
farmers, we must all give up our pet notions, and go with
the majority, as we shall get nothing unless we are
unanimous in what we ask for." So wrote Mr. George
Smythies, of Shropshire, in our Paper of last week, as
Mr. Sewell Read from Norfolk had written in our pre-
vious number. We the more readily accept this compli-
mentary challenge, and return thus early to the subject
from the way which the question is still making through-
out the country. If the Land difiiculty of Ireland should
come on, as it must, for grave consideration during the
next Session, so most assuredly should, as most probably
will, the Game difficulty of England also command
the attention of the legislature. Both the gentlemen
whose letters we have quoted turn to the proceedings of
the Scotch farmers in evidence of how little may be ex-
pected from the want of unanimity which has charac-
terized their deliberations. As Mr. Read put it, " The
Scottish Chamber, divided into two exactly equal parts, is
to wait upon the Lord Advocate to help him in preparing
his promised measure for amending the Scotch game laws."
And on Wednesday last this deputation waited on the Lord
Advocate accordingly, when strange as it may sound,
uothing would appear to have been more unanimous

than the recommendations they oifered. Mr. WQson the
President on the one part, and Mr. Scott Skirving, as
leading the opposition, went dead against the hares and
rabbits. Mr. Wilson said: "There was what he might
call a taunt with which they were constantly met when
they complained of the grievances under which they la-
boured and the evils that resulted from the operation of the
game laws. The taunt was this — ' But you go and sign
leases in which you make yourselves to blame for
that.' Well, that just led him to impi'css upon his
Lordship that the case was one in which they re-
quired to get redress by public means. The farmers
really could not defend themselves." And Mr.
Scott Skirving followed this up by declaring "he was en-
tii-ely in favour of more stringent powers being given to
the farmers to kill hares and rabbits, and of making it
illegal for two men to enter into a contract by which the
occupants of the land were to give up that right."

Now here is something to go on, as something that
should be agitated for alike by the English and Scotch
farmers. Let us make it illegal to aflbrd the rabbit, more
especially, any protection whatever. Let it be made impos-
sible for a landlord to " reserve" such vermin ; and let any
man be at liberty to destroy these pests in any way he can.
A Norfolk farmer, says with reference to the privilege given
by Lord Middleton to his tenants to kill rabbits, if they do
not resort to unfair means, "perhaps Lord Middleton's
agent would be good enough to inform us what are unfair
means of destroying such vermin." Precisely so. That
monstrous clause in the model agreement of the Royal Ag-
ricultural Society defines the unfair means as a rfo(7,while in
another agreement it is a gun — and so forth. Then, at Brad-
ford-on-Avon, the other day, four or five labourers were
taken up for trying to get a rabbit out of a hole with a
hooked stick. According to the keeper, " Three of the
Mizens worked for Mrs. Wiltshire, the tenant. The land

14

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

was Mr. R. P. Long's, but Mr. Forbes, had the shooting.
Witness saw the defendants in the ditch for nearly half-
uu-hour. Tiiere were jileuty of rabbits all along that
hedge," Here we have all the evils of the system. The
shooting is let to somebody else, and the farmer's men
dare not kill a rabbit, although there were of course
"plenty of rabbits all along." Whereas, had the
jNIizens' been killing rats or mice, or weasels, nobody
would, as nobody could, have interfered with them.
Nevertheless, rabbits do a deal more damage to the
farmer than rats or mice or weasels, and to the level of
rats and mice must they be reduced. As Mr. Scott
Skirving says, it shall be illegal for any two men to enter
into a contract to the contrary. Surely Mr. Sewell Read
and Mr. George Smythies will allow that we may be
unanimous so far, or at any rate we may command a
majority when settling upon something to " ask for."

But we must go further still, and still with something
like unanimity. On the day previous to the deputation
waiting on the Lord-Advocate in Edinburgh, the game
laws had been discussed at Birmingham, where Mr.
Kidger, a farmer, said : " He had a right to destroy the
rabbits. He planted a field in Peb., 1 867, and on one side
of it there was a wood, into which he had no right to enter.
The rabbits came from this wood and destroyed three
acres of the field near the wood, and also destroyed bits
all over it about the size of that room, and the conse-
quence was that in the last week in August he had suf-
fered a great injury." And, again : " they talked about
catching rabbits. He could not catch them — he did not
know how. No man had a right to go on to another man's
laud to fetch game, and very frequently the vermin which
did the most mischief came from adjoining lauds." This is
all terribly true ; while, as to compensation, we may say
here, as the late John Grey, of Dilston, said before a com-
mittee of the House of Commons, " I have never yet, where
valuation and arbitration were resorted to, seen the farmer
get one-half of what I consider he was entitled to." The rab-
bit then must be regarded as a nuisance, for the destruction
of which men should be rewarded rather than punished ;
as of course there must be some penalty provided for those
who harbour or encourage such nuisances. Li towns and
cities if a man pursue a calling to the injury or annoyance
of his neighbours, he lies himself open to an information,

upon which he can be convicted. And some similar means
must be taken to put dowu the nuisances of a country
life. The rabbit is a nuisance, an animal we will say in
the outset that is beyond the pale of the law, and anyone
breeding or preserving rabbits is doing an injury to his
neighbours, and must be dealt with accordingly. Again,
it is to be hoped that we may come to ?.n unanimous
opinion as to what we should ask for. Lord Leicester in
the upper, and Mr. Sewell Read in the lower House have
declared that there is no farming against rabbits, so that
any such reformation as is here proposed shoidd carry with
it the best of introductions.

Mr. Read " quite agrees with us that much may be
done by talking the matter over ;" but we confess that
we begin to tire of mere talking. The President of the
Scottish Chamber declares, indeed, that " the evil is not
diminishing, but is rapidly on the increase. The number
of proprietors preserving game was gradually becoming
greater." And to meet this growing abuse, we must not
merely make new laws but repeal others now in force.
The correspondent of a Suffolk paper, writing on Wed-
nesday last of some grand doings in his district,
says, " At one of the battues, and probably
at all of them, three or four of the county
police were stationed day by day at different places on
the outside of the wood to take caa^e that none of the
slaughtered game was taken away." Here is something
more to be unanimous about, as most assuredly a
large majority of the farmers will be ready to go
against that infamous Game-keeeper-Police Act, the
most unwarrantable burden in the way of unfair taxation
which has been inflicted for many years.

The Vice-President of the Council has, before this,
called the attention of the House to the game evil, al-
though Mr. Porster did not then hold the position, nor
was he so well known as he has since become. Mr.
Sewell Read says " more important and immediate sub-
jects will stop the way of legislation," but we know of
no question more important so far as the agriculturist
is concerned ; while we think, further, that the present
Government is by no means indisposed to deal with the
difficulty. The Lord Advocate said in Edinburgh, onW^ed-
nesday, that he would not fail to bring the matter forward.
— Mark Lane Express.

THE MEMBERS IN C 0 U N C I L.— R.A.S.

The Manchester Meeting of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England in July last closed on the Saturday, and
on the Monday, after protesting against the unwarrant-
able length to which the stock show had been extended,
we went on to speak thus : " Even beyond this the
Council, not content with screwing every half-penny it
could out of the visitors at the expense of the exhibitors,
was good enough to let others take a part in the plunder.
In fact, the conduct of the proceedings seemed to be
mainly in the care of the Local Committee, which
coolly broke through the rules of the Society, and
started exhibitions within exhibitions, and overlaid the
show itself with absurdities, only to get more crowns,
half-crowns, and shillings out of the unfortunate public.
The Council of the Society was careful to announce that
it had nothing to do with these fooleries beyond the chief
officers gracing the performances with their presence.
These distinguished personages rode or marched in pro-
cession at the head of the lists like a goodly company
of Trumpeters, and incessantly testified to the great
kindness and invincible enei'gy with which the Local Com-
mittee devised schemes for making capital out of the

Royal Agricultural Society. A bonus of a thousand pounds
or two should thus be no such bad a speculation in the
end, the more especially when dealing with men who
appear so ready to sell their rights for a mess of potage
as the executive of these rural interests." We further
characterized the extra charge imposed for admission to
the jumping-ground as "a pretty little swindle," and we
stated that this job would have come prominently before
the General INIeeting as held there and then, had not the
mob broken in and upset the proceedings. On the
Thursday, however, in the recent Smithfield Show week
there was another General Meeting when this matter did
come in for some discussion. Mr. T. Willson (from
Leicestershire) said several members had determined to
withdraw from the Society if such a business were ever
repeated. They considered it a disgrace to the Society
that such a thing should be allowed in order to
compensate or please a Local Committee. It was
quite beneath the dignity of such a Society — and so
forth. Mr. Jonathan Grey, a man of much experience
in this way, said that if the horses that jumped competed
for the priises of the Society, it was beneath the dignity

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the Society to allow them to go out of the yard for ]
that purpose ; aud Mr. Duckham thought that the mem-
bers of the Society had a right to see everything that
was entered in the catalogue during the hours the exhi-
bition was open, instead of being caught, as it were, in a
trap, and he hoped that the Council would not be dictated
to again by a Local Committee. Of course, all this is so
palpably true and self-evident that the interest at once
centres over any answer or explanation that could be
offered for so monstrous an abuse or delegation of power.
This, though, was very easily arrived at. Mr. Torr said
that Mr. T. Willson had fallen into an error ; Mr. Jacob
Wilson that Mr. Duckham was labouring under a
mistake ; and Mr. Thompson that the discussion
should not be continued. For our own part,
we can see no error nor mistake, save such as was com-
mitted by the Council of the Society, while we consider
the discussion of any such mistake as coming peculiarly
within the province of a General Meeting. Mr. Torr
said the jumping business was the result of a private ar-
rangement. Was there ever such an absurdity advanced !
How could there be a private arrangement with a public
body ? A private arrangement that interfered with a public
exhibition, and that went to establish another public ex-
hibition ! The feeling of the Council, said Mr. Torr, was
decidedly against the jumping, and yet the Council coun-
tenanced such a business on its show- ground. But then,
as Mr. Torr went on to explain, their Manchester
"friends" made this a sine qua non, from which, of
course, it must be inferred that a Local Committee is the
superior power of the two. The Council may be decidedly
against bull-baiting, but if a Local Committee make this
a sine qud non, a bull must be taken out and baited ac-
cordingly. Then Mr. Jacob Wilson, with curious incon-
sequence, argued that a gentleman who paid his entrance
saw everything in the yard that was entered in the
catalogue, although in point of fact it was not so. On the
great day there was a time when a man who paid his
entrance could not see everything that was in the cata-
logue, if, more especially as a member of the Society, he
had quite as much right to this privilege as even Mr.
Jacob Wilson himself. It was, then, the rather Mr. Torr
who was in error, aud Mr. Jacob Wilson who was very
much mistaken ; while if Mr. Thompson would stop such
a discussion as this, it must be only on the plain under-
standing that he and his fellows " will never do so any
more."

In other ways the tone of the last General Meeting of
the Royal Agricultural Society of England was very
healthy and encouraging, as in strong contrast to the
pitiful exhibilion of last Christmas. It was there that a
Mr. Sidney was suffered to attack the newly-elected
Editor and Secretary after this fashion : " He (^Ir.
Sidney) now supposed that the motto of the Society or
of the Journal was to be Science without Practice. He
presumed that the Journal Committee had undertaken the
duty of educating the new Editor. Many clergymen un-
dertook the education of young men for a certain consi-
deration. In the present case he presumed the Journal
Committee were to educate the Editor ; only, instead of
his paying them for his education the Society was
going to pay him £600 a year for learning. The
Journal Committee would, he supposed, be seen
going about like a hen with one chicken, in-
structing this gentleman in the elementary know-
ledge of agriculture." And over such impertin-
ances as these there was of course "loud laughter"
at the expense of the new man whose deficiences and in-
capability were so smartly shown up. But within twelve
months how great is the revulsion ! If Mr. Sidney at-
tended the General Meeting last week he must have
{ieard that the best Editor that ttie j'oumai has had since

the days of Mr. Pusey is the gentleman whose qualifica-
tions Mr. Sidney, without of course knowing anything of
them, thought proper to disparage. Surely never was
there a contradiction so straightforward or so complete.
As we said at the time, we believed that the Council or
the Committee had selected the best man for the difficult
post he was called upon to fill, if the election itself were
scarcely so methodically conducted as it might have been.
And we said this in the teeth of the Old Practical Farmers
who were writing up their own sons for the place, and of
the middle-aged book- worm farmers whowerecomplacently
quoting the names of themselves and their connexions as
abouttheonly pair of heaven-born Genii to whomsuch a duty
could be entrusted. We did so immediately on its ap-
pearance, but we may here again take, as Mr. Sewell
Read did, " the opportunity to express his sense of the
marked improvement exhibited in the last number of the
Journal, which he considered more practical and useful
than any number that had been issued for a great many
years." " Science withovt Practice," said Mr. Sidney of
the new Editor in 1868, and " most practical and use-
ful," says Mr. Sewell Read in 1869, of the new Editor's
first number. Need we comment further, or need we venture
on any comparison as to the practical authority of Mr.
Sewell Read and of Mr. Samuel Sidney ?

As regards the Oxford Meeting there is one other matter
that requires looking to. Mr. Coleman, indeed, called
attention to the want of arrangement in the implement
trials. Judges are called on, they know what to do,
aud a day or two is often cut to waste before they can get
to work. There would seem to be little or no order in
keeping off the crowd, and there is generally some hazy
ignorance observable amongst the officials as to whether
catalogues can be supplied or not. Of course implement
catalogues should be available to the public so soon as the
implement trials begin, just as the stock catalogues are on
sale when the judges go to work. Then the implement
awards should be published through the Secretary or some
responsible officer, aud not left to anybody who chooses
to volunteer for such a duty. Last year some very
absurd mystery was maintained as long as possible, and
it then transpired that the announcement of the implement
awards rested very much with one of the judges, who is
himself occasionally employed on a newspaper, and who
communicated with such as he thought fit. All this is
very wild work, but we have no doubt that as the new
Editor gets into his collar he wiU see that a better system
is adopted.

At the meeting of the Council on Wednesday Mr.
Sanday, who acts perhaps more frequently as a judge
than any other man in England, very becomingly moved a
resolution to the effect that judges who are members of
the Council should be paid their expenses when acting at
the Royal Meetings. Mr. Milward, however, went more
directly to the point when he moved that Mr. Sanday and
Ml-. Bowley be paid for their services at Manchester ! The
subject has been deferred, but if this restrospective measure
of remuneration be carried, of course it cannot end here.
Mr. Druce must be paid his expenses at Leicester, and so
on, or rather back, until we get to Oxford once more.
The rule, or bye-law, seems to us to work very well as
it is. It must be something of an honour to be on the
Council, and it must be something more of a honour to
be a Royal judge ; as even further, there are two or three
members of the Council, who are continually during the
show season acting about as judges, although, according
to pretty general opinion, their qualifications in this way
are not so extraordinary.

16

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE LATE MR. GEORGE SAYILLE
FOLJAMBE.

There is scarcely a man ia the Midlands, for whom the
name of " George Foljamhe" has not a familiar sound. The
older ones remember " The Squire" of Osberton, in his scarlet-
and-velvet cap, cheerily picking it out over the clays, with his
Sparkler, Herald, and Harbinger, of the Ranter blood, to the
fore, while the younger ones only knew him in his green coat
and white hat, &c., his once-piercing dark eyes sightless and
downcast, leaning on his son's or some old foxhunter's arm at
Tattersall's, or " touching" the prize sheep at a show. Like
two other great sportsmen of very dilferent mould,tlie late Lord
Derby and Earl Wilton, he was born with the century. His
family tree had its tap-root in au old soil, as the deceased could
trace his pedigree up to Sir Godfrey Foljambe, Knigbt of Wal-
ton, and Sheriff of Derbyshire in 16 and 20 Henry VHI. His
grandfather's estate of Osberton became his own when he
was only fourteen; and as soon as his majority was at-
tained, he took to foxhounds. Bad-scenting country as the
Grove may he, he did not care to roam elsewhere,
and only twice for a short period he was beguiled
away to Sir Tatton's and tlie Burton. The young
master threw himself into his work with all his heart and soul.
He entered his young hounds at Grove, Scofton, and Whitwell
Woods, and he " finished the season's tuition" in the limestone
country, on the Ktzwilliam side, whentlie clays were all baked.

At the time when he first carried the horn, Tom Sebright
was still with Mr. Osbaldeston in Leicestershire ; Charles
Davis had not yet been gazetted as huntsman of the Royal
Buckhounds, and received his King's orders to " breed them
so fast that they can run away from everybody ;" Mr. Ralph
Lambton, with his boxwood horn, and his Forrard ! Yi Earo !
and the Earl of Darlington on his grey Ralph were the Nim-
rods of the North ; and John Scott was busy putting a polish
on the Houldsworth lot in thg quiet glades of Sherwood
Forest. It was a day of mighty fox-hunters — of Tom Smith,
John Warde, Musters, and Sir Richard Sutton; but the Young
Squire of Notts soon made his mark, and as years went on,
" i'oljambe and Foxhunting" was a toast which always stirred
the blood. The best kennels were glad to come to Grove for a
change of blood ; and many a quiet little parliament was held
on its ilags, and matches and sweepstakes for a roU of scarlet
cloth decided, for which stakes had been made at Boodle's.
If a master was forming a pack under difficulties, or had a loss
in the middle of the season, Mr. Foljambe could generally help
him out, as Mr. Tom Hodgson used to say, with " some waifs
and strays." For a man who loved the sport so ardently, and
cared only to watch the working of hounds, blindness was
indeed " a sorrow's crown of sorrows ;" but marriage to his
first love helped to lighten tlie blow, and break the double
solitude of his life. He could still ride to cover, led by a
servant, and listen when " so cheerily they found him, so gaily
bustled round him," with sometliing of his old rapture.

About racing he troubled liimself very little ; and although
he always entertained Earl Zetland (who was his confederate
during his three seasons on the turf), Mr. WiHiamson, and a
large party at Osberton during the Doncaster week, he seldom
cared to go with them, and spent the day with her ladyship,
walking down to Scofton farm, or knitting garden-nets.

Later in life, Mr. Foljambe became more interested in his
Scofton farm, and always kept well abreast ot the times. With
a difficult soil to till ;

" He knew the auguries of coming change,
Of other ministrants in slirine and grange,"
and liked to have every machine about him of the best kind.
No stacks vrere better thatched and trimmed; and in the dryest
season his agent, Mr. Woods, could invariably show a luxu-
riant green crop. Sheep were long bis prime delight, and he
loved to handle them as carefully as if they were a foxhound on
his trial for the second draft. Nothing escaped him ; and Mr.
Jonas Webb was wont to say that he wislied he could he made
judge at the Royal and Smithfield Club for the term
of his natural life. He had a flock of both South-
downs and Leicesters on his Park. The former were
his favourites ; but the latter for five years, in
the teeth of very strong competition, took the gold medal or
silver cup at the Smithfield Club. London and Birmingham
were his Christmas fields, and this year he was not a little
pleased when he heard that he kail " split " iiord WaUingliaiu

in the light-weight class of Southdowns and Lord Sondes. Of
late years, he had done a great deal with Shorthorns, and
began his Booth blood by hiring bulls from Mr. Carr.

Robin opened the ball for him by beating, solely by his very
superior handling, Mr. Fawkes'sFriarTuck,the first-prize Royal
ball-calf, when they met at Doncaster ; and Knights of the
Bath and tlie Garter have made their names known sinc» then
in still wider fields. His white cow Cherry Blossom won a
first prize at Smithfield last year, and proved to be in
calf with a white heifer. About three months after calving
she died very suddenly, and we believe that " The Squire's"
last walk to his farm was to learn the particulars. This was
about a month before his death, and he was soon afterwards
seized with bronchitis, from which he could never wholly
raUy. Still, he retained his interest in all that was going on,
and he saw both Mr. Woods and his herdsman shortly before
his white ox and the Southdowns went to London, and in-
quired with much of his old zest if they seemed up to the
mark. To those who had not seen him for some time he
seemed to be gradually failing; but no great change took
place until forty-two hours before his death, when he fell into
a state of strange listlessness. Dr. Gull was consulted ; but
the strong man was bowed at last. He was buried at the
church which he erected in his own park to the memory of
his first wife, and on Thursday a large and sorrowful crowd —
rich and poor commingled — from all the country round stood
by " The Squire's" grave.

THE CIRENCESTER COLLEGE.— The College Club
dinner was held at "The London," in the Show week, Mr. Hol-
land in the chair. After dinner, a few remarks on one or two
subjects connected with practical agriculture having been
made by Dr. Voelcker, Mr. Kimber, and others, Mr. Coleman,
who has held the only permanent appointment in connection
with the club, that of Hon. Secretary, ever since the forma-
tion of the club at the Chester Meeting of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society, intimated his desire to retire from his post
and placed his resignation in the hands of the members.
Although regretting his withdrawal, it was considered
wise to accept Mr. Coleman's resignation, for there
has been perhaps a too exclusive " old time" and " old
student" character about the meetings, and to have appointed
any one at present immediately connected with CoUege, would
have been working towards the other extreme. A most
successful compromise, however, was made in obtaining the
consent of Mr. Roberts to act as the future hon. secretary.
This gentleman was at the College with the old staff and with
the present ; he holds the diploma of the College, and has
only quite lately distinguished himself by obtaining the diploma
of the Royal Agricultural Society. Mr. Holland being the
chairman-elect for the Oxford meeting, it is to be hoped the
club will now take a fresh start and go on and prosper.

The autumn session of the Royal Agricultural College closed
on Friday, Dec. 17. The following awards were announced :
Diploma to T. G. Lofthouse, York ; W. W. Church, Circus,
Bath ; C. Wacher, Chislet Court, Canterbury ; W. Searle,
Chadlington, Oxon ; J. Roberts, Bovert Tracey, Devon ; H.
G. H. Phelps, Ridley Wrotham, Kent. Scholarships were
also awarded to Granados, Ashcroft, Willett, Smith, Ohrley,
and Woodgate. In a report, just issued by the surviving
members of the Committee of Management, it is stated :
" The college lias not only become self-supporting (in-
cluding payment of the interest of the £30,000), but there
is a surplus available, after the payment of that interest, to
provide a sinking fund for the gradual sinking of the debt.
The Earl of Ducie, in furtherance of the views of his late
father and of Mr. Langston, and to show his own apprecia-
tion of the advantages of the college, has kindly expressed his
readiness to co-operate with us in the present attempt to place
the institution on a permanent basis ; we also confidently
anticipate the co-operation of other noblemen and gentlemen
who are interested in the extension of sound agricultural
education. Our object is to bring to a close the provisional
arrangements which were forced upon the college, when its
affairs were in a very unsatisfactory state twenty years ago ;
and now, when its prosperity seems to be secured, to return to
the proprietors the trust which they then committed to us,
and to settle, with their concurrence, the future governmeut
of the institution."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

17

ARTIFICIAL MANURES.

Of the several materials wliich vegetation requires for
promoting successful growth, there is one class of bodies
known as the silicates which have most important duties
to discharge. These are all compounds in which silica
enters into combination with other bodies. In general
terms it may be said that as the phosphates give iirmness
and rigidity to the skeleton of the animals, so do the
silicates give stability to the vegetable tissues, and thus
contribute to the perfect dcvelopement of the plant. In
some cases we find that where exceptional strength is
needed or special protection is necessary, there the silica
is particularly abundant. The stalk of wheat is a special
instance of this kind, for not only have the tissues of the
plant received their ordinary supply, but a coating of
silica surrounds and strengthens the straw and enables it
to carry its heavy load.

An examination of the ashes of plants has shown the
presence of silica in every cultivated plant, and that it
constitutes a large proportion of the mineral matter taken
up by growing crops. It is, therefore, an essential of
successful growth. All our soils contain a large supply
of silica, some in a condition readily available for vege-
table growth, and much becomes so by the processes of
cultivation and the action of manures. The question very
naturally arises, is it necessary to make any special pro-
vision for the supply of a body which is so generally
abundant ? The inquiry is just, and shall be fairly met.
To facilitate this explanation it should be stated that
silica generally exists in our soils combined with alumina,
in which form it is insoluble in water, and therefore so
far valueless to vegetation. There are, however, va-
rious agencies by which it is made available.

Of these agencies the most influential is undoubtedly
the carbonic acid which is carried into the soil in rain
water. It is the most influential, because of its constancy
rather than from any intensity of action which it exerts,
but it must be regarded as the natural means for provi-
ding plants with silica. The silica being thus detached
from its old association, now needs either potash or soda,
with which to form a new alliance, and thus become pre-
pared for entering into the plant. In fertile soils these
bodies are present, and therefore the passage of rain-water,
carrying a supply of carbonic acid into the land, changes
the insoluble silicate of alumina into a soluble silicate of
potash or soda, and thus gives the growing crop the sup-
ply that it needs. If, however, potash and soda are
absent, this change does not take place, consequently the
proportion of potash or soda in the soil indicates the pro-
portion of silica which can thus become available. Thus,
although silica is abundant in all soils, and these receive
the carbonic acid which sets the silica free, still the neces-
sity exists for the action ol other bodies, which in many
cases are very limited in their supply. The addition of
potash or soda to such soils would in such cases not only
supply potash or soda, but the silica would be carried into
circulation at the same time. It is by no means probable
that it will ever be necessary to add to the soil supplies
of silica, but it is highly probable that provision may have
to be made for rendering the silica which exists there
available for vegetable growth.

Important as the silicates are to vegetation as food,
there is another function wliich they discharge which is
of the deepest importance for maintaining the fertility of
the land. We recently laid before our readers an expla-
nation of the important discovery made some few years

since by Professor Way, showing that there exists in some
soils a class of salts wliich he named the double silicates.
The action of these double silicates is peculiar, and their
influence very important. It has been shown by his re-
searches that these bodies really act as purveyors of am-
monia. They have the power of absorbing from the at-
mosphere the ammonia which exits tiiere, and retaining
it until the crop requires it for the purposes of growth.
The soil, therefore, becomes a net for arresting ammonia,
and it is capable of doing so to an extent very much
greater than we can ever equal by any addition of am-
monia in the form of manure. If we consider that at the
Ijresent prices ammonia cannot be purchased, from the
cheapest sources, at less than £60 per ton, we must re-
coguize it as a very costly ingredient in our supply of
artificial manures. Is it possible that, whilst we are
sending to Peru for guano chiefly because it contains an
abundant and comparatively cheap supply of ammonia,
that our soils can be made to gather large supplies from
the atmosphere at a small cost ? Of the fact there is no
doubt. Let us hope that this discovery may no longer
be allowed to slumber, but that it niay be brought to
bear in such a manner that it shall be of practical value
to the farmer.

The action of these double silicates, although very re-
markable, is easily explained. When silica is combined
with alumina we get a silicate of alumina : when silica is
combined with lime we get a silicate of lime. Under cer-
tain circumstances these two products combine with each
other, and then we get a silicate of alumina and lime,
which is one of the double silicates. There are several of
these double silicates, for maguesia, soda, and potash can
each take the same position as the lime, and form double
silicates. The peculiar action of these double silicates is
that when exposed to an atmosphere containing ammonia,
or if rain-water carries a supply into the soil, the am-
monia is immediately laid hold of. Whatever may be
the second base which is in combination with the silicate
of alumina, whether it be lime, potash, soda, or magnesia,
it immediately vacates its position in favour of the am-
monia, and thereby this very valuable fertiliser is held
captive until the claims of vegetable life call for a supply,
and then it is surrendered. It has well been described as
the most valuable discovery in relation to manures which
chemistry has given us. To be of practical value it must
be carried one step further, and some means must be
adopted whereby the farmer can at will increase his sup-
ply of double silicates ; and in proportion as he does so he
will be obtaining a supply of ammonia at a cost very far
below what he has now to pay for it.

We look upon the presence of silica in artificial ma-
nures as valueless and undesirable, and this opinion is
doubtless correct. We must not, however, forget that
whilst it is impolitic to add to the soil a material which
is already existing llicre in great abundance, it is one of
the duties of an artificial manure to supply the agency for
rendering the silica of the soil available whenever there is
a necessity for it. In this way we shall supply silica by
means of manure without adding it in the manure, and
this is clearly the wisest policy. To complete the matter
we must also adopt measures to increase the supply of
the double silicates, then shall we have progressed satis-
factorily in the use of artificial manures ; but until this
has been accomplished we must regard the work as very-
incomplete.

18

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The employment of salt as a manure has been largely-
earned out in various parts ; in some instances alone, and
many more cases in admixture with other fertilizers. We
have anything but clear or satisfactory evidence as to its
mode of action, for the trials which have been made give
us such variable results that at the present time they are
conflicting and apparently contradictory. That the con-
tradiction is only apparent cannot for a moment be
doubted, for under similar conditions like results must
arise. This regularity of action is confirmed by trials of
other fertilizers, and there is no reason to believe that
salt is any exception to this general rule. We shall
briefly notice some of the circumstances which influence
the action of salt, and in doing so it wiU be evident that
all our difficulties may be traced to the varied functions
which it performs rather than to any uncertainty as to
its mode of action.

Salt is required by vegetation as a food, for the mineral
matter of almost every cultivated plant which has been
examined contains a supply. This may be taken as a
proof that salt is necessary for their healthy growth.
The chemical examinations which have been made upon
the mineral constituents of plants, not only give us proof
of its presence, but they also prove that some crops re-
quire more abundant supplies than others. The root
crops, especially mangold wurzel, and the leguminous
crops, beans and peas especially, all require a large
supply. The grasses and the corn crops make smaller de-
mands. We have, therefore, a great variation in the
quantity of salt which is necessary, according to the kind
of crop cultivated.

The variation is still further increased by the district
in which land is situated. It has been stated, and with
much truth, that the most successful instances of the
use of salt as a manure are to be found in inland dis-
tricts, whilst those applications which have been most
unsuccessful have been observed in the neighbourhood of
the sea-shore. The explanation of this is self-evident. In
the fonner cases it is clear that in inland situations there
is no natural supply of salt, and repeated cultivation con-
sequently exhausts the land of this saline matter. As a
natural consequence those crops which need an abundant
supply fail to luxuriate, even whilst other plants, content
with smaller supplies, for a time continue to yield a
satisfactory produce. Ultimately these also fail to get
all they require, and then they also decrease in their pro-
ductiveness. When 'land has thus lost its productive
powers from the exhaustion of the salt, an application
of the needful article restores it again. If added mode-
rately it may be enough for those crops which need
small supplies, without being enough for other crops
needing larger supplies, and thus another variation in the
result is observable.

Land which is situated near the sea coast gets such a
large natural supply from the sea breezes that the addition
of salt as a manm-e becomes unnecessary, and if applied,
little or no good results from its use. It is probable that
it gets in this way such an abundant supply that it needs
the addition of some other manui'e of stimulating charac-
ter to utilize the supply. This we shall see more clearly
subsequently, when speaking of the action of salt mixed
with other fertilizers. It is, however, a fact that the
beneficial results arising from the use of salt depend to a
great extent upon the district in which it is used.

Apart from its value as food, salt has other duties to
discharge in the soil. Of these the purification or
sweetening of the land is probably the function with
■which all are most familiar. In some cases in which it
has been used on grass land much of its influence is
exerted upon the herbage, for by adhering mechanically
to the leaves cattle and sheep eat it with greater avidity.
Thus grass which has been neglected, and ^would not

otherwise be eaten, is trimmed down close to the ground,
and is succeeded by a better herbage. This, however, is
due to the relish imparted by the salt, which leads the
stock to eat it, and is quite distinct from that sweetening
of the land which arises when the salt gets into the soil.
This action in the soil arises from the active manner in
which salt decomposes decaying oranic matter and renders
the acids of the soil not only harmless to vegetation, but
contributors to its fertility. This is especially observable
■when salt is used upon old and inferior pasturage which
has been broken up. To attain the same result some
farmers make a rule of using salt once every four or five
years, before the land goes in for the root crops, and there
is no doubt it has a very healthy influence upon the
soil in addition to its being very welcome to the root
crop.

Thus far we have noticed salt as a promoter of fer-
tility, but it has another influence in many instances, and
becomes a powerful check to vegetable growth. No
satisfactory explanation has as yet been given to account
for this result. It is, however, worthy of consideration,
because in many instances this action becomes very de-
sirable. We cannot give a better example than is fre-
quently seen in the combined use of salt with nitrate of
soda. Upon certain soils the action of nitrate of soda
when sown upon a corn crop is too powerful. The
growth is as it were over-pressed. If the straw be taken
notice of it will be found longer and ■n'eaker than usual,
and an examination of the ear shows the grains of corn
wider apart than usual, as if some one had stretched the ear.
Often we also find some grains deficient, as if the sap
had over-run them altogether. When this arises it is
found that a mixture of salt with nitrate of soda checks
this over-growth — stops the excessive growth of straw —
strengthens the straw, and secures a more compact and
better ear of corn. It is in consequence of this action that
nitrate of soda which has been adulterated with common
salt gives a better result than a purer nitrate, and the
discredit is thrown upon the wrong individual. As a rule,
however, farmers prefer making their own additions of
salt when such is found necessary.

In the case of land near the sea-coast which becomes
freely charged with salt there is frequently observed a
great sluggishness of growth. In such an instance the
nitrate of soda, or some similar stimulant comes advan-
tageously into play, and gives that impetus to growth
which such lands require. Thus, whilst in the former
instance the salt became a wholesome corrective of the
impetuous growth induced by the nitrate of soda, in the
present case the nitrate gives that vigour of growth
which the soil freely charged with salt so much
needed.

There are other duties which salt has to discharge in
the soil which we cannot here notice, but enough has
probably been said to explain much of the uncertainty
which is supposed to attend its employment as a manure.
Under judicious use it is a valuable fertilizer, and it is
probable that if its price were ten times as gi"eat as it
now is we should deem it worthy of more thorough
attention than it now receives. The farmer, we know,
needs no such stimulus as this. Show him how it is
most economically used, and he will gladly adopt it, but
so long as he is in comparative ignorance of what he is
dealing with in the manures he is using upon his land,
so long is it simply impossible for him to come to any
correct conclusions as to their relative value.

In a series of articles we have drawn attention
to the principles necessarily involved in the composi-
tion of artificial manm-es, and whilst avoiding on the
one hand any interference with private interests,
we have shown on the other hand that much has to be
done before the production of these manui-es arrives at a

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

19

satisfactory position. There is no doubt that most im-
portant interests are involved in this manufacture. As
a trade, the production of artificial manures has attained
a magnitude of which few can form any adequate concep-
tion. It is also increasing year by year, and will doubt-
less assume even greater importance as time rolls on.
No stronger reason could possibly be advanced to
show the necessity for a fuller consideration of the laws
which regulate the economical increase of the fertility of
soils, and the removal of those causes of barrenness which
are so much on the increase.

In this improvement we are satisfied that the manu-
facturers of artificial manures will gladly co-operate with
their customers. As men guided by sound commercial
views, they must feel that the more perfectly they pro-
mote the interests of those who deal with them, the better
will be the support they will continue to receive. It
never pays any one in the long run to sell au unprofitable
article, and so generally is this feeling entertained in the
trade, that we are satisfied that in the much desired im-
provement of artificial manures, the hearty co-operation of
the trade may be relied upon.

The interests of the farmer are such that he is certain
to be a warm supporter of any improvement which will
enable him to promote the fertility of the soil at less
expense, and with more satisfactory results. The outlay
which is made every year for pui'chased manure is a very
heavy charge upon the occupier. It is, however, an
unavoidable outlay, unless we fall back into a slower
system of farming, but with the present charges upon the
land this cannot be done. What is really wanted is such as-
sistance as without increasing the present outlay shall
give better results, and allow a wider margin for what is
known in commercial circles as profit. Amongst the
agricultural classes profits are more frequently talked
about than realized, and therefore any improvement cal-
culated to act in this direction will be welcomed.

It appears that neither the makers nor the consumers
are in a position to carry out this work alone, but much
may be done by a cordial co-operation. As we have
previously remarked, one of the first steps towards ob-
taining anything like sound experience, is to give farmers
the opportunity of dealing with manures of a known com-
position. It may at first appear as if this involved an
exposure of trade secrets, but this is by no means a neces-
sary consequence, and even if it were so, we question
if it would be a sound policy thus to impede progressive
improvements.

One manufacturermay arrive at a certain result by a more
economical process than another, butwhen the resulthasbeen
arrived at there can be no objection to state what is the
strength of the product off'ered for sale. It would intrude
upon the secrets of his trade to inquire how he has arrived
at this result, but this is not suggested. The manure
sold should be of known composition — say so much
ammonia, nitrate, soluble phosphate, insoluble phosphate
in an available form, alkaline matter, and salt : then the
buyer will be dealing with something tangible and defi-
nite, and he will soon appreciate the advantages of this
knowledge.

The next step will follow with great ease, for he will
soon require facilities for increasing those constituents he
needs most, and economising his outlay by not purchasing
what he does not require. The consumer will form his
own opinion upon the relative influences of the materials
he is using, and it will be for the manufacturer to meet
that variable demand as it arises. It is as inconsistent
to believe that one kind of manure or one definite mixture
of manures is to be an economical mode for restoring the
fertility of various classes of soil, as to consider that one
kind of medicine is to cure all kinds of diseases. We may
with great safety predict that when the farmer knows

what materials he is using he will soou detect his friends,
and lay out his money in this direction.

The improvements which would thus be introduced into
the manufacture of manures would be great, but it cannot
be disguised that this progress would be very much ex-
pedited if the farmer received the assistance of scientific
research to guide him in his field experiments. It has
been shown repeatedly in our remarks upon this subject,
that there are many intricate and important details yet
to be elucidated. It is not too much to say that these
will only be brought to yield the greatest practical benefit
by the combination of labour which we have pointed out.
There ought to be no difficulty in arranging for such a
work ; let us hope that those who have the opportunity of
promoting this important work will do so with energy,
perseverance, and skill.

It would have extended these articles to too great a
length if we had treated of all the subjects connected with
the composition of artificial manures in the manner which
they merit. Already we feel that they have extended to
an unusual length, but we are fully sensible of the im-
portance of the subject, and of the improvements which
are necessary. One point appears to become very evident
by this inquiry, and that is, the great importance which
will be attached in future improvements to many fertilisers
which at the present time are looked upon with compara-
tive indiff'erence. We have got hold of a great truth,
" ammonia for corn and phosphate for roots," and we are
running it to such an extent that we quite overlook the
fact that there are other fertilising elements which may be
equally important. We know that a dozen or more in-
gredients are required for successful growth, and we also
know that the limit of fertility is determined by that
essential of growth which is least abundant. Surely this is
a sufficient reason for extending our observation more
thoroughly into details, and for looking upon the entire
question in all its magnitude. If we say that in the
purchase of artificial manures between five and six
millions are expended annually, we are quite within the
bounds of fact. This money is paid by a class of men
who have no option but to make the outlay, and who
carry on their business with a margin of profit upon their
capital smaller than is realized in any other industrial oc-
cupation. Add to this the further fact that by far the
groater portion of this outlay is made for the purchase of
materials respecting which we have but a very imperfect
knowledge, and it must be evident that the improvement
of our artificial manures is a matter of the most vital
importance to agriculture, and that is worthy of far
greater attention than it has hitherto received,

THE BIRMINGHAM SHORTHORN SHOW.— A second
"Exhibition" in Bingley Hall has been arranged for next
Spring, under the same impolitic conditions of every animal en-
tered being put up at 20 gs. as the only reserve price, " one
of the main objects of this exhibition being to afford an op-
portunity to intending purchasers to improve their stock at a
time when they are best enabled to form a correct opinion of
the value of the respective strains of blood exhibited. If at
any time during the year 1870 any animal disposed of at the
auction shall be known to' be upon the" premises of the original
owner, or shall be exhibited at any show in his name, the
Council shall have the power if they think fit to exclude the
stock of such person from competition at any future Shorthorn
show." And " the Council rely on the honour of Shorthorn
breeders to carry out these regulations in their entirety." No
doubt the regulations wiU be carried out as " entirely" as they
were last year, when the chief winners were all bought in at
figures long above the SO gs, limit.

20

Till*: FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE CLAY FORMATIONS OF ENGLAND.

At (he last meeting of the llungerfonl Fanners' Club, Mr.
J. A. Williams in the chair, Mr. "H. Trujipee. read the fol-
lowing paper : Following out a similar arrangement to that
adopted in my previous paper on the " Limestone Formations,"
I shall first give you a slight sketch of the principal beds of
clay that occur in the fossiliferous strata, of which the crust
of our globe is principally composed, together with their
geographical distribution in this country; and, secondly, I
shall endeavour to point out their importance to agriculturists.
In my former paper, I told you that these fossiliferous strata
were divided into three great classes — viz., primary, secondary,
and tertiary ; and of these three, the primary was the most
ancient, and the tertiary the most modern. Commencing
therefore with the tertiary or most modern, the first clay
formation of any extent that we meet with is the Londay clay.
This clay is found immediately beneath the gravel, which
generally constitutes the subsoil of the metropolis ; it is of
great extent, and varies from 300 to 600 feet in thickness. It
produces a dark, tough soil, with occasional intermixtures of
sands and variegated clays. It contains numerous layers of
nodules of hard argillaceous or clayey limestone, traversed by
veins of calcareous spar, that radiate from the centre to the
circumference, and these nodules are used in large quantities
for cement. These concretions or nodules are called septaria,
from the appearance of septa or partitions which this character
confers, and these septaria generally lie in horizontal lines at
unequal distances from each other. It is largely developed
in the counties of Essex, Middlesex, and Hants ; and also
occurs in parts of Herts, Bucks, and Berks ; at Bognor and
Bracklesham in Sussex, and at the Isle of Slieppey in Kent.
At the last named locality especially, large quantities of fossil
fruits of the palm tribe, such as are now found in the Molucca
and Philippine islands, together with the bones of crocodiles,
turtles, and other animals of a tropical character, occur. These
fossil fruits might have been drifted into the London basin by
currents such as the Gulf stream, which at the present time
deposits similar fruits on the west coast of Ireland, which
are doubtless brought from the West Indies ; but the bones of
crocodiles, turtles, &c., seem to imply a very warm, if not a
tropical climate, in these parts, at the time the London clay
was deposited ; and the marine shells found in it, confirm the
inference derivable from the plants and reptiles of a high tem-
perature. Beneath the London clay, and immediately above
the chalk, we meet with beds of sand, mottled clays, and rolled
flint pebbles derived from the chalk, and this formation is called
the plastic clay, because its clay is used in some parts, as near
Poole in Dorsetshire, for pottery ; in fact, the great Stafl'ordshire
potteries are supplied with plastic clay from this locality.
The principal places where it is developed are Nevi-haven, in
Sussex ; Reading, in Berks ; and Woolwich, in Kent ; but it
is largely developed in this neighbourhood, and must there-
fore be familiar to you all. We next come to the secondary
or middle class, and the first clay formation that we meet with
is the Weald clay. This clay forms the uppermost bed of the
Wealden formation of Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, which occurs
immediately beneath the cretaceous or chalk formation. It is
of freshwater or fluviatile origin, for in it there is an entire
absence of marine fossils, so characteristic of the cretaceous
rocks above, as well as of the oolitic strata below ; while it
contains large numbers of fluviatile shells, together with the
bones of terrestrial reptiles, and the trunks and leaves of land
plants. It was evidently deposited at the month of a great
liver, like the deltas of the Nile, Ganges, Mississippi, &c.
This formation contains the fossil remains of a large herbi-
vorous reptile, called the iguanodon, because it somewhat re-
sembles tlie iguanas which now frequent the tropical woods of
America and the West Indies ; and from these fossil remains
the probable length of these saurians is estimated at between
30 and 40 feet. The fossils of the Weald, like those of the
London clay, seem to imply a much warmer climate than that
now enjoyed in England. Beneath the Wealden we come to
the oolitic group, iu the upper division of which, below the
Portland oolite and sand, we copie to the Kimmeridge clay.

This argillaceous deposit consists of a daik bluish and grey
clay, which in some places passes into a bituminous shale. It
is 300 feet iu thickness in some parts, but thins out to a very
inconsiderable layer iu others, while iu the northern counties
of England it is altogether wanting. Its name is derived from
Kimmeridge, in Dorsetshire, where some of the layers are
sufiiciently combustible to be used as fuel. It is largely deve-
loped in the Isle of Portland, around Hartwell in the vale of
Aylesbury (where it abounds in organic remains of great
beauty), near Oxford, and in some parts of Wiltshire, where it
resembles peat. This clay forms the valley iu which the Swin-
don station and the new town are situated. The middle oolite
consists of the limestone called " coral rag" (which was de-
scribed iu my last paper), and the Oxford clay, so called he-
cause it is largely developed in the county of that name. If
also occurs iu some parts of Wiltshire, in the neighbourhood
of Chippenham, and occupies the whole of the wide valley
around Cricklade. Some very beautiful fossils are found in it
in some places, as at Christian Melford, &c., and it is some-
times not less than 500 feet in thickness. The lower division
of the oolitic group contains clays and sandstones, called the
" cornbrash," passing downwards into an argillaceous lime-
stone called " forest marble." In some places, as at Bradford
in Wilts, this limestone is replaced by a mass of clay 60 feet
thick, wliich is called the Bradford clay. There are also beds
of falJer's earth near Bath. This lower oolite extends from
Yorkshire in the north-east to Dorsetshire in the south-west,
and it is largely developed in the counties of Gloucester, Ox-
ford, and Northampton ; but it consists principally of lime-
stone formations, which I described in my last paper, and it is
only here and there that it contains any clays which are of
any extent. Beneath the oolite we have a formation of argil-
laceous limestone, marl, and clay, called the lias, which some
geologists class as part of the oolitic group. In some places,
as near Bath, they pass indeed into each other ; but the lias
can be traced throughout a great part of Europe as a separate
and independent group, varying from 500 to 1,000 feet in
thickness. It is largely developed in the counties of Dorset,
Somerset, Gloucester, Northampton, Warwick, and York ; in
fact, it extends along the western escarpment of the oolite,
from Whitby iu Yorkshire to Lyme Regis iu Dorsetshire.
This formation, like that of the London clay, contains septaria,
which are largely used for cement ; it also contains the fossil
remains of large marine reptiles, for which it is celebrated.
These have been termed ichthyosauri and plesiosauri, and
their remains have been found principally iu the cliffs at
Lyme, Watchett, Westbury, and Whitby. Next to the lias we
have beds of sandstones, clays, and shales, containing
gypsum and immense beds of rock-salt. This formation
is called the " trias" : it extends nearly parallel with the western
boundary of the lias from the river Tees on the Yorkshire coast,
to the Dorsetshire and Devonshire coasts near Lyme Regis,
Sidmouth, and Torbay. But the district of which the trias
forms the subsoil, [is variable in breadth, from the great ex-
tension of its western limits. It is largely developed in Wor-
cestershire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, &c. It is the
grand repository of rock-salt, produces some of the most fertile
pasture lands in the kingdom, and terminatesthesecondary class
of fossiliferous strata. The primary, or most ancient class con-
sists principally of limestones, sandstones, and shales ; and as it
contains no clay formations, will not come undermy notice in the
present paper. Having briefly pointed out the geographical dis-
tribution of the clay formations of England, I shall now endea-
vour to treat of their importance to agriculturists ; but before
doing so, I think it would be advisable to say a few words ou
the composition and general properties of clay. Clay is a
plastic earth consisting of about one-third of alumina to two-
thirds of silica, or sand ; that is to say, it is really a silicate of
alumina. It is derived for the most part from the decompo-
sition of felspathic rocks, which are generally rendered impure
by the admixture of oxide of iron, lime, magnesia, &c. It owes
its plasticity to the alumina, and ceases to be called clay when
the proportion of silica or sand is too great for plasticity.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

21

When iron is present tlie clay burns red. Tolerably pure clays,
though infusible in the furnace, become readily so by the ad-
mixture of lime, iron, manganese, &c. : they are very absorbent
of water in their dry state, and adhere strongly to the tongue.
Ochrey, impure clays, emit a disagreeable earthy smell when
breathed upon, and when they contain a sufficient proportion
of carbonate of lime to effervesce with acids, they are termed
" marls." Potters' clay and pijje clay are pure plastic clays,
free from iron, and consequently burning white. Porcelain
clay is derived from the decomposition of felspar : it occurs in
Cornwall. The London clay I have before said produces a
dark tough soil, and where it is properly drained and cultivated,
is very good pasture land ; it is also good wheat and bean land ;
and in those districts where it contains an additional admix-
ture of sand, so as to give it loamy character, as in some parts
of Middlesex, Essex, &c., it will grow almost anything. The
plastic clay is not generally so tractable as the London clay ; in
many districts it is of a cold, sour nature ; but this might be ma-
terially altered by means of efficient drainage and chalking or
liming. The weald clay, like the plastic, is naturally a very
unkind, cold soil, but where it is properly drained and limed,
it produces some very good land. A great proportion of the
hop plantations of Sussex and Kent belong to this formation ;
due there are thousands of acres of it in those counties
which at the present time are comparatively useless,
but which might he rendered very productive if
the above-named means were only made available. I have
often thought how disappointed foreigners must be who —
having heard so much of British agriculture — on coming to
England travel by the South Eastern Railway from Folke-
stone to London ; for, on a great part of their journey, they
pass through some of the worst-cultivated laud in this country,
altJiough there arc some very highly-cultivated districts in the
vicinity. On the Kimmeridge and Oxford clays we have some
of the most fertile vales in the kingdom, both as pasture and
corn-growing lands. The celebrated vales of Bucks, Berks,
Oxford, and Wilts, derive their fertility principally from these
clays ; but many o'i these tracts might be very materially im-
proved by efficient draining. It is a painful fact, however,
that in many instances, where " God does most, man does
least." I have before mentioned that the sandstones, marls,
and clays of the triassic group produce some of the most fer-
tile pasture lauds in the kingdom. I hope a discussion will
ensue from these brief remarks as to the best means of culti-
vating our clay lands ; but it seems to me that the first thing
to be done is to get rid of the superfluous water. The second
thing, in most instances, is to add chalk or lime ; because, as
I before told you in my paper on the limestones, it corrects
sourness and augments the decomposition of vegetable matter ;
but without the land is previously draiued lime cannot perco-
late through the soil and perform its proper functions. I also
think that it on these clay lands that we shall more par-
ticularly find the .benefits derivable from steam cultivation.
All soils have the power, more or less, of absorbing
ammonia from tiie atmosphere, but clay and peat soils possess
this property in a much greater degree than any others ; and,
therefore, the more porous you can render them — so as to let
the air get thoroughly into them — the better; and in proof
of this 1 have seen wonderful eifects produced on some of the
clay lands of Essex merely by burning a portion of the soil iu
heaps, spreading it over the fields, and then ploughing it in.
This sort of rubble can only act mechanically by rendering the
soil more porous and consequently more accessible to the
fertilizing effects of the atmosphere. In conclusion, I will
only add, that if the large landed proprietors of this kingdom
were only to grant their tenants good long leases, and share
with them the expense of draining the wet clays, thousands of
acres of land might be reclaimed, which at tliC present time
are almost useless ; and they would thus not only improve their
estates, as well as their own and their tenant's pockets, but they
would confer a great and lasting benefit on the country at large.

[]\Ir. Trumper exhibited a series of fossils from the clay as
illustrative of his paper.]

Mr. Lane said the clays of England formed an important
tract of land, and in an agricultural po'nt of view possessed
more value than was derived from them, containing more
potash than any other formation, and potash as was well known
was a highly valuable ingredient. The great thing was to get
rid of the superfluous water, by draining or chalking, and to
allow the air to permeate the soil. One advantage clay pos-

sessed was that it was more difficult to exhaust than any other
soil when well cultivated. They might crop and crop as long
as they pleased, if it was done in good weather ; but it
was a very different thing in light porous soils, in which
the soluble matter was very likely to be washed out. In some
districts a great deal was done by mixing soils, which lie (Mr.
Lane) strongly advocated.

Mr. KiMBER agreed with the system of "lifting" the land,
but did not approve of steam cultivation. He would " lift" it
with horses, 5 or 6 inches deep. He thouglit, if he had a
farm for five years only, it would pay him to chalk it the first
year. He did not agree with Mr. Trumper if he approved of
burning couch and ploughing it in.

Mr. Lawrence thought chalking a great benefit to stiff
clays, but clays with a chalk subsoil did not require draining.
Chalking, however, had wonderfully benefitted his crops, and
destroyed injurious weeds. A great deal of clay land in that
neighbourhood should be drained ; some of his land had been
drained by a Government loan, and he paid a certain interest
on it, the amount being chargeable on the land. His landlord
had effected former drainage.

Mr. KiJiBER said in the Woodlands they had nowhere to
drain it to. (A voice : Drain it into Lamborne).

The Chairman said the cultivation of clay land some jears
ago was a very expensive process, and was therefore greatly
shunned. The land by the constant treading of three horses
at length in the furrow, when plouglied, was completely
puddled. Clays could be drained iu a hilly country, as he
could prove by an example on his own farm. He had a field
called Middle Pond, he supposed because there was a pond in
the middle, being the lowest part of the field. He dug a pit
for chalk, and before it fell iu put a fire pole down, and cut a
drain from the pond into the pit. The pond disappeared, and
there had been no water there since. He greatly advocated
steam cultivation, because it remedied the effect of centuries
of treading, and loosened the ground, thus admitting the sun-
shine and the air. The chairman concluded by mixing
common vinegar and chalk, as an experiment proving the
effect of carbonate of lime on acid.

Mr. Trumper much agreed with Mr. Lane as to the de-
sirability of mixing soils, and the expense would be, he
thought, comparatively nothing, for they had men aud horses
standing about many frosty days when they might be em-
ployed carting chalk on to clay or clay on to chalk. But the
tenant farmer had very little encouragement to improve his
laad under the present system of yearly tenancies with six
months' notice to quit, if he improved his land, more rent
was put upon it. The arguments which were brought forward
for the improvement of the land system in Ireland applied
equally as forcible in England. He approved of steam culti-
vation because it did not turn up the rank soil at the bottom
which it would take years of exposure to fertilize, but
loosened the ground 10 or 12 inches deep, and exposed it to
the action of the atmosphere. Mr. Kimber had misunder-
stood him as to burning couch ; he did not approve of it, but
thought there was no greater mistake than to burn couch for
the ashes ; they might let it rot, but many valuable properties
were lost by burning. He advocated that the rough clods of a
clay field should be stubbed up and burnt into a
sort of brick rubble, and carted on the land. It rendered the
land more porous and more accessible to the atmosphere.
Chalk was better for clay than caustic lime, as lime had to be
re-converted into carbonate of lime by exposure before it was
of any use, the only advantage was that lime was doubly as
portable. Hard limestone rock would never act at all till it
was burnt, and then, when re-converted into carbonate of lime
by the atmosphere, it became friable and fit to act readily on
the soil. Having argued in favour of Government loans, Mr.
Trumper said, though the Chairman's experiment was perfectly
correct, when they described clay as sour laud, it was not be-
cause it actually contained acid, but protoxide of iron, a sub-
stance poisonous to vegetable life, which decomposition
converted into peroxide of iron.

The meeting concluded with votes of thanks to the Chair-
man and Mr. Trumper.

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OE
IRELAND. — At a Meeting of the Council it was resolved to
hold the Show in 1870 at Ballinasloe, and not iu Dublin, a?
previously ngrecd to.

22

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON SEEDS AND GRASS LANDS,

At a meeting of the Kendal Farmers' Club, Mr. Key, of
Casterton, read the foUowing paper on Grass Seeds and
Permanent Pasture : In introducing the subject I shall merely
give you an outline of my own practice, based upon thirty-
three years' experience. However people might differ in the
last generation as to the most remunerative modes of farming,
a great majority of the practical farmers of the present day
wiU agree with me wheu I say that were one- half of the
arable laud in this county properly laid down for permanent
pasture it would yield a more profitable return to the occupier.
When I say this I wish it to be perfectly understood that I do
not include moss land, knowing that it is more suitable for
ploughing than for grazing. But how often do we hear
farmers say, "lam obliged to plough my land, it won't graze!"
Whenever I hear of land that won't graze I attribute the
failing to the management of it more than to any inherent dis-
qualification in the soil itself. I go every three months into
a part of Yorkshire where nothing but the plough is believed
in, and where they would plough up every acre of grass land
upon their farms if allowed to do so, and even there I have
still found some isolated verdant pastures standing out, as it
were, in bold relief, each like an oasis in the desert, and these
solitary instances are generally good specimens of rich perma-
nent pasture. Yet the people still persist in telling you that
their land won't graze, in spite of the ocular demonstration
they have to the contrary in the samples before them, which
are subject to the same atmospherical and geological laws as
their ploughed land. One common cause of failure in sowing
down land to pasture is an improper selection of seeds. Many
farmers never think of sowing more than two or three different
varieties, A bushel of rye-grass and from 7 lbs. to
10 lbs. of clover used to be, and perhaps still is
with many, the general allowance per acre ; yet if you will
go into an old pasture and take out a sod twelve inches in dia-
meter, you may probably find from eight to sixteen different
plants in that small area. Hence, if we take the trouble to
sow the seeds of all these different varieties at once, we may
naturally expect an earlier formation of thickly-matted park-like
sward than , if we left that operation for time and tlie elements
to accomplish. Before sowing our seeds it would be as well
to examine some old pasture in tlie neighbourhood, and endea-
vour to select those grass seeds which seem indigenous to the
soil. I will give you a collection which I have used for the
last thirty years and upwards with great success generally, and
which I hereby denominate the " Quantity of seeds per statute
acre for permanent grass :" 61b. of Italian rye-grass, 611)s. pe-
rennial rye-grass, 31bs. cocksfoot, 21b3. timothy, 31bs. meadow
fescue, lib. varied-leaf fescue, lib. hard fescue, 21bs. rough-
stalked meadow grass, 21bs. meadow foxtail, lib. of crested dogs-
tail, ^Ib. sweet-scented vernal, 31bs. alsike clover, 21bs, white
clover, 61bs. cow grass ; total, SSJlbs. Some of you may take
exception to the small proportion of perennial rye-grass allowed
in themixture, it being a grass so universally sown in large
quantities. I grant that it is a most useful plant for a hay
crop ; but pastures abounding with it are never eaten level,
and cattle will not take it so long as there is any other to bite
at, and, were it not essential for a thick sward, I would
leave it out of the mixture entirely. Italian rye-grass is not
permanently useful, inasmuch as it is only a biennial plant ;
but, as it is a quick grower and a heavy cropper for the first
year, it affords shelter to the tender grasses, and fills up the
ground until the more tardy growers come to maturity. In
the above-named collection you will observe that there are
fourteen different varieties, and the cost per acre will be about
24s., more or less. Those who consider this too expensive a
dose, I would recommend to ponder the trite axiom, " what-
ever IS worth doing at all is worth doing well." In addition
to the two aforesaid reasons for not using Italian or perennial
rye-grass to any great extent, I have also another great reason
which I shall hereafter explain. Most of you are aware that
when a farmer has to go into the market to buy seed-wheat,
he 13 very careful to purchase a sample which is free from
carnel, smut, and all other weeds to wliich a wheat crop is

liable, or in like manner in the selection of any other seed-
grain. But when you or I go to purchase our Italian or
perennial rye-grass seeds, we cannot detect the difference
betwixt what is generally called twitch-grass and either of the
aforesaid varieties, and I am sorry to say in too many cases
twitch-seed often accompanies those varieties. I say this with
the greatest deference to aU seed-growers and seed-sellers ; I
am making no personal observations, neither could I attempt
■ to do so, but I know itfrom painful experience to be a fact, and to
illustrate the aforesaid fact, I once laid down a field of 9a. 2r. 2p.
with nearly the aforesaid mixture of seeds for permanent pasture,
the only difference being that I used 91bs. ot Italian, and 91bs.
of perennial, being 31bs. more of each sort to an acre than in
the aforesaid mixture. The seeds were sown along with oats
after a turnip crop, one-half of the turnips having been con-
sumed on the land by sheep ; the land was perfectly clean, and
the seeds well tilled with farmyard manure during the follow-
Lag winter after the reaping of the corn crop, and mown once
the following summer. After this treatment and great outlay,
I very naturally anticipated having a good permanent pasture
for years to come ; but I regret to say that, after laying two
years, twitch-grass made its appearance to a great extent, and
was evidently supplanting all other grasses ; the consequence
was, I was obliged to plough it up again, and a field fuller of
twitch-grass I never yet saw ; and, after going througli a
course of thorough cleaning, I ventured to sow it down again
with the aforesaid mixture of seeds along with rape, after a
corn crop, for permanent pasture, and it is now in pasture,
after lying five years, and doing well. It has been twice top-
dressed during those five years, once with farmyard manure,
and once with 2 cwt. of guano and 2 cwt. of salt to each acre.
I could give other instances, if necessary, of a similar kind, on
land under the four or five course system of husbandry, wliich,
to my knowledge, was perfectly clean when laid down, but is
at present something similar to what mine was after being so
unfortunate with the seeds in my first attempt to lay it down.
The case, in addition to my own, which I refer to, is about 4
miles from this town, on the high road side leading to Kirkby
Lonsdale. Most of you here present know how expensive the
cultivation of a turnip crop is wheu land is in such a state
as this is in which I have last alluded to ; consequently it
is most important for us all to know where the Italian or
perennial rye-grass seeds were grown which we purchase,
being sure to get them off land which is clean and free from
twitch-grass, and that they are the seeds from the second
crop of hay, which is not so liable to have twitch or otlier
noxious weeds among them as those from the first crop.
Some of you may probably say that we may as easily get
adulterated small seeds mentioned in the aforesaid
mixture as well as the aforesaid grasses: to this I would
say that we can detect adulteration in small seeds by
merely damping the end of one of our fingers and placing
it in the seed bag, in this manner you then can perceive
every seed in its own body, and can then judge by the
naked eye aU the deficiencies amongst those seeds, and we
may further pretty nearly ascertain whether they are old
or new seeds by bruising them ; you will then see
whether tliey are full of juice or not--if not full of juice,
you may then suspect that they are old seeds and not so
likely to germinate as quickly as those which are full of juice.
Another common cause of failure is the want of top
dressing after the young grasses have in some measure ex-
hausted themselves. If a field is well seeded, clean, and
fuU of heart, it will graze well for a few years, and then it
begins to fall off for want of stimulant. At this stage
the 'general cry is, " Oh, it is done ! I knew it would not
graze more than three or four years !" And then it is again
ploughed up. Now, suppose we had been ploughing this field
for corn crops, we would have applied a dressing of manure
to every alternate crop at the very least ; yet, we imagine it
ought to grass from year to year without any top-dressing
whatever, forgetful that the milk, beef, mutton, wool, and
other produce which has been sold off that field must have

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

23

exhausted the 60il, and rendered it poor in consequence. The
question of sowing-down with or without a white crop, should,
in a great measure, be regulated by the domestic economy of
the farm. When properly managed, I have no objection to
sow-down with a white crop ; we can then better afford to
give the seeds a top-dressing after the corn crop comes off.
The kind of white crop to sow for this purpose has hitherto
been a moot question with practical men. Some advocate oats,
others barley ; but I should prefer the latter, not sowing the
barley too rank with seed — say 73 qts. to an acre. By doing
tliis the barley is not so apt to break down and smother the
young seeds. I should harrow the barley well in, and make
the surface as even as possible for the sowing of the grass
seeds, which I would harrow-in with a light harrow and then
roll, thus retaining the moisture and getting the seed embedded
safely in a fine fresh soil, secure from the dangers incident to
this variable climate — taking great care to have all these
things done when the land is dry and in good order. If sown
with a white crop, great care should be taken in cutting the
grain not to cut it too low, so as to injure the young grasses.
It has been a common custom of late years in some localities,
to sow down with rape and seeds without a corn crop for per-
manent pasture, and consume the rape on the land by sheep.
If intended for permanant pasture, I should prefer Bowing a
little rye along with the aforesaid mixture of seeds in pre-
ference to rape, inasmuch as the roots of tlie rape plant are so
long and fibrous that they take great hold of the land, and a
little rye will afford sufficient shelter for the young plants and
enable them to develop themseh es more evenly and form a
better surface, which is indispensable. If this course was pur-
sued, I should prefer not sowing the seed and rye until the
latter end of July, thus evading all annual weeds as much as
possible, to which the land is hable, which are apt to take the
lead and choke the young seeds. Neither would I have them
too much eaten by sheep, or any other kind of stock, the first
winter. I would also roll the land two or three times at dif-
ferent intervals during the winter and spring, when the land

is in order, with a heavy roller, so as to compress the land and
keep the seeds as much as possible from being thrown out by
frosty nights and sunny days, which are very apt to do so.
Great care should be taken in sowing the seeds evenly so that
not an inch of ground be missed, otherwise the unseeded por-
tion will disfigure the pasture for years to come, notwithstand-
ing any after-seeding we may apply. I would then let the
seeds remain unmolested until they flower and seed, but not
until tliey ripen. I have an idea that grasses, like many
otlier plants, feed as much from the atmosphere as from the
earth ; and if we take away the leaf before it arrives at a cer-
tain stage of development, we deprive the plant of one of the
chief sources from which it derives its nourishment, and a
weakened and stunted growth is the result. Hence, I should
prefer mowing the first year in preference to grazing with
sheep, as they eat so close that they are apt to injure the roots
of the plants before they get perfectly established ; then, I
should give the land a good top-dressing with farmyard
manure, and, after that, I would give it a hand tillage, con-
sisting of two cwt. of Peruvian guano and two cwt. of salt,
mixed together, to each statute acre, every three years — the
salt acts as a deodorizer, and fixes the ammonia of the guano.
This course pursued, I feel confident that it would soon repay
the farmer, and enable him to have a good park-like sward on
his pasture for many years. I have hitherto spoken of seeds
for permanent pasture only ; but were I sowing down for al-
ternate husbandry under the five-course system, for that pur-
pose I would use a somewhat different and less expensive
mixture, the following list will form an ample seeding for
one statute acre, namely, Gibs, of Italian rye-grass, 6 lbs.
perennial rye-grass, 2 lbs. of cocks-foot, 2 lbs. timothy, 3 lbs.
alsike clover, 3 lbs. red clover, 3 lbs. white clover, 2 lbs. cow-
grass, 1 lb. sheeps-parsley ; total, 26 lbs. I may also state,
that any land sown down for permanent pasture or alternate
husbandry should be in rich condition and full of tillage before
the seeds are sown ; this is also indispensable to procure a good
permanent pasture or even a pasture for alternate husbandry

ABINGDON FAT CATTLE SHOW.

The annual showwasheldonNovember23. Owing to the foot-
and-mouth disease and other circumstances, the entries were not
numerous. Mr. H. Betteridge exhibited a Hereford Ox, ^nd
Col. Loyd-Lindsay a Shorthorn cow, both of which gained
first prizes and silver cups. In the sheep-classes, Mr. S.
Druce, Mr. G. Wallis, and Col. Loyd-Lindsay were successful
exhibitors ; while Mr. R. Aldworth carried off Col. Loyd-
Lindsay's cup for the best pig in the yard ; and Mr. J. Beesley
gained a prize for a hunter. In the root department there
was more competition than in the other classes; but Col.
Loyd-Lindsay took the lion's share of the prizes.

JUDGES :
Cattle. — Franklin, Ascott, Wallingford ; A. Edmunds,

Longworth ; and B. Castle, Charlton, Wantage.
Horses.— T. Theobald, C. P. Duffield, and J. S. Bowles,
Roots. — J. Litchfield, Kingston ; T. N. Dewe, Drayton ; and

R. Pyke, Lyford.
Corn. — J. Weaving, Oxford ; and C. Cox, Abingdon.
CATTLE.

First prize of £5 for the best fat ox, H. Betteridge, Han-
ney ; second. Col. Loyd-Lindsay, Lockinge Park.

First prize of £5 for the best steer under 3 years and 3
months old, H. Betteridge ; second. Col. Loyd-Lindsay. ,

Prize of £5 for the best fat cow. Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

First prize of £3 for the best two heifers in calf, under 3
years of age, W. Curtis, Fernham ; second, W. Curtis.

Prize of £5 5s. for the best beast shown in Class 1 or 2,
H. Betteridge.

Prize of £5 5s. for the best beast shown in Class 3 or 4,
Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

Prize of £5 5s. for the best two heifers in Class 5, W. Curtis,
SHEEP.

First prize of £3 for the best pen of three fat half-bred
wetlier sheep under 22 months old, S. Druce, Eynsham; second.
Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

First prize of £S for the best pen of three fat short-woolled
wether sheep under 22 months old, Sir W. Throckmorton,
Bucklaud; second, Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

First prize of £3 for the best pen of three fat ewes, G. Wal
lis, Shifford ; second, G, Wallis.

Prize of £5 5s. for the beat pen of sheep in any class,
Sir W. Throckmorton.

PIGS.

First prize of £2 for the best pen of three fat pigs of one
litter under nine months old, W. Graham, Wootton ; second,
G. B. Morland, Abingdon.

First prize of £2 for the best fat pig under 14< months old,
E. Aldworth, Hagburn ; second. Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

A silver cup for the best pig in the show, R. Aldworth.
HORSES.

Prize of £10 10s. for the best four years old hunter, J.
Beezley.

Prize of £5 5s, for the best cart colt under three years old,
J. Phillips, Ardington.

ROOTS,

First prize of £2 for the best 25 untrimmed roots of Swed-
ish turnips, grown on a piece not less than five acres, Col.
Loyd-Lindsay ; second, W. Graham,

First prize of £2 for the best 25 untrimmed root of man-
gold wurzel, grown on a piece of not less than two acres, Col.
Loyd-Lindsay ; second, W. M. Tagg, Goosey.

First prize of £2 for the best collection of roots, not less than
10 each, field culture, not less than four sorts. Col. Loyd-
Lindsay ; second, R. Aldworth,

CORN.

First prize of £3, for the best five quarters of wheat, one
bushel in unmarked bag to be pitched, T. Latham, Little
Wittenham ; second. Col. Loyd-Lindsay.

First prize of £2, for the best five quarters of barley, one
bushel to be pitched, R. Aldworth ; second, W. Graham.

Best 12 roots of mangold wurzel, R. Aldworth.

Best 12 roots of long ditto, W. M. Tagg.

Best 12 roots of swedes, R. H. Betteridge.

Best 12 roots of turnips, R. Aldworth.

A dinner followed, over which Colonel Loyd-Lindsay,
M,P,, presided, Mr. W. Aldworth being vice-chairman.

24>

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND COUNTIES CATTLE SHOW.

At the first blush, the foot-and-mouth disease should
have much to answer for, as its effects may be tested by
so short a show in the Midlands. The entries, however,
■were not only numerically small, but individually mode-
rate. Many of our most famous exhibitors made no sign, as
Mr. M'Combie, for one, did not sent a beast ; while
something like accident prevented any appearance from
other well-known homesteads, either here or further
on. Mr. Lynn's prize heifer, Aurora, was ill at home
with a surfeit ; Mr. roljambe's Cherry Blossom, who
was getting as ripe as a cheriy, died very suddenly a few
days since ; and a Devon steer, of Mr. Smith's, was set
tire to in his box on the way up from Exeter, and never
came before the judges. Then, Mr. Stratton kept any-
thing he might have in this way at home at Chippenham,
or back for London ; and hence it happened that nothing so
very extraordinary was to be encountered eveu in the Short-
horn classes. Taking them right through, the Herefords
have seldom offered so poor a front ; nor wei-e the Scotch
cattle by any means equal to their pristine form. Of
Devons, on the contrary, there was by comparison a large
and good show, backed by one or two clever Crosses ; but
we doubt much if there were really a Golu-medal
animal in Bingley Hall. In fact, the beasts were so
evenly indifferent, that another set of judges might rea-
sonably enough reverse many of the decisions ; and we
certainly do not expect to see the Birmingham lead very
strictly followed in London.

Beginning at the beginning, Mr. Heath again had the best
of all theHerefords in a four-year-old ox, but this is only half
a good one ; being very handsome forward, with a fine
head and kindly look, as well as a great broad back. But
he is spoiled by his terribly mean drooping quarter, and
is a very ungainly animal when brought out. The second
best Hereford ox is as plain a boast as ever was exhibited,
with little but his size and touch in his favour ; and we
altogether prefer the third prize, the best of all on
Monday at Abingdon, where he was shown by Mr.
Bettridge, although bred by Mr. Evans, of Swanstone.
This is a pretty straight stylish ox, of fine quality, if
rather out-sized, the more especially when standing side
by side with Mr. Ridgley's six-year-old monster, who
fairly towered over everything in the class. This in-
cluded a very middling specimen from Chadnor Court,
and although in it and the younger class there were
such names as those of Mr. Pike, Mr. Price, and Mr.
Pitt to be seen there was not a really crack Hereford
steer in the whole line of them. The two cows sent
were so bad that the judges, and even then on something
like compulsion, would only award the second and third
prizes, utterly refusing to hooour anything with a first.
On the other hand, Mr. Garrett's best heifer was a very
taking one, and to our thiuking the best of all the Here-
fords ; being neat, round, and deep, with a nice head and
good charactei, as a long way the first of her class, which
was otherwise moderate enough. The Hampton Violet
is a podgy creature, with no very visible shoulder, at least
where it should be, and standing very in behind ; while
her Majesty could only have taken the third prize as the
best of a very bad remainder. In four classes there were
twenty-lhrce entries of Herefords ; one prize was alto-
gether withheld, and not a single commendation was
appended to those actually awarded. This is sufficiently
significant of the strength to be found in this section of
the show.

The Shorthorns were in every way better ; but here,
again, there were no commendations, as the nierit, more
particularly amongst the oxen and steers, was mainly
confined to the first and second of the classes. Amongst
the older beasts there was nothing very particular, as not
much to choose between Colonel Lindsay's steer and Mr.
Rowland Wood's ox. Indeed, they have now beaten
each other in turn, Mr. Sauday, at Northampton, in the
summer, giving the Clapton beast a prize, and merely
commending the Colonel's enti'y ; whereas at Birmingham
Mr. Sauday must have been mainly instrumental in placing
the Berkshire above the Northamptonshire specimen. In
the interim Mr. "Wood's animal certainly seems to have
gone on the better of the two, and Colonel Lindsay's
was beaten at Abingdon by Mr. Bettridge's ox,
the third of his class here. This makes the fomi very
moderate ; and certainly the first prize Shorthorn is any-
thing but a good beast. He is high, plain, and patchy,
with a head showing little or no Shorthorn breed about
it, and as, with the exception of Mr. Wood's entry, the
others were no doubt worse, this was a very poor class.

The first and second of a small entry of steers did much
more for the credit of the breed, and these are, no
question, both superior, if not quite first-class animals.
Mr. Rowland Wood's sieer we first met at Northampton
in July, where we spoke of him as " a capital red beast,
which his owner had picked up at Oakham last Christ-
mas, and that for handsome looks and level feeding was
surely the best of all the fat animals." Little Wonder, for
he has a name of his own, went again to Oakham
last week, where he not only took the first prize of his
class against a very smart steer of Mr. Pulver's that will
be kept on for another year, but also the Uppingham School
medal and extra premium of 25 sovereigns, as the best of
all the fat beasts. But the judges stood alone here, that
is as to " the best of all," public opinion at Oakham going
for Mr. Willis' Rose of Luekuow, the gold medal cow
at Birmingham last year ; now, at seven years old, said to
be as level as ever, and five inches more in the girth than
she was last season. Having already made her appear-
ance in both Bingley and the Islington Halls, the old
Rose will next show at York. Still, however well she
may have looked at Oakham, there is no doubt but that
her conqueror, Little Wonder, has gone on equally well.
He is so true and straight in his outline, that the editors
of Herd Books might point to him in some proof of
the fidelity of their very amusing illustrations. He is
just a trifle high in the setting on of his tail, but
otherwise he is as level a beast as ever was seen ; while
he has plenty of style, is very deep, and for his age, at
under thi'ce years, certainly a wonder in his way, if perhaps
only a little one. Nevertheless, the Birmingham judges
declared that they found his superior in an older steer of
Lord Aylesford's ; and a very showy beast this is, with
more grandeur than the red, a fine quality coat, a
beautiful broad back, and so on. But he is not so
thoroughly true as the other ; his head is badly
set on, and he is not so well covered about
his shoulders. However, all the Judges held to
the light roan very determinedly, for they made him
the best of his class, the best Shorthorn bred and fed
by an exhibitor, the best of all the Shorthorns, the
best of all the oxen and steers, and the best animal in
the yard. At the utmost he is the best of a bad
year, not that wc believe he can be the 100 guineas

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

winner in London, even if Little Wouder sliould not
not beat him when they meet again. A white son of the
white C osta was third, but in point of fact, nowhere, in
comparison with the other two, and the only class ran up
to four or five.

There travelled up from Newcastle-upon-Tyne a cer-
tain Princess of Yetholm, bringing with her a very high
repute, which she has quite maintained in the Mid-
lands. She is a very neat, not large cow, nicely fed,
fashionable in her appearance, and kindly in her touch,
so that she looked to place herself readily enough as the best
Shorthorn cow. Some, indeed,went further, and, as "bred
and fed" by Sir "Walter Trevelyan, would have made her
the best on this condition also, and so of course the
best of all the Shorthorns, while this would have led on to
her being not merely the best of all the females, but the
best in the yard. Not but that some of her com-
pany kept her in countenance, for the Messrs. Mit-
chell's Blue Belle is a very sweet almost dainty creature,
and what with her pretty lady-like head, her nice long
low frame and light bone, would seem yet more an or-
nament for the herd than a victim to the shambles.
She has, of course, been a frequent winner in Scotland ; and
with the honours still all going North, Mr. "VVhyte's
Windsor's Lilac Flower is more like beef, being vei"y
heavy-fleshed, but lacking the style of the other two.
Colonel Lindsay's Lady Elgin, the best cow at Abingdon,
for the want of competition, claimed no notice here ; and,
although they kept a cow, as we think, of Mr. Sheldon's, out
for some time, nothing came of it. In an entry of half-a-
dozen the three prize' heifers had all some merit. Col.
Towneley's Thistledown looked rather unwieldly and over-
done, but she is grand either to meet or follow, with a
beautiful bosom and broad back ; while she has llesh put
on wherever it can be, but is somewhat disfigured by a
big knee. Two years since Thistledown was a first prize
heifer at Aberdeen, where she was purchased for 100 gs.,
but Cidshaw could never get her to breed. Cherry
Princess 3rd, from Speke, is a prettier heifer if not so
valuable as a butcher's beast ; as, if we remember aright,
she has been to Birmingham before, where she was
bought in at the spring sale ; while the Aberdeen sample
well sustains the fame they enjoy in these parts for
gi'owing Christmas fare.

Well as the Devons show in London, they have for some
years made no great stand in Birmingham ; but there
were this season two really good classes of oxen, that
walked up from their stalls with something of the air
of race-horses ; as assuredly there is no beast shows so
much blood as a Devon. Of the first and second in
the old class and the first and second in the young class
it was anything for choice, so evenly were they matched,
and so close was the competition. The best bred and /ijci?
was assuredly Mr. Hambro's Delcome, a very blood-like
three-year-old, all good meat to the hand, and an admira-
ble animal when out ; while Mr. Nixey's next best in
this lot was very neat and taking, but not so ripe. The
judges, however, pronounced the best of all the Devons
to be Mr. Farthing's older steer, the second in his class
at the Plymouth show last Christmas, and a beast of
more breed and quality than the Somerset-Devons always
reach to. Then he was firm in his flesh if not so for-
ward as he might be, and Mr. Burton's long, straight,
stylish second was almost his equal, if Mr. Hambro's
were not the best of the three. But the special
Devon judge appeared to have lost his head, for
he hung to a great coarse animal, of little
or no true Devon character, fed at Hoopern, and this he
insisted on being placed third, while the two Shorthorn
men were quite willing to take the responsibility of those
placed higher in the list. The Stowey herd was alto-
gether in force, for Mr. Farthing claimed the best cow in

Lady, wbo has fed very nicely, and the best heifer in
Miss Laura, a Royal Leicester heifer, that is going all to
pieces, and getting so gaudy as to be ahnost unsightly.
Mr. Hitchcock's second prize cow. Pretty, from Mr.
Tapp's herd, is a nice lengthy one, quite worthy of her
place, but taken as a lot the cow classes would not com-
pare with the oxen, and this is of course just as it should
be at a fat cattle shoAV.

There were half-a-dozen Long-horns, amongst which,
noticeably enough, Mr. Chapman, of Nuneaton, made no
entry ; there were two or three Welsh runts ; three black
polled beasts ; and some half-dozen moderate Highlanders.
From all these the judges found nothing to dwell over,
when they fined down their duties to picking out the best
ox. Then the best Hereford was one of the first sent away ;
even the Devon man never seemed to take a second glance
at Mr. Farthing's beast ; and the only really formidable
opponent to Lord Aylesford's steer turned up in Messrs.
Martin's Aberdeen cross. This was a great square up-
standing animal of more size rather than majestic appear-
ance ; far better forward than the Shorthorn, and at his
age a much more valuable beast for tlie butcher.
He was not perfect, nor on an average a gold
medal ox ; but he would most probably have been
in such a show, had not two out of the three Judges
been Shorthorn men. In 18G8, the Bench was made up
of one Shorthorn, one Hereford, and one Devon breeder
— a much more wholesome arrangement — and we never
remember to have watched awards that proved better.
The two-to-one plan did not look to work near so well,
the more particularly as the unit did not carry such weight
even at his own special business.

With the sheep they held to a better division of duty,
making up a Quorum from the Longwool, Shropshire, and
Southdown fanciers. But then amougst the sheep there
was very little to do. In obedience to the call for early
maturity, the old classes of wethers have been removed
from the list, and the entries cut down to one-half; as,
indeed, we never remember this section of the show to
have commanded so little interest. The Leicesters
were much as they have been here, and Lord Berners
was first again with his sheep, such as they are, but
there was not an animal of really fine Leicester type in
the entry. There were three pens of Lineolns with
three prizes awarded, the first and second lots being
very excellent sheep. Sir John Kolt's best Cotswolds
were of good character, with the second and third prize
pens anything but prize sheep ; and there were foiu* entries
in all of Cotswolds. The first prize, Oxford Downs, were
really good, and the other prizes should have been with-
held. There were two pens of Hampshires, both ap-
parently reverting to that hang-dog, ugly expression,
for which this sort was once so famous, or infamous, and
two prizes were duly awarded. Mr. Overman did not
enter any cross-breeds, and so Mr. Nathaniel Stilgoe took
the first prize with a Cotswold and Oxfordslure Down
mixture — or a mixtm-e of mixtures — while Mr. Zacha-
riah Stilgoe was second, with a long and short wool
cross, a much more simple way of putting it. The
Oxford mixtures were very clevery got up, but when yon
came to examine them, no doubt Mr. Zachariah's sheep
were a deal better than Mr. Nathaniel's ; although, so far
as the value of the experiment went, there was not a pen
of these Crosses worth any particular encouragement.
The judges commended a whole class of Shropshires, and
highly commended one particular pen, which was making
the most of it ; but then Birmingham is some-
thing of a capital for Shropshire flock masters*
Lord Chesham's neat " Downy" sheep had again, however'
all the best of it, though his second-prize lot wei'e not
very " sorty ;" while nothing could be greater than the
contrast between his Lordship's first and Mr. Nock's

26

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINli.

third-best, i)laced as they were side by side. Mrs.
Beach continues to preserve a sheep of very nice useful
stamp ; aud, if people could be content to feed at Christ-
mas time on wool rather than mutton, Lord Wenlock's
Yorkshire-Shropshires might soon come into fashion.
How is it that they have managed to muddle away all the
promise, or something more, my Loi'd once enjoyed, for
sheep aud pigs ? It may be treason to say so, but, as times
go, Colonel Kingscote's Southdowns look a vast deal more
like Shropshires ; whereas Lord Walsingham never showed
sheep of purer Southdown type than he has done this
year at Birmingham. The first-prize pen were very pic-
tures of what they should be ; so admirably matched,
with such nicely-shaded shapely faces, such neat symme-
trical frames, and all over of such high breeding and
quality. They were not large, certainly; and we were
almost sorry to hear that they will go for more size in
London. During the last twenty or thirty years, some
aUoy no doubt has been tried with the Southdown, but
this is a mistake ; for what we gain in weight we lose in
almost every other way. The second-prize Merton pen
were not equal to the first, but if there had been a cup for
the best entry of any animals in the Hall, the Southdowns
would have won it.

The entry of pigs barely reached to that of last year,
when there was one of the smallest shows ever seen in
Birmingham. Nevertheless, some of the pens were very
commendable ; and, in the opening class, three capital
Berkshires, from Upper Winchendon, fairly beat all the
whites — a not very common occurrence when they come
together. Her Majesty's had more size, but were neither
so neat in appearance, nor so firm in their flesh as Mr.
Cartwright's pretty pigs ; but, in the next lot, the Royal
Windsors did better, not only being the best of their own
but class, also the Cup pen as the best of all the young fat
pigs. They looked, however, at first to be very closely run
by another lot of Berkshires, bred by Mr. Clark at
Maidenhead, and very long and handsome, but hardly
made up enough for exhibition or well matched, for
otherwise they would at least have been second.
As it was, the judges took their time in
deciding between these and the Stroxton whites which,
■with good ends, were very light and slack in their middles.
Mr. Eden's best old pig was of superlative merit in a very
good class, with Mrs. Beech showing a very pretty Dorset,
and Mr. Sadler getting third with a deep but coarsish
Berkshire; while Mr. Clark was again and deservedly
commended for a Berkshire sow bred by Captain Stewart
of Gloucester, and Mr. Bantock might have done more
had his entry been better finished ofi". Nearly all these
fat pigs were quite up to the average of excellence, and there
was another good class of breeding Berkshire whei-e the point
of preference rested between the high quality of Mr. Spen-
cer and the true useful character of Mr. Fowler. The Ayles-
bury are no question the most useful farmer's pigs, but they
always go for a finely-bred Berkshire in Bingley Hall —
a Warwickshire-Berkshire, so to speak — and although the
judges were from other parts, they did not rule against
the line laid down for them. The class of large breeding
pigs was so generally bad, that it was only after consider-
able hesitation the prizes were awarded. The Messrs.
Howard's pen, with their plain heads and big flap ears,
were just passable, and that was all ; but how a pig-
fancier like Mr. Fisher could show and win with such a
wretched pen as he did was a very marvel of generosity
on the part of the management, and the judges were
ready enough to decry their own handiwork. Of course
any further prize in this class was withheld, there being
a point at which a line must be drawn. The small breed-
ing pigs, on the contrary, were, so far as the prize pens
went, aU very good, and fi-om Mr. Lynn's lot downwards
honestly deserving of the distinction they gained.

All things considered, the display of roots is quite as good, if
not better, than might have been expected. Although the
early part of the past season was extremely unfavourable to
the crops generally, the copious rains of the late summer, and
the open weather of the autumn, seemed to have done much
to promote the growth of this description of farm produce.
The result is that, notwithstanding the show of roots here is
less than usual m extent, it is a full average in respect
to the size and quality of the various specimens. There were
half-a-dozen competitors for the Cup oifered for tlie best
collection. As wiU be seen on reference to the subjoined
list, it was won by Sir William Heathcote, the aggregate
weight of whose entry was 303 lbs., the six long
mangolds weighing 101 lbs., six globe mangolds IS^lbs.,
and the swedes 86 lbs. The collection which came
nearest to this was that of Mr. Dickinson, from the
New Forest, whose long mangolds weighed 121 lbs.,
his globes 951bs., and swedes 601bs., making a total of 2761bs.
The swedes were remarkably uniform and symmetrical. The
kohl-rabi was especially good ; the specimens were all of the
green globe variety ; the first-prize collection being very large
aud handsome bulbs, weighing 1021bs. The weight of Col.
North's six was 7'ilbs. The prize stands of long mangolds
weighed 1921bs. and 1691bs. respectively ; globe and interme-
diate mangolds 1191bs. and 981bs. The first-prize swedes of
Mr. Moore (Bangholm) weighed 1021bs., and those of
the Duke of Portland 1021bs. The class as a whole is
very good as respects both size and weight. Of the common
turnips the yellow-fleshed kinds were decidedly tlie best.
The carrots were not plentiful, but smooth and handsome
examples. The ox cabbage are meritorious, being large and
good in quality. The first prize stand weighed 691bs., 671bs.,
and 601bs. respectively — total 1961bs. The three which re-
ceived second honours weighed 581bs., 601bs., and 581bs. — total
1761bs. The show of potatoes is not large, which may be ac-
counted for by the fact that several other exhibitions are being
held about this time. Many good dishes, however, have been
brought together, there being no vegetable which has received
greater attention or in which greater improvement is mani-
fested than the potato ; the red Regents and Paterson's Vic-
toria being well represented.

There is only a very limited display of corn, but there is not
an indifTerent specimen to be found. The white wheat is re-
markably good. Of red there are only three lots entered, but
they were considered good enough to deserve the award of both
the prizes offered, which were given to good samples of the
Nursery kind. The barley, oats, beans, and peas are uniformly
excellent.

The Birmingham Meeting is still pre-eminent for its poultry.
All the varieties are as usual very fully represented. The follow-
ing are the weights of the principal prize pens of ducks, geese,
and turkeys : Wliite Aylesbury drake and one duck, first prize,
17 lbs. 12 oz.; second, 17 lbs. 7oz.; third, 17 lbs. 2oz. ;
fourth, 17 lbs. Rouen drake and one duck, first prize, 18 lbs.
13 oz.; second, 17 lbs. 12 oz.; third, 17 lbs. 12 oz.; fourth,
17 lbs. 13 oz. ; fifth, 16 lbs. 6 oz ; sixth, 16 lbs. 6 oz. Geese,
grey aud mottled, birds above a year-old, first prize,
57 lbs. 14 oz.; second, 53 lbs. 8oz.; ditto, birds of 1869,
first prize, 48 lbs. 12 oz. ; second, 46 lbs. 4 oz. ;
Turkeys, cocks exceeding a year old, first prize, 341bs. 12oz. ;
second, 321bs. 2oz. ; and a very highly commended pen,
291bs. 12oz. ; ditto hatched in 1869, first prize, 231bs. 12oz. ;
second, 231bs. 8oz. ; highly commended, 231bs. 2oz. Two
turkey hens over a year old, first prize, 371bs. 4oz. ; second,
321bs. 4oz. ; highly commended, 331bs. 12oz. Two turkey
hens hatched in 1869, first prize, 281bs. 3oz. ; second,
271b8. 12oz.

PRIZE LIST.

CATTLE.
Judges. — H. W. Keary, Bridgnorth.

William Sanday, RatcUffe-on-Trent, Nottingham.
John Thompson, Badminton, Chippenham.

HEREF0RD8.

Oxen or Steers. — First prize, £15, and extra prize of
£20, for the best Hereford, William Heath, Ludham Hall,
Norwich ; second, £10, Thomas Dew, Almley, Herefordshire ;
third, £5, Henry Bettridge, East Hanney, Wantage, Berks j
reserved, Aaron Pike, Mitton, near Tewkesbury.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

27

Steers.— First prize, £16, John Price, Court House,
Perabridge ; second, £10, Henry Bettridge, East Hanney,
Wantage, Berks; third, £5, John Williams, Saint Mary's
Farm, Kingsland, Herefordshire.

Cows. — First prize withheld ; second, £10, William George
Sexty, Old Sufton Court, near Hereford ; third, £5, Joseph
Craddock, Easington, Northleach, Gloucestershire.

Heifers. — First prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder,
Thomas Garrett, Corapton Scorpion ; second, £10, John Hun-
gerford Arkwright, Hampton Court, Leominster, Herefordshire;
third, £5, her Majesty the Queen, Windsor Castle.

SHORTHORNS.

Oxen or Steers. — First prize, £15, Colonel Lloyd-Lindsay,
M.P., Lockinge Park, Wantage, Berks ; second, £10, Rowland
Wood, Clapton, near Thrapston, Northamptonshire ; third, £5,
Marquis of Anglesey, Beaudesert, Rugeley.

Steers. — First prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder ;
extra prize of £20 for best Shorthorn, and extra of £16 for
best Shorthorn bred and fed by exhibitor ; President's Cup,
value £25, for best ox or steer of any breed or age, bred and
fed by the exhibitor ; extra of 25 guineas as best animal in
the cattle classes, and £20 as the best ox or steer of any breed
or age, selected from all the classes. — The Earl of Aylesford,
Packington Hall, Coventry; second, £10, Rowland Wood,
Clapton, near Thrapston, Northamptonshire ; third, £5, John
Claydeu, Littlebury, near Saffron VValden, Essex.

Cows. — First prize £15, and silver medal as breeder, extra
£20 for the best cow or heifer of any breed or age, selected
from all classes. Sir Walter Calverly Trevelyau, Wallington,
Newcastle-on-Tyne ; second £10, Messrs. A. and A. Mitcliell,
Alloa, Clackmannan; third £5, James Whyte, Clint erty,
Aberdeen.

Heieers. — First prize £15, Col. Chas. Towneley, Towne-
ley, near Burnley ; second £10, Thos. Atherton, Chapel
House, Speke ; third £5, James Reid, Graystone, Allbrd,
Aberdeenshire. Reserved: WiUiam Tidy, Middleton, Tam-
worth.

DEVONS.

Oxen or Steers. — First prize £15, and extra £20 for best
Devon, Walter Farthing, Stowey Court, Bridgwater, Somer-
set ; second £10, Richard Burton, Place Barton, Broadclyst,
Devon ; third £6, Wm. Smith, Hoopern, Exeter. Com-
mended : Chas. Gibbs, Bishops Lydeard ; William George
Nixey, Upton Court Farm, Slough, Bucks.

Steers. — First prize £15, and silver medal as breeder, and
extra £10 as best Devon, bred and fed by the exhibitor, C.
Hambro, Milton Abbey, Blandford, Dorset ; second £10, W.
Geo. Nixey, Upton Court Farm, Sough, Bucks ; third £5,
Chas. Gibbs, Bishops Lydeard.

Cows. — First prize £15, Walter Farthing, Stowey Court,
Bridgwater, Somerset ; second £10, John Hitchcock, Broom-
hours, South Moltou, Devon; third £5, William Smith,
Hoopern, Exeter.

Heieers. — First prize £15, and silver medal as breeder,
Walter Farthing, Stowey Court ; second £10, W. Geo. Nixey,
Upton Court Farm ; third, William Smith, Hoopern.

LONGHORNS.
Oxen or Steers. — First prize £10, and silver medal as
breeder, Joseph HoUaud Burbery, The Chase, KenOworth ;
- second £5, Sir John Harpur Crewe, Calke Abbey, Derby-
shire.

Cows OR Heifers. — First £10, and silver medal as breeder,
W. T. Cox, Spondon HaU, Derby ; second £5, John Godfrey,
Wigston Parva, Hinckley.

SCOTCH BREEDS.

Polled Oxen or Steers. — First prize £15, and silver
medal as breeder, and extra 10 guineas for best Scot bred by
the exhibitor, and £20 for the best Scot, James Stephen, Con-
glass, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire; second £10, Andrew Long-
more, Linksfield, Rattle, Banffshire.

West Highlajnd Oxen or Steers. — First prize £15,
Capt. Gunter, The Grange, Wetherby, Yorksliire ; second £10,
Messrs. J. & W. Martin, Aberdeen ; third £5 Geo. Lawson,
Clynelish, Brora, Sutherlandshire, N. B.

Scotch Cows or Heifers. — First prize £15, Sir Walter
Calverley Trevelyan, Wallington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Northumberland ; second £5, James Reid, Graystone, Alford,
Aberdeenshire.

WELSH BREEDS.
Oxen or Steers,— First prize £15, Capt. Henry Piatt,
Gorddinog ; second, £5, Capt. Henry Piatt.
OTHER PURE BREEDS and CROSS-BRED ANIMALS.
Fat Oxen or Steers.— First prize £15, Messrs. J. & W.
Martin, Aberdeen ; second £10, John P. M'Pherson, Muir-
town, Kiuloss, Forres, Elgin ; third £5, Aaron Pike, Mitton,
near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Fat Cows or ilEiFERS.— First prize 15, and silver medal
as breeder, Harry L. L. Morrison, Blair Guise, Whitehouse,
Aberdeenshire ; second £10, Aaron Pike, Mitton, Tewkesbury ;
third £5, Gilbert Mitchell, Meikel Haddo, Newburgh by Aber-
deen. Commended : Alexander Cowie, Crombley Bank, Ellen,
Aberdeenshire.

EXTRA CLASSES.
For animals not qualified to compete in any of the preceding
classes.
Oxen or Steers. — [No entry].

Cows or Heifers.— Prize, £5, and silver medal as breeder,
John Walker, Westfield, Holmer, Hereford [only entry].
SHEEP.
Judges. — C. Clarke, Scopwick, Lincoln.

H. Lugar, Ingham, Bury St. Edmunds.
Thomas Mansell, ErcaU Park, Wellington, Salop.
leicesters.
Three fat wethers, not exceeding 22 mouths old. — First
prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder, an extra prize of £10,
Lord Berners, Keythorpe Hall, Leicester ; second, £10, Wil-
liam Browne, Highgate, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, Yorkshire ;
third, £5, William Browne, Highgate. Commended : Executors
of Francis Jordan, Eastburne, Driffield, Yorkshire.

LINCOLNS.

Three fat wethers not exceeding 22 months old. — First
prize, £15, silver medal as breeder, and extra prize of £10,
John Byron, Kiikby Green, Sleaford, Lincolnshire ; second,
£10, T. R. Casswell, Quadring, Spalding ; third, £5, Richard
Newcomb Morley, Leadeuham, Grantham.

COTSWOLDS.

Three fat wethers not exceeding 22 months old. — First
prize, £15, silver medal as breeder, and extra prize of £10, Sir
John Rolt, Ozleworth Park, Wotton-under-Edge ; second,
£10, Richard Hall, Great Barford, Deddingtou, Oxon ; third,
£5, John Baldwin, Luddington, Stratford-on-Avon.

SOUTHDOWNS.

Three fat wethers not exceeding 22 months old. — First
prize, £15, silver medal as breeder, and extra prize of 10 gs.,
Lord Walsingham, Merton HaU, Thetford, Norfolk; second,
£10, Lord Walsingham; third, £5, Lord Sondes, Elmham
Hall, Thetford, Norfolk. Commended, Lord Walsingham.

SHROPSHlRES.

Three fat wethers not exceeding 22 months old, — First
prize, £15, silver medal as breeder, and extra of 10 gs. for best
pen of 3 Shropshires, Lord Chesham, Latimer, Chesham,
Bucks ; second, £10, Lord Chesham ; third, £5, Thos. Nock,
Sutton Maddock, Shiffnal. Highly commended : William
Yates, Brindle House, Shiffnal, Salop. Commended -. Henry
Matthews, Montford, near Shrewsbury. The class com-
mended.

Three fat wethers, exceeding 22 but not exceeding 34 months
old. — Prize of 10 gs., as best pen of 3 two-shear Shropshire
wethers, and silver medal as breeder, Mrs, Beach, The Hat-
tons, Brewood, Penkridge, Staffordshii-e.

OXFORDSHIRES.

Three fat wethers, not exceeding 22 months old. — First
prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder, and extra of £10 for
best pen of Oxfordshires, Alfred Rogers, Bromham, near Bed-
ford ; second, £10, Zachariah W. Stilgoe, Adderbury Grounds,
Oxon ; third, £6, Nathaniel Stilgoe, the Manor Farm, Adder-
bury, Oxon.

SHEEP NOT QUALIFIED TO COMPETE IN AA'T OTHER CLASS.

Three fat wethers, not exceeding 32 months old. — First
prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder, Col. Loyd-Lindsay,
Lockinge Park, Wantage, Berks ; second, £5, John Walter,
Bearwood, Wokingham, Berks, [both hens Hampshires].

CROSS BREEDS.

Three fat wethers, not exceeding 22 months old. — First
prize, £15, and silver medal as breeder, Nathaniel Stilgoe, the
Manor Farm, Adderbury, Banbury ; second, £5, Zachariah W,
Stigoe, Adderbury Grounds, Oxon.

28

THE FARxMER'S MAGAZINE.

I'AT PIGS.

Judges. — A. 1'. M. Druce, Burghiielcl, Reading.
E. Little, Lanliill, Cliippenham.

Tliree fat pigs of one litter, not exceeding 10 monttis old. —
Pirst prize, £10, and silver medal as breeder, John Treadwell,
Upper Winchendon, Aylesbury ; second, £5, Thomas Leslie
Melville Cartwright, Melville, Ladybank, and Ne\^bottle,

orthamptoushire ; third, £3, the Queen, Windsor Castle.

Three fat pigs of one litter, not exceeding 15 months old. —
Pirst prize, i610, and silver medal as breeder, and extra of 5
guineas, as best pen of three fat pigs, the Queen, Windsor
Castle ; second, £5, John Lynn, Church Farm, Stvoxton, Gran-
tham ; third, £3, Joseph H. Clark, Altwood, Maidenhead,
Berks.

Tat pig exceeding 15 months old. — First prize, £6, and sil-
ver medal as breeder, Peter Eden, Cross-lane, Salford, Man-
chester; second, £4', Mrs. Beach, The Hattons, Brewood,
Penkridge, Staflbrdshire ; third, £2, W. J. Sadler, Bentham,
Calcutt, Crickiade. Highly commended : Thomas Bantock,
Merridale House, Wolverhampton ; Joseph H. Clark, Altwood,
Maidenhead.

BREEDING PIGS.

BERKSHIRES.

Five pigs of one litter, exceeding 3 and not exceeding 6
months old. — First prize, £10, and silver medal as breeder, and
extra of 5 guineas, for best pen of Berkshircs, John Spencer,
Villiers Hill, Kenilworth; second, £5, Richard Fowler,
Brougliton Farm, Aylesbury; third, i'3. Captain Stewart,
Saint Bridge House, Gloucester.

riGS or OTUEK LARGE BREEDS.

Five pigs of one litter, exceeding 3 and not exceeding 6
months old. — First prize £10, and silver medal as breeder,
James and Frederick Howard, Britannia Farm, Bedford ; se-
cond, £5, John Fisher, Woodhouse, near Cross Hills, York-
shire.

riGS OF A SMALL BREED.

Five pigs of one litter, exceeding 3 and not exceeding 6
months old. — First prize, £10, and silver medal as Ijreedcr, and
extra of 5 guineas, for the best pen of pigs of a small breed,
John Lynn, Church Farm, Stroxton, Grantham ; second, £5
Peter Eden, Cross Lane, Salford, Manchester ; third, £3, The
Queen, Windsor Castle.

Referee tor the Ages of Stock. — Professor Gamgee,
Queen's-road, Bayswater, London.

Veterinary Inspector. — E. Stanley, 35, Islington,
Birmingham.

CORN.
Judges. — Edward Davenport, Erdington.

J. Matthews, Edgbaston, Birmingham.

White wheat, sample of one bushel each. — First prize, £3,
Col. Loyd-Lindsay, Stockinge Park, Wantage, Berks (Tala-
vera) ; second, £1, Joseph H. Clark, Altwood, Maidenhead
(Chidham) ; Highly commended : Josei)li Grcatorex, Stretton,
near Burton-on-Trent. Commended : Henry Frampton, AVa-
tership, Sidmontou, Newbury, Berks (Chidham).

Wheat, red, samples of one bushel each. — Fir^t prize, £3,
Thos. Horley, jun.. The Fosse, Leamington (Nursery) ; second,
£1, Richard Hall, Great Barford, Deddington, Oxon.

IBarley, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £2, Edward
Parrott, Shirburn Farm, Tetsworth, Oxon (Hallett's Pedigree) ;
second, £1, Henry Frampton, Watership, Sidmonton, Newbury,
Berks (Hallett's Pedigree Chevalier).

Oats, white, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £3,
Joseph Greatorex, Stretton, near Burton-on-Trent ; second,
£1, Frederick Lythall, Tiie Spittal Farm, Banbury (Australian).
Commended ; E. Morley, Sapcote, Hinckley. Leicestershire.

Oats, black, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £3,
Frederick Lythall, Spittal Farm, Banbury ; second £1, Richard
Hall, Great Barford, Deddington, Oxon.

Beans, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £3, Joseph
H. Clark, Altwood, Maidenliead (White Eyes) ; second, £1,
Frederick Lythall, Spittal Farm, Banbury (French Eyes).

Peas, white, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £3,
Joseph H. Clark, Altwood, Maidenhead (Riugwood Marrow) ;
second, £1, Frederick Lythall, Spittal Farm, Banbury (Banbury
Prize-taker).

Peas, blue, samples of one bushel each. — First prize, £3,
Frederick Lythall, Spittal Farm.

Peas, grey, samples of one bushel each.— First prize, £3,
Frederick Lythall (Partridge).

ROOTS.
Judges. — Edward Davenport, Erdington.

J. Matthews, Edgbaston, Birmingham.

A silver cup of five guineas, for best collection of Long Man-
gold Wurzel, Globe Mangold Wurzel, and Swedes, six roots of
each to be shown for this prize only. — Sir William Heathcote,
Ilurslcy Park, Winchester (Hall's Mangold, and Hall's Im-
perial Wesbury Swede).

Kohl-rabi (six specimens). — First prize, £2, Geo. Fleming,
Grouudslow Fields, Stone, Staffordshire ; second, £1, Colonel
North, Wroxton Abbey, near Banbury.

Long Mangold Wurzel, (six specimens.) — First prize,
£3, and extra of £3 2s. Geo. 13aylis, Gayton Farm, near Ross,
Herefordshire (Sutton's Mammoth) ; second, £1, William
Dickinson, New Park, New Forest, Lymington, Hants.
Highly commended, John Moore, Warwick ; commended, Sir
Frederick Smythe, Acton Burnell, near Shrewsbury.

Globe .vnd Intermediate Varieties of Mangold
Wurzel (six specimens). — First prize, £3, and extra of £3
3s., Sir Frederick Smythe Bart., Acton Burnell ; second, £1,
William Dickinson, New Park, New Forest, Lymington,
Hants. Commended : Col. North, Wroxton Abbey, near
Banbury ; John Hieken, Dunchurch, near Rugby.

Swedes of any Variety (six specimens.) — First prize,
£2, and extra of £3 2s., John Moore, Warwick (Bangholm) ;
second, £1, Duke of Portland, Ciipstone Parkarra, Mansfield,
Notts. Commended, Alfred Hall, Westbury Farm, Westbury,
Wilts (Hall's Westbury, two specimens)) ; James Simson,
Cloona Castle, Hollymount, county Mayo (two specimens) ;
Zachariah W. Stilgoc, Adderbury Grounds, Oxon (Purple Top).

Common Turnips, White-flesh (Six specimens). — First
prize, £2, Duke of Portland, Ciipstone Park Farm, Mansfield,
Notts ; second, £1, Joseph H. Clark, Altwood, Maidenhead
(Green Globe). Highly commended: Duke of Portland.
Commended : Wm. Geo. Nixey. Upton Court Farm, Slough,
Bucks (Greystoue).

Common Turnips, Yellow-flesh (Six specimens). — First
prize, £3, James Stephen, Conglass, luverury, Aberdeen
(Green-topped Aberdeen yellow) ; second £1, Thos. Leslie
Melville Cartwright, Melville, Ladybank, and Newbottle,
Northamptonshire (Aberdeen yellow-bullock). Commended:
James Simsoii, Cloona Castle, Hollymount, Co. Mayo ; Thos.
Leslie Melville Cartwright (AYilson's Nonsuch).

Carrots, of any Variety (Six specimens). — First prize, £3,
Duke of Portland, Clipstomi Park Farm, Mansfield. Notts
(Altringham) ; second, £L, Duke of Portland (Altringham).
Commended: Richard Dickinson, New Park, New Forest,
Lymington,. Hants (White Belgian) ; Duke of Portland (Al-
tringham).

Ox Cabbage (three specimens). — First prize, £3, Saml.
Robinson, Shaw House, Melbourne, Derby (Robinson's
Champion) ; second, £1, Saml. Robinson (Rohinson's Cham-
pion). Commended: John Hieken, Dunchurch, near Rugby
(Robinson's Drumhead).

POTATOES.

Ashleaf Kidneys (twelve specimens). — First prize, 15s.,
Fredk. Lythall, Spittal Farm, Banbury ; second, 10s., John
Choyce, Pinwall Grange, Atheistone.

Rivers' Royal Ashleaf Kidneys (13 specimens). — First prize,
15s., Fred. Lythall, Spittal Farm ; second, 10s., John Choyce,
Pinwall Grange.

Gloucestershire Kidneys (twelve specimens). — First prize,
15s., John Choyce ; second, 10s., John Choyce.

Daintree's First Early (twelve specimens). — First prize, 15s.,
John Choyce.

King of Potatoes (twelve specimens). — First prize, 15a.,
John K. Fowler, Prebendal Farms, Aylesbury ; second, lOs.,
John Choyce.

Wheeler's Milky White (13 specimens). — Prize, 15s., John
Choyce.

Flukes (13 specimens). — First prize, 15s., Richard Hall,
Great Barford, Oxon ; second, 10s., John Choyce.

Dalmahoys (13 specimens). — First prize, 15s., T.B. Wriglit,
Quarry House, Great Barr, Staffordshire ; second, 10s., John
Lynn, Church Farm, Stroxton, Grantham.

Red Regents (12 specimens). — First prize, 15s., John K.
Fowler, Prebendal Farms, Aylesbury ; second, 10s., F. Gott-
waltz, Birmingham. Highly commended : John Choyce.
Commended : Duke of Portland, John Choyce, Fred. Lythall.

Paterson's Victorias (12 specimens). — First prize, 15s. ,W.W.

THE F/..tMER'S MAGAZINE.

29

Pearce, Measliam, Atherstone ; secoud, 10s., Fredk. Bircli,
Perry Barr, near I3irmiugliam. Highly commeuded : AV. W.
Pearce.

Skerry Blues (12 specimens). — Prize, 15s., John Choyce.

Any other named variety (12 specimens). — Prize, 15s.,
John K. Fowler (Shackel's Conqueror). Pirsb prize, 15s.,
Sir Fredk. Smythe, Acton Burnell, near Shrewsbury
(Lapstone Kidney) ; 10s., Richard Ilall ; 10s., Duke of
Portland (Dunbar Regents). Highly commended : John
K. Fowler (Fowler's Seedling) ; John Shackel, Blenheim
House, Small Heath, near Birmingham (Lapstone Kidney).
Commended: John Choyce (Berkshire Hero), John Choyce
(Wellington) ; J . H. Braikenridge, Chew Magna, near Bristol
(Axbridge Kidney).

Winners of the cups for the poultry :

Dorking (coloured, except silver grey) cocks of 1869. — Mrs,
Arkwright, Scarsdale, Chesterfield.

Dorking pullets (coloured, except silver grey). — Henry
Crossley, Broomfield, Halifax.

Cochin China (cinnamon and buff) cocks exceeding a year
old. — W. A. Taylor, Turner-street, Manchester.

Ditto cocks hatched in 1869. — William Sanday, the Cliffe,
Ratcliffe, Notts.

Ditto hens exceeding a year old. — W. A. Taylor.

Ditto puUet. — James Cattell, Lime Villa, Bristol Road,
Birmingham.

Brahma pootra (dark), cocks over a year old. — Mrs. Hurt,
Alderwosley, Derby.

Brahma pootra (dark), pullets. — Mrs. Hurt.

Polish fowl (silver), cocks of any age. — George C. Adkins,
The Lightwoods, near Birmingham.

Any variety, cock and one hen of any age. — Charles F.
Montresor, Stoke House, Slough, Bucks (Indian game
'Bajra," bred in England).

Game (black-breasted reds), cocks liatched 1869. — Charles
Chaloner, Steetley Farm, Whitwell, Chesterfield.

Game pullets (black-breasted reds). — Edmund C. Gilbert,
Penkridge.

Game (duckwings and other greys and blues), cocks exceed-
ing a year old. — Samuel Matthew, Stowmarket, Suffolk.

Gi-'ue bantams (black-breasted reds), cock and two hens.— <
John Orosland, jun., Thome's Lane, Wakefield.

Ducks (white Aylesbury), drake and one duck. — Mrs.
Burrell, Stoke Park, Ipswich.

Ducks (Rouen), Thomas Statter, Stand Hall, Whitefield,
Manchester.

Ducks (black East Indian), drake and one duck. — Mrs.
Hayne, Fordington, Dorchester,

RUTLAND AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY.

MEETING AT OAKHAM.

The show on the whole was the largest yet held by this Society,
all the available space in the Riding School being occupied
by animals of one kind or another. The entry of cattle,
however, was considered to be rather a poor one, being inferior
both in number and quality to previous years ; nevertheless
there were some very fair animals entered for competition,
particularly a roan ox, belonging to the Marquis of Exeter ; a
red steer, the property of Mr. R. Wood, Clapton, and a roan
cow, shown by Mr. T. Willis, Caperby, Yorkshire. The falling
off in beasts was iu a great measure compensated for by the
extra number of sheep, horses, and pigs. The show of sheep
wys good, as many as 92 animals being penned, and the award-
ing of the prizes in the several classes occupied the judges a
long time. The number of pigs was double that of any former
year, and for size and weight were never surpassed at tliis
show. The entries in the horse classes were very numerous
compared with former years, animals adapted for hunting pur-
poses and three and four-year-olds being exceedingly well re-
presented. There were 68 horses in all, and 7 ponies, out of
which number 58 were entered as fit for hunting. The dinner,
iu the Exchange Hall, was presided over by Lord Aveland.

JUDGES.
Stock. — R. Doig, Lillingstone Hall, Bucks.

G. Drewry, Holker House, Lancashire.
11. Fisher, Leconfield, Yorkshire.
Horses. — The Hon. Col. Lowther, Barleythorpe Hall.
The Hon. G. J. Noel, M.P., Catmose.
R. Lucas, Edithweston.

CATTLE.

Os or steer, of any breed or weight, exceeding three year
and three mouths old (open to all England). — First prize,
£15, Marquis of Exeter, Burghley Park ; second of £7, Sir
W. de Capell Brooks, Geddington Grange.

Ox or steer, of any breed or weight, not exceeding three
years and three months old (open to all England). — First prize,
£10, R. Wood, Clapton: second of £5, T. Pulver, Broughton.

Cow, of any breed, age, or weight (open to all England). —
Prize, £10, T. Willis, Caperby, Yorkshire.

Steer, under two years and six months old, fed within the
districts. — First prize, £10, R. Searson, Cranmore Lodge ;
second of £5, C. J. Bradshaw, Barlay-on-the-Hill.

For the best beast shown in the Open Cattle Classes — Prize,
Uppingham school medal and extra premium of £25, R. Wood.

Tenant farmers for the best cow above three years old. —
First prize, £10, W. Fowler, Mantou ; secoud of £6, R,
Searson.

Tenant-farmers for the best heifer above two and under
three years old, bred within the district. — First prize, £7, R.
Searson; second of £5, C. Chapman, Exton.

Tenant-farmers for the best heifer under two years old, bred
within the district. — First prize, £7, R. Searson ; second of
£4i, C. Chapman.

Young bull above twelve and not exceeding twenty months
old. — First prize, £10, Marquis of Exeter; second of £5, T.
Swiugler, Langham.

Cow in milk. — First prize, £5, J. Harris, Langham ; se-
cond of £2, T. Clarke, Edithweston.

Heifer under three years old. — First prize, £i; W. Rudkin,
Oakham ; second of £2, G. Chester, Waltham.

Heifer calf above six and under twelve months old. — First
prize, £2, Mrs. M. Hammond, Egleton ; secoud of £1, W.
Hubbard, Langliam.

Breeding beast shown as extra stock. — Prize of £5 5s., R.
Searson.

Best beast shown in Classes 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, or 13.—
Prize of £10, R. Searson.

Fat beast above two years and six months old, shown as
extra stock. — Prize of £5, T. Pulver, Broughton.
SHEEP.

Three long-woolled fat wether sheep, one year old (open to
all Eugiaud). — First prize, a silver cup or £10, B. Painter,
Burley-on-the-Hill ; second of £5, Lord Berners, Keythorpe
HaU.

Tenant-farmers for the best three long-woolled fat wether
sheep, one year old, bred and fed within the district. — First
prize, i;10, B. Painter, Burley-on-the-Hill ; second of £o, W.
Shipman, Eaton Lodge.

Four long-woolled breeding ewes, bred within the district.
— First prize, £5, Colonel Lowther, Barleythorpe HaU ; se-
cond of £3, W. Shipman.

Four long-woolled theaves, bred and fed within the district.
— First prize, £5, Colonel Lowther ; second of £3, W. Ship-
man,

Four long-woolled wether lambs, bred and fed within the
district (ram lambs excepted). — First prize, £4, Colonel Low-
ther; second of £2, W. Sliipman.

Four long-woolled ewe lambs, bred and fed within the dis-
trict.— First prize, £4, Colonel Lowther ; second of £2, W.
Shipman.

Best Sheep shown as extra stock (open to all England). — ■
Prize of silver medal value 5 guineas, T.W.D. Harris, Wootton.
PIGS.

Best fat pig under 18 months old (open to all England).—
First prize, £5, R. Pawlew, Manton ; second of £3, Carver and
Sons.

30

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Fat pig, under 10 months old, not to exceed 30 stone live
weight (open to all England).— First prize, £5, R. Pawley
second of £3, W. Carver and Sous, Ingarsby.

Fat pig of any weight.— First prize, £3, T. Munday, Lang-
ham; second of £1, G.Smith, Ashwell.
HORSES.

Mare for agricultural purposes. — First prize, £5, J. Silver-
wood, of Thistleton; second of £3, T. Woods, Wytchley
Warren.

Cart horse under seven years old. — First prize, £5, T.
Woods ; second of £3, C. J. Bradshaw, Burley.

Hunting mare or gelding above five years old (open to
all England).— First prize, £30, J. Drage, Moultgu Lodge ;
second of £10, B. F, Drage, Hanniugton.

The best four-year-old hunting mare or gelding, bred within
the district. — First prize, £20, B. Prior, Leighton ; second
of £10, R. L. Healey, Hambleton.

Farmers or tradesmen for the best three-year-old hunting
mare or gelding, bred within the district. — First prize, £10, T,
Cross, Guadaloupe ; second of £5, R. Stokes, AUexton.

Tenant farmers or tradesmen for the best mare for breeding
hunters. — First prize, £5, J. Hornsby, Grantham.

Hackney mare or gelding under seven years old, not ex-
ceeding 15 hands. — First prize, £10, R. H. Hack, Stapleford ;
second of £5, E. Gimson, Southorpe.

Ponies under seven years old, not exceeding 13 hands.—
First prize, £3, C. J. Bradshaw, Burley ; second, a hunting
whip, N. Whitchurch, Melton.

THE DORCHESTER FARMERS' CLUB.

At the dinner following the show, Mr. Forester, the
chairman, said : Regarding the proceedings of the year
some very interesting subects had come on for discussion ; the
meetings had been very well attended. He was happy to say
that tlie same fault could not be found regarding the meetings
* was found at Dorchester. At the last meeting 34 members
were present, which was not a large number for the Blandford
Farmers' Club. He hoped that as time went on the members
would rally round the chairman. A most gratifying fact in
connection with his presidency was the accession of 19 mem-
bers to the club — intelligent young farmers of that neighbour-
hood, and also including two or three professional gentlemen
of the town. This filled him with great hope as to the future
success of the club. He sincerely trusted that as time went
on the club would continue to prosper. He had really little
doubt of it himself. He was sure that a considerable amount
of good had been derived from the expression of feeling and
interchange of ideas at their meetings. He must confess that
at one time — when the Chamber of Agriculture at Dorchester
was formed — he was rather afraid that the little club of
Blandford would fall into the shade. Dorchester, however,
was not conveniently situated, and the existence of these local
Farmers' Clubs was, therefore, highly essential to the success
of agriculture.

Mr. Allen, of Tisbury, one of the judges, said: This year
there had not been a very large show ; consequently the duties
of the judges were not arduous. He was pleased to observe
that the prizes did not take the form of plate, but were in the
current coin of tiie realm, thus enabling the winners to do
whatever they liked with the money.

Mr. Harding also replied. In his opinion the show, as
far as numbers of animals on the ground went, might be set
down as a failure ; still it must be admited that some very
superior animals were shown. He perfectly agreed with Mr.
Keynes that it was the duty of members of the club to bring
their stock out. These shows were very beneficial to young
farmers, who were afforded the opportunity of marking the
difference betweea good animals and bad ones, and therefore
were materially assisted in their judgment in the selection of
stock. He was indeed pleased that the show was now so well
established, for he claimed the credit of having assisted to ori-
ginate it.

Mr. Ford said that it had been remarked that he kept his
animals too well ; but on this point he was of a different
opinion. He had been taught by his father to pay particular
care of the young stock, not to give them inferior food. He
had made it a rule to keep the young stock as well as possible.
He had been pleased that day to hear the Southdowns com-
mended. He knew it had been stated that the day had gone
by for Southdown — that they would go out and make way for
a better class of sheep. But he entertained a different opinion.
He did not think, however, that there were any sheep
which suited the Dorset hills better than the Southdowns,
with their strong good constitutions. Another thing, if they
wanted good mutton they must have it from the Southdowns.
They knew very well that there were different opinions respect-
ing stock, and he dare say that some of the grosser and bigger
animals were suited for some of the lowlands. "The improved"
Hampshires were very justly called so, because they were very
much improved compared to what they were 20 years ago.

Mr. R. Fowler had observed that a blue-book had been
published, containing some " startling revelations" as to the
life of the Dorsetshire labourer and his family. The evidence
of a shepherd's wife near Blandford, as taken by Mr. Stanhope,
the assistant-commissioner for the district, under the Women
and Children's Employment Commission, was recorded in this
blue-book. He (Mr. Fowler) intended to get the whole report,
which sliould, he thought, be taken into consideration by all
the clubs of the county. And he hoped the doors would not
be shut to the reporters of the public press. It appeared that
the Dorchester Farmers' Club had determined to try the ex-
periment of excluding reporters from their meetings ; but he
for one beUeved that no society could possibly succeed to any
great extent without the aid of the public press.

PRIZE LIST.

Judges. — Messrs. G. Harding, Newbury ; Allen, Tisbury ;
and E. Sims, Pitcombe.

HORSES.

Cart mare or gelding, worked regularly on the farm. — First
prize, £3, J. Coate, Hammoon ; second, £1, G. Keynes, Spetis-
bnry.

Cart mare or gelding. — First prize, £3, J. Coate ; second,
£1, G. Keynes.

Hackney gelding or filly, under four years old. — First prize,
£3, J. Rossiter ; second, £1, R. Dominy, Pimperne.

Cob, under 14 hands 3 inches high. — First prize, £3, G.
Keynes, jun. ; second, £1, W. Warren, Chettle.

SHEEP.

Pen of six six-tooth Hampshire Down ewes in lamb. — Prize,
£2, R. Rogers, Chettle.

Pair of Hampshire Down ram lambs. — First prize, £3, R.
Rogers; second, £1, J. Friend, Gussage.

Sis Hampshire Down ewe lambs. — First prize, £3, R.
Rogers ; second, £1, H.Ford, Gussage.

Pen of six six-tooth Southdown ewes in lamb. — First prize,
£3, H. Fookes, Whitechurch ; second, £1, G. Keynes.

Southdown ram. — Prize, £1, H. Fookes.

Pair of Southdown ram lambs. — Prize, £3, H. Fookes.

Pen of six Southdown ewe lambs. — First prize, £3, and
second, £1, J. Ford, Rushton.

CATTLE.

Dairy cow. — First prize, £3. R. Eyers ; second, £1, C. C.
Bartlett, Durweston.

Heifer under three years old, in calf or in milk. — First prize,
£3, and second, £1, J. Ford.

Heifer under two years old. — First prize, £3, C. Flower,
France Farm ; second, £1, C. C. Bartlett.

Pair of working oxen. — First prize, £2, C. Flower; second,
£1, J. Ford.

Pair of steers under three years old. — First prize, £3, and
second, ^£1, J. Ford. Highly commended, J. Coate.

PIGS.

Breeding sow, in farrow or with her litter. — First prize, £2,
J. Coate ; second, £1, H. Senior, Hinton St. Mary.

Boar.— First prize, £2, J. Coate; second, £1, T, Fry,
Iwerne Minster,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CORN AND ROOTS.
Sack of barley. — Prize, £1, J. Ford, Highly commended,
C. Flower.
Sack of oats.— Prize, £1, T. Fry.
Twelve mangold wurtzels. — Pri?e, £1,S. Davies, Blandford.

31

Highly corn-

Twelve swedes. — Prize, £1, J. Friend, jun.
mended, W. Arnold, Blandford.

Twelve turnips. — Prize, £1, G. Groves, Milbome St,
Andrew. Highly commended, G. Hill.

THE NEW MARKETS IN LONDON.

The necessity of open markets in the centres of consump-
tion, is so obvious, that on the large scale their existence
within reasonable distance is the one circumstance that re-
gulates not only the question of profit and loss in favour of
the producer, but that also of production itself. Without a
market within a reasonable distance, affording a demand at
a remunerating return, production must be confined to the
local consumption. This is one of the laws of social
economy. Markets are equally needful between the re-
tailer who comes between the wholesale dealer and the
fiual consumer ; and these must be placed or held in situa-
tions the most convenient for the buyers, so that they may
supply themselves at the least expense of time and labour,
both of which, to an industrious man or woman, are of
considerable importance.

The eastern districts of London are badly supplied
in this way. We know of none of any importance
beyond Whitecliapel in the east, and north and north-
east of Aldersgate Street; and the want of such
centres of domestic commerce is so palpable, that two
very costly efforts have been made to supply the deficiency.
The demolition of whole streets at Somers-town and the
Pancras-road, to make room for the terminus of the
Midland Railway, left a considerable unoccupied space,
which suggested to some enterprising individuals the idea
of erecting upon it a large market for general purposes.
A company was formed, and the idea carried into effect in
the most complete manner. The shops were most of
them let to respectable tradesmen, some of whom had
taken shares. But the result was a failure. The
people in the neighbourhood, most of whom are of
the working classes, would never go to the new market,
nor would the costermongers, by whom those classes are
chiefly supplied, take their stand in it. The conse-
quence was that after a short struggle the shops were
abandoned, and King's-cross Market shut up.

A similar attempt has been made in the neighbourhood
of Shoreditch, one of our largest centres of consumption.
This effort was madeby the benevolent MissBurdett Coutts,
who, having erected a large square for the benefit of the
working classes, conceived the idea that a market would be a
great accommodation to that populous neighbourhood.
No expense was spared in the erection, and every induce-
ment of accommodation for both buyers and sellers was
provided in the arrangements. The institution was in-
augurated with a religious service, at which the bishop of
the diocese officiated. The shops were most of them let,
and everything looked promising. But,l ike its prototype
at King's-cross, it does not succeed. Many of the shops
have been given up, and Columbia Market, instead of
being self-supporting, is nearly ignored by the dense
population for whose benefit it was erected. It is said
that, if even the numerous tenants of Columbia-square,
who enjoy the benefits of Miss Coutts' outlay in its
erection, would patronise in their turn this second effort
of hers, it would alone turn the scale in favour of its sup-
port ; but they will not do so.

It is painful to see the efforts of either public bodies or
private individuals, calculated to promote the comfort of
whole neighbourhoods, rendered abortive by the neglect
and indifference of those on whose co-operation the pro..

jectors depended for their success. It is true, in this latter
case, there were some errors committed in the first instance
by the undesigned exclusion of one class of dealers from the
market. The men referred to and the costermongers, who, in
theabsence of regular markets, have grown into a formidable
body, by whom the working classes are chiefly supplied with
every kind of provisions. These irregular tradesmen, as
they may be termed, were invited to take stands in the
open area of the new market, paying at the rate of Is. 6d.
per week, or £3 18s. per annum. Now, these men had
never been accustomed to pay anything for standing-room
on the edge of the pavement, or for driving the trucks or
donkey-carts about the streets, and besides, eighteen-pence
per week was no small tax upon their slender means ; and
they at once declined the contract. The charge was next
reduced to a shilling a week, with no better effect.
Finally they were admitted free of all charge; but the
mischief was done, and they have pertinaciously declined
to accept even the free standing. The reasons for this
refusal to attend the new market are not solely the charges
levied. The tradesmen of the pave and of the open
street are the men who, by pitching their stalls in the
positions most convenient to their customers, and by
driving their donkey-carts or hand-trucks through
the streets literally serve goods at the very doors,
and at a cheaper rate than the regular tradesman, for a
very obvious reason. They are the men who clear off the
surplusage of vegetables, fruit, meats, and even in some
cases fowls and game, from the wholesale dealers, which
otherwise would not keep good another day, and which,
on that account, especially towards the end of the week,
must be sold at some price, or entirely lost. The coster-
mongers, therefore, are a most useful body of tradesmen,
however their noisy invitations to purchase may annoy the
quiet of a respectable street ; while, on the other hand, the
wives of the working men supply themselves readQy, and
at a cheap rate, with the articles they want for the same
or the next day, without leaving their families to go to
the regular shops. Whether the offer in the first instance
of a gratuitous stand in the area of the new market would
have induced them to attend it, is a question it is too late
to determine ; but assuredly their refusal to do so under
the circumstances, has kept away those also of whom they
depend for their support — the workmg people, who, cling-
ing to old associations and old habits, resolve still to
patronise the men who bring the goods they require to
their doors at a cheaper rate than they can purchase at of
the regular tradesmen. In an economic point of view the
costermongers are a most useful body. They are the
scavengers of the wholesale dealers, clearing off the surplus
of supply. We know of no way of winning these
peripatetic and noisy dealers to the support of the new
market but an Act of Parliament prohibiting their irregu-
lar way of conducting their business ; and we are very
sure that no Government would make such a law.

Of the more respectable tradesmen who, in the
first instance, took shops in the new market for two years,
many have already abandoned these, being quite hopeless
of inducing the neighbouring families to purchase there,
or of establishing a trade that wUl afford them a profit. It
is not at all improbable that by the time the two years are

32

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

exuircd the whole of the shops will be relinquished. This
is much to be regretted; for it is probable that, by perse-
verauce aud by a liberal mode of dealing, the surrounding
population might be induced to frequent the market. It
we do not mistake, I'arringdou Market was under a similar
cloud in the first instance. It was a so much finer place
than the old ram-shackle congeries of wooden booths, tents,
and stalls that previously occupied the middle of Far-
ringdon-street from Snow-hill to Bridge-street, that
people fought shy of the new square. This,_ how-
ever, by degrees, became frequented, and it is now
one 'of the best markets of the metropolis. Whether
Columbia Market will ever become thus attended depends

in a great measure on the conduct and character for perse-
verance of the tradesmen at present attached to it, aud of
the views of the benevolent foundress of the institution.
If the former would still hold to it, we are sure that Miss
Coutts would not shrink from the task of supporting this
for a few years' until the public have learned its value to
themselves. But if those tradesmen forsake it, there
will be no alternative for her but to give it up and appro-
priate the site to some other purpose. In such case the
Leighbouring population will find out in time that, through
their neglect and indifference, they have lost an invaluable
opportunity of establishing an eicellent market on a spot
where it is much wanted.

ENGLISH TENANT RIGHT.

At the last meeting of the Shropshire Chamber of Agricul-
ture, at Much Wenlock, there was a very large attendance of
members, Mr. Jasper More in the chair. The subject for dis-
cussion "A System of Compensation for Unexhausted Improve-
ments," stood in the name of Mr. Evan Davies, who said :
Having received a communication from your committee that 1
should take the lead at a meeting held in a town in which
a large amount of my public labours have centred, I at once
complied with the request, and I take this decision of the com-
mittee as a high compliment paid through me to the Much
Wenlock Farmers' Club, which lias laboured so earnestly, and,
I hope, not unsuccessfully, in upholding the rights and farther-
ing the interests of the tenant farmers of England. It is,
therefore, not by clioiee, but in compliance with the behests of
the comiailtee, that I now appear before you, and if I tail in
the task assigned to me, let them, not me, bear the blame, in
entering upon our subject, it may be asked why it is necessary
to discuss the merits of a question, the principle of which is
now admitted by all except a few interested ones. "\\ hy, the
fact is that the Legislature refuses to take action upon any
matter until a large amount of agitation has taken place upou
it. All the great measures passed of late years, which the
country has now cause to be proud of, have been the result of
pressure from without, rather than any initiative quality from
within. Indeed, we see that the result of agitation on this
question in Ireland has been to obtain the recognition of this
right, not because in its abstract principle it is more required
there' tlian here— not that in its bearing it is more necessary
now than it was a quarter of a century ago, but that it would
not be safe to delay it any longer ; and if we are to believe
one of the Ministers, this agitation with violence is to be re-
warded, not only to the amount of all that the tenants require,
hut is to be accompanied with a measure of interference with
the vested interests of the country little sliort, if any, of con-
fiscation. As a passing remark, I will here say that, however
long this just measure may be denied to us— however much we
may realise the sentiment that " hope deferred raaketli the
heart sick," sure am I that no tenant farmer in England or
Scotland would for one moment encourage or countenance
those violent measures to obtain our desires which have so
disgraced the movement in Ireland ; nor in seeking a mea-
sure of compensation for unexliausted improvements for the
tenant do we desire, or ever shall desire, that the rights ot
others 'should be assailed or interfered with. I have said that
the tenant farmer will have recourse to none but legitimate
means to obtain this security for his outlay, but I cannot
answer for others. If the present high price of beet
and mutton continue ; if the labouring population are deprived
of the enjoyment of this food by its high price, and it they
become cognizant of the fact that the price is caused by a
want of greater supply, and that this greater supply cannot be
forthcoming unless the tenant farmer gets security for his
capital, or, in other words, uutil there is a free trade in the
cultivation of the soil, be assured that such an agitation will
take place on this question that it will not be safe for any
Government to ignore. I have said there are a few interested
men adverse to this movement, who pooh-pooh this question,
assertmg that " tenant right is nothing more than landlord's
wrong." I at once acquit the principals at both ends of the

chain from entertaining any such feeling, but it is the middle-
ineu who so industriously propagate such a hbel on the intel-
ligence and respectability of the tenant farmers of England.
I am willing to admit that the accomplishment of our desires
will militate against the powers of these men to do evil-
militate against the opportunity of these men to hold lu
durance vile those whom citcumstauces have placed in their
power. These men further say, " Why is this measure neces-
sary now— farming has gone on from time immemorial without
it^ Why does the tenant farmer require this protection
now?" "Why, in one word, he has progressed: the very
cry for this protection is the surest sign of a spirit of improve-
ment and advancement in the pursuits of agriculture. —
rCorbet's Prize Essay.] Had we been content to farm as our
forefathers did before us ; had we been satisfied with the least
possible amount of produce raised at the least possible ex-
pense ; had we been satisfied to leave our fences, as Lolonei
Corbett said at our club dinner, seven yards wide ; had we
been content to have our farms undrained, to see our cattle im-
housed, and our cottages uncared for— then, perhaps, the want
of compensatiou for unexhausted improvements would have
been unnecessary and would have been unasked tor. iiut
gentlemen, what is it we require ? Nothing more than what
others have obtained. The landlord asked for it ; why may
not we ? The landlords required, the landlords petitioned, and
the landlords obtained from the Legislation an Act of Parlia-
ment to enable them to claim from their successors compensa-
tion for unexhausted improvements. If a measure of this
description was found necessary for a life tenant, how much
more necessarv for a tenant at will ? If a landlord, although
sure of his holding for life, considered it impolitic to etiect any
improvement on his estate without the power to charge such
improvement on his successor, how much more a tenant sub-
ject to six months' notice to quit, and such notice often the
result of the caprice of au agent or the evil sugges-
tions of a gamekeeper. If the landlord refused to trust
to the generosity of his own son to recoup him for im-
provements effected on the estate, without an Act of Parlia-
ment to compel him to do so, is it unreasonable of us if we
say we cannot trust those who are no kindred in blood
and often unknown in person, unless we have an Act of
Parliament to compel them to do that which is just and right ?
In arguiug this question, let us take the case of a tenant taking
a farm out of condition, as under the present system they
always will be taken out of condition, since no man in his
senses, if he can foresee the termination of his tenancy, will
not take all out of the farm he can, if unprovided with the
means to obtain compensation for unexhausted improvements.
Well, this tenant, an enterprising young man, at once lays out
his canital freely— drains, manures, renews fences, and brings
the farm into a creditable state of cultivation. Having done
so, as a tenant at will, he at once becomes a slave to the
ca'price of others ; a wrong vote at an election, a frown froni
the agent, or a quarrel with the keeper may at once rob lum of
the chance of obtaining the benefit of his improvements, and
make him feel that a drawn sword is suspended over his head
by the merest thread. But this question must now be taken
out of the category of landlord and tenant. With our fast in-
creasing population, it becomes a national question, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE

33

affecting the feeding of our teeming millious. The time is
gone by for the owner of land in England to say, " I have a
right to do what I like with my own." A declaration of that
kind now would have the effect it once had on one high in the
peerage, who was obliged to flee from the halls of his ancestors
and seek refuge among the rocks and mountains of Wales.
Perhaps when the great landowners maintained at their own
cost a sufiBcient number of armed retainers to secure to them
the peaceable possession of their property, and when in all pro-
bability they fed their quantum of the population, under those
circumstances they might, and I have no doubt did, say, " I
have a right to do what I like with my own ;" but now that
they have been relieved from the expense of those armed re-
tainers— now when the country has taxed itself to keep a
standing army, to maintain local forces, and a large body of
police to secure the landowner in the peaceable possession of
his property, the country has a right to expect that the land
shall be made available in the highest possible degree to pro-
duce food for the people. Talk of our seeking landlords
wrong ! What do we seek ? Nothing more or less than a
measure that vifill induce us to lay out our money freely in the
improvement of the landlords' property. Gentlemen, I have
been often told, and I have no doubt other farmers likewise,
to send ray sous into Norfolk or Lincolnshire, to learn farming
there ; I am told tliey will not only see farming in the very
highest state of perfection, but that they will meet with men of
the greatest intelligence, men of wealth in their calling, and
men of independence in action and thought. And how have
these two counties so signalized themselves ? AVhy, simply that
no Norfolk man would take a farm of any land lord withouta
lease, and no Lincolnshire man without a clause in his agree-
ment securing to him compensation for unexhausted improve-
ments on the termination of his tenancy. The high position of
these two counties is the very strongest argument that can be
adduced in favour of the measure I have now so imperfectly
laid before you ; and I cannot resist calling your attention to a
short extract from Caird on Lincolnshire Farming. He says
that in the parish of Limbird, sixty years ago, four tenants oc-
cupied 4,000 acres of land, at 2s. Gd. per acre, and became bank-
rupt (laughter). The rent is now 20s., and the tenants are
prosperous. And in Blankney several thousand acres were let
as rabbit warrens at 2s. per acre, which now let at 20s., and in
both cases with the increasing wealth of the tenants. Mr.
Caird thus sums up : — " It was very fortunate, when tiie time
of this transaction arrived, that the leading landlords were
liberal and enlightened men. They saw the advantage of en-
couraging tenants to embark their capital freely, and as leases
were not the fashion of the country they gave them that secu-
rity for their invested capital which is termed tenant right, or
compensation for unexhausted improvements." So you see,
gentlemen, the granting of that measure which we now desire
was the means of raising the tenant from bankruptcy to a state
of affluence, and the landlords' rent from 2s. 6d. to 20s. Can I
say more than this ? But before I sit down you must permit
me to read the last paragraph from one of the Prize Essays of
the Wenlock Farmers' Club. The essayist, Mr. Henry Corbet,
speaking of the general advantages that would accrue from the
adoption of tenant right, says : " The paramount duty of the
Government, the basis of the national prosperity, is the well-
doing of the people ; and people at this very moment are suf-
fering more or less from the two great evils of over-population
and want of employment, and want of food. In direct antithesis
to this, the producible land of the kingdom is cultivated as if
there were actually a scarcity of labour. The natural question
that arises here is, how comes it that one evil is not made to
destroy the other by the application of the labour to the land P
Simply because there is a hesitation as to embarking capital to
bring them together ; and yet in the face of this hesitation it
is generally allowed tliat nothing will pay a better interest
than money laid out in the improvement of the soil. The people
■want employment ; the land wjnts more cultivation ! The
use of capital refused, and yet nft use of capital known to pay
better ! Paradoxes explained and removed by one simple re-
medy and right — security. Give but that, and you make the
island, as it should be, mainly dependent on its own resources
for food, and its people for support" I will now move, " That
it is necessary for the encouragement of a better system in the
cultivation of tiie soil that a legislative enactment should be
obtained, giving to the tenant compensation for his unexhausted
improvements,

Colonel CoRBETT, M.P., had attended more in the hope of
listening and learning than of making any remarks of his own ;
Ijut after the very able and eloquent manner in which Blr.
Davies had brought the subject before them, it was only pro-
perly respectful to him that the matter should meet with proper
consideration. He agreed entirely with Mr. Davies tliat
no prudent man in his senses would think of investing a large
capital in a farm without a reasonable probability of compen-
sation for unexhausted improvements ; but few landlords would
be so far wanting in all tliat was honest, upright, and proper
as to eject a tenant because of his vote or of the captiousness
of an agent or an ill-conditioned keeper. Every man who
embarked his capital should feel himself safe from any inter-
ference of that sort. There was, however, a great deal of dif-
ficulty in the way of legislative action, and the subject required
consideration. Certain improvements nobody would doubt
being improvements : still there must be considerable power
left in the hands of landlords to say what were really improve-
ments, and how far they should take place on the property.
A landlord might be so situated, pecuniarily, as to be unable to
undertake considerable improvements, or, in justice to the
younger branches of his family, to pay at once a large sum of
money. Under a lease a man would know exactly how many
years he could depend upon to recoup his expenditure. Drain-
age was an improvement, no doubt ; on wet land they would
never get their money if they did not drain it ; and the land-
lord, if left to himself, would lay out money every year, as he
could afford to do it ; whereas if a tenant laid out £500 or
£600, and went to another farm, he might throw tlie whole
cost at once upon the landlord and leave him in an exceedingly
unpleasant position. The answer to this was, that the land-
lord had only to fall back upon the Government loan, and he
was safe. But his experience on the subject was, that the Go-
vernment loan would only admit of one cut and dried system
of 4ft. draining on all land ; that it did not answer upon all
lands so well as shallower draining, say 3ft. ; that it was the
last foot which cost, as 3ft. could be done at Sd. a rood, while
it would take at least 13d. to go the fourth foot ; and that the
landlord could not, therefore, fall back altogether upon the Go-
vernment loan to repay him for unexhausted improvements.
Straightening and taking up fences were of course very great
improvements; but the tenant might throw the cost of all
these unexhausted improvements on the landlord, and the
landlord be unable to meet them. If they were to have compen-
sation for unexhausted improvements, they should have a well-
defined scale laid down, imder which the tenant might recoup
himself in a certain number of years, or the landlord have a
little time to pay. Since he had been in possession, and also
in his father's time, he had had a scheme embodied in the
agreement by which a tenant had twelve years to recoup him-
self; if he went at the end of one year, he had ll-12ths of
what he had laid out ; if at the end of eleven years, l-12th
only ; and so on to nothing. It was a very excellent system,
and worked well. But the system that would give most satis-
faction to all, if properly understood, and did give most satis-
faction in all agricultural districts, was the lease ; as landlord
and tenant became thoroughly used to the idea they would
agree that that was the best and most satisfactory solution of
the difficulty. He could not get a man to take a lease. The
highest rents in all England were where the land was held on
lease. There was a feeling that at the end of a lease the land
was always re-valued and there was a rise. Leases, however,
were the best for all parties, if a man had capital enough to
warrant him iu taking one, varying in years according to what
he undertook to do, and whether the farm was in good or bad
order. A lease of fourteen years would generally satisfy
people if a farm were in good order ; if it were in bad order,
twenty-one years ; and if it were in such a condition that it
was like reclaiming waste land, thirty years would be none too
much. Whatever the decision of the Chamber, this discussion
could lead to nothing but good to both landlord and tenant.

Mr. J. Beddoes, who seconded the resolution, fully con-
curred in all that had fallen from Colonel Corbett._ The late
Duke of Richmond offered to give every one of his tenants a
lease if they would go and ask for it, and they said that they
were perfectly satisfied. His grace told them that, although
he should not take any advantage of them, his life could not
last for ever. Depend npon it "that which cannot speak
cannot lie ;" and when the tenants had leases in black and
white, they were isafe, whatever took place. Some eleven

D

34

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

years ago he offered a nice little farm, in the Southern division
of the county, either on lease or on a well-considered plan of
compensation for permanent improvements. There were 200
applicants, but none would take it on lease, and only five or
six seemed to entertain the notion of a system of compensa-
tion. At last he let it on a mere verbal agreement for a lease ;
but the estate being left him by will, it was found that he had
not power given to him to lease. Consequently he was
thrown upon his back, and the tenant was very ready to take
advantage of it. This he believed to be the ease in many
instances. How primogeniture would be dealt with he did
not know ; but they should have to go to Parliament for a
new law as a foundation for a system of dealing with the land.
A succeeding tenant might not agree with his predecessor as
to what should be considered permanent improvements. The
subject required to be looked into ; there was a very great
deal to be said on each side of the question, both as to
landlord and tenant. The other day he advertised for a
farm lOr a friend, and found that there was one to be let
in Worcestershire. He wrote that he wanted the refusal of
a farm fairly free from the curse of game. The parties
wrote : " We believe the farm you refer to in Worcestershire
is still open, although we are not authorised to offer the refusal
of that or any other farm. As the owner may be in treaty with
some one else, we cannot, of course say that by applying to him
you can have it. In his letter to us he omits all mention
about game ; so that we cannot tell you, for certain, whether
the tenant will have the game or not. He states, however,
upon other matters, that, ' desiring to be upon the best of
terms with all my tenantry, and of being united in religious
and political views — namely, all of the Church of England and
heartily Conservative — I would not willingly receive into the
parish any person haciug decidedly different views or princi-
ples.' We understand that the landlord bears the reputation
of being a ' good sort' of proprietor ; but we were not ad-
vised in what respect he is entitled to that somewhat vague
characteristic." These words showed that something required
to be done on the question of landlord and tenant. There was
justice and right on each side ; and it only required considera-
tion to enable the great majority of Englishmen to come to a
right decision on the subject.

Mr. Staa'ley Leighton recognised in the fact of this dis-
cussion a desire for more careful conditions and more business-
like agreements as to the cultivation of the land, the very
means of promoting good relations between those interested
in the soil. It was worthy of consideration how far those
particular conditions which we found in taking houses could be
applied to farming operations. In taking houses a careful in-
ventory was made, aud a clause that at the end of the tenancy
there might be a claim for dilapidations ; but when changes of
farm tenancy occurred, it would be generally found that a
great many of the repairs covered by such a clause fell upon
the owner of the land. It would be a hardship if the owner
should also have a claim against him for unexhausted improve-
ments. It was true that the improver did not always receive
the benefit of his improvements ; and also that a man very
often went away from a farm without paying for the damage
he had done. There were differences of tenure and practice
in different parts of England — it would be difficult to apply an
absolute rule. The permanent improvements fell entirely on
the landlords. To call upon a landlord to pay for things
which he had not authorised, and would rather not see
executed, was an unwise policy. He would rather see pres-
sure put upon a landowner to sink his capital in making
improvements than give authority to an occupier to sink
money to any large amount in the hope of being recouped.
No doubt some landowners had virtually placed themselves
in the position of rent-receivers merely — those who were
non-resident, absentees. A much larger responsibility rested
upon them, and a much larger dominion over the soil
ought to be accorded to the tenant. A real improvement
ought to be paid for ; but there were improvements, the outlay
on which had been borne by the tenant, which, upon a change
of tenancy, neither the incoming tenant nor the landlord might
wish to have had executed. A claim for an improvement
should be coupled with three conditions— first, the consent of
the landlord ; second, the fact that the improvements were
unexhausted when the tenant left, the in-coming tenant being
willing to pay for those improvements and increased rent ;
aHO, third, that the outlay should have been altogether incurred

by the tenant. With such conditions, it appeared perfectly
reasonable that there should be a compensation for unexhausted
improvements. He disagreed with Mr. Evan Davies upon one
point. They ought not to go to the Government or to the
Legislature for what they could do themselves. He had little
sympathy with those who, having matters in their own control,
should ask the Government to interfere and overrule contracts
which they independently made themselves. On the contrary,
in a Chamber comprising the elite of Shropshire agriculturists,
he felt that he should not offend them, men who were an
acquisition to any neighbourhood, if he said that, having the
command of all the best farms in the country, they might also
command their own terms, as they were in such a majority
that they held the monopoly of the market (applause).

Mr. Edward Rai^fortii, who had originally suggested
the discussion of the subject, differed from Mr. Stanley
Leighton on a few points. When land was drained it required
to go through a course of high farming and high manuring,
and tlie tenant could not do this unless he had compensation
or a lease. There were plenty of soils in Shropshire aud other
counties which took as much as the fee-simple of the land to
bring into cultivation. When a tenant drained and the land-
lord had the advantage of the Government loan, the agreement
was one-sided ; the men without large capital got into arrears
of rent, and the landlords knocked them about which way they
liked. The large farmers ought to press this question upon
the Legislature ; for it was the poor tenants, with large
families, who could not take care of themselves. Unless there
were a better understanding between landlords and tenants,
and the tenants' property better protected than it ever had been,
we should never have good farming in England. If a man
expended £500 a year on manure and cake, he should have
some compensation for that large expenditure, requisite to
bring a farm into a iiigh state of cultivation. In many places
a tenant could not get even a piece of wood given him to re-
pair the farm buildings, yet he might have a claim against him
for dilapidations. It was the duty of the owner or his agent
to ride over the farm and see that the buildings were properly
surveyed and repaired every year.

Mr. John Bather had expected to hear a discussion on a
system of compensation for unexhausted improvements ; but
he could not say that he had heard anything at all yet that
would come up to his notion of such a system, nor, in fact,
what were unexhausted improvements. There was an assump-
tion that unexhausted improvements belonged to the tenant ;
and that, so belonging, they were a subject for compensation.
He should like to have heard it proved, for it was the founda-
tion ; and if the foundation were shaky, any superstructure
erected on it would fall to the ground. Errors bred by being
suppressed and kept in the dark, like vermin in a corn- stack.
T]\e sooner they thrashed out the question the better ; and
they should all aid, taking sheaf by sheaf, dislodging the ver-
min, aud seeing whether they could save any grain. In Shrop-
shire they ought to consider the question of how the land was
let, and not infringe the liberty of either landlord or tenant.
Land in the county was let, too seldom, yet sometimes, by
lease, also from year to year by written agreement ; the tenant
and landlord were contracting parties ; and anything to fetter
their liberty, either by the Legislature or anything else, they
would do unwisely to bring about. A man should do the best
he could. There were a number of bare tenancies from year
to year without any written agreement. It was a maxim that
no prudent man would invest his capital in any under-
taking unless he had a reasonable security that he
would receive back his capital, together with interest
for his money and the care and pains he had had
in employing it. Consider the pitiable case of a bare tenant
from year to year without any written agreement :
If he farmed well, he could not farm prudently ; he must act
upon probabilities, upon the temper and good feelings of his
landlord — perhaps also upon the temper of the gamekeeper —
and upon himself, for not being fixed to the place ; notwith-
standing all the improvements, if he could better himself he
would go, so that in laying out the capital he had to consider
not only the insecurity of the tenure from his landlord, but
also his insecurity from his ovra feelings. A large portion of
the county was farmed upon this miserable system. As to
compensation, he had expected to have heard that if a tenant
expended so much money on manure, or lime, or drainage, he
should be repaid one-third or two-thirds — in fact, that they

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

35

would create a new system of property which would be a con-
tinual struggle between landlord and tenant, out-going and in-
coming, for the in-coming tenant might be called upon to pay
for ploughing that he called scratching, manure that he called
dust and ashes, oilcake that he considered bran, and im-
provements that were very far from judicious. If they
made compensation for unexhausted improvements they
would only put the burden on their own shoulders. There
was more readiness on the part of landlords to give leases
than of tenants to take them. He would much rather
have a tenancy from year to year under a landlord whom he
could trust ; it was better than a tenancy for a term of years,
at the end of which the value mi^ht be readjusted and the rent
raised. The question was : Had a tenant any claim to any-
thing more than the return of his capital and reasonable in-
terest ? and if be got a return for his capital, what compensa-
tion ought be to receive for improvements in the land ? This
had not been shown yet, and he hoped to hear it before he
left the room.

Mr. M. G. Bknson, as a landlord, had offered leases over
and over again, and they bad never been accepted. Tlie
moment they established a lease they had done with their land-
lords, and everything became a question between the lawyers,
so that pleasurable meetings between landlords and tenants
were done away with. He liad spent £6,000 of his own money
and the Government loan in drainage, yet did not get a half-
penny more rent than before ; and although they might call
him foolish, with one trifling e.xception he had not charged
interest.

Mr. Wellijigs, a former tenant of Mr. Benson's, asserted
that after certain improvements, and after he had paid Mr.
Benson five per cent., he was turned out and called a bad
farmer, although lie " licked" every other farmer with turnips.

Mr. J. BowEN Jones believed that fair agreements were
the best, rather than leases ; was strongly in favour of some
system of compensation for unexhausted improvements,
though he did not entirely approve Mr. Evan Uavies's sug-
gestion ; and read a resolution in these terms : " That in order
to promote a better system of agriculture in this country it is,
in the opinion of this Chamber, necessary that the tenant
farmers' capital used in the cultivation of the soil should be
legally secured, with power to recover for all unexhausted
improvements which shall not have been objected to by the
landlord."

Mr. Cooper directed attention, at considerable length, to
the leases of the Settled Estates Act, and to the Agricultural
Fixtures Act (l-itb and 15th Victoria), giving a tenant power
to remove fixtures.

The Chairman said in some counties a tenant had a com-
plete right to compensation for unexhausted improvements. It
was a question here how far the tenants onsjht to have a right
enjoyed in other counties ; and the further question was,
whether he should have that right by custom or by Act of
Parliament. Whether by custom or by Act of Parliament,
discussion would pave tjie way for it. In the last 100 years
custom in Shropshire had altered. Mr. More exhibited leases
one hundred years old, of farms and cottages under his family,
showing that leases were then the custom in Corvedale. Fifty
years later the Rev. J. Plyraley, grandfather of Colonel Cor-
bett, the member for South Shropshire, drew up an agricul-
tural survey of Shropshire, in which he said that leases were
exploded by gentlemen of property, who, having previously
granted them for very long terms, had been induced by injury
sustained to abandon tnem. Mr. Plymley states that the
tenant was, by the custom of the county, indemnified for the
improvements in quitting his farm. This custom had changed
fifty years later, as was shown by the evidence of Mr. W.
Pinches, of Ticklerton, who, when president of the Wenlock
Farmers' Club, gave important and highly interesting evidence
on the state of agricultural customs in Shropshire, before a
committee of the House of Commons, in 1848. Mr. Pinches
then stated that no compensation was given in Shropshire to the
outgoing tenant. He strongly advocated a system of tenant-
right. This evidence was to the effect that agriculture had pro-
gressed in the county under the large proprietors, in whom
tenants felt the fullest confidence, except sometimes in the
matter of game ; that two-fifths of the county was in a back-
ward and unprogressive state, owing to the tenants having no
leases, and not sufficient confidence in their landlords to justify
tbera in expending capital. The result of the committee was,

that the views of the chairman " to render the principle of
tenant-right for improvement general througbout England by
giving it prospectively the validity of custom" were negatived,
and resolutions of Mr. Bouverie were instead adopted. The
first of these stated that the tenant-right denied did exist in
several counties ; that it extended to the crops the tenant sowed
and left in the ground ; to remuneration for the preparation
of the soil for crops by tillage ; for the straw, hay, and dung
left on the farm, and for growing underwood ; that this wider
system of compensation was beneficial to agriculture, the land-
lord and the farmer ; that it was desirable that no difficulties
should stand in the way of the extension of such tenant-
right ; but that the committee did not recommend its being
made compulsory, The question, the chairman said, before
them now was whether they should try to spread the custom,
or with Mr. Davies seek legislation to make what was recom-
mended compulsory. The labours of this committee had
borne frnit in two Bills, one alluded to by Mr. Cooper, by
which a person with a limited interest in property could bind
his successor with respect to agricultural improvements.
Mr. Davies spoke strongly against views which were held with
respect to tenant-right in Ireland, he yet advocated very
liberal views of tenant-right in England. Mr. Bright's view
of the Government advancing money to enable farmers to pur-
chase land from landlords willing to sell, which Mr. Davies
stigmatised as confiscation, was endorsed by Mr. Caird, the
greatest agricultural authority, as peculiarly adapted for the
state of Ireland ; so that whether the idea deserved the ridi-
cule it bad received or not Mr. Davies and Jlr. Caird were at
issue as to its policy. With respect to absentee proprietors, if
a man was a bad landlord, it is better that he should be an
absentee ; and if be was a good one, and only non-resident
because he had property in too many counties to be able to
reside in all, an occupancy under such a landlord was highly
advantageous, as he could afford to spend more money on im-
provements than a poorer resident ; and besides non-residence
of a landlord may bring palpable advantages to tenants, as in
the matter of game and shooting, the right which the Duke of
Cleveland gave to his tenants. As to Mr. Bather's supposing
that tenants put a halter round their necks if they paid an out-
going tenant for unexhausted improvements ; this would
answer far better than to take a farm which required three
years to bring it into a good state of cultivation ; and with
respect to his saying that the tenants would be taken in.
by each other with regard to the work done, and bones
and manure left, he thought the farmers entirely mis-
represented by such a view being taken of their dealings with
each other. Assuming them to be unanimous in favour of the
claims of the tenant for compensation for unexhausted im-
provements, the question was, could this be obtained by the
extension of the custom referred to as the Committee of the
House of Commons proposed, or by legislation as Mr. Davies
proposed.

The lollowins resolution was agreed to : — " That in the
opinion of this meeting it is necessary for the encourage-
ment ol a beUer system in the cultivation of the land that
some legislative enactment should be obtained, giving to the
tenant compensation lor unexhausted improvements, in the case
of buildings and drainage, the landlord's permission having
been obtained."

REFORM IN THE TOAST LIST.— At the dinner after
the Broadwindsor Plougiiing Match, last month, the first
toast was " Tlie Queen and the Royal family," the next
" The Army and Navy," the third " The Bishop and Clergy,"
and the fourth " The Press." In giving this Captain
Edwards, the Chairman, " anticipated that they would be
rather surprised at the next toast. He hoped, however, that
that surprise would be equalled by the satisfaction with v.'hich
they would receive it. He bad the pleasure of presiding over a
meeting two or three days since, and then, as he had done for
many years, lamented that the toast should be left almost to
the end of the meeting. Ever since he had been enabled to
make use of the little sense God had given him be had felt the
influence of that great power which was worthy of their ad-
miration and respect, and which, in his opinion, ought to take
rank with the permanent institutions of the country — he
referred to the Press. If there was one body of men more than
any other indebted to the Press it was the agricultural body,

D 2

86

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

EOYAL AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

Monthly CouxciI/, Wednesday, December 8. —
Present: the Duke of Devonsliire, K.G., ia the chair;
the Earl of Powis, Viscouut Bridport, Lord Chesham,
Lord Kesteven, Lord Tredegar, Lord Vernon, Lord "\Yal-
singham, Sir Massey Lopes, Bart., M.P., Mr. Acland,
M.P., Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Barnett, Mr. Barthropp, Mr.
Booth, Mr. Bowly, Mr. Cantrell, Colonel Challoner,
Mr. Druce, Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, Mr. Hassall. Mr.
Holland, Mr. Hornsby, Mr. Hoskyns, M.P., Colonel
Kiugscote, M.P., Mr. Leeds, Mr. Milward, Mr. Pain,
Mr. Randcll, Mr. Ransome, Mr. Rigden, Mr. Sanday,
Mr. Thompson, Mr. Torr, Mr. Turner, ]\Ir. Webb, Mr.
Wells, M.P., Mr. Jacob Wilson, Professor Simouds, and
Dr. Voelcker.

The Earl of Sefton, Croxteth, Liverpool; Arthur
Allison, Eilgate Forest Lodge, Crawley ; and Charles P.
Allison, Crawley, were elected Governors of the Society.

The following Members were elected :
Button, John, Curbridge, Parriugdou, Berks
Fenton, Kirkby, Caldecote Hall, Nuneaton
Prankish, William, Limber IMagna, Ulceby
Franklin, Joseph, Little Milton, Tetsworth, Oxou
Maekinder, Harwood, Langton Grange, Spilsby
Wilson, John, Kettleby Thorpe, near Brigg
Spurr, Anthony, Dowlands, Lyme Regis, Dorset
Tinley, Edward, Southwell, Nottingham
Westliorp, Rev. Richard A., Berners Roding, Ongar, Essex
Whitworth, Henry, 96, King-street, Manchester.

Finances. — Major-General Viscount Bridport (chair-
man) presented the report, from which it appeared that
the Secretary's receipts during the past month had been
duly examined by the committee, and by Messrs. Quilter,
Ball, and Co., the Society's accountants, and found cor-
rect. The balance in the hands of the bankers on Nov.
30 was £3,067 18s. Gd. The committee recommended
that Mr. J. Gale's salary be increased £20 per annum, in
consideration of his long and efficient services to the
Society ; that a list of members in arrear with their sub-
scriptions be sent to each member of the Council, with a
request that individually he will assist iu obtaining pay-
ment of such arrears ; and that a sum of £2,000 be
placed on deposit with the Society's bankers. — This
report was adopted.

Journal. — ]Mr. Thompson (chairman) reported the
decision of the judges of the essays competing for the
prize of £25, offered for an essay on any agricultural sub-
ject, awarding it io one on the Potato in Jersey, bearing
the motto, " Practical." The motto-paper having been
opened by the President, the essay was declared to have
beeu written by Mr. C. P. Le Cornu, of Trinity Manor,
Jersey. With reference to the prize of a piece of plate, of
the value of 100 gs., offered by Mr. Mason to the occupier
of the best managed farm within a certain area round
Oxford, the committee made the following recommenda-
tions : — (1). That an eutrance-fee of £2 be required from
candidates who are members of the Royal Agricultural
Society, and of £3 from all other competitors ; "(2). That
the competition be confined to tenant-farmers ; (3). That
no farm be allowed to compete which does not contain at
least 200 acres; (4). That a second prize of £50 be
awarded to the 2nd best farm ; (5). That no entry be
received later than Saturday, February 26 ; and (6) that
the certificate of entry shall contain the name and address
of the candidate and of the proprietor of the farm, the
kind of soil (light or heavy), the acreage of the farm, and

its distance and bearing from the nearest town. — This
report was adopted.

Chemical. — Mr. Wells (chairman) presented the re-
port of the committee, which contained the annual report
of the consulting chemist. This report was referred back
to the committee for the purpose of enabling them to
select certain portions of it for publication in the agricul-
tural newspapers.

Veterinary. — Lord Bridport (Chairman) having pre-
sented the usual annual report, Mr. Jacob Wilson drew
the attention of the Council to the question of the equiva-
lent which the Society obtained for the annual grant of
£200 to the Royal Veterinary College. After a conversa-
tion, it was resolved (with two dissentients) that the
Veterinary Committee, after conferring with the govern-
ing body of the Royal Veterinary College, be requested
to make a special report to the Council, on the suggestion
made by Mr. Jacob Wilson, that a portion of the grant of
£200 be in future placed at the disposal of the Veterinary
Committee, to obtain reports on special subjects of in-
terest connected with veterinary science — the committee
to report to the Council at their meeting in March.

Showyaed Contracts. — Mr. Randcll (Chairman) re-
ported that the plan of the showyard for 1870 had beeu
placed in the hands of the Local Committee at Oxford, to
enable them to proceed with the levelling required, which
is now in progress ; and that the arrangements for the
railway siding, and for the supply of water to the ground,
had been satisfactorily determined. This report was
adopted.

Selection. — Mr. Thompson (Chairman) reported that
the Committee had completed the revision of the bye-
laws, but desired to take the instructions of the Council
as to certain points. They also recommended that a
copy of the new edition of the charter, bye-laws, and re-
solutions of Council be sent to each member of the
Council, and to all future members of the Society on
their election ; and that the same be printed in the next
number of the Journal, and circulated amongst the pre-
sent members of the Society. It was also recommended
that the annual report of each standing committee shall
contain a list of its members, omitting those who have
absented themselves during the whole year, and that it
shall contain the names of those proposed to be added to
the list for the ensuing year. The questions relating to
the bye-laws having been disposed of, and the other re-
commendations of the Committee adopted, the Chairman
stated that the Committee had agreed to recommend j\Ir.
Charles Whitehead, of Banning House, Maidstone, to
till the vacancy in the Council caused by the election of
his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., as a Vice-
President. Mr. Wells, M.P., having proposed, and Mr.
Randell seconded the nomination of Mr. Whitehead, an
amendment, substituting the name of Mr. R. Russell, of
Farningham, was moved by Mr. Cantrell, and seconded
by Mr. Ridgen. On a show of hands, the amendment
was lost by one vote, the numbers being for Mr. Russell
11, and for Mr. Whitehead 12.

The Secretary was insti'ucted to communicate w ith the
local authorities at Chester, Shrewsbury, Stafford, and
Wolverhampton, informing them that the Society's coun-
try meeting in the year 1871 will be held iu the district
including Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and North
Wales.

Mr, Sanday, having given notice that he would move

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINfi.

o7

" that the rule for the non-payment of judges who are
members of the Council be rescinded," stated that as uo
such rule could be found, his resolution was unnecessarj'.
It was therefore moved by Mr. Milward, and seconded by
Mr. Thompson, " that Mr. Sanday and Mr. Bowly be
paid for their services at Manchester ;" whereupon, under
clause 36 of the bye-laws, Lord Bridport requested that
the consideration of the question be deferred until the next
monthly Council. On a show of hands the question
being deferred. Lord Vernon gave notice that at the next
monthly Council he should move " That judges who are
members of Council may be paid for services rendered to
the Society."

The Earl of Lichfield gave notice that at the next
monthly Council he will call the attention of the Council
to the inconvenience arising out of the conditions of the
charter fixing the date and place of holding the general
meeting, and excluding from the Society's meetings the
discussion of all subjects having reference to measures
pending, or to be brought forward in either House of Par-
liament.

The standing committees for the year 1870 were ap-
pointed.

The report of the Council to the half-yearly general
meeting was prepared.

A letter from Mr. W. A. Gibbs on the harvesting of
hay and corn in wet seasons was referred to the Implement
Committee.

The Council having given the usual leave of absence
to the secretary and clerks, adjourned over the Christmas
vacation.

At a special Council, which met, by order of the Pre-
sident, at the rising of the monthly Council, the stock and
implement prize-sheets for the Oxford meeting were ar-
ranged, certain prizes for Dorset sheep having been
added to the draft of the former, on the motion of Lord
Bridport.

The annual meeting of this Society was held at noon, on
the Thursday, in Hanover-square ; the President, His Grace
the Duke of Devonshire, in the chair. The attendance was
somewliat above the average.

The Secretary (Mr. H. M. Jenkins) read the following
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

Since the lastGeneral Meeting in May, 2 Governors and 32
Members have died, and 4 Governors and 182 Members have
been elected, so tliat the Society now consists of
75 Life Governors.
75 Annual Governors,
1,469 Life Members,
3,962 Annual Members.
16 Honorary Members,
making a total of 6,597, and showing an increase of 86 for the
year 1869.

The half-yearly statement of accounts to the 30th of June,
1869, has been examined and approved by the auditors and
accountants of the Society, and has been furnished to all mem-
bers in the last number of the Jouniul. Owing to the great
financial success of the Manchester meeting, the funded capi-
tal of the Society has been raised to the sum of £20,000 Stock
in the New Three per Cents., wliile an additional sum of
£4,612 7s. 8d. New Three per Cents, has been invested as a
Reserve Show Puud. The Council regret that owing to the
continued difficulty experienced in collecting arrears of sub-
scription, they have been compelled to take legal proceedings
against some members of the Society ; but they have obtained
the only satisfaction possible under such circumstances ; the
arrears liave been paid, and the legality of the Society's claims
has been most clearly established.

Under the Presidency of H.R.II. the Prince of Wales, the
Manchester meeting attained anunusual degreeofsuccess. Their
Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales honoured
the Exhibition with tlieir presence on two occasions. The ex-
pectations of the Council as to the magnitude of the meeting

were even surpassed by the result. Tlie entries of implement
largely exceeded those at any previous meeting of the Society*
and the exhibition of stock was on a still more extended scale.
The crowd of members and visitors more than doubled in
number those who were admitted to the Show-yard at Leices-
ter, and the amount received for admission was proportionately
large. The interest created by the maguiticeut exhibition of
live stock and implemeats may be estimated by the fact that
more than a thousand pounds was realized by the sale of cata-
logues.

The Local Committee carried out the various arrangements
which had been entrusted to them with remarkable zeal and
liberality ; and their secretary (Mr. Whitworth) in particular
was untiring in his exertions to promote the success of the
meeting. Considering that during the six days of the show it
was visited by more than two hundred thousand people, the
Council believe that no slight praise is due to the arrange-
ments by which so large a number of persons could obtaiu
excellent refreshments without inconvenience, and at a mode-
rate price — the more so as these arrangements were made by
Mr. Whitworth with tlie advantage of a considerable profit to
the Society. Mr. Whitworth's indefatigable efforts on behalf
of the Society induced the Council to request his acceptance of
the sum of one hundred and fifty guineas as an acknowledg-
ment of Ids services.

The great agricultural feature of the meeting was, no doubt,
the careful and prolonged trials of reaping and mowing ma-
chines ; and, whether tested by the interest exhibited in them
each day by crowds of intelligent spectators, or by the great
increase in the extent to which reapers were reported to have
been used during the following harvest, there can remain no
question that the Society's trials of implements at Manchester
have already yielded good results.

On the two Sundays during which the stock was in the
yard. Divine Service was performed by the Vicar of Stretford,
before large and attentive congregations, chiefly composed of
the servants in attendance on the animals.

The Council have fixed the commencement of the Oxford
meeting for Monday, the 18th of July. They have decided that
the live stock shall all be in the yard by four o'clock in the
afternoon of Saturday, the 16th day of July, which will allow
of the animals recovering from the fatigue of the journey to
the show (and thus place those which have travelled from dis-
tant counties more on an equality with others which have come
only a short distance), before the judges commence their in-
spection on the Monday morning following. The show wiU
close on Friday, the 22nd of July, at four o'clock, thus enabling
most of the stock to commence their homeward journey the
same evening, and to arrive at their destination before the fol-
lowing Sunday morning.

In addition to the usual classes contained in the stock prize-
sheet, the Council have olfered for competition at Oxford prizes
for Norfolk and Suffolk polled cattle, for Dorset sheep, and for
Lincoln as distinguished from other long-wooUed sheep. The
Oxfordshire Agricultural Society has offered special prizes for
pairs of dairy cows, for Oxfordshire Down sheep, and for
liackneys ; and the Local Committee have offered prizes for a
class of four-year-old, and for another of older hunters.

The High-Sherifl" for Oxfordshire (James Mason, Esq.) has
offered a piece of plate of the value of 100 guineas, as a prize
for the best-managed farm in the district included within a
line drawn through the towns of Reading, Great Marlow,
Aylesbury, Buckingham, Banbury, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lech-
lade, Wantage, and back to Reading. The Council have
agreed to fix the conlitions of competition ; to appoint, and to
defray the expenses of the Judges and a reporter; and to
arrange all other details. They have determined that an
entrance-fee of £2 be required from competitors who are
members of the Society, and £3 from all others ; that the
competition be confined to tenant-farmers ; that no farm shall
be entered which does not contain 200 acres ; that a second
prize of i;50 be given to the occupier of the second-best farm ;
that no entry be received later than Saturday, the 26th
Pebruary ; and that every certificate of entry shall contain the
name and address of the candidate, and of the proprietor of
the farm, the kind of soil (light or heavy), the acreage of the
farm, and its distance and bearing from the nearest town.

The schedule of prizes for implements and machinery to
be awarded at Oxford contains classes for fixed steam-engines,
horse-gears, mills, crushers, chaff-cutters, oilcake-breakers,

38

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

turnip -cutters, steamiug-apparatus, dairy implements, bone
mills, guano breakers, coprolite mills, flax-breaking machines,
ti!e machinery, and draining tools.

The coutiuually increasing number of implements exhibited
at the conntry meetings of tlie Society has compelled the
Council to consider by what method a sufficient number of
Judges in each department could be appointed beforehand, and
also by what means a large portion of the time of the Judges,
hitherto devoted to a preliminary examination, and a selection
of implements for trial, could be advantrgeously economized.
The Council have therefore resolved that every implement in-
tended by the exhibitor for competition shall be entered in its
respective section and class for trial, at the time when the
specification is sent in to the Secretary ; but, notwithstanding
such entry, the discretion of trial will rest with the Judges ;
also, that no exhibitor may enter more than one implement of
the same construction for competition in any one class, fur-
ther, in Older to protect the interests of purchasers, it has
been resolved that, although certain implements belonging to
the classes for which prizes are offered are not entered for
trial, the Stewards may, on the recommendation of the Judges,
order any of them to be tried, and their capabilities made
public.

The attention of the Council having been drawn to the
increasing adulteration of manures and feeding cakes,
especially guano, nitrate of soda, ground bones, and linseed
cakes. Dr. Voelcker has been requested to submit to the
Monthly Council in Marcb, June, and December, a report of
the various samples forwarded to him by Members of the
Society, so that such report, together with the names of the
dealers who supplied the substances analysed, shall, if the
Council thiuk fit, be published in the Agricultural Journals.

The Society's Educational examinations in April last were
conducted on the same plan as those of the previous year, and
the results were so satislactory that the Council have renewed
the grant (£200) for the year 1870, with this aheration, how-
ever, viz., that whereas, hitherto, it has been considered
ad>isable not to fix any limit to the ages of candidates, in
order that all comers might be admitted during the earlier
stages of our proceedings, it has now been thought advisable
to fix a maximum of age for candidates ; no one who has
passed his 21st birthday before March 31st, can in 1870 be
admitted as a candidate for the Society's honours and prizes.
By order of the Council,

H. M. Je:nkins, Secretary.

Lord Denman, in moving the adoption of the Report, said
he considered it highly satisfactory. The Exhibition at
Manchester was, as they all knew, a very successful one, and
every effort should be made to render the Meeting at Oxford
in J uly next equally successful. In his own neighbourhood a
disease had prevailed among cattle which seemed to be quite
incurable — he meant black-foot, or speed; and he thought
that if a prize were offered for the best essay on that subject,
it would produce good results. Great exertions would be
required to make the Meeting next year anything like equal
to that which was held in a populous and enterprising
town like Manchester, and presided over by the illustrious
Pnnce who was heir to the throne.

Mr. Caldwell in seconding the resolution said : As re-
garded the prize of 100 guineas offered for the best managed
farm in the Oxfordshire district, he said he thought it w^ould
not be enough to state the acreage of the farm, distinguishing
between light and heavy, but it should also be stated what
number of acres was in grass and what number in arable
(Hear, hear). They all knew that a good dairy farmer miglit
not be a good arable farmer, or a good arable farmer a good
dairy farmer (Hear, hear). With respect to the miscellaneous
articles exhibited, it would, in his opinion, be an advantage to
the society, besides tending to lighten the labours of the
judges, of whom he had for some time been one, if those who
exhibited were required to send in a good description of their
articles, and if some attempt were made by the Council to de-
fine what miscellaneous articles could be considered useful to
agriculturists.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said he wished very much that the
report just presented had contained some reference to the
Society's Journal. He would take that opportunity to express
his sense of the marked improvement exhibited in the last
number of the Journal, which he considered more practical
and useful than any number that had been issued for a great

many years (cheers). He hoped that the inspection of the
farms of leading agriculturists would be contiuued, and that
they would have many reviews of such farms in future numbers
of the Journal. He could not help remarking how singularly
opportune was the accoLnt of the Castle-acre Farm, which ap-
peared in the last number of the Journal, when Mr. Hudson,
who was so long a member of that society, had just passed
away before it was printed. He considered that review most
important, because it showed what could be done by the ap-
plication of capital to bad or inferior land. If it were a
permanent duty on the part of the British farmer to supply
meat and corn and wool for the nation, no man had carried
out that mity so successfully as Mr. Hudson (Hear,
hear). Whether such expenditure upon high farming
paid was a question which had yet to be detei-
mined, and he must say that he considered " unprofit-
able" and " impossible " synonymous terms in the
agricultural dictionary (Hear, hear). If he might offer one
criticism upon what comprised so much that was valuable, he
might observe that when a gentleman was preparing, in the
dull season of spring, to write a review, and to mention the
wages of agricultural labourers, he should inquire what were
the average wages of the labourers, instead of what were the
the wages paid at that particular period of the year (Hear,
hear). The wages paid at Castle-acre were, he believed, put
down at lis. a week. The fact that Mr. Hudson expended
£2,000 a year in wages for 800 acres of land showed that he
was a good employer of labour. Eor two oi three months in
the year his men earned at task-work as much as half-a-crown
a day ; while at harvest time the wages amounted in some
cases to £2 a week, and were never less than 30s. One word
as to the future Journal. He expected and hoped that it
would be issued as early as possible. He looked forward with
a great deal of pleasurable anticipation to the report on Bel-
gian farming, not merely, he might observe, on account of its
agricultural, but also on account of its political bearing
(cheers).

Mr. Neild said, as one who was not the most inactive
member of the Local Committee for the Manchester Meeting,
he wished to acknowledge, on its behalf, the very handsome
manner in which its exertions, and especially those of its
secretary, Mr. Whitworth, were alluded to in the report. Be-
fore that meeting was held he ventured to predict that it
would prove a memorable one in the Society's history, and he
thought that prediction had been completely verified (cheers).
He wished to remark that he thought a very large saving
might be effected m the flttiugs ot the show-yard (Hear, hear).
The present arrangements precluded, he believed, the immedi-
ate accomplishment of that object ; but, as the matter stood,
it was not one which redounded to the credit of the managing
body. As regarded the number of members, although it now
approched 6,000, it very inadequately represented what should
be the number of members of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England. Considering the national character of that So-
ciety he thought every farmer occupying 100 acres of land
sliould feel it his duty and his interest to belong to it. For
two or three years he had advocated, both in public
and in private, a drawing together of that society and the
leading country societies of Great Britain. The Council had
indeed taken a step in the right direction by dividing England
into five districts ; but that did not reach what they in the
country thought was wanted. He believed that if a deputed
member of the leading agiicultucal societies of England were
a member of the Council for a year, that arrangement would
work beneficially for the agricultural body at large (Hear,
hear.) He thought that in the present day they should look
with rather conservative eyes at the progressive character of
the times in which they lived. He would be one of the last
to oppose or check the action of a number of territorial noble-
men and gentlemeu who had been so useful on the Council
of that society ; but he believed they had nothing to fear
from having a larger infusion among them of practical tenant
farmers ; on the contrary, he was convinced that the more the
noblemen and gentry of England were brought side-by-side
with practical, sensible tenant farmers the better would it be
for that great society and for aU connected with agriculture.
He entirely concurred in what Mr. Read had said in praise of
the Journal. It was now a pleasure to read it, and in Lanca-
shire and Cheshire they looked upon it as a charming book
(cheers and laughter). He recollected that last year some

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

39

rather crooked work was thought to have been going on about
Mr. Jenkins's appointment ; but the discussion which took
place did him good, it put the spur into him and he came out
a winner. When the Httle man came down to Manchester he
did well for the Society, and he believed the Society never had
a better secretary (cheers). In conclusion Mr. Neild con-
demned the stewards and judges being required to pay their
own expenses as a niggardly arrangement, unworthy of such a
society.

Mr. BOTLEY said, having expressed a hope at Leicester that
the Journal would be more popularized, he was glad to be able
to concur in the remarks just made on that subject by Mr.
Read. The encouragement given by the Society to education
had his entire approval, and he thought its funds could not be
better applied. He deprecated the increase of the investment
in the funds.

Mr. T. WiLLSON thought that as regards the prize for the
best farm in the Oxfordshire district it would liave been best
to have allowed everyone to compete, instead of charging an
entrance fee of £2 for members and £3 for all others. The
High Sheriff of Oxfordshire could not have intended that the
sphere of competition should be thus limited. He wished to
know whether the Council intended to allow an exhibition at
Oxford outside the showyard as was the case at Manchester.
Several gentlemen had declared their determination to withdraw
from the Society if that were repeated. Two or three of them
wanted to see the horses shown at Leicester. Having paid
their shilling they found that they could not see them unless
they submitted to be mulcted to the extent of 4s. more, and
after all they did not see them at all, because they did not
happen to have any change in their pocket (laughter). They
considered it a disgrace to the Society that such a thing as
that should be allowed in order to compensate or please the
local committee. If a ^horse exhibition was to be held out-
side the show-yard, wliy should there not be a menagerie, a
penny gaff, or an Aunt Sally ? (laughter) . It seemed to him
quite beneath the dignity of such a society as that. In con-
clusion he would inquire why that meeting was held on Thurs-
day instead of on Wednesday ? (Hear, hear).

Dr. Cwsr thought it was a great evil for a society like that
to go on in the old humdrum style, and assume that all that
was done was right. As regarded the Journal, he had to com-
plain of the absense of any report or summary of foreign agri-
cultural matters ; and be held that it would be a great im-
provement if the Editor would let them know what was going
on in other countries. With respect to veterinary science, no
good could be done so long as that society continued to pay
£200 a-year to the Veterinary CoUege. The whole system was
rotten to the core, and he thought the Society should advise
the Government to establish one on a sound and extensive basis.

Mr. Thompson said he would commence the few remarks
which he had to make by expressing his own great satisfac-
tion, as a member of the Council, at the general tone that per-
vaded the meeting, and the practical and useful character of the
suggestions made for the consideration of the Council. Twelve
montlis ago he felt it his duty, as Chairman of the Jounial
Committee, to defend the appointment of Mr. Jenkins against
what might be considered a very heavy attack (laughter). He
had to bear the brunt of that attack, and it was very gratifying
to him to find, after the lapse of twelve months, that Mr.
Jenkins had not only justified his appointment and taken the
place of an average editor, but by almost unanimous consent
was adjudged to show that progress which they all wished to
see in the Society. Lord Denman had referred to a disease
among cattle from which he (Mr. Thompson), among others,
had suffered considerably. He would mention a cure which
he had found very effectual, and that was setoning, beginning
to seton very early, when the calf was about six months old, and
keeping it up for the first three years. Before he had recourse
to that he suffered great losses among his calves. Those in
his neighbourhood who had adopted setoning had, like him-
self, never had a case of the disease, while those who had not
done so had had such a number of cases that they had been
induced to turn their attention to it.

Mr. Neild : You mean setoning combined with good living.

Mr. Thompson continued : Of course calves in good con-
dition were less liable to disease than calves which were out-of-
condition ; but setoning did not keep down the condition of
calves to the extent that might be supposed. He did not agree
with Mr, Caldwell, that the miscellaneous articles exhibited at

the Show should be restricted to articles which were directly
connected witli agriculture. There were a great many miscel-
laneous articles which were interesting to a large number of
visitors, and there was a large space to be fiUed : he saw no
reason why a portion of it should not be occupied by articles
which clearly tended to increase the receipts. He knew that
entailed very onerous duties on the judges, but it was necessary
for the good of the Society. Mr. Botley having alluded to the
£20,000 invested in the Funds, he must say he considered it a
great advantage to the Society to have such an investment, in
order that the Society having got into a certain groove might
be able to continue it and keep up its prizes. In consequence
of there being no Show during the cattle plague and of the <*

deficiency in the receipts at Bury, the reserve fund was reduced
by some thousands of pounds, and it was a great advantage
that in spite of drawbacks like these the Society
was enabled to conduct its operations on a uniform scale.
The object of the Council had been not to make
large investments, but to accumulate such an amount
as would suffice to meet standing expenses, so that the whole
amount received at the shows might be available for prizes.
As to Mr. Willson's question why that meeting was held on
Thursday, he wished to say that if the convenience of mem-
bers would be best consulted by holding it in future on AVed-
nesday the Council would hold it on that day. The attendance
on that occasion was rather in favour of Thursday ; but it
was chiefly in consequence of the meetings of the Farmers'
Club, the Smithfield Club, and the Chamber of Agriculture
being held previously that the meeting had been fixed for
that day.

Dr. Crisp said the practice of setoning recommended by
Mr. Thompson appeared to him so cruel and unnecessary as to
be a fit subject for the consideration of the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (laughter).

Mr. Coleman would suggest that in order to facilitate field
trials the Council should send a competent person beforehand,
to make, perhaps in conjunction with one of the stewards, the
necessary arrangements ; considerable delay having occurred
before for want of such preparation.

Mr. Tore said Mr. Willson seemed to him to have fallen
into an error with regard to the horses shown at Manchester.
The jumping of the horses was, in fact, the result of a pri-
vate arrangement on the part of the Manchester people, who
took the shilling for it, and he believed realised a profit of
three or four thousand pounds. If Mr. Willson's friends had
waited half an hour they would no doubt have seen the ani-
mals back in their stalls in the show-yard. The feehng of
the Council was decidedly against the jumping, but their Man-
chester friends made it a sine qua non, and it was assented to
on the condition that the animals should return to the yard.
Like previous speakers he congratulated the meeting on their
having such a Secretary.

Mr, T. DccKHAM thought that the members of the Society
had a right to see everything that was entered in the catalogue
during the hours that the exhibition was open ; instead of
which they were caught as it were in a trap so far as the
horses were concerned, and found that to see them they must
pay 5s. That appeared to him to be a lowering of the
standard of the Society, and he hoped that the Council would
not be dictated to again by a local committee.

Lord Vernon said a member of the Manchester Local
Committee having observed that great economy might be
effected in the fittings of the sliow-yard, he wished to remark
as a member of the contract committee that if anything were
pointed out as worthy of consideration it would receive
attention (Hear, hear).

Mr. Jacob Wilson said : Mr. Duckham seemed to him to
be labouring under a great mistake. That gentleman doubt-
less went to Manchester, as others did, to see the Show. He
bought a catalogue at the door, paid his entrance-fee or pre-
sented his ticket, and saw everything in the yard that was
entered in the catalogue. The jumping was quite distinct
from the rest, and the horses entered for it were previously ex-
hibited in the show-yard. It was not compulsory on Mr,
Duckham, or anyone else, to pay an additional four shillings,

Mr. Jonathan Grey said : As an old member of the Royal
Agricultural Society, he would ask whether the horses that
jumped compete for the prizes of that Society, If they did, it
was, he maintained, beneath the dignity of the Society to
allow them to go out of the yard for that purpose (Hear)«

40

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Neild must say tli.at some gentlemen seemed lo liiin to
be treating Manchester rather unfairly. The local committee
drew a hard and fast line, and a jiledge was given that every
liorsc that went out to jump should be brought back. It was
left to the pleasure of the owner whether an animal should go
out of the yard or not.

Mr. DucKiiAJi : That should not have been the case.

Mr. Neild said that was a matter of opinion. The result,
as regarded the local committee, was that it was sadly out of
pocket. The banquet cost them £1,200, and notwithstanding
the character given to Manchester for grasping and greed
(" No, no"), lie believed the Society never went into a district
where the members were treated more handsomely (cheers).
lie was really sorry to hear such narrow views as had been ex-
pressed by some gentlemen.

Mr. Caldwell Mould like to know under what rule the
horses were allowed to jump.

Mr. Thompson referred to a paragraph on the back of the
Manchester sheep catalogue, stating that there would be an
exhiliition of horses for leaping, prizes being offered by the
local committee, in an adjoining Showyard. It was, he added,
clear that the arrangements were made with the cognizance
and consent of those who had the management of the Show.
He hoped that discussion would not be continued any longer.
Where there was much cause for mutual congratulation they
should not allow a little difference of opinion to divide them
(Hear, hear).

Sir Walter Stirling also deprecated any misunderstand-
ing. The meeting at Manchester was, he remarked, a happy
union of agriculture and commerce, which must have delighted
the well-wishers of both, and which was managed on the part
of Manchester in a spirit wortliy of the Metropolis of the
North (cheers).

The report was then adopted.

Mr. T. AsKELL, in moving a vote of thanks to the auditors,
reverting to tlie subject of the prize for the best-managed farm
in the Oxfordshire district, said he tliought the competitors
should be required to make a declaration that they had not
cultivated their farms at a loss (laughter).

Mr. Badiiam seconded the mulion, which was tlicn put and
carried.

On the motion of Mr. Torr, seconded by Mr. Neild the
auditors were re-elected.

The business having thus been concluded,

The Chairman inquired, in accordance with custom on
such occasions, whether any member present had any questioa
to ask or any suggestion, to offer for the consideration of the
Council.

Mr. T. WiLLSON having expressed a wish to know when
the existing contract for the fittings of the show-yard would
terminate,

Mr. Tore replied : In about two years, adding that it had
led to a saving of about £i,000 a-year, as compared with the
preceding contract.

Mr. Duckuam moved a vote of thanks to the noble duke in
the chair.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., in seconding the motion, adverted
to the appointment of secretary. He was, he said, one of those
who last year ventured to criticise that appointmcut; but
at the same time he said that he thought the Council had
selected the very best man that they possibly could select. All
he did v^fas to criticise the mode of that appointment, which,
he believed, was somewhat irregular.

Mr. Thompson would be glad if Mr. Ecad would point out
in what respect it was irregular ?

Mr. Head said: The committee having made their report,
the Council were asked to select in about one minute. He
thouglit that was treating the members of the Council as mere
puppets.

Mr. Thompson begged entirely to deny that. The ques-
tion was submitted to the Council in a regular manner, after
full notice, and every member had an opportunity of opposing
what was proposed.

The motion of thanks to the Chairman having been carried
by acclamation,

His Grace in acknowledging it said: It had afforded him
great pleasure lo listen to such an interesting discussion, and
to meet with such a favourable reception from the members pre-
sent.

The meeting then separated.

THE SMITHFIELD CLUB SHOW.

THE OPENING MORNING.

The most popular prize ever offered by the Royal
Agricultural Society of England has no donbt been the
£100 for the best horse ; and the £100 for the best
beast will as certainly be the most attractive feature of
the Smithlield Club. For many years past the London
Cattle Show has been considerably over-weighted by the
Birmingham meeting, where the best animal could always
win a deal more money than he could at Islington. This,
however, will be no longer the case. Accumulating every
possible prize he could, the total of Lord Aylesford's suc-
cesses at Birmingham with his Shorthorn steer amounted
to about £120 ; whereas, as the best of all in Loudon,
he will make up a purse of some £170. This is as it
should be; and the national show would threaten no
longer to be so much of a second-hand business as it lat-
terly has been. As the offer comes more to develop, many
of the best animals will probably be kept back, with a
view to " the Club hundred," rather than having their
bloom taken off at meetings immediately preceding the
great week in London.

A combination of circumstances has told somewhat
against the inauguration of this handsome premium. In
the first place it was not known soon enough to ensure any
especial preparation or demonstration over its award ;
while the uncertainty engendered by disease floating about
has tendered to lessen the ojiportunity or encouragement

to " ripen" any very crack animals. It has thus hap-
pened that the first 100 gs. winner is by no means the
best beast ever seen at the Smithfield Show. Indeed,
our first run through the entries, tends in every way to
confirm this impression. Nevertheless, nearly all the
champion animals of the year were to be found in the
Agricultural Hall : Lord Aylesford's Shorthorn steer, the
best of all at Birmingham ; Mr. Roland Wood's Shorthorn
steer, the best of all at Oakham ; Sir Walter Trevelyan's
Shorthorn cow, the best of all the cows and heifers at
Birmingham ; Mr. Outhvvaite's Shorthorn ox, the best of
all the Shorthorns at Leeds; Mr. Bettridge's Hereford,
the best of all the beasts at Abingdon, and Mr. Far-
thing's and Mr. Heath's oxen, the best of the Devon and
Hereford breeds at Birmingham. In truth, wherevev it
weU could be, the return-list of the Smithfield Club Show
is more an echo of the Midlands' than might have been an-
ticipated ; for the Council have so contrived that in every
section, save the Pigs, the Judges in Birmingham
are represented in London. Thus, in Shorthorns
we have again Mr. Sanday; in Herefords and Devons
Mr. Kearey ; in Southdowns and shortwools Mr. Lugar,
and in longwools Mr. Clarke, of Scopwicke ; while of
course Messrs. Sanday and Kearey take their share of
duty over the other breeds and crosses. Nothing can be
more impolitic than this, and murmurs grew louder and louder
during the morning as the awards still went the same way.
Mr. Parrington, at the best managed meeting we have,

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

41

makes it an iudispensablc coiuliLiou that any judge wlio
accepts office at the Yorkshire ia August should not have
acted at the Royal Society's Show in July ; and the
Smithfield Club must do the same by Birmingham.

It is not our purpose here to repeat ourselves. We
give a full report of the Birmingham exhibition ; while a
a valued correspondent, himself a breeder and a frequent
judge, has favoured us with a very lengthy account of the
Leeds celebrities ; so that the merits of the several com-
petitors may be easily gathered. The Show altogether,
more especially of cattle and pigs, is very moderate ; and
the many puffs put about as to this being numerically
larger than ever is simply untrue. The Devons and
Shorthorns, hovs'ever, make up two very creditable lots ;
the Sussex and Highlanders are also good ; the Polled
Scots and Herefords inferior ; aud the Crosses noticeable
for some very good beasts.

In a medium class of Devon steers jMr. Hambro's clever
beast is again first, while a fresh entry by Mr. McNiveu
drives jNIr. Nixey'-s second at Birmingham back to the
third place. In the old class of Oxen or Steers Mr.
Farthing's ox is again first, but a good animal of
Mr. Tarquharson's beat Mr. Burton's, now third
instead of second. The places of the first and second
heifers were reversed in favour of Mr. Nixey vice
Mr. Farthing; but Mr. Farthing's best cow at
Birmingham was also best here ; and the next two were
put about without any just cause as it would so seem for
the connection, as wc altogether prefer Mr. Hitchcock's
entry. In the class of youngest steers Mr. BuUer won
with a very well-bred one ; and the companion
display of Shorthorn steers, Her Majesty's, was
"* pronounced to have the pick in a plain, gaudy
youngster at best ; but Mr. Stilgoe's second was
still worse, and the class altogether a bad one. The Bir-
mingham hero was again the first of his class, with Mr.
Roland Wood's red steer again second to him, and Lord
Penrhyn third, but a long way off the other two in
merit. In no division did the first prize so fairly place
himself as in that of Shorthorn Oxen, as Mr. Outhwaite's
beast was ordered in long before the Judges had done
with the others, as it was palpable thus early how supe-
rior he was, as many thus early proclaimed him the
100 gs. winner. This was the best of all the Shorthorns
at Leeds, as he no question should have been the best of
all ; but greatly to Mr. Knowles' disgust, the other two
Judges, who judged like butchers, gave Mr. McPherson's
cross-bred the highest honour they had to bestow. The
Marquis of ExetSi- was put second with a fair ox of some
style, that has already been about, as has Colonel
Lindsay's third — the best of his class at Birmingham,
and as middling an animal as ever took a prize at a na-
tional show. Nevertheless the judges appended a couple
of commendations to their award. The first and second
Shorthorn heifers were first and second at Birmingham ;
the first and second Shorthorn cows were first and second
at Birmingham , and the third there was fourth here,
a fresh cow of the Duke of Devonshire's dividing her
from her companions.

There were some very good Sussex steers, although the
foot-and-mouth disease had kept two or three at home,
and a famous Sussex cow from the Messrs. Heasman's
herd, that took first prize as a yearling at the Battersea
Grand National. There were in all half-a-dozen entries of
Norfolk and Suffolk Polled, and they must show better
to desci-ve their distinctive rank at The Royal. There
were four Long-horns, three or four Scotch no-horns,
with no Mr. Mc'Combie amongst them ; two or
three Irish, and two or three Welsh beasts.
The Highlanders were better with two fresh names on
the prize list and Birmingham beaten. Mr. Martin's
cross, that ran the Shorthorn so closely in the Midlands,

was encountered here by a very kindly-looking " nick"
exhibited by Mr. Heath Harris, with a good Shorthorn
head and great broad back, but not altogether the wonder
his friends made him out to be. The Herefords attracted
very little attention, aud in the youngest class there
were only two entries ; while Mr. Price and
Mr. Heath had again the honoui-s of the other two
classes ; with Mr. Bettridge, however, twice put out for
second by Lord Darnley. The positions of the two best
Hereford heifers in the Midlands were now reversed, and
the Hereford cows we never saw out.

Amongst the Sheep, Lord Berners' Lcicestcrs, Sir John
Rolfs Cotswolds, Mr. Byron's Lincolns, I\Ir. Rogers's
Oxfords, and Lord Walsingham's Southdowns still tell
out the old old story, for they were all firsts,
last week, although of course not always with the same
sheep. In the yearlings, for instance, the Merton Downs
weighed two stone a sheep more than the little beauties
at Birmingham, but, big or little, they had it all their
own "way. There was no very great entry of Shrop shires,
but the supporters of the Hampshire Downs seem to be
coming out in more force at these meetings ; and Mr.
Overman sent some of his best crosses.

Mr. Foljambe, with an eye to the £100 Plate, entered
his white steer amongst the Extra Stock, where Mr. Willis'
famous old cow was also nominated, but was not sent.
With more courage the Argentine Government sent a
beast " supposed to be descended from the Spanish," that
had as many faults as it is about possible for any animal to
possess. Harsh, ungainly, and coarse, if this be the
stuff they are about to make potted beef of, the better for
the very poor who cannot afford to purchase such a
luxury.

DURING TEE WEEK.

A more deliberate examination of the classes only
tends to confirm the opinion we have already expressed as
to the moderate character of the meeting, more especially as
regards cattle and pigs ; while, as we said of Birmingham,
after first trying the strength of the year, we doubt much if
there be really a Gold Medal animal out, as the best of aU
can be no more than the best of a bad lot. Indeed, so
evenly indifferent were the entries that another set of
judges might reasonably enough, as wc thought, have
reversed many of the decisions. But there was not
another set of judges, as almost everywhere the ex-
perience of the previous week was brought to bear, with
an influence that, of course, might have been expected,
and thus Islington became more than ever a mere echo of
Birmingham. The Devon and Hereford man did not
certainly hold quite so strongly to his line here, but then
he appeared to have no great weight in the Midlands ;
whereas the Shorthorn awards followed as faithfully as it
was possible one show on the other. It is satisfactory,
however, to hear that this duplicate system will no longer
be sanctioned by the Smithfield Club, as surely they might
change about a little even in Birmingham from Messrs.
Sanday and Kearey.

It is not our intention to go again very minutely over
the merits of animals, with which, from our own and our
own correspondents' reports, the i-eadcr must be by this
time tolerably familiar. As we stated last week, the
Devons and Shorthorns made-up to very creditable lots,
the Sussex and Highlanders are good, the Polled Scots
and Herefords inferior, and the Long-horns, the Suffolks,
the Welsh and Irish so short of entries as to command
little attention . 1 n the older class of Crosses there were, no
doubt, more good beasts than we had allowed for, from a
first look, and a general commendation was very honestly
deserved. In fact, here centred the strength of the show,
and could the opinions of breeders and feeders,
of other judges, of salesmen aud butchers have

4^

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

been polled, there can be no doubt but tliat the first £100
would have gone by a very large majority to a cross-bred
ox. Writing of the Birmingham Meeting we said " the
only really formidable opponent to Lord Aylesford's
steer turned up in Messrs. Martin's Aberdeen cross This
was a great square upstanding animal, of more size rather
than majestic appearance ; far better forward than the
Shorthorn, and at his age a much more valuable beast
for the butcher. He was not perfect, nor on an average
a Gold Medal ox ; but he most probably would have been
in such a show had not two out of the three Judges been
Shorthorn men." And this was the beast that the
public went for at Islington, where he showed even better,
if possible, than he had done during the previous week.
Still he is " a two-sided" animal, very level and true from
the near, but growing gutty on the off, and so seeming to
show a weak place behind the shoulder. With this
animal, however, the Shorthorn judges at Islington had
nothing whatever to do ; for notwithstanding they had
one of the Birmingham men amongst them, the Devon,
Hereford, and Other-breeds' bench committed the
egregious mistake of placing Mr. McPherson's plain,
common-looking animal before Messrs. Martin's far more
taking ox ; and thus the Cross-breds were put virtually
out of competition for the £100 plate. So immediately
manifest was this error that one of the stewards went so
far as to suggest that the other set of judges should
select for themselves a better beast from the classes they
had not been acting over than the one which their fellows
had brought out. B nt this, of course, would have necessitated
judging the whole of this section over again, and as this
could not be admissible the way was in a great measure
cleared for Lord Aylesford's steer, who had worn well,
and came out still very fresh and blooming. He is cer-
tainly an animal of much style, very good to meet, and
with a capital back ; but, as we have already said of him,
he, is not thoroughly true — the more particularly for-
ward. His head, not quite a nice one as he is
hog-jawed, is badly set-on, and he is not well-
covered about his shoulders. In tact a much finer
specimen of the Shorthorn breed was Mr. Outhwaite's ox,
which our Leeds correspondent described so fully last
week, and there was no animal that won so easily in his
class. But the judges made every allowance they could
for early maturity, aud so decided for the younger beast,
although he would never promise to grow into so good an
ox as the other. Writing of the Devons at Birmingham,
we said, " there were this season two really good classes
of oxen, that walked up from their stalls with something
of the air of race-horses ; as assuredly there is no beast
shows so much blood as a Devon. Of the first and second
in the old class and the first and second in the young class
it was anything for choice, so evenly were they matched,
and so close was the competition. The best bred and fed
was assuredly Mr. Hambi'o's Delcome, a very blood-like
three-year-old, all good meat to the hand, and an admir-
able animal when out; while Mr. Nixey's next best in
this lot was very neat and taking, but not so ripe. The
judges, however, pronounced the best of all the Devons to
be Mr. Farthing's oldest steer, the second in his class at
the Plymouth show last Christmas, and a beast of more
breed and quality than the Somerset-Devons always reach
to. Then he was firm in his fiesh if not so forward as he
might be, and Mr. Burton's long, straight, stylish second
was almost his equal, if Mr. Hambro's were not the best of
the three." And at Islington, notwithstanding that Mr.
Farthing's best of all the Devons at Birmingham was in
the yard, the champion of the breed for £100 was Mr.
Hambro's three-year-old; no question the ripest and
nicest ox of his kind. If Mr. Outhwaite's was the hand-
somest sample of the Shorthorn males, Messrs.
Mitchell's Blue Belle was still more unmistakeably the

belle of her company. She shows a deal more breeding
and character than Sir Walter Trevelyan's best of all the
cows and heifers, and it appears that our opinion as to her
" still being more an ornament for the herd than a victim
to the shambles" is to be acted, on as Blue Belle returns to
Alloa, there being hopes that she is in calf.

Therewouldof a necessity be much moreof theoldstory in
going through these three established breeds ; but we
may just mention in passing, that Mr. Bettridge's hand-
some steer, the third, as he should have been second at Bir-
mingham, is out of Nora, and not Stately 2nd, Mr. Evans
having sold two steers from the Swanstone herd, to go
into Berkshire. The Sussex, which make no mark in the
Midlands, are rapidly improving as show stock, although
their breeders quite scout the notion of their owing
anything of this higher quality to the Devon. There is
assuredly no variety of stock which comes more " sorty,"
a pretty good proof of the breed being established, and
not tampered with. They would seem, however, only to
feed up to a certain point, and in the capital entry of steers,
one or two would have had more notice had more been
made of them. It is not so long since that a Sussex
stood in for the cup, and at this very meeting the
Sussex and the Highlanders were the only distinct breeds
of which whole classes were commended. But this,
though, is saying almost too much, for the High-
landers are not a distinct breed according to the
ruling of the Smithfield Club. They are the rather
" Scotch-horns," and accordingly a capital class of
those beautiful pictui*esquc shaggy-coated Highland-
ers was disfigured by the appearance of an animal
which had little or nothing of the true Highlander about
him ; and yet this brute, as a butcher's beast, was placed
first. As a sample of anything Mr. Morrison's handsome,
long, low, and sturdy mountaineer was worth a thousand
of the other, which began with an ugly " cowy" half-
Ayrshire head, as he is probably a cross, aud where he
would not have won. There is no primer beast, accord-
ing to either grazier or butcher, than your true High-
lander, and there is no more taking one in the show-yard,
and yet the Council of the Smithfield Club refuses to
allow him a rank of his own, but sorts him with mon-
grels, and turns the whole breed into a burlesque. Of
course, an objection was lodged against Wishart and
Wyslie's beast, and of course nothing came of this, as
the class was open to all Scotch cattle with horns on their
heads ; although it is not so clear after all, his breeder
being not known, and the animal itself exhibiting no parti-
cular features of any breed, how it could be passed as a
Scot. A first cross for feeding has commonly an advan-
tage over a pure-bred beast, and the present open and
very unsatisfactory condition should be amended forth-
with, or anything with "a crumpley horn" might on
the same showing be entered amongst the Shorthorns.

With a judge straight up from Birmingham in each
division, the awards in the sheep classes ran almost
everywhere the same, save where occasionally an entry
was absent, and inferior animals succeeded to the place.
As a whole, however, the sheep here were superior to
those exhibited in the Midlands, breeders like Lord
Walsingham reserving their best lots, aud others like Mr.
Overman with his cross-breds, holding back until
they came on to London. jAnd here the strength
of the sheep show was to be found ; for when
the two sets of judges met to award the new
£50 premium, they divided in this way — three
declared for Lord Walsingham's Southdowns, two for
Mr. John Overman's capital cross of a Norfolk lougwool
with a Southdown ewe, and one for Lord Berners'
Leicesters. The Merton flock, moreover, in the actual
adjudication was not only first, but second, the yearlings
coming next to the old pen, and the cross-breds being by

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

43

a majority considered " next best." As we have already
said, a first cross, whether with cattle or sheep, will, of
course, always tell at a fat stock show ; as nevertheless,
the longer the truly-bred flocks are kept pure, the more
valuable will they become. The Keythorpe Leicesters
have some merit in this way, although they do not quite
realise the thoroughbred type of the now somewhat old-
fashioned Leicester sheep. The classes here were still
respectably filled, with sheep uniting good frames with
coats not heavy, but fine and lustrous. The Cotswolds
are apparently set down as the next " established" breed
of the white faces ; but the hill-men must show up
stronger at our national gatherings, if they would retain
their position among the first breeders of this country.
Two pens, one good and one indifferent, are not calcu-
lated to carry a favourable recollection on to next year's
ram sales. Of the Lincolns, again, there were only five
entries ; but they were heavy and good of both frame and
wool, a deal of the credit for coat being apparently due
to the pure Leicesters. The awards went in favour of
the three same exhibitoi's as at Birmingham, or,
indeed, for that matter, as at Lincoln in August.
Still, some dissatisfaction was expressed at the placing of
the first, where the sheep were too light in their coats.
The Roraney Marsh sheep handled as they die, well, but
their peculiar features are still undisturbed by improve-
ment, and their heads, scrags, back-bone, legs, and hair
as significant as ever of their ancient and uncontaminaled
race. If it be not paradoxical to say so, the value of a
pure-bred was admirably shown in the cross-bred long-
woolled class ; for here there was a pen of first-class
Leicester and Lincolns, which had all the form and
quality of mutton and fleece of the Leicester, while their
live weight was 7 cwt. 261bs., or heavier than one pen of
the Lincolns, and nearly as heavy as some other pens of
these sheep. This cross was achieved by Mr. W. D.
"Wootton, and a better mixture has seldom been seen. Sir
W. de Capel Brooke's " nick" of the same kind, but with
more Lincoln in it, was also very successful ; while
Messrs. Howard's Oxfords-and-Gloucesters were the
heaviest if not by any means the handsomest of the
class.

The great pride of the show was clearly to be found
amongst the Southdowns ; and as we said at Birming-
ham, if there had been a prize for the best entry
of any animals Lord Walsingham would have won
it. Lord Sondes had some very good second-prize
shearlings, and Sir W. Throckmorton's third pen were
heavier than the first shearlings ; but the style and
quality of the Mertons were deservedly triumphant, as it
is to be hoped we are coming to see that it is not mere
weight which marks the excellence of a Southdown.
The light-weights from the same famous flock were still
prettier, and Mr. Foljambe and Lord Sondes quite de-
serving of their places, keeping to purity of type as
well as to early development ; but Mr. Rigden, whose
stock would seem to come very capriciously was in no
force, and Sussex, indeed, quite out of form. No wonder
that the judges commended the class of old sheep, for
never has there been one so regular and true in form after
high feeding from very lambhood. And here the Merton
wethers reigned supreme as they deserved, for taking
them all iit all, for fineness of toitch, broad and level
shoulders, muscular backs and rumps, and " legs of
mutton," they were certainly pictures to look on, and
the £30 award spoke for itself.

The Hampshire or Wdtshire Downs were better than
at Birmingham ; and the Messrs. Russell's sheep were
remarkable for the great amount of flesh of fine quality,
their backs being excellent, and there was no pen better
fed. The Shropshires decline in number, and as all the
older breeders of note were again absent, Lord Chesham

took their pride of place with his neat and well fed pen,
the pick of his Bingham winners, Mr. Nock's being again
a very good second with his larger sheep. The one pen
limit let in Lord Wenlock as third, Mr. Bach's, Mr.
Matthew's, and Mrs. Beach's entries, for being absent.
Lord Chesham made an entry of two-shears, but his young
flock is probably scarcely up to this class as yet, for they
were not sent ; and this again gave Lord Wenlock a turn
with his "faggy" coats and infirm mutton. Lord Aylesford's
third best being clumsily disfigured by the shears ;
but the Escrick pen had no right to beat Mrs.
Beach, and the Bii-mingham placing was no
question the sounder award. Some of the Ox-
fordshire Downs were also by no means im-
proved from the wool on their backs having been cut
down, while they were bedaubed with a terrible mix-
ture, like fish oil and brown ochre. Mr. xVlfred Rogers
did not bring on his Birmingham pen, and although he
again won the competition was much keener, with all the
prize pens tracing to Mr. Charles Howard's flock. This
of itself proves that uniformity and careful culling is
coming to be appreciated, as perhaps no man has now a
more level flock of ewes than they can show you
at Biddenliam.

The mountain breeds, favourites as they often are with
the butcher, are not likely to wander far from their own
walks, if from their picturesque appearance they tell
well in the show-yard ; but considering the breeders of
the Dorset and Somerset horns are going in for more dis-
tinctive rank of their own, the argument they oft'ered
here was not a very strong one. In a mixed lot of Rye-
lands, Cheviots, Dorsets, " &c.," there were three entries
for three prizes — one of Cheviots, one of Dorsets, and one
of Ryelands. Then there were two pens of Exmoors, and
one of Scotch mountaineers.

In the Extra Stock Lord Berners was beaten in a class
for single Leicester wethers, by a sheep from Eastburn,
DriflReld, in which competition the great difference in the
weight of each no doubt told. Fi'om the other long-wools,
Mr. J. H. Casswell's sheep died last week ; had this not
been so, there would have been a close run between it and
Mr. Harris' first cross which took the Cup.

The single Southdown wethers were very irregular, and
the remarkable beauty, as well as good weight, of Lord
Walsinghani's, made this as easy a winner for the flock as
in other classes. For ewes, however. Sir William Throck-
morton took the Cup, and beat Lord Walsingham. The
Cup sheep, for a short-woolled wether, not Southdowu,
was a Shropshire, and an admirable sheep, although of
not a very heavy weight for this breed. Amongst the
ewes was a wonderful Hampshire Down, for size and
quality — within 31bs. of Mr. Druce's Oxford Down
wether in the males of this class, and heavier by 33 lbs.
than Mr. Nock's Shropshire wether. Her age, moreover,
was only twenty-two mouths.

Mr. Overman's absence from Bingley Hall is now
explained ; for he evidently reserved his forces for
London. This answered well, for in the cross-bred
long and short-woolled sheep he took the £20 Cup
as well as medal for the best pen of sheep in the
Shropshires, Oxfords, cross-breeds, and any other sort
not specified in the prize-list. There was only one
heavier pen in the class, and these were Hampshires and
Lincolns, the weight of which was 7 — 2 — 18, and
they were sent by Mr. Rook, of Watton, Norfolk. In
the class under 220 lbs., Mr. Overman was again first,
Mr. Hine, who has often been a good match for the Burn-
ham sheep, being on this occasion nowhere.

In the pig show there was but little competition ;
as, in fact, in many of the classes the business was
got through on the agreeable condition of all prizes
and no blanks, there being in all some eighteen

4],

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

premiums lo be dislributcd amongst thirty-four pens.
Of these four or five lots were wonderfully good, and the
remainder so moderate that, as the three judges at once
admitted to us, they had often a difficulty m finding any-
thine; good enough to win. Still this section opened well,
for Mr. Cattle's first prize white pigs, were at just nine
months' old about as good a pen as ever was exhibited,
and it is a nice question whether they should not have
taken the Cup for " the best of all the pigs." Captain
Warren's second here are sadly short of hair, and, in
truth, not so good as Mr. Lynn's unnoticed entry. But
the Birmingham pigs from Stroxtou did better in the
next class, where they beat a very inferior entry, and were
straightway objected to, though the veterinary evidence
wcnt'for nothing, and the stewards had no hesitation in
passing the first prize pen. As we wrote of them in the
Midlands, they are light in their middles ; but are other-
wise very good, with capital heads for whites, as have
Lord Eadnor's in the next class. One of the Coleshill is
coarse in his coat, but the three are preferable to
Mr. Dunn's first ; while it is difficult to un-
derstand for what her Majesty's entry was com-
mendable. At double the age they are just about the
size and weight of Mr. Cattle's pigs, as in no other way
remarkable for quality or excellence. IMr. Chamber-
layne's first lot of blacks would be one of the picked pens
of the show ; but then in the very next class some of
these same pigs are disqualified as over the stated age.
Not only were the inspectors against them, but the
bailiff or pigman admitted on examination that the
same trio were exhibited at Southampton, and that
they had dropped some thirty days in the interim. That
is, according to that at which they were entered at in
the summer, they were now just so much below their
proper age. Mr. Benjafield's improved Dorsets, and very
good pigs, succeed to the place ; and Mr. Kent be-
comes second best with a nice level lot. The " effect" of
Mr. Coote's cup pen was destroyed by one of the three
dying soon after the award was made; while, smart
pigs as they are, it is not so clear, as we have
already intimated, that they were so decidedly the
best. It depends a vast deal whether a judge
have himself a black or white " fancy." The
Berkshires are in no great force, and we have now a new
variety in the " Bayfordbury breed," three good sorty
pigs certainly ; but surely there is something of an
absurdity in calling every stye a breed of itself, as
where is this to end ? The Smithfield pig show
was inferior to the Birmingham, and that is proved
by second and third prize pens there reaching to
first in London. Of Mr. Clark's Berkshires we then
spoke as being " very long and handsome, but as hardly
made up enough for exhibition or well matched, or they
otherwise would at least have been second," and now
they are first. The single pig which takes the medal is
called a Dorset ; but there are unmistakeable signs of his
having been "improved" by a cross of the Berkshire.
The pigs, like other sections of the show, have been terribly
over-puffed by the creatures of the Agricultural Hall
Company ; and we thoroughly agree with the judges as
to the very moderate character of the general entries in
the still anything-but-salubrious swiue-hole. The weights
of the pigs have not been taken ; but we give our
prize list with the weights of all the winning cattle and
sheep appended.

On Friday, the closing day of the meeting, the
veterinary inspectors examined every animal in the
Hall, amongst which they found no suspicion of disease.
About W beasts were, however, on Saturday, stopped by order of
the Privy Council on account of disease. Some explanation of
this may be found in the following circumstances, the account of
which has been given us by very good authority. The animals

from the Birmingham Show — which were forwarded in a train
of 30 trucks — arrived alongside the pens containing about 300
foreign beasts, which were in the Maiden-lane Station previous
to the arrival of the Birmingham train. A large number
of these foreign animals were driven alongside the train
which contained the beasts intended for the Agricul-
tural Hall, and which were afterwards driven there.
The close proximity into which the animals were brought was
sufficiently dangerous, but things were made worse by the
persons in charge of the animals from Birmingham taking the
bags containing the meal and cake from the trucks, and placing
them on the spot over which the foreign animals had passed.
This provender was afterwards returned to the l)easts, and we
believe was actually forwarded to the Agricultural Hall. Our
informant was an eye-witness, and took the pains to call the at-
tentionof therailwayofficialstotheproceeding,and, to their great
credit, the latter did their utmost to keep the animals separate.

JUDGES.

DEYONS, HEREFORDS, SUSSEX, NOKFOLK OR SUFFOLK
POLLED, LONG-HORNED, IRISH CROSS OR MIXED.

W. H. Keary, Bridgenorth, Salop ;

W. Yeomaus, Stretton Court, Hereford ;

John Ford, llushton, Blandford.

SHORT-HORNS, SCOTCH AND AVELSH.

Hugh Aylmer, West Dereham, Norfolk ;
Charles Howard, Biddenham, Beds ;
William Sanday, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Notts.

LEICESTERS, COTSWOLDS, LINCOLNS, KENTISH OR ROMNEY
MARSH, OXFORDSHIRE, MOUNTAIN, AND CROSS.

Charles Clark, Scopwick, near Lincoln ;
Ralph Newton, Campsfield, Woodstock ;
Jonn. Davis, Webton Court, Hereford.

SOUTHDOAVNS, HAMPSHIRE OR WILTSHIRE, SHROPSHIRE,
RYLAND, CHEVIOT, AND DORSET.

Henry Masfen, Pendeford, Wolverhampton ;
Henry Lugar, Ingham, Bury St. Edmund's;
Henry Hart, Beddingham, Lewes, Sussex.

PIGS.

Joseph Smith, Henley-in-Arden, Warwick;
Richard Woodman, Southease, Lewes ;
Gilbert Murray, Elvaston Castle, Derby.

CATTLE.

The following Classes are without restrictions as to

feeding, yet the kind or kinds of food must be certified.

The breeder of the best entry in every class receives a

Silver Medal.

DEVONS.
Steers, not exceeding 2 years and 6 months old.

First Prize of £20, to J. H. BuUer, Downes, Crediton,
Devon— 13 cwt. 2Glbs.

Second of £15, to W. G. Nixey, Upton Court Farm,
Slough, Bucks— 12 cwt. 2 qrs. 121bs.

Third of £10, to Her jMajesty the Queen, the Prince
Consort's Norfolk Farm, Windsor, Berks — 10 cwt. 3 qrs.
71bs.

Steers, not exceeding 3 years and 3 months old.

First Prize of £30, to C. Hambro, M.P., Milton Abbey,
Blandford, Dorset — 14 cwt. Gibs.

Second of £20, to C. McNiven, Perrysfield, Godstone,
Surrey — 15 cwt. 41bs.

Third of £10, to W. G. Nixey, Upton Court Farm,
Slough, Bucks — 13 cwt. 1 qr. 141bs.

Commended. — R. Farthing, Farrington, Somerset — 14
cwt. 1 qr. 81bs.

Steers or Oxen, above 3 years and 3 months old.

First Prize of £30, to W. Farthing, Stowey Court,
Bridgewater, Somerset — 14 cwt. 3 qrs.

Second of £20, to J. J. Farquharson, Laugton House,
Blandford, Dorset — 15 cwt. 131bs.

Third of £10, to R. Burton, Place Barton, Broadclyst,
Devon — 16 cwt. Slbs.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

45

Heifers, not exceeding 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to W. G. Nixey, Upton Court Farm,
Slough, Bucks — 12 cwt. 1 qr. 41bs,

Second of £15, to W. Farthing, Stowey Court, Bridge-
water, Somerset — 13 cwt. 1 qr. 121bs.

Thirdof £10, to C. McNiven, Perrysfield, Godstone,
Surrey— 10 cwt. 3 qrs. 221bs.

Commended. — W. Smith, Hoopern, Exeter — 11 cwt.
2 qrs. 21bs.

Cows, above 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to W. Farthing, Stowey Court,
Bridgewater, Somerset — 16 cwt. 2 qrs. 51bs.

Second of £15, to W. Smith, Hoopern, Exeter, Devon
— 12 cwt. 1 qr.

Third of £10, to J. Hitchcock, Broomhouse, South
Molton, Devon — 14 cwt. 3 qrs. 51bs.

HEREFORDS.

Steers, not exceeding 2 years and 6 months old.

First Prize of £20, to P. Turner, The Leen, Pembridge,
Leominster, Hereford — ^14 cwt. 3 qrs.

Second of £15, to Her Majesty the Queen, the Prince
Consort's Flemish Farm, Windsor — 14 cwt. 3 qrs.
221bs.

Steers, not exceeding 3 years and 3 months old.

First Prize of £30, to J. Price, Court House, Pem-
bridge, Hereford — 16 cwt. 3 qrs. 261bs.

Second of £20, to The Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall,
Gravesend, Kent — 17 cwt. 1 qr. 61bs.

Third of £10, to H. Bettridge, East Hanney, Wantage,
Berks— 15 cwt. 3 qrs. 261bs.

Commended. — A. Pike, Milton, Gloucester — 16 cwt.
61bs.; R. Wortley, Suffield, Norfolk— 14 cwt. 2 qrs.
341bs.

Steers or Oxen, above 3 years and 3 months old.

First Prize of £30, to W. Heath, Ludhani Hall,
Norwich, Norfolk — 19 cwt. 61bs.

Second of £20, to the Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall,
Gravesend, Kent — IS cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs.

Third of £10, to H. Bettridge, East Hanney,
Wantage, Berks— 17 cwt. 241bs.

Heifers, not exceeding 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to J. H. Arkwright, Hampton
Court, Leominster, Hereford — 14 cwt. Slbs.

Second of £15, to T. Garrett, Compton Scorpion,
Shipston-on-Stonr, Warwick — 14 cwt. 2 qrs. 191bs.

Third of £10, to R. Coston, Hayton, Stauton Lacy,
Bromfield, Salop— 13 cwt. 3 qrs. 201bs.

Commended. — Her Majesty the Queen, Flemish Farm,
Windsor — 15 cwt. 1 qr. 61bs.

Cows, above 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to J. Baldwin, Luddington, Strat-
ford-on-Avon, Warwick— 18 cwt. 1 qr. 131bs.

Second of £15, to A. Benjafield, Stalbridge, near
Blanford, Dorset — 15 cwt. 251bs.

Third of £10, to R. Wortley, SufReld, Aylsham, Nor-
folk— 14 cwt. 3 qrs. 41bs.

SHORTHORNS.

Steers, not exceeding 2 years and 6 months old.

First Prize of £20, to Her Majesty the Queen, the
Prince Consort's Shaw Farm, Windsor — 14 cwt. 1 qr.
121bs.

Second of £15, to Z. W. Stilgo, Adderbury Grounds,
Adderbury, Oxford — 14 cwt. 3 qrs. 121b3.

Third of £10, to R. E. Oliver, Sholebroke Lodge,
Towcester, Northampton — 15 cwt. 1 qr. 231bs.

Steers, not exceeding 3 years and 3 months old.

First Prize of £30, to the Earl of Aylesford, Pack-
ington Hall, Coventry, Warwick — 19 cwt. 2 qrs. 231bs,

Second of £20, to R. Wood, Clapton, Thrapstone,
Northampton — 17 cwt, 3 qrs. 241bs,

Third of £10, to Lord Penrhyn, Penrhyn Castle,
Bangor, Carnarvon, N. Wales — 20 cwt. 131bs.

Highly commended. — T. Pulver, Broughton, North-
ampton— 17 cwt. 2 qrs. 141bs.

Steers or Oxen, above 3 years and 3 months old.

FirstPrizeof £30, to J. Outhwaite, Baiuesse, Catterick,
Yorkshire — 20 cwt. 1 qr. 61bs.

Second of £20, to The Marquis of Exeter, Burghley
Park, Stamford— 20 cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs.

Third of £10, to Col. Loyd-Lindsay, M.P., Lockinge
Park, Wantage, Berks— 20 cwt. 2 qrs. 121bs.

Highly commended. — R^ H. Harris, Earnhill, Moray-
shire— 20 cwt. 2 qrs. 21bs. ; P. Brown, Glentworth, Lin-
coln— 19 cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs. ; J. Freeman, Glapthorne,
Northampton— 19 cwt. 2 qrs. 231bs. ; R. Wood, Clapton,
Thrapstone, Northampton — 20 cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs.
Heifers, not exceeding 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to Col. Chas. Towneley, Towneley
Burnley, Lancaster — 17 cwt. 1 qr. Slbs.

Second of £15, to T. Atherton, Chapel House, Speke,
Garston, Lancashire — IS cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs,

Third of £10, to J. B. Aylmer, Fincham Hall, Dowu-
ham, Norfolk — IG cwt. 2 qrs. 21b s.

Highly commended. — J. Reed, Graystone, Aberdeen-
shire— 10 cwt. 141b3.

Cows, above 4 years old.

First Prize of £25, to Sir W. Calverley Trevelyan, Bart.,
Wallington, Newcastle-on-Tyne — 19 cwt. ISlbs.

Second of £15, to A. and A. Mitcliell, Alloa, Clack-
mannan— 16 cwt. 3 qrs. 41bs.

Third of £10, to the Duke of Devonshire, Holker Hall,
Grange, Lancashire — IS cwt. 3 qrs. 221bs.

Highly commmended. — J. Whyte, Clinterty, Aber-
deen— 20 cwt. 1 qr. 151bs.

Commended. — R. Eastwood, Thorny Holme, Lanca-
shire— 17 cwt. 2 qrs. 251bs.

SUSSEX.
Steers or Oxen, not exceeding 3 years old.

First Prize of £20, to Lee Steere, Jayes Park,
Dorking, Surrey — 17 cwt. 3 qrs. lOlbs.

Second of £10, to J. and A. Heasman, Angmering,
Arundel, Sussex — 16 cwt. 1 qr. ISlbs.

Third of £5, to G. C. Coote, Tortington, Arundel,
Sussex — 15 cwt. 21bs.

Commended. — G. Napper, Orfold, Sussex — 14 cwt. 1
qr. 91hs. ; J. M. Montefiore, Crawley, Sussex— 13 cwt. 2
qrs. 91bs.

Steers or Oxen, above 3 years old.

First Prize of £25, to Lee Steere, Jayes Park, Dorking,
Surrey— 22 cwt. 2 qrs. 21bs.

Second of £15, to E. Cane, Berwick Court, Lewes,
Sussex — 18 cwt. 3 qrs. Slbs.

Third of £10, to J. M. Montefiore, Worth Park,
Crawley, Sussex — 17 cwt. 241bs.

Commended. — J. Shoosmith, Berwick, Sussex — 21
cwt. 1 qr. 261bs. ; J. Ncale, Coldwaltham, Sussex — Not
weighed ; Right Hon. H. Brand, M.P., Lewes, Sussex —
16 cwt. 2 qrs. ISlbs.

Heifers, not exceeding 4 years old.

First Prize of £20, to E. and A. Stanford, Eatons
Ashurst, Steyning, Sussex— 12 cwt, 3 qrs. ISlbs.

Second of £15, to Lee Steere, Jayes Park, Dorking,
Surrey — 15 cwt. 2 qrs. 61bs.

Cows, above 4 years old.

First Prize of £20, to J. and A. Heasman, Angmering
Arundel, Sussex— 17 cwt.

Second of £15, to J. Shocsmith, Berwick, Lewes,
Sussex— 17 cwt. 261bs.

Highly commended.— W. Botting, Hurstpierpoint,
Sussex— 18 cwt. 1 qr. 221b8.

46

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Commended. — G. C. Coote, Tortington, Sussex — 16
cwt. 2 qrs. 91bs. ; J, Neale, Coldvvaltham, Sussex — Not
weighed; T. Smith, Knelle, Sussex — 17 cwt. 3 qrs,
41bs

NORFOLK OR SUFFOLK POLLED.

Steers or Oxen, of any age.
First Prize of £15^ to R. C. Symonds, Aylmerton,
Roughton, Norfolk— 17 cwt. 161bs.

Second of £10, to W. Harvey, Timworth, Bury St.
Edmunds, Suffolk — 18 cwt. 2 qrs. 151bs.
Heifers or Cows, of any age.
First Prize of £15, to His Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales, Sandringham, King's Lynn, Norfolk — 13 cwt.
1 qr. 41bs.

Second of £10, to W. T. Mullen, Swafield House,
North Walsham, Norfolk — 16 cwt. 1 qr. 41bs.
LONG-HORNS.
Steers or Oxen, of any age.
The Prize of £10, to Sir J. Harpur Crewe, Bart.,
Calke Abbey, Derby — 21 cwt. 2 qrs.

Commended.— W. T. Cox, Derby— 17 cwt. 2 qrs.
181bs.

Heifers or Cows, of any age.
The Prize of £10, to W. T. Cox, Spondon HaU, Derby
— 14 cwt. 1 qr. 141bs. ,

SCOTCH HORNS.
Steers or Oxen, of any age.
First Prize of £30, to Wishart andWyslie, GaUowgate,
Aberdeen — 18 cwt. 1 qr. 61bs.

Second of £15, to C. Morrison, Basildon Park, Read-
ing, Berkshire — 18 cwt. 1 qr. 191bs.
Highly commended. — The whole class.

Heifers or Cows, of any age.
First Prize of £15, to Sir W. Culverley Trevelyan,
Bart., Wallington, Newcastle-on-Tyne — 12 cwt, 3 qrs.
Slbs.

Second of £10, to R. Eastwood, Thorneyholme,
CUtheroe, Lancashire — 13 cwt. 3 qrs. lib.
SCOTCH POLLED.
Steers or Oxen, of any age.
First Prize of £30, to J. Stephen Conglass, Inverurie,
Aberdeen — 23 cwt. 1 qr. 71b9.

Second of £15, to A. Longmore, Linksfield, Rattie,
Banff— 20 cwt. 3 qrs. 201bs.

Heifers or Cows, of any age.
First Prize of £15, to R. Jardine, M P. Castlemilk,
Lockerbie, Dumfries — 16 cwt. 61bs.

Second of £10, to J. Reid, Greystone, Alford, Aberdeen
— 14 cwt. 1 qr. 51bs.

IRISH.
Steers or Oxen, of any age.
First Prize of £10, to R. Wortley, Suffield Hall
Aylsham, Norfolk — 12 cwt. 2 qrs. 151bs.

Second of £5, to W. Slipper, Catfield, Stalham, Norfolk
—18 cwt. 151bs.

Heifers or Cows, of any age.
First Prize of £10, to Lord Berners, Keythorpe Hall,
Leicester — 13 cwt. 1 qr. lOlbs.
WELSH.
Steers or Oxen (runts), of any age.
First Prize of £20, to H. Williams, Abercothy, Nant-
garedig, Carmarthen — 19 cwt. 3 qrs. 221bs.

Second of £10, to Capt. H. Piatt, Gorddinog, Bangor,
Carnarvon — 16 cwt. 1 qr. 201bs.

CROSS OR MIXED-BRED.
Steers not exceeding 3 years old.
First Prize of £25, to J. and W. Martin, Aberdeen—
19 cwt. 1 qr. 261bs.

Second of £15, to W. and J. Lawson, Meikletown,
Lessendrum, Huntley, Aberdeen— 17 cwt. 1 qr, 71b9,

Third of £10, to R. Walker, Altyre, Forres, Moray—
16 cwt. 1 qr. 141bs.

Commended. — J. T. Senior, Aylesbury, Bucks — 15
cwt. 171bs. ; J. Wortley, Felmingham, Norfolk — 15 cwt,
lOlbs.

Steers or Oxen, above 3 years old.

First Prize of £25, to J. P. McPherson, Muertaa of
Kinloss, Forres, Elgin — 20 cwt. 3 qrs. 241bs.

Second of £15, to J. and W. Martin, Aberdeen — 24
cwt. 2 qrs. 241bs.

Third of £10, to R. H. Harris, EarnhiU, Forres,
Moray— 23 cwt. 2 qrs, 161bs.

Commended. — J. Bruce, Inverquhorney, Aberdeen — 18
cwt. 201bs.

Heifers, not exceeding 4 years old.

First Prize of £20, to J. D. Allen, Pyt House Farm,
Tisbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire — 16 cwt. 2 qrs. 61bs.

Second of £10, to H. L. L. Morrison, Blair Guise,
Whitehouse, Aberdeen — 18 cwt. 1 qr. 81bs.

Commended. — His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales, Sandringham, Norfolk — 13 cwt. 1 qr. 61bs,

SHEEP.

LEICESTERS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months.)
First Prize of £20, to Lord Berner's, Keythorpe Hall,
Leicester — 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs.

Second of £15, to W. Brown, High Gate, Holme-on-
Spalding Moor, York— 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 221bs.

Third of £5, to B. Painter, Burley-on-the-Hill, Oak-
ham, Rutland — 6 cwt. 2 qrs.

F'at Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
Each Sheep not to exceed 220 lbs. live weight.
First Prize of £20, to Lord Berners, Keythorpe Hall,
Leicester — 5 cwt. 3 qrs. 71bs.

Second of £15, to J. Newman, Harrowden, Bedford —
5 cwt. 3 qrs. 41bs.

Third of £5, to Colonel Lowther, Barleythorpe Hall,
Oakham, Rutland — 5 cwt. 1 qr. 201bs.
COTSWOLDS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
First Prize of £20, to Right Hon. Sir J. Rolt, Ozle-
worth Park, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester — 7 cwt. 2
qrs. Slbs.

Second of £15, to J. Baldwin, Luddington, Stratford-
on-Avon, Warwick — 7 cwt. 161bs.
LINCOLNS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
First Prize of £20, to J. Byron, Kirkby Green, Slea-
ford, Lincoln — 7 cwt. 3 qrs. 261bs.

Second of £15, to J. R. Caswell, Quadring, Spalding,
Lincoln — 7 cwt. 3 qrs. lib.

Third of £5, to R. N. Morley, Leadenham, Grantham,
Lincoln — 7 cwt. 2 qrs. 161bs.

KENTISH OR ROMNEY MARSH.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
First Prize of £15, to W. Burch, Rhode Court, Selling,
Faversham, Kent — 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 121bs.

Second of £10, to J. Newport, Elmsted Court, Ash-
ford, Kent — 6 cwt. 1 qr. 161bs.

CROSS-BRED LONG WOOLS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
First Prize of £15, to T. W. D. Harris, Wootton, Nor-
thampton— 7 cwt. 261bs.

Second of £10, to Sir W. De Capel Brooke, Bart.,
Geddington Grange, Kettering, Northampton — 6 cwt. 3
qrs. 141bs,

SOUTH-DOWNS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
First Prize of £20, to Lord Walsingham, MertoQ
Hall, Thetford, Norfolk— 6 cwt. 171bs.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

47

Second of £10, to Lord Sondes, Elmham Hall, Thet-
ford, Norfolk— 6 cwt. 31bs,

Third of £5, to Sir W. Throckmorton, Bart., Buck-
land, Faringdon, Berks — 6 cwt. 1 qr. 71bs.

Highly commended. — Duke of Richmond, Goodwood
— 5 cwt. 1 qr. 151bs.

Commended. — Earl Radnor, Coleshill — 5 cwt. 1 qr.
lllbs.

Fat Wethers 1 year old (under 23 months).
Each Sheep not to exceed 200 lbs. live weight.

First Prize of £15, to Lord Walsingham, Merton
Hall, Thetford, Norfolk— 5 cwt. 201bs.

Second of £10, to G. S. Foljambe, Osberton Hall,
Worksop, Nottingham — 5 cwt. 161bs.

Third of £5, to Lord Sondes, Elmham Hall, Thetford,
Norfolk— 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 251bs.

Highly commended. — Lord Braybrooke, Saffron Walden
— 5 cwt. 71bs.

Commended. — Duke of Richmond, Goodwood — 4 cwt.
3 qrs. 141bs.
Fat Wethers, 2 years old (above 23 and under 35 months).

First Prize of £20, to Lord Walsingham, Merton
Hall, Thetford, Norfolk— 6 cwt. 1 qr. 251b3.

Second of £10, to Sir W. Throckmorton, Bart, Buck-
land, Faringdon, Berks — 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs.

Third of £5, to Earl Radnor, Coleshill, High worth—
7 cwt. 171bs.

Highly commended. — Duke of Richmond, Goodwood —
6 cwt. 3 qrs. 231bs.

Commended. — Class generally.

HAMPSHIRE OR WILTSHIRE-DOWNS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).

Fii'st Prize of £20, to R. and J. Russell, Ilorton Kirby,
Dartford, Kent — 7 cwt. 1 qr. lllbs.

Second of £15, to J. Walter, Bearwood, Wokingham,
Berks— 7 cwt. 81bs.

Third of £5, to L. Loyd, Monk's Orchard, Addington,
Surrey — 6 cwt. 2 qrs. lllbs.

Highly commended. — J. Russell, Dartford, Kent — 6
cwt. 2 qrs. 191bs.

Commended. — Class generally.

SHROPSHIRES.
Fat Wethers, I year old (under 23 months) .

First Prize of £20, to Lord Chesham, Latimer, Chesham,
Buckingham — 6 cwt. 251bs.

Second of £10, to T. Nock, Sutton Maddock, Shiffnal,
Shropshire — 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 231bs.

Third of £5, to Lord Wenlock, Escrick Park, York —
6 cwt. 6 qrs. 21b3.
Fat Wethers 2 years old (above 23 and under 35 months).

First Prize of £15, to Lord Wenlock, Escrick Park,
York— 7 cwt. 1 qr. 241bs.

Second of £5, to S. Beach, The Hattons, Brewood,
Penkridge, Staffordshire — 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 181bs.

Commended. — Earl of Ailesford, Coventry — 7 cwt. 1
qr. 211bs.

OXFORDSHIRES.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).

First Prize of £20, to A. Rogers, Bromham, Bedford
— 7 cwt. 41bs.

Second of £15, to F. Street, Harrowden, Bedford — 6
cwt. 3 qrs. lllbs.

Third of £5, to S.Druce, Eynsham, Oxford— 7cwt.41bs.
Fat Wethers, 2 years old (above 23 and under 35 months).

First Prize of £15, to A. Rogers, Bromham, Bedford —
6 cwt. 2 qrs. 61bs.

MOUNTAIN-BREEDS.

Fat Wethers (of any White-faced Mountain breed,
of any age.)

First Prize of £15, to W. Smith, Hoopern, Exeter,
Devon — 5 cwt.

Second of £10, to J. Tapp, Twitchen, South Molton,
Devon — 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 21bs.

Fat Wethers (of any Black-faced or Speckled-faced Moun-
tain-breed, ol any age.)
First Prize of £15, to J. M'Gill, Rotchell, Dumfries—
5 cwt. 2 qrs. 121bs.

Second of £10, to The Marquis of Aylesbury, Home
Farm, Savernake Forest, Marlborough, Wiltshire — 4 cwt.
1 qr. 41bs.

RYELANDS, CHEVIOTS, DORSETS, &c.
Fat Wethers.
First Prize of £15, to J. B. Downing, Holme Lacey,
Hereford— 6 cwt. ISlbs.

Second of £10, to H. Farthing, Nether Stowey, Bridge-
water, Somerset — 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 131bs.

Third of £5, to J. McGill, Rotchell, Dumfries— 6 cwt.
171bs.

CROSS-BRED LONG AND SHORT WOOLS.
Fat Wethers, 1 year old" (under 23 months).
First Prize of £20, to J. Overman, Burnham Sutton,
Burnham Market, Norfolk — 7 cwt. 1 qr. 31bs.

Second of £15, to W, Rook, Watton, Thetford,
Norfolk— 7 cwt. 2 qrs. ISlbs.

Third of £5, to G. Hine, jun., Oakley, Bedford— 6 cwt.
271bs.

Fat Wethers, 1 year old (under 23 months).
Each Sheep not to exceed 220 lbs. live weight.
First prize of £10, to J. Overman, Burnham Sutton,
Burnham Market, Norfolk — 5 cwt. 2 qrs. 161bs.

Second of £5, to Colonel Loyd Lindsay, M.P., Lockinge
Park, Wantage, Berks — 5 cwt. 2 qrs. yibs.

PIGS.

(The weights of Pigs not registered)
WHITE.
Not exceeding 9 months old.
First prize of £10, to C. Cattle, Wiseton Grange,
Bawtry, Nottingham.

Second of £5, to Captain R. P. Warren, Worting House,
Basingstoke.

Highly commended. — Rev. J. 0. Stevens, Savernake,
Wilts.

Above 9 and not exceeding 12 months old.
First prize of £10, to J. Lynn, Church Farm, Stroxton,
Grantham, Lincoln.

Second of £5, to W. H. Dunn, Standen House, Hunger-
ford, Berks.

Highly commended. — T. L. M. Cartwright, Melville,
Fife.

Above 12 and not exceeding 18 months old.
First prize of £10, to W. H. Dunn, Standen House,
Huugerford, Berks.

Second of £5, Earl Radnor, Coleshill, Highworth.
Commended. — Her Majesty the Queen, Windsor.
BLACK.
Not exceeding 9 months old.
First prize of £10, to T. Chamberlayne, Cranbury Park,
Winchester, Southampton.

Second of £5, to J. Coate, Hammoon, Blandford,
Dorset.

Commended. — J. Kent, Whyke, Sussex.

Above 9 and not exceeding 12 months old.
First Prize of £10, to T. Chamberlayne, CSi-anbury
Park, Winchester, Hampshire.

Second of £5, to A. Benjafield, Stalbridge, Blandford,
Dorset.

Highly commended. — J. Kent, Whyke, Sussex.
Commended. — C. M'Niven, Perrysfield, Surrey,
Above 12 and not exceeding 18 months old.
First Prize of £10, to J. Coate, Hammoon, Blandford,
Dorset,

48

THE FARMER'S MATiAZTNE.

Second of £5, to Ca2)taiu R. P. Warren, Worting House,
Basingstoke, Ilampsliire.

Commended. — C. M'Niven, Perrysfield, Surrey.
OTHER BREEDS.
Not exceeding 9 months old.

First Prize of £10, to S. Druce, Eynsham, Oxford.

Second of £5, to J. Biggs, Cublington, near Leighton
Buzzard, Beds.

Above 9 and not exceedine; 12 months old.

First Prize of £10, to J. Roberson, Bayfordbury Park
Parm, Hertford, Herts.

Second of £5, to J. Biggs, Cublington, near Leighton
Buzzard, Beds.

Highly commended. — J. Treadwell, Aylesbury, Berks.
Above 12 and not exceeding 18 months old.

First Prize of £10, to J. H. Clark, Altwood, Maiden-
head, Berks.

Second of £5, to J. P. King, North Stoke, Wallingford,
Berks.

EXTRA STOCK.
CATTLE.

Silver Medal and £5 prize, to the exhibitor, for the
best Steer or Ox, to G. S. Foljambe, Osberton Hall,
Worksop, Nottinghamshire — 21 cwt. 121bs.

Highly commended.— Her Majesty the Queen, Wind-
sor— 14 cwt. 1 qr. 201bs.

Commended. — G. Lawson, Clyneshish, Sutherland,
N.B.— 14 cwt. 1 qr. 81bs. ; H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,
Sandringham — 13 cwt. 1 qr. lOlbs. ; Wishart and Wyslie,
Gallowgate, Aberdeen — 17 cwt. 1 qr. 161bs. ; T.
Bromwich, Alton, Southampton — 18 cwt. 1 qr. ISlbs. ;
J. Overman, Burnham Sutton — 10 cwt. 3 qrs. 121bs.

Silver Medal and £5 prize, to the exhibitor, for the
best Heifer or Cow, to J. Christy, Boynton Hall, Chelms-
ford, Essex — 16 cwt. 1 qr. 131bs.

Highly commended. — R. Jardine, M.P., Castlemilk,
Dumfries — 9 cwt. 1 qr. 271bs.

SHEEP.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Leicester
Wether Sheep, to The executors of F. Jordan, East-
burn, Drifiicld, York— 2 cwt. 1 qrs. 191bs.

Silver ]\Iedal, to the exhibitor, for the best Leicester
Ewe, to W. Brown, llighgate, Holme-on-Spalding Moor,
York— 2 cwt. 2 qrs. ITlbs.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitoi-, for the best Long-
wooUed Sheep (not Leicester), to T. W. D. Harris, Woot-
ton Northampton — 2 cwt. 1 qr. 121bs.

Silver j\Iedal, to the exhibitor, for the best Southdown
Wether Sheep, to LordWalsingham,Mertou lIall,Thetford,
Norfolk — 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 261bs.

Commended. — Class generally.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Southdown,
to Sir W. Throckmorton, Bart., Bucldand, Faringdon,
Berks— 2 cwt. lOlbs.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Short-
woolled Wether (not Southdown), to T. Nock, Sutton
Maddock, Shiffnal, Salop— 2 cwt. 1 qr. 221bs.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Short-
woolled Ewe (not Southdown), to J. Rawlence, Bulbridge,
Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire — 2 cwt. 2 qrs. 2Glbs.

Commended. — J. Treadwell, Aylesbury — 2 cwt. 3 qrs.
251bs.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Cross-bred
Sheep (Long and Short-woolled Cross) to J. Overman,
Burnham Sutton, Burnham Market, Norfolk — 2 cwt. 1
qr. Slbs.

PIGS.

Silver Medal, to the exhibitor, for the best Pig, to C.
McNiven, Perrysfield, Godstone, Surrey.

Highly commended. — Captain R. P. Warren, Basing-
stoke ; J. Roberson, Hertford,

Commended. — T. Chamberlayne, Winchester ; J. Over-
man, Burnham Sutton; Rev. J. O Stephens, Marlborough,
Wilts; J. Coate, Blaudford, Dorset.
SILVER CUPS.

A Silver Cup, value £40, to the exhibitor, for the best
Steer or Ox in any of the classes, to the Earl of Ayles-
ford, Packington Hall, Coventry, Warwick — 19 cwt. 2
qrs. 231bs.

A Silver Cup, value £40, to the exhibitor, for the best
Heifer or Cow in any of the classes, to Sir W. Calverley
Trevelyan, Bart., Wallington, Ncwcastle-on-Tyne — 19
cwt. 151bs.

A Silver Cup, value £20, to the exhibitor, for the best
pen of Leicesters, Cotswolds, Lincolns, Kentish, or other
Long-woolled breed, in any of the classes, to Lord
Berners, Keythorpe Hall, Leicester — 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs.

A Silver Cup, valve £20, to the exhibitor, for the best
pen of one-year-old South Downs, Hampshire, or Wilt-
shire Downs, to Lord Walsiugham, Merton Hall, Thet-
ford, Norfolk — 6 cwt. 171bs.

A Silver Cup, value £20, to the exhibitor, for the best
pen of Shropshire, Oxfordshire, Cross-bred, or any other
breed of Sheep (not specified in the prize list) in any of
the classes, to J. Overman, Burliam Sutton, Burnham
Market, Norfolk— 7 cwt. 1 qr. 31bs.

A Silver Cup, value £20, to the exhibitor, for the best
pen of Pigs in any of the Classes, to J. Coate, Hammoon,
Blandford, Dorset.

CHAMPION PRIZES.

A Piece of Plate, value £100, to the exhibitor of the
best Beast in the Show, to the Earl of Aylesford, Pack-
ington Hall, Coventry, Warwick — 19 cwt. 2 qrs, 231bs.

A Piece of Plate, value £50, to the exhibitor of the
best pen of Sheep in the Show, to Lord Walsingham,
Merton Hall, Thethford, Norfolk— 6 cwt. 1 qr. 251bs.

A Piece of Plate, value £10, to the exhibitor of the
best single Sheep in extra stock, to W. Brown, llighgate,
Ilolme-on- Spalding Moor, York — 2 cwt. 2 qrs. i71bs.

THE IMPLEMENTS.

This department appears to be increasing in interest
every year. So much is this the case that the entrance of
anything which is not of a really agricultural character
is prohibited l)y the authorities. So rigidly is this
carried out, that Messrs. Aveling and Porter's steam
roller for roads — with which farmers certainly have
much to do — was not considered to be admissible; and com-
ing down to smaller matters, Bradford and Co. stood among
their churus aud weighing apparatus, although their speci-
alties are " Vowel" and other oddly-named washing ma-
chines. The number of stands, as compared with last year,
was in 1808, 192, and this year 208, which were divided
into 31 on the ground floor and 177 on the galleries.

Taking the catalogue as it runs, we find on the first
stand a combined tubular and corrugated boiler, m which
the water is held in horizontal aud perpendicular pipes
and iu corrugated "tubes," each with three " lobes," the
water being free to circulate through small appertures
inside between the indentations, which are constructed so
as not quite to meet. These w'ater spaces between the
three cylinders are stayed, to prevent the sides from col-
lapsing. The object of this boiler is to prevent accidents
from bursting, as well as to economize fuel, which it is
said to do in consequence of the fire passing around
the water in the tubes instead of through a body of water
in which tubes are placed. This is a specimen boiler
made by Kinsey, Norton, Hill, and Co., of Nottingham,
and for it they claim great advantages. Messrs. Howard,
of Bedford, have applied this principle of passing the
heat around water instead of througli it for upwards of
two years. Their boiler is, however, a uniform system of

THE FAEMBR'S MAGAZINE.

49

perpeudicular tubes inserted into horizontal pipes. Tiiesc
joints were originally formed by dropping one pipe into
the other, the matrix being furnished with an India-
rubber ring to prevent leakage. This plan, how-
ever, has been abandoned, for the tubes are now made of
wrought iron and the joints are formed by the ujn-ight
pipes being screwed tightly into the horizontal tubes.
The principle of heating and economizing fuel is of course
the same as described in connection with Messrs. Kiusey
and Co.'s boiler. Which, however, is the more efficient
remains to be decided by actual experiment. Besides
these tubular and combined tubular and corrugated surface
boilers, we are informed that one on the same principle,
but of American invention, has recently been introduced.
Robey and Co., of Lincoln, exhibited a traction portable
and vertical boiler, to which is fitted a patent "governor"
for regulatiug tlie How of steam to the cylinder, whereby
the highest amount of power according to the pi'essure in
the boiler is obtained. This " governor" is placed in the
crank shaft, and woiks horizontally upon the excentric
dii'ect. Messrs. Garrett and Sons, Leiston, keep even
with the times, and show some very elegant and elfective
self-moving steam-engines with the farm machinery which
they are intended for drawing and driving.

A striking novelty, which is as admirable for its sim-
plicity of construction as for its eifective working, is added
to Messrs. Hornsby and Son's reapers and mowers. This
is for throwing the cutting parts of the machine in and
out of gear. It consists in a light and elegant drop catch
attached to the side of the shaft ; this catch falls into,
and holds in its place, the eye of a light rod which runs
to the gearing. By this apparatus the man using the rake
may keep both hands to that implement, and merely by a
trilling motion of his foot throw the gearing in or out, as
may be necessary. Like all simple and eft'ective mechani-
cal contrivances, it seems to be strange that this or some
similar application has not been adopted before.

Passing by Messrs. Barrows and Stewai't's and Messrs.
Tasker and Sons' stands, with the only remark, viz.,
that the former firm exhibited some highly-finished
work in steam engines and other articles, and that
the sound work of the latter in engines, combined
machines, and dressing machines, need no comment,
we come to Messrs. Tuxfordand Son's, of Boston, in con-
nexion with whose stand there are some facts for comment.
The elegant donkey, pouy, one-horse, and other engines
of this firm are well known for their chocolate colour,
fine proportions, and finish. But it is not with the qua-
lity and efficiency of engines and machines with which we
here have to do, for our views are now carried around
the Cape, past Hindostan, and on to the port of Pekin
in the Chinese Empire. By some skilled diplomacy the
Messrs. Tuxford succeeded during the present year in
getting introduced into that country, which was until
recently a " closed nation," several of their smaller
engines, and also some two-horse and three-horse
engines. Last year, or within a recent period, this
international trading would have been an abomina-
tion to the Celestials, and the venturesome trader
who had taken such a liberty with them would have
enjoyed, supposing he was caught in the fact, practical
experience of the manner in which decapitation in
China is performed with the sword at one blow.
Not only, however, did Messrs. Tuxford's English
agents get through the attempt to introduce these
engines, but they succeeded iu turning the event into one
of festivity and rejoicing. These engines were not only
passed through the Imperial Chinese Customs at the port
of Pekin, but they were received with military honours to
no less an extent than a salute of twenty-one Imperial
guns ! In the meantime, the engines were set to work,
and chaff-cutters, mills, and other machinery were driven

in working ordei', to the great astonishment, and iu some
cases disgust, of the natives. In the present dull state of
the home trade this is a charming event for English agri-
cultural engineers, for which reason we have devoted some
length to relating its main points. Some of these engines,
and mills, were purchased by the Chinese Government,
and others were taken by public officials high in authority.

John Fowler and Co. had then- usual stand — excepting
steam-j)loiighs ! A cultivator with wings for working 16
feet wide was shown ; and where land has been once broken
up, this machine will certainly shift it again at a con-
siderable I'ate per hour or day, if it be drawn four or five
miles an hour. Their traction-engines were models of
taste and skill, and the remarkable strength according to
weight which is given them by the steel saddle for carry-
ing the driving-shaft and gearing is not less valuable than
the design ot these saddles is elegant. The winding-
drum, too, is now driven direct from the crank, at the
end of which is fixed the bevel gearing for driving the
spindle. In minor matters we may mention eft'ective
sand caps and collars nowjused on wheels, and a lubricator
for regulating the flow of oil according to speed, which is
a recent invention of one of their mechanics.

The Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth have too good
a standing in their specialities to care for novelties.
Their stand, however, was most imposing ; and Mr.
Barren's, of Thetford, which was next, was quite up to its
usual excellence.

On Messrs. Howard's stand we found a novel applica-
tion of a band-break to a horse-rake, whereby the rake
was made so far self-acting, that a few pounds pressure
on a lever to tighten the band, which encircles the box
of the wheel, causes the teeth to rise rapidly for emptying
themselves. On this stand there was also the tubular
boiler above referred to, and the usual stock of Messrs.
Howard's famous implements which have so long been
before the public.

An improved knife-connecting rod, working on a steel
bar in the centre of the reaper, is shown by the Beverley
Waggon Company. This is so much simpler than the
usual appliances, that this Company can now reduce the
price of their reapers £5. A self-acting reaper was also
shown.

The stand of Messrs. Ransomes, Sims, and Head need
but little description, as the character of their general
articles and specialities is so well known, that to enter
into details would detract, rather than not, from their
world-wide reputation. Two grubbing tines attached to
one of their strong ploughs is, however, a serviceable
application for many purposes, or when the subsoil wants
moving and not turning uppermost.

Other firms of more local celebrity, whose manufactures
are so well known that they would not be made more popular
if discussed at length, will be found in a list below as
having been present with their usual stand. Ascending
the gallery we come almost at once upon Walter A.
AVood's unsurpassed American mowers and reapers ; and
as these are now made in light iron frames, they are as
attractive to look at as they are eft'ective in the corn or
grass field.

Messrs. Amies and Barford were just round the corner,
"going with the sun," and here they exhibited a model, one-
third size, of Campain's self-acting anchor for steam culti-
vation. Amongst its merits over other anchors is one
which consists in its being self-moving when a simple catch
is raised from one of the four notches in a disc at the end
of the tumbling bar. This process is simply as follows :
The hind bar of the frame is made for revolving ; on each
side of this bar are fixed two or three tines which point
into the ground as the anchor proceeds and the shaft
turns. As one set of tines enters, the other is working
oat and rising to come round Bgain in turn. If four

50

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

needles be stuck sidewise through a cork, and another be
passed thi'ough from end to eud,and an attempt be made to
press this cork and needles over a soft surface, by press-
ing it forward with two fingers on the top, the powerful
effect of this anchor may be subsequently imagined. Two
or three tines are used, according to the hardness or
the softness of the soil, and their length or "pitch" is
regulated for suiting similar conditions. As this anchor
is drawn forward by the rope which draws the cultivator,
working round a puUey in the centre, half the draught is
forward and half sideways, or the whole of the di'aught
is towards the corner, which is next the plot of land to be
worked. This divided forward and side draught or pres-
sure towards one corner is the explanation as to why so
insignificant looking an apparatus is capable of preserving
its position when so lightly weighted against the full work-
ing power of a ten or twelve horse engine. Mr.
Campain, who is a practical farmer, and knew what value
this anchor would be ifhe could get it to work, calculates
that a very large saving of labour wiU be practicable with
this anchor, and, also, that more work can be done per
day by 10 per cent., as none of the delays occur which
often happen to the common anchor. Indeed, only the
same number of hands is now required to work the round-
about system with this anchor, as is required for the
direct system,

A notice of some other inventions and improvements
want of space compels us to defer. The following is a
complete list of the exhibitors : —

DOWNSTAIRS DEPARTMENT.

KiNSEY,NoETON, Hill, AND Co., Nottingham. — Six and
eight-horse power horizontal and vertical steam engines ; im-
proved saw bench ; and Kinsey's patent twelve-horse boiler.

RoBEY AND Co., (Limited), Lincoln. — Eight-horse power
traction steam engine ; four and six-horse power vertical engines
on patent " field" boilers ; thrasliing and finishing machine ;
straw elevator ; and improved corn mUl.

Wallis and Stevens, Basingstoke. — Eight-horse power
portable engine ; four-horse power colonial thrashing machine ;
combined finishing and thrashing'machiue ; patent corn screens;
sets of harrows ; gear plough ; and spherial bearings.

Garrett and Sons, Leiston Works, Saxmundham. — Im-
proved eight and ten-horse power self moving agricultural
steam engine ; six, seven, and eight-horse power improved
portable agricultural steam engines ; ten-liorse power steam
cultivating engines ; six and eight-horse power thrashing, dress-
ing, and finishing machines ; Haye's straw elevator ; improved
continuous iron framed stone grinding mill ; Suffolk lever corn
and seed drills ; fore-carriage drill steerage ; lever horse hoes ;
manure drills and distributors ; field and barley rollers ; lever
dragrakes ; chaffcutters ; corn winnowing and dressingmachines;
and improved rick and grain ventilators.

HoRNSBY AND SoNS, Grantham. — Eight-horse power
patent portable steam engine ; combined thrashing machines ;
governor and progress self-raking reapers ; " Paragon,"
" Premier," " Manchester" mowers ; and combined^ mowers
and reapers ; rotary corn screen, turnip cutters, root pulpers ;
" Excelsior" turn-wrist and other ploughs ; improved dressing
machines, and reaper knife, holders and sharpeners.

Barrows and Stewart, Banbury. — Eight-horse pow'er
portable steam engine ; drum thrashing machine, with Penny's
screw ; 4ft. Gin. cattle crib ; india rubber and leather endless
driving bands ; and lever and screw lifting-jacks.

Tasker and Sons, Waterloo Iron Works, Audover. — Six
and eight-horse power portable steam engines ; combined
thrashing machines ; corn dressing machines ; and model of
patent straw elevator.

Tdsford and Sons, Boston. — One, two, three, four, and
ten-horse power improved horizontal cylinder portable steam
engines; ten-horsepower patent house-steepled engine, with
two cylinders ; combined thrashing and dressing machines ;
and improved centrifugal pumps.

Fowler and Co., Steam Plough Works, Leeds.— Ten
and fourteen-liorse power steam-ploughing engine ; eight-
horse power traction engine, on springs ; turnip harrow, for
steam work ; and cultivator.

Clayton and Shuttleworth, Lincoln.— Eight-horse
power portable steam engine ; ten-horse power double-
cylinder engine ; ten-horse power double-cylinder traction
engine ; four-horse power " self-contained" and horizontal
fixed engines ; finishing-thrashing machines ; improved saw-
bench and boring apparatus ; complete " self-contained"
double corn mill ; Gillyatt's patent two-row combined liquid-
manure and turnip drill; sets of adjusting blocks ; sack-lifting
barrows ; lifting jacks ; and rolled-steel beater plates.

Nalder and Nalder (Limited), Chillow Iron Works,
Wantage. — Combined finishing-tlrashing machine.

Burrell, St. Nicholas Works, Thetford. — Eight and
twelve-horse power single-cylinder traction engines.

Undeehill, Newport, Salop. — 6-horse power finishing-
thrashing machine ; patent elevator and corn dresser ;
wrought-iron cultivator ; ploughs ; sheaf-side delivery for
raanual-deUvery reapers ; chain corn driU ; cheese press ; and
horse rake.

Humphries, Pershore. — Combined double-blast finishing-
thrashing machine.

Howard, J. and F., Brittannia Iron Works, Bedford.—
Twelve-horse power steam ploughing and traction engine, with
cultivator and apparatus complete ; set of patent steam-
cidtivating apparatus complete ; sets of patent steam harrows ;
assortment of Champion, Anglo-American, double-furrow,
ridgiug, and other ploughs ; sets of zig-zag, drag, chain, and
jointed harrows ; horse rakes ; patent haymakers ; mowing
machines ; self-acting delivery reaper ; sets of whippletrees ;
and patent safety boiler.

Holaies and Sons, Prospect Place W'orks, Norwich.—
Nine-horse power double-speed traction engine ; eight-horse
power prize portable steam engine ; combined finishing and
single-winnower thrashing machines ; seed sheUer ; circular-
saw table ; large and small corn dressers ; corn, seed, and
manure drills ; barley hummeUer ; manure distributor ; and
corn and seed sowing machines.

The Beverley Iron and Waggon Company (Limited),
Beverley. — " Royal Leicester" prize self-cleansing clod-
crushers and field-rollers ; new one, two, and three-horse
reapers and mowers ; " Royal Newcastle," " Leeds," " York,"
and " Plymouth" prize one and two-horse carts, with harvest
ladders, frames, raves, shelving, &c., complete ; liquid-manure
distributors and water and manure carts ; " Royal Plymouth"
prize waggon for three or four horses ; lurry, drag, or rally,
with patent axles ; sets of patent waggon and cart wheels and
axles ; prize double-roller bone mills ; portable farm-railway
and trucks ; root crusher ; turnip cutter ; and new oilcake
breaker.

Turner, E. R. and F., St, Peter's Iron Works, Ipswich.—
Four, five, six, seven, eight, and 10-horse power portable
steam engines ; thrashing, winnowing, and dressing machines
for four, five, six, seven, and eight-horse power, with steam
engines ; corn, seed, and malt-crushing mills for hand, horse,
and steam power ; bean and malt mills, portable grinding
mills, oilcake breakers, chaff-cutters, gear work for pony, and
horse power with intermediate motion ; and maize and Indian
corn sheller,

Aveling and Porter, Rochester. — Twelve-horse power
(nominal) winding engine for steam ploughing : eight-horse
power agricultural locomotive engine ; and travelling rope-
porter.

Eddingion, a, and W., Chelmsford. — Improved twelve-
horse power steam traction, ploughing, and draining engine ;
seven-horse power portable engine ; water and liquid manure
cart ; pump with hose, &c., complete, and patent strap
fasteners,

A1.LCHIN AND Son, Globe Works, Northampton. — Three
and six-horse power portable steam engines ; assortment of
coils of improved India-rubber cotton endless driving-bands
and suction hose ; leather driving bands ; and set of six iron
screw jacks for portable engines and machines,

Ransomes, Sims, and Head, Ipswich, — Two eight-horse
power portable steam engines ; portable steam finishing-
thrashing machines ; patent rotary self-cleaning adjustable
corn screen ; assortment of Newcastle and Leicester patent
prize ploughs for every description of work ; Biddell's patent
tjean cutters and mills ; improved oilcake breakers ; root
pulpers ; single and double-action turnip-cutters ; and Biddell's
patent Cam and other chafi'-cutters,

AsHBY AND JefereYj Stamford. — Two, four, and sis-

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

51

horse power vertical and poitable steam engines, complete ;
" Palmerstou"' haymaking machine, improved extra large horse
rake, patent wheel hand rakes ; assortment of chaff-cutters,
for haud, horse, and steam power ; bean, oilcake, and styne
grinding and crushing mills : single and double-action turnip-
cutters ; root pulpers ; pair of wrought iron wheels and axles ;
rotating harrows ; and pony, mule, or donkey rakes.

Woods', Cockseuge, and Warner, Suffolk Iron Works,
Stowmarket. — One, two, three, four, six, and seven-horse
power vertical steam engines; assortment of corn-grinding,
universal roller, crushing, bean, pea, malt, linseed and other
mills, for hand, horse, and steam power ; patent root pulpers
for hand or horse power ; single and double-action turnip-
cutters ; chaff-cutters, oilcake breakers; one, two, and four-
liorse gear ; two-horse portable thrashing machine ; horse-
power water pump; barley aveller; agricultural saw bench ;
weed extirpator ; improved general purpose and other carts,
complete ; asphalting apparatus ; and patent hog trouglis.

RusTON, Proctor, and Co., Lincoln. — Two-and-a-half,
eight, ten, and twelve-horse power single and double cylinder
portable steam-engines ; four and six-horse power vertical
steam-engines ; thrashing and finishing dressing machine, pa-
tent straw elevator, corn grinding mill, Woodford's patent
centrifugal pump, and circular self-acting saw benches.

The Reading Iron Works (Limited), Reading. — Twelve-
horse power double cylinder portable engine ; three, six, and
eight-horse power portable engines ; eight and twelve-horse
power fixed engines ; combined finishing-thrashing machines ;
circular saw bench, with boring apparatus ; " clipper" mowing
macliine, with reaping attachments; improved lever liorse-
rake, corn drills, patent gear for horse power, chaff-cutters,
crushing and oilcake mills, and broadcast seed machine.

Marshall, Sons, and Co., Britannia Iron Works, Gains-
borough.— Six and eight-horse power portable steam-engines,
eight-horse power horizontal fixed engine, three and four-
horse power vertical engines, thrashing and finishing-dressing
machines, improved grinding mills for steam power, circular
saw benches, screw-jacks, cranes, and set of adjusting blocks.

GiRBONs, P. AND 11., Wantage, Berks. — A portable com-
bined thrashing machine.

Brown and May, North Wilts Foundry, Devizes. — Two-
and-a-half and eight-horse power portable steam-engines.

Crosskill and Sons, Beverley. — Improved clod-crushers
and field-rollers ; strong and light general work, pony, har-
vest, and liquid manure carts ; improved three ton pair-horse
waggon, twenty-five and thirty cwt., wheels and axles. Bell's
three-horse reaping machine, single and double roller, bone
mills, farm portable railway and trucks, pig troughs, and root
crusher.

Tye, St. Marks' Iron Works, Lincoln. — Single and double
mills, smut machine, millstones, and mill utensils,

THE GALLERIES.

Williams and Co., London. — Patent "Archimedean"
lawn mowers.

Hooper and Co., Covent Garden. — Seed potatoes.

Pierce, London. — An assortment of barrows and garden
engines, pumps, corn bins, cattle troughs, chaff-cutters, and
general farm, domestic, and dairy utensils.

Penny and Co. (Limited), Lincoln. — Plour-dressing ma-
chine, adjustable rotary corn-screens ; malt, lime, gravel, and
coal screens, sack litters, and rolls oi galvanized wire netting.

Gibes and Co., HalC-moon-street, London. — Collection of
dried natural grasses ; specimens of approved kinds of wheat,
barleys, and oats in the ear ; growing samples of meadow and
lawn grasses ; collection of agricultural seeds generally ; and
large assortment of agricultural roots.

Arnold and Sons, London. — Varied assortment of veter-
inary instruments and utensils.

Wheeler and Son, Gloucester. — Collection of roots and
seeds.

Hardon, Manchester. — Samples of condimental food and
patent cake.

GiBBS and Co., Downsteeet, London. — General collection
of agricultural roots, dried grasses, wheats, barleys, oats, and
various agricultural seeds.

Unite, London. — Model of thirty-load rick-cloth; assort-
ment of waterproof cart, load, and other cloths ; samples of
sacks, nose-bags, halters, and reins, netting, and rope ; and
jnodel of marquee for agricultural shows,

Day, Son, and Hewett, Baker-street, London, — A large
collection of stockbreeders' medicine chests and medicines
essential for ready use in the farm-yard and stable; and
pamphlet essays on " Farriery," " Breedinfj and Management
of Sheep," " Rearing of Calves,'! and " Milk Fever in Cows."
Raynbird, Caldecott, Bawtree, Dowling, and Co.,
Basingstoke. — Collection of agricultural seeds, roots, grasses,
feeding stuffs, and artificial manures.

Wright and Son, Great Bentley, Essex. — Samples of agri-
cultural seeds, roots, and grasses.

Alway and Son, London.— Improved milk cooler, variety
of churns, and general dairy utensils.

DuFFiELD, London. — Variety of butter prints, beaters,
knives, and moulds for private or dairy use.

White and Co., London. — Patent artificial dams, for
feeding foals, calves, or lambs ; assortment of oil-feeders,
lubricators, and save-all oil-cans.

Fox and Co., London. — Rolls of galvanized wire netting
for varions service ; cattle, poultry, and ornamental fencing ;
screens, sieves, water-tanks, and liquid manure pump.

Bellamy, Millwall. — Wrought iron painted and galvanized
cisterns, to iiold from fifty to six hundred gallons ; corn bins,
cattle troughs, wrought iron cart bodies, funnel for engine use,
and galvanized oil tank for engine use.

Beach & Co., Dudley. — Farinaceous food for cattle, sheep,
and pigs ; and condiment for horses.

Corbett, Shrewsbury. — Bury prize patent " Eclipse" win-
nowing corn dressing machines, and model of sheep rack.

Cranstone, Hemel Hempstead. — Portable grindstones for
reaper knives.

Davis, London. — Samples of new cattle food, and com-
pressed forage, bran, and hay.

Armstrong, Penritli. — Sets of hght, heavy land, and gene-
ral purpose harrows.

Labkworthy & Co., Worcester. — One and two-wheel iron
ploughs; sets of patent "Excelsior" drags and harrows,
wrought iron cattle cribs, and combined racks for feeding
sheep.

Allnutt, London. — Copies of " Estates Gazette" news-
paper, and specimens of books, &c., relating to agricultural
subjects.

Vallance, Greenwich. — One-horse power gas-engine.
The Agricultural and Horticultural Co-opera-
tive Association (Limited), Manchester. — Samples of lin-
seed and other cakes, artificial manures, and agricultural seeds;
cattle, sheep, and poultry fencing ; sets of improved wrought
iron hurdles, and wrought iron farm gate.

Corbett & Son, Wellington, Salop. — Prize two-and-a-half
horse power vertical oscillating steam engine ; hand and power
grinding mills, pulpers, turnip cutters, and chaff cutter.

Dodge, London. — Assortment of India rubber bolts, ma-
chine bands in various lengths, suction hose, waterproof covers,
asphalte roofing felt, and greenhouse and garden hose pipes
and fittings.

The Driffield and East Riding Pure Linseed Cake

Company (Limited), Driffield. — Samples of pure linseed cake.

Eagles, London. — Four-horse combined vertical boiler and

engine ; one, two, and three-horse horizontal engines, and

patent epicycloidal puUey-blocks.

Ferguson, London. — Slate cattle-trough, manger cistern,
and milk cooler.

Atmospheric Churn Co., London. — Clifton's patent at-
mospheric churn in various sizes, patent milk coolers, revol-
ving milk racks, enamelled iron milk pans, and other dairy-
utensils ; and Talbot's specific mixture for sheep, lambs, and
calves.

Cooke and Co., Lincoln. — New patent colonial and gene-
ral purpose ploughs, and assorted share ploughs.

The Gutta Percha Co., London. — Gutta peroha bands
in various widths for agricultural machines, tubing and suc-
tion hose, shovels, probangs, buckets, measures, watering-cans,
and carboys.

Brown and Co., London. — Samples of oil-feeders, lubri-
cators, belt-fasteners, stable lanterns, and lubricating oils.

Harrison and Son, Leicester. — Collection of agricul-
tural roots, grass seeds, agricultural seeds, dried natural grasses,
various kinds of potatoes.

Lyon, London. — Machines for pulping roots, and for cut-
ting meat and biscuits ; churns for making from two to ten
pounds of butter,

B 2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Eddington and Co., London. — Tarpaulin, canvas, and
waterproof waggon and cart covers ; driving bauds, sheep
netting, sacks, and nose-bags ; and samples of guano, artificial
manures, wheel grease, and engine oils.

Carter and Co., London. — Specimens of agricultural roots,
seeds, and grasses.

Hare and Co., London. — Specimens of electro-printing
blocks for illustrating catalogues, and case of proofs of illus-
trations,

Edgington, London. — Cart, waggon, and rick tarpaulins
and cloths, nose-bags, sacks, garden netting, &c., and model of
marquee for agricultural or other shows.

King, Coggeshall, Essex. — Agricultural roots.

King, London. — Canvas and other hay covers, stable
cloths, sacks, waggon, and cart sheets and covers, leather head
stalls, and horse clothing, netting, sheep-washing aprons, and
canvas horse and cattle cradles.

Sutton and Sons, Reading. — Large collection of natural
grasses, agricultural roots, aud seeds, potatoes, carrots, turnips,
and onions, suited to garden or farm cultivation.

Owens and Co., London. — Improved double-action steam
pumping engine ; Bernay's patent centrifugal pumps ; collec-
tion of pumps for domestic use ; cart and manure pumps,
Casseobury garden engine, and extinguisher ; farm fire engine ;
boring tools, hydraulic ram, and set of model rams.

CoTTAM AND Co., London. — General collection of stable
fittings and utensils, and model of stable.

Hancock, F. and C, Dudley. — Various sizes of Hancock's
patent machines for purifying butter for domestic aud dairy use.

CuLLiNGEORD, Stratford. — Rolls of cocoa-nut fibre and
hemp, sheepfolding and garden-net, wire netting, waggon
cloths, and poultry fencing.

Tinkler, Penrith. — Patent churns to make from ten to
forty lbs. of butter.

BuRNEY AND Co., Millwall. — Wrought-iron cisterns to hold
from one hundred to six hundred gallons ; vvrought-irou water
and manure cart bodies ; wrought-iron cattle troughs ; movable
trough on wheels; strong hog trough; and strong corn
bins.

Weir, London. — Farmer's patent cooking boiler, fitted with
steamer for potatoes, roots, &c.

Barton, London. — Portable stable, and sets of stable fit-
tings aud utensils.

Hancock, Birmingham. — New haymaking machine, new
horse clipper, and machines for purifying butter.

Coultas, Grantham. — Prize general purpose corn liquid
manure, root, and mangold drills.

Ball, North Kilworth. — One-horse cart for general pur-

Tree and Co., London. — Cattle gauges, farmers' slide rules,
draining levels, barometers, thermometers, horse standard, and
horse clipper.

Fardon, Leighton Buzzard. — Six-horse power horizontal
steam-engine ; one-horse power " Vandyke" thrashing ma-
chine ; steerage drills, chaff cutters. Turner's patent cultivator,
ploughs, and oilcake mill.

Gilbert, Shippon, Berks. — Eleven-row improved Suffolk
corn drill, with seed-box to attach.

Neil, Harrison, and Co., London. — " Eureka" smut and
separating machine, and " Excelsior" bran duster.

Norton, London. — Norton and Bowyer's patent wheat
cracker ; Mortlock's millstone, dressing, and levelling machines;
Norton's Abyssinian tube well and pump complete ; and Hawks-
ley's patent cottage pump.

Powis, London. — New patent endless band sawing ma-
chine, complete.

Winder, Farningham. — Machine for folding sheep, where
netting is used, with iron standard, extra roller, and wooden
trough for tarring the netting.

Teigue and Smith, London. — Patent circular rick. cloth
or cover.

Treloar, London. — Netting, stable brushes, nose bags,
mats, rick and cart covers, and cocoa-fibre manure.

Lloyd and Sons, London. — Flour dressing mills for hand,
horse, and steam-power ; corn crushers, corn and linseed
grinding mills, drug mills, and portable corn grinding mills.

Brown and Co., London. — New lawn mowers in various
sizes ; galvanized wire netting for cattle, sheep, poultry, &c. ;
ornamental and garden trellis wire and portable fencing ;
wrought iron hurdles, iron standards^ and straining pillars.

CoRNES AND Co., Barbridge Works, near Nautwich.—
ChafT-cutting machines for hand and power.

WiLDERSPiN, Elsworth, Cambs. — New patent self-acting
horse rake ; and improved lever cultivator, scarifier, and
grubber combined.

Pariiam, Bath. — Specimens of strained wire fence, with
standards and straining pillars, pairs of wrought iron orna-
mental and park gates ; ornamental railway for park or lawns,
and model of improved iron orchard house.

Hughes and Sons, London. — Specimens of French runner
mill and bed stones ; smut machine, provers, stone staff,
brushes, blocks, corn measures, sack barrows, driving bands,
wire, lifting jacks, mahogany and cylinder grindstone and
frame, lard oil, oil feeders, and other mill necessaries.

Peene, Braiutree. — Root pulpers and graters, oilcake
breaker, chaff-cutter, ploughs, hoe, and round p'g troughs.

Denton, Wolverhampton. — Assortment of cliain harrows,
patent adjustable harrow, disc roller, aud vice for reaper
knives.

Lane, London. — Two-and-a-half, four, and six-horse power
steam engines, with fly-wheel complete.

Herbert, London. — Variety of weighing machines and
scales, suitable for farm service ; sets of weights, sets of corn
and seed measures, sack barrows, knives, choppers, and axes.

Tangye Brothers and Holman, London. — One, two,
four, and six-horse power horizontal high-pressure steam
engines, " Special" steam pumps, and buudle of improved
steam suet lubricators.

Head, Wrightson and Co., Stockton-on-Tees. — Moore's
patent pulley blocks and chain.

Rosher, F. and G., London. — Samples of stable-pavings,
bricks, tiles, garden border edgings, drain traps, sinks, roofing
for farm buildings, and agricultural drain pipes and tiles.

Smith, Foston, nea»- Hull. — Patent self-feeding sheep rack,
and improved hay rack.

Johnston, London. — Butter churns, to make from one to
thirty pounds, milk pails and pans, and other dairy utensils.

Spkatt, J. AND Co., London. — Samples of pure fibrine bis-
cuits for dogs and horses, and farina meal for horses, sheep,
and pigs.

Tipper, Birmingham. — "Medicated mystery" for horses,
cows, calves, sheep, pigs, and poultry ; shepherd's black oils,
and waterproof blacking.

Amies, Barford, and Co., Peterborough. — First-prize
corn grinding mills, oilcake mills, farmer's steaming appara-
tus, Camplaiu's patent steam anchor, portable boiler and
steamer, field garden rollers, aud model of patent hay and
straw elevator.

Burgess and Key, London. — Mowing machines for one
and two horses ; combined reaping and mowing machines ; and
reaping machines for sheaf and swathe delivery.

The Tanned Leather Co., London. — Rolls of leather
driving-straps in various widths ; hose, laces, oil tester, patent
test, and powerful fire pumps, steam guage, tallow cup, speed
indicator.

Salmon, London. — Samples of various artificial manures
for root culture, &c.

Simpson and Co., London. — Packets and samples of cattle
spice.
Markall and Son, Loudon. — Machine for sawing and boring.

Smith, Kettering. — Horse hoes, grindstones for reaper and
mower, knives, and general purpose grindstones.

Nicholson, Newark. — One, two, and three-horse power
steam engines, patent haymakers, new horse rake, winnowing
machine, corn elevator, cake mills, for hand and power, sack
lifters, and new patent corn-drilling machine.

Murray and Co., Banff, N.B. — Corn drill sowing machine,
combined double furrow aud subsoil plough, improved chain
pump, and set of zig-zag harrows.

MiLBURN AND Co., Londou. — Portable corn-drying ma-
chine, and samples of dessicated ^rain food for cattle.

Main, London. — Specimens of patent continuous fence,
field gates and piUars, ornamental wire hurdles, and rolls of
galvanized wire netting.

Samuelson and Co., Britannia Works, Banbury. — Self-
raking reaper, combined reapers and grass mowers, one-horse
" Eclipse" mower, single and double action turnip-cutters, and
lawn mowers.

Yarrow and Hedley, London. — Three-and-a-lialf and
five-horse power improved steam-engines,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

53

Hope, Wellingborougli. — Samples of cattle, game, and
poultry food in bags and boxes.

MuBTOJj AND Turner, Kenninghall, Norfolk. — Corn-
dressing machine, twelve-row corn and seed drill, and six-hand
turnip mending drills.

NoRRis AND Co., London. — Rolls of leather belting and
bauds, fire-hose, buckets, laces, band-screws, and boxes of
Buer's patent packing.

Ransome and Co., London. — Weston's patent pulleys and
sack hoists, sets of rope-blocks, lifting jacks, leather driving
bands, steam gauges, weighing machines, grindstones, corn
and Hour bins, steaming apparatus, rick ventilator, and sam-
ples of sheep-dipping specific.

Priest and Woolnougii, Kingston. — Assortment of Nor-
folk, Suffolk, Surrey, manure, and general purpose drills ; pa-
tent lever horse-hoes, and patent barrows.

Bentall, Maldon. — Assortment of patent chaff-cutters,
root-pulpers, slicers, single and double action turnip-cutters,
oilcake mills, corn and seed crushers, two-horse gear and
thrashing machine, ploughs, sets of two and four harrows, and
set of two-horse whippletrees.

Britannia Steam Cultivator Company, Leeds. —
Model of Fiskcn's light rope steam-ploughing tackle.

Sheen, Aylesbury. — Chatt'-cutters for hand, horse, and
steam power ; oUcake breaker, litter and turnip cutters, and
tin shovels.

Maynard, Whittlesford Works, near Cambridge. — Patent
portable power engine, for cutting chalf, &c.

Hepburn and Sons, Southwark. — Single and double end-
less bands, wire-sown ; leather belting, leather hose and
buckets, and india-rubber bands, delivery suction hose, &c.

Gray, Sheffield. — Steel and steel-faced horse-shoes ; knives,
sections, and fingers for reaping and mowing machine ; plougli-
shares and coidters, chafl'-machine knives, turnip-cutters, and
various edge tools for farm and garden use.

Lee, Windlesham, Surrey. — Woodbury's straw-frame bee-
hives, Taylor's improved cottage hives, Payne's improved
hives, centrifugal honey-extracting machine, and collection of
honey in glass boxes.

MoRisoN, London. — Patent hay presses for country districts.

Perkins, Hitchen. — Pairs of three, four, and five beam
liarrows ; and poles for reaping and mowing machines, with
shaft, and startmg and stopping motion complete.

Taylor and Co., London-bridge. — Improved chaff-cutting
machines ; crushing mills, pulpers, and slicers ; grindstones ;
improved winnowing and blowinff machine ; oilcake breakers,
portable boiler for farmers' metallic corn bins, American box
churns and turnip cutters.

Ray, Mead, and Co., London. — Two-and-a-half, three, and
four horse-power steam engines, boiler, and fittings complete ;
corn bins, galvanized iron wheelbarrow, and grindstone mounted
on iron frame.

BoBY, Bury St. Edmund's. — Patent double-action haymaker ;
patent self-cleaning corn screen and stone separators ; patent
corn-dressing machine and screen combined ; barley haveller ;
patent semi-self-acting horse rake ; improved malt, gravel, and
lime screens ; pair of patent plough wheels and stalks ; model
of wire maltkiln floor, and small screen for corn merchant's
office.

AVuitmee and Co., London. — Com crushers and grinding
mills ; portable French burr miUs ; domestic flour mills, chaff'
cutting machines, and flour dressing machines.

Holgate and Co., London. — Leather and indiarubber
millbands, hose pipes, and buckets.

Hill and Smith, Brierley-hill. — Wrought iron slieep racks,
cattle cribs, sheep troughs, wheelbarrows, field and entrance
gates and pillars ; specimen lengths of continuous cattle and
sheep fence ; samples of wrought iron hurdles ; and samples of
galvanized and painted wire netting.

Hay"\vard, Tyler, and Co., London. — Two and eight
horse power horizontal steam engine ; two-horse power vertical
engine ; Jordan's combination steam boiler for horse power ;
patent universal steam pumps ; irrigation pump ; California
farm fire engine and pumps ; assortment of pumps for power,
domestic, and agricultural service ; and water barrows and
garden engines.

WoRssoM AND Co., Londou. — Circular saw table for agri-
cultural purposes only.

Reid and Co., Aberdeen, N.B. — General purpose corn and
seed drills, single-wheel fore-carriage steerage ; improved

marker, and land measure for corn drills ; horse rake, set of
medium harrows, and double-action wire-straining pillar.

Headley and Son, Cambridge. — Assortment of new
hydraulic apparatus for watering roads and extinguishing
fires ; rolls of pijje, portable hand pump, and cattle trough.

CoTTis AND Sons, Epping. — Chaifcutters for hand and
horse power ; expanding and market gardeners' horse-hoes ;
dressing machine ; set of zig-zag harrows, and barrows.

Smyth and Sons, Peasenhall. — Ten-row "Eclipse" and
lever corn drills, and manure drills.

Jones, Gloucester. — Gloucestershire Specific for Sheep ;
composition for waterproofing ; and chemical essence for
wounds in animals,

Eastwood, Blackburn. — Compound action churns, to hold
from one to twelve gallons ; and one two-horse engine with
governors for churning or chaff-cutting.

Matthews, Son, and Co, Drifiield. — Samples of corn feed-
ing cake.

Handley and Co., Stepney. — One pair of French mill
stones, smut machine, and collection of mill necessaries.

GooDAY, Chelmsford. — The patent thatch sewing machine.

Davey, Crofthole, Cornwall. — Two patent " Excefsior"
turnwrest ploughs.

The Farmers' Supply Association (Limited) London. —
Samples of linseed cakes, cattle foods, artificial manures, and
agricultural seeds.

Stones, London. — Rolls of wire winnowing machine work,
corn, manure, and other sieves ; screens, netting, and sack
protectors.

Vul(;an Iron Works Co., Ipswich. — Newly improved
self-acting horserakes, cultivators, sheep-feeding racks, and
agricultural cart.

BouLTON, Norwich. — Liquid manure carts, water and
liquid manure barrows, improved machine for spreading liquid
manure, garden engines, portable and domestic pumps, new
patent lawn mowing machine, assortment of garden chairs,
vanes, game and sheep netting, and two models of green-
houses.

Hart & Co., London. — Weighing machines for agricultural
and general purposes.

Searsley, Ripon, Yorkshire. — Two-horse grass mower,
and one-horse reaper,

Foster and Sons, Witliam, Essex. — Chaff-cutter, oilcake
breakers, turnip cutters, beam mills, cattle troughs, sack
barrow, and heavy bottle jack.

Follows and Bate, Manchester. — Assortment of lawn
mowers, portable stand for reaper knives, grindstones, Man-
chester povA'erful pump, and weighing machines.

WoOFE, Bedford. — Improved general purpose plough.

Waide, Leeds. — Barrel churns, to make from J to 401bs.
of butter.

Trowbridge, London. — Agricultural weighing machines
scales, and weights ; and set of seed measures.

KiTTMER, Fulstow, Lincolnshire. — Corn dressing and blow-
ing machine, and combined dressing and blowing machine.

Hunt and Pickering, Leicester. — Steel roller corn-
crushers, grist mills, oilcake breakers, chaff cutters, root
pulpers, one-horse gearing, turnip cutters, one and two
horse mowers and reapers, models of liquid manure cart and
cultivator, pair of -ift. millstones, roller punches, and model
of vessel for the transit of milk.

Hodgson, Louth, Lincolnshire. — Sets of harrows, bundles
of digging and manure forks, general purpose plough, and
corn hoe and scarifier.

GiBBS, Woodford, Essex. — Models of patent hay and wheat
dryer, and specimens of dried hay.

Reeves R. .vnd J., Brattan Iron Works, Westbury. —
Chandler's and economical liquid manure and seed drills,
thirteen-coulter seed drill, broadcast manure distributors, im-
proved water carts, and harrow pumps and pipes.

Hill, Westbury. — Specimens of agricultural seeds and
roots.

Reynolds, London. — Poultry fencing, hurdles, coops,
poultry troughs, seed protectors, and galvanized wire netting.

Carson and Toone, Warminster.— Chaff-cutting engines,
patent turnip-cutters, oilcake crushers, horse hoes, cheese
presses, and two-horse gear.

Baker, Compton, Berks. — Liquid manure cart, pump with
suction hose, improved manure distributor, and water cart on
wood wheels.

54>

fHE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

Riches and Watts, Norwich. — American grist mills,
"Eureka" griudiug mills, "Slar" griuding and crusiiing mills,
manure pumps and distributors, cider mill and wine presser,
lever drag rake, sheep rack, horse works, oilcake breaker,
American ploughs. Child's aspirator, California separator,
chaif-cutters, dressing machine, and seed drill.

Hayes and Son, Peterborough. — Manchester, Plymouth,
and Paris Exhibition first prize one and two-borse carts and
waggons.

Le Butt, Bury St. Edmunds. — " Cliampion" double-action
hay-making machines, patent corn and malt screens, collection
of registered hand drills, humane hurdle for lambs, mower
knife rest, and the perfect watering-pot.

Warren, Maldon, Essex. — Chaff cutters for hand and
power, oilcake mills, single action turnip cutter, iron and
wood beam plouglis, horse rake, and wearing parts for ploughs.

Saw^ney, Beverley. — Prize winnowing machines, sheep
racks, grindstones, sack holders and sack trucks, one-horse
reaping machine, reaper knife stand, and sack elevator.

James, Cheltenham. — Prize liquid manure distributors, with
pumps and suction pipes complete, liquid manure pumps, bone
crusher for hand and horse power, and an assortment of gap-
ping drills.

Wedlake, Romford, Essex. — Three horse power portable
Bteam engine, one and two horse gear patent haymaker, im-
proved horse rake, chaff cutters, portable corn mills, and cir-
cular saw bench.

Cambridge, Bristol. — Patent and improved rollers, sets of
Seamen's and chain harrows, winnowing machine sieves, three-
wheel land presser, improved one and two horse gear, and
improved horse rake.

BRY.VN, Corcoran, and Co., Mark-lane, London. — Sam-
ples of Prench burr stones, French runner millstones and bed-
stones, smut and wheat cleaning machines, mahogany flour
cylinder, model of silk flour dressing machine, weighing ma-
chine, cradle flour scales, stone staffs and proofs, jack stick
with spirit level, models of malt kiln, corn measures, chron-
drometer, shovels, brushes, and large collection of miscellaneous
articles and utensils required by millers.

HoBB, Basingstoke. — Improved two-horse gear, chaff cutters,
oilcake and bean mills, oat crushers, corn mills, sack elevators,
and horse hoes.

Baxl and Son, Kettering. — Royal Agricultural prize wag-
gons and carts, patent "Criterion" prize ploughs, improved
leader scarifiers, and sets of iron chain harrows.

Rollins, London. — American self side delivery reaper,
spring tooth wheel horserake, American haymakers, ther-
mometer churns, ploughs, corn shelter, sack weighing ma-
chines, hay forks, ox yokes, American scythe stones, force and
other pumps, garden rakes and hoes, hydraulic rams, and
garden and fire engines.

Wood, London. — One and two-horse improved mower ;
two-horse combined mower and reaper ; new one-horae reaper ;
and IN'ova Scotia grindstone for mowers.

Hurst, Earls Colne, Essex. — Steam-power clover and
trefoil seed drawer ; one and tvifo horse power gear, with inter-
mediate motion ; corn and seed dressing machine ; oilcake
breaker; single-action turnip cutter; disc root pulpers ; and
turnip seed, clover, and grass drills.

Page and Co., Bedford.— Chaff-cutting machine for hand
and horse power ; set o-f horse gear; linseed cake, bean, and
oat mills ; root pulpers ; turnip cutters ; and sets of
harrows.

Bamlett, Thirsk. — Prize swarthe-delivery reaper ; ons-
horse reaper; two-horse graas mower; two-horse combined
mower and reaper ; and stand to sliarpen knife bars.

Clayton, Son, and Hoavlett, London. — Double-chamber
drain-pipe, tile, and brick machine ; patent brick die, self-
delivery l)rick cutting table ; hand-power brick press ; concrete
moulder ; and various models of macliines in connection with
brickmaking.

The St. Pancras Iron Works, London.— General collec-
tion of stable luruiture, fittings, and utensils, and sheep and
cattle hurdles.

Dell, London. — Wheat cleaner, smut machine, and separator
combined; smut machines ; French-burr millstones ; weighing
machines ; sacks, and trucks.

PiCKSLEY, Sims, and Co. (Limited), Leigh, Lancashire.
— Assortment of chaff-cutters, for hand, horse, or steam-
power; turnip-cutters, strippers and sheers; oilcake, bean,

oat, and other mills ; pony and horse gear, one-horse standard
reaper, two-horse combined reaper and mower, two-horse
standard mower, and new patent standard self-raking reaping
machine.

Bradford, London. — Various sizes of Bradford's patent
churns ; improved box-churns ; sets of improved butter uten-
sils, pulley blocks, portable weighing machines, " Manchester"
fire pump, and improved vertical steam boiler.

Richmond and Chandler, Salford. — Variety of chaff-
cutters for hand and power ; assortment of corn crushers ;
newly improved one and two- horse gear, and steaming ap-
paratus.

Coleman and Morton, Chelmsford. — Three prize cul-
tivators ; improved water or liquid manure cart with pump
and distributor ; hand water cart ; oilcake cutters for hand or
steam power ; rotary corn screen ; improved one-horse gear,
patent horse pitchfork or elevator, and samples of shares for
cultivators.

Baker, Wisbeach. — Winnowing machines.

Smith and Grace, Thrapstone. — Collection of grist
mills of various power ; bean, oat, and cake mUls ; and
chaff-cutters.

Braggins, Banbury. — Specimens of ornamental entrance
and field gates, patent gate lock, and sample board of miscel-
laneous bolts and screws.

SMITHFIELD CLUB DINNER.

The annual dinner of the Smithfield Club took place on the
Monday afternoon, at half-past tour, in the large dining-room
of the Agricultural Hall, His Grace the Duke of Marl-
borough presiding. Tiie attendance reached to about 100.

On the conclusion of dinner, the President rose and said
the first toast that he had to propose to them was one which
in an assembly of English gentlemen needed no comment.
He should therefore, without further preface, simply ask them
to fill their glasses, and to drink with all the honours the
health of the greatest lady patroness of agriculture in this or
any other country, her Most Gracious Sovereign the Queen
(loud cheers, followed by tliree times three).

The President then said the next toast which he had to
give was one of peculiar interest on that gratifying occasion.
He had to propose the health of His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and the rest of the
Royal Family. They were reminded that Her Royal High-
ness the Princess had just presented her Royal Consort, and
he might say the nation, with another pledge of affection ; it
was an event therefore which they must take peculiarly to
themselves, as well as congratulate the Royal pair upon the
happy circumstance (Hear, hear). But he needed no words
to recommend to their acceptance the toast of His Royal
Highness, because he had endeared himself to the country
generally by his urbane and popular manners, and especially
as regarded the interests of that Club. He had contributed
very largely, and in the most public spirited manner, to the
show which had commenced that day (Hear, hear). He
asked, then, that they would join him in drinking congratula-
tion to His Royal Highness and his very good health, with
that of the Princess and the rest of the Royal family (cheers).

The President : It is now my pleasing duty to propose to
you the toast which may be considered the toast of the even-
ing, and 1 am sure that if ever a wish conveyed in a toast has
been gratified, that which I now propose to you — namely,
" Success to the Smithfield Club" — has been fully realised on
this occasion. Year after year you have drunk " Success to
the Smithfield Club," and year after year I think you have
had abundant evidence that the wish has been ampty fulfilled
(Hear, hear). We have seen the Smithfield Club rising from
its small beginnings, gradually developing itself, and increas-
ing more and more in usefulness, in prosperity, and in the
public estimation, until at last it has become one of the most
important, if not the most important of the agricultural as-
sociations in the kingdom (cheers). I should scarcely place
it in competition by the side of its sister institution, the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, because, ante-dating as it
does in its origin the origin of that Society, 1 hold this to be
as the senior the more important of the two. Still, it is pleas-
ing to think that there are two societies of this character, both
conferring an equal benefit upon the population of this couuu

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

65

try ; both traversing a road full of usefulness and of scientific
improvement ; and both adding year by year to the prosperity
of tlie nation at large (cheers). In the fioyal Agricultural
Society we have an institution which promotes the breeding of
animals all over the country, and in the Smithfield Club we
have an institution which promotes and fosters their breeding
and feeding, and their conversion to those uses which are most
valuable to mankind. Well, gentlemen, I think I may say that
our wishes have been fully gratified in this respect. The show
of stock which we have seen to-day, those which have preceded
it, and I have no doubt others which are to follow, all testify
to the wisdom of those who originated the society, and furnish
an example not only to ourselves, but to foreign nations how
great we are in the production of the first necessary of life
— namely, food (cheers). But let us not rest contented with
the advances which we have hitherto made. Tliere is still an
enormous field for Englishmen and English agriculturists to
occupy. Wlien you consider the important problem of
obtaining a supply of food for the vast population, the ever-
increasing population of this country, it is no light thing to
say that we have it in our power to occupy, and to fully
occupy, that field. I should be the last person to say that you
ought by any means whatever to restrict the importation of
foreign cattle for the supply of the domestic wants of the
people of England, or that you should by any artificial means
enhance the price of that food which is the first necessary of
life. At the same time I feel that we are embarked in a fair
and an honourable field of competition, and when we reflect
upon the enormous supplies of foreign food which come into
the country, we may, I think, put before ourselves this propo-
sition— that here we have a competitor in the foreigner, and
that by means of improved modes of breeding, feeding, and
increasing the quality of our stock we may occupy a consi-
derable portion of the ground which has been conceded to
him (Hear, hear). One thing which has struck me par-
ticularly in reviewing the operations of this society is, that I
am satisfied, and I believe that most of the gentlemen who
hear me will agree with me, that oue of the principal elements
in the prosperity of British Agriculture consists in the feeding
of cattle (Hear, hear). This being so, it ought to be a matter
of the greatest consideration with us how we can make that
feeding of cattle more general throughout the country. It
cannot, I think, be denied that to a great extent the feeding
of cattle, of which we see the results in such exhibitions as
that in the adjoining Hall, is carried on by persons of consi-
derable means, who have devoted a large portion of their time
and attention to the subject, but that it is confined to a
comparatively small class. Now I do hope that in future years
the effect of the operations of this society and of any new
measures that may be taken to advance the object wliich we
have in view, wiU be to make the feeding of cattle much
more general (Hear, hear). I have in my eye, and I could name
farm upon farm where I know the greatest possible benefit
would be derived by the farmer, a man of limited means, if lie
could only be induced to feed four, five, or a half-dozen head
of cattle ; whereas, generally speaking, upon small farms the
farmer confines himself to a small flock of sheep, because they
require little or no trouble, whilst the feeding of cattle is com-
paratively, and in a great degree, neglected. I hope that in
future we shall not restrict the operations of tliis society
merely to the encouragement of scientific stock-feeding, which
I admit is very beautiful to see, and of which we witness the
results under this roof in the most perfect manner ; but I
should like to see steps taken to enlarge tlie area of this feeding
of stock, and to make the British farmer of small means
sensible to the great advantage to himself, to his landlord, and
to the country of feeding a small quantum of cattle and sending
it to our great markets for consumption by the population of
this country (cheers). I wiU not detain you with any more
observations of a practical kind ; but echoing the sentiments
with which I began, I am sure you will concur with me in
drinking that which must be nearest to the hearts and wishes
of us all — " Success to the Smithfield Club." [The toast was
drunk with enthusiastic applause.]

The Honorary Secretary (Mr. Brandreth Gibes) then
read the Judges' award of the cups and champion prizes.

The President then called upon the company as an in-
cumbent duty to drink the health of the winners, and wish
them joy in the success they had so honourably gained. With
the toast he connected the name of Lord Walsingham, and it
was received with loud cheers.

On Lord Walsingiiam rising to return thanks the applause
was renewed with increased vigour. His lordship said, I
really feel overpowered by the kindness with which you have
received me. I certainly do appear to have been extremely
successful, but I take to myself very little credit for it, and
wish the credit to go where it is due, namely, to the able and
energetic men who manage my affairs, and have brought my
flock to its present condition (Hear, hear). I came up to town
this morning, with the knowledge that I had some pretty good
sheep in the yard, and when I entered it I found myself
awarded the first prize for each of the three pens which I had
shown, a silver cup, and that other handsome prize which the
society has given for the first time this year to the best
animal of its kind (cheers). Regarding the show as a whole, I
think the general opinion seems to be that it is a fair
average one. There are certainly some very beautiful animals
there, and, upon the whole, it is a fine exhibition of stock.
In particular, I admire the row of Devons, which looks so fine
and beautiful (Hear, hear). Now, gentlemen, in tliese times,
when corn is cheap and meat is dear, it is of the greatest im-
portance to the farming interest that we should have breeds of
cattle and sheep that will produce the largest possible amount
of mutton and beef with as little bone as possible ; and, if we
take the animals which we have seen here to-day as a type of
the animals which are in every part of the kingdom, or at
least in every county iu the kingdom, I think we may fairly
boast that Great Britain and Ireland possess a very large
quantity of the finest stock that it is possible to produce
(Hear, hear). I believe that even now, however, there is
room for improvement, and that it is possible iu the course of
years, which I may not live to see, that the stock of this coun-
try will still very much improve (Hear, hear). There is oue
animal in the yard which is very different from those I have
alluded to. I mean the animal which is described as a South
American beast (a laugh) . I think we may take him to be
the type of a very different description — the type, in short, of
what our stock would be if there had been no such institutions
in existence as the Smithfield Club and the Royal Agricultural
Society of England to stimulate the farmers of this country to
produce such magnificent animals as they do (Hear, hear) ;
and I fancy that it would take a good many more animals
such as that to feed the large population of this kingdom
(Hear, hear, and laughter). You have aU had an opportunity
of seeing him, and I hope that I have not formed a too un-
favourable opinion of him (Hear, hear). Before resuming
my seat, the order of the day being that we should not make
long speeches, I may be allowed to propose a toast which I
have the greatest pleasure in doing, and that is the health of
our noble President, the Duke of Marlborough (loud cheers).
I know that my noble friend takes great interest in farming,
although he has not been able to exhibit anything at your
show to-day ; but the noble Duke, who has served his country
as a Minister of the Crown so ably and so well, condescends to
take an interest in matters which are perhaps not quite of the
importance of those with which he has been conversant iu
that capacity, though of great importance to the general bene-
fit of the community, and therefore I beg to give you the
health of his Grace the President (prolonged cheering).

The PRESIUE^•T : It is with heartfelt sincerity that I thank
you, not only for the honour you have been good enough to do
me in drinking my health, but for the kindness and indulgence
with which you accepted me as your president for this year.
I confess myself to be only a new and recent member of the
Club. Partly from circumstances which have prevented me
from engaging earlier in the pursuit of agriculture, and partly
from other causes, I have not been able to take that scientific
and continued interest in farming operations and the feeding of
cattle which has been the happy privilege of my noble friend
Lord Walsingham and many gentlemen present, but I can as-
sure you that it has not produced iu me any less regard for or
less sense of the deep importance of agriculture to this
country. I have a very large stake in agriculture ; my atten-
tion is constantly fixed upon an extensive farm of my own, and
it has been a subject of mucli regret to me that it has not fallen
to my lot on this occasion to be a competitor in your hall,
That, however, is attributable to an accident which has oc-
curred, and but for which I had fuUy intended to have offered
a humble contribution to the beautiful show which we have
seen to-day (Hear, liear). In expressing my acknowledgment
to you it is also due from me to return my thanks to those
members of the Council with whom I have been associated, and

66

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

lioin wlioiii 1 liavc rcceivetl tlie utmost co-operation and as-
sistance. Believe nic I siiall always look back upon the year of
my presidency as one of great honour and distinction. It is a
subject of great gratification to me tliat the society is ending
this year of its existence, and is about to enter a new one in a
position of no less prosperity and importance than at the be-
ginning of the year, and tliat in entering on the new year it
will do so under the presidency of my noble friend Lord
Towis, who is not less interested in agriculture, and who will
bring to the conduct of the affairs of tlie Clnb an amount of in-
telligence that will make him acceptable to you, and ensure for
the Club an equal if not a greater amount of prosperity than
heretofore.

Lord Denman proposed the " Health of the president elect,
the vice-presidents, and the trustees." He might safely say
tliat the improvement of stock was the main object of every
owner of laud who had the interest of his tenants at heart;
and from what he knew of the president elect, he might ven-
ture to predict that no Scotchman would be allowed to carry
off the prize for Shropshire Downs another year without a
severe struggle (Hear, hear).

Earl Powis (the president elect), said I have to thank you
on the part of the vice-presidents and trustees as well as my-
self for the honour you have done us. It is a source of great
satisfaction to all the officers of this Club to see that the show
commends itself year by year to those who visit it, and that it
expanded itself in importance and influence as soon as it ob-
tained adequate room in this very fine building. I must con-
gratulate you upon the success which has attended its removal
eastward, and also upon that very excellent building in which
we hold it as being of itself a monument of agricultural enter-
prise. I trust that,next year, when I havethe honour of presiding
over the Club I shall have the pleasure of meeting all of you
again, and tliat everyonewill bring a comrade with him (cheers).

Mr. ToRR, in returning thanks for the trustees, observed that
all testimony concurred in declaring that the show was an ex-
cellent one. As an extensive breeder of Shorthorns himself
he felt proud of the fact that they had carried off the two best
prizes in the cattle classes (Hear, hear) ; but turning to the
sheep he could hardly imagine the Leicesters and Southdowns
coining into competition with each other on fair and equal
grounds (Hear, hear). He had no doubt, however, that Lord
Walsingham's pen of Downs hud rightly won, and that Lord
Berners' pen of Leicesters had rightly lost ; still, if there were
to be champion prizes for sheep he held that the Downs and
Leicesters could not be put in competition. With regard to
what the president had said on the subject of feeding cattle on
small farms, he did not look forward to much being done in
that respect for the present, and judging from the results of
his own practice, he found that the feeding of sheep yielded a
profit when he looked in vain for profit from cattle (Hear, hear).

Mr. J. Clayden gave " The health of the judges." for whom

Mr. W. H. Keaky (Bridgenorth), one of the judges of
cattle, responded. He would like to take that opportunity
of reminding the critics of the press that they should be
somewhat tender in finding fault with the awards of the
judges; they ought to bear in mind that whilst they
saw through a telescope, the merits and defects were
brought under the eyes of the judges through a microscope
The judges had the opportunity of looking minutely into
every condition and aspect of the animals, whereas
those public writers who only saw them in passing up
and down the alleys of the show-yard, could only speak from a
very cursory view, and so formed an imperfect judgment on
the merits of the animals (Hear, hear). On the whole he
congratulated the Club upon having a good average show.
He would not say that he had not seen larger, and he certainly
had seen better animals take the gold medals and higher prizes
than those which had been successful that day ; but the Club
might be congratulated upon having fulfilled its mission of
producing a large amount of food at early maturity. If they
looked back to the shows of 30 years ago,whenthey were held in
Goswell-street, he thought they would agree with him that
the meat now shown u])on animals three or three and a-lialf
years old was a sufficient proof that the Club had fulfilled its
mission (cheers).

The remaining toasts were the " Stewards" and the " Hon.
Secretary, proposed by Mr. C. Howard, and responded to by
Mr Painter and Mr. Brandreth Gibbs ; and "The
Butchers, which was given by Mr. T. BooTU. The com-
pany then separated.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SMITH-
FIELD CLUB.

The annual meeting of the members of the Smithfie.ld Club
took place on the Tuesday in the Agricultural Hall, and was
well attended. The Chair was taken by the President, His
Grace the Duke of Marlborough.

The Honorary Secretary, Mr. Braudreth Gibbs, after
reading the minutes of the preceding meeting, which were
confirmed, read the following :

REPORT, 1869.

The Council beg to lay before the General Meeting their
Annual Report for the past year. The Council have held
three Meetings, all of which liave as usual been extremely
well attended. In addition to the ordinary routine business of
the Club, the following subjects have had their consideration :

The revision of the Prize Sheet for the present Show.
The Council, considering that the Smithfield Club ought as
the national society to offer sufficient inducement to exhibitors
to send the finest specimens of different breeds to its shows,
determined to offer, in addition to the regular premiums, a
Champion Prize consisting of a Piece of Plate, value £100, for
the best beast in the yard. This champion prize has been won
by the Right Hon. the Earl of Aylesford, who thus takes for
his shorthorned steer the following : The Champion Plate,
value £100 ; the Silver Cup as the best in the classes, £40 ;
the First Prize in its class, £30 ; and the Gold Medal to the
breeder.

A similar Champion Prize, value £50, is offered for the
best pen of sheep in the yard, thus bringing all the breeds and
crosses into competition.

The winner of this is the Right Hon. Lord Walsingham,
who takes as loUows : — The Champion Plate, value £50, the
Silver Cup for the best Pen of Sheep in the show, £20, the
Pirst Prize in the class, £20, and a Silver Medal to the
breeder.

The Council, taking into consideration the great merit of
many of the single sheep shown in the various divisions of
Extra Stock, determined to carry out the same principal as
regards a champion prize. A Piece of Plate, value £10, has
therefore been offered for the best Single Sheep in the extra
stock generally.

This has been won by Mr. "Wm. Brown.

Several additions have been made in the Prizes for Devons,
Herefords, Shorthorns, and Sussex. New Classes for two-year-
old sheep have been added in the Hampshire or AViltshire, and
also in the Oxfordshire divisions. A Third Prize for the
Ryland, Cheviot, and Dorset sheep has been given, and two
Medals for Extra Stock sheep, Shortwools not Southdowns,
viz., one for the best Wether, one for the best Ewe.

The following alteration was made in the rule respecting
pigs, viz. : —

That in place of the disqualification being final when the
state of the dentition is not satisfactory, the following nile has
been substituted :

" If the dentition shall indicate that the age of any of the
pigs has been incorrectly returned in the certificates,
the stewards shall call upon the exhibitor to prove to
their satisfaction the correctness of his certificate."

In consequence of the large number of exhibitors who have
been in the habit of paying the non-members' fees for the
privilege of competing for prizes, thus only contributing to the
funds of the Club in those years when they had animals to
exhibit, the Council determined to raise the non-members' fee
to Two Guineas.

The result has been an addition to the funds for the present
show of £132 6s., whilst several old exhibitors have now
become members of the Club.

In compliance with the Resolution of the General Meeting
last year altering the bye-laws, the Judges have this year been
appointed by the Judges Selection Committee from the list of
nominations sent in by the Members of Council.

This Committee consisted of the President and Stewards of
Live Stock.

The Council recommend to the General Meeting the follow-
ing alteration in the bye-laws, viz., " That instead of a Council
Meeting being held in March as required in the bye-laws, such
meeting shall be held in February."

By this means matters standing over from the Show can be
settled witliout unnecessary delay, and the Prize Sheet can be

THE FARMEtl'S MAaAZINE.

67

issued at an earlier date. This will be a great conveuieuce to
those who are about to prepare animals for exhibition.

Attention having been called to the unsatisfactory state of
the fittings of the sheep pens and the pig hurdles, the Council
communicated with the Directors of the Agricultural Hall
Company, who has caused au entirely new set of pig fittings
to be constructed. By a fresh arrangement of the pens the
drainage ran now be properly regulated, and by a modification
in the sheep iittings the large breeds of sheep are now provided
with pens of increased size.

It having been found that a cold luncheon on the Tuesday of
the Show was not well attended last year, and also that the
former practice of having the Anniversary Dinner on the
Wednesday was equally unsuccessful, the Council determined
that the dinner should take place ou Monday after the comple-
tion of the Judges' Award. 1'he Council anticipated that large
numbers of the members, exhibitors, and others taking interest
in the Club would be in the hall on that day, and would
therefore be likely to attend. The subject of the dinner will
receive the attention of the Council at its next meeting.

The Lords of the Privy Council have again granted the
special permission allowing animals exhibited at the Club
Show to be removed beyoiul the metropolitan boundary. A
Certificate, signed by one of the Club's Veterinary Inspectors,
must be obtained, attesting that the animals to be so removed
does not exhibit any indication of infectious or contagious
disease.

The Council lay before the Meeting the Annual Audited
Balance Sheet of the Club from the 1st December, 1868, to
1st December, 3869. The balances in the hands of the
Bankers and the hon. Secretary together amount to £2,692
Is. 4d., and the Stock in the Three per Cent. Consols to
£4,384) Is. Id. In conclusion the Council cordially con-
gratulats the members ou the continued prosperity of the Club,
and also on its having been honoured by a visit from His
Royal Higliness the Prince of Wales ou Monday morning last.

ABSTRACT OF BALANCE SHEET from December 1st,
1868, to December 1st, 1869.
Receipts.
Balance in hand of Bankers, Dec.,

1863 £2,672 18 8

Balance in hand Hon. Secretary ... 14 1 10

£2,687 0 6

Received by Bankers — Dividends... 119 6 9

Ditto Subscriptions 2 2 0

By Hon. Secretary of Agricultural
HaU Company, Show, 1868 ... 1,000 0 0

Lite Compositions 52 10 0

Subscriptions 330 15 0

Pines for Non- exhibitors, 1868 ... 28 0 0

Payments for Implement Stands,

1869 1,647 9 0

Non-Members Fees Live Stock, 1869 264 12 0

Prize last year's deficit not cashed..

EXPBNDITURB.

Prizes Show, 1868 £2,000

0

0

Silver Cups ... ditto 160

0

0

Medals ditto 131

0

0

Rewards to Feeders ditto 60

0

0

£6,131 15 3
5 0 0

£6,136 15 3

£2,351 0 0

Stewards' Fees 80 0 0

Judges' Fees 105 0 0

Veterinary Inspector 25 10 0

Pass Master and Inspector of Im-
plements 15 8 0

Report on Live Stock 15 0 0

Bills, Printing, Advertising, and
various as per detailed account ...

Assistant Secretary, Clerks, Pos-
tage, &c, as per detailed statement

Life Compositions Invested

Cattle Weighing Machine, Iron
Safe, &c

Balance at Bankers, Dec. let, 1869 £2,671 0 5
Balance in hands of Hon. Secretary 21 Oil

Invested in Three per Cent. Consols Stock.... £4,384 1 1

240 18 0
332 4 4

145 10 7
294 0 0

81

1

0

£3.444 13 11
2,692 1 4

£6,136

15

3

On the motion of the Chairman, the Report was unani-
mously adopted.

Mr. ToMi said he had great pleasure in nominating the
Marquis of Exeter as a fit and proper person to fill the office
of President-Elect, in other words, President for 1871. The
noble Marquis was very earnest in regard to agricultural
matters. Most of them were no doubt old enough to remem-
ber that the late Marquis took great interest in everything re-
lating to agriculture, and that besides being a great breeder of
cattle and sheep, he was a great breeder of race-horses. The
present Marquis was equally fond of agriculture, and he (Mr.
Torr) was convinced that he would perform the duties of the
ofiice of President with satisfaction to the Club, and with
credit to himself (cheers).

The Earl of Hardwicke : Is racing connected with agri-
culture? (laughter).

Mr. Torr : Well, the winner of the last Derby and of the
Two Thousand Guineas Stakes — Pretender — was bred by a
small farmer in the neighboorhood of Doncaster (Hear, hear,
and laughter).

Mr. PAiNTi,R having seconded the nomination, it was car-
ried unanimously.

On the motion of Mr. Joseph Druce, seconded by Mr.
Turner, the Vice-Presidents were re-elected.

On the motion of Lord Walsingham, seconded by Lord
Tredegar, Mr. Barnett, Mr, Joseph Druce, and Mr. Torr
were re-elected trustees.

Viscount Bridport, in proposing the re-election of the
Honorary Secretary, said he was quite sure they could never
get a better, and he had very great pleasure in proposing his
re-election (cheers).

The motion was seconded by Mr. Crosskill, and adopted
unanimously.

The members of the Council retiring by rotation were Mr.
John Baldwin, Mr. Richard Hornsby, Sir. E. W. Moore, Mr.
C. Sewell Read, M.P., Mr. William Sanday, Mr. H. Thurnall,
Mr. J. S. Turner, and Mr. Owen Wallis.

The following house list of new members proposed for
election was adopted unanimously :
Mr. J. D. Allen, Pythouse, Tisbury, Salisbury
Mr. Joseph Druce, Eynsham, Oxon

Mr. Thomas Duckham, Baysham Court, Ross, Herefordshire
Mr. Walter Farthing, Stowey Court, Bridgwater
Mr. William Rigden, Hove, Brighton
Mr. Richard Stratton, Burderop, Swindon
Mr. Thomas Twitchell, Willington, Bedford
Mr. Henry Webb, Streetly Hall, Linton, Cambs.

The business on the agenda paper having terminated with the
election of several new members,

Lord Walsingham proposed a vote of thanks to his Grace
the Duke of Marlborough for his kindness in attending the
meeting, and his conduct in the chair.

Mr. Painter seconded the motion, which was carried by
acclamation.

The Chairman said he felt very grateful for the honour
which the Club had done him by electing him president of the
Club during this year, and for the confidence which had been
reposed in him ; and it had afforded him great pleasure to
render what humble assistance he could, while at the same time
obtaining a greater insight into the working of the business o f
the Club. He was glad that on the termination of his year
of office he was to have so excellent a successor (cheers).

The meeting then separated

THE MANAGEMEITT OF THE
SMITHFIELD CLUB.

Nothing can be more unsatisfactory, not to say dis-
creditable, than the condition into which the conduct of
the Smithfield Club C.attle Show is gradually drifting.
On the face of it the Council of the Club would appear
to have entered into a contract with the Agricultural HaU
Company, ou the strength of which agreement that
building is for a certain space of time handed over to the
coutrol of the Stewards of the Club. But in point of

68

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

fact this is not so. It would, iudceJ, be very difficult now
to say where the chief power centres. The Couucil of
the Club has passed certain rules and regulations, which it
is the duty of the Stewards and the Honorary Secretary to
see properly carried out. Previous to the meeting opening
to the public very stringent measures have been enacted
as to keeping people out. But people are not kept out.
Owners, or their relatives, agents, bailiifs, herdsmen, and
others, who have no right to be in the Hall, nevertheless get
into the Hall, where they not merely look to the comforts
of their own beasts or sheep, but frequently put up the
entries of other exhibitors. Of course this is manifestly
unfair to those who do not get in ; while the very natural
question whicli arises is how so experienced and efficient
a director as Mr. Brandreth Gibbs should ever countenance
such unwarrantable intrusion ? But fm-ther, the Press
generally is favoured with an invitation to attend on the
^londay moi'uing when the show actually opens, the card
forwarded implying, or more directly intimating, that no
representative of a newspaper will be earlier admitted.
But it is not so. For some week or so previous the
reporter of one daily Paper has the run of the
Hall ; or it would look, indeed, as if he did everything
but sleep there, the best of something to eat and drink
being hospitably provided him. During these preliminary
proceedings he exercises his avocation, more especially
over the implements which are in the course
of arrangement ; and in performing this office
he sees occasion to speak continually in the highest pos-
sible terms of one certain stand or so, the exhibitor of
which has, curiously enough, something to do with the
Agricultural Hall Company. Of course, again, this is
manifestly unfair. If the repoi'ter of any particular
Paper is to enjoy a privilege beyond his fellows,
sm-ely somebody should see to the way in which he dis-
charges his trust ; and when, morning after morning, we
find the same firm or two belauded, and all the other im-
plement makers left out in the cold shade, we say un-
hesitatingly that such a violation of the orders of the
Club is a gross injustice to those other exhibitors of agri-
cultural machinery. If it were paid for there could not
be a more palpable advertisement than this preliminary
notice too frequently assumes.

But further still. Let us say that, being anxious to
make the most of the time before us, always remembering
that our own Journal is published on Monday afternoon —
let us say that under such pressure we applied to Mr.
Brandreth Gibbs for leave 1o walk through the Hall on
the Sunday after the animals had been placed ready
for the judges on the following morning. The reply, as
we imagine, would be that no such request could be pos-
sibly granted, that no one but the Stewards and the at-
tendants could be admitted, and so on. But this, unfor-
tunately, is not the fact. According to his ov^-n showing the
reporter of this said Paper was in the Hall on the Sunday
night, to see a sight that " was afforded to a very few pair
of eyes." And then he goes on to say the place was
" unusually quiet" — that it was " perfectly ventilated" —
that " the improvements were manifest," and to throw out
other such puft's direct, not so much for the Club
but for the Company's shillings. " In the great
Hall," as his graphic pen runs on, "most of the
animals littered down for the night were carefully
swathed and wrapped ; but their points could be
very well distinguished ;" and he proceeds accordingly to
prophesy there and then that the winner of the 100 gs.,
or, in other words, the best animal in the Show will be
— a beast which took a third prize in its class ! However
well primed, it will thus be seen that at the Hall's own
Correspondent did not take much by his visit ; but this,
of course, is not the point. If one reporter be passed
in, why should not others ? It must be understood that

we speak by no means feelingly on this matter ; for, as
Members of the Club, we can now always ensure a look
over the classes while these are before the judges on the
Monday, and when we can see a deal more than when the
animals are "in their rug-paletots and neat canvas
suits." But beyond this even, is it worth while to turn
the Sunday into a private view ? would the exhibitors like
it ? or would not the beasts be all the better by being left
alone ? Some years since there was a horse show in this
very Hall, when by way of currying favom* in the " very
few pairs of eyes" of certain Frenchmen, valuable horses
were pulled out and bucketed about on the Sunday, a
select performance that was immediately followed by the
proffering of apologies, and the voting of censures.

And is the Smithfield Club to come to this ? Is the
show to be made a Sunday show for the Agricultural
Hall people, and their own reporter ? Strict disciplina-
rian as we know him to be, straightforward and im-
partial as we believe him to be, we cannot think that
^Ir. Brandi-eth Gibbs has had any hand in this business.
On the contrary, we believe that unwarrantable liber-
ties and encroachments are being taken by people
who have no share in the management of the Smith-
field Club Show. The Agricultural Hall is, or
should be, in possession of the Stewards of the
club, and until the first five shillings be paid not a person
should be passed in but under the order of the stewards
or of the Club Secretary. Have any of these gentlemen
given any particular person the run of the place and his
teeth before he had any right to enter? We do not
think it. But what we do think and know is that one of
the Stewards has found the thing so intolerable, has seen
the encroachments so rapidly increasing, that he has
brought the matter before the Council, with a determi-
nation that, if the abuse be not repressed, he will act no
longer.

AVith ten or twenty, forty or fifty apt journalists at
work, every man will be pretty certain to get fair play ;
with one, most probably ludicrously ignorant of that he
is doing, everything will depend upon how he is crammed
by this salesman or that showman. Indeed, it is to the
showmen and salesmen that all the credit of the Smith-
field Club is fast coming. "We gather fi'om " our own"
daily Paper, towards the close of last week, that the Show
had gone off exceedingly well, " a fact highly creditable
to those who have laboured in promoting the success."
And who are those ? Men like Mr. Painter, Mr. Henry
Overman, Mr. Turner, Mr. Beazley, Mr. Brandreth
Gibbs, and others who have given their time and labour for
days or weeks or months past to so successful an issue ?
Certainly not ; hut our gratitude, we hear, is more espe-
cially due to " the perfected arrangements and straightfor-
ward task" of the secretary of the Agricultural Hall, and
to " the experience and untiring services" of the sub-
secretary, and to " the chairman of the Hall Company,"
and to Mr. This, the butcher, and to Mr. That, the
salesman, and so forth. Only last year the thing went
a little further, when it was propounded, in the largest
type, that one of the Hall directors, who was not a
Member of Parliament, should be made a ISIember for
his own county forthwith ! Such ludicrous, clumsy
puffs as these do not, of course, tell for much, but they
are significant. They serve to point pretty clearly to
the source from which " our own correspondent"
gets his priming and his privileges ; while we
quite agree with The Daily Telegraph, which, in a
farewell notice of the show, on Saturday, says :
" A vexatious, and not by any means honest or justifi-
able practice, noticeable more and more each year, has
now attained sirch general prominence, that no doubt the
necessity of imposing some efl'ectual check will be recog-
nised by that highly respectable but rather inert body,

THE FAEMEE'S MAaAZIKE.

59

tlie Smitlifield Club." This, of course, cuts all sorts
of ways, for there may be more than one practice,
not by any means honest or justiliable, connected
with the conduct of the Smithfield Club ; and we
heartily join in the hope that " this highly respectable,

but rather inert body" — mark the passing sneer — will
see the necessity of imposiug some effectual check. It
shall certainly not be our fault if, not merely as journalist
but as members of the Club, something be not done, as
there is a deal more to be said ou the subject.

THE METEOPOLITAN GKEAT CHRISTMAS CATTLE MARKET.

Although the past season is generally admitted to have
been a very favourable one for stock rearing, we confess
that we were somewhat disappointed in the results as
shown at to-day's cattle market. Certainly there were
some extremely tine animals exhibited, but the general
quality was scarcely equal to the average of years.
This is the more surprising as the funds at the command
of graziers must be large ; as, notwithstanding the losses
entailed by the great drought of 1868, the very favour-
able character of the past season has again placed grazing
farms at a great advantage. While the past season has
proved disastrous to wheat farmers, grazers have been
greatly benefited by its humid character, and have been
enabled to dispense largely with the assistance[of artificial
feeding stuffs. Up to a very late period the pastures
afforded a good bite of grass for the cattle, and this is a
consideration of very great importance. Possibly this fact
has been presumed upon too much, and the cattle
may not have received artificial food in sufficient
quantity, towards the close, to bring them rapidly to matu-
rity. There were undoubtedly some very prime animals
exhibited, especially among the cross-breds, but the pure-
breds — which, however, were limited in number — were
not generally in good condition. Most breeds were fairly
represented, but, as regards numerical strength, the Short-
horns and crosses came first. Some of the finest animals
exhibited were of these classes, and their character spoke
volumes of the great advance which has been made not
only in breeding but in grazing, as a science. The show
of Herefords was not extensive, but many of the animals
were of great weight, and sold at very full prices. The
general character of our markets seems stamped for the
future, and a large preponderance of cross-bred animals
may, from the large remuneration offering by them, be
generally expected. The small number of Devons on sale
were of fair character, but scarcely up to previous years,
either as to quality or weight. A few North-Dcvons on
the stands, however, compared very favourably with any
of that breed that we remember to have seen. Very
few pure Welsh animals were on ofl'er, but they were
generally in prime condition ; while the old Sussex
breed was scarcely represented. Now that the
system of crossing is carried to an extent alto-
gether unanticipated, it is necessary to cry out against
the total annihilation of those good old breeds which
formerly bore a high reputation in the Smithfield market,
bat which now stand in imminent danger. The great
difference between the pure and the cross-breeds, as
marketable commodities, and the rapidity with which the
latter are made ready for market, as compared with the
time and expense necessary to bring the former into con-
dirion, is the obvious explanation of this state of things,
and on this account the danger is more threatening.

The Scotch graziers kept up their reputation at this
morning's market. Some wonderfully fine animals came
to hand, both pure and cross-breds, and the North British
graziers must be acknowledged to be a-head of the
Southern competitors in this particular department. We
do not mean to assert that there were no English fat
Beasts in the market to compare with the Scotch animals,

but we hold that the latter as a class carried oft' the palm.
The Scotch season commenced late this year and the early
arrivals were certainly not such as to create any extra-
ordinary impressions of future supplies, but the quality of
the Beasts at this morning's market has quite dissipated
these forebodings, and there is reason to believe that
Scotland will continue to supply us with excellent Beef
throughout the season.

The number of mongrel animals continues to diminish
year by year. The " in-and-in" system has proved itself
altogether unremunerative, and further attempts in this
direction will now in all probability be abandoned.

A marked improvement was noticeable in the quality of
the foreign animals, those from Tonning being especially
good. The French Beasts also were of good character,
but the general quality of the foreign arrivals was suffi-
cient to prove that continental graziers are still far be-
hind English breeders in their art.

From Ireland om- receipts were to a fair extent, but
there was no feature of importance to notice in regard to
the animals themselves.

The following return shows the number of Beasts ex-
hibited, and the prices realized for them on the " great
days " during the last 28 years : —

Year.
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868

Beasts shown. s.

.... 4,500 3

.... 4,541 3

.... 4,510 3

.... 5,713 4

.... 5,326 3

.... 4,570 4

.... 4,282 3

.... 5,942 3

5,765
6,341
6,103
6,271
7,037

6,181 3

7,000 3

6,748 3

6,856 3

6,424 3

7,560 3

7,860 3

8,840 3

8,430 3

10,370 3

7,130 3

7,530 3

7,340 3

8,110 3

5.320 3

d.

8 to
4 to
8 to
0 to
6 to
0 to
4 to
4 to
4 to
0 to
8 to
8 to 4
2 to 4
6 to
8 to
4 to
4 to
4 to
6 to
4 to
4 to
4 to
6 to
8 to
4 to
8 to
4 to
4 to

We now proceed to particularize the best portion of
this morning's market.

Mr. George Dickson's alley was the centre of great
attraction, being well stocked with about 350 Scotch-fed
Beasts of prime quality. The principal lots from Aber-
deenshii'e were forwarded by Messrs. Knowles, Wishart,

60

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Wyslie, Reicl, Beddie, Mitchell, Frost, Bruce, and Shand.
Those from Banft'shire were consigned by Messrs. Long-
more, Stodart, Milne, and others. Mr. Dickson had also
ou sale 12 superior animals forwarded by Mr. Scott, of
YokieshiO, Mintton. To test the capability of the new
cattle truck, one-half of the latter was sent in an im-
proved, and the other half in an ordinary truck, but both
lots arrived in extremely good condition.

Messrs. Giblett and Son had also a remarkably fine
show of animals, among which were 36 extraordinary
animals consigned by Mr. McCombie, M.P., of Tillyford,
which reached, on the average, £40 each. Messrs. J.
Martin, Wm. Mennie of Huntly, Reid of Greystone,
Skinner of Aberdeen, were also well represented at the
stand. About 150 very excellent French Beasts were
disposed of by Messrs. Giblett.

Messrs. Maydwell and Hoyland had some excellent
beasts ou offer, the property of Messrs. Reid and Elmslie,
of Greystone, Vale of Alford ; Messrs. "VVallis and
Strachan, of Turriff ; and of Mr. Bryan, of Uppingham.

Mr. T. Duckworth had a good show of beasts, among
which was a fine lot of 35 animals forwarded by Mr.
J. Hill, of Coatbetch, near Lutterworth.

Mr. Thomas Dixon, had some very fine beasts from
Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, and Scotland.

Mr. Yorley's stand was occupied by a fine collection of
animals, and Mr. Wolton and Mr. Walsh had some choice
beasts from various parts of the country.

Large supplies of Sheep came to hand, and their general
character was good. At Messrs. Lintott and Son's stand
there was a fine show of Southdowns, forwarded from
Herts, Surrey, Sussex, and Hants.

Messrs. Walby had some choice Sheep consigned by
Mr. Palmer, of Benjo, near Hertford, and by Messrs.
AVoollett and T. Smith, of Sandridge.

Mr. Dodd exhibited some fine Sheep, the property of
Messrs. House, Nash, King, and Aldworth.

There was a good show at Mr. John Weall's pens,
received from Herts and Berks.

Mr. J. ColUns, Mr. Kingsley, Mr. Guerricr, Mr.
Eland, Mr. Corfe, and Mr. C. Burrell had some fine Sheep
on sale.

STATE OF THE TRADE.

The inquiry for Beasts was not animated, and the
market opened very quietly. Some time must elapse
before the animals can be slaughtered for Christmas con-
sumption ; and, meantime, London butchers will be under
a disadvantage as regards keep. The dead meat trade
ruled d>ill ; nevertheless, the attendance of butchers
became fairly numerous ; so, as sales progressed, sales-
men showed more frmness, and prices advanced slightly
over those current on Monday last. Very choice Scotch
and cross-bred Beasts realize 5s. lOd. per 81bs. ; but we
regard this as quite the top figure.

The arrivals of Beasts were distributed as follows :
From Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire,
about 2,200 Shorthorns, &c. ; from Norfolk, Suffolk,
Essex, and Cambridge, about 1,900 Scots and crosses ;
from Scotland, 1,320 excellent animals; from other parts
of England, 1,320 of various breeds ; and from Ireland,
about 900 Oxen, Cows, &c.

Notwithstanding the increased number on sale, the
Mutton trade was fairly active, and last week's currencies
were weU supported, though seldom exceeded. Really
l^rime Southdowns and half-breds changed hands at
5s. lOd. per 81bs.

Calves sold freely at fully late rates ; and Pork was
steady in price.

Per Slbs., to sink the offal.

8. d. », d.

Coarse and inferior Beasts 3 4 to 3 10

Second quality ditto 4 0 4 8

Prime large Oxen 4 10 5 6

Prime Scots 6 8 5 10

Coarse and inferior Sheep 3 6 4 3

Second quality ditto 4 4 5 4

Prime coarse-woolled ditto 5 2 5 6

Prime Southdown ditto 5 6 5 10

Large coarse Calves 4 0 5 0

Prime small do 5 4 6 3

Large Hogs 4 6 5 4

Neat Small Porkers 5 6 6 3

Statement and Comparison of the "Great Days,"
Showing tue Supplies and Prices of Fat Stock
Exhibited and Disposed or on the " Great Days ;"
at the Metropolitan Cattle Market in 1868 and
1869.

Per 81bs., to sink the offal.

Dec. 14, 1868. Dec. 13, 1869.
g. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Coarse and inferior Beasts 3 4 to 3 8 3 4 to 3 10

Second quality ditto 3 10 4 6 4 0 4 8

Prime large Oxen 4 8 5 4 4 10 5 6

Prime Scots, &c 5 6 5 8 5 8 5 10

Coarse and inferior Sheep 3 2 3 8 3 6 4 2

Second quality ditto 3 10 4 6 4 4 5 4

Prime coarse-woolled ditto 4 8 5 0 5 2 5 6

Prime Southdown ditto ... 5 2 5 6 5 6 5 10

Large coarse Calves 3 8 4 8 4 0 5 0

Prime small ditto 4 10 5 10 5 4 6 2

LargeHogs 3 6 4 10 4 6 5 4

Neat small Porkers 3 10 4 8 5 6 6 2

THE YORK SALE OF SHORTHORNS.— Mr. Dodd's

second conglomerate sale of Shorthorns was, if anj'tlung, less
successful than the first, wliicli he attempted in the Sea-Horse
Inu-yard last year. Nearly twenty more animals swelled the
catalogue than were offered last year, and the proceedings
began at half-past 13 in a field close to the York Fat Show
Hall ; but it was dim twilight and a scattered ring-side, ere
the last — a red yearling bull of Major Stapylton's, and bred
from Lord Feversham's stock — was knocked down at 16 gs. !
The first five cows were all sold to butchers for about market
value. Some cattle Ijelongiug to the late Mr. Dawson, of
Weston Hall, of Grand Duchess fame, were brought out in
good trim, and were apparently useful animals of capital blood.
Two, Savanuali and Ada, were bought by Major Stapylton
respectively at 56 guineas and 40 guineas, and Beauty (a
white) went to Mr. Singleton for 40 guineas. Thorndale
Lad (23066), a Herd-Book picture bull of Bates' blood, made
82 guineas (Mr. T. Larabe), and Marquis (36835) went to the
Earl of Zetland for 35 guineas. Lord Milton (36685), bred
by Captain Gunter (of the Wild Eyes tribe) for which it was
reported a hundred had been asked privately, made the
astounding figure of 39 guineas, and goes into Essex ; whilst
another roan ten mouths calf by Fourth Duke of Thorndale
was knocked down to Mr. Cattley for 36 guineas. A white
yearling of Mr. Baxter's of Bates' blood on sire and dam's side
reached 15|- guineas, after being the winner of three premiums.
Some of the lots were not sent up for sale, and a duU, damp
day made the proceedings if anything more miserable.

SALES OF CATTLE AT THE NORTHERN COUN-
TIES FAT SHOW CLUB.— The cross ox, from Ardilhe,
sold for £70 ; the first-prize three-year-old polled ox, from
Morayston, was bought for £53 ; the first prize two-year-old
do. for £76 ; the second prize do. for £47 ; one of the prize
lot of four crosses was bought for £37 ; the first prize two-
year-old heifer for £40 : the Morayston first prize Shorthorn
ox for £36 10s. ; the first prize polled ox under two years sold
for £38, and the second prize for £35 ; the second prize two-
year-old slot sold for £34, and the first prize heifer for £36 ;
tlie Ardross crosses sold at from £33 to £44 ; the six-quarter-
old crosses from Wester Lovat sold at £35 and £36 ; Raig-
more's Highland two-year-old ox for £36. In sheep, Elliot
and Co.'s pen of crosses, which carried tlie Highland Society's
medal, sold for 03s. each ; the first prize Cheviot wethers for
67s. ; the first prize blackfaccd wethers for 71s., and the second
prize lot from Corriemony for 63s.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

61

THE YORK FAT CATTLE SHOW.

The thirteenth annual Meeting of this Society has been lield
in York on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, December 7,
8, and 9. The attendance during the day lias been very select,
being principally the gentry and leading farmers of the county,
but in the evening the citizens in great numbers attended ; so
that the financial affairs of the Institution will be left in a
healthy state after receipts and expenses have been balanced.

The entries were as follows: Cattle, 09; sheep, 26 ; pigs,
64 ; poultry, 334 ; pigeons, 147 ; roots, 09. These
numbers are more than an average of previous years.
Being held at the same time as the Smithfield Club Show the
York exhibition is necessarily shorn of some of its attractions
in the shape of animals that have been sent to the Metro-
politan meeting in preference to the one held in the county.
Taking into account this circumstance and the prevalence of
disease amongst cattle, which has had a tendency to prevent
animals being sent from home in railway trucks for fear of
catching infection, we think that Yorkshire has come for-
ward favourably in filling the stalls here with a capital and by
no means small selection of animals, well worthy of examina-
tion by breeders and feeders. The show at York has always
one speciality of considerable interest : it is a court of appeal,
in which objections to the ruling at Leeds, during tlie pre-
vious week, can be reviewed and revised occasionally. In this
instance this revision has taken place in several classes, with
results, perhaps we may be allowed to mention, precisely as
we predicted, and in others corroborative of the opinions
which we then expressed. These instances we shall meet with
as we go through the classes.

The character of the Shorthorn exhibition may be defined
as moderate in number, but excellent in merit. The three
first classes of Shorthorns, thus brought out 15 animals, out
of which the judges distinguished with prizes and commenda-
tions 13 ; a fact that at once demonstrates the character of
the competition.

In the aged ox class, the winner was Mr. Wiley's roan
Shorthorn, which was beaten at Leeds in the Tenant farmers'
class by the black-butcher beast belonging to Mr. Reid, Aber-
deen. Our opinion on this, is it not written ? Verily there
is not a stain on his Shorthorn skin of the representative of
Brandsby by his inglorious tussle with the half-caste. He is
now in his proper place at the head of his class. We de-
scribed his " merits" and his " frailties" last week. The second
prize is a wealthy fat ox, worthy of his position, a capital
carcass, but wanting in style. For the ox under three years
old the competition was very close ; and the contest in our
opinion must have waxed warm, and there must have been
" many minds" as to merit even in three judges, when we
have in a class of eight three prize animals, one highly com-
mended, and three high commendations, leaving only one ani-
mal " out in the cold !"

The first beast is a " new light," and makes his first appear-
ance on any stage on this occasion. We guess, however, that
it is not " for once only," as he is likely to uphold the honour
of his house for some time to come. He is the property of Mr.
G. Taylor, of Bridlington, and is 2 years and 7 months old.
He is an upstanding, gay-looking fellow, in fact an exquisite,
of the Shorthorn family. His colour is rich, and his hair and
handling soft^as fur, yet firm as India-rubber, smooth as mole-
skin, yet rough to the eye — breeders know it when they meet
with it. It is here, however, and, in combination with the
other points of rare merit — his wonderful crops and shoulders,
and first-rate figure generally — have secured to him the first
prize in his class, and the President's Cup, value £25 for the
best ox in the Shorthorn classes. With so many merits we
may venture to name his weak place — his breast-point, and be-
tween his hips and tail, both being deficient. We think, also,
more weight may possibly bring him down in the middle. The
second prize is the property of Lord Zetland. He is 2 years 11
months old, a good red, and the truest-made carcass of beef
in the whole show. His hips are not covered merely, but lost,
and his form that of a mighty beer-barrel without any protube-
rances. He is very heavy, and his quality is good , he is deep-

chested, and stands wide, in fact, he is just the notion of "two
single gentlemen rolled into one" — if George Coleman's idea
were to be realized. Many, very many, place him first ; he is,
however, deficient in style, has a coarse head, and his quarters
from hip to tail are rather short ; anyhow he looks queer
about his tail, and wants an inch adding there, and also across
his hips. We thiuk, however, he is put in his proper place.
The next prize animal, belouging to Mr. T. Kuowles, Aberdeen,
has really not a shadow of a claim to his present position —
the third animal — an ox belonging to Mr. Drysdale,
who obtained h. c. at Leeds, whom we described as a " true
made animal, and fully entitled to the honour." The Earl of
Zetland only just beats him. How Mr. Knowles has slipped
in third we cannot imagine ; but lioni/s Jlomen/s donnitat !
The three commended animals belong to Mr. Knowles, Mr.
Wood (Thrapstou), and Col. Markham (Aberford). The last
we described last week ; and the two others are good average
animals. Altogether the class is one such as is rarely seen,
and the judges must have had considerable difficulty in fixing
the relative places of first-class animals of such dissimilar
styles.

The cow class contained only four, and these four the same
quartette we noticed so fuUy at Leeds. Lord I'aversham's
Slayflower is here placed first, Mr. Willis's celebrated Hose of
Lucknow second. Sir W. C. Trevelyan's red cow 4 years and
6 months old third. This trio of rare merit we fully described
in our Leeds report, and we must therefore refer our readers
to that for any information as to the personal attractions of
all the three, simply saying they are all beauties.

" How happy could we be with either,
Were t'other dear charmer away,"

was the position and the feeling of the examiners on this oc-
casion. The decision, however, was given as above ; confirm-
ing the Leeds position of Mayflower, and elevating Rose of
Lucknow above Sir Walter Trevelyan's cow. Our remarks on
the Leeds decision last week were : " The Rose of Lucknow is
thus beaten by two new aspirants. In one case the decision is
sure to be reversed, in the other it possibly may." The best
Shorthorn heifer was Sir W. C. Trevelyan's neat little maiden,
2 years and 3 months old. She is pretty in form, with the
best possible quality of flesh and handling. The second ani-
mal of Mr. Reid's is 3 years and 8- mouths old, very fat but
patchy, with light hind-quarters, and quite another tiling to
the winner.

The cross breeds were 10, in two classes. Mr. MacPherson's
ox, the winner of the champion cup at Leeds, of course wins
here, as best cross-bred ox not exceeding 4 years, and the ten
guinea cup for the best cross-bred animal, male or female. Sir
W. Trevelyan is placed second to him here, as at Leeds, with
the same good level Highland ox with a very slight dash of
something else in him. The cross-bred cow or heifer is Mr.
Bruce's capital blue-black, full of the best of beef and a very
great weigher in a little room. He won the same prize at Leeds.

In the Tenant Farmers' Classes a capital ox the property of
Mr. Thornton, of Stapleton, won the first. He has the fine
style and character of a ShorthorUj though not quite so fat as
his competitor, a red and white ox shown by Mr. W. Kirby
Wilberfoss, which obtained the second honours. The winner
has fine frame, straight top, long quarters, good middle and
breast end, but has a light ueck, and is not fleshy on his vib.
The second ox is good in places, but his back is rather
hard, and his rump and outliit of beef very deficient.
Mr. William Hill, of AVetherby, took first for Shorthorn
heifer or cow in the Tenants' Class, with the cow with which
he won the same prize at Leeds. She is a weigher in every
part, and finishes an honourable career here, having been a
prize-taker both at Leeds and York last year. She wins the
cup, also value 10 gs., as best Shorthorn in the Tenants'
Classes. Mr. Fisher's second prize cow is a very good animal.
The best heifer of any breed, except Shorthorn, is Mr. Lund's,
of York ; and a clever Highlanderer, of truer frame and symme-
try thau we have seen out this year, She is not nearly up to

62

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

the mark yet in fatness, and will come again and " take
honours" some day.

The Scotch breeds produced very small competition. Mr.
Eeid, Aberdeen, took first and second os prizes, and first and
second for heifers, walking over without competition in one
case, and beating Sir W. Trevelyan's black heifer in the other.
The same animals met at Leeds, and the judges did not award
a second prize.

Por Highland ox, and for Highland cow or heifer, the
entries were precisely the same as at Leeds, and the awards
also were similar ; Mr. Drysdale and Sir Walter being first
and second for the ox class, and Mr. Eastwood and Sir Walter
first and second for heifers. These animals we described last
week.

The district prizes for " tenants residing within twenty
miles of York," were two, and a cup, value 13 guineas, given
by Sir Walter Trevelyan. This cup and the first prize, for best
cow or heifer, Mr. William Hill, Wetherley, secured with the
beautiful heifer that won the heifer prize in the Tenant-
farmers' Class, at Leeds. This animal has the most beef, of
the best quality, and the lightest bone of any animal in the
yard, and is much too good for her class. With his four years old
cow and this heifer, Mr. Hill scores four first prizes and three
silver cups at Leeds and York this season, independent of his
premiums for pigs and sheep. Verily he is an old cricketer, and
knows where to place his men in the field, when he has a good
team in hand.

The sheep are a good display, and more numerous than at
Leeds ; but the winners are nearly the same animals. We pro-
tested against the giving the cup for the best sheep in tlie
yard at Leeds to cross-breds from Fochabers, against the ])ure-
breds of Mr. Jordan, or Mr. Byron, Sleaford. We still say
that " unless a cross-bred animal is strikingly superior to a
pure-bred one, the award ought to go to the pure-bred." And
it has been so here ; Mr. Jordan getting the cup for the " best
pen of sheep" against the Leeds cross-bred winners from
Fochabers. Mr. Jordan took first for wethers ; and Mr.
Brown, Holrae-on-Spalding, the second with sheep yet more
of the Leicester than Mr. Jordan's ; still, as fat sheep, Mr.
Jordan wins cleverly. The Southdown and horned Scotch
were only moderate. The cross-breds of Mr. Hunter, of
Fochabers, N.B., of course took first and second in their class,
though they failed for the cup very properly. Mr. Jordan
took " best fat sheep " with a famous animal ; Lord Weulock
the second prize ; and Mr. Brown showed a "commended"
fat wether, to our mind a type of the breed of real improved
Leicester, of which Mr. Jordan's sheep is an mnplijied, and it
may be improved, specimen.

Tlie show of pigs is, as usual here, good in point of numbers
and quality. There is a local pig-society here, called the Old
Ebor, which acts as a feeder to the Cliristraas Show. Mr.
Duckering took first in the large, the middle, and the small
beeds severally ; his small-bred sow Little Queen, in our
r«port of the Leeds Show we proclaimed " the queen of
beauty in these lists," although she did not then get the
cup for the best pig in the yard. At York, however,
she is chosen out of sixty-four to be the " best animal
in the pig-classes," and has the sheriflF's cup awarded
to her. Could we " spot" the Derby winner in this way, we
might attain the dignity of a prophet. Mr. Duckering has sold
his three prize animals, winners of endless numbers of prizes,
and of treble firsts here, viz., first large, first middle, and first
small breed, and also of the Cup — and three other of his show
animals to a butcher at Barnsley. The price is 6|d. per lb.
live weight. This shop will be a sight worth seeing when the
six pigs are hung up.

The young bull prizes (special) produced capital competition,
there being 14 entries in the two classes. Mr. W. Linton's
young animal, winner in the calf class, and Mr. Worslcy's in
the yearlings, are most promising animals.

The young boars, small breed, were a good class.

Poultry, pigeons, and rabbits, were a large show. It was
simply Birraiughani and Leeds over again with the weeds
picked out, and a few fresh pens added. The entry, therefore,
of 550 in these classes is really a large one.

The Judges were, for cattle, H. Ambler, Watkinson Hall,
Halifax ; H. Peacock, Mount Yale, York ; and R. Fawcett,
Osbaldwick. For sheep, G. Robson, Shires Bar, Easingwold ;
and J. Holiday, Barmston, Bridhngton. For pigs, J. Knowles,
Wetherby ; and T. B. Whitwell, Gate Helmsley. For poultry,

R. Teebay, lulwood, Preston. For roots, W. W. Wilberforce,
Stockton Hermitage ; G. Hutchinson, Prospect House, York ;
and F. Dickson, Heslington.

EDmBURGH CHRISTMAS CLUB SHOW.

The third exhibition of fat stock of the Edinburgh Christmas
Club was opened on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the Agricultural
Hall, Leven-street. Taken throughout, the show was one of
great merit.

The cattle classes were of course the great centre of attrac-
tion. Of cross oxen exceeding three years of age there was a
splendid show, the first premium being awarded to a superb
brown and white ox exhibited by Mr. M'Combie, M.P., Tilly-
four. Thisanimal was shortly afterwards sold for £70. Of Short-
horn oxen not exceeding tiiree years, the first prize was given to a
fine, compact-looking red ox, shown by Mr. Knowles, Aber-
deen. In the polled section, the first place was given to a
black ox, the property of Mr. Walker, Altyre, Forres. Of
dairy cows there was a large and excellent display, the chief
prizes falling to Mr. Hope, Duddingstone, and Mr. Porteous,
Merchiston, respectively.

Of sheep. Lord Strathraore's first-prize blackfaced wedders
were a very fine lot, one of them especially being as well
covered over the back as any Leicester, and otherwise a
very symmetrical and well-proportioned animal. Lord Sondes
showed a lot of Southdowns, pure-bred wedders, which were
commended recently at Birmingham. On handling, several
of them seemed very defective in the back, and they compared
badly with the wedder classes, both of Cheviots and Blackfaces,

Subjoined is a list of the judges :

Bullocks. — Messrs. Jo;ias Wellbank, Berwick ; J.M'Inally,
Glasgow ; and James Wilson, 146, George-street, Edinburgh.

Cows a:nd Heifers. — Messrs. Christopher Edmonstone,
Bradford ; Pattison Young, Penrith ; and James Harrison,
Skipton.

Sheep. — Messrs. Joseph W. Ruddock, Berwick ; John
M'Conie, Glasgow ; and Andrew Wright, Corstorphine.

Pigs. — Mr. Peter Goose, Leeds.
PRIZES.

Shorthorn oxen, not exceeding three years. — First prize, T.
Knowles, Aberdeen ; second, W. Drysdale, Kilrie, Kinghorn.

Shorthorn oxen, exceeding three years old. — Prize, P. Puntin,
Aberlady, Drem.

Polled Angus, Galloway, or Aberdeen oxen, not exceeding
four years old — First prize, R. Walker, Altyre, Forres ; second,
R. Bruce, Newton of Struthers, Forres.

Cross oxen, not exceeding three years old. — First prize, W.
Drysdale ; second, D. Beveridge, Buckthorne, Largo.

Cross oxen, exceeding three years old. — First prize, W.
M'Combie, M.P., Tillyfour ; second, J. and W. Martin, New-
Market, Aberdeen.

Highland oxen, age considered. — First prize, W. Drysdale
second. Earl of Southesk.

Heifers of any breed, exceeding two, but not exceeding
three years old. — First prize, Wm. Drysdale, Kilrie ; second,
H. Sim, Ardullie.

Heifers of any breed, exceeding three years old. — First
prize, A. Cowie, Crombly Bank, Ellon ; second, H. Knowles,
Aberdeen.

Cows of any pure breed. — First prize, A. J. Balfour, "Rliit-
tingham ; second, C. Lyall, Old Montrose.

Cows of any cross breed. — First prize, the Duke of Buc-
cleuch ; second, P. Beattie, Dimnydeer, Insch.

Dairy cows, any breed, quality especially to be considered.
— First prize, James Hope, Duddingston ; second, A. Porteous,
Merchiston.

Messrs. Swan's cup for best animal in the yard. — William
M'Combie, M.P., Tillyfour.

The Farmer cup for the best animal in the female cattle
class — Wm. Drysdale.

Mr. Buist's silver medal for the beat cross-bred cow. — Mr.
Hope, Duddiugton.

Mr. Buist's medal for the best Ayrshire cow. — Mr. Law,
Lothian Burn.

SHEEP.
(In pens of five).

Cheviot wethers under 23 months old, — First prize, T,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

63

Biggar, Chapelton, Dalbeattie ; second, E. H. Harris, Earn-
hill, Forres.

Cheviot wethers above 23 months old. — First prize, T,
Biggar ; second, T. Elliot, Hindhope, Jedburgh.

Blackfaced wethers, age considered. — First prize. Lord
Strathmore ; second, W. Whyte, Spott, Kirriemuir.

Pure bred wethers, other than Cheviot and blackfaced, age
considered. — Lord Sondes.

Cross wethers under 23 months old. — First prize, and
Messrs. Swan's cup for the best pen of sheep in the yard, D.
Shirritf Muirton, Drem ; second, J. M'Gill, Dumfries.
PIGS.

Three fat pigs, not exceeding twelve months old, age con-
sidered.— First prize, A. Leslie, Asylum, Morningside ; second,
J. H. Dickson, Saughton Mams.

Three fat pigs, exceeding twelve months, age considered. —
First prize, A. Leslie, Morningside ; second, J. Wallace, Ban-
beath, Leven.

Fat pig, exceeding eighteen months old, age considered. —
First prize, Mr. Gordon, Mauar, Inverurie ; second, A. Leslie,
Morningside.

THE BIRMINGHAM POULTRY SHOW.

After the remarkable displays we have had in previous years,
it would be too much, probably, to assert that the present one
IS superior to all its predecessors ; but we may, we think,
assert, without fear of contradiction, that it has never been
surpassed. The catalogue again opens with the Dorkings, of
which there are no fewer than 301 pens — a truly wonderful
array as regards either numerical strength or merit. From
these figures we are led to infer their increasing popularity as
table fowl, while their uniformity of character testifies to the
care which their admirers bestow upon the breeding and man-
agement of them. The Cochins, though not so numerous as
^ they liave sometimes been, may be said to sustain the ground
which they have gradually regained. The class of adult bulf
cocks was praiseworthy ; but many of them give tokens of
protracted moult. There is a large muster of Brahmas.
The adult conks of the dark variety are very fine ; while the
class of younger ones amply support the credit of the race
and the estimation in which they are now widely held, the
hens and pullets being also remarkably fine. We cannot ac-
cord the same emphatic eulogy to the light Brahmas, which,
compared with the others, look weedy and degenerate. As to
the Malays, which stand next in order, they appear to be in-
creasing, there being eighteen entries against eleven last year,
and they are also improving. The adult birds are the best.
The French breeds muster in strong force, the Creve-Cceurs
being large and robust, as if they were thoroughly acclimatised
in this country. In our opinion they were superior to the
Houdans, which are irregular in their appearance, and present
great diversities of form and plumage, " motley" being ap-
parently " their only wear." La Fleche, in which we observe
more distinct approaches to a recognised type, was highly com-
mendable. The Spanish was not equal to what have been fre-
quently seen here ; but are up to the level of the last few years.
The old cocks make a creditable demonstration. Tlie young
ones were better ; but blackened combs present unmistake-
able evidence of their having been affected by the late wintry
weather. What most strikes an observer in regard to tliem is
that in the males every other quality is sacrificed to the white
face, and that the birds have in consequence acquired a dull
and ungainly carriage. The pullets are, we think, the best
specimens of the race to be met with on the present occasion.
The various branches of the Hamburghs are well represented,
and several of them are exceptionally good ; more especially
the Golden Pencilled, which, notwithstanding stained neoks in
the hens and pullets, are also retrieving their position, so far
as colour and smartness of carriage are concerned. The Silver
Pencilled are advancing, but not at the same rate. The Silver
Spangled cocks are superior to what they were twelve months
ago ; but we cannot say as much for the hens and pullets.
The Golden Spangled and Black varieties make a creditable
appearance. The progress of the Polish is more marked, per-
haps, than that of any other variety. The blacks, though very
limited as to quantity, are admirable in quality ; the few pens
exhibited being quite equal to any we remember to have ever
seen in this hall. The Golden are in a very respectable mino-
rity, with no features calhng for remark ; while the Silver

Spangled kind are advancing in numbers as well as merit.
The class for any other variety, as usual, is interesting. The
prizes are allotted — the first to a pen of Indian Game, resem-
bling Malays ; the second to Silkies ; and the third to Anda-
lusians. We must not omit to mention that one pen is oceu-
pied by a pair of birds described as " Four-legged Dorkings,"
but evidently mongrels, the cock in which has an extra pair of
fuUy developed legs and feet underneath the wing on the right
side. Besides these there are Frieslands, Padue Chamois,
Gangesrian' Rumpless, Cuckoo Dorkings, Bresse, and Hybrid
Sounerats. There is, as heretofore, a very large collection of
Game ; and all we are called upon to report concerning it is
that it is exceedingly fine. The Black-breasted Red variety
is strongly represented ; but the Brown-breasted Red
and Duckwings are also excellent. There is a large muster
of Bantams, which diminutive but consequential little crea-
tures are an exhibition in themselves. All varieties of game
bantams are shown ; black-breasted reds are the most promi-
nent.— The Midland Goundes Herald,

THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND
COUNTIES CATTLE SHOW.

The annual meeting was held on Thursday, Dec. 3, at
the Hen and Chickens Hotel, Birmingham. In the ab-
sence of the Earl of Coventry, the retiring president,
the chair was occupied by Mr. C. M. Caldecott,
of Holbrook Grange, Rugby. Viscount Combermere was
elected president for the ensuing year. On the motion of
Mr. Howard Luccock, seconded by Mr. Lowe, Mr. George
Wise, of VVoodcote, near Warwick, Mr. J. H. Burbery, Kenil-
worth, Mr. C. S. Bigge, Much-Wenlock, and Mr. R. R. Mas-
fen, Pendeford, Statfordshire, were elected members of the
council, to fill the vacancies caused by the death of Sir George
Chetwynd, Bart., of Mr. Samuel Umbers, and Mr. W. J. B.
Scott, and the resignation of Mr. Holland, of Dumbleton.
Thanks were voted to the past president. Lord Coventry ; to
donors of special prizes ; to the stewards of the various
departments ; and to Mr. John Shackel, the hon. treasurer.
The Chairman said that the services of Mr. Shackel had now
extended over so long a period — twenty-three years — and had
been of so valuable a character, that he thought the present
was a fitting time to testify their appreciation of them by a
testimonial, to which he was sure all who were acquainted
with Mr. Shackel would feel pleasure in contributing. Mr.
Shackel was re-elected honorary treasurer for the ensuing year.
The Secretary, Mr. J. B. Lythall, announced that three
gentlemen had qualified as life members of the society by the
payment of £10 each. There was a general expression of
opinion that the money henceforth received from this source
sliould not be expended in current expenses, hut either in-
vested in a separate fund, or spent in permanent improvements.
Mr. T. B. Wright said there appeared to be an impression
abroad that all business to be transacted at the general meet-
ing was previously resolved upon ; but he wished it to be dis-
tinctly understood that any subscriber was open to, and indeed
invited, to uiake any suggestions he thought proper. A vote
of thanks to the chairman brought the proceedings to a
close.

DUNSTER CATTLE SHOW.— The following prizes
were awarded at the meeting : — £5 for ox, J. Hole, Knowle ;
£2 for the second, J. ,Hole ; £5 for pair of fat steers not
exceeding four years old, G. Risdon, Dunster ; £2 for the
second, T. H. Risdon, Washford ; £3 for fat cow, W. J.
Gimblett, St. Decumans ; cup for pure-bred bull, T. H. Ris-
don ; cup for bull not exceeding two years old, G. Risdon ; £2
for breeding cow in calf, T. Nurcombe, Minehead ; £1 for the
second, L. Buckingham, Selworth ; £3 for breeding cow and
her offspring, R. Paramour, Minehead ; £1 for the second, J.,
Burston, Carhampton ; £3 for heifer in calf, T. H. Risdon ;
£2 for heifer, T. H. Risdon ; £1 for second, R. Paramore ;
£3 for pen of five ewes, T. H. Risdon ; £3 for two horn
rams, T. Nurcombe ; £3 for best pen of horn ewes, R.
Paramore ; £2 for boar, J. Jones, Williton ; £1 for breeding
sow, T. H. Risdon ; £2 for yearling colt, W. H. Langdon,
Tivington; £2 for two-year-old draft colt, Mrs. Risdon, Tira-
berscombe ; £3 for cart mare, with foal, J, Hole ; £2 for lialf«
acre of mangold- wurtzel, T. H, Risdon,

6i

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

EE VIE W.

WHERE ARE WE NOW? A Politico-Agricultural
Letter to the Chairman of the Central Chamber of
Agricultiu-e (Clare Sewell Read, Esq., M.P.) By W.
Walter Good. 34^ Boaverie-street, Fleet-street.

In noticing this pamjihlet, the North British Agricul-
turist of Wednesday last says " this letter is calculated to
damage the Central Chamber of Agriculture, if indeed it
does not destroy its future iuflueuce as the exponent of
politico-agricultural questions." AVe quote this opinion
the more readily as our own estimate of the management
of the Central Chamber has long since beeu expressed ;
while our only doubt is as to whether we should notice
Mr. Good's letter until the answer appears. He writes
with remarkable force and point, as well as with an inti-
mate knowledge of all that has occurred behind the
scenes. As to the ludicrous incapacity which has from
the first marked the direction, Lord Fortescue has
already sufficiently demonstrated that very plain fact ;
but the suppoi'ters of the Chambers — and we speak rather
of the local than the central element — will learn perhaps
with some sui'prisethe uses to which they and theirs have
been turned. In such keeping the politics of Agri-
culture have been made to serve as the cats-paw
to certain private ends ; people have gone about
the country, as in one especial instance, professing to
speak to public questions when their real object has
been to pufi" off certain speculations of their own. All
this, we repeat, Mr. Good maintains with much power ;
but we should prefer to see him answered, as answered
he must be, if there is any proof in the Chamber, before we
go further into the nature of his charges. He addresses
himself becomingly enough to Mr. Sewtll Read, because,
as he says, " I can readily believe that your good nature
was appealed to most anxiously and persuasively, when the
officials and authorities of the Cential Chamber began to
merge into a state of desperation in regard to their public
influence and pecuniary condition ; and I do not doubt
for a moment but that you assented — after having declined
on previous occasions — to be the chairman for this year,
that, under your influence, the then declining Central
Chamber might tide over 1869." There can be no
doubt whatever that the name of Mr. Sewell Read
has done everything for the Central Chamber that
could be done ; as it is satisfactory to see that he is in
no way committed to the other schemes to which this
institution has been turned. As our northern contem-
porary says, "the pamphlet is racy of the soil, and
contains many hard hits demanding explanation from the
Council of the Central Chamber." In fact, there must
be explanations, as we seldom met with a paper
which required more serious attention from the
agriculturist of this country, or from those to whom the
interests of agriculturists have been professedly entrusted.
It was the sfashion for some time for the creatures of
the Central Chamber to say the Mark Lane Express was
the only journal which ventured to criticise in anything
like a tone of censure its peculiar proceedings. AVe may
have, perhaps, been the first to do so ; but now Belt's
Weekly Messenger, the North British Agricutturist, the
Tanner, and Mr. Good, have to be answered; as
there can be no possible doubt but that the world will
look for this answer.

IMPORTATION OF SHORTHORNS.— An importation
of two heifers and two youug bulls from Mr. James O. Shel-
don's herd at Geneva, New York, United States of America,
left New York ex Donan, November 18, 1869, and will pro-
bably arrive in this country by the end of the month. Tiie
two heifers and one of tlie bulls have been imported at a very

high price by Mr. E. H. Cheney, of Gaddesby Hall, Leicester-
The heifers are Eleventh Duchess of Geneva, red, two year
old, by Baron of Oxford (23371), dam Ninth Duchess of
Thorndale by Third Duke of Airdrie (23717), and Fourteenth
Duchess of Geneva, red yearling, by Tentli Duke of Thorn-
dale, dam Eighth Duchess of Geneva by Tliird Lord Oxford
(23200). The bull is Ninth Duke of Geneva, red with white
marks, calved in April, 1869; by Tenth Duke of Thorndale,
dam Fourth Duchess of Geneva by Grand Duke of Oxford
(1618i). Tlie other youug bull, imported by Mr. Harvey,
Waltou-on-the-llill, Liverpool, on his own and the part of
Messrs. Harward and Downing, Kidderminster, is Eiglitli Duke
of Geneva, roan, calved in November, 1868 ; by Baron of
Oxford (23371), dam Third Duchess of Thorndale by Duke
of Glo'ster (11383). Mr. Sheldon has since sold half his
herd to Messrs. Walcott and Campbell, Oneida County, United
States of America. It includes six Duchesses at an average
of 1,100 guineas each, and three Oxfords at 560 guineas each.
Taking the tribes these prices are certainly without parallel.
Messrs. Walcott and Campbell recently exported some of Mr.
Booth's animals, including Bride of the Vale for 1,000 gs. —
[The " Donau," that brought the Ameriaa mails and about a
quarter of a million of specie into Southampton, also had
on board these two heifers and two young bulls. They were
safely landed in good order, having had a fair passage of ten
days.] — Thornton's Circular for November.

BATH & WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY,
AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES ASSO-
CIATION.

A special meeting of the Council of this Society was held on
Tuesday, November 30th, at the White Lion Hotel, Bristol.
Sir J. T. B. Duckworth, Bart., in the chair. There were also
present : — Messrs. J. D. AUen, 11. G. Andrews, R. G. Bad-
cock, J. Townshend Boscawen (Hon. and Rev.), R. Bremridge,
C. Bush, R. H. Bush, Thomas Danger, J. T. Davy, R. R. M.
Daw, E. S. Drewe, Charles Edwards, Mark Farrant, John
Gray, Jonatlian Gray, Joliu D. Hancock, J. Hole, H. P. Jones,
J. E. Knollys, H. St. John Maule, R. Neville-Greaville, M.P.,
Thomas Phillpotts (Rev.), W. R. Scott, Ph. D., J. C. Moore
Stevens, William Thompson, 11. Williams, H. Spackman
(Official Superintendent), and J. Goodwin (Secretary and
Editor).

Taunton Meeting, 1870. — The contracts committee re-
ported that for the privilege of supplying refreshments at this
meeting only one tender had been received, viz., that of Mr.
William Gibbs, confectioner, Southampton, conjointly witli
Mr. nine, wine-merchant and brewer of the same town. As
this was the only tender, it was provisionally accepted by the
Council, and a discretionary power was granted to the
committee to make such arrangements as to minor details as
they might think desirable prior to the February meeting of
the Council.

Guildford Meeting, 1871. — The Deputation which
visited Guildford, on the 4th of November last, reported in
highly favourable terms of the site in Shalford Park, proposed
to be placed at the disposal of the Society for the meeting to
be held in 1871, and it was resolved by the Council that the
invitation from the inhabitants of Guildford be accepted, and
that the usual conditions be signed by the Secretary on behalf
of the Council, and interchanged with the conditions already
signed by the authorities at Guildford.

Privileges of Members. — Several new Members were
proposed for election at the next meeting of Council to be held
on Tuesday, February 32nd ; and it transpired that no person
not proposed on or before that day will be eligible to exhibit
at the I'aunton meeting on the same terms of advantage as
those enjoyed by duly elected members. Persons desiring to
be admitted as members of the Society should therefore at
once put themselves into communication with the Secretary,
at his oflices in Bath.

The Grand Pump-Room Hotel,Bath. — TheSecretary was
directed to convey the thi>,nks of the Council to the Directors
of this hotel for the accommodation placed at the disposal of
the Society, free of cost, for the purpose of holding council
meetings there, prior to the removal of these meetings to
Bristol.

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

65

THE LEEDS FAT CATTLE SHOW.

Despite the circumstance of Birmiugliam to some extent
clashing with this meeting, and taking some of the good ani-
mals that belong to Yorkshire — despite the weather being
cold and nipping to an extent to make it disagreeable for some
to leave their " ain fireside," and despite, also, the further
diminution of the entries of cattle and slieep, by prudential
considerations, under the circumstances of this district having
been visited with the foot-and-mouth disease — the meeting has
been a success in every particular. The show was held in the
Sraithlield Market Hall, a large rectangular building, 300 feet
long by 20 feet wide, in one covered open space. To this a
temporary wooden erection of the same size was attached, so
as to make a covered show ground of 600 feet by 60 feet wide.

In the first class of Siiorthorns, the prize for the best ox of
any age fell to Mr. Johu Owthwaite for liis 3 yrs. 11 months
old ox without competition. It would have taken a very good
animal to have displaced this had there been a large entry, as
was proved by the fact that the Innkeepers' Plate of 10 gs.
was awarded to him as " the best animal in the Shorthorn
classes." He came very near winning also the Presidents'
Cup, as the best animal in the yard, being one of the three
last in the ring. There are those who say that this, however,
was his due, for he is an extraordinary good even animal, has
size, quality, and symmetry ; he is, in fact, extremely level in
his points, has good hair, colour, and handling, and is a capital
specimen of the Shorthorn. He took a second prize here last
year, and has " trained on " very well. In class second for best
Shorthorn Ox not exceeding 3 yrs. old, there were six com-
petitors, out of wliich the judges distinguished two — one with
H.C. and the other with C. — in addition to the prize animals.
The 1st prize ox, belonging to Mr. Pulver, Northampton,
is a roan, 2 yrs. and 9 months old, and is well worthy of his
position. He has a grand forequarter and capital ribs, his
beef is well spread, and he stands straight on his legs. He
will certainly be heard of again ne.\t year, as he is an animal
that will be " going on." He has a tendency to embonpoint
more than we like, and has a very second-rate purse. In this
particular the second animal, the property of Mr. John
Owthwaite, has much the best of it. ; and like the winner of
the previous prize, he does credit to Bainesse. He is a
nice roan, and has all the look of a real Shorthorn ; his touch
is good, and his outline correct ; his hind legs are not quite
straight enough, and his neck vein and forequarter not equal
to the first-prize animal. The H.C. ox, the property of Mr.
Drysdale, Fifeshire, is fully entitled to the honour. He is a true-
made animal, and beef aU over ; though his meat is not exactly
up to the mark in quality, the rough parts being too much
developed, and his bone rather coarse ; he also looks a little
narrow to follow, and his handling is slightly loose. The
commended white ox of Col. Markh^.n is a fine, upstanding
one for liis years ; like lads of a certain age he looks leggy,
but if he lets down he will make a good big ox ; he has a fine
long quarter, but is weak in the middle and light iu the thigh,
aud certainly in this class has achieved all he is entitled to.
He gains something by standing in juxta position with the
worst animal in the class and in the yard — an ox exhibited by
Mr. Robinson, of Wingate Hill, Tadcaster — sans size, sans
beef, sans symmetry, sans everything desirable iu a show
animal.

The class of Shorthorn cows having had living calves, is
the best in the yard. It is worth a very long walk, in very cold
weather, to see the three animals that have " taken honours
here." There were eight entries, and the judges have awarded
honorary distinction to seven of them; afact which justifies
our opinion of the high merit of the class. The Earl of
Pevershamgets first, Sir Walter Trevely an second, and Mr. Willis
2)roximh accessH. The winner, Sweet May, a roan, 6 years
aud 7 months old, has had but one calf, and makes her debut
on this occasion. She has the Bates' blood in her, and
shows it sliglitly in her hair. The character of
hair which used to appertain to the Feversham herd is only
very slightly manifested. Siie is by Photograph, dam Saucebox.
Photograph was by Skyrocket, a prize winner at the Royal

Agricultural Society's Show at Leeds, out of Piccolomiui by 5th
Duke of Oxford. She is a gay-looking animal, and exhibits all
the characteristics of the bfeed, aud, as a Holderncss breeder
said, "is full of Shorthorn points." Although very fat she moves
well, and stands well and square on her legs, covering a great
deal of ground. The space marked by her four feet on the
ground, if enclosed by a line, would form a broad and perfect
rectangle. This is rarely seen. She is, however, rather want-
ing in her fore shoulder, and slightly deficient behind the arm
in the girth place. She has, also, one weak button in the
back. Her girth is, however, very good, 8 ft. 10 inches. The
second prize cow of Sir Walter Trevelyan makes her first ap-
pearance also on this occasion. She has Oxford blood in her,
and is a very compact piece of beef at first sight. Her hand-
ling is too loose, and she is decidedly deficient on the fore-rib ;
and our opinion is confirmed by her girth of 8 ft. 4 inches,
which we have since obtained. She is altogether short ; and
in fact, she has no business to be second. Humanum est
crrare — and if one man may often err, three judges may some-
times make a mistake. This is one we think, in placing her
before Mr. Willis' Rose of Lucknow. It is quite possible that
in rejecting this cow for the first prize, for some certain rea-
sons unknown to us, these reasons may have been urged so
forcibly against her in comparison with Lord Feversham's cow,
that they have not only operated in displacing her from the
first prize, but have also operated in favour of Mr. Drysdale,
who certainly had not the same pretensions to compete
with her that Sweet May possesses. The Rose of Lucknow
is thus beat by two new aspirants. In one case the decision is
sure to be reversed, and in the other it possibly may ; as in our
judgment it will. The Rose of Lucknow has been out for
some time, and has achieved numerous successes. She was
the best cow or heifer at Birmingham in 1868 ; and the winner
of five other prizes in London, Liverpool, and elsewhere ; as
also of Lord Bolton's Cup for the best Shorthorn in the
yard at the Richmondshire Agriculture Show in August last.
She is between seven and eight years old, and has been so
much in public that the general rumour was that she was over-
trained, and gciimg passe. Now, it is extraordinary how a
notion, once given currency to, floats through a crowd, and is
accepted for a time. We bowed to it at first, but frequent ex-
amination of the class induced us to come to a diS'crent con-
clusion. It is true amongst Shorthorns as amongst " For-
mosas," a fast liver cannot be a " girl of the period" for many
seasons ; but seven years old is not a very great age for a cow
that has had a calf, and has had to be fatted for the " boards"
on the occasion of the annual agricultural Christmas parties,
at Smith field and Birmingham. In fact, she is only eight
months older than the first-prize cow, Sweet May, who could
not possibly have been got up in much less time than the
Rose has required. But the question is one of fact rather than
argument. We cannot detect any falling off ; she is still the
fine, blooming, full-blown Rose she ever was, along, deep, and
barrel-shaped Shorthorn ; her crops are massive, her ribs
arched, and covered behind the arm iu the girth place with
double the depth of beef that any other Shorthorn
in the class has ; her back aud loins are also evenly
covered, and her hind-quarters massive, inside the thigh
particularly good. The top of her shoulder is rather
bare. This is her one fault iu our eye ; and in this point Lord
Feversham's cow fails also. The Rose of Lucknow is, however,
inferior to the winner in her flank, and though she stands well,
she has not the superlative merit in this point that Fair May
has. To whichever of these two animals the palm maybe
awarded, the decision must be respected. We have an im-
pression, however, that when the problem is worked over
again at York, that the result will be different. A nine years'
old cow, the property of Mr. Wainman, Worksop, is coni-
mended in this class. She is short of hair and leggy, but is
lonsf and level, and has a commanding appearance ; she is a
fair" specimen of the old style of Shorthorn. Two other com-
manded cows belonged to Mr. Dawson, Weston Hall, Otley,
and another to Mr. Meyncl Ingram, of Temple Newsam.

66

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

For the prize for best three years old lieifer there was no
award. The only animal shown by Mr. lleid, Aberdeen, not
having sufficient merit. In " other breeds" there was short
competition. In the two classes for cross-bred, or Irish, there
were only six entries for four prizes and a cup. The class
for oxen had, however, the honour to produce the winner
of the President's Cup, for the "best animal in the yard,"
value20gs. The sameanimal,'ofnecessity,tookfirstprizefor oxen,
and also the " Leed's Tradesmen's Plate," value 10 gs., for " the
best beast in the cross-bred classes." The second prize ox, in
this class, was Sir W. Trevelyan's. lie is a dun Highlander,
of first-class merit — long and level — and round as a churn.
His beef is capital, and despite a little coarseness, he is a ca-
pital representative of a Higlilander, with a tinge of Lowland
blood in his veins. The winning animal, which comes from
Forres, in North Britain, on the other hand has, in our
opinion, a good deal more of the English than the Scotch
blood in him. He is said to be " out of a cow not quite a
Shorthorn by a polled Aberdeen bull." He is a good red,
witliout a single speck of white, and of great length and weight.
His outlines are both correct and elegant, and he is wonder-
fully even all over ; a perfect mole in smoothness of outline
and softness ol skin ; there are neither hills nor dales on the
surface of his frame. He is what anyone must call, at first
sight, an elegant fellow, of commanding appearance, and
though a great weight and fat, he does not look so. Still he
is not at all fed up to perfection of the art, us practised at pre-
sent ; and he will, we think, bear a good deal more training ;
his girth is exactly 9 feet liard measure.

There are only two animals in the yard that had a shadow
of a chance with him for " the Cup," in Mr. Owthwaite's four-
year-old Sliorthorn ox, and a Shorthorn heifer in the Farmers'
Class belonging to filr. William Hill, Wetherby, whose expe-
rience in bringing out " stars" renders him at all times a dan-
gerous man in his class, be it what it may. Eoth these ani-
mals found many backers for the great event. The Crossbred
Cow prize went to Mr. Bruce for a blue-roan polled covif, full
of good beef, but of no particular merit in shape. The second
prize was taken by Mr. Reid, with a crossbred horned animal,
yery uneven in shape and make.

Li the class for Polled Scotch Ox, Mr. Reid again met no
competitors. In this instance the judges awarded the prize.
And similarly in the next class, for Polled Scotch Cow, he
again walked over with a black heifer, long as a ship, and
pretty full of lean beef, but coarse as a hippopotamus, and flat
as a barn door on the ribs.

In Highland Cattle there was more competition, and the
animals were altogether of higher character than the polled
Scots and the crossbreds, the winner of the Champion Cup ex-
cepted. Mr. W. Drysdales first-prize Highland ox and Sir
Walter Trevelyan's second prize are only average specimens.
The winner of the first prize Highland Cow or Heifer, the pro-
perty Mr. Eastwood, Clltheroe, is an animal of another stamp.
She is a thick, well-fed, beef-to-the-hock beast, of great size,
and weight for a Highlander, with a back like a dining table
a full thigh and twist, and is a good fleshed one all over. She
girths 7 feet 9 inches ; exactly the same as the prize Highland
OS. The second-prize animal, exhibited by Sir W. Trevelyan,
has a capital back, but with beef rather too loose. We certainly
prefer the animal specially commended in this class, the pro-
perty of Mr. Seed, of Clitheroe, She comes from the same place
as the winner, to which she is scarcely inferior, though she
has not quite size enough ; she has as good loins as the
winner, and is even more level across from hip to hip, her
twist being wonderful.

In the Tenant Farmers' Class the competion was very close,
and the animals were of a high order of merit. The first-prize
ox, the property of Mr. Reid, is a heavy-fleshed black Angus
of great length and great weight. Better beef could not be.
His handling was capital, and his breast point extraordinary.
His outUne is far from correct, his top rugged, and his general
symmetry very deficient. He is thin through the heart,
and girths only 8 feet 5 inches. The second-prize ox is a
very fine specimen of the Shorthorn, of equal weight
\vith the black one he has also breeding, and unexcep-
tional symmetry. He girths 8 feet II inches, and was at the
head of his class without doubt ; and we do not hesitate to
announce to Mr. Wiley, the venerable and venerated nonage-
narian " father of Yorkshire farming" and veteran breeder of the
north, that though he did not get the prize, public opinion

without hesitation awarded him the honour. The repre-
sentative of the high school of breeding, and successful manager
of the Wetherby herd of Duchesses, must have been grievously
annoyed at having to agree to this " placing" ! The dead-meat
view we are afraid preponderated in the triumvirate, who have
in this case struck out for suet versus blood, figure, and
weight. If shape and make have nothing to do with de-
cisions in the fat show-yards, when size and weight are satis-
factory, and if the absence of symmetry is to be no demerit,
where kiUing qualifications are present, it will be quite as con-
vincing and much cheaper to use a pair of butcher's scales,
than to appoint judges to determine the relative merits of com-
petitors.

The first cow prize went to Mr. W. Hill, Wetherby, for a
capital specimen of Shorthorn beef, aged 4 years and 8 months,
bred by Mr. H. S. Thompson, Kirby Hall, York. She took
first prize here, and as fat cow at York last year. She girths
8 feet 3 inches. The second prize is just a useful animal.

The heifer class under four years old brought out another
of Mr. Hill's Shorthorns, 3 years and 11 months old. This is
one of the gems of the yard — a tip-top Shorthorn in touch and
points, and a thorough fat beast in weight and quality of beef.
She has decidedly the greatest weight of beef, with the least
of coarse pieces, and the smallest bone of any animal in the
yard. Her fore-legs can be comfortably spanned by the hand.
Her girth is 8 feet 9 inches. We are told that she stood in
last with McPherson's ox for the President's Cup ; but this of
course we cannot vouch for. If it be a rumour merely, it is
one that is extremely likely to be true. As combining the
most merits as a fat beast, she will be very near winning in
another court, should they ever meet again. Of course she
took the Butcher's Cup, value 10 guineas, for the best Beast
in the tenant-farmers' classes, as well as the prize in her own
class. Mr. Seed took second honours with a very handsome
Highland maiden, 3 years and 9 mouths. In aU the local,
and also ofiicial reports, this honour is placed to the credit of
another exhibitor. The mistake arose from the animal in ques- /
tion appearing to stand opposite the second prize card. This
we detected when we inspected the class. A very good blue
Irish half-bred was highly commended in this class.

The prize for a cow in milk was given to an animal with
every point of a milch cow in great force, and several other
fine animals were exhibited.

The show of sheep was very small. The Leicester and Lincolns
came against each other, and all tliat can be said is that Mr.
Byron's Lincolns were fuUy entitled to the first prize in the
eyes of Lincolnshire farmers, while Yorkshiremen as a rule pre-
ferred Mr. Jordan's Leicesters, placed second. Both were
equally good of their kind; as fat animals we think the Lincolns
would die coarse. Lord Wenlock's Shropshire Downs took
the prize in their class mainly from being the only entry. The
cross-bred wethers belonging to Mr. John Hunter, of Dipple,
Fochabers, were grand specimens of what a Scotch sheep can
come to by judicious crossing ; they took also the silver cup
for best pen of sheep in the show-ground. An other champion
prize, that against all-comers, following close upon the award
of the President's cup to a half-bred Scot, shows an extraor-
dinary aptitude in the* Scot, when crossed, to combine the
exceUeuce of the breeds. The Scotchman is generally said
to do well when he " comes over the Border ;" and, in this
instance, the " Clans" have made a pretty successful raid on
the gold and silver of the prize-list, the MacPhersons, the
Reids, and the Hunters having come down with a vengeance
on the Saxon show-yard.

The pigs were, as they always are in West Yorkshire, a
capital class. The entries were also very good, 58 ani-
mals being shown in nine classes. The first and second
prize large breed fat pigs are both Morthy of notice. We
think that the winner, Mr. Listers, of Amuley, will not hold
his own when he comes against Mr. Duckering's second prize
pig. This animal has been a Royal, a West of England,
an Essex, and a Norfolk winner. He was also distinguished at
Altona in Prussia, and many other places, and he wiU win again.
The cup for best pigs in the yard goes to Mr. Keyworth's
" sow of the middle breed," a very good animal ; but we think
not equal to two or three other animals. The small breed
sow, the property of Mr. Duckering, we should proclaim the
Queen of Beauty in these " lists." " Little Queen" is well

knowu to fame, and in this iastawe toeats some choice wu-

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

67

mals. Mr. Sagar's second-prize sow has the best head we
ever saw ; but she is growing the worse for wear.

The poultry is a great success at this show. The Leeds
Society has followed the example of Birmingham in en-
couraging this department ; and the public has responded, there
being large entries of poultry and of pigeons.

The Game classes were a large show, from 20 to 30 in eacli
class ; and the birds generally good. The Dorkings were a good
show in numbers, and in quality rarely equalled. The year-
old birds, which took the first prize and cup, weighed lOlbs.,
and were the property of Mr. Maud, Leeds. Mr. T. Kell, We-
therby, took prize for Dorking chicliens weighing upwards of
8 lbs. each ! JBrahma Pootras were a very fine class ; the Po-
lands also were a capital lot ; and the Hamburgbs, in all
classes, were an extraordinary show, and equal to anything
ever seen.

Bantams ia every class, but especially black, were numerous

and good. Ducks, geese, and turkeys were also well repre-
sented. The price at wliich owners value their birds is most
probably put in to discourage applications to purchase ; other-
wise £50 for a b.ack bantam and £100 for a couple of geese
are fabulous figures to attach to even fancy birds.

In a very good show of roots some splendid swede turnips,
grown by Mr. AVilliam Ripley, of Kirk Haaimerton, won the
first prize ; they weighed Irora 1-i to ISlbs. each. The man-
golds were also very large and handsome.

The financial results of the meeting have been very satisfac-
tory, the receipts being 50 per cent, over last year. There
was a strong attendance on each day from the country, and in
the evening the town population attended in crowds.

Judges. — Cattle and Sheep : J. Ruddock, Berwick-on-
Tweed ; J. Knowles, Wetherby ; H. Spurr, Sheffield. Pigs :
G. Hutchinson, York ; S. Barret, Harewood. Poultry : E,
Hewitt, Eirmiiigham ; R, Teebay, Preston,

THE OENTEAL FAEMEES' CLUB.
A FARM AGREEMENT.

The concluding meeting of the Farmers' Club for discussion
during the year was held on Monday, December 6, in the
Club Rooms, Sahsbnry Square, and was numerously attended.
The Chair was taken by Mr. R. J. Newton, President for the
year. Mr. R. H. Masfen, of Pendeford, Wolverhampton,
introduced the subject on the card — viz., " The Common Porm
of Parm Agreement as Tending to the Fullest Development
of Agriculture."

The Chairman said, important as the subjects discussed
during the present year in that Club had been, he could not
but thmk that the topic on the card for that evening was at
any rate as important as any of them, and to his mind it
seemed even more important (Hear, hear). It was certainly
a subject that deeply concerned the whole agricultural body of
Great Britain, while indirectly it concerned the entire com-
munity. The title of the subject suggested the important
question. Do the present forms of agreement answer the pur-
pose expected — namely, the full development of agriculture P
He would at once frankly say that in his opinion they did not.
In these days farmers were urged on all hands to use their
utmost efforts to improve the culture of tlie land through the
application of steam power, the extensive use of artificial foods
for the feeding of cattle, and of artificial manures for the
growth of roots, and of course all that meant the employment
of an increased amount of capital. Again, the question arose
whether under present circumstances there ought to be any
restriction as regarded the mode of cropping. In his opinion
there should not. He thought that, with the farming of the
present day — he was not speaking of 30 years ago — every re-
striction as to the course of cropping ought to be removed.
If a man kept his farm in good condition, so that the land
was sure to grow a fair crop, that was, he thought, all that
could justly be required. He had remarked that the subject
on the card involved the introduction of a larger amount of
capital. That suggested another question. Do the present
forms of farm agreements allow farmers a fair return or
equivalent for the capital which they have invested when their
occupations are vacated through death or other causes over
which they have no control? Again, he answered in the
negative. It would be out of place for him to suggest any-
thing which might have a tendency to remedy those defects,
as that might be anticipating the remarks of the introducer
of the subject, and he would now at once call upon Mr.
Masfen to proceed, only adding that the subject was oue which

required to be ventilated, and that, in his opinion, the more it
was ventilated, the bett.er it would be for the farmers of Eng-
land and the community generally.

Mr. Masfen then read the following paper : — The
subject we are assembled to discuss this evening — " The
common Porm of Parm Agreements, as tending to the
fullest Development of Agriculture" — is one of importance not
only to the owners and occupiers of the land, but to the con-
suming population of this great and increasing country. I
trust I shall not disappoint the Committee, who requested me,
through their Secretary, to introduce this discussion, by read-
ing to your Club this short paper. In dealing with it, I shall
have occasion to refer to opinions expressed by different gen-
tlemen and agricultural bodies, who are more able to give a
practical solution of this matter than anything I can do ; and
I will here express the obligation I am under for any ideas or
expressions I may have received eitlier from them or their
writings. The first consideration must, as a matter of para-
mount right, be given to the owner of the soil, and in such a
manner as is least likely to prejudice the interest of the occu-
pier, extending to the one security for the investment of his
capital, and to the other an assurance that the property shall
not be depreciated by any incongruous act of an unscrupulous
individual who, by misfortune or otherwise, might be disposed
to act in a manner at variance with the recognised systems or
principles of good husbandry. In introducing this subject to
your notice, you are well aware that it is not its novelty that
caused the Committee to select it for the concluding
evening of this year's gathering, neither can I plead
ignorance to some of the most striking features
which, at this time, seem to be occupying the atten-
tion of the agricultural community ; for during the
last few years it is a rare circumstance to take up a paper
where you do not find that various agricultural bodies have
been discussing the very subject we are met together to pro-
pound this evening. The mere relation of landlord and tenant
creates an implied obligation on the part of the tenant to use
a farm in a husbandlike manner, according to the customs of
the country where the premises are situated, unless the lease
or agreement contains some express covenant or promise in-
consistent with such customs and sufiicient to exclude them.
It is extremely difficult accurately to state the various customs
prevailing in different counties, and it is still more difficult in
practice to determine to what extent those customs are, or are

F 2

68

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

not, inconsistent with the special stipuhitions in agricultural
leases or agreements. All disputes should be submitted to
arbitration ftuJ settled in the usual manner — the customs give
way and the express contract prevails. The agreement should
be both agriculturally as well as legally good : litigations on
agreements and customs can be best controlled by mutual
arbitrations between landlords and off-going and in-coming
tenants and by the non-adoption of numerous stringent and
complicated farming clauses, which are now too frequently
introduced, but are of little or no practical value. I often
liear expressed that a good understanding between landlord
and tenant is an antidote for all ills that may arise between
them. No one more higlily values the advantage of that good
understanding ; but that is not all that is required. In liow
many cases is a considerate landlord succeeded by a spendthrift
sou, or his trustees ? or what guarantee have you that the
property on which you are placed may not for a hundred rea-
sons change owners ? It would not be necessary for me to
give illustrations of the great hardships brought unintention-
ally upon old tenants by their landlords, in ways the least
apprehended by either party, or by circumstances over
which they had no control. In the compiling of
agreements one fundamental principle must alone be
recognized — the owner, the occupier, and the labourer each
receiving the consideration due to their respective positions.
The owner of the soil is entitled ,'to paramount consideration,
which shoixld not be entertained to the injury or disparagement
of the otiiers, for be it remembered that an amount of obliga-
tion is also felt by the farmer in a degree, which the circum-
stances of the case demand. The laws of property extend pro-
tection to the one, wliich the otlier does not enjoy : hence we
are naturally led to ask. What is the corresponding amount of
capital which a tenant, who is subjected to a six months' notice
to quit, has embarked in the occupation, as compared to the
relative value of the fee simple of the land ? Statistics are not
palatable to those who listen to papers of this kind, and tend
frequently to embarrass the introducer of a subject, let his in-
formation have been derived from the most reliable source.
Mr. Meclii's statement of the amount of capital required to
farm well and profitably, goes far into the subject before us.
As an illustration of the position necessarily existing for better
security, if i615 per acre is required, it is one-third the value
of the lee simple of the average land of England. The owner,
the occupier, and labourer are so identified, that any assistance
given to tlie one is appreciated by the other, as tending most
directly to the interests of all. The service of the labourer is so
indispensable, that it forms one of the most important elements
of success. Without his help, yon find the motive power com-
pletely scotched, therefore he is not the least worthy of consi-
deration in the subject before us. Each one is a necessary ele-
ment in tlie success of the other, the one cannot look for pros-
perity when the other is not regarded. It is not my wish or
intention to stretch out such an array of illustrations as will
tend to disparage the one, or claim for the other that consider-
ation wliich is not due to them. Residing as I do in the mid-
land counties.andin a county where I think the great landed pro-
prietors haved ane, and are doing much in assisting their tenants
to develope the resources of the soil to a greater extent than
formerly, it must not be inferred that my voice of complaint is
raised against them, but from a feeling, ay ! a knowledge
that in many parts of this kingdom there is not that amount
either of help or consideration extended to the tenant farmer,
either by the landlord or his agent, that is required for a fuller
development of the soil. I hope in the paper I have before
me I sliall not be considered diverging too much from the
title it bears, by introducing in various parts matter referring
to the social bearing that the three classes, landlord, tenant,
and labourer iiave upon the important question, and liow de-
sirable it is tliat each should progress in accordance with the
spirit of the age. This leads me to consider the necessity for
a better and more liberal education of the sous of farmers ; I
view it as one of the most important elements of success. The
machinery of the present day is so costly, so are the various
scientific discoveries and appliances which have been brought to
light, that it renders a liberal education indispensable ; and that
education it is most essential should be brought within their
reacli, at amoderate rate. The mere elementary education which
has satisfied too many of our class, is to be regretted. What
is necessary for the improvement of agriculture is, to attract
capital to the cultivation of the soil, by placing in the iiands

of every tenant a good and Itheral nr/reemenf. Let the term of
tenure be either long or short, afford to the occupier a fair
opportunity of a return for the investment of his capital, and
at the expiration of his tenancy a fair remuneration for unex-
hausted improvements'. There are many counties where such
arrangements are new made, and you need not inquire in
passing through any ;ounty or district the sort of understand-
ing tliat there exists. What I and all who think and act with
me are desirous of s( eing is, " the exception become the rule,
and the rule the exc ?ption ;" let the production of this coun-
try be 50 per cent, c ver its present return. There is a growing
feeling in favour of an extension of the principle I so much
desire to see carried into general practice. It is not to be sup-
posed the same agn ement will suit all soils, or be compatible
witii the views of a II, but, as I before said, all should admit
the principle. Dui ing the years I have been engaged in the
profession of agriculture, circumstances have arisen which
never entered the heads of our forefathers, hence so much
dissatisfaction isexpressed to theagreements, which have notbeeu
revised during the last 20 or 30 years, when some of the coven-
ants there introduced, and still retained, are contrary to exist-
ing views, and unsuited to the enlightened age in which we
live. " Ued tape" had too much to do with farm covenants,
and in ^oo many cases I fear continues to hold its sway. By
this I mean, that when you ask an agent to allow a certain
clause or clauses to be removed before signing it, in reply
you are told, " Oh ! it is of u j consequence, you need not take
any notice of it, or make exception to it ; we don't intend to
take it literally, you will not be expected to farm up to those
stipulations.' Then, I ask : Why allow them to appear P
Why not at once remove them? If they are useless dispense
with them ; if they are of moment insist upon them remain-
ing, and see that your agents insist upon their due fulfilment.
" Red tape" placed them there, and in times when the require-
ments of the land were not so well understood as in the pre-
sent day. Some few years ago I was one of the individuals
who had to award a premium to the best form of agricultural
agreement, and 47 entered the arena of competition, and the
tiling which struck me most was, not the amount of good
ones set forth, but the number that appeared in form at the
present time. If one-half of their stipulations were entered
into, it would place the occupier in a position the landlord
never contemplated, and would be attended with no advantage
to the estate. It is no wish of mine to insert a ruthless hand,
but I contend that it is desirable for all classes that useless
clauses should no longer be introduced in farm covenants,
whicii irritate the occupier and find food for that portion of
the press from w hom we have no favour, but are used as fair
weapons with which they make us a reproach to the various
classes whose attention tliey may attract. When we compare
the quantity of food and other raw products obtained from a
given surface of a well-cultivated country with those obtained
from the same extent of an equally fertile country occupied
by hunters and shepherds, the powers of agricultural industry
in increasing useful productions appear so extraordinary that
we cease to feel surprise at the preference whicli has been so
early and generally given to agriculture over manufacture
and commerce. Men's attention was first called to the
occupation of husbandry, and although we live in
a country where the mineral resources have so
far placed us in a prominent and enviable position in the scale
of nations, our profession must always be " the true barometer
of national prosperity" : commerce and manufactures pass
away ; the land alone continues to the end of time. Agricul-
ture, in which I am deeply interested and a zealous and ardent
supporter, is the most ancient and not the least honourable
occupation in which man is engaged, and I trust I may never
be found backward in giving any and all the assistance in my
power to remove some of the trammels whicli tend to impede
its necessary progress. The agriculture of this kingdom has
been laDouring under a transition state during the last 20
years, as we know by that period's experience ; great changes
have been brought upon us, over which the laws of nature had
like ourselves no control. Political economy has brought us
to a widely different state of things to that preceding the Repeal
of the Corn Laws and Sir Robert Peel's Bill permitting the im-
portation of foreign live stock. Tlie principal or staple commo-
dity with many farmers was wheat ; but from the reduction in its
value, caused by the great importations of foreign grain, his at-
tention is naturally turned to another source of profit, viz. : the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

production of a greater amouut of animal food and wool. The
altered circumstances of the case, and the necessity for the
employment of a large amount of capital in the occupation of
land, render many of the agreements that are now, and have
been in force, a clog and a hindrance to that full development
of the power of production from our own native soil which
the ever increasing population of this country demands. The
additional number of live stock, and the enormous amount of
artificial food and manures now used, the steam engine and
improved machinery being necessary for the production of the
same, render that investment imperative. The great
obstacle to the improvement of the general agriculture
of the country being, as I before stated, the absence
of capital, is I fear too frequently encouraged by the
number of applicants for farms, and the unwillingness
on the part of the agent to inquire more fully
into the means at the disposal of the various applicants. Wc
are often reproached for not bringing more of the commercial
element into agriculture, and with some degree of force it can
be said we are to blame ; but our position varies materially
from the position of commercial men. If a business in one
place does not answer his purpose, he can, with little loss of
capital, remove somewhere else ; but when a farmer invests,
he runs a great risk of losing considerably by the change.
Hence it is that otlier arrangements are imperative for the
amelioration of our class. The isolated position of the agri-
culturist must ever be a disadvantage to him. Before the
introduction of railways, we had few opportunities for the
interchange of opinions ; this I view as our misfortune, not
our fault. It is now nearly thirty years since the originators
of this Club, who were fully alive to the disadvantages under
which they were labouring, determined upon the establishment
of these gatherings, the success of which is apparent to all.
In taking a financial view of the comparative diiference in the
expense of assembling a number of gentlemen of our class in
this room, and an equal number of the citizens of London, at
any given place in their own city, to discuss their general
interests, I think the position of the one will compare more
fiivourably to the other than the outer world are disposed to
extend to us. In the year 1868 the Royal Agricultural
Society offered a premium for the best form of agricultural
agreement, or an essay upon the same ; and the gentleman
who took the prize, gave us a form of agreement which met
the views of the Council more fully than any other — and I do
not think I can proceed better than by laying before you some
of the clauses introduced therein. The Royal Agricultural
Society, in awarding this prize to Mr. Cadle, recognise by
their act the existing necessity for more liberal covenants.
When we consider the importance of that Society, and the
position held by those gentlemen composing its Council, I
think it must be apparent that a great object is gained, from
the fact of such an agreement appearing in its Journal. I do
not know what competition there was for the prize ; neither
is it necessary that we should be acquainted with that fact.
The recognition of the necessity for an agreement, in accordance
with the altered circumstances of the times, and an endeavour to
remove the trammels so often introduced, which prevent the ut-
most development of the soil, and the acknowledgment of the
principle that it is necessary to give the same protection to
the capital invested in the ^occupation that is afforded to the
owners of our broad acres — this recognition I consider by the
representatives of the first agricultural society in the world
(when we know that in the constitution of that [body over 70
percent, are either landed proprietors or their representatives),
should carry a weight with it, the effect of which must be felt
far and wide if they earnestly assist in carrying out their re-
commendation. I do not know how far my views may be en-
dorsed by the members of this Club, but if the motive power
of the Royal Agricultural Society will assist in carrying out
the revolution proposed in Mr. Cadle's agreement, I think we
have grounds for hope that a point is gained, and we shall soon
find a better system than the present unsatisfactory mode of
meting out justice to quitting tenants. Although the success-
ful competitor is a stranger to me, I have had much satisfac-
tion in reviewing his essay, and can distinguish the practical
knowledge of the writer. He tells us it is compiled from
various sources, and embodies the best part of Lord Lichfield's
agreement, which he considers as complete as any he has seen.
I have much pleasure in referring to the name of that noble-
man, feeling sure there is no one who knows him as well as I

do who will not feel that any improvement introduced by one
so desirous to ameliorate the position of the British farmer,
should receive that amount of consideration at the hands of
the landowners generally which this great question deserves.
It will not be necessary for me to go seriatim through the
various clauses introduced in Mr, Cadle's essay, but merely
to refer to some of the principal parts where a difl'erence of
opinion may arise, and where anything so completely opposite
is proposed to anything now in general use. This agreement
sets forth that the straw, hay, &c., all belong to the landlord,
and that the hay, straw, fodder and roots of
every description be consumed on the farm, except
that certain quantities of hay, straw, and roots may
be sold, the full value being returned to the farm
in the shape of cake or artificial manure. Now, this is a boon
not generally given to farmers, and the great waste you fre-
quently see of straw, where a tenant is compelled to consume
it all, is such as to render it little bettter than rotted straw,
returning nothing fertilising to the land for succeeding crops.
Referring to the sale of hay and straw, returning the value to
the land in purchased food and manures. Railways have done
much to render this desirable, finding a ready market for the
production of the farm, and the facility for returning the ele-
ments for greater productiveness. Another clause not gene-
rally found is, that a tenant may sow two white straw crops in
succession ; now this, I think, wiU be advantageous in many
localities, and not injurious to the land ; it has been so in my
case, having frequently found a great difliculty in the growth
of clover, and in each case, when I have adopted the second
white straw crop, preceded by a liberal application of manure,
the result has been a satisfactory root of red clover. Mr.
Cadle proposes compensation for artifical food and manure,
and that on a liberal scale, and I think it will meet with many
supporters; as far as the/oor/is concerned I will go with him,
but I am not disposed to sanction his views as regards super-
phosphates— the last year but one for a manufactured manure.
The last year in my opinion goes far enough. Tor draining and
all permanent improvements in building, fencing, laying down
grass land, and planting fences and fruit trees (the sanction of
the landlord for all improvements being given) I fully endorse
his proposals, and coincide with his general mode of compen-
tion for the various appliances referred to as the productive
elements which a tenant, farming highly, must leave for the
benefit of his successor. In all agreements, the great object to
be kept in view is to place such an one in the hands of all men,
as to give them the greatest inducement to farm well up to
the expiration of their tenancy. The great failing in
covenants is the absence of any inducement to farm well
to the end of the term : no policy can be more mistaken.
In clause 9, stipulation is made for all land seeded to be
paid for, if clean, 5s. to 30s. per acre, at the
discretion of valuers, in addition to the clover or
grass seeds sown ; thus returning to the tenant an equivalent
for good cultivation, for which he would receive no direct
benefit, but is enjoyed by his successor. In a discussion at
the Midland Farmers' Club, Mr. Randall, of Chadbury, alluded
to the absence in almost all agreemeuts for stipulation for
clean farming. He proposes that, at the expiration at Michael-
mas of any year, half the arable land shall be fit to plant
with white straw crops ; one moiety shall have been fallowed
with green crops during the previous summer ; the other
moiety shall have been wholly under clover or mixed grass
seeds, or part in clover, the rest beans and peas ; after being
manured, none of the clover or grass seeds being allowed to
stand for seed. lie requires that not more than one-fourth
of the arable land should need to be fallowed in the year after
the termination of the tenancy, nor require an outlay of more
than £2 10s. per acre to clean it ; if it required less than that
sum the landlord or the in-coming tenant to pay the difterence,
if more the out-going tenant to pay it. Then follow the com-
pensation clauses : Not less than one-fourth of the clover or
mixed grass seeds shall be mown for hay during the last year,
for the use of and to be paid for by the in-coming tenant ; for
the remainder of the land, whereon clover or other grasses
have been grazed the whole summer by sheep, the in-coming
tenant shall pay after the rate of 40s. per acre, provided such
land be clean and that only one crop of corn has been taken
since the previous fallow. There are other covenants that
relate to the purchase of manures, which are dealt with in the
manner proposed by Mr. Cadle. With one exception, Mr,

70

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Randall proposes that one-half the proceeds of the hay, straw,
&c., sold be returned to the land. Much diversity of opinion
exists on the time of quitting and eutry on farms ; it is con-
tended in some localities that llichaelmas is a more desirable
time for change than Lady-day. It is not general in my
locality; but on several occasions I have valued on farms
where a change has taken place at Jlichaelmas, and in
those cases I have found it lias given satisfaction. In
the Michaelmas change one thing is apparent — that the off-
going tenant can clear away, and that the in-coming tenant, by
paying for the produce, which is then secured, is at liberty to
proceed in all matters without hindrance, and carry on the
various operations of the farm, which are often very unsatis-
factorily performed by an off-goer who leaves at Lady-day. I
should here observe that, although I oppose any set rule of
cropping, considering it quite unnecessary, I should require
the farm to be given up in a certain course, although the va-
luers would never consider a farm up to the required standard
of good husbandry when a preponderance of any one crop or
state of cultivation prevailed. A landlord has an agent, whose
business is to attend to his estate, who must keep a schedule
of the cropping on each field on entry. All men in charge of
estates sliould be thoroughly practical, who could at onca dis-
cover any tendency on the part of a tenant to reduce the
standard of his farm, of which he should remind him ; and, in
case of a second intimation being found necessary, he should
give him notice to quit, and remove him. This would be at-
tended with much more salutary results than requiring him to
sign a stringent agreement and farm by it, believing he could
do little injury to the property, when each succeeding year
might find him and the land in a worse position than the last.
As a general rule, it is bad for all classes that he should re-
main. This, I fear, has had more to do with impeding the
progress of British agriculture than many are aware. A great
landowner and myself have many times spoken of this subject,
and on one point we could not agree ; but rf cently, I am
pleased to say, lie has entertained my views. I always con-
tended an agreement should be made to suit a good tenant.
He said, " No : there is no necessity (or one with a good
tenant. They are required to make bad ones farm better, and
against any fraud that might be practised." My reply was,
" Give liberal agreements, and the number of bad tenants will
soon be reduced to the lowest possible point. All practical
men know much land is improved by the aid of artificial food,
and the extent of benefit it derives from a liberal diet to do-
mestic animals. The return for invested capital is not ex-
pected to be made by the animals who consume the food, but
from the fertilizing properties of the manure : hence, you see,
the want of recognition in all farming customs of ancient
date. It is now an ordinary thing for men to ex-
pend annually suras amounting to half, or in many
Gsses to even more than the rent of the land: it is,
therefore, self-evident that, under a six-months' notice to quit,
and no saving clause in an agreement to protect a tenant from
contingence, it is obvious improvement must in a great mea-
sure be retarded. It must not be imagined that the present
occupier is the only party interested in these things ; the land-
lord also, and the in-coming tenant, are equally concerned ;
and, as I said previously, I view it as a great national ques-
tion, and in no other light can I consider it should be intro-
duced to the community at large. In some instances the
manure upon the farm belongs to the tenant; he pays on
entry, and, as a matter of course, receives for it on leaving.
In that case there is no object gained by lowering the condi-
tion of the farm. If he has a limited quantity of manure on
entry, and leaving a larger proportion at the expiration of his
tenancy, he receives for all additional, and is thus recompensed
for the expense to which he has been by that increase. This
is considered by many farmers the bes't form of occupation,
and as one of the best of all old agreements has certainly mucli
to recommend it. In other counties there are various cus-
toms in general use, called compensation for dressings and acts
of husbandry, that find favour as tending to a good state of
husbandry ; the off-going tenant receives compensation for the
last year's artificial manure bill, deducting certain sums for the
roots, as per the mode of consuming them. Another most
important consuleration for the tenant is to see that he stipu-
lates lor the provision of good cottage accommodation. We
are otten told we provide our cattle with comfortable and warm
aneiter, but the lodgings of our agricultural labourer is not

taken into consideration. This is a thing that requires atten-
tion; proper accommodation within a reasonable distance
from bis labour shoiJd be provided. The Union Charge-
ability Act has in some measure removed an obstacle in the
way of this great good, but there is much still to be done to
make the matter as sat'sfactory as I could wish. Lord Leices-
ter expressed a good opinion upon this subject a few years ago.
He told us that in improving the dwellings of tlie labourer we
were not to expect a return for our capital direct, but must
charge the additional convenience we receive with some share
of the expense incurred, which should be borne by both land-
owner and tenant ; and in that view I think he would find
many of those best able to express an opinion join him.
The labourer must be better educated, and with that increased
education you fit him for a more elevated position in the
social scale, and in no way so well reward him, as in increasing
the happiness of his own fireside. Education enlightens him,
and should make him a better labourer, and that same infor-
mation makes him more alive to the position in which he has
been too much of a reproach to our class and of commisera-
tion by another. I believe the agricultural labourer of this
kingdom will bear favourable comparison with the operative
classes generally, still I consider there is necessity for his con-
dition being improved, the requirements of tlie age make the
service he has to perform more intricate than formerly. The
education of the labourers' children will occupy the attentiou
of Parliament during the next session, and I trust that in
dealing with it provision will be made to educate them to the
position they are expected to fill ; and if in addition to their
book knowledge some scheme can be devised for their techni-
cal education, an additional object will be achieved. The
steam engine, plough, reaping machine, in fact every new
appliance for the general cultivation of the farm, is rendered
more valuable, the amount of property in the shape of
machinery more costly than formerly, hence you require a
better man, as more intelligence must be brought to bear in
nearly every branch of labour in which he is engaged. The
next is one of the most difficult questions to deal with in con-
nection with landlord and tenant, I aUude to game. Mr.
Cadle, in his agreement, provides for the destruction of rabbits
all the year, and for no dog during the breeding season, which
is quite right, and with the general stipulation I agree. With
regard to compensation for damage done by game, I cannot
coincide with the proposal, knowing from practical experience
the evil attending the clause, viz., " To allow for all damage
done by game exceeding 20s. per acre for each and every
acre so injured," and the delusion it has been to hundreds of
tenants, to suppose they are secured against damage (which
apparently they are) ; but at the same time, in grasping at the
shadow, they too often lose the substance. This is apparently
a practical solution of the diiticulty, but I fear it is only the
beginning of greater differences than at first sight appear. I
have frequently been called in to assess damages done by game,
and all who have been similarly placed will agree with me
that it is surrounded by a variety of disagreeable circumstances.
You must first as per this agreement submit to an amount of
damage, receiving no compensation ; you then have to make
a claim of a nature not the most agreeable, and no claim is
viewed either by a landowner or his advisers with a more
jealous eye than the one alluded to. I will ask you as practical
men. In how many cases of this kind have you not found that
a notice to quit has followed on almost the very next opportu-
nity after such a claim has been made ? if, gentlemen, you have
not, I have. When consulted upon matters of this kind, my
first question is. Do you value your occupation ? if so, do not
do anything likely to irritate your landlord, or those in his
effiploy, for it must be well known there are besides the owner
those who are often fully as difficult to deal witli in things of
this kind. I believe no greater evil exists than this over-
preservation of game. I am sorry to see in many localities a
great tendency to that end, the un-English fashion of " battue'
shooting finding favour with too many. I should be sorry'
indeed to deprive noblemen and gentlemen of the recreation
afforded by the sports of the field ; every good tenant wishes,
and is proud to find his landlord a good day's sporr, and happy
to entertain him and liis friends. Another most objectional
practice on some estates is to introduce a second tenant by
sciiivj the game. This should never be done without first
offering it to the tenant, and if he refuses to have it at the
val ;? placed uponi fc wneu he takes the farm (wliich should

THE PARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

n

always be a fair one) tlie landlord should then be considered at
liberty to deal with it as he thinks well. The case of Mr.
Diclison, tenant to tlie Duke of Portland, is familiar to many,
and the state of things there disclosed, where game, was set to a
company, and the unpleasantness which ensued ; and there
are hundreds of cases which I fear are much on a par with it.
I look for the whole question to be more completely set at rest
by public opinion being brought to bear upon it than any-
thing else. Men and things are more influenced by that tlian
by any other power. The /aw now gives the tenant the game,
but by a voluntary act he resigns his right to the owner,
feeling at the same time he has little option in the matter.
But here I could observe that in all cases where land is set at
a reduced rent for the over-preservation of game, it is only
just that the rates should be in the same proportion the land
would yield if there was not that joint occupation, whicli
arrangements of that kind must be considered. We are now
frequently called upon to pay rates for its protection, addin"^ to
our rates by the fact of police being interfered with in their
useful work, by being called upon to protect some ardent
sportsman's game and assist his keepers. Nothing tends
more to fill our gaols and workhouses ; and be it remembered
that no class contribute so largely to the rates of this country as
the occupiers of the land, and with the imperative necessity that
exists for producing a larger amount of food for the increasing
population of this country, the public require that every
obstacle should be removed that interferes with the largest
amount of production for their use. It is not well to attack
private interests upon pubhc ground, but if there is one
question more than another where that is admissible, it is on
tlie subject we are now considering. Agricultural energy,
enterprise, and skill are much retarded by localities where you
have an over-preservation of ground game, and, assuredly, the
interests of the many should receive a prior cousideration to
the pleasure or caprice of the few in support of that system
whicli makes less than valueless some thousand acres of the
best land in this kingdom, and compels us to seek food for
our teeming miUious, from sources which could not add so
much to our natural prosperity as when it is produced from
the sources within our own command. I refer to those
instances where there is an excessive preservation. There is
one remark I wish to make upon the rabbit clause in Mr.
Cadle's agreement ; it provides for the destruction of them at
any time, but there are hundreds of farms where rabbits never
remain on the land during the day, although at night they
visit you by hundreds, to the utter destruction of your crop.
Now, in cases of this sort, the stipulation affords no remedy,
you have no power to enter the coverts where these pests of the
farm take shelter during the day, and to attempt to
interfere there would be considered sacrilege. I know
two instances under my own observation where the
tenants have great damage done them, and where the
privilege of catching is given as stated in the agreement : they
both say they could not kill a couple if they were offered a
hundred pounds for them. In one case a small covert adjoins
some arable land, and in three years over one thousand head
of rabbits have been shot and otherwise killed in the covert,
but not one single head outside. Now where, would I ask,
were all the one thousand fed P by whose property were they
rendered a marketable commodity ? There never was a time
in the history of this kingdom when the question for discussion
this evening presented itself to us with the same force as the
present. In feudal times, and when men made laws to protect
their own individual interests, as of yore, the will and action of
the one was subservient to the other, there was then little fear
of the one moving more rapidly than the other thought
desirable to proceed ; but now the case is widely altered. We
are placed in competition with the world, and that competition
becomes keener every day. The great resources our con-
tinental neighbours are bringing to bear compel us to move
at an equal pace. Railways, canals, and all means of locomo-
tion are extending themselves as rapidly there as at home.
The amount of our machinery which is exported year by year
must tell its own tale ; and whether we are disposed to look
with supineness, or bestir ourselves, it is evident to me that
the great changes which we have witnessed during the last few
years are only the beginning of the great transition to which
I before alluded, and render every effort we can make desir-
able to keep pace with foreign competition. The great
resources of Russia are now being developed by the

extension of railways, bringing grain to the ports at a
price never before known. America, who is now recovering
herself from the calamity occasioned by internal commotion,
will be found a greater exportiug country than before, the
great drain of the over-population of our sister island doing
much to develop the best resources of the virgin soil of the
rar West. All tliese, I say, point, with more force than I can
express, the necessity there exists for the removal of every
unnecessary hindrance to the fuller development of our native
productions. When we review the amount of imports of
corn, wool, bacon, butter, cheese, eggs, &c., which annually
reach our shores, it must be conclusive to every one that we
can only keep even in the race, not only by the removal of all
obstacles, but by emulation and encouragement. The interest
of the landlord (or I would rather say supposed interest) alone
being considered an amount of superfluous matter, being in-
troduced and still insisted upon in farm covenants, acts as a
certain barrier to a better cultivation of the land. Let two
estates contiguous to each other be set on terms to suit the
ideas of men entertaining opposite views upon this question,
and I will undertake to say that in five years the tenancy and
tlie appearance upon the one will contrast very diff'erently and
most favourably with the other. I am unwilling to believe
that there are men to be found who would wish to hold their
tenants in bondage as it were, but in honesty I am bound to
say I have heard a landlord say, " Smock-frock men are the
tenants for me." If such a state of things exist, and I be-
lieve it is only in isolated cases that they are tobe found, this
Club will join with me in expressing an opinion that land-
lords with these views are as much to be pitied as the unfor-
tunate men who become their tenants. The attention of Par-
liament will be called next session to the land question of Ire-
land. I do not hold an argument in favour of fixity of tenure,
but what I say every agreement should give is this : A fair
compensation for unexhausted improvements. Only recently
a landlord told his tenants and the general public at an agri-
cultural dinner, -that his tenants felt as secure as under a hun-
dred years' lease ; and so they may, but he did not tell them of
the hundred and one circumstances that might arise to make
them consider that the long reposed confidence had been mis-
placed. How many sales of large estates are going on every
year and breaking off old connections 1 and it must be borne
in mind that there is no old association between our million-
aires and the tenants of a century upon old territorial^ posses-
sions ; one single discordant sound of the auctioneer's ham-
mer dissevers those ties which preceding generations would
have scorned as idle dreams if the slightest insinuation had
been made of their possible termination. Has not the un-
certainty of life, too, on the part of the occupier told its sad
tale to too many widowed mothers and fatherless families ? the
(r/l spent in putting a farm in a good state of cultivation, with
the hope of a profitable return for the investment, when the
ruthless hand of the destroyer has made desolate that once
peaceful, confiding, and happy home. It requires more of the
stoic than I command to say that this is a desirable state of
things. I am no alarmist, and I hope this Club will not con-
sider I am painting an exaggerated picture. I fear it is in
the power of too many who hear me to endorse to the fullest
anything I have sketched, in setting forth the various modes
in which these questions may be presented to the world in a
true and instructive, but not in the most agreeable position for
them to be pourtrayed. When this Club last assembled here
it was to listen to one of the most elaborate and instructive
papers ever read before it. I have had much pleasure in
perusing it, setting forth the comparative difference between
continental agriculture and our own. I was prepared to hear
we were ahead of them, but we can plainly see, from the in-
formation Mr. Howard so kindly conveys, that as rapid
strides are being made there as here, and gives the same
warning to us, which I thought well to make in a preceding
part of my paper. Irrigation and sewage, which he points
out as being carried on in Italy and Switzerland, are bringing
about great changes in those localities, and are deserving
the attention of both owners and occupiers, who should realise
the necessity for rendering available all possible matter for
the reproduction of fertility to the soil, and make serviceable
that which in some districts is injurious to the locality and
prejudicial to health. The large and important town of
Wolverhampton is at this time preparing to convey their sew-
ac^e, for the purpose of irrigation, to a farm adjoining my

72

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

own occupation, the progress of which uudertakiug I watch
with much interest. Mr. Howard speaks unfavourably of
small farms, and the honourable member for East Norfolk,
Mr. C. S. Read, confirms the opinions he expressed; and
withiu a few miles of the neighourhood in which I reside,
I have seen enough to convince nie of their undesirability
— prejudicial alike to the owner, the occupier, and the
labourer. Small farms are let at a higher rent than
larger ones, and such must of necessity be the case
as security against loss, and from the general want
of capital upon such occupations much less return is made.
To the labourer, no doubt the large farms are of the greatest
advantage, giving continuous employ, and on the other only
occasional occupation, which I believe to be most dangerous
to the labourer, as well as being attended with consequences
disastrous to his family. No one with half-employment can
be considered a desirable labourer ; they are frequently the
worst men, and when partially occupied, generally require
higher wages than are ordinarily paid — and this has the effect
of making them dissatisfied with that fair and equitable com-
pensation which is extended to men in constant employ.
Hence it is conclusive that small holdings pay for casual and
temporary labour a higher rate of wages than larger ones.
One word upon Scotch farming and leases : As you are aware,
in Scotland the general system of tenure is by lease of 19 or
21 years, renewable at a certain period, prior to the expiration
of the term specified. The system of farming there has much
to recommend it to our notice— land well-farmed, masters and
labourers happy and prosperous, the amount of capital there
invested contrasting very favourably with that of England.
No complaint can there he heard of the uncertainty of tenure,
and the want of security for invested capital ; the tenant im-
mediately makes a liberal investment with an assurance that
there is an opportunity during hi« term to reap the reward of
the same — and it is as applicable to the case of a yearly
tenancy, if the security which Mr. Cadle sets forth in his
essay be acted upon. We were told by the late Mr. Grey, of
Dilston, a lease will bring a barren heath to the productive-
ness of a garden, and that a yearly tenancy will return the
garden to its original desert state. This cannot and must not
be considered a tenant's question only. I feel persuaded that
if either of the systems here proposed were generally adopted,
it would tend more than anything else to increase the value of
the land of this kingdom, and would give nearly cent, per
cent, more available food for the people. And is this, I say,
a thing of slight moment, when we consider that in the last
three years we have imported into this kingdom grain to the
value of £37,000,000, and £5,000,000 annually of live
stock, irrespective of the value of butter, cheese, bacon,
eggs and wool, all of which find a ready market here ?
Mr. Allison has recorded an opinion that the husbandry of
Flanders in our plains, and of Tuscany on our hill sides, would
easily raise food enough for double our population. Mr.
Smith, ofDeanston, whose name will everywhere command
respect, has expressed his conviction that by draining and sub-
soiling alone, leaving the question of manure out of siglit,
that Great Britain in 20 years will become a corn-exporting
country; while Professor Johnstone, in his lectures upon
agricultural chemistry, expresses his deliberate conviction that,
as a whole, this island does not produce one-half the food for
man which it might be made to bear with profit to the farmer,
and which by the time our population is doubled he believes
will be found readily to yield. His Royal Highness the late
Prince Consort, who took so deep an interest in the progress
of agriculture, in one of his speeches said : " Agriculture,
which was once the main pursuit of this as of every other
nation, holds even now, notwithstanding the development of
commerce and manufactures, a fundamental position in the
realm ; and, although time has changed the position which
the owner of the land with his feudal dependants held in the
empire, the country gentleman with his wife and children, the
country clergyman, the tenant and the labourer, still form a
great and, I hope, united family, in which we gladly recognize
the foundation of our social state. Science and mechanical
improvement have in these days changed the mere practice of
cultivating the soil into an industrial pursuit, requiring capital,
machinery, industry, skill, and perseverance in the struggle of
competition. This is another great change, but we must con"
sider it a great progress, as it demands higher efforts and a
higher intelligence." His Grace the Duke of Marlborough so

aptly said : " Whatever the material prosperity of the country
may be, it must be based on that which supplies the resources
of natural life and vigour to the nation." Sir John Pakington
also " repudiates the idea of a man placing confidence in his
landlord ; let him treat it commercially, and place his trust in
a written document." If then we are to credit these assertions
— and I fully believe to a great extent in their correctness — I
ask my brother farmers if we should not be " Up and doing."
The name of Earl Ducie is familiar to most in this room ; his
vie(vs upon the question before us are clear and concise. At
an agricultural dinner he thus addressed those present :
" Those farmers who look with dislike upon the progress of
improvement, under the impression that it operates against
themselves, could not entertain a greater mistake, for go
through the length and breadth of England it would be seen
that where the landlord was found the most enlightened, the
tenant was found in the most flourishing circumstances ; the
tenant knew his duty to his landlord, and the landlord to his
tenant. No question could affect more the relative position of
both parties than that of leases, and his opinion was, that till
that question was fairly and clearly understood, all their efforts
after improvement would fall short of what they ought to be.
He (Lord Ducie) would give every tenant a lease, but in return
he must have intelligence. He considered a man a foolwho in-
vested his capital without security." Mr. Randall says,
that by sensible and business men, a lease was considered most
desirable, but we are often told by landlords what we know to
be a fact, that in very extensive and highly cultivated parts of
the country (he alluded to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) land
was occupied from year to year. The farms in the neighbour-
hood alluded to remained from generation to generation in the
hands of the same family of tenants, who considered if they
had leases their farms would be re-valued, and might be called
upon to pay an increase cf rent, which increased value was
mainly due to their own industry and outlay. I need not in
concluding this paper, detain you more than a few minutes in
taking a summary review of the points which I think of the most
importance for the better security of invested capital, and for
the mutual progress and advantage of all classes. In the first
place I feel bound to express my opinion in favour of a lease,
considering it the best security for investment of capital tend-
ing to the independence of the occupier, and an increase of
value to the landlord, with a largely increased production for
the benefit of the nation at large. Secondly, In cases where
an objection is made to granting a lease a liberal tenant-right
should be given, extending a scale of compensation for unex-
haus ed improvements, and for clean farming to such
an extent, or in an equal ratio to that proposed in
the agreement selected by the Royal Agricultural Society, and
w'ith at twelve months' notice to quit. Having referred to
some of the first men of the age, and adduced the opinions
expressed by them and of those now removed from us, whose
memories are still dear, and considering the views they enter-
tained and expressed bearing upon this subject, and to which
I will here again call your attention, his Royal Highness,
the late Prince Consort, aptly alluded to the position we
occupy in the social scale. I have referred to Lord Lichfield
from the interest he has always taken in the welfare of the
British farmer ; to his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, to
show how much the prosperity and vigour of the nation
depends upon the supplies of the resources of natural life ;
to Earl Ducie, the late Mr. Grey, of Dilston,
and Mr. Randall, on the advantages of leases ; to
Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., and Mr. J. Howard, M.P.,
on the comparative advantages to the public of large
over small farms ; to the late Mr. Smith, of Deanston, on
the value of drainage and subsoiling ; to Professor Johnstone
and Mr. Allison, on the practicability of largely-increasing the
production of our broad acres ; to Lord Leicester, on im-
proving the dwellings of the labourer ; to Sir John Pakington,
for the necessity of treating contracts between landlord and
tenant commercially ; to Mr. Mechi, as tending to show that
a much larger amount of capital is required for the improved
cultivation of the land ; to Mr. Howard, in drawing our at-
tention to the importance of irrigation and sewage ; to Mr.
Cadle and Mr. Randall, as showing the necessity existing for
au equitable tenant right in the absence of a lease ; and to the
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, by offering a prize
for an essay on farm customs recognizing the necessity for a
better understanding between landlord and tenant. Perhaps

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

73

I uiAy have disappointed some present by not re-
commending something more definite on the vexed
question of game; but from the experience gained
by our brethren in the north, you will, I think, see
that tliose who are agreed on tilings generally have found
greater differences arise in tliis matter than they were disposed
to admit. Having referred fully to this question, and intro-
duced instances of the disastrous effects arising from over-
preservation, will, I have no doubt, tend to a discussion
aud expression of opinion, from which I trust more
practical knowledge tending to the solution of the difficulties
with which this question is beset, than anything I can adduce ;
and before I resume my seat, I would say that the landlord
should feel that his property is in the custody of one who will
not depreciate it, the tenant that his capital is invested in
that which will be returned to him at the expiration of liis
term, aud the labourer that he is under the joint guardianship
of those men whose interest it is to make him feel that he is
not forgotten in the arrangements tliat are made for the bet-
ter fulfilment of the various obligations which are attendant
upon any satisfactory solution of this great problem. In fact,
it is a more equitable adjustment of the right of landlord and
tenant that is required. The landlord should feel that his
property will not depreciate, but may increase in value ; the
tenant tliat the capital expended is still his own as much as
the owner who lays out money for improving his estate. And
that the threefold cord that binds the interest of those directly
engaged in the cultivation of the soil, the landlord, the tenant-
farmer, and the labourer, may be strengthened and more firmly
united by this and each future discussion of this important
Club, is the earnest wish of your humble servant.

Mr. Cadle (Gloucester) said he was glad that they had
had such an excellent paper. He was also pleased that Mr.
Masfen had endorsed that evening many of the opinions ex-
pressed by himself in his essay for the Royal Agricultural
Society. He took exception, indeed, to one point in his paper
to-night, which appeared to him most important — that which
had reference to superphosphate of lime. If a tenant is not
allowed to sell off hay or straw without bringing an equiva-
lent back to the farm, it was perfectly immaterial whether tlic
manure was in the field or in the rick-yard. He saw no
reason why the tenant should not be paid for more than
last year's manures. If he used them for a crop of corn he
would thereby increase it, and they all knew that the more the
straw crop was increased the less likely the land was to be
foul. As regarded leases he had seen so many disadvantages
arising from them that he thought a system under which the
tenant would be fairly compensated for improvement would
be far better than a lease. Of course a twelvemonth's notice
would not do away with the advantage of tenant-right, lie cer-
tainly thought it was a great mistake to have an arrangement
under which a man would first spend 10 or 15 years in getting
a farm into a good state of cultivation, and then spend the
next 5 or G years in undoing in this way all that had been
previously done. Instead of a tenant recouping himself for
what he had done, the landlord or incoming tenant ought to
pay him for it, rather than allow the farm to be run out. In
the case of a yearly tenancy the tenant should have an
opportunity of getting back what he had invested, and how
was that to be done without over-cropping or compensation ?
Tn this respect it was far better, he thought, for the outgoing
tenant to be overpaid than not paid at all. Of course he would
not put manure on the land when he knew he was going to
leave unless he was to get something by it, and it should be
made his interest to keep the land in good condition, so that
his successor would share the benefit.

Mr. W. Brow^n (Tring) said he had listened with much in-
terest to the paper read by Mr. Masfen, and considered it, on
the whole, a fair view of the question. At the same time, he
must say that that gentleman had addressed himself far more to
the question of the tenants' than to that of the landlords' in-
terest. (A voice: "They are identical"). He (Mr. Brown)
was not, he must observe, at the outset, a farmer, but a land-
agent, and would remind them that there were bad tenants
as well as bad landlords (Hear, hear). He had been several
times in a court of law when evidence had been given with re-
gard to questions of this kind, and when the judge and others
concerned had said, in effect, to the landlords, " You had an
opportunity when you were letting the farm of making any
conditions you pleased, and if you did not take care of your-

self you must put up with the consequences." One great point
connected with the discussion that evening was the want of
capital. Some owners of large estates were in the habit of
putting farms together, thus adding to the holding of those
who, perhaps, had before great difficulty in carrying on what
they already held in a proper manner. In that way hundreds
of acres had in some cases been added to the occupations of
farmers, not from their own^ free choice, hut because that was
the system adopted on certain estates in this kingdom, and it
was one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of agri-
culture that so many persons took land who had not the
means of properly cultivating it (Hear, hear). With regard to
farming agreements, Mr. Glutton, whose name would be received
withrespect in any public assembly as that of a man who was one
of the greatest land agents in the kingdom (Hear, hear), had
intimated to an institute of which he was a member that in
his opinion the law of landlord and tenant must soon undergo
alteration, and he suggested that, in the mean time, it was de-
sirable that in every case there should be a contract which
would prevent those disputes which arose out of what was
called the custom of the country. He had himself seen
illustrations of the necessity of a change in that re-
spect. " The custom of the country" was the most in-
definite description that could be conceived. Within
a distance of 10 miles the customs differed so much
that it was impossible to tell what they really were (Hear,
hear). In a neighbourhood with which he was acquainted
there was an agreement which had lor the last 30 years been
applied on an estate of four or five thousand acres, which after
a mass of nonsense contained one clause to this effect, that
the landlord agreed to allow the tenant at the end of the
tenancy for all improvements of a permanent nature made on
the farm, of which he had not reaped the full benefit (Hear,
hear) ; such compensation to be settled in case of disagree-
ment by arbitration (Hear, hear). He had never made an
agreement since he first commenced business which did not
provide for arbitration, the arrangement being that each party
should appoint an arbitrator, that the arbitrators should ap-
point an umpire, and that in case these could not agree the
arbitrator or umpire should be appointed by the under-sherilf
of the county. As a land agent he might remark that on one
occasion he was requested by a gentleman, a former member
of this Club, to put a fair price upon a farm which had become
vacant, and after having done so, he advertised the farm to let
ly tender, the result was a practical farmer in the district
offered 8s. per acre more than his (Mr. Brown's) valuation
(Hear, hear). It was the farmers aa a b..:^.Y who raised the
price of land, and not the land agents (fiear, hear). He
could mention numerous instances in proof of that. He
could tot agree with the chairman that men ought to farm
without restrictions. It was necessary to provide for the
case of bad tenants as well as good ones (Hear, hear). He
had never met with a ease in which a landlord whose head
was screwed on the right way found fault with a man for good
farming. [Mr. T. Co>'Gkeve: "The rent is raised" — Hear,
hear.] It was only trumpery kind of people who did that.
[Mr. Masfen : " There are a good many of them" — Hear,
hear.] Allusion had been made to payment for seeds. He
had just had a case under his notice in Surrey, in which the
tenant had to pay for seeds put down in grass land, the
period extending back 20 years, no less than from 50s. to £3 an
acre. As regarded the period for terminating tenancies, he
thought Lady-day was far preferable to Michaelmas because it
afforded less room for dispute. He had found the Lady-day
arrangement a great convenience in Oxfordshire. At Lady-
day when one man walked out and another walked in every-
thing was easily settled by two men coming to the farm to
value.

The Chairman observed that that was not the general cus-
tom in Oxfordshire.

Mr. Brown continued : As regarded the drawing of leases ;
in many cases the reason why more practical clauses were not
inserted, was that the matter was left to the family lawyer.
An hon. baronet, whose predecessor was well known to every-
body in England, having once consulted him about becoming
his agent, told him that he was not to receive the rents, nor
draw up agreements, as the lawyer would do this, neither did
he wish him to interfere with the tenants, because they were
a very respectable set of men, who always paid their rents regu-
larly, adding that only one tenant, who was a book-farmer, had

74

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

ever given liira any trouble (laughter). It appeared, in fact,
that all Sir Robert wanted him for v/as to examine into de-
mauds for repairs, and hence he declined to act on his behalf.
As regarded artificial manures, he contended that there were
many which ought not to be paid for. Take, for example, the
use of nitrate of soda. Of what benefit could that be to the
incoming tenant. [A Voice : " JMone."] As to cottage
accommodation, he maintained that in the case of every farm
the labourers ought to be enabled to reside within a con-
venient distance, and not compelled to walk two or three miles
to their work, and that landlords should treat the question of
cottages just as they dealt with that of farm-buildings.
Labourers' cottages were strictly appendages to the
farm. Game — one of the great questions of tlie day — had, as
they must all feel, a very close connection with farm agree-
ments. With regard to rabbits, he \iould say let them be
annihilated, but as respected other kinds of game let farmers
give all the encouragement they could to gentlemen who were
fond of field sports (Hear, hear) .

Mr.J. J. Mechi (Tiptrce Hall, Essex) thought tliey were
all quite agreed as to whose duty it was to effect certain im-
provements, as to what improvements should be made by the
landlords, and what by the tenant. If a tenant had, as he had
done, spent sis or seven pounds an acre in draining perfectly
heavy clay land, and five pounds an acre more in chalking it,
and if he happened to die at the expiration of a short lease,
by the custom in Essex not one shilling would be paid to his
wife and family for the £12 thus expended. The custom of the
county did not sanction that outlay, and hence nothing could
be obtained. Drainage should be done by the landlord. Let
him, if he liked, charge a per-centage upon it, but let not
money expended by the tenant for such a purpose be taken
from his capital. No one could dovibt that the value of the
land was greatly improved by drainage, and if, in order to
secure good cultivation, the tenant was compelled to make the
necessary outlay, he or liis widow and children ought not to
be deprived of the capital expended. Although he was called an
apron-string farmer, he had farmed now for six-and-twenty
years ; and the drainage on his farm being as perfect now as
when it was first made, no one could say that that was not
a permanent improvement. He considered the discussion of
such questions as that of great importance as respected agri-
cultural progress. He believed that the great bulk of the
landlords wislied to do what was right, and he did not think
that rents should always remain at the same amount. Consi-
dering the increase of population and of the general wealth of
the country, it seemed to him only fair and equitable that if at
the end of a twenty-one years' lease it turned out that the
land had increased in value there should be a reasonable
amount of increase of rent. The question of game was a very
delicate one. He was a believer in the great value of winged
game to farmers as destroyers of insects. He had generally
three or four hundred fowls ; they had access to every field on
his farm, and witbin fifty feet of their home he had always
the largest crop of corn (An exclamation : " The deuce you
have !" followed by laughter). He was stating what he well
knew to be a fact, and he still maintained that winged game
were advantageous to crops (laughter). But when he came to
rabbits and ground game that was another question. As an
old sportsman he thought it was desirable to'encourage laud-
lords to reside on their estates, and not to tempt tliem to
imitate the Irish absentees. Earmers ought to make every-
thing agreeable to them, so far as they could do so consistently
with justice and equity to themselves. But he wished to say
that he had seen the worst farming round covers, and he
thought that if there were one place where they ought to farm
twice as well as they did anywhere else, if they wished to
study their own interest, it was immediately round the covers
(laughter). He was speaking cautiously and practically, having
seen immediately round the covers some of the best crops on
the farm (laughter). Again, if they wished to remain on good
terms with their landlords, about £40 spent on wire netting
might secure tliat object. The question of agreements between
landlords and tenants was a very large question. Many of the
agreements now in operation originated at a period when
farming was in a totally different position from that which it
occupied at present, and when it was not contemnlated
that farmers would buy large quantities of foreign cake and
other articles for the purpose of making up the damage done
by corn crops. He knew a farmer who expended £3,500 for

1,200 acres in that form. As to valuations for improvements,
he felt that it must not be assumed that all farmers were honest.
There were dishonest and unfair tenants as well as unreasonable
and unjust landlords, and the grand point was to aim at securing
a system which would ensure an equitable settlement of the
claims of both classes (Hear, hear).

Mr. H. Tkethea^^' (Silsoe, Amphill) said: He would begin
by endeavouring to answer the question put by Mr. Mechi,
What improvements a landlord and what improvements a
tenant sliould make ? In his opinion that question was very
easily answered. He thought that all such permanent im-
provements as Mr. Mechi alluded to, draining, Ijuilding, and so
on, should be made by the landlord, a fair per-centage being
charged on the outlay, according to agreement. Every-
thing of that kind resolved itself into a question of rent. If a
farm were very low-rented, it would bear a per-centage upon
improvements; and on the other hand, if it were very highly-
rented, the same amount of burden could not be equitably im-
posed. For his own part he must say — and he had consider-
able experience in this matter for many years past, and had
given evidence before a committee of the House of Commons,
consistently with principles which he had acted upon ever
since — he thought it was fair to charge under ordinary cir-
cumstances five per cent, for an outlay of that kind, and he
thought such an arrangement was mutually advantageous to
landlord and tenant. Chalking and liming were operations
which should, in his opinion, be done by the tenant for ob-
vious reasons. In the first place, the tenant probably found
the chalk on the land ; he had his own carts to cart it home
with, and it would be as absurd for him to call upon the land-
lord to come and chalk the land for him, as it would to ask
him to plough it. He thought the tenant should be compen-
sated for marling or chalking ; but he would not have the
thing done by valuation. Many gentlemen might differ from
him on that point, but he entertained a strong opinion, and
had reasons for it. Before chalking or liming, or any opera-
tion of that kind was commenced, he would have an agreement
with the tenant ; he would say to him, " In the event of a
change of occupation you shall be paid so much for your out-
lay in proportion to the advantage derived from it." That
could be endorsed in an agreement, and in the event of death
there was no difliculty in settling the matter. Such an ar-
rangement did away with a great deal of unpleasantness and
uncertainty, and at all events people knew what they were
dealing with. Some people thought that a tenant should be
paid for everything which he considered an improvement.
What a tenant considered to be an improvement, a landlord
might consider the reverse, and he (Mr. Trethewy) held that
a landlord should not be called upon to pay for anything, un-
less he has been consulted. A tenant might take it into his
head to set up a fence, or even a building, which in the land-
lord's opinion would be far from improving the farm. He
thought that each party should be consulted in such matters,
and that the landlord should not be required to pay for every
improvement which the tenant might feel inclined to make. A
great deal has been said lately about leases. Many persons
thought leases were a panacea for all the evils complained of;
they said " Give a tenant a lease, and then he is sure to farm
well." His opinion was, that tenant-farming was better under
a yearly agreement, with a compensation clause than under a
lease without compensation (Hear, hear). With a seven or
fourteen-years' lease there was almost always an increase of
rent at the end of the period. Leases were the rule in Scotland,
and what was the consequence ? There was no other land in
the kingdom which was rented so high.

Mr. T. CoNGEEVE: The leases are for 31 years (Hear, hear).

Mr. TuETHEAvy : He was well acquainted with several large
estates in different counties, and he had found everywhere that
where leases did not prevail, many occupations remained in the
same family for generations, and that where leases prevailed,
there were frequent changes (Hear, hear). Another vexed ques-
tion had been raised, through which he did not see his way. It
sounded very feasible to say, as Mr. Mechi did, that all the hay
and straw should be consumed on the farm, and that a certain
proportion should be brought back ; but he wantedto know how
anyone could tell how many tons of cake or guano had gone
off the farm, and how many should be brought there. His
opinion was that the best farmers were those who consumed
tlieir own hay and straw, and instead of selling bought. He
said that unhesitatingly and fearlessly. Mr. Masfen whispered,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

75

and he thanked him for the hint, that that question depended
a good deal on the situation of tlie farm. If a farm were
near a town or a railway station, the occupier might be able
to sell his hay or straw, and get back what he wanted for cul-
tivation ; but the case was totally different when four or five
miles intervened — then the carting would beat them. As re-
garded game, he might remark that no man in that room per-
aps had set himself more against ground game thfin he had
hone. He thought the tenant should be allowed to destroy
dhe rabbits ; but wliere the landlord lived on his estate, and
reserved the right of shooting, and the farm was taken on
that condition, the tenant could not blame his landlord for
exercising liis right. If a landlord had let his land on the
understanding that the ground game should be reduced, then
it was a most unjust thing for him to allow the estate to be
over-ruu by it, and he thought that rabbits should under all
circumstances be killed down. Mr. Mechi seemed to think it
impossible for tenants to kill rabbits, because they got into the
covers. In such cases landlords might employ a warrener to
kiU them.

Mr. T. CoNGUEVE : They never do it.

Mr. Trethewy begged Mr. Congreve's pardon for differing
from him — some landlords had done it, and be (Mr. Trethewy)
appealed to a gentleman sitting opposite to him whether he
had not begged him to let liim have one of his men to destroy
rabbits in different counties where he bad agencies.

Mr. Edmunds (Rugoy) said he could not help asking
where they were — in other words, what was their position as
farmers in relation to tliat question. What tended more than
anything else to hinder the development of agriculture was, he
believed, uncertainty of tenure, under which a man could not
tell whether or not he would ever get back what he invested
in the soil. In every farming agreement wliich he had seen
yet, there was too much left to good feeling. In commerce
nothing was left to good feeling — a man woukl not trust his
own brother, but would have everything in black and white.
As regarded agriculture, however, Mr. Jasper More and
other ^gentlemen said, as he had observed lately, that no land-
lord would do this thing or the other, because good feeling
would not let him. If good feeling existed everywhere, the
tenant might be safe ; but unfortunately it did not (Hear,
hear). Where a landlord employed an agent, who was a good
practical man of business, the tenants might practically be in
a secure position ; but there were cases in which noblemen
left everything to a lawyer in London, who knew nothing
about the tenants or their wants, and then there could be no
security or improvement, because red tape ruled everything.
As regarded forms of agreements, he should be glad to see
something emanating from an authoritative body. There were
the Royal Agricultural Society, the Cliambers of Agriculture,
and the Farmers' Club, either of which might deal with that
question. He had more hope of the Farmers' Club in that
respect than of either of the other societies. That Club con-
sisted chiefly of men who were practical farmers and men of
business ; he did not know of what the other societies con-
sisted, though he saw a great many big names connected with
them. He thought that Club might draw up a form of agree-
ment which would show what ought to be done. As to lay-
ing out seven or eight pounds an acre lor chalking, as Mr.
Mechi appeared to have done, without any security for com-
pensation, if a man did that, he committed an act of folly, and
deserved to lose his money (laughter). As to the poultry
about which Mr. Mechi talked so miich, he might remark that
he kept a good deal of poultry on his farm, and he was sure
tliat if they could have their own way they would eat all he
grew (laughter). The land immediately round the covers
ought in his opnion never to be let at all (Hear, hear) ; it
belonged properly to the landlord, who kept the game to con-
sume the crops.

Mr. L. A. CoussMAKEE, (Westwood, Guildford) said,
being his own landlord and tenant he considered himself per-
fectly unprejudiced on that question, and having farmed for
seven-and-thirty years, and kept his eyes open on all around
him, he was not without experience. In the case of agree-
ments generally there were only two parties ; but in the present
instance there were virtually three, and they had to consider not
only what was best for landlord and tenant, but also what was
best for the public at large. If a farm were let on certain
conditions, which were strictly adhered to, neither of the im-
mediate parties to the agreement could complain ; but, then,

the third party to which he alluded might step in and inquire
by what kind of agreement it would be likely to benefit most.
Hence the question under discussion was, What was that form
of agreement between two parties — landlord and tenant — from
which a third party — the public — would derive the greatest
advantage? He was against long leases, he thought they could
not be advantageous to eitherparty. A landlord who had granted
a lease might soon find that he had for his tenant a man who
was very different from what he had expected or hoped to find
him. He might find a very bad farmer instead of a good one,
or tliat he had got a good farmer but a very unpleasant fellow,
and in neither case was he likely to feel satisfied. Such a
state of tilings could not encourage landlords to do what was
so desirable — reside on their estates. Even if the tenant were
a desirable one, he might, of course, die, and the widow find
herself saddled with a long lease. He thought that tenancy
at will was the best mode of occupation, tending, as it did, to
promote a good understanding between landlord and tenant.
A good landlord would never refuse to good tenant any proper
permanent improvements on his estate. Having satisfied him-
self that the things asked for would be improvements, it would
be his duty to do one of two things — either to execute the
improvements himself, charging the tenant a fair rate of
interest for the outlay, or else to allow the tenant to execute
them upon the security of a written agreement, that when-
ever he quitted the farm, whatever might be his interest in
what had been done, he should receive compensation for it.
No tenant occupying a farm on such conditions w^ould be much
aggrieved, and he believed that under such a state of things
agriculture would advance much more than it would under a
system of leases (Hear, hear).

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P,, thought no one could doubt that
whoever made improvements should be paid for them. As
to the landlord, of course he would take care of himself ; un-
less, indeed, he happened to be in the position shadowed forth
by Mr. Trethewy, of having let his land at so high a rent that
he could not possibly make any additional charge. As regarded
the tenant, he did not agree with Mr. Trethewy that it should
be necessary for him to go to his landlord and consult him
about every improvement in the cultivation and management
of the farm (Hear, hear). If a good system of Tenant-Right,
similar to that in Lincolnshire, were established throughout
the leneth and breadth of the land, there would be no neces-
sity for the tenant to go to his landlord and say, " I want you
to drain this field, and to chalk that one ;" every man would
then farm the land in the best possible manner, feeling satisfied
that he or his representatives would some time or otiier reap
the benefit (Hear, hear). No one could be more in favour of
long leases than he was, having observed how much good they
had done in his own county ; and he felt convinced that if
tenants received reasonable compensation for improvements,
either through leases or a system of tenant-right, the agricul-
ture of England would be rapidly advanced by that means
(cheers). There were many tlungs in Mr. Cadle's model
agreement of which he entirely approved ; but there were one
or two which he could not endorse. In the first place, he
objected very strongly to a six-months' notice to quit (Hear,
hear). He objected to that short notice more every day he
lived, not because he wished to give the tenant a greater
chance of running out the land ; but to give him a longer
chance of finding some other occupation (Hear). Again, any
agreement enforcing a Lady-day entry on arable land would be
alto'gether wrong (Hear, hear) ; and any clause which re-
served rabbits to the landlord would certainly be a great mis-
take (Hear, hear). If he were rightly informed, many
farms in Scotland were at the end of the lease let by public
tender, the outgoing tenant having no prior claim, whereas he
thought the right way was to have an understanding at least
two years before the lease expired as to a renewal of the
term. He agreed with Mr. Trethewy that in parts of Scotland
more changes of tenants took place where leases prevailed than
in many districts of England where land was held at yearly
tenancies. Considering the immense amount of capital em-
barked by the tenant fanner in the cultivation of the soil,
and believing that in a few ecxeptional casesjlandlords took ad-
vantage of that want of security. He thought the time had
arrived when a liberal and comprehensive system of I'enant-
right should be extended over the whole country (cheers).

The Rev. E. Smythies (Hathern Rectory, Loughborougli)
considered that this question was, alter all, one simply of de-

76

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mand and supply. A great deal of disputing and dissension
arose from the fact tliat the demand for land greatly exceeded
the supply and those who were subject to the eflects ot excessive
competition naturally disliked it. On a large estate with
which he was acquainted the farms were very moderately
rented, but they were very badly managed, and when his friends
talked' to the owner about making improvements, he replied
that he did not know why he should trouble himself about
them, seeing that if a farm happened to become vacant at 10
o'clock at night he had a dozen applications for it the next
morning (Hear, hear). The truth was that a great many men
who had piled up money in towns seemed anxious to lose it in
the country, and that greatly increased the eorapctition for
farms, and tiie rents paid for them. Indeed, such persons as
he alluded to hardly seemed to mind what rent they paid, while
practical farmers had learnt by experience the necessity of
caution. This question suffered through being overshadowed
by a cloud of vague generalities. They constantly heard such
phrases as "unexhausted improvements," "custom of the
country," "duties of landlords," and soon. What did they
mean ? Let some oue try to represent them by figures. No
arrangement could be applicable in every county. Moreover
the owners of the soil were many of them sadly ignorant as
to what concerned their own interest. It was matter of fact
that noble lords and hon. baronets who owned a large propor-
tion of the soil of this country knew nothing about it ; many
of them actually prided themselves on their ignorance, and
when questions arose they referred them to the family solicitor,
who also knew nothing about the matter. Being himself once
concerned lu the letting of about 1,200 acres, he gave instruc-
tions that there should be no restrictions as to cropping, but
the lease being drawn by the family solicitor he was obliged
to yield to a certain extent to his representations that the
usual covenant as to cropping should be inserted. The
soHcitor also objected to a stipulation which he desired giving
to the tenant an absolute right as regarded sporting, but on
that point he (Mr. Smythies) remained firm. What, however,
was the result ? Within one week after the agreement was
signed the tenant advertised the game, and he let the whole to
a London man at a shilling per acre ; and it turned out that the
lawyer was right and he was wrong. So that there was some-
thing to be said on the landlord's side as well as the tenant's
as regarded game (Hear, hear). What Mr. Masfen said about
education reminded him that it would be a great mistake to
suppose that the farmers who met there and took part in the
discussions constituted a fair representation of the farmers of
this country. It was no flattery to say that they were, in fact,
la creme de la crtmc (laughter) ; and he might add that they
might find in almost any district a number of men who had
never been near the Farmers' Club, and whose notions were
very diff'erent from those entertained by the men whose posi-
tion was sketched by Mr. Masfen (Hear, hear). There was
an immense number of cultivators of land whose object
seemed to be to get as much land as possible, no matter
how small their capital, and who endeavoured, as it were,
to save their rent rather than to make it (Hear, hear). Such
persons were very apt to get into the Gazeite, and to leave
their farms in a far inferior state to that in which they
found them. The better class of tenants ought to be allowed
to use a farm as the miller used his mill, that is to make as
much as they could by keeping it well oiled and in good
working condition. In these days men could get artificial
manures at a much cheaper rate than they could make
manures on their own farm. He could not recall any period
last year when straw was worth less than three guineas a ton.
He himself sold some at four guineas, and would any practical
man tell him that there was some process of making manure
by which he could make straw manure worth that amount ?
(Hear, hear). lie thought that men shoidd be allowed to
take advantage of an exceptional state of the markets. If
landlords wanted to secure the right kind of men as tenants
tbey must insist on there being sufficient capital. A good deal
hai \)een said that evening about the comparative merits of
leases and tenancies year by year. Much had been and might
he urged in favour of both. When there was the right sort
of man let him have a lease. He might here remark that he
had been told by a member of that Club of a case in which
the same family had occupied under the same family ever since
the Conquest, That spoke well for both,

A Member : Was that under leases or an agreement ?

The Rev. E. Smythies replied that it was an annual
tenancy. He would add, with regard to cottages, that land-
lords as well as tenants might be short of capital, and it was
not an easy matter for an owner whose estate was deeply en-
cumbered to provide all that was needed in regard to labourers'
dwellings. He might fairly reply to appeals that he could not
afford the requisite outlay.

Mr. G. II. HussEY (Green Parm, High Wycombe) said that
in from twelve to twenty cases in which farms had passed
through his hands as an agent, the tenant having been offered
the option of a lease terminable in seven or fourteen years or a
two years' running agreement, had preferred the latter (Hear,
hear). He thought that on no account should there be less
than eighteen months' notice either from the landlord or the
tenant. In speaking of improvements, several gentlemen had
spoken of the landlords as if they all came under one category :
it did not seem to have occurred to them that there was trust-
property, and eases where the "landlord" had not the power
to expend money on improvements. Where a landland had
the power he thought the fair plan was for the landlord and
tenant to agree on the per-centage that should be repaid by
the tenant for such permanent improvements, leaving the detail
for subsequent arrangement, or that the landlord should supply
the pipes (in the case of draining) and the tenant put them in
at his own expense. In his opinion tenants should be al-
lowed to sell wheat-straw, trefoil, sanfoin, and clover hay on
bringing back manure equivalent to the manure which the hay
and straw would have produced if consumed upon the farm.
He did not see how without such an arrangement the Loudon
and other large markets could be supplied.

Mr. G. Jackson (Tattenhall Hall, Chester) said it was
nearly fourteen years since, as a member of that Club, he
introduced the question, What form of agreement was best
calculated to give a stimiilus to agricultural improvement P
They had been asked that evening where they were in relation
to that question P In that respect he was exceedingly grati-
fied with the discussion, showing as it did that they were far
ahead of the position they were in when he read his paper in
rebrnary, 1856 (Hear). At that period the subject was looked
upon in the Club with great suspicion, and he met with little
sympathy ; but the case had been very different that evening.
In Cheshire, it being felt that little could be done to improve
agreements without the consent and approbation of landlords
and agents, a committee was appointed, consisting of land-
lords, agents, and tenant-farmers, to consider the question.
Three committee-meetings were held, each lasting about six
hours. It was found that landlords were far more desirous of
encouraging tenants in the path of improvement than had
been anticipated ; and the result was the framing of an agree-
ment for Cheshire, which could hardly be improved upon
(Hear, hear). If the farmers of each county in England
would take that hint, and endeavour to collect together the
landlords, agents, and tenant-farmers in their several localities,
that would, lie believed, tend greatly to establish tenant-right ;
and without tenant-right there could, as they all knew, be no
f\irm-right. It was no use for one county to think of framing
a form of agreement for another, for each locality required a
separate kind of management ; but he felt quite certain that,
if what he had mentioned were carried out generally, they
would soon have throughout England that kind of tenant-
right which they were all so anxious to see.

The Chairman said before closing that discussion he felt it
incumbent upon him to thank Mr. Masfen for his practical,
and at the same time temperate, paper, containing as it did a
vast amount of imformation well worthy the consideration
and the serious attention of the members of the Club (cheers).
He thought Mr. Cadle's opinion, that the condition of a farm
should not be allowed to run out during the last years of a
lease, was a correct oue. Probably a notice for two years,
with compensation for unexhausted manures used and improve-
ments made during those two years, would answer the pur-
pose of a lease. Mr. Brown's idea as to cottages on a farm
also seemed to him correct. In speaking, as he did in his
opening remarks, of no restrictions as to the course of crop-
ping and the free use of the raw material, the land, he wished
to be understood as having spoken of the modern and advanced
and not of the slovenly farmer (Hear, hear). A good farmer
farmed by growing restorative in rotation with exhaustive
crops, and were he to do otherwise he would be cutting his
1 own throat. Mr. Edmunds said, and said rightly, that too

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

77

much reliance was placed upon tlie good feelings existing
between landlord and tenant. To his mind something more
definite ought to exist through an equitable agreement being
drawu-up as between the parties. Mr. Jackson's idea of
forming a committee of landlords, agents, and tenants to
discuss the question of an equitable agreement was a very
sound one, and worth attention. The resources of the soil

could not be fully developed without either security of tenure
or compensation for unexhausted improvements. The entire
community were deeply interested in the proper solution of that
problem.

Mr. Masfen briefly replied, and this terminated the pro-
ceedings.

THE ANNUAL DINNER.

This took place on the Tuesday evening at the Salisbury Hotel,
and was attended by nearly a hundred members and visitors.
The chair was taken by Mr. 11. J. Newton, president for the
year, and the vice-chair, iu the absence of Mr. James Howard,
M.P., president elect for 1S70 (in consequence of indisposi-
tion), was filled by the hon. member's brother, Mr. Charles
Howard.

After an excellent dinner, grace was said by the Rev. Row-
land Smith.

The Chairman gave the usual loyal and national toasts,
Mr. J. DuMBRELL responding for the Army, Navy, MiUtia,
and Volunteers.

The CiiAiRiiAN rose and said that the next duty which de-
volved upon him was to propose what he presumed
would be accepted as " the toast of the evening," namely,
" Success to the Farmers' Club" (loud cheers). Happily this
would not entail upon him much difficulty, as it would be seen
by tfie Report submitted by the Committee to the Annual
Meeting of Members, held that day, that the Club was iu a
very satisfactory position (cheers). Its receipts had never
been higher in any previous year than the past, whilst the
outgoings were considerably within the income. Many new
/ members had been elected iu the course of the year, and,
financially speaking, the institution was altogether in a flourish-
ing condition (cheers). Tiie discussions which had taken
place during the twelve months were of a useful character, and
the subjects to which they related of great importance. The
first was on the question of pauperism and vagrancy, which
was commanding a large amount of attention out of doors at
the present time ; for, unhappily, both pauperism and vagrancy
were largely on the increase in the country. The adulteration
of cattle food and manures was the next subject, and more
particularly concerned the members of the club, who belonged
to the class that constituted the chief consumers of these
articles. In the course of the discussion Dr. VoelcKer ex-
plained which were the best sources whence to get them, and
observed that the best and purest manures and foods were after
all the ciieapest : a remark which every practical man could
appreciate and understand (Hear, hear). Passing on he came
to a subject also of very great importance, though the discus-
sion upon it took a different form from what many members
anticipated it would take. It was introduced to the notice of
the Club by Captain Dashwood, and it related to the different
systems of rating as between England and Scotland. It
appeared that the system in Scotland was based on the principle
that one-half should be paid by the landlord, and one-half by
the tenant, and this system had no doubt one good effect — that
it increased the number of contributors to the rate and in-
terested more persons iu its proper expenditure (Hear, hear).
The next subject to which their attention was directed was
what he might term the Rabbit abuse (loud cries of " Hear"),
the existence of which was the cause of much injury in many
districts (Hear, hear). Eoxes versus Rabbits was the title of
the paper read ; and he must say that, in the discussion which
ensued, foxes had decidedly the best treatment of the two
(Hear, hear, and laughter). They were good things in their
way, by affording sport to the gentry and farmers ; but as to
rabbits, why they were an unmitigated evil (cheers). True, a
reverend speaker complained that fox-hunting was carried to an
excess, but at the same time it must be remembered that he had
the candour to confess that having three boys growing up
towards manhood he sent them fox- hunting whenever he
could (loud cheers and laughter). The next subject on the
card had been discussed so recently that it must be fresh in
the minds of all present. It was raised on an interesting
paper read by Mr. James Howard, the Member for Bedford, on

Continental Farming ; but the only remark he would make on
the subject was that Mr. Howard showed conclusively that the
peasantry on the continent had to work harder and for less
wages than our own labourers, pud this was so far
satisfactory, that it showed the English farmer did not
object to pay his men a fair scale of wages. Mr. Howard
pointed out, and Dr. Voelcker confirmed him, that thei-e was
a wide field open to the agriculture of this country for the
growth of beet for the manufacture of sugar, aud Dr. Voelcker
also hinted that, although it was generally thought that the
climate of England was unsuitable to the growth of beet for
for that purpose, this was altogether a mistake, and that as
good beet-root could be grown here as elsewhere to make
sugar (Hear, hear). With respect to the previous night's
discussion on " the common form of farm agreement as tending
to the fullest development of agriculture," he only hoped that
SDme satisfactory result would follow from it ; for on all hands
it was admitted that something was wanted in the nature of a
common form of agreement between landlord and tenant, aud
whatever that " something" might be, it was certainly for the
interest alike of landlords, tenants, and labourers that the
question should no louger remain unsettled. It was not in bis
power to point out what were the best means of doing this,
but he was much struck by the statement of a Cheshire gen-
tleman who spoke in the discussion And said that a committee
had been formed in that county composed of landed pro-
prietors, agents, and farmfers, and that they had succeeded
in settling an agreement so far as their county was concerned
(Hear, hear). Whether a similar procedure in other counties
might not be adopted with an equally good result was, he
thought, well worthy of consideration (Hear, hear). Great
success had attended the operations of tlie Club ; moreover,
through its discussions, helping to diffuse a general know-
ledge amongst the agricultural community by the agency of the
Journal of the Club, aud especially of the agricultural press,
Be/l's Weekly Messenger and the Mark Lane Express, papers
which were also the means of spreading throughout the country
a vast amount of useful agricultural information (loud cheers).
That was not the only mode, however, iu which the Club liadexer-
cisedabeueficialiuflueuce; foritcould not be doubted bymembers
who had attended tlie meetings of the Club for a succession of
years, as very many of them had done and he hoped would
continue to do for years to come, that much practical informa-
tion was interchanged in social chat both in the smoking-room
and in the club-room, and he would venture to add that no
man of ordinary intelligence could meet the members of the
Club on any occasion without gaining information (Hear,
hear). He thought he had now said enough to show that
the success of the Farmers' Club of England was an ac-
complished fact (Hear, hear). That success was generally
acknowledged, and the influence of the institution was gradually
making itself felt in every way. Indeed he should not be say-
ing too much if he added that opinions emanating from the
Club were received by the press with greatly increased favour
as compared with a few years ago. Why, that great organ
for the diffusion of knowledge, the Times, recognized the utility
and value of many of their discussions — an uumistakeable sign
of the success which had attended their efforts (Hear, hear).
In the course of the past year members of the Club had gone
as deputations to the Privy Council to express their views and
opinions upon matters which deeply aft'ected the agricultural
interest, and he was happy to be able to say that those depu-
tations had been received with courtesy and their opinions
treated with marked respect by Mr. Eorster, the vice-president
of the Committee of Council. Further, the opinions of mem-
bers of the Club had boon asked on geveral occasions by per-

78

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

sons ill high authority — which was an additioual proof of the
high position tlieChib occupied, and justifted him in tlie asser-
tion that as au institution it never stood in a better position
than at the present moment (Hear, hear). In conclusion, he
called upon tlie company to drink in a bumper " Success to the
Parmers' Club."

The toast was drunk with immense applause.

Mr. A. Pell, M.P., in proposing the health of Mr. Newton-
the chairman, said he had atteuded most, if not all, the meet,
ings of tlie club held in that room during the year just
closing ; he felt entitled therefore to speak with some con-
fidence respecting the manner in which Mr. Newton had per-
formed the duties of his office ; and he was prepared to say
that a more business-like, intelligent, winning, and, lie might
add, commanding chairman in keeping an audience in order
and promoting the transaction of business it had never been
his good fortune to meet (cheers). And liow was it they had
come to find those qualities in their chairman ? It was simply
because he was no mere theorist, but had devoted the best
years of his life to the business with which the name of the
club was associated, that he was able in his riper days to pre-
side over their deliberations and show how ably and well a
practical man could conduct a business into which theory also
entered largely (cheers). For many years, and he hoped for
many yet to come, practice in this country had not had to re-
tire into a place secondary to that of theory. We had seen
enough of that in its most hideous colours in a country over
the water, and he thought we might see there too that it was
not unlikely to bring these simple pursuits to grief, if not to
destruction. In England, at all events, we gave respect and a
hearing to men who, like the chairman, had proved by the
manner in which they liave conducted their business that they
were entitled to a hearing and respect, and that their opinion
was of value (Hear, hear). It had not been his privilege to
know Mr. Newton beyond the circle of his official sphere, but
all that he had ever heard of his hon. friend confirmed his
own impression that he was a right-dovni good, practical
farmer ; and, if he were that, then he must be to all of them
a teacher and a benefactor (Hear, hear). He had been very
much amused that morning on his visit to the Smithfield Club
Show by going into one of the side rooms which branched off
from the ground floor, where he found himself in a place which
appeared to him to be devoted, if he might say so, to " the
period in which we live" (a laugh). In that room, having
previously secured his watch and deposited what little bit of
chain he had in his waistcoat pocket (continued laughter), for
there was a great crowd assembled, he found himself all at
once brought up before a creation wliich called itself the
" Little Wanzer," and which he discovered was a sewing-
machine. A little lower down he came to the " Gold of the
Period," but what that was he did not know. Passing on, he
next came to the " Pump of the Period ;" and he need scarcely
say that in every direction the " Girl of the Period " was to be
seen pressing upon the visitors rather severely (loud laughter).
But it struck him as he looked around that what was still
wanting there was a " Chairman of the Period " such as this
club had the honour of possessing in the gentleman at the
head of the table, whose health he begged to propose, not
only as chairman of the Central Farmers' Club, but as a model
chairman of the period (loud cheers).

The Chairman briefly returned thanks, and in doing so
expressed his acknowledgments for the ready and useful assist-
ance lie had received during his presidential year, from the
Committee and the secretary, Mr. Corbet ; while, in resigning
the chair of the Club, he hoped he should do so with the
conviction in all their minds that the honour of the post had
not suffered at his hands (cheers).

Mr. T. HoRLEY, jun., proposed as the next toast, " The Royal
Agricultural Society of England, the Highland Society of
Scotland, and the lloyal Agricultural Society of Ireland." There
might possibly be a difi'erence of opinion as to whether these
societies had achieved the greatest possible amount of good in
their power, and particularly he referred to the lloyal Agricultu-
ral Society of England ; but when they called to mind the first
county show of that society at Oxford, in 1839, and looked
back a few months to the last meeting at Manchester, the
magnitude of the Show on that occasion, and the interest which
it excited among all classes of the community, it was obvious
that a great deal must have been done by the Society's agency
(Hear, hear), Then, taking a glance forward at the meeting

to be held at Oxford in 1870, and comparing what it would
probably be with that which was held in the same place thirty-
one years ago, he was sure all would admit that a vast stride had
been made in the interest of agriculture by the institution to
which he alluded. At the time of the first show at Oxford, all
the people who could be collected were contained in the qua-
drangle of one of the colleges ; and the question which he
now put to himself was, what they would do with the multi-
tudes that were likely to gather in Oxford at the Society's
Show in July 1870 (Hear, hear). On the whole he came to
the conclusion that, although the Society might not have done
all that was expected from it, nevertheless a great deal had
been done. With regard to tlie Highland Society of Scotland,
he gathered from its reports that it had made considerable pro-
gress, and been of great service to the agricultural interests in
that part of the kingdom, and he felt sure that our Scottish
brethren would always continue to be " up to the mark."
As to the lloyal Agricultural Society of Ireland, he knew
a little about that himself, and was aware that it had been
very successful in promoting the advancement of agricultu-
ral improvement. One of the finest collections of roots
that he ever saw was sent over to the English So-
ciety's exhibition by the Irish Society. Subsequently it
had been his lot to visit the shows of that society several
times, and he ventured to say that the lloscommon sheep were
very line flesh and wool bearers. Expressing a hope that
brighter times were in reserve for the sister country, Mr. Hor-
ley concluded by giving success to the three great associations
of the United Kingdom, with which he joined the name of Mr.
John Thompson (loud cheers).

Mr. Thompson responded, and said that he had had some
little connection with the Highland Society of Scotland in his
younger days ; but as nearly a quarter of a century had passed
since he crossed the Tweed, and settled in England, he regret-
ted to say that he had not been able to keep up that connec-
tion as he should wish to have done. As a humble member of
the lloyal Agricultural Society of England he had great j
pleasure in acknowledging the toast, and he believed he might
safely say, though it was hardly necessary to do so after what
had fallen from Mr. Horley, that the history of that society from
first to last was one of continued progress. Moreover, he also
thought, notwithstanding all that had been said about exclu-
sive management, favouritism, and so forth, that there was no
body of men more anxious to do their duty, and conduct the
business of a society in accordance with the requirements of
the present age, than the existing Council of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society. For his part, however, he should like to see
a closer connection established between the Royal Agricultural
Society and the local associations of the country (Hear, hear).
He felt that it would be infinitely for the advantage of agricul-
ture generally, if such a connection were efl'ected, so that the
local societies might form as it were the branches, and the
central society the trunk of the great agricultural tree ; and
the circulation of knowledge, based upon the principles of prac-
tice with science, kept going throughout all parts of the
country, for he could not see how the benefits they were all
anxious to disseminate could reach the smaller tenantry and
labourers witliout the agency of the local societies (cheers).
He knew there were difticiilties in the way of forming a union
of the sort; but once that it was properly established and ce-
mented, he was satisfied that it would be productive of great
and wide-spread advantages (cheers).

Mr. Garnett, in res])ouding for " The Royal Agricultural
Society of Ireland," said he felt it a great privilege and pleasure
to be associated that evening with the fanners of England,
which was owing to the fact that his friends Mr. Read and
Mr. Pell had visited his poor country, which was now in such
an anomalous position, in order to judge for themselves as to
what were its real resources. It had, in fact, enough agricul-
tural resources to be a worthy rival of England. The Times
had sent through the country a gentleman whom it called its
private correspondent, the object being, he supposed, to obtain
information for the guidance of Parliament in the coming ses-
sion. Whom had it selected for that purpose ? He had no
wish to say anything ofi'ensive ; but this correspondent was, he
believed, a briefless barrister, and a man who was as incapable of
telling the public what was the nature of the soil, or for what
kind of cultivation it was best adapted, as the smallest child in
the city of London (laughter). This gentleman went from town
to town and, from village to village, picking up information

THE FARMEB'S MAGAZINE.

79

here and there for those who, he regretted to say, had never
proved themselves the real friends of Ireland (Uear, hear). How
differently did his friends Mr. Read and Mr. Pell act ! They
went to those parts of Irelaod which formed the nursery for
young stock — he regretted that they did not become better ac-
quainted with the localities where it was brought to maturity ;
and, although they visited some of what might be called the
worst parts of the country, if the Times correspondent was to
be regarded as an authority, yet he ventured to say they met
with no insult (cheers), it was the object of a certain party,
for some poHtical purpose, to keep Engiishmeu out of Ireland ;
but agriculturists were glad to see them whenever they came.
The next meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland
was to be held in the far-famed town of Ballinasloe, whicb
stood almost unrivalled as regarded the show of both sheep
and cattle. He miglit here observe that his friend Mr. Read
was so enamoured of the Roscommon heifers that he invested
in them very largely ; he bought no less than seven of them,
and they were such animals that when his friends in Norfolk
saw them they could hardly believe that they came from poor
Ireland, fancying that they must have come from the York-
sliire wolds, or some locaUty in which the huge Shorthorns
were produced. Ireland produced as good cattle as good sheep,
and as good roots as any other part of the kingdom ; and, not-
withstanding the Fenian disturbances, he believed the popula-
tion generally would prove well-disposed if it were only pro-
perly treated and governed (cheers). The Irish agriculturists
wanted to see English farmers among them (cheers). They
did not care about seeing lawyers, who were interested in the
continuauee of dissension and discussion, which helped to make
briefs and bring business (laughter). He thouglit that the
people of England should insist that if a Land Bill were passed
for Ireland in the next session there should also be one for
England. The countries forming the United Kingdom should
not be dealt with as if they were separate ; there should be one
kind of legislation for all. They were all under the same
autliority ; there was the same Government ; the same Queen
— God bless her ! and he trusted that her Majesty would never
forget what placed her on the throne, and would not consent
to the Constitution being frittered away. In his opinion a
crisis had come when they must all stand together as one man,
for if Ireland went, England must go too (Hear, hear). There
was a democratic spirit abroad, which must be resisted ; but if
all true patriots were firmly united, they would, through God's
help, he enabled to maintain the empire in the position in
which their forefathers placed it (cheers).

Mr. C. Sewell Read, M.P., on rising to propose " The
Vice-Chairman of the Club," Mr. James Howard, M.P., said. At
this our annual dinner almost everybody seems disposed to
take a sort of retrospect of the closing year ; and, as you have
given me such a kind reception, you will, perhaps, before I
proceed to the toast, allow me to take a little retrospect of
Parliamentary matters in connection with agriculture (cheers) .
You may naturally ask what the agricultural members did for
the farmers in the last session. Well, if you judge us by
results, I fear I must reply " Precious httle" (laughter) ; but
if you will judge us by our earnest and hearty desire, I hope
we shall have a favourable verdict at your hands. Never was
it more true than it is at present that the minority is always
in the right (laughter). We agricultural members happen to
be a minority in the House, and we cannot be responsible for
the doings of a tyrant majority. In the last session of Parlia-
ment I took upon myself on two occasions the great respon-
sponsibility of dividing the House. The first question on
which I divided was comparatively a very small and insignifi-
cant one ; but as I believe I was right, I hope my conduct met
with your approval. I wished, and I believe you wished too,
that all servant boys under sixteen years of age should be
exempt from taxation in that capacity. I do not know,
indeed, that it might not be a very good thing for masters if
the employment of such persons were taxed very highly, for
there is not a more disagreeable set of persons to be found
than stable-boys ; but, on the other hand, considering how
long it takes to teach such lads to perform their duties pro-
perly, it seems rather hard thi't masters should have to pay a tax
of 15s. for the trouble they have with them (laughter). On
another and more important occasion I divided the House on
the question of the establishment of a separate market for the
sale and slaughter of foreign stock ; and, although we
agricultural members were not successful in that division, sub-

sequent events have tended to prove, not only to the farming
interest but to the nation at large, that we were in the
right and the Government in the wrong (cheers).
One word as to the future. In the first speech
which I made in the House of Commons I said,
in reply to a taunt which was thrown out against the agricul-
turists, that the fiirmers would never be the persons to call
for protection again (Hear, hear). I then ventured to say
that the skilled artisans and the manufacturers would ask for the
restoration of protection long before we should think of doing
so (cheers). Pree trade is a very good game as long as it
" beggars your neighbour :" but when it beggars yourself it
is not so pleasant (liear, hear, and laughter). As long as those
who were engaged in the manufactures of this country
beggared the farmers they thought free trade uncommon nice
(laughter) ; but now that it has had the efieet of considerably
reducing the wages of the artisans, such persons naturally
thmk it is not quite so pleasant as it was at one time. I hope
and trust that we farmers shall never be humbugged by pro-
tection any more (cheers). Let us go in for thorough and
complete free trade — free trade seen not only in the abolition of
import duties but iu the right to buy and sell, convert, and ma-
nufacture all our produce in the manner which we consider best
for own interests (loud cheers). And now, gentlemen, for the
toast which I have undertaken to propose, which is our future
President, Mr. James Howard (cheers). I regard that
gentleman not merelyas a double-barreUed gun but as a regular
revolver (laughter). In Parliament he is, in my opinion, a
great weight and an immense benefit to agricuturists. One
evening, after I had made a speech in the House, and Mr.
Howard, besides endorsing all I had said, had added some
useful, valuable, and pertinent statistics, a member from tlie
other side came over to me and said, " Y^ou are, of course, a
very respectable person, we, on the other siile, like to hear you
speak, and we give you great credit for sincerity ; though all
you fellows connected with the land have such narrow-minded
notions. But," he went on to say, " there is that Mr. Howard,
who sits on our side, let him say vvhat he will, with his liberal
politics, and that enlightenment which commercial enterprize
gives a man, we seem to fancy that what he says must be true"
(laughter). It is, gentlemen, on questions connected with the
land that Mr. Howard will help us in the House
of Commons. If in the next session a philosopher gets up
to talk about peasant-proprietors, one of Mr. Howard's
barrels will, I beheve, go off and double that man
up (laughter). Let politicians talk wildly on any subject
connected with agriculture, and Mr. Howard will bring forth
his practical experience to refute him. One evening last ses-
sion, when there was a debate on the Patent Laws, and that
great man Sir Roundell Palmer and that other great man
Lord Stanley liad denounced the Patent Laws, up got Mr.
Howard and abolished the legal arguments of the one and the
philosophical arguments of the other in the most charming
and beautiful way (cheers). A gentleman who was sitting
beliind me said, " Well, that Liberal man on the other side of
the House seems to me to knock those great dons over just as
if they were ninepins, and this he does while he is beaming
with good-nature and his face is as radiant as that of a cherub "
(laughter). Mr. Howard's calm and collected manner, his
thorough independence, and his practical knowledge of farming
matters, combined as it is with a large degree of commercial
intelligence, cannot but prove of the greatest service in Par-
liament to the agricultural interest ; and I believe that at such
a crisis as this you could not possibly have selected a more
worthy or valuable person to be the president of your club
(cheers). There are men who are so good that they will pro-
bably work themselves up ; certainly they will never rust up ;
and I think perhaps our good friend Mr. James Howard, who
is supposed to have been taking his holiday quietly and calmly,
has in fact been doing rather more work than he should have
done. It grieves me, and I am sure it will grieve all of yon,
to know that at the present time Mr. Howard's health is such
that it would not allow him to be with us this evening ; but let
us drink with all enthusiasm his health — his better health
(cheers) — and his future prosperity ; and let ns hope that he
will be enabled at all times throughout the coming year to
preside over the meetings of the Farmers' Club (cheers).

Mr. Charles Howard, in responding for his brother Mr.
James Howard, observed that the state of his brother's health
was such that his medical adviser had urged him to lay by for

80

THE FATIMEU'S MAGAZINE.

a few d&js, but he (Mr. C. Howard) trusted that the in-
disposition was only of a temporary nature, and that he
would shortly he ahle to resume his ordinary avoca-
tions (cheers). He felt very much indebted to Mr. Read
for the kind manner in which he had proposed his brother's
health, and he could only say that no one was more sensi-
ble of the honour conferred upon him by his election
to the office of Chairman of the Club than his brother himself
(Hear, hear) . His brother was essentially an agriculturist ;
and ahhougii perhaps he might not be, strictly speaking, an
agriciJtural member, or a member of what was called the
country party in the House, yet lie believed no agricultural
membsr or member of the country party could feel more alive
to the interests of farmers than liis brother did, and lie would
add that he should not believe in him unless tliat were the
ease (cheers and laughter). Not that his brother had not
done very much himself for agriculture — he was sure they would
all give him credit for that (cheers), but agriculture had done
very much more for him (laughter). It was to agriculture that
lie owed his present proud position, and he felt quite sure that
when matters affecting the agricultural interest came before
the House of Commons, although he held political views some-
what different from those of his friend Mr. Read, he would be
found doing all he could on behalf of agriculturists. He
(Mr. C. Howard) could tell them that there was in fact very
little difference of opinion on many subjects between Mr. Read
and his brother. They sat, indeed, on opposite sides of the
House, but when they got down to the smoking-room it was
" Hail, fellow, well met" (laughter), and the difference mani-
fest in the House was no longer visible (laughter). They had
heard a great deal as farmers about what Parliament was going
to do for agriculture, and how many agricultural members and
members of the press were striving to promote their interest.
He had been engaged in agriculture now for about five-and-
twenty years, and during that period there had always been
somebody who was going to help the farmer ; but he did not
know that the farmer had derived much benefit from help of
that kind. In his opinion that had been tried long enough,
and farmers should now help themselves (cheers). Hitherto
they had relied too much on assistance from extraneous
sources, and they must now help themselves a little (cheers).
If men would take game farms, or farms on which they would
have to trust to the kindness of tlie owner instead of haviug
the security of a proper agreement, let them not afterwards ask
the public to assist them on the ground that they were not
properly treated. In conclusion he had to propose " The
Smithfield Club," and in doing so he would observe in refer-
ence to some remarks made by the Cliairman at the Club
dinner on the previous day about the small amount of stock
produced on many farms, that if landlords would be more care-
ful to selectmen of skill and capital to occupy their farms, in-
stead of accepting as tenants those who offered the highest
rent, not only would more corn be produced and the laud be
better cultivated, but there would also be more food, in the
form of cattle and sheep for the people.

Mr. Buckley briefly responded for the Smithfield Club ;
and Mr. Treadwell having given "The Committee of
Management,"

Mr. CousSjVIAKEK, after returning thanks, proposed " The
Secretary," Mr. H. Corbet, and observed that the Club was
most fortunate in having had for two-and-twenty years such
an efficient officer to represent it (cheers).

Mr. H. Corbet, who was received with cordial and pro-
longed cheers, said if he consulted his own feelings only, he
should content himself wltli returning thanks in two words ;
but as the officer of the farmers' Club, he wished to say
something about the position which it occupied in relation to
agriculture. For a great many years it was the special weak-
ness of the farmers of England that they had no representa-
tion, whereas the attendance of that evening spoke to a differeut
state of things. Tliere was the honourable member for
Leicestershire (Mr. Albert Pell), and he saw one of its most
respected members iu the person of the honourable member
for Norfolk, Mr. C. S. Read. He found that whenever
any agricultural Question had to he settled, whether the
Government were Whig or Tory, Radical or Conservative
—whatever those mysterious terms might mesn (laugliter)
—the liouourable member for Norfolk was consulted, while,

as regarded the Government side of the House, if a poli-
tician had to be knocked down, or a philosoplier confronted
on an agricultural question, there was the honourable member
for Bedford ready to do it (laughter). Thus in the Chairman
of the Club in tiie past and the Cluiirraan in the future they
were well represented in the House of Commons. As re-
garded the discussion of the previous evening, he
could not help remarking he was more than surprised at
some of the things to which he listened. For example, he
heard one gentleman remark, in effect, that the question of
tenant's right or tenant's improvements^ was just being taken
up by the Farmers' Club ! That reminded him of the
character of Rip Van Winkle : he would not say where
the " Sleepy Hollow" was (laughter). It would appear that
many members of that club had no idea of what it had reaUy
done in past times (Hear, hear). On the previous evening
doubts were expressed as to whether anybody could distinguish
between durable and temporary, or iu other words, landlords'
and tenants' improvements. Twenty years ago, as was shown
by a Blue Book, the Farmers' Club did that : it then distinctly
drew a line between landlords' and tenants' improvements
(Hear, hear), and yet gentlemen now spoke as if they were
utterly ignorant that this had beeu done. One gentleman
suggested that the Farmers' Club should attempt to draw up
a form of agreement. He (Mr. Corbet) hoped tliat the last
thing that club would do would be to try and draw up a form
of agreement which would suit all the counties of England
(Hear, hear, and cheers). A Shropshire Society attempted
that, and with the most lamentable result ; the attempt of a
Suffolk Society was an equal failure ; and though the Royal
Agricultural Society of England gave a prize to Mr. Cadle for an
essay having the same object, he would assert, Mr. Masfen not-
withstanding, that again the result was lamentable (Hear, hear).
If he (Mr. Corbet) wanted to set up a shuttlecock for every-
body to knock about he would draw up a model agreement
(laughter). The most valuable evidence on this subject was laid
before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1848, at the v
instance of that club, and it might still be referred to. It
had struck him, and the idea had been in his mind for some
years, that it would be desirable to make a digest of all the dis-
cussions of that club, extending over about twenty-five years, for
reference on agricultural matters (Hear, hear). He could
scarcely conceive anything more valuable, and the only thing
which had prevented him from making such a digest himself
was a doubt whether, instead of occupying only a volume, it
would not run to a number of volumes. He believed that club
never stood in such a good position as it did then (cheers).

The concluding toast was " The Visitors," for whom Mr.
Garnet briefly returned thanks.

DEATH OF MR. ANTHONY HAMOND.

Tliiswell-knownagriculturistandNorfolk Squire died at West
Acre, in that county, on Monday, Dec. 13, at the comparatively
early age of sixty-four ; for he was until lately a burly hale-
looking man. lie was elected a Member of the Council of the
Royal Agricultural Society in ISiS, and had for the last twenty
years been a prominent figure at the Council meetings iu
London and the annual shows in the country. Mr. llamond
was a man of much ability, seasoned by a sarcastic humour
peculiarly his own, and there were few greater treats than to
hear him " roast" his dear friends and neighbours, or " the
London strangers" at meetings in his own county. His keen
wit scarcely tended to make him popular, and he offered himself
againandagain,but always in vain, as a Liberal representative for
his own county. Nevertheless, what he said was always to
the point, and long before tlie game abuse had reached the
crisis it has now, he denounced his brother squires as " fast
degenerating into poulterers. Game had become a commercial
affair and he hoped that the system would soon end in thorough
bankru]>tey." Mr. Ilamoud, however, was a sportsman at heart,
and his son and heir, by a sister of tlie famous John Musters,
is now Master of the West Norfolk fox-hounds.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

81

THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

A meetlug of the Council of the Chamber of Agriculture,
followed by the annual meeting of the Chamber itself, took
place on Wednesday, December 8, at the Salisbury Hotel ; Mr.
C. Sewell Read, M.P., presiding at both meetings.

At the Council meeting a balauce-sheet was presented,
which showed a balance at the bank of £265 2s. 7d., inde-
pendently of £31 in the hands of the Secretary. £30 of arrears
was, it was stated, due from district chambers— a statement
which created surprise and dissatisfaction in tlie meeting.
The Treasurer and Secretary were re-elected ; and some
discussion ensued as to the connection of one of them with
some journal, but no explanation was offered as to the Sub-
Secretary's connection witii the Dnili/ Teleyraph.

The draft Report, prepared for presentation to the annual
meeting of the Chamber, was then read.

Mr. T. WiLLsoN having moved, and Mr. Horley, jun.,
having seconded the adoption of the Report,

Mr. Genge Andrews moved the insertion in it of the
following : " That, notwithstanding the increase of the number
of members, and the means of the Chamber, the Council feel
that the subscription list at present represents very inadequately
the great body of tlie owners and occupiers of England and
Wales." He remarked that the number of me.iibers was
under 200 ; a state of thing.s which he considered very unsatis-
factory.

The resolution having been seconded, after a short discussion
was negatived, and the Report was then adopted, as prepared
by the Business Committee.

The annual meeting of the Chamber followed immediately
after.

The following Report of the Council before referred to was
presented :

The Report stated that the progress of the Chambers of
Agriculture during the past year had consisted chiefly in con-
solidating and extending the influence of the organizations
which sprang rapidly into existence in the years 18(57 and
18G8. Tims, while all the chambers had added to their power
by gathering in many new supporters, the two important ones
of Cheshire and Monmouthshire had doubled their list of mem-
bers within twelve months ; the Banbury and the Hereford-
shire Chambers had increased to the extent of two-thirds; the
Peterborough and the Warwicksliire Chambers had grown one-
fourth ; the Leicestershire Chamber iiad added one-sixth, and
the Essex and Worcestershire Chambers one-seventh. The
work of planting centres had also been proceeded with, so that
five chambers had been placed on the list since the issue of last
year's report ; while active measures were now in progress for
the establislunent of new chambers in several counties, and the
Chamber of Agriculture movement had also been set on foot in
Ireland. The number of members in the provincial chambers
actually reported to the Council early in the year was 14,500,
and, allowing for an increase up to the present time and for
eleven chambers which had not returned the precise number of
their members, the total constituency of the Chambers of Agri-
culture at the close of this year was probably upwards of
17,000, and the collective annual income of the chambers
£8,000 or £9,000. There were now 71 chambers and branch
chambers, of which 51 had contributed during the year to the
funds of the Central Council a total sum of £245, entitling
them to send 100 deputed members to the Council meetings.
The Council, therefore, was at present composed of 100 mem-
bers representing the provincial chambers, together with 26
members elected by the subscription members of the Central
Chamber. To the total sum of £245 furnished by the pro-
vincial chambers, the subscription members of the Central
Chamber added about £185, making the total income of the
Council for the year about £430, being an improvement of
about £65. or nearly one-fifth over that of last year. The
Council acknowledged with satisfaction the valuable aid of the
press, particularly of the agricultural newspapers, in leporting
the proceedings of the Chamber and the meetings of the
Council. Having glanced at the subjects discussed in the
course of the year, the action of the Council with reference to

local taxation aud the present aspect of that question, tlie
measures taken in promoting tlie successful o})positiou to tlie
Valuation of Property Bill, and the passing of the County
Administration Bill and the Adulteration of Seeds Bill, and
iiaving enunciated the views of the Council and Chamber on
the malt-tax, the over-preservation of ground game, the exist-
ing method of taking the corn averages, and a uniform system
of weights and measures, the Report mentioned that tlie reso-
lutions of tlie Council on the subject of corn averages and
weights aud measures on being forwarded to the Board of
Trade elicited the following answer from that department of
the Gevernmeut : —

" Statistical Department, Board of Trade,
" Nov. 2Gth, 1869.
" Sir, — I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council for Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 9th inst., forwarding a copy of resolutions passed
unanimously by the deputed members of the Chambers of
Agriculture, at a Council Meeting of the Central Chamber^
upon the system of taking the corn averages, and upon the
mode of selling corn. And I am to request you to be good
enough to inform the Council of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture that, as regards the corn averages, the Govern-
ment will be ready to pay every attention to representations
respecting the operation of the system of taking the corn
averages, and will carefully consider any proposed change of
the system that may be deemed equitable by the payers aud
receivers of tithes ; and, with reference to the mode of selling
corn, that, as the subject of weights and measures of the
United Kingdom is before the Commissioners appointed to
inquire into the condition of the Exchequer Standards, a copy
of the resolutions of the Chamber bearing upon the standards
for the sale of corn shall be forwarded to the Standards Cora-
mission for their consideration.

" I am. Sir, your obedient servant,

" R. W. ro-\BL.\:N'QUE."

The Report further enumerated the steps taken by the Council
with reference to the importation of foreign cattle and the
measure proposed by the Government, which subsequently be-
came law, for the prevention of the spread of contagious dis-
eases amongst home-bred «tock. Tjie Council add the ex-
pression of their " regret that, notwithstanding the strenuous
efforts of their friends on both sides of the House, so few of
their proposed amendments were accepted by the Government.
The bill as passed leaves the whole action and responsibility
of ri'gulating the import of foreign stock in the hands of the
Privy Council, aud the way in which those duties have been
performed may be gathered from the fact that foreign sheep
which have been associated with diseased animals were allowed
to go into the country, and have caused the fearful outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease from w'hich the agricultural interest is
now suffering "

Mr. T. WiLLSON moved that Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., be
the Vice-Chairman for 1870.

Mr. Ellis seconded the motion, and it was passed unani-
mously.

The following were elected to fill the vacancies caused by
the retirement of eight members of the Council by rotation,
the first six being retiring members re-elected, and the last two
new members :

Mr. R. Masfen, of Pendeford, Wolverhampton.

Mr. R. J. More, of Linley Hall, Bishop's Castle.

Mr. A. Pell, M.P., of Hazelbeach Hill, Northampton.

Mr. C. Sewell Read, M.P., Honingham Thorpe, Nor« ich.

Mr. E. Riley, of Kipling-cotes Earm, Beverley.

Mr. J. Smyth, of Newsells Bury, Royston, Herts.

Capt. P. G. Craigie, of Partney Grange, Liucolushire.

Mr. T. Rigby, of Over Winsford, Middlewich.

The auditors having been reajipointed,

Mr. Daniel Long moved, in pursuance of notice, that
retiring members of Council shall not be eligible for re-election
for one year. He thought that such an arrangement would

82

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

tend to increase the subscriptions; while, as regarded the
objection that it might deprive the Chamber of the services of
valuable members of Council, he remarked that such gentlemen
might still be deputed members.

The motion, having been opposed, was negatived, 8 hands
being held up for, and 23 against it.

Sir M. Lopes, M.P., as chairman of the local taxation
committee, presented the following report : " The questions
embraced by what is commonly spoken of as local taxation
have been before the country and the legislature for several
years, and in 1850 a committee of the House of Lords de-
cided that the relief of the poor was a national object, towards
which every description of property ought to contribute. Not
only has this charge now considerably increased, but addi-
tional burdens — such as police, highways, vaccination, regis-
tration, lunatics, militia stores, sliire halls — have greatly aggra-
vated the amount, and multiplied the objects of local taxation.
Until the formation of tlie Central Chamber no great promi-
nence was given to the consideration of this question, although
the necessity for fresh legislation had been affirmed by the
high authority of the House of Lords. The Central Chamber,
formed in 1867, considered this question one of the greatest
grievances which the agricultural interest was subjected to,
affirmed the injustice of the present system of local taxation,
and urged tiie chambers throughout the country to take up the
question. This was done with alacrity, and during the past
two years no question has been more extensively canvassed,
and upon no one does there prevail such unanmity of opinion.
The Somerset Chamber took up a leading position in the
matter, and, after discussing the subject, a copy of their resolu-
tions was forwarded to every chamber in the country. In
February, 1868, Sir M. E. H. Beach moved in the House
of Commons for a return on local taxation. In May, the
same year. Sir Massey Lopes brought the question promi-
nently before the House, and in June Mr. Corrance moved
for a select committee ; but, owing to the lateness of the ses-
sion, the motion was, after an animated discussion, withdrawn.
Again, in July, 1868, having previously been discussed by
almost every Chamber in the United Kingdom, the question
was finally brought before the Central Chamber at Leicester,
on a motion by Sir George Jenkinson. On the proposition of
Mr. Pell, the following resolution was passed : ' That a com-
mittee of the House of Lords in the year 1850, having de-
cided that the relief of the poor is a national object towards
which every description of property ought to contribute, this
meeting recommends the chambers of agriculture to support
by every means in their power legislation for carrying the
principle into effect.' The resolutions passed by the chambers
were very ably condensed in two of the resolutions presented
at the interview of the deputation from the Central Chamber
with Mr. Gladstone on the questions, viz. : (1) ' That the un-
equal pressure of the poor-rate, as at present imposed, is a
grievance which renders necessary the early and serious con-
sideration of Parliament.' (3) ' That the maintenance of the
poor is a national liability, to which income from every source
should contribute,' It will be remembered that the opinions
of the chambers were forcibly set before Mr. Gladstone by Mr.
C. S. Read, M.P., Mr. Randall, of Lincolnshire, Mr. HodsoU, of
West Kent, Captain Craigie, and Mr. Thomas Duckham. At
the commencement of his reply, Mr. Gladstone said, ' I was
very anxious you should feel assured we were very sensible of
an imperative obligation to give our best attention to a matter
of such importance ;' and finally he added, ' I fully agree with
Mr. Read that it is a question which is entitled to the gravest
consideration, apart from political parties.' A month elapsed,
and then upon the motion for a royal commission, moved by
Sir Massey Lopez, the ministers had an opportunity of giving
a more deliberate reply to tlie questions previously submitted.
After the discussion on the motion, Mr. Goschen admitted that
the question, which affected both town and country equally,
must be dealt with speedily. It occupied now the attention of
the Government ; but it must be dealt with by Parliament, and
not by an irresponsible tribunal like a royal commission, one
result of which, he pointed out, would be to hang the ques-
tion up indefinitely. After some further discussion, Mr. Glad-
stone said the motion was one which recommended itself by
every motive wliich could address itself to the indolence and
indifference of an administration ; because, if the Government
were to accept that motion and appoint a commission for the
purpose recommended by the hon, baronet, it would give the

Government a lease of several years' peace and tranquility
in reference to the discussion of the matter. As regarded
the suggestions of one or two lion, gentlemen that a com-
mittee of that House should be appointed, he would only say
that he looked upon the subject as beyond the range and
scope of a committee, and lie could not forbear from expressing
the opinion that the Government would be in a manner shrink-
ing from their just responsibility were they to propose a gene-
ral relegation of the question to a select committee. He
hoped it would be understood from Ms remarks that the Go-
vernment was by no means insensible of the importance, and
he would even say of the urgency of the question ; and, if
indisposed to accede to the motion of the hon. member, it was
not because it was indisposed to the performance of its duty,
but rather because it did not wish to turn that duty over to an
irresponsible body. The committee regard with the utmost
satisfaction the result of this debate, and await with anxiety
the fulfilment of the pledges given by the Government. With
the view of concentrating the objections, and exposing the
anomalies of the present system into one form, the committee
offered a prize of £50 for an essay which should deal with the
whole subject ; and they have much pleasure in reporting that
sixteen essays have been received. As these are now in the
hands of the adjudicators, it is not desirable to say anything
further at present. The preparation and dissemination of
useful information on this great question is one of the prin-
cipal labours devolving upon the committee ; and for this pur-
pose liberal money contributions are indispensable. Up to the
present time about £250 in donations have been received or
promised from different Chambers, in sums varying from £3
to £50 ; but a much larger sum will be necessary to enable
the committee to prosecute their work with vigour and suc-
cess ; and it is to be hoped that landholders and householders,
as well as tenant farmers and occupiers, wiU see how interested
they are in aiding and supporting this important movement."

On the motion of Sir M. Lopes, M.P., seconded by Mr. T.
WiixsON, this Report was adopted. l

Mr. T. DrcKHAM moved the following amendment of Rule 3,
postponed from the last annual meeting : — " Local Chambers
subscribing in advance the sum of Five Pounds per annum, to
the funds of the Central Chamber, to have the power of send-
ing a Deputed Member to the Meetings of the Council, Two
Members for Eight I'ounds, and an additional Member for
every Two Pounds subscribed — such Members to be called
' Deputed Members of the Council.' " He contended that it
was very desirable to increase the income of the Central
Chamber, and that, considering the great importance of the
objects in view, it was but reasonable that the subscription of
£3, which was the amount fixed when the Chamber was in its
infancy, should now be raised to £5.

Captain Ckaigie having seconded the resolution,

Mr. Arkell opposed it, urging that an increase in the
amount of the subscription of the Local Chambers would not
necessarily augment the aggregate received, and that many of
the Chambers being small market ones, could not fairly be ex-
pected to contribute £5 per annum ; while, on the other hand,
many of the larger ones might easily subscribe £10 or £15.

The motion was afterwards opposed by Mr. T. Chandler
and Sir G. Jenkinson, while the Chairman recommended its
postponement, and it was ultimately withdrawn in deference
to the general feeling of the meeting.

The Chairman announced that the subjects appointed for
discussion in the ensuing year were as follows : — In February,
" The Best Means of providing for the Future Maintenance of
Turnpikes and Highways" and " The Present System of col-
lecting Agricultural Statistics" ; in March, " The Best Mode
of providing Means for the Extension and Maintenance of the
Education of the Industrial Classes" ; in April, "The Causes
now in Operation which discourage the Application of Capital
to Agriculture" : in May, " Local Taxation," the precise terms
of the subject to be settled on a future occasion. The June
meeting of the Council was fixed for the litli, a change being
made in consequence of the first Tuesday in that month falling
in Whitsun week.

Mr. Arkell called attention to the fact that the conserval
tors of the Thames are going to apply for extraordinary powers
as regards tlie management of that river from its source to
London, remarking that tlie question was not a mere local one,
commissions having been appointed to inquire into the state of
other rivers.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

83

The Chairman recommended Mr. Arkell to lay the subject
before the Council ; and, at the same time, expressed a hope
that local chambers would in future not only discuss the topics
originated by the Council, but do so at the proper time.

On the motion of Mr. T. Willson, a vote of thanks was

given to the Chairman for the manner with which he had
performed tlie duties of the office of President during the past
year.
The Chairman having briefly replied, the meeting separated.

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE,

This month is the stormiest period of the year,
in continued frosts and deep snows in northern
latitudes, and in heavy rains and furious winds un-
der more benign climates. The ploughing of
stubbles of clays and loams for fallows of wheat
and root crops will be finished early in the month,
and grass leys ploughed for Lent crops, always
preferring the clay lands, to have the benefit of ex-
posure to effect the pulverization of the soil.
This month suits very well for this purpose, and
does not, by a very long exposure of the land in a
ploughed state, reduce it into a hard, battered con-
dition. The ploughing of all lands, stubbles, and
leys, for fallows and crops is very advantageously
performed during this month.

During the frost and snow of northern localities,
the farmer's attention will be directed to carting
operations of every kind— of stones to drains and
roads, fuel to all bouse-holders on the farms, and
of earths and lime for the purpose of compost ma-
nures. Deliver grains to the merchant, if any be
sold, and perform all work of carting that may
occur.

On lands that have been missed in autumn, sow
wheat of the Lammas or spring varieties where the
latter is used ; the former may be later in harvest,
but will be an equal crop.

In fresh weather continue the cutting of copses
and underwoods, the cutting and plashing of
hedges, the scouring of ditches and road sides ;
and clear water courses. Collect to be mixed well
all earthy and vegetable matters, to be converted
into a compost manure of great value ; cut field
drains to half the depth, to be finished in summer.

Plant trees of all kinds in clumps; single
standards in underwoods, and along with new
hedges. In all cases select healthy and vigorous
stems of some years in growth.

Flood watered meadows, and lay dung occa-
sionally.

The live-stock on the farm of every kind will
demand the most constant attention of the farmer,
if he would rear the animals to profit, and derive
advantage from his labours. NeTer forgetting the
great effects of minute care in increasing the pro-
duce of a farm, supply to the cattle in the yards, and
to the horses fresh straw daily from the frequent
thrashings of grain by machinery, or the constant
use of the flail. Spread all litter evenly and thinly
over the yards into level surface, and remove the
straw cribs frequently, in order to prevent the dry
position underneath remaining in a different qua-
lity of dung from the surrounding mixtures. Give
turnips or other roots early in the morning, that
the cattle may eat during the day-light, and be
seen when choked or swollen. The quantity given
is the utmost that can be consumed by fatting
animals without waste, and to store animals

about half that allowance. Turnips are best in
quality when drawn from the field daily for use;
but the risk of heavy snows covering the crop, and
heavy rains rendering the access inconvenient,
obliges to have a month'sconsumptionin store atthe
homestead to supply the constant demand. A stor-
ing beyond three or four weeks lessens the quality
of bulbs and tubers. A few young store pigs are
very useful to roam in the cattle yards, and pick up
any shells of or remnants of roots that may fall
from the cribs, and to move and turn over with
their snouts the straw and dung, in search of
pickles of grain, and thus mix the various articles
of the contents of the yards. The animals pass
from yard to yard, and through a hole cut in the
under bar of the gate except one.

The milch cows will now begin to drop calves;
feed the dam with succulent food, with steamed
roots, and chaffs. Juicy food is most essential to
the secretion of milk. Suckle calves for any spe-
cial rearing of animals, and feed others from the
pail : but for any purpose suckhng will be pre-
ferred, as no substance yet known can equal na-
ture's milk from the mother, transferred from the
udder into the stomach without exposure or eva-
poration. The cows may be divided into a suck-
ling and a milking lot, to rear animals, and to pro-
duce cream, butter, and cheese. Have the calf
pens divided into single apartments of about four
feet by eight feet, opening into the cow shed from
the end or from behind, if the width of the shed
admits. The apartments are boarded in the floors,
pierced with augur-holes to remove moisture, with
a box or two in the corners to hold chalk or rock
salt, to be licked by the animals, which are fed
thrice daily.

The sheep in the fields require fresh turnip sdaily
pulled from the ground, rooted but not topped,
and carried to a stubble or ley ground, or confined
by hurdles on the growing crop, and should have
fresh ground every two or three days, or be confined
in folds, or cleaned, and fed with sliced turnips
placed in troughs. This last method is chiefly for
fattening flocks. Early lambs will be dropped
in some places. Juicy food must be largely al-
lowed to the ewes, and a warm shelter in covered
sheds, with an open yard.

Feed bacon hogs twice a-day with steamed roots,
as steamed potatoes mashed and mixed with meals
and bran. The food of brood sows maybe thinner
and more washy. Store pigs may have the
roots in a raw state, and one feed of cooked food
daily. Bacon hogs must be finished for the
market by a month's feeding with hard corns, as
oats and beans, to produce firmness and whiteness
in the flesh. Barleymeal is the favoured food for
pigs in a prepared condition.

The poultry must not be neglected. Feed with

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

light grains and steamed potatoes, with meals, and
given in troughs, placed under a shelter sheet.
Poultry houses should be heated underneath the
boarded floor by pipes of hot water from the boiler
house. By this means the laying of eggs and
hatching of chickens will be continued throughout
the year.

The foremost fattening bullocks and the early
bacon hogs will come into market this month,
and will command a higher value beyond later

articles. This circumstance should stimulate the
forward provision for the market of the early pro-
duce.

Work-horses are best maintained on dry food,
as oats and beans, chaffs, and dried herbage. But
one meal daily in the evening after work may he
useful, of steamed potatoes, boiled barley, with
other roots and grains. The horse is a dry feeder,
and warm meats may open the skin to colds, from
the great exposure of the animal.

CALENDAR OF GARDENING.

Kitchen Garden.

The directions of this month are necessarily few,
as the weather is the stormiest of the year, in
heavy cold rains in the southern parts, and in the
northern with long, standing, iron-bound frosts
overlaid by deep snows that cover every surface
under a canopy of the severest cold ; consequently,
with a glorious uncertainty of weather, it is im-
possible to do more than suggest. At all events,
they who desire to have lettuces, radishes, and
salads early must be possessed of frames and
lights. We do not allude to forcing, but simply
to protection, yet this will imply some kinds of
hriings, either of dung, fern, or straw, laid so
thick around the box and lights or brick pits, so
as to exclude a frost of 20 degrees, which fre-
quently visits us, and lasts many days. Every
vegetable grown in frames ought to have air in
fine intervals by day, but the sashes should be
closed every night, and be covered whenever it
freezes with straw-mats, the most effectual means
of defence that can be constructed.

If the weather and ground be open, the green
and white cos lettuce, and the brown Dutch, and
also a sprinkling of short-topped radish, can be
sown on a warm border : the e-irth should be free
and open and rich, to promote a quick growth, and
straw or fern should be at hand to throw over the
surface durmg hard nights. Sow radishes twice
over.

A little brown carrot seed, a drill of round
spinach, and some mustard and cress, may be
sown, but little good will result in general.

Peas and broad beans should be sown ai least
25 or 3 inches deep, in soil enriched in the
autumn.

Earth up peas and beans if any be ready, ob-
serving to select the driest weather. Transplant
cabbages from the seed beds.

If frosty, protect the frames and cauHflowers
under glasses ; celery by a couple of boards laid
ridgewise, or by straw on each side of the ridges;
wheel out manure to be ready for plots, asparagus
beds, &c., &c.

Dung applied to the ground in the spring is the
better from being fermented in a heap, with the
process still going on when placed in the land : the
heat is very useful to the germination of seeds,
and to the tender plants or the young growth,
and the dung is in a condition for a ready amal-
gamation with the fresh-dug lands of the winter
exposure. On the other hand, manure that is

saturated with moisture, as in the liquid pit, and
consequently in a comparatively fresh condition,
being applied to the ground in autumn, enjoys the
winter months during which to decay in the land,
amalgamate with the soil, and produce the black
humified earth of mutual contact, which is both
the product and source of life, and well known to
be most highly beneficial to vegetation. Sub-
stances in a fresh state, with inherent or imbibed
moisture, when used as a manure for the purpose
of an immediate effect, tend to produce fibres,
rootlets, and leaves rather than roots and fruits,
which is avoided by using fresh dung in the
autumn applications, and the fermented heaps in
the spring operations.

Fermentation is very beneficially excited and
continued by frequent waterings of the heap of
dung with urinary and soapy liquids; and a proper
mixture of the different matters in the heap, the
wet with the dry, and the half-rotted with the
wholly-decomposed, must be efiected by turning
over the heap v/ith a fork, and with a minute
attention to shake out the clods or lumps.
Place in the inside the former — the whole mass
in a new position of mixed matters, with a light
weight. Two turnings of the heap may be re-
quired to make the changes that provoke fermen-
tation with the new conditions and capacities of
bodies. Nearly the whole value of manures rests
on this result being obtained in the proper state
and quantity.

Fruit Department.

Prune very little unless the buds swell materi-
ally. Lay manure around the roots of raspberries,
gooseberries, and currants, which very largely
hastens and improves the spring growth, and in-
creases the quantity of fruit. Place dung around
the roots of fruit-trees and espaliers to produce
the same results, which will be improved by
placing a thin grass turf or a thin layer of soil
over the animal dung that is used as mulch.

In fresh weather during the month plant trees
of all sorts in clumps — standards, fruits, and berry-
bearing bushes. Plant each kind in a separate
connection, to preserve the generic affection which
is seen to prevail in the vegetable world. Shake
snow from off evergreens to save the foliage from
scalding.

Flower Garden.

Little can be done in this department at this
season of the year. Sow seeds in pans, mark

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

each, and place them in a frame. Perennials are
mostly all to be propagated from the roots by
divisions, slips, and cuttings, which may be

planted in the open weather of the month, along
with all hardy and semi-hardy flowers of strong
stems and fibrous roots.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
DECEMBER.

During the past moutli the wheat trade has continued in an
extremely depressed and inactive state. The receipts of
foreign produce have hecn very heavy, and altogether in excess
of the calculations made at the opening of the season, while,
as we write, there is a further considerable ;|uantity of produce
on passage from all quarters. Millers have, therefore, operated
with great caution, as it became evident that they would be
easily able to supply their wants, from time to time, if prices
did not further recede, and events have fully justified their
course of action. As a necessary consequence of tliese retail
sales, tlie larger portion of the arrivals have been warehoused,
and the demands for granary accommodation have been very
great, so much so that at one time no little difficulty was found
in obtaining storage room. We believe, however, that there
is now full provision for all probable demands. It may be
observed that the accumulation of produce, though large, com-
prises little of superior character, as the arrivals of Baltic
and Danish wheats have not been extensive. A great pro-
portion of the wheat in granary consists of Russian and Ame-
rican qualities, which have been much depressed throughout
the month, though sojrnewhat firmer in value towards the
close ; whereas there has been little disposition shown to
accept lower prices for fine Baltic descriptions. Prices are
not now likely to recede much lower, as any further reduction
would again bring the continent into the market. Already
several cargoes have been taken for near continental ports, the
result being a slight reaction in values, which, however, has
also prevented further operations on continental account. The
general aspect of the market is such as to induce speculators
to venture large purchases for holding, but there is an evident
feeling that prices have now seen their lowest point, and as
this opinion becomes more prevalent we may anticipate a re-
turn of animation, millers being unusually bare of stocks.
The quantity of grain on hand, however, is too great to allow
of any considerable advance in prices, and we therefore look
for a steady upward movement, rather than lor an excited
demand.

The tendency of prices, both on the continent and in Ame-
rica, has been downwards, but the quotations current on this
side have been too high to allow of further extensive ship-
ments. The closing of the navigation for the winter has also
had the etiect of curtailing operations for the market ; but the
quantity of surplus produce still on hand in the south of
Europe and in America is very large, and continues to make
its appearance at the ports of shipment. It is expected that
shipments will be resumed as soon as the navigation reopens.

The spring corn trade has ruled extremely dull throughout
the month. The mild character of the past season, and the
abundant supplies of maize on offer have tended to curtail the
demand for feeding stuffs, and prices have accordingly been
influenced in a downward direction. At one period of the
month oats were extremely depressed, but a better feeling has
since prevailed. Beans and peas are 3s. to 4s. per qr. cheaper
than when we last wrote. Inferior and grinding barleys are
also lower in price, but fine malting descriptions have main-
tained late rates.

Large forced sales of potatoes have continued to be made.

The receipts at the metropolitan markets have been conside-
rably in excess of the demand, and very low prices have been
submitted to. The imports of foreign produce, however, have
not been very extensive.

There has been a firm feeling in the hop market. With a
decidedly short home crop, and disappointing importations,
the trade has ruled more active, and a heavy advance has taken
place in the quotations. It was anticipated that the arrivals
of American hops would be very heavy; but up to this time
the expectation has not been fulfilled.

The metropolitan hay markets have been fairly supplied
with hny and straw, but the trade has ruled dull throughout
the moutii, and prices are lower on the average.

Wool has been firm, although the transactions have not been
very extensive. All qualities have met a fair demand, but
choice lustres and fine descriptions have been in steady request.
It is believed that the improvement in the yarn trade will be
maintained, and that the demand for wool will be more active
in consequence.

REVIEW OF THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
PAST MONTH.

The month of December is, without exception, the most
eventful month of the year, so far as the cattle trade is con-
cerned. Judging from the appearance of the stock exhibited
on the " Great Day," the time-honoured custom of producing
fat cattle for Christmas consumption has by no means deterio-
rated. The supply both as regards number and condition was
very fine ; but, at the same time, we do not think that it in any
way exceeded expectations, as the necessary adjuncts for bring-
ing stock to perfection have been liberally supplied throughout
the season. On the whole, however, the show was a decided
success. During the month the receipts of beasts have been
on a full average scale, and a heavy increase has been noticed
in the actual weight of meat. At the earlier part of the mouth
there was a healthy demand, especially for prime stock, and.
the best breeds realised 5s. 8d. to 5s. lOd. per 81bs. So soon,
however, as the wants incidental to Christmas time had been
met, the trade assumed quite a nominal character, and the
best Scots barely realised 5s. 8d., the more general quotation
being 5s. 6d. per 81bs.

As regards sheep the supply has not been extensive, but
some good serviceable stock has been exhibited. Prime breeds
have been in healthy request at full prices, realising as much
as 6s. per Slbs. ; but inferior qualities have been difficult to
move. As in the case of beasts the demand flagged with the
satiating of Christmas requirements.

Calves have changed hands quietly, but full prices have been
realised. A moderate supply lias been offered.

Pigs have been dull, but steady in value.

A sacisfactory feature has been the cessation of the foot-
and-mouth disease, owing to the cold weather ; and it is to be
hoped that measures will be adopted to prevent a fresh out-
break with the advent of milder weather.

Until very recently cattle have been enabled to obtain a fair
feed in the pastures ; but the severe frost has since effectually
checked the growth of vegetation, and the demand for feeding
stuffs has, in consequence, improved.

The imports of foreign stock into London have been as
under :

Head.

Beasts 5,896

Sheep 34.,I30

Calves 1,670

Pigs 3,119

44,815

17,231

38,336

34,658

66,731

41,712

34,435

25,435

21,904

20,795

17,430

Total

Same time in

1868

1867

1856

1865

1864

1863

1862

1361

1860

1859

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The total supplies exhibited in the Metropolitan Cattle
Market have been as follows : Head.

Beasts 25,689

Sheep 94,170

Cahes 1,946

Piss 680

Total 122,485

COMPAKISON OF SUPPLIES.

Dec. Beasts. Sheep. Calves. Pigs.

1868 17,770 81,780 935 1,070

1867 21,910 92,490 943 1,880

1866 20,750 71,390 1,053 1,950

1865 31,720 126,170 2,823 2,930

1864 23,780 78,410 1,441 2,700

1863 29,302 88,470 1,150 2,680

1862 25,810 85,621 1,354 3,082

1861 24,840 84,630 701 2,950

1860 24,540 82,340 1,577 2,445

1859 24,484 78,980 1,171 2,187

1858 20,523 74,275 1,472 2,450

1857 19,830 67,132 1,209 1,915

1856 23,995 73,200 1,525 2,880

1855 22,412 90,030 1,376 3,184

1854 20,219 88,880 1,573 2,746

The arrivals from our own grazing districts, as well as from
Scotland and Ireland, thus compare with the three previous
years: Dec, Dec, Dec, Dec,
Prom— 1869. 1868. 1867. 1866.
Lincolnshire, Leices-
tershire, & North-
amptonshire 7,620 7,845 9,700 9,550

Norfolk, Suffolk,
Esses, and Cam-
bridgeshire 1,900 550 2,000 650

Other parts of England 2,480 2,330 2,500 2,700

Scotland 1,954 2,190 1,710 1,560

Ireland 2,990 1,292 1,042 2,670

Beasts have sold at from 3s. 4d. to 5s. lOd., sheep at from
3s. 6d. to 6s., calves 4s. 2d. to 6s., and pigs at from 4s. 4d. to
6s. 4d. per 81bs., to sink the offal.

CoMPAMSON or Prices.

Dec, 1868. Dec, 1867.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 2 to 5 8 3 4to 5 2

Mutton 3 0 to 5 6 3 4 to 5 0

Veal 3 8 to 5 10 4 4 to 5 4

Pork 3 6 to 4 8 3 2 to 4 2

Dec, 1866. Dec, 1865.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4 to 5 6 3 2 to 5 6

Mutton 3 8 to 6 4 3 8 to 6 8

"Veal 4 2 to 5 10 4 0 to 5 0

Pork 3 6 to 4 6 4 0 to 5 4

About an average supply of meat has been offered in the
dead-meat markets. With a rather quiet trade, prices have
ruled as follows : Beef from 3s. 4d. to 5s. 2d., mutton 3s. 4d.
to 5s., veal 4s. lOd. to 5s. 4d., and pork 4s. 4d. to 5s. 8d. per
Bibs., by the carcase.

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE,
FAIRS, &c.

DONCASTER FAT CATTLE MARKET was well sup-
plied, and at which there was a good attendance. Some prime
useful, well-fed bullocks and heifers were on offer, and a good
business was done, notwithstanding that most of our leading
butchers had already supplied themselves from the large shows

and from local breeders. All prime lots made good prices

beef averaging from 8s. 6d. to 9s. gd. per .stone. Not a large
supply of sheep, but what were on offer met with leady pur-
chasers and moved off briskly at from 8d. to 8Jd. per lb for
shearling sheep, and 7|d. to 8d. per lb. for ewe mutton.

MARKINGS GREAT MARKET.— There was a capital
turn-out of cattle, and the lots of fat shown were superior in
quahty. Tliere was a good attendance of dealers, and a large
amount of business was transacted. The top fat sold at from
Js. 6a, to 9s. 9d., and middling and inferior at from Ss. to 8s

6d. per stone. Among the lots of fat animals disposed of tht
following may be mentioned : A prime lot of three stots a
£20 10s. a-head, a superior got lot of four at £22 10s., a
capital lot of six at £23, three at £23, two queys at £15,
two queys and a cow at £18 a-head. Farrow cows sold at
from £12 to £14 a-head, and milch cows at from £12 to £22.

MUIR OF ORD FAT STOCK MARKET.— Although
the number of animals shown was large, the demand for
beasts exceeded the supply, and consequently good prices were
obtained. Fat cattle sold at from 75s. to 78s. per cwt. Calves
were in great request, and the long prices required by sellers
were exceeded to by purchasers. A few lots of sheep were on
the ground, for which good prices were also obtained.

NEWMARKET FAIR.— The prices of sheep and store
cattle advanced, but bacon remained stationary at recent rates.
Fat beef from 56s. to £3 per cwt. ; new milch cows from £9
to £15, according to quality; springers from £8 to £14;
strippers from £6 to ^11 ; store hoggets from 30s. to 40s. ;
lambs from £1 to £1 8s. ; fat sheep from 35s. to 52s.

PRESTON FAIR.— With few exceptions, the beef was
only of moderate quality. There was a fair supply of sheep
^nd calves of good quality. Beef fetched from 75d. to BJd. ;
mutton from 8jd. to d^i., and veal from 7^d. to Bjd. per lb.

WORCESTER FAIR.— The show of fat cows, oxen, &c.,
was greatly under that of last Christmas, but good prices were
maintained, principally 7d. to 8^A. per lb., and extraordinarily
prime 9d. per lb. The top price was obtained for a heifer, fed
by Mr. Pratt, of High Green, viz., £39 10s. Of sheep there
were very few, and for these prices ruled good. Best wether
mutton fetched S^d. ; ewes, 8d. per lb. Pigs were numerously
represented, the show of porkers being in excess of recent
years. Prices ranged from 12s. 6d. to 14s. per score.

IRISH FAIRS.— Newport (Co. Mayo) : First-class lots
of three year old heifers and bullocks were sold at prices vary-
ing from £17 to £21 each. Second-class quality sold at from
£15 to £18 each, and inferiors, which were not very nume-
rous, from £11 5s. to £15, Good springers (scarce) changed
hands at from £18 to £20 ; milchers (top lots) went briskly
at very remunerative prices, in some cases as high aa £17
each. Two year old bullocks and heifers sold readily at £14
to £16 10s. each, while inferior kinds went at £11 and up-
wards. Yearlings were also plentiful, and brought good
prices ; heifers went at £6 and £7, and bullocks from £4 to
£6 10s. per head ; stirks from £8 each upwards ; weanling
calves from £2 to £4 ; strippers sold at from £9 to £11 each.
Best pork sold at 57s. and 58s. per cwt. ; stores sold from
£3 15s. ; heavy fat pigs, which were largely supplied, went
from £5 10s. to £7 10s. each ; bonhams, which were nume-
rous, sold at 20s. and £1 5s. each. Best mutton may be
stated at 7id. per lb, ; best fat wedders, 64s. to 62s.
each ; fat ewes from 25s. to 50s. each ; ewe mutton
sold at Gd. to 6|d. per lb. ; lambs from £1 5s. to £2.
Good cart horses brought prices as high as £16 and
£17, and nags went at from £8 to £11 each. — Bal-
LYiiAUNis : Springers and milch cows sold at from £12
to £20 each, three year old heifers, £11 to £15 each; two
year old do. £7 to £10 each, yearlings from £4 10s. to £6,
three year old bullocks from £11 to £15 each, two year olds
from £7 to £10 10s. each, and yearlings from £4 5s. to £5
each. — Newport : Some very important lots were disposed of
at prices averaging from £11 to £13 for store heifers andbul-
locks. The majority of the stock were from mountain pasture,
and consequently this class met with much duhiess and prices
tended downwards. The sheep department was rather dimi-
nutive, prices steady and demand dull. The following might
be quoted as the average prices : — Three years old heifers and
bullocks from £11 10s. to £13, two year old do. £9 to £10,
yearLing|£7 to £8, milch cows £11 to £12 ; not much in request.

CARMARTHEN BUTTER MARKET, (Friday last.)—
Weather very fine, frosty, and most seasonable. The supply
of Butter very limited again to-day. It is supposed farmers
are holding back for higher prices. Market without change
to-day, varying from 120s. to 126s. per cwt. for good dairies.
Cheese steady at 27s. to 30s.

GLASGOW, (Wednesday last.)— There were 2,629 cheese
laid down, and 2,149 sold. Business slow, but no quotable
change in price. Cheddars, 59s. to 72s. ; Dunlop, 65s. to
66s, per cwt.

*HE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

87

ME. HENRY J. MEAKIN'S SALE OF
SHORTHORNS.

By Mr. STKAiTOKD.

The middle of December, after all the fat shows, is not
exactly the pleasantest time of year for the sale of an entire
herd of Shorthorns. The stock may look, fresh from the houses,
well and good ; but they may also look, fresh from the pastures,
very poor and bad — and such was the case with Mr. Meakin's
cattle. The catalogue was only attractive for a few ani-
mals of " fashionable blood ;" one especially, Fidget 7th,
drawing iatiuiries and admirers from all parts of the kingdom.
A " Bates upon Kuightley " also made the journey worthy ;
but great was the disappointment of the number to find
" Charming Maid," a poor, thin cow, with good form and a
stocked udder, and Fidget 7th, with a pure pedigree of
Bates blood, and no appearance of a thorough-bred animal
save a little style ; but, such are the caprices of fasliion, the
former went for 170 gs., and the latter 210 gs., both to Messrs.
F. Leney and Son. Mr. J. K. Fowler and Mr. Slye were keen
bidders for the " Bates upon Knightley " element ; but the
" pure Bates " was put iu at 40, to the great astonishment of
the locals, who freely talked of her market value, no flesh and
no udder, as £14, and then not everybody's money, even with
store cattle dear and scarce. Fifty was the next bid, and away
she went rapidly to 120, whicli Mr. Thos. Bell, formerly of
Kirklevington, offered ; 140 came from the representative of
Col. Kingscote ; and " Fifty " said the auctioneer. To the no
small surprise of the distinguished elUe, a man in a blue coat
bid and rattled away at five and ten guinea bids to 205 ; " ten,
two hundred and ten, and the glass runs," and it did run in
earnest, and out too. No name being called, it was assumed
that the man in the blue coat had bought her, and somebody
-1 shouted " Is it to kUl ?" but it turned out that she was to join
V that vast multitude at Wateringbury, the last bidder being Mr.
Geo. Allen, Knightley Hall.

The other cattle scarcely call for any notice. The first four
cows went only at market value ; Empress, a large, useful cow,
bred from a Derbyshire herd, made 35 gs. from Mr. Parr ; and
the preceding lot to Charming Maid, a five-year-old cow of old
Burghley Park blood, and six months in calf, realized 17 gs.
One of the best-looking animals, an in-calf four-year-old
heifer, with two crosses of blood, made 26 gs. to Mr. Parr.
Lady Geneva, of the Walnut family, wdth a Booth Gwynne
and Bates cross, was bought for Lord Dunmore at 75 gs., and
her heifer calf by Duke of Cumberland fell to Mr. J. K. Fowler
for 50 gs. A poor white heifer of the Zeal tribe sold for 52 gs.
to Mr. WiUingham Fowler, and Mr. J. P. Foster got the best of
twin heifers from the Chauntress family at 33 gs. Two bought-
in calves from a neighbouring sale made respectively 11 gs.
and 8 gs.

The first bull was sold as fat stock for £45 5s., and a pretty
roan buU calf, out of Empress, went to a Derbyshire farmer for
35 gs. Mr. J. K. Fowler bought Charming Maid's white bull
for 37 gs. ; and the sale of some fat bullocks and heifers, at fair
market value, wound up the business. The average of £37 for
38 head is no small result for a winter sale of poor stock ; and
the company, many of whom got fairly stuck fast in the
mud, went away soon after three with that common talk of the
Midland Counties that the best beast had not made the most
money.

SALE OF ROYAL STOCK.— A sale of stock, the pro-
perty of Her Majesty the Queen, at Prince Consort's Shaw
Farm, Windsor, was held under the hammer of Messrs.
Bucklaud & Sons. The stock consisted of 30 very fine prime
Shorthorned beasts, in excellent condition, having been fed
for Christmas ; also 150 Down and half-1)red sheep in prime
condition, the feeding of which reflected great credit on Mr.
Tait, the royal bailiff. There was a large attendance of
buyers, and the prices realized exceeded the average amount of
the sales at the Royal Flemish Farm, on the 8th of the present
month. The sale realized £1,200. The highest price of the
beasts was £45 10s., and the lowest £21 15s. ; the highest
price of the sheep 70s., and the lowest 36s. The average of
the beasts was £30 6s., and the sheep 40s. The sale alto-
gether proved exceedingly satisfactory.

LORD DURHAM'S FAT STOCK SALE.— The annual
sale of fat cattle at Bowes' House Farm, Lambton, was held
last month, by Mr. Thomas Wetherell. The proceeds of
the sale amounted to £4,834 8s. 25 half-bred cattle, average
£31 10s. 6d. ; 16 poUed half-bred cattle, £38 10s. ; 8 Short-
horns, £32 13s. 9d- ; 25 GaUoway heifers, £28 7s. 7d. ; 7
West Highland heifers, £1 9 4s. 3d. ; 2 Shorthorn cows,
£28 5s. ; 2 Shorthorn bulls, £30 10s. ; 10 lots of half-bred
Cheviot wedders, £3 2s. 7d. ; 11 lots half-bred Cheviot gim-
mers, £3 Is. ; 7 lots half-bred Southdown wedders, £3 8s. 7d. ;
8 lots half-bred Southdown gimmers, £3 Is. Sjd. ; 5 lots
Cheviot wedders, £3 5s. 3d. ; 18 lots half-bred Cheviot ewes,
£3 2s. 4d. ; 22 lots Cheviot ewes, £2 5s. 3d.

SALE OF FAT STOCK AT BLAGDON.— The
primest beef and mutton, fed on the Milkhope Home Farm
at Blagdon, the country seat of Sir Matthew White Ridley,
Bart., was sold. The prices were exceedingly good. The
wethers averaged £3 4s. 45d., ewes £2 18s. O^d., Shorthorn
bullocks £33 3s. 5d., Shorthorn heifers £34 9s. 6d., polled
Galloway cattle £23 lis. 3d. The prices of the half-bred
wethers ranged from 58s. to 72s. each, the ewes from 55s. to
60s., Shortliorn bullocks from £27 lOs: to £44, Shorthorn hei-
fers from £26 5s. to £50, and polled Galloway cattle from £19
to £36.

HOP MARKET.
BOROUGH, Monday, Dec. 27.— Our market continues
exceedingly firm, with very little doing, as usual at this period
of the season ; but in face of the small stock of new home-
growths now remaining, there is not the slightest disposition
to press sales. The falling-off of arrivals from the continent,
and the decreasing imports from New York impart strength
to quotations and confidence to holders, giving promise of a
better trade after the holidays. Advices from Bavaria and
Bohemia remain without change, the market being reported
steady. The Belgian markets continue weak. New York
letters to the 12th inst. indicate no change in the market,
which continues quiet, but firm.

Mid and East Kent £7 0 £9 15 £12 12

Wealds 6 0 7 0 7 15

Sussex 5 12 6 10 7 0

Bavarians 7 0 9 0 11 0

French 5 0 6 6 7 15

Americans 5 5 6 0 6 10

Yearlings 2 0 3 5 5 0

POTATO MARKETS.

SOUTHWARK WATERSIDE.
LONDON, Friday, Dec. 24.— Trade dull, with no alter-
ation in prices.

Yorkshire Regents 70s. to 100s.

Lincolnshire do 60s. to 85s.

Kent and Essex do 60s. to 80s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 70s. to 100s.

Perth, Forfar, and Fife do 70s. to 80s,

French and Belgian whites 55s. to 65s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.

LONDON, Monday, Dec. 27.— These markets have been
fairly supplied with potatoes. Owing to the holidays the trade
has been quite of a nominal character. The import into London
last week consisted of 517 bags 1,521 packages from Antwerp,
118 sacks Dunkirk, 10 bags Dordt, and 10 bags Rotterdam.

English Shaws 70s. to 80s. per ton.

„ Regents 70s. to 100s. „

„ Rocks 65s. to 70s. „

Scotch Regents 75s. to 100s. „

French 60s. to 70s. „

COUNTRY POTATO MARKETS, (Friday last).— Don-
CASTER : Our market was poorly supplied with potatoes this
morning ; holders stood out for high prices, but these are not
obtained. Regents continue to make from 9s. to 10s., and
rocks from 6s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per load. — Malton : The potato
trade was most retail, at 6d. to 8d. per stone ; wholesale prices
7s. 6d. to 8s. per tub. Trade still. — Otley: Potatoes 8s. per
load. — York : The prices of round potatoes, of which there
was an average supply, were from 6s. to 7s. per tub of 2801bs,
wholesale, and 5d. per 141bs, retail,

88

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEAV OP THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

The close of the year 1869 has been in character with
the fluctuations which have marked all its seasons.
Beginning with a smart frost, December soon gave place
to extensive and damaging floods, especially aff"ecting the
Northern, Eastern, Midland, and Western counties ; and,
though frost again set in as Christmas came, we have yet
to learn the extent of injury done to the country flooded.
The property lost cannot fail to be immense from the
overflow of rivers, and much injury must necessarily
accrue to the health and well-being of those whose
domiciles have been entered. [Many fields will have to be
resown, for thousands of acres have only exhibited an
expanse of water ; and where farmers incur the risk of
leaving matters to right themselves, there is so much less
prospect of a crop. Notwithstanding the perpetual
excessive imports from abroad, prices were previously so
much reduced that the turn of late has been upwards, and
from the lowest point prices have risen during the month
about 2s. per qr. This, though no material help to
farmers, seems to indicate that the greatest period of
depression has already passed, and should they continue
as close-handed with regard to arrivals as they have been
of late, in sending to London, the year will probably open
with somewhat brighter prospects. ]Much indeed is yet
coming from the Mediterranean and California ; but, with
the present frost, we may reckon with certainty that the
Black Sea, the Baltic, and North America will do but
little in the w&y of export. It is very remarkable, after
a deficient crop, that our prices this year should have
sunk so much below the rates of 1868, a year of unmis-
takable abundance ; but as stocks in the country diminish,
and confidence increases, we may yet see a moderate
advance before next harvest, especially as there are general
complaints abroad of the present lowness of prices. In
Germany, France, Holland, Hungary, and Russia but
little reduction has lately been noted ; though the
accumulation of stores at Odessa amounts to about
700,000 qrs., and at New York to 500,000 qrs. .Alost of
the former will probably find its way here ; but not till
the frost has broken up in spring can either of these
ports be available to any extent. The following prices
were recently quoted at the several places named : "White
wheat, at Paris, 51s., red to 45s. 6d. ; best wheat, at
Bordeaux, 46s. ; red qualities, in Belgium, 46s. to 47s. ;
white Zealand, at Rotterdam, 56s. ; fine qualities, at
Porrentruy (Switzerland) 47s. ; at Romanshorn, 51s. ;
new red, at Hambro', 43s. 6d. ; best new high mixed, at
Dantzic, 45s. free on board ; red, at Stettin, 42s. ; at
Rostock, 42s. ; choice heavy red, at Pesth, in Hungary,
40s. 6d., inferior 35s. ; Saide wheat, at Alexandria, 87s. ;
red, in the Italian States, 42s. to 46s. per qr. ; at Vienna,
43s. ; No. 2 spring red, at New York, 36s. 5d. per 480 lbs.;
winter and amber qualities 39s. ; white, at San Francisco,
including cost and freight to Liverpool, 48s. per 500 lbs ;
ivheat, at Adelaide, 5s. 6d. per bushel.

The first ]Monday, in Mark Lane, commenced on a
short supply of English wheat, and a very heavy arrival
of foreign, most of which was from various Russian ports.
The show of fresh samples on the Essex and Kentish
stands during the morning was very limited. The demand
for really fine white parcels was improved, and this
enabled factors to obtain an advance of Is. per qr., but
inferior sorts were passed over. The extraordinary arrival

from Russia made sales of this sort difficult, and most was
ordered to granary, but American, from improved advices,
obtained an improvement of Is. per qr. over the previous
Monday's quotations. With limited arrivals of floating
cargoes, these were more readily placed at fully as much
money. The wheat trade in the country this week showed
diversity of opinion. From the better tone at the close
of the previous week, several places looked for a 2s. ad-
vance, but only a few were able to report it. Others, not
so sanguine, noted a rise of Is., with but a limited trade.
Liverpool gave way Id. per cental on Tuesday, and was
dull on Friday. Edinburgh noted a decline of Is., and
Glasgow nearly as much. Foreign qualities at Dublin
were dull ; but fair-conditioned of home growth, not being
plentiful, were fully as deir, and in request.

The second Monday noted a moderate arrival of home
grown qualities, and still plenty from abroad; but not
80 much as the previous week by 25,000 qrs. The morn-
ing's show of samples from the near counties was unu-
sually limited, yet millers hung back refusing to buy
without some concession on former prices, which in seve-
ral instances was 'submitted to, and low rough qualities
hung on hand. The large recent arrivals from Russia
and America was against the values of these sorts, and ^
they were cheaper on board ship to the extent of Is. per
qr., some holders preferring to make this sacrifice rather
than land, especially with such difficulty in procuring
good storage. Floating cargoes were fully in sympathy
with the general state of the market, and importers were
willing to accept Is. to 2s. per qr. less money. Again
a reluctance to accept less money was shown at many
country places, as at Boston, Birmingham, Leeds, Oak-
ham, and Stockton, where no concessions were made ;
but Is. less was accepted at Salford, Sleaford, Spalding, and
Melton jNIowbray; while Gainsboro', Lynn, Market-Rasen,
Hull, Rotherham, Wolverhampton, and Gloucester were
down Is. to 2s. ; but Ipswich, generally forward in rising,
noted a reduction of 2s. to 3s. per qr. Edinburgh and
Glasgow gave way Is., and the tendency was downwards
at Dublin.

The third Monday brought a small English supply,
and there was a very marked falling off in the foreign ar-
rivals, which sank to 13,000 qrs. Agaiu farmers
seemed determined to send very scanty supplies
to market, there being scarcely an3'thing exhibited
from Kent and Essex, and that mostly inferior and in
poor condition. This altered state of things influenced
millers to be less particular in their purchases, and parcels
such as would have been left on the previous week were
readily placed at fully as much money, the best being so
scarce as to command a little more money. The entire
foreign trade also had a more cheerful aspect, whQe the
late depression in American and Russian sorts caiising
more demand, they recovered value to the extent of Is. per
qr. Cargoes afloat also had less of the previous week's de-
pression. This better report had itsinfluence in the country.
Notwithstanding the fact that it was Christmas-week,
most places noted more cheerfuluess and greater freedom
in sales. Several were up Is., as Boston, Leeds, Man-
chester, and Newark, and some were Is. to 2s. dearer, as
Sleaford, Louth, and Barnsley. Liverpool noted an im-
provement of Id. per cental on the Tuesday's market:
Both Edinburgh and Glasgow found a better demand at

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

rather more moaey, aud the Irish markets were generally
firm.

On the fourth Monday thei'e were very small supplies
of home-growth, with a fair quantity from abroad. The
number of samples exhibited on the Kentish and Essex
stands was less than at any previous period since harvest ;
and this enabled factors, on a very small holiday market,
to obtain Is. advance over the quotations of the previous
Monday. The foreign trade, though strictly retail, aud
in character with the season, was also very firm, and a
few sales were made at improved rates. Floating cargoes
also slightly revived from the late depression.

The Imports into London for the four weeks were
16,071 qrs. English, 131,066 qrs. foreign, against 23,874
qrs. English, 43,683 qrs. foi'eign for the same period in
1868. The Imports into the United Kingdom for the
four weeks to December 18th were 4,064,205 cwts.
Wheat, 521,587 c.vts. Flour, against 2,611,285 cwts.
Wheat, 339,762 cwts. Flour for the same period in 1868.
The General Averages commenced at 45s. 6d., and
closed at 43s. lOd. ; those of London began at 45s. Id.,
and ended at 45s. 5d. per qr.

The Exports from London in the four weeks were 610
qrs. Wheat, 435 cwts. Flour.

The Flour trade for the most part has been steady. A
reduction of Is. per sack on Norfolk was noted on the
second Monday ; but since then, with fair arrivals, the
tendency has been rather upwards, Norfolk closing at
30s. per sack, and town-made, which has not varied, at
43s. as the top price. In foreign, business has been ex-
tremely dull ; but rates have kept at about the previous
range. The Imports into London for the four weeks
' were 93,066 sacks country sorts, 7,404 sacks 27,595
barrels foreign, against 86,455 sacks country, 3,812 sacks
27,186 barrels foreign for the same period in 1868.

With but limited arrivals of Maize, the trade has been
rather quiet, and prices have kept at about the previous
rauge.

New Beans and hog Peas have of late, by reduced
prices, come into competition.

With moderate arrivals of British barley, and increased
supplies from abroad, prices have very little altered. The
best malting qualities have always been in favour, and
being scarce, have commanded fully the previous quota-
tions ; but medium sorts have for the most part ruled
dull, and grinding still more so ; maize and oats being
comparatively cheaper. The imports for four weeks were,
in British qualities, 12,687 qrs. ; in foreign, 45,734 qrs. ;
against 14,568 qrs. British, 76,900 qrs. foreign, in 1868.
The malt trade has been dull, brewers complaining of
a diminished demand, in consequence of so many being
out of employment. Prices, therefore, have given way
li. per qr. ; and there seems no prospect of a rally, un-
less more business should be doing as spring comes on.

The foreign imports of oats have continued very heavy,
but, after some fluctuations, they have gained 6d. to Is.
in value during the month. On the first week we had
one of the heaviest arrivals known ; but as they came on
the back of an unusual depression, there was then an
improvement of 6d. per qr. This was lost, however,
next week, and subsequently rather more than regained.
Fine fresh Swedes being now procurable at 193. per qr.,
and fair Russian at I8s., there seems little room for any
permanent decline ; and were it not for the difficulty of
obtaining granary room, we think there would soon be
some revival, as nothing whatever has lately come from
Ireland or Scotland, and the Baltic may soon be closed
by frost. The imports for four weeks were 5,671 qrs.
English, 297,640 qrs. foreign ; against 1,783, qrs. Eng-
lish, 499 qrs. Scotch, 12,198 qrs. Irish, 197,402 qrs,
foreign, in 1868,

More new beans have come to market than expected,
and prices have therefore given way fully Is. per qr. ; and
the demand for old foreign has been slack, from their
relatively high value. Still, with a bad crop, there seems
but little chance of any reduction, though, quotations
being reduced at Alexandria on only small supplies, Alex-
andrian now are worth about 383. per qr. The imports
into London for four weeks were 3,335 qrs. English,
5,927 qrs. foreign; against 2,481 qrs. English, 15,851
qrs. foreign, for the same period in 1868.

As regard peas, the English supplies have been
moderate, but the foreign arrivals liberal. Middling
quality boilers, as well as every description of hog-feed,
have gone down 2s. per qr. ; and old white foreign, for
feeding purposes, have been equally reduced ; but really
fine white boilers, being scarce, have little altered in
value, and would still command about 423. per qr. ; while
inferior are only worth 36s., duns about 33s., and maples
39s. to 40s. The imports into London for four months
were 2,959 qrs. English, 14,050 qrs. foreign ; against
2,020 qrs. English, 17,739 qrs. foreign, in 1868.

With fair arrivals of linseed, the trade has continued
nominally the same, though, to force sales, prices must
have been reduced. Cakes have been moderately in de-
mand, at unaltered rates, and still continue to fetch fair
prices.

Though we have had a miserable crop of cloverseed in
this country, and they are very short in France, prices,
which of late were advancing, have been stopped, from
the entire absence of speculation, so much money in
former seasons having been lost. Rates, however, having
recently risen in France, they have kept up well in Lon-
don ; and should only an ordinary demand be experienced,
there is probability of an improvement. Trefoils remain
high, the crop being bad. Tares begin more to be sought
at low prices, say to 35s. per qr.

CURRENT PRICES OP BRITISH GRAIN AND FLOUR
IN MARK LANE.

ShnUners per Quarter.

WHEAT, Essex and Kent, white ... old 47 62 new 40 to 49

„ „ red old 46 49 new 38 45

Norfolk, Lincolnsh., and Yorksh. old 47 49 new 38 45

BARLEY 28 to 32 Chevalier new 35 42

Grinding 27 29 Distilling 32 35

MALT (nominal), Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk 62 70

Kingston, Ware, and town-made 62 70

Brown 48 55

RYE 31 32

OATS, BngUsh, feed 18 to 21 Potato 23 25

Scotch, feed 00 00 Potato 00 00

Irish, feed, white 16 18 Fine 19 20

Ditto, black 16 18 Potato 19 24

BEANS, Mazagan ...36 38 Ticks 36 38

Harrow 40 43 Pigeon 41 46

PEAS, white, boilers. 36 40 Maple 41 to 42 Grey, new 31 35

FLOUR, per sack of 2S01bs., Town, Households 37 43

Country.on shore 30 to 32 , 33 35

Norfolk and Suffolk, on shore 28 29

FOREIGN GRAIN.

Shillings per Quarter.

WHEAT, Dantzic, mixed 46 to 48 extra 50to52

Konigsberg 47 48 extra 46 48

Rostock 43 45 fine 46 47

Silesian, red 40 42 white.... 43 45

Pomera., Meckberg., and Uckermrk. ...red 42 45

Russian, hard, 39 to 40... St. Petersburg and Riga 40 42

Danish and Holstein, rod 41 43 American 42 45

French, none Rhine and Belgium 00 00

Chilian, white 60 ... Californian 50 ... Australian 50 61

BARLEY, grinding 24 to 25.... distilling and malting 30 32

OATS, Dutch, brewing and Polands 20 to 24 feed 16 19

Danish and Swedish, feed 18 to 19.... Stralsund... 18 19

Canada 16to 17, Riga 17 to 18, Arch.l8tol9,P'sbg, 20 21

TARES, Spring, per qr small 31 36 large — —

BEANS, Friesland and Holstein 38 40

Konigsberg 36 to 40.. .Egyptian 36 38

PEAS, feeding and maple.. .36 38... fine boilers 35 39

INDIAN CORN, white 28 30.. .yellow 28 29

FLOUR, per sack, French..33 34...Spani8h, p. sackOO 00

American, per brl 21 22,,.extraandd'ble.23 24

90

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

For the week ended Deo, 18, 1869.

Wheat 49,868i qrs. 43s. lOd

Barley 81,0364 „

Oats 3,639| „

368. Od.
228. 3d.

COMPARATIVE AVERAGES.

WHEAT.

BARLEY.

OATS.

Years.

Qrs, s.

d.

Qrs, s, d.

Qrs, 8,

d.

1865..

. 76,1261 ... 46

8

84,632i ... 32 10

7,844| ... 23

1

1866..

58,431 ... 69

5

62,889i ... 44 4

7,273 ...25

11

1867..

. 66,7211 ... 66

9

82,892^ ... 41 2

8,777f ...24

4

1868.,

. 60.3831 ... 49

6

65,152| ... 45 3

4,830| ... 27

7

1869..

49.8681 ... 43

10

81,036i ... 36 0

3,539f .,. 22

3

AVERAGES

Fob the last Six
Weeks :

Nov. 13, 1869

Nov, 20, 1869

Nov. 27, 1869

Dec. 4, 1869

Dec, 11, 1869

Dec, 18, 1869

Aggregate of the above
The8ameweekinl868...

Wheat.

8. d,

46 11

46 8

46 6

44 3
43 8
43 10

45 2
49 5

Bar

ley.

s.

d.

38

9

38

8

38

1

37

0

36

2

36

0

37

6

45

3

Oats.
s. d,
23 11
23 5

FLUCTUATIONS in the AVERAGE PRICE of WHEAT.

Peice.

46s.lld7
468. 8d.
45s. 6d,
448. 3d,
438. lOd.
43s. 8d.

Nov. 13.

Nov. 20.

Nov. 27.

Dec. 4.

Dec. 11.

... 1.

""71

...

:::L

L.

Dec. 18,

BRITISH SEEDS
MnsTABD, perbush., brown lis. to 13s,, white 10s.tol3s,

CANA.BT,per qr 628. 628.

Ci.ovEBSE£D,red 66s. 74s

CoBiANDEB, per cwt 2l8. 22s,

Tabes, winter, new, per bushel 88, 9s

Tbefoil 268, 308

Rtbgeass, per qr 268. 308

Linseed, per qr., sowing 70s. to72s., crushing 60s. 63s,

Linseed Cakes, per ton £11 5s. to £11 10s

Rafeseed, per qr 64s, 74s,

Rape Cake, per ton JB6 15s. to £7 Os

FOREIGN SEEDS.

Cobiandbb, per cwt 21s.to228

Cabeawat ,, 488. 50s

Clovbeseed, red 52s, to68s., white.., 748, 90s

Hempseed, small 44s. to 458. per qr.... Dutch 46s. 48s,

Tbefoil 20s, 228

Rtbgeass, per qr 24s, 25s

LiNSEBD, per qr., Baltic 58s. to 62s. ..Bombay 608, 61s

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 Os. to *i. 10s

Rapeseed, Dutch 668, 708

Rape OAKB.perton £6 108,to£7 Os

COVENT GARDEN MARKET.
LONDON, Fbidat, Dec. 24,
The market is very heavily supphed, and better prices can-
not be obtained for either fruit or vegetables. Evergreens of
the usual character are also abundant, and much lower in
price than they have been for several years past. Flowers
chiefly consist of Mignonette, Fuchsias, Chrysanthemums,
Primulas, Poinsettias, Heaths, and Tulips.

FRUIT,
s. d. s. d B. d. B. d.

AppleB,^ J sieve 3 0 to 5 0 Melous.each 1 6 to

0 Nectarines,^ doz,

D 14 0 Oranges, "^ 100 6 0 12

S 0 9 Peaches, "# dozen ... 0 0 0

) 6 0 Pears, ^ dozen 3 0 6

D 10 0 Pine Apples, per lb. 3 0 5

VEGETABLES.

Artichokes, per dozen 3 0 to 6 0, Leeks, per bunch 0 2 to 0

Cobs, ^ ft 0

Chestnuts, ^ bush.... 8

Filberts, ■^ ft 0

Grapes, %i lb 3

Lemons. ^100 5

Beans, Kid., ^ J sieve 0

Beet, per dozen 2

Broccoli, 'is doz 1

Brus. Sprouts, "# i sve. 2

Cabbages, per dozen... 1

Capsicums, '^ hand.... 2

Carrots, per bunch ... 0

Cauliflowers, per doz. 1

Celery, per bundle ... 1

Cucumbers, each 1

Endive, per doz 1

French Beans, i&fhund 2

OarUc&Shallots,'Slb. 0

Herbs, per buncii 0

HorseraOish,^ bundle 3

Lettuces, per score

0 Mint,perburch 0

6 Mushrooms, ^ pottle 1

0 Onions, green, ^ bun. 0

6 Parsley, per bunch ... 0
6 Potatoes, York Re-

8 gents, per ton 80

0 Flukes, per ton 80

6 Radishes, per 12 bund. 1

0 Salsafy, "^ bundle 1

0 Scorzonera, '# bundle. 1

0 Sea Kale, ^ punnet.... 2

0 Spinach, per bushel ... 2

4 Tomatoes, per dozen 0

0 'Turnips, p. bun , 0

PRICES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &c.

CHEESE, per cwt. : s, s,

Cheshire 60 to 84

Dble. Gloucester... 60 76

BUTTER, per cwt, : B,
Dorset — to —

Priesland 124

Jersey 104

Feesh, per doz. ... 16
BACON, per cwt :
Wiltshire, green... 74
Irish, f.o.b 66

126

130

19

Cheddar 74 91

American 68 74

HAMS: York, old. ..100 112

— I Cumberland 96 110

71 1 Irish, new 74 120

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

Cubeent Pbices oe English Wool. s. d, s, d.

Fleeces — Southdown hogs per lb. 1 1 to 1 IJ

Half-bred ditto „ 1 3^ 1 4i

Kent fleeces „ 13 1 3^

SouthdoTSTi ewes and wethers ... ,, 1 0^ 1 IJ

Leicester ditto ,, 1 2i 1 3^

SoETS— Clothing, picklock „ 14 14^

Prime „ 1 2| 1 3

Choice „ 11 12

Super „ 10 1 OJ

Combing, wether mat ,, 1 4^ 1 5

Picklock , 11 12

TIMBER,
LONDON, Fbidat, Dec, 24,

The market has been flat at late rates.

BALTIC FIR TIMBER.

Per load 50 cubic feet.

s. d. s. d.

Riga 55 0 to 60 0

Dantzic and Memel,

Crown 70 0 80 0

Best middling 63 0 70 0

Good middling &

second 50 0 57 0

Commonmiddling 44 0 47 0
Small, short, and

irregular 40 0 SO 0

Stettin 40 0 50 0

Swedish 46 0 50 0

Small 40 0 43 0

Swedish * Norway

balks 30 0 38 0

AMERICAN PITCH PINE.
United States — —

BALTIC OAK TIMBER.

Memel, crown 105 0 125 0

Brack 80 0 90 0

Dantzic and Stettin,

Crown 85 0 125 0

Brack &unsquar'd 50 0 65 0
WAINSCOT.
Per log 18 cubic feet.

Riga, crown 80 0 105 0

Brack 47 0 54 0

Memel and Dantzic,

Crown 70 0 75 0

Brack 40 0 47 0

DEALS AND BATTENS.
Per Petersburg standard hundred.

Archangel 10 10

Seconds „. 7 10

Petersburg U 0

Wyburg 8 10

Finland and hand-
sawn Swedish 6 5

Petersburg & Riga

white deals V 0

Memel and Dantzic,

Crown red deals... 12 0

Brack „. 7 C

£ s. £ B.

12 10
9 0
11 15

£ B.

0 0

8 10

Christiana & Sanne-
sund deals, white

andyeUow 10 0

Second do 0 0

Dram & Frederick-
stadt battens, do.

Dram eVi-inch do. ...

Gothenb'g,gd stocks
Common 7 0

Gefle and Swedish
14-feet deals 8 0

Swedish deals and
battens, long mill-
sawn 7 0

Dantzic, cr'wn deck,
per 40-feet 3-inch 0 16
Brack 0 12

LATHWOOD.

Per cubic fathom.

Petersburg 5 10

Riga, Dant., Memel,
and Swedish 4 0

FIREWOOD.
Per cubic fathom.
Swedish, red deal

ends 3 15

Norway, red & white

boards 3 0

Rounds and slabs 2 5

OAK STAVES
Per mille pipe.

Memel, crown 140 0

First brack 105 0

Dantzic, Stettin, &
Hambro' fuU-siz'd

crown 100 0

Canada, stand, pipa 65 0
Puncheon, ^ 1,200

pieces 19 0

Bosnia, single brl.,

^1,200 pieces 27 10

United States, pipe 30 0
Hogshead, heavy

and extra 21 0

Slieht 17 0

to 12 10
0 0

6 S
6 0

PRICE CURRENT OF GUANO, &c.
Peruvian Guano direct from the importers' stores, £13 IDs. to £13 15s.

per ton.
Bones, £7 Os. to £7 15s. per ton.
Animal Charcoal (70 per cent. Phosphate) £5 per ton.
Coprolite, Cambridge, whole £3, ground £3 10s. per ton.

Suffolk, whole £2 10s., ground £3.
Gypsum, £1 10s. Superphosphates of Lime, £5 5s. to £6 5s. per ton.
Sulphuric Acid, concentrated r845 Id. per lb., brown 1'712 O^d.
Sulphate of Ammonia ICs. lod. to 19s. lOd. Salt (in London) 25s. per ton.
Blood Manure, £6 5s. to £7 lOs. Dissolved Bones, £7 Os. per ton,
B, PuBSEB, London Manure Company,

116, Fenchurch Street, E,0.

Guano, Peruvian £13 7 6 to£0 0 0, Linseed Cake, per ton-

Bone Ash 5

Phosphate of Lime 0 0 llj
Cotsd. Cake, decor. 7 15 0
Brimstone, 2d&3rd 7 12 6
Nitr. of Soda, p. ct. 0 15 0
Linsd.Bomby,p.qr.3 1 0
Rapeseed, Guzerat 3 4 0

0 00 Amer.,thin,bgs.£10 15 0 to£0 0 0

1 O'Niger 2 10 0

8 5 0|Cottonseed,Egypt. 0 0 0 0 00
7 17 6'cioverseed, N.Am.

0 15 3] red.newper cwt.O 0 0 GOD

0 0 0 Tallow, 1st P.T.C. 2 8 0 0 0 0

.'i 5 Ol „ super.Norths 2 5 0 2 56

SAMUEL DOWNS Sand CO., General Brokers,

No. 7, The Albany, Liverpool.

Agricultural Chemical Works, Stowmarket, Sufl'olk.

Prentice's Cereal Manure for Corn Crops „.„ „.„. per ton £8 0 0

Mangold Manure „....„.,..„ „ 6 0 0

Prentice's Turnip Manure „,„....„.„,„ „.„ „ 6 10 0

Prentice's Superphosphate of Lime~__~~__—. „ 6 0 0

Printed by Rogeraon and Tuxford, 366, Strand, London, W.C.

ru

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 187 0.

CONTENTS.

Plate I.— MR. WILLIAM SMITH, OF WOOLSTON. — AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
Plate II. — DIADEM : a Prize Hereford Heifer.

Council Meeting

Descriptions of the Plates .

Earth Composts.— By Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S.

A Remedy for Rabbits

The Members in Council. — R.A.S.

The late Mr. George Saville Foljambe

The Cirencester College

Artificial Manures

The Birmingham Shorthorn Show

On the Clay Formations of England,

The Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland:

On Seeds and Grass Lands

Abingdon Fat Cattle Show ....

The Birmingham and Midland Counties Cattle Show

Rutland Agricultural Society: Meeting at Oakham .

The Dorchester Farmers' Club .

The New Markets in London ....

English Tenant Right ....

Reform in the Toast List ....

Royal Agricultural Society of England: Monthly Council

The Smithfield Club Show ....

Dinner .....

Annual Meeting ....

The Management of the Smithfield Club . .

The Metropolitan Great Christmas Cattle Market .
The York Sale of Shorthorn. . , ,

Sales of Cattle at the Northern Counties Fat Show Club
The York Fat Cattle Show .
Edinburgh Christmas Club Show
The Birmingham Poultry Show
Dunster Cattle Show
Review

Importation of Shorthorns
Bath and West of England Society

Special Council Meeting .
The Leeds Fat Cattle Show .
The Central Farmers' Club : A Farm

The Annual Dinner
Death of Mr. Anthony Hamond
The Central Chamber of Agriculture
Calendar of Agriculture
Calendar of Gardening
Agricultural Reports
Review of the Cattle Trade .
Agricultural Intelligence, Fairs, &c. ,

Sales of Stock ....

Review of the Corn Trade during the past Month
Market Currencies, Imperial Averages, &c,
Title, Index, &c.

AND Southern Counties Association

Agreement

Council Meeting

page.

3, 10
10
13
14
16
16
17
19
20
21
22
23
24,63
29
30
31
32
35
36
40
54
56
57
59
60
60
61
62
63
63
64
64

64
65
67

77
80
81
83

84
85
85
86
87
87

liOOERSON & TUXFORD'S AGRICULTURAL WORKS

PRICE ONE SHILLING EACH,

Neatly Bowid in Foolscap Octa/vo,

iiACH VOLUME CONTAINING from 130 to 190 PAGES OF LETTERPRESS,

RICHARDSON'S RURAL HAND-RflOKS.

Ktto ©tiitions Ivfbiseli ant QSnlaxotti

WHEAT : ITS HISTORY, CHARAC-
TERISTICS, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION,
and NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES. By "The Old
NoEifOLK Faemkr," Author of " Agricullure, Ancient
and Modern," &c., &c.

HORSES: THEIR VARIETIES, BREED-
ING, AND MANAGEMENT.— Edited b»

M. M. MlLBUttN.

THE AGRICULTURIST'S WEATHER-
GOIDE AJSID MANUAL OF METEOROLOGY.
By Henry C. Creswick, Assistant Observer in the
Magnetical and Meteorological Departmont of the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich, Autho» «f several
papers on Meteorology.

FLAX: ITS CULTIVATION AND PRE-
PARATION, and BEST MODE OF CON-
YZESION. — By James Waed, Author of " The
World and its Workshops," &c.

RURAL ARCHITECTURE: a SERIES
OF DESIGNS FOR RURAL AND OTHER
DWELLINGS. The Ground Plans, Elevations, and
Specifications by James Sanderson, Burgh Knginecrs'
Office, Liverpool.

THE AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTOR:
or, YOUNG FARMER'S CLASS BOOK.— By
Edmund Murput, A.B.

DOMESTIC FOWL: THEIR NATURAL
HISTORY, BREEDING, AND GENERAL
MANAGEMENT.

D

OGS : THEIR ORIGIN AND VA

RIETIES.

IGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIE-

TIES.

Cows AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY.— V
By M. M. MiLBURN, Author of "The Sheep," ^'
&c. The Dairy Department Revised by T. Uorsfall.

SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING: embiac-
ing the History, Varieties, Roaring, Feeding,
and General Management of Sheep ; with Treatises on
Australian Sheep FarniiTig, the Spanish and Saxoc
Merinos, &c. By M. M. Miluurn, Author of " The
Cow," and vai-ious Agricultural Prize Essays.

rpHE HIVE AND THE HONEY

J- B

BEE.

>ESTS OF THE FARM. A New Edition

By M. M. Milbuen, Author of " The Sheep,", &o.

LAND DRAINAGE, EMBANKMENT,
AND IRRIGATION.— By James Donald,
Civil Engineer, Derby.

THE FLOWER GARDEN.— By Gkorge
Glenny, F.L.S., Author of "Properties of
Flowers," Ac.

In the Tress, in contintuition of the same Series^

THE IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM
—By R. Scott Bl-rn, C.E.

SOILS AND MANURES, with INSTRUC-
Tl

IONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT.— Bj
JoifN Donaldson, Government Land Drainage Sar.
veyor.

rpHE POTATO: ITS HISTORY, CUL
X TURE, AND NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.—
By S. Copland.

London • Houlston & Wrig-ht, G5, Paternoster Row ; Rogerson & Tuxford, 246, Strand, W.C
Dublin: J. McGlashan, Uppe^ '^Jackville Street. And all Booksellers.

ROGERSON k TUXFOIID,]

tPUINTERS, 2-t§. 8TBAW1K

THE

MARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

AaRICUI.TnRiL£i JOURNAZi

IS THE

LARGEST AND THE LEADING

FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' NEWSPAPER,

PUBLISHED EVEET MONDAY EVENING IN TIME FOR POST.

KOGERSON & TUXFOUD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

May be Lad of all Booksellers and Newsmen througliout the Kingdom, price Sevenpence, or £1 10s. 4d. per annum.

PRICE'S BENZODYNE.— Cough ; Consumptive Chronic Cough— Bronchitis, &e., immedi-
-*• ately relieved and permanently cured by Pkice's Benzodtne, an etberial extract of Benzoin, tke healing
properties of which are time-honoui"ed. Price's Benzodyne possesses a peculiar mechanical power of putting a
sudden stop to all wasting diseases as Cholera and Dysentery, and should be in every Hospital, Surgery, and
Kectory throughout the world. Prepared only by Mr. Price, Analytical Chemist, 2, Lower Seymour Street,
Portman Square, London, W.

POPULAR MEDICAL WORKS,

PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, COENHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed Euds, 16 Stamps.

DR. CURTIS'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARRIAGE : a Practical Treatise on
ITS Physical and Personal Obligations. With instructions to the Man-ied and Unmai-ried of both
Sexes, for removing the special disqualifications and impediments winch destroy the happiness of wedded life,
founded on the result of a suceessfal practice of 30 years. — By Dr. J. L. CURTIS, M.D., 15, Albejiarle
Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

And, by the same Authoi", for 12 stamps ; sealed ends, 20.

■ ANHOOD : A MEDICAL ESSAY on the Causes and Cure of Premature Decline

IN Man ; the Treatment of Nervous Debility, Spermatorrhoea, Impotence, and those peculiar infirmities
which residt from youthful abuses, adult excesses, tropical climates, and other causes ; with Instructions for the
Cure of Infection without Mercury, and its Prevention by the Author's Prescription (his infallible Lotion).

REVIEWS OF THE WORK.

" Manhood. — This is tnaly a valuable work, and should be in the hands of young and old." — Hiinduy Times,
23rd March, 1858.

" The book under review Is one calculated to warn and instruct the erring, without imparting one idea that
can vitiate the mind not already tutored by the vices of which it treats." — Naval and Military Gazette,
1st February, 1856.

" We feel no hesitation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book wUl not be found use-
ful, whether such person hold the relation of a Parent, Preceptor, or Clergyman." — Sun, Evening Paper.

Manhood. — " Dr. Curtis has conferred a great boon by publishing this little work, in which is described the
source of those diseases which produce decline in youth, or more frequently, premature old age." — Daily
TelegrcvpTi, March 27, 1856.'

Consultations daily, from 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albemarle Stseet, PicCADiiiy, London, W.

ORDINARY BOTTLES

(White and Gold Label).

IMPERIAL POCKET FLASKS, ORDINARY BOTTLES

Containing Half a Bottle. (Green and Gold Label).

^OBSERVE TRADE MARK.

ESTABLISHED IN 1801.

Cliaiiipa^iie de I'linperatricc " Sxqiiiii.''
€^rand "Vin de rSmpereur " IVonpareil."

Swiss . ^iriiite Cross and Oold Cross.

'<<«S KABf-

TO BE OBTAINED FROM WINE & SPIRIT MERCHANTS.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

VOLUME THE THIRTY-SEVENTH.

THIBD SEEIES.

'JANUARY TO JUNE MDCCCLXX.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BY ROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

MAY BE HAD BY ORDER THROUGH ALL BOOKSELLERS.

tONDON :

PRINTKU BY ROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

K^r

f aoiTf

INDEX.

A.

Abingdon Fat Cattle Show, 23

Agreement, a Model, 172

Agreement, a very Liberal, l7l

Agreement, the Border, 299

Agriculture and Agricultural Authorities in the

East, 297
Agriculture, Calendar of, 83,176, 261, 365, 455, 549
Agriculture, Chambers of; —
Banbury, 512
Breconshire, 483

Central, 81, 234, 272, 326, 434, 498, 530, 532
Cheshire, 123
Devon, 114, 157
East Suffolk, 106, 452
Essex, 253
Hampshire, 501
Herefordshire, 106
Lincolnshire, 417
North of England, 439
Scottish, 507
Shropshire, 287
Warwickshire, 213, 399, 416
West Kent, 417
Agriculture, Chambers of. Landlords at, 105
Agriculture, Chambers of. Question for, 106
Agriculture, Use cf Steam Power in, 360
Agricultural Customs, 488

Agricultural Districts, Half Time System for, 294
Agricultural Intelligence, 86, 181, 268, 553
Agricultural Labourer, How he was Educated, 359
Agricultural Leader, How to get up an, 417
Agricultural Movement, another, 359
Agricultural Reports, 85, 180, 263, 367, 457, 551
^ Agricultural Societies —
•^ Bath and West of England, 64, 220, 389, 547

Bedfordshire, 453

Birmingham and Midland Counties, 24, 63
Border Union, 454
Derbyshire, 130, 296
Dumbartonshire, 547
East Lothian, 303, 362, 527
France, 303

Herefordshire, 347, 376, 517
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland,

96, 362, 453, 548
Kingscote, 204, 479
Lincolnshire, 347
Melplaish, 135, 383
Northamptonshire, 448
Royal Agricultural Society of England, 36, 106,

133, 309, 386, 419, 477, 496
Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, 21
Rutland, 29
Suffolk, 200
Wharfdale, 454
Agricultural Societies and Artificial Manures, 158
Artificial Manures, Agricultural and Commercial

Value of, 473
Averages, 90, 184, 274, 370, 555
—^ Averages Comparative, 90, 184, 275, 370, 461, 555
Qcy Averages, Imperial, 90, 275

B.
Beef and Mutton, the Supply of, 259
Beetroot, the Cultivation of, 156, 504
Birmingham Poultry Show, 63
Birmingham Shorthorned Show, 19, 320
Breeding of Animals, the Principles involved in,

403
Breeding Stock, the Exportation of, to America,

449
Budget, The, 377 ^.

Butter, Cheeses, &c., the Price of, 90, 184, 276,

370, 462, 556

C.

" Camelia"— Description of Plate, 371

Capital to Agriculture, Causes Discouraging the

Application of, 396, 399
Cattle Plague Regulations, Breach of the, 495
Cattle Serials 257
Cattle Shows' &c., are they Advantageous to Agri*

culture? 197 -

Cattle Trade, Review of the, 85, 264, 265, 367, 458,

552
Central and Local Chambers, 453
Central Chamber of Agriculture, what it has Done,

432
Central Farmers' Club Annual Dinner, 77
Cheese as an Article of Food, 412
Cheese Factory Question, 130
Cheese Making in America, 304
Cheese, the Production of, 129
Chips, 138

Cirencester College, 16
Clay Formation of England, 20
Clayden, of Littlebury, Mr. John, Testimonial to,

128
Climax, The, 362

"Colonel" The— Description of Plate, 371
Contageous Diseases (Animals) Act, 271, 449
Corn Trade, Review of the, 88, 182, 273, 368, 460,

554
Corn Trade, The, 268

Cotswolds, Wheat and Barley Growing in the, 204
Council, the Members in, 14
Covent Garden Market, 90, 276
Cropping, 284

Crops in 1869, the Yield of the, 252
Cultivation, the most Profitable Mode of, 408
Current Prices at Mark Lane, 89, 184, 275, 462

D.

Dairy Farming ; by the Northern Farmer, 189, 400

Deodorizers ; by C. W. Johnson, F.R.S,, 93

Devonshire Labourer, The, 157

Devons, the Breeding of, 383

" Diadem" — Description of Plate, 10

Dunster Cattle Show, 63

E.

Earth Composts ; by C. W. Johnson, F.R.S., 10
Edinburgh Christmas Club Show, 62
Edinburgh Town Council, 544

ii

INUiX,

Education Bill, the Government, 35S
Kducation Question, The, 298, 361
Entflish Tenant Rijfht, 518, 548
Exhaustion of the Soil in Relation to Landlords
Covenants, 472

F.

Fact, a Suggestive, 548

Factory System of Cheese Making in Derbyshire,

296
Farm Capital, 107

Farm Carts, Exemption of Duty on, 319
Farm Horse Duties, 259
Farm Leases, 117
Farm of Ten Acres, a Belgian, 293
Farm-yard Dung, the Application of, 334
Farmyard Manure, 479
Farmers' Clubs —

Ayrshire, 197, 506

Ballymahon, 112

Blandford, 379, 406

Botley and South Hants, 206, 390

Carmarthanshire, 234

Central, Q7, 140, 241, 348, 422, 518

Dalrymple, 127

Dorchester, 30, 215, 319, 329, 403

Framlingham, 107, 408

Haddington, 452, 505

Hexham, 228

Hunyerford, 20

Kelso, 511

Kendal, 22

Kincardineshire, 54o

Lavenham, 223, 297, 418

Maidstone, 117, 21 1

Midland, 255, 488

Milborne St. Andrew, 364

Newbury, 396, 515

Newcastle, 486

Staindrop, 492

Stewartry, 4 94

Vale of Avon, 300

Wmfrith, 205
Farmers' Clubs, the Value of, 205
Farming in South America, 491
Farm^, Small, 125
Farrow Cows, Fattening, 170
Fat V. Dairy Stock, 127
Foreign Agricultural Gossip, 260
Four Course and other Systems, 253
" Foxes V. Rabbits" — Description of Plate, 185
France, Society of Agriculturists in, 439

G.

Game Evil, The, 299

Game Law Bill Mr. Wykeham Martin's, 240

Game Law Convictions, 389

Game Laws, 114, 325, 417, 501, 507, 545, 546, 548

Game Laws' Bill, The, 450, 452, 505

Game Laws and the Aberdeen Farmers, 451

Game Laws and the Gun Tax, 510

Game Laws, The Total Abolition of the, 362

Garden Essays, Prizes for, 433

Gardening, Calendar of, 84, 177, 262, 366,456, 550

Grass, on Laying down Land to; by the Northern

Farmer, 375
Grass Land, 241
Ground Game, The Over-preservation of, 287, 300

H.
Hares and Rabbits, 453

Hares and Rabbits, The Non-reservation of, 213
Harvest Report; Carr's Annual, 163
Hat Race in old days, A, 298
Hens, About, 481
Herd of Mr. Sheldon, of Geneva, United States,

414
Herds of Great Britain, The, 250
Hobbs, The late Mr. Fisher, 248, 438
" Hogarth 2nd," — Description of Plate, 463
Hop Growing in the Colonies, 195
Hops like Vines, On Growing, 211
Hop Market, 87, 184, 275, 370, 462, 556
Horses, Licensed to deal in, 455
Horsham Fat Stock Show, l6l
Howard's, Messrs., Works at Bedford, 325
Husbandry, Mixed, 112
Hypothec, The Law of, 527

L

Imports and Exports, Our, 283
International Decimal Association, The, 537
Irish Land Bill, The, 194
Irish Land Question, The, 339
Irrigation, 329

J.

" Jenny Lind"— Description of Plate, 464
Judge, An Upright, 292
Judges and Judgmg, 281, 455

Labourer and his Home, The, 515

Labourer on the Continent, The Condition of the,

531
Labourer, The Worth of the, 417
Lady Thorndale Bates 2nd, 323
Lambs, The Breeding and feeding of, 223
Land, The Tenure of, 418
Landlord and Tenant in Shropshire, 103
Leeds Fat Cattle Show, 65
Leigh, Lord ; Testimonial to, 546
Lincalnshire Tenant Right, &c., 175
Local'l'axalion, 417, 453, 469
Local Taxation and the Government Proposals,

361
Local Taxation and the Tenant-farmers, 468

M.

Malt Tax and the Organ, 455

Malt Tax, Repeal of the, 547

Malt Tax Repeal, and Semi-malted Grain, 253

Malt Thx, The Deputation to the Chancellor of

the Exchequer, 335
Manures, Artificial, 17
Manures, Price of, 90, 276, 462
Market Gardening for Farmers, 332
Markets, The New London, 31
Martingale, 271
Maxwell, Mr. Hall, 230
Metropolitan Great Christmas Market, 59
Moistures in Dry Soils and Climates; by C. W.

Johnson, F.R.S., 186
Muck Factories, 362

N.
New Farm, The, 155, 249, 308, 378
New Forest, The, 333

INDEX.

Ill

o.

Obituary —

Adcock, Mr., 271

Dixon, Mr. Henry Hall, 361, 389

Foljambe, Mr. G. S., 16

Hammond, Mr. Anthony, 80

Twitchell, Mr, Thomas, 548
Overdoing it, 106

P.
Paris Fat Stock Show, 303
Paying their Way, 399
" Pero Gomez" — Description of Plate, 278
Pleuro Pneumonia, Inoculation for, 104, 123, 153
Ploughing against Time, 449
Poetry —

A terrible title, 272
Politics, None at Chambers of Agriculture, 416
Potato Market, 87, 184, 275, 370, 462, 550
Potato, The; by Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S.,

464
Potato Sorting, 299

Poultry Markets, 184, 276, 370, 462, 556
Provision Trade at New York, 395

Q.
Quarter-ill in Cattle, 486

R.
Rabbit Plague, 325
Rabbits, A Remedy for, 13.
Reviews —

Journal of Bath and West of England Society,
362

Saddle and Sirloin, 502

Where are we now ? 64
Root Crops, 406
Rotation of Crops, and Application of Capital to

Agriculture, 512
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, 227
Royal Dublin Society's Spring Show, 385

S.
Salts of Potash, The, 372
Seeding, The Science and Practice of, 379
Seeds and Grass Land, On, 22
Seeds, Price of, 90, 184, 275, 370, 462
Session, The Progress of the, 239
Sewage Cultivation at Barking, 178
Sewage Farming, 348
Sewage of Towns, The, 228
Sewerage Difficulties; by C. W. Johnson, F.R.S.,

278
Sheep Grazing for 1870, 387
Sheep, On the Management of; by the Northern

Farmer, 201
Sheep, The Carriage of, 528
" Short-horned Steer" — Description of Plate, 91
Smith, of Woolston, Mr. William, Autobiography

of, 1
Smithfield Club, 226

Smithfield Club Show, &c., &c., 40, 54, 56, 119
Smithfield Club, Management of the, 57, 227
" Southdown Wethers" — Description of Plate, 185
Stallions for the Season, 440
Steam Cultivation, 215
Stock, The Transit of, 532
Stock Sales —

Berkeley Castle Shorthorns, 325

Beaumont Grange Shorthorns, 306

Blagden, 87

Burghley Park Shorthorns, 364

Coollattin shorthorns, 448

Durham, Lord, 87

Duckham, Mr., 455

Farnley Shorthorns, 306

Foljambe's, Mr., Shorthorns, 538

Hewer's, Mr., 449

Hill's, Lord, Shorthorns, 364

Hodgkinson's, Mr., Shorthorns, 446

Howard's, Mr., Shorthorns, 539

Mann's, Mr., Shorthorns, 321

Meaken's, Mr. J., Shorthorns, 87

Northern Counties, 60

Oldwhat Shorthorns, 323

Oliver's, Captain, Shorthorns, 447

Scotch Shorthorns, 307

Shrawardine, 307

Shorthorns in America, 307

Shropshire, Sales in, 543

Sittyton Shorthorns, 363

Stockeld Park Shorthorns, 324

Tracy's Mr., Shorthorns, 541

York, 60
Stockwell, Death of, 546
Sussex Downs, 126
Swedish Farming and Peasantry, 151

T.

Temple, The Treasurership of the 303

Tenant Right, English, 32, 518, 526

Timber, Price of, 90

Tithe Commutation, Septennial Averages, 154

Toast List, Reform of the, 35

" Topsiall'— Description of Plate, 92

Town Sewage, Use and Abuse of, 311

Tredegar Show, The, 151

Turnip Crop, The Ingredients of a, 494

Turnip-growing in Scotland, 134

U.

Unexhausted Improvements, and the Exhaustion

of the Soil, 422

V.
Valuation, On, 410

Veterinary Medical Society, A Central, 282
Veterinary Medicine, Popular Errors Connected

with, 483
Veterinary Profession in the United States, 536

W.

Waste Lands of England, The, 390

Weather, Influence of the Moon on the, 135

Welsh Model Agreement, 231

West Herts Show, 162

West of England Fat Cattle Show, 162

Wheat, Average Price for 270 years, 388

Wheat, Fluctuations in the Price of, 90, 184, 275,

461, 555
Wheat Market : AustraUan View of the English,

323
Wheat, The Prices of, in America, 529
Woods and Wastes, The Profitable Treatment of,

206
Wool, Price of, 90, 184, 276, 370, 462, 556

Y.

" Yetholm, The Princess of" — Description of Plate,

277
York Fat Cattle Show, 61

THE EMBELLISHMENTS

Mr. Wm. Smith of Woolston

Diadem, a Prize Hereford

Ploughs, Ridge and Subsoiler, &c.

Shorthorned Steer

Topstall, a Prize Hunter .

Southdown Wethers

Foxes V. Rabbits

Princess of Yetholm

Pero Gomez .

The Colonel

Camelia

Hogarth 2nd .

Jenny Lind . .

Page
1
1

6,7

91

91
185
185
277
277
371
371
463
463

a

No. 2, Vol.. XXXVII. J FEBRUARY, 1870. / Thikd Series.

THE

FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

AXD

MONTHLY JOURNAL

OP

THE AdRICULTURAL INTEEEST.

TO THE

FARMEBS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BYROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.

ROGERSON AND TUXFORD,] [PRINTERS. 265, STRAND.

THE TOILET.

A due attention to the Gifts and Graces of the Person, and a becoming preservation of the advantages of
nature axe of more value and importance with reference to our health and well-being, than many parties are
inclined to suppose. Several of the most attractive portions of the human frame ai'e deUcate and fragile, in
proportion as they are graceful and pleasing ; and the due conservation of them is intimately associated with our
health and comfort.

THX: HAIB,

for example, from the delicacy of its growth and texture, and its evident sympathy with the emotions of the mind j

THE S1£I]¥,

with its intimate relation to the most vital of our organs, as those of respiration, circulation, and digestion
together with the delicacy and susceptibility of its own texture ; and

THE TEETH,

also from their peculiar structure, formed, as they are, of bone or dentine, and cased with a fibrous investment
of enamel ; these admirable and highly essential portions of our frames are all to be regarded, not merely as
objects of external beauty and display, but as having an intimate relation to our health, and the due discharge
of the vital functions. The care of them ought never to be entrusted to ignorant or unskilful hands ; and it is
highly satisfactory to point out as protectors of these vital portions of our frame the preparafions which have
eixianated from the laboratories of the Messrs, Rowlands, their unrivalled Macassar for the Hair, their Kalydor
for improving and beautifying the Complexion, and their Odonto for the Teeth and Gums.

Sold by aU Chemists and Perfiomers,

THE CHEAPEST AND BEST

HAl^^D LOCK-STITCH SEWING (SHUTTLE)

MACHINE IN THE WOELD.

SENT DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTORY.
NO INSTRUCTION REQUIRED.

THE MTTLE STRANGER, £3 3s.

INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURKISHED GOLD, £4 4s.

WHEELER & WILSON PRINCIPLE.
SELF-ACTING BREAK. SILENT FEED. INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURNISHED COLD.

Tmw, ©MIL'S" BSWHS3© Mi^^isiisjii Tm^T ng ^ w©isis ©3? jSi.m.T^

SEHrU FolS PRICK lilliT.

MANUFACTURED BY NUSSEY & PILLING, PARK WORKS, PARK LANE, LEEDS.

LONDON AGENTS : S. W. SILVER & CO,, 3 and 4, Bisliopgate Within, and 66 and 67,

CornHU (Wholesale and Retail). Agents supplied.

*:jf* Carriage paid to any Railway Station, on receipt of Post-office Order,

BEAUTEFULLY ElVTBELLISHED WITH HIGHLY FINISHED STEEL ENGRAVINGS

PORTRAITS OF THE NOBILITY, ETC.

Published Monthly — Price One Shilling,
PUBLISHED BY ROGERSON & TUXFORD, 266, STRAND, LONDON.
May be had of all Booksellers.

?

.^

^ 'S

^

!3

V f^

I

'■S

^',^\

' \mw)\:^-

AS"

f^ 'P'' '»

'''f%m'W

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FEBRUARY, 1870.

PLATE I.

A PRIZE SHORTHORN STEER.

THE PROPERTY OF THE EARL OF AYLESFORD, OF PACKINGTON HALL, COVENTRY,

This steer, bred by Lord Aylesford, and calved on
September 22nd, 1864, was by Viceroy (21019) out of
Alexandra, by Monarch (20367) ; her dam Princess, by
Botanist (15678) — Victoria, by Remus (15151) — a dairy
cow at Packington.

Viceroy, a red-and-white bull, bred by Lord Ayles-
ford, and calved December 8th, 1862, isby Roval Butter-
fly 5th (18756) out of Blushing Bride, by" The Great
Mogul (14651) ; her dam Bride, by Young Lochinvar
(13164) — Lady Charlotte, bv Bridegroom (11203)—
Ladybird, by Lansdowne (9277)— by Sir Robert (7510)—
by Charles (1815)— by Staplyton (2698)— by Rob Roy
(557).

Alexandra, also bred by Lord Aylesford, a roan cow
calved on January 14th, 1864, has, since the birth of this
famous steer, produced another roan steer by Second
Duke of Cumberland (23735), in September, 1867; a
white cow calf, called Juno, by Knight of Gwytine
(24273), in December, 1868 ; and a roan cow calf by
Touchstone (20986) in December, 1869.

At the Birmingham and Midland Counties Meeting
1869, this steer took the first prize of £15, with a silver
medal for the breeder, as the best Shorthorn steer of his
class ; an extra prize of £15 as the best Shorthorn bred
and fed by the exhibitor ; the President's Cup of 25 gs.
as the best ox or steer of any breed or age, bred and fed
by the exhibitor ; £20 as the best ox or steer in the Hall,
and 25 gs. as the best of all the animals in the Hall.
Judges: W. Sanday, J. Thompson (Badminton), and H.
W. Kearey.

At the Smithfield Club Show in the week following
this steer took the first prize of £80 as the best Short-
horn steer not exceeding three years and three months
old, with a silver medal for the breeder ; a silver cup
value £40 as the best steer or ox in any of the classes,
and a piece of plate value 100 gs. as the best beast in
the show. Judges : W. Sanday, Charles Howard, and
Hugh Aylmer.

At Birmingham, on first seeing Lord Aylesford's steer
we wrote thus : " Nevertheless, the Birmingham judges
declared that they found a superior animal in an older
steer of Lord Aylesford's ; and a very showy beast this
is, with much grandeur, a fine quality coat, a beautiful
broad back, and so on. But he is not so thoroughly
Old Series.]

true as the other ; his head is badly set on, and he is not
so well covered about his shoulders. However, all the
judges held to the light roan very determinedly, for they
made him the best of his class, the best Shorthorn bred
and fed by an exhibitor, the best of all the Shorthorns,
the best of all the oxen and steers, and the best animal
in the yard. At the utmost he is the best of a bad year."
Writing on the opening day of the Smithfield Show we
said : " A combination of circumstances has told some-
what against the inauguration of the 100 gs. premium.
In the first place it was not known soon enough to ensure
any especial preparation or demonstration over its award ;
while the uncertainty engendered by disease floating about
has tended to lessen the opportunity or encouragement to
' ripen' any very crack animals. It has thus happened
that the first 100 gs. winner is by no means the best
beast ever seen at the Smithfield Show. Indeed, our
first run throu'jrh the entries, tends in every way to con-
firm this impression. Nevertheless, nearly all the cham-
pion animals of the year were to be found in the Agricul-
tural Hall ; Lord Aylesford's Shorthorn steer, the best
of all at Birmingham ; Mr. Roland Wood's Shorthorn
steer, the best of all at Oakham ; Sir Walter Trevelyan's
Shorthorn cow, the best of all the cows and heifers at
Birmingham ; Mr. Outhwaite's Shorthorn ox, the best of
all the Shorthorns at Leed ; Mr. Beltridge's Hereford,
the best of all the beasts at Abingdon, and Mr. Far-
thing's and Mr. Heath's oxen, the best of the Devon and
Hereford breeds at Birmingham. In truth, wherever it
well could be, the return-list of the Smithfield Club Show
is more an echo of the Midlands' than might have been
anticipated ; for the Council have so contrived that ia
every section, save the pigs, the judges in Birmingham
are represented in Loudon. Nothing can be more im-
poitic than this, and murmurs grew louder and louder
during the morning as the awards still went the same
way. Mr. Parrington, at the best managed meeting we
have, makes it an indispensable condition that any judge
who accepts otfice at the Yorkshire in August should not
have acted at the Royal Society's Show in July ; and the
Smithfield Club must do the same by Birmingham."
Again, during the week we said : " Lord Aylesford's steer,
who had worn well, came out still very fresh and
blooming. He is certainly an animal of much style, very
H [Vol. LXVII.— No. 2.

92

good to meet, and with a capital back ; but, as we have
already said of him, he is not thoroughly true— the more
particularly forward. His head, not quite a nice one as
he is hog-jawed, is badly set-on, and he is not weU-
covered about his shoulders. In fact, a much finer
specimen of the Shorthorn breed was Mr. Outhwaite s
ox, and there was no animal that won so easily in his
class. But the judges made every allowance they could
for early maturity, and so decided for the younger beast,
although he would never promise to grow into so good
an ox as the other." ■ , r^^ ■•

One of the judges, as he is indefinitely put in the Uub
Report, says : "I think we have seen better champions
than Lord Aylesford's ox ;" another says, " after once
looking through them we had no difficulty in putting
Lord Aylesford's steer (19 cwt. 2 qrs. 231bs.) first in his
class. This is the best steer I have seen for years, so
good is he in all his points, meat so evenly^ laid on.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

with quality, form, and hair, and fine handling, in fact,
very far superior to any other beast in the yard." The
third judge says : " some exception might be taken to the
head and horns of Lord Aylesford's ox, but his magnifi-
cent baron of beef, with his heavy walk and immense
breadth, as he met you, soon claimed for him first
honours."

A judge who says "this is the best steer seen for
years," would most probably not find even one of his
brother judges to agree with him ; while the pretty
general opinion was that this was not the best beast in the
yard ; Mr. Outhwaite's ox, and Messrs. jMartin's cross-
bred being either of them preferred by many other judges.
The champion steer was purchased by Mr. D. Abbott,
of St. John-street Road, Clerkenwell; but although a beast
like this, with only a few crosses of pure blood in him,
wiU often feed to a heavier weight than the thorough bred
qnes, he did not, in trade parlance, " die well,"

PLATE II,
TOPSTALL; A Prize Hunter,

THE PROPERTY OF CAPTAIN BARLOW, OF HASKETON, WOODBRIDGE.

Topstall, bred by the late Mr. Corbett, of Elsham,
near Brigg, Lincolnshire, in 1860, is by The Cornerstone,
dam by Rockdt, grandam by Old Orion, great-grandam
by Old Gray— by Old Ruler.

The Cornerstone, bred from Lord Exeter's stud in
1832, is by Cotherstone, out of Valance, by Sultan, her
dam Velvet, by Oiseau— Wire, sister the "Whalebone, by
Wasey. The Cornerstone never ran, and although he is
credited with the winner of a hunter stake or two in T/ie
Calendar his services at the stud have been chiefly con-
fined to country-side mares. We ourselves never saw
him but once, and then under somewhat peculiar circum-
stances. We were acting as one of the judges at a show
in the Midlands, where a short class of "stallions for
getting hunters" without any other conditions was in-
troduced. Our " learned brother," a very hard man over
the Shires, took to a coarsish under-bred looking animal
as we thought, while we ourselves, for want of a better,
fancied a neat, nicely-topped horse, showing plenty of
blood, but set-off by a pair of middling forelegs. We
were so widely a-part that a referee had to be called in,
who, without a moment's hesitation, decided in favour of
the big brown. This turned out to be the cock-tail
British Statesman, while our choice was The Corner-
stone, the sire of the prize-hunting horse of his day.

Topstall was sold by Mr. Corbett at five years old with
two others for a thousand guineas the lot ; and the horse
went in turn by means of a London dealer to Mr. Tal-
bot, now Master of the Ledbury Fox-hounds, but who at
that time was hunting a pack of harriers on his property
in South Wales. Topstall got here the character of a
fine flying fencer, but he did not take kindly to the
banks in Glamorganshire ; while he was considered far
too valuable a horse to be risked at such schooling as is
required in those parts. Nevertheless, Mr. Talbot, in an
exciting finish, rode Top3tall into a ruined stone cottage
with the roof o&; and nothing for it but a standing jump
out again of some five feet, when the horse cut his hocks
severely by dropping too close to the wall. In 1868
Topstall, with a certificate of being one of the soundest
winded horses ever examined, went back to London, and
thence into Warwickshire, where Captain Barlow bought
him, originally we believe, for Lord Hastings' stud. On

the break-up, however, at Donniugton the then Captain
took to the bay, nothing loth, and in 1869 TopstaU, Uke
Lord Byron, "found himself famous."

Topstall was first sbown at Islington, where, m a class
of hunters, without conditions as to weight, he took the
second prize of £25, being beaten for first by Major
Quentin's Placid, with Mr. Sanders' Playmate third, Mr.
Drage's Gaylad, and Mr. Mcintosh's Baronet highly com-
mended, and Mr. Booth's Bannagh commended. Judges:
Lord Combermere, Lord Macclesfield, and Captain Percy
Williams. We thus wrote of the award at the time :
" Topstall has a deal of character, and was by far tbe
most gentlemanly hunting-like horse in the class.
But nearly all the judging at Islington was wrong, and a
short-legged horse like Topstall did not show so weU in

the tan. » • i. i

At the Colchester Meeting of the Essex Agricultural
Society, Topstall took the All England premium of £20,
beatin'g Mr. Mcintosh's St. Clare and others. Judges :
Messrs. John Bennett, George Higgins, and R. B.
Aylmer. We thus wrote of the award at the time :
" Speaking of St. Clare, the first prize weight carrying
hunter at the recent Islington show, we said that this
horse ' is anything but a good specimen of a hunter ; with
a good forehand, and walking away well, he is slack in
his back, with thin thighs, and weak in his hind legs, as
looking altogether as soft as a Shorthorn.' Bemg the pro-
perty of a resident in Essex, St. Clare was, of course,
shown again at Colchester, where he was thoroughly beaten
for the open prize. The horse, indeed, fairly tired and
laboured round the ring like the faint-hearted animal he
looks : while we are assured that his chief prowess in the
field has been confined to carrying his owner a-coursing.
The entry against him included three or four of Barker,
the Essex dealer's horses, led off by Tom Bowline, the
chief prize hunter at Chelmsford last year, but clearly a
difficult horse to ride, although a fiue strong goer, and
admirably piloted by young Barker. With these came
amongst others a weight carrier of Mr. Sexton s, Mr.
Tharp's game old chesnut, and Captain Barlow s Top-
stall, who once away from that cockney saw-dust arena
only proved his character the more, carrying Mr. George
Higgins ' like oil' and of course taking the first prize.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

93

What after this shall we say of the judgment of the
Islingtou House of Lords, but what we have said
already ? and this is, that in some cases, such as the
placing of St. Clare, of Whitby, and of the gold medal
horse, The Commissioner, the awards of Lords Com-
bermere and Macclesfield, to say nothing of Captain
Williams, were as faulty and false as they well could have
been."

At the Attleborough meeting of the Norfolk Agricul-
tural Association, Topstall took the first prize of £10 in
the middle-weight class, beating Mr. Mott's Michief
(second prize), Mr. E. Green's Chester (highly com-
mended), Mr. J. Savory's Tramp (highly commended),
Mr. Bett's Arlescott (commended), and others. On the
same day he took the Prince of Wales' cup of £20 as
the best hunter on the ground, beating Mr. G. Sexton's
Idle Box, the first prize horse in the heavy-weight hunter
class. Judges : Messrs. Percivall (Wansford), and Hall
(Ely). As we wrote at the time, " the award for the best
of all was a mere matter of form, as the judges did not
take two minutes in deciding in favour of Topstall, who,
beyond his good looks, what with his cheerful airy man-
ner, and pleasant style of walking away with you, sheuld
be a delightful horse toxide."

At the Ipswich Meeting of the Suffolk Agricultui'al
Society, Topstall took the first prize of £10 in his class,
and Lord Reudlesham's cup, as the best weight-carrying
hunlei, healing again Mr. Sexton's Idle Boy, and others.
Judges : E. Green, M P., and Captain Skipvvorth.
I At the Manchester Meeting of the Royal Agricultural

Society of England, Topstall took the first prize of £30
in a class of hunters np to not less than 14st., beating
Major Gunter's Wetherby (second prize), Mr. Fyler's
Tyrconnel (the reserve), and others. For the special
prize of £30 for the best hunter in any of the classes
Topstall was placed second, or the reserve. Sir G. Cholni-
- ley's chesnuts four-year-old, Don Juan, being pronounced

to be the best of all. Judges : Messrs. W. Smith (Meilk-
ington, N.B.), H. Thurnall (Royston), and W. Young
(Beverley) ; but we demurred, as we wrote at the time,
to this crowning honour being given to " a weak, cripply-
going one like Don Juan in preference to the stylish
Topstall, the very type of a modern hunter." Topstall
was put in price here for His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, but the figure was thought to be a little
too high.

At the Birmingham Show in BingJey Hall, Topstall
took the first prize of £30 in his class, and Mr. Westley
Richai'ds' cup as the best hunter in any of the classes,
beating Major Stapylton's Sprig of Nobility, Major
Quentin's Tres-ace, Mr. Mcintosh's St. Clare,
Mr. Berridge's Grafton, Mr. Wart's Thekla, Mr.
Westley Richards' Shambally, Mr. W. A. Corbet's
Tupsley, Mr. Westley Richards' Ashwell, and others.
Judges : Messrs. J. Cookson (Neasham), and J. Topham
(Welford).

Topstall is a rich dappled brown gelding standing just
under sixteen hands high. He has a good head, with a
very full forehead, and a peculiar dip in the neck at about
the junction of the first and second vertebrae. He is
rather short in the croup, but has broad hips, and a good
back; while he stands short on the leg, with his knees
and hocks near the ground. Topstall is altogether a veiy
workmanlike lengthy horse ; beautifully framed, and com-
bining power with blood. He has the further recom-
mendation of a sweet temper, and showy, corky
action, and we have seldom seen a nag that "took" so
much in public.

Major Barlow has long been famous for his prize
horses, but he never had such a season as in 1869, when
Dalesman and Topstall fairly swept the country ; indeed,
if the hunting horse had only accompanied the chesnut
to the All-Yorkshire show at Beverley the circle of success
woiild have been complete,

DEODORIZERS.

BY ClITHBERT "W. JOHNSONj F.B.S.

To the agriculturist ; indeed to all classes, the deodori-
zers perform great and valuable services. Here again we
de-rive the most important instruction from Dame Nature's
Book. We had on a recent occasion to remark in this
place upon the deodorizing power of earth. The dog
buries his bones, the fox his prey, the cat its excieta, the
North American savages the stinking skunk, and all with
the same object — to keep sweet, or to render sweet, what
would otherwise become offensive or pestilential. But on
a far mightier scale the Almighty has provided deodorizers,
whichiu thevegetable creation are everpurifying the atmos-
phere, which the animal world is as incessantly corrupt-
ing. And the vegetables by which our very existence is
maintained do not confine their deodorizing services
to the air we breathe, but they absorb from the soil,
and assimilate those noxious products of putrefaction,
which might otherwise spread disease and death around
our dwellings. And then, again, the atmosphere, which
supports the vegetation, which thus absorbs the gases of
putrefaction, contains a rather mysterious gaseous sub-
stance, ozone, which possesses very considerable deodo-
rizing properties. The air we breathe is, however,
speedily exhausted of its ozoue in close rooms and in
densely populated districts ; it is most copiously found in
the healthy atmosphere, near the sea and in open upland
localities^ in lands were the inhabitants are few. A very

easy experiment evinces the different deodorizing power
of different atmos]>heres. If two towels are washed, and
then dried, the one by the fire of a close-room^ the other
in the open air of our garden, how very different in sweet-
ness are found to be the two towels.

We see then that the importance of the deodorizers is
not confined to the agriculturist ; all classes are deeply
indebted to them for their health, nay their very existence.
It is true that the cultivator is, in a commercial sense,
obliged to the deodorizers, since they store up for him
those ammoniacal and other gases, which would other-
wise escape from, and so impoverish his decomposing
organic manure It is with this object that the farmer
covers his dung-heaps with earth, ploughs such manures
into the soil, and spreads powdered gypsum on the floors
of his stables.

These things have lately attracted the serious attention
of the landowner and the citizen, and their inquiries have
already done great service to many a farmer, and still
greater things will yet in this way be effected.

The result, indeed, of a more copious supply of water
to our towns and the construction of more complete town-
drains naturally led to this. As the amount of sewage
collected thus became vastly increased, the absolute ne-
cessity occurred of providing for the purifying of that
great bulk of foul waters. The small quantity of sewage,

H 2

()4

THE FARMER'S MAaAZlNE.

which once was hardly noticed as it flowed into an ad-
joining river, under a system of improved sewerage be-
came intolerable, from the mass of impure liquid which now
found its way into the stream. Its water became offensive ;
the fish were killed; Courts of Equity interfered; in-
junctions were issued; corporations were obliged to en-
deavour to purify the sewage before it reached the
stream. Many contrivances were soon proposed, schemes
appeared in all directions, and, as a general rule, a greater
want of knowledge on the subject was evinced than might
have been reasonably expected.

It will be instructive if we briefly examine a few of
these suggested deodorizers.

The most commonly proposed of the deodorizers of
sewage and other impure waters, have been charcoal,
lime, and certain salts. In the application of these, very
erroneous conclusions are commonly adopted, as was
some years since laboriously proved by Professor Way
{Jour. Roi/. A(j. Soc, vol. xv., p. 135). One leading
error is, to conclude that the insoluble or mechanically
suspended matters of such impure liquids constitute their
chief fertilizing ingredients. Now, Professor Way col-
lected at the mouth of a Croydon sewer, by straining
through a flannel bag, a quantity of these matters, and
after properly drying them, the following was found to
be the chemical composition of 100 parts.

Organic matter ... ... ... 77-43

Insoluble siliceous matter ... 13.49

0.x.ide ofirou l.'JS

Lime 2.56

Magnesia ... ... ... ... 0.69

Phosphoric acid ... ... ... 2.73

Sulphuric acid ... ... ... 2.25

Chloride of potassium ... ... 0.63

Common salt 0.28

100.00
" I consider," added the Professor, " this material
as the type of the best result that can be obtained by
the mere mechanical filtration of sewage, and the preser-
vation of the solid product for manure." These matters
we collect in considerable quantities at Croydon, from the
straining tanks, through which the town sewage passes
on its way to the irrigation meads ; but we are unable to
sell it for more than about 2s. per load.

As Way observed, there are various forms of charcoal,
lime, gypsum, clay, salts of alumina, salts of zinc, iron,
and magnesia, that have been proposed as deodorizers.
The use of these has been suggested sometimes separately,
and in other cases two or three have been associated to-
gether. With regard to the employment of charcoal, as
he continues, " great misconception exists with regard to
its powers. Charcoal is known to have the power of
absorbing ammonia and other gases, and that to a very
considerable extent ; it is therefore taken for granted that
this power exists equally under all circumstances ; but
such is not the case. It absorbs ammonia by virtue
principally of its great porosity — by a kind of surface
attraction — an attraction possessed by all solids for gases,
and having relation, of course, to the quantity of surface ;
hence charcoal, in common with all porous bodies
offering in a given weight a large amount of surface, has
a great absorptive power for gases. But this property is
also possessed in an eminent degree by water — more
especially is this the case where gases largely soluble in
water are in question. When therefore we treat char-
coal saturated with ammoniacal gas with water, the
superior attraction of the water comes into play, and the
ammonia is transferred from the charcoal to the solution.
In the opposite case, when a solution of ammonia is
filtered through charcoal its strength cannot be sensibly
diniiiilshed."

At Croydon this property of charcoal is taken advantage

of by employing it in the ventilating traps of the sewers,
where it well absorbs the gases, which would otherwise
escape into the atmosphere; but it is not otherwise used
at that town as a deodorizer. In some places, however,
it has been employed to a limited extent in the preparation
of sewage manure in two ways, which are thus described
by the Professor : " In the first place it forms a filter-
bed, through which the sewage is passed ; in the second,
it is mixed either with the liquid in tanks— the whole
being mechanically filtered— or the sewage is first filtered
through wire gauze, and the charcoal is added to the
pulpy mass to deodorize it and facilitate its drying. But
in whatever way it is used, it must be clearly under-
stood that charcoal removes nothing worthy of notice
from actual solution."

The next substance which we have to consider as a
purifier of impure waters is lime. Way examined this
earth in its application to sewage. He thus explained its
action : " Sewage water filters with great difficulty, and
hence it becomes necessary to find some means of causing
a ready separation of the liquid and solid. Lime to a
considerable extent effects this, and its use has been made
the subject of several patents. The lime acts in coagu-
lating the sewage, probably by forming an insoluble soap
of lime with the grease of the liquid and by neutralizing
the carbonic acid which abounds in fermented sewer
water, and which holds in solution carbonate and
phosphate of lime, and other salts. A precipitate is thus
formed, which encloses in it the light floating organic
matter which would not otherwise subside." J

The lime process has long been employed on a large
scale, at Leicester, where it is known as AVicksted's
process ; and also at Hastings, where it was introduced
by Messrs. Noone. In neither place has the success it
has met with been worthy of the energy and skill em-
ployed by the inventois. The Leicester process been
reported upou by the Queen's commissioners appointed to
inquire into the polution of rivers, to which I shall pre-
sently refer. Messrs. Noone's system has been recently
described by them (Engineer for 1869, p. 414,) nearly
in the following words :

They employ a dredger for raising solid matters from
the dredger pit, which is in communication with a large
underground tank, constructed to receive the whole of the
town sewage. A trunk or shoot conveys the solids from
the dredger to a covered iron tank, where they are stirred
and mixed by means of an agitator.

Prom the tank the solids pass on over a weir and under
a dipping plate into a second tank, called the ammonia
tank, where they are mixed with milk of lime from a lime
tank, and are further stirred and amalgamated by an
agitator. The ammoniacal gas liberated by the lime
passes over into an earthenware condenser containing
hydrochloric acid, and is there fixed.

From the ammonia tank the solid matters pass on in a
semi-fluid state to an endless wire cloth, travelling nearly
horizontally on rollers in a chamber. The wire cloth
strains off the water from the solids, and carries them into
the drying chamber, which is made with three circular
troughs or channels one above another. The solids are
received in a pasty state in the upper trough, and are
kept travelling in it by means of revolving scrapers.

When the solids have passed round the upper trough
they fall through an aj)erture into the second trough,
where they are carried round by similar scrapers, and then
fall into the lower trough, where they are treated in the
same manner, and are finally delivered in a partially dried
state. The chamber is heated by flues passing under each
of the circular troughs from the furnace door.

The lime tank has an agitator, and the milk of lime is
conveyed into the ammonia tank by a pipe.

The ammonia tank is sealed by a dipping plate at the

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

95

opening, which allows the solids to pass on to the wire
cloth and prevents the escape of gases. When the
hydrochloric acid in the condenser is sufficiently
neutralized and saturated with ammonia, a portion of it
is drawn oif from the condenser to the evaporating pans,
where the acid being driven off by heat, the ammonia is
recovered in the form of sal ammoniac.

The works are not now in operation, the machine as
erected having been found too large for the town of
Hastings.

The chemical composition of the solid manure, pre-
pared by a lime process (with probably charcoal), was
examined by Way. He found in 100 parts;

Moisture 4.29

Charcoal and organic matter 36.58

Sand,&c. ... 9.88

Oxide of iron and alumina 1.86

Phosphate of lime 5.51

Carbonate of lime, with a little carb. of magnesia 32.92

Salphate of lime 8.18

Alkaline sulphates and chlorides 0.78

100.00
When only lime is added to the sewage the amount of
carbonate of lime in the manure precipitated is much
larger than in the foregoing analysis. Way calculated
that the excrements of each person in London are mixed
with 20 gallons of water ; and as when the sewage is pre-
cipitated by lime each gallon of water furnishes 80 grains
of chalk, we have 600 grains of chalk as the quantity
which is added to 437 grains of solid excrement ; so that
the manure produced would on this showing contain
nearly GO per cent, of carbonate of lime. This is a start-
ling fact, and one, adds the Professor, well worthy of the
attention of those who are advocating the process.

The Professor also analysed a manure made from Lon-
don sewage by precipitated sulphate of alumina, lime, and
charcoal. He found in it per cent. (Jour, Roy. Ag. Soc,
vol. 15., p. 161) :

Moisture 36.20

Organic matter, charcoal, &c. ... 19.65

Sand, &c 10.47

Oxide of iron and alumina ... ... 4.31

Phosphate of lime 2.63

Sulphate of lime ... ... ... 5.89

Carbonate of lime ... ... ... 20.35

Alkaline sulphates and muriates ... 0.50

100.00
In the report of " the Rivers Pollution Commissioners"
they contrast the results obtained at Leicester by treating
sewage by the lime process with that by Mr. Sillar's in-
vention, this last being known as the A. B. C. process, so
named from the initial letters of the principal re-agents
employed, viz., alum, blood, bones, clay, and charcoal.

There are other substances, however, employed by Mr.
Sillar than those I have mentioned. I find from an
obliging communication from Mr. Baldwin Latham, the
engineer to the Croydon Board of Health, that the follow-
ing are the ingredients and proportions in the mixture
used in the patent A. B. C. process :

Parts.

Alum 600

Blood 1

Clay 1,900

Magnesia ... ... ... ... 5

Manganate of potash ... ... ... 10

Burnt clay ... ... ... ... 25

Common salt ... ... ... ... 10

Animal charcoal... ... ... ... 15

Vegetable charcoal ... ... ... 20

Magnesian limestone ... ... ... 2

As the commissioners remark in their report the puri-
fication of sewage may be conveniently considered under

two heads — 1st, clarification, or the removal of suspended
matters, so as to render the resulting liquid more or less
clear and transparent ; and, Sndly, the removal of matters
in solution. The suspended matters contained in sewage
are well known to undergo rapid putrefaction, and to be-
come very offensive, consequently their removal, either by
filtration or by chemical treatment, constitutes in itself
an important amelioration in sewage. But the liquid so
clarified contains in solution much nitrogenous organic
matter, which is prone to become putrid even mixed with
a considerable volume of river water. In regard to clari-
fication, the report informs us the eicperiments at Leices-
ter scarcely establish a decided superiority for Mr. Sillar's
process over the method of treatment by lime. On the
first day the effluent liquids were nearly equally clear ; on
the second day the limed sewage was markedly superior
to its rival ; whilst on the third day the sewage treated
by the new process was much clearer than the limed
liquid. The suspended matter in 100,0001bs. of this
effluent sewage was as follows :

After Lime Process. After Sillar's.
lbs, lbs.

1st day 6.00 6.12

2nd „ 2.84 4.36

3rd „ 6.56 2.76

Of the soluble constituents of sewage the following
table gives the total solid impurity removed or added to
the sewage by the lime or Sillar process. The numbers,
as usual, refer to 100,0001bs. of sewage :

Lime Process. Removed. Added,

lbs. lbs.

1st day 23 ... —

2nd „ 22 ... —

3rd „ 11 ... —

Sillar's Process.

1st day — ... 6

2nd „ — ... 13

3rd „ — ... 11

The numbers show that whilst the lime process con-
siderably reduces the amount of dissolved impurities in
sewage, Sillar's process markedly augments it. The ex-
planation is obvious ! in the lime process, which is in fact
an application of the late Professor Clarke's ingenious
method of softening water, all the material added in solu-
tion is again precipitated in the sold form ; but in Sillar's
process considerable quantities of dissolved chemicals are
added which are not afterwards precipitated.

The material, however, which it is of the greatest im-
portance to remove from the dissolved constituents of
sewage, is nitrogenous organic matter, because it is
chiefly this kind of organic matter which enters rapidly
into putrefaction, and becomes an active agent in pol-
luting rivers. It is precisely here that both processes
signally fail (although the lime is slightly superior to the
new process) in accomplishing such an amount of puri-
fication as would render the sewage admissible into an
open water course. The composition of the manure ob-
tained by both processes was ascertained by careful ana-
lysis. The following results in per centage numbers were
obtained. The dried mud of the two processes was com-
posed of —

The Sillar.

The limp

Mineral matters

... 54.772

37.413

Organic and other volatile matters

... 45.228

62.587

Carbon ...

... 24.994

18.865

Phosphoric acid

.496

.147

Total nitrogen

... 1.943

.849

Ammonia

.185

.090

It is thus evident, continues the commissioners, that in
the three valuable constituents of manure, viz., in am-
monia, in other forms of combined nitrogen, and in phos-
phoric acid, the manure obtained by the new process i^

96

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

greatly superior to that resalting from the treatment
with lime. Uufortuuately some doubt is thrown upon
the source of the increased amount of phosphoric acid
present in the manure obtained by the new process,
because bone-black, in (to us) unknown quantity enters
into the composition of the precipitating material used by
Mr. Sillar, and thus an uncertain amount of phosphoric
acid is added to that which is actually derived from the
sewage.

The commissioners estimate the value per ton of the two
manures to be as follows : —

£ s. d.

From the lime process 0 13 6^

„ SiUar's 1 13 Of

Such is the value of these deposits as estimated fi-om che-
mical analysis ; but esperieirce has warned the manufac-
turer of these feeble manures that the value indicated by
chemical analysis cannot be counted upon in the market.
Thus, the Leicester mud is actually sold for Is. per ton.,
although its indicated value is 13s. 6id.
. The commissioners (Messrs. W. Denison, E. Frank-
land, and J. C. Morton), at the conclusion of their valu-
able report, thus summarise the results of their experi-
ments : 1. That Sillar's and the lime processes remove
to a great and nearly equal extent the suspended matters
contained in sewage. 2. That Sillar's process increases
the amount of dissolved solid impurity in sewage, but
reduces the quantity of putrescible organic matter. The

lime process reduces both the amount of dissolved solid
impurity and the quantity of putrescible organic matter ;
the reduction of the last being about the same as that
efTected by Sillar's process, viz., rather more than one-
half. 8. Like all chemical modes hitherto invented, both
processes fail in purifying sewage to such an extent as to
render it admissible into running water. It still remains
a fact, that no chemical process is known which even
remotely approaches irrigation in its efficiency as a puri-
fier of sewage. 4. For the manufacture of solid manure
from sewage, Sillar's process is greatly superior to the
method of treatment by lime, although it fails to extract
from the liquid more than a very small fraction of its
valuable contents.

From the result of these laborious investigations, the
reader wiU form a fair opinion of the action of the chief
deodorizers hitherto rendered available. I have on a
previous occasion enlarged upon the use of earth in
composts, and in this paper 1 have avoided remarking
upon several valuable preparations which have on a
limited scale been employed, such as carbolic acid, chlo-
ride of lime, nitrous acid gas, &c., &c., since these have
never been used to the large extent to which deodorizers
are required in the operations of my readers. The question
is of very great and increasing importance, for it relates
not only to the saving of great amounts of hitherto worse
than wasted fertilizing matters, but also to the increased
health and duration of life of our fellow creatures.

HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OE SCOTLAND.

The general meeting of the Highland and Agricultural
Society was held in the Society's Ball, George IV. Bridge,
the Marquis of Tweeddale, K.T., president, in the chair. The
following noblemen and gentlemen were proposed as ofSce-
bearers for 1870 :

President.— Most Noble the Marquis of Tweeddale, K.T.

Vice-Presidents.— Eight Hon. the Earl of Dalkeith,
Right Hon. R. C. Nisbet Hamilton, Right Hon. the Earl of
Selkirk, Right Hon. the Earl of Stair.

Extraordinary Directors. — Sir William Baillie, of
Polkeminet, Bart. ; Sir Alex. C. R. Gibsou-Maitland, of
Bariiton, Bart,, M.P. ; Robert Dundas, of Arniston ; Peter
M'Lagan, of Pumpherston, M.P. ; John Stirling, of
Kippendavie ; Sir William Jardine, of Applegarth, Bart. ;
Sir Thomas Buchan Hepburn, of Smeaton, Bart. ; Robert
Vans Afrnew, of Barnbarroch ; Patrick Dudgeon, of Cargen ;
Weilwood H. Maxwell, of Munches, M.P.

Ordinary Directors. — Graham Somervell, of Sorn ;
Graham Binny, W.S., Edinburgh ; Colonel Archibald Camp-
bell, of Blythswood ; Colonel James Dundas, of Carron Hall ;
Robert Elliot, Laighwood, Dunkeld ; James Geddes, Orblis-
ton, Fochabers ; John Ord, of Muirhouselaw ; Major John
R imsey, of Barra ; Robert Russell, Pilmuir, Leven ; Sir James
Gardiner Baird, of Saughton Hall, Bart. ; Hew Crichton,
S.S.C., Edinburgh; Charles Lawson, of Borthwick Hall;
Alexander M'Dougal, Granton Mains, Edinburgh ; Thomas
Mylue, Niddrie Mains, Liberton ; Thomas Coutts Trotter,
Champfleurie, Linlithgow ; John Wilson, Edington Mains,
Chirnside ; Sir George Warreuder, of Lochend, Bart. ; Robert
Binnie, Seton Mams, Longniddry ; John Dickson, of Corstor-
phine ; Thomas A. Hog, of Newliston ; James Ewan Newton,
Lynnbank House, Lanark ; John Wilson, Professor of Agri-
culture, University of Edinburgh ; Alexander Young, Keir
Mains, Dunblane ; Sir Archibald Hope, of Pinkie, Bart. ;
Adam Curror, The Lee, Edinburgh ; Capt Maitland Dougall,
of Scotscraiu, R.N. ; Wm. Ford, Hardengreen, Dalkeith ;
Andrew Mitchell, Alloa ; Capt Tod, of Howden ; James Seton
Wightman, of Courance.

Office-bearers.— The Right Hon. Sir William Gibson-
Craig, of Riccarton, Bart., treasurer ; Sir William Stirling
Maxwell, of Police, Bart., honorary secretary; Fletcher

Norton Menzies, secretary ; Rev. James Grant, D.C.L., D.D.,
chaplain ; Thomas Anderson, M.D., Professor of Chemistry,
University of Glasgow, chemist; Kenneth Mackenzie, C A.,
auditor ; John Wilson, Professor of Agriculture, University of
Edinburgh, professor of agriculture ; W. J. Macquorn Ran-
kine, L.L.D., Professor of Civil Engineering, University
of Glasgow, consulting engineer ; Alexander Slight, prac-
tical engineer ; Gourlay SteeU, R.S.A., animal portrait
painter ; William Williams, professor of veterinary sur-
gery ; William Edwin Duns, professor of cattle pathology ;
Thomas Duncan, clerk ; John MacDiarmid, junior clerk ;
AVilliam Blackwood and Sous, publishers ; NeiU and Company,
printers ; Mackay, Cunningham, and Co., silversmiths ; Alex-
ander Kirkwood and Son, medallists ; John Watherstou and
Sons, inspectors of works ; William M'Neill, messenger.

Cuairmen of Standing Committees. — Argyll Naval
Fund, Admiral Sir William J. Hope Johnstone, K.C.C.
Chemistry, Professor Anderson. Cottages, Harry Maxwell
Inglis, of Logan Bank. District Sliows, A. Campbell Swinton,
of Kimmerghame. Finance, Anthony Murray, of DoUerie.
General Shows, Alexander Kinlocli, yr., of Gilmertou. Hall
and Chambers, John Ord Mackenzie, of Dolphington. Law,
Graham Biuuy, W.S. Machinery, John Gibson, Woolmet.
Monthly Meetings, Sir Thomas Buchan Hepburn, Bart. Pre-
miums for Reports on the Science and Practice of Airriculture,
William S. Walker, of Rowland. Premiums for Reports on
Woods and Forests, Professor Balfour. Publications, Alex-
ander Forbes Irvine, of Drum. Veterinary Department,
Andrew Gillon, of Wallhouse.

Mr. George Harvey (Whittingham Mains) remarked on
the great preponderance of Mid-Lothian farmers who had got
into the list of directors. He thought they had only got one
farmer on the frontier of East-Lothian, while there were five
farmers from Mid-Lothian ; and he wanted to know if tliere
was any good reason to be assigned for that. The latter were
all honourable men — he found no fault with them ; and he
hoped that they were all honourable men. These directors
had privileges ; they went down to the annual shows ; a large
hotel was taken to accommodate them ; they got free beds
and had free access to all that was going on. That was not a
great thing ; still, if it was a privilege, lie thouglit the farmers

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

97

ia East Lothian should get a share. It was not a case of
" sour plums" on his part, for he had already heen a member
of the board of directors, when the Society was in a critical
position, and he had no desire to be in it again. But holding
the position he did of treasurer and convener of the East
Lothian Society, he thought he was entitled to speak up on
behalf of that county. He did not make a motion proposing
any alteration of the list ; but he thought it was a matter
which he considered to be deserving of attention.

The list was accordingly agreed to.

The Duke of Buccleuch proposed that Miss Burdett
Coutts be elected a lady member of the Society, and the mo-
tion was carried with acclamation.

Mr. Fletcher N. Menzies, the Secretary, read the follow-
ing list of 89 new applications for admission to the member-
ship, all of whom were elected.
Hamilton, The Hon. Robert Baillie, Langton, Dunse
Forrest, Sir John, of Comiston, Bart., Mid-Lothian
Alexander, James, Balmule, Dunfermline
Allan, William, Drummondrioch, Ferintosh
Anderson, William, Rainbow Hotel, Edinburgh
Ballingal, Andrew H., W.S., Perth
Boog, Thomas Elliot, Lanton, Jedburg
Bryan, Fred. George Daniel, factor, Drumpeller, Coatbridge
Burgess, E. C, Dalgig, New Cumnock
Carruthers, John, Tundergarth, Lockerbie
Cleghorn, Hugh, M.D., F.R.S.E., Stravithy, St. Andrews
Coghill, David, treasurer, Hutchesontown Gardens, Glasgow
Coghill, George, secretary, Hutchesontown Gardens, Glasgow
Cowe, Robert, Oldcastles, Chirnside
Craig, Daniel, Barr, Sanqahar
Cromarty, William, Widewall, Orkney
Dalziel, George, Auchengruith, Sanquhar
Davidson, Gilbert, banker, Hawick
Davidson, Hugh, procurator-tiscal, Lanark
Dickson, Alexander, Hartree and Kilbucho, M.D., Professor

of Botany, University of Glasgow
Drew, James, Craigencallie, Wigtownshire
Drummond, W. P., seedsman, 53, George Street, Edinburgh
Dudgeon, Alexander, East Dalmeny, South Queensferry
Dunlop, Alexander Murray, yr., Corsock, Dalbeatiie
Ferguson, John, seed and manure merchant, Sanquhar
Ferguson, William, Kinmundy, INIintlaw
Fletcher, Major Joseph, Kelton House, Dumfries
Gardner, John, 73, Abbotsford Place, Glasgow
Gibbons, John, cattle salesman, Liverpool
Greig, James Alexander, Terreglestown, Dum.fries
Halkett, David, banker, Alyth
Halley, John, Dornoch, Crieff
Harkness, Christopher, Provost of Dumfries
Hay, Alexander, Easter Cultmalundie, Perth
Hutchison, Thomas, Greenend, Liberton
Hyslop, John, Bank House, New Cumnock
Inch, Thomas, GUkerscleuch, Abingtou
Ingram, Alexander, Challoch, Stranraer
Kennedy, William, Kirk land, Sanquhar
Kerr, Joseph, Flatts of Cargen, Dumfries
Lyon, Thomas Arthur, Foxwood, Dumfriesshire
M'Adam, James Nicol, Woodfield, Banchory
M'Clew, John, Dinvin, Portpatrick
M'Culloch, David, bank agent. North Berwick
M'Gowau, William, Blegbie, Upper Keith
Macgregor, Donald, Royal Hotel, Edinburgh.
M'Haffie, William James, Torhousemuir, Wigtown
M'Keand, Andrew, Airlies, Wigtown
Maclaine, Murdoch, Lochbuy, Oban
M'Naughton, Daniel (M'Lean and Hope), Leith
Macpherson, Major Lachlan, Glentruim, Kingussie
Macqueen, James, Crofts, Dalbeattie
Main, George Agnew, banker, Whithorn
Maxwell, John Heron, yr., SpringkeU, Ecclefechan
Menzies, WUliam John, W.S., Edinburgh
Merricks, H. J., Gunpowder Mills, Roslin
Merricks, J. L., Gunpowder Mills, Roslin
Merricks, William, Gunpowder Mills, Roslin
Millar, William, Niddry Mains, Winchburgh
Millie, George, Kilmaron, Cupar-Fife
Minto, John D., Kelton, Dumfries
Mundell, Walter Grieve, Inverlaul, Lochbroom, Dingwall

I Mure, William, 12, Ainslie-place, Edinburgh
Ogilvy, Colonel, Rannagulzion, Blairgowrie
Porteous, John, Whim, West Linton
PuUar, John, Lord Provost of Perth
Ralston, A. R., Warrick Hill, Kilmarnock
Robertson, Peter, Ettridge, Kingussie
Robertson, William A., Abbotsliill, Dalvey, Forres
Routledge, William, Elrig, Port William, Wigtownshire
Ryrie, Robt., St, Park-street, Grosvenor-square, London
Scott, John, Clebrig, Lairg
Sim, Henry, ArduUie, Evanton
Sloan, John, Barnhill, Patna, Ayrshire
Small, John Lumsden, Foodie, Cupar, Fife
Stark, Robert, Kirkcaldy
Steel, Gavin, Carfin, Crossford, Lanark
Stewart, Donald, Biallid, Kingussie
Teenan, Michael, Lochside, Terregles, Dumfries
Thomas, Robert, Noranside, Forfar
Thompson, WiUiam, Ryle, Alnwick
Tod, John Wharton, W.S., 66, Queen-street, Edinburgh
Tod, Thomas M., Findaty, Kinross
Walker, Alexander, Stage-bank, Heriot, Gorebridge
Weston, Major, Golspie
Wliyte, Archibald, Cotton, Alyth
Wilson, Robert, linseed crusher, Dundee
Younger, Henry 'J., Bilston Lodge, Loanhead.

The gentlemen in the above list were unanimously admitted.

Mr. Kenuetii Mackenzie, C.A., laid on the table the ab-
stract of the accounts of the society for the year 1868-9. The
total income for the year, including i;5,980 19s. lOd. from
receipts at Edinburgh Show, 1869, and £1,500 reinvested, and
£767 12s. 2d. of a balance due by Royal Bank of Scotland at
30th Nov., 1868, was £12,073 13s. Id. ; and the expenditure,
including £2,319 6s. 5d. as general expenses of the Edinburgh
Show, was £7,222 3s. 6d. ; leaving a balance of £1.,851 10s.
7d., of which £4,050 has been invested on Debenture Bonds.
There are medals on hand of the value of £10 6s. 6d. ; arrears
of subscriptions, considered recoverable, £58 10s. ; and a
balance in the Royal Bank of £732 14s. Id.

Admiral Sir W. Hope Johnstone gave in the abstract of
the accounts of the Argyll Naval Fund for the year 1868-9. The
following was the charge : Balance in Royal Bank of Scotland
at 30th Nov., 1868, £260 17s. 4d. ; interest on £3,000 heritable
security, £117 6s. Id. ; interest on £2,200 Debenture Bonds,
£94 5s. lid. ; progressive interest on bank account, £2 Os. lOd.
The expenditure consisted of allowances to five recipients to
the amount of £200, and there is a balance in bank of i:274
10s. 2d. He stated that there was no difference in the young
officers since last year. The accounts were certified by Mr
Murray, the chairman of the Finance Committee ; Mr. Trotter,
a member of the Finance Committee; and Mr. Kenneth
Mackenzie, the auditor ; and he need only say that he re-
gretted none of these young officers had got a step of promo-
tion during the last year ; because, if they had, they would
have made way for some other Argyllshire youths to be brought
forward and trained in such a way as that they might become
good and gallant officers in the navy. In the sister service of
the army, Scotland had produced many eminent officers. In
the year 1809, he might call to the recollection of the meeting,
this very month, the three senior general officers who com-
manded at the battle of Corunna were all Scotchmen — Sir
John Moore, Sir David Baird, and Sir John Hope. Many
other eminent men had been produced by Scotland to swell
the list of general officers, of whom he might mention Aber-
cromby and Sir Colin Campbell. In the navy Scotland had
also produced many officers who fought gallantly. Admiral
Duncan and Lord Cochrane were well known for their deeds
of bravery many years ago ; and he looked forward to the
young officers receiving from this fund, having Highland blood
in their veins, taking a liigh place in their profession.

The report was adopted.

The Secretary read the following report in regard to the
Dumfries show, which has been arranged to take place on the
26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th July next : " The district connected
with the show comprises, as on former occasions, Dumfries-
shire, the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and Wigtownshire.
The counties have all agreed to a voluntary assessment accord-
ing to rental in aid of the auxiliary fund, and the town council
of Dumfries have subscribed £50 towards the same object .

98

l^HE I'ARMBR'S MAGAZINE.

Tlic premiums ofTercd amount to about £1,500, irrespective o
what may be awarded for implements and for tlie first prize
animals at former shows of the society. The classes of stock
liave been for some time before ilie public, and tlie list with
tlie premiums and regulations will be immediately published.
Instead of the judging beginning at nine o'clock on Wednes-
day morning, it will commence at one o'clock on Tuesday, and
the yard will be opened on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,
as well as during the judging on the afternoon of Tuesday.
The directors have named Mr. Maxwell of Munches, M.P.,
convener of the local committee. That committee will be
named at tlie respective county meetings on the 30th of
April."

The report was adopted.

The Secretary read the following report of the committee
in regard to the proposal for holding the society's show at
Perth in 1871 : " A requisition was received for a show being
held at Perth in 1871, for a district comprising the eastern
division cif Perthshire, western division of Forfarshire, Fife-
shire, and Kinross-shire. The requisition was favourably enter-
tained by the directors, who remitted to the Committee on
General Sliows to suggest the classes of stock for which pre-
miums should be afterwards offered. This list was submitted
to a meeting of members held at Perth, and it is for this meet-
ing to give its formal sanction to the show being held at I erth
in 1871. The last meeting there was held in 1861, and,
according to the usual rotation, the show falls to be held at
Perth in the year raeutioued in the requisition."

It was resolved that the meeting approve of the show being
held at Pertii in 1871, and that tlie directors be empowered to
make tlie necessary arrangements.

Mr. DtiPGEON (Cargen) submitted to the meeting the report
of the district corapttitions held during 1869. Premiums had
bet-u awarded in money to the amount of £:S61; beside four
medium gold, 21 large silver, 151 medium silver, 25 cottage,
and 180 plough medals, independent of the vote of £50 to tlie
Edinburgh Christinas Club, and the grant of medium silver
medals to the Forres and Northern, and the jN'orthern Counties
fat show clubs, making the total amount expended on this
branch of the society's operations during the past year .i'676
I4s. 6d. in above 270 districts of Scotland. The money pre-
miums were paid and all the medals issued on the 30th De-
cember last.

Mr. DcDGEOX furtlier stated that the committee, finding
that many of the larger prizes go year after year to the same
individuals, have resolved, with the view of increasing compe-
tition, that there should be a greater number of premiums,
and it is proposed in future that there should be in cattle ten
prizes in place of six ; in mares, three in place of one ; in
colts and filies, twelve in place of four ; iu sheep, tnirteen in
place of five ; in swine, seven in place of five ; and in dairy
produce, eight in place of six. Some modilicatiou in the
amounts offered have been rendered necessary, but as it has
enabled the directors to place a greater number of districts on
the list, it is hoped tlie arrangements will meet with the ap-
proval of the present meeting. In the cottage and garden
section it is proposed that the society should pay the whole
prizes, and limit the competition to five consecutive years in
each parish. The number of districts the directors suggest
for 1870 are — eight for cattle at £17, and four silver medals
each ; three for stallions at £25 each ; one for brood mares at
£7, and silver medal ; one for colts at £8, and two silver
medals; five for sheep at £16, and five silver medals; one for
swine at £7, and three silver medals ; one for dairy produce at
£6, and four silver medals. Another district (viz., Kilmar-
nock), four medium gold and eiglit silver medals for cheese
and butter. As the committee felt itself unable to meet all the
demands for money premiums, they have been as liberal as
possible with the offer of silver medals, and it is a matter of
much gratification to the directors to report that every appli-
cation for assistance has been complied with in one shape or
another. The premium book for 1870 is in course of publica-
tion, and it will be found that there are 79 districts down for
no fewer than 215 medium silver medals iu aid of premiums
given by local societies. The meeting is aware that the
plough medal is given witiiout previous application on
a certificate by a member of the Society who has attended the
match, provided the report is lodged within one month of the
competition, and premiums to the amount of £3, awarded by a
ocal society or ploughing association, the name of which must

be registered with the Highland Societ)-. Form of the report,
containing tlie regulations, can be obiained on application to
the secretary. In the department for cottages and gardens
there are twenty parishes on the list, and £3 in money and four
silver medals are offered to eacli. Besides the premiums
now reported on, the Society offers the gold medal to the pro-
prietor who shall report the improvement of the greatest num-
ber of cottages in years 1867, 1868, and 1869 ; and the gold
medal to the proprietor who shall report the erection of the
greatest number of approved cottages during the same years.
The gold medal is also offered to the proprietor who shall have
erected on his estate the most approved farm dwellings in
reference to the proper accommodation of farm servants.
There are certain conditions attached to these premiums,
copies of which will be furnished on application at the So-
ciety's chambers. Before sitting down, Mr. Dudgeon stated
that it was proposed to renew the grant of £50 to the Edin-
burgh Christmas Club ; and he asked the meeting to sanction
the different premiums now suggested for 1870.
The reports were approved of.

Sir William Stirlijn'g-Maxwell reported as follows:
The show which was held in Edinburgh in July last was one of
the most satisfactory ever held under the auspicies of the So-
ciety, and in a pecuniary point of view it bad been successful
beyond anticipation. When the Society held its meetings in
Edinburgh in 1859 the surplus on the show amounted to £74
Gs. 5d. On last occasion, as has already been stated, the pro-
bable surplus will not be less than £2,067. This sura might
have been somewhat larger, but the directors, in considera-
tion of the great success of the meeting, resolved to vote a
silver medal to all commended implements and animals ex-
cept poultry. The die for this medal was in course of being
prepared, and would bear the Society's arms. As the meeting
was aware, the Society is much i.idebtedto its noble president
und various other members, and the directors had requested
him to move the following resolutions of thanks: 1. "That the
thanks of the Society be given to the Most Noble the Marquis
of Twecddale, K.T., president of the Society, for his attendance
at the Edinburgh show, and for the warm interest evinced by
his lordship in promoting the objects of the meeting." 2.
"That the thanks of the Society be given to his Grace the
Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, K.G., for officiating (in
the unavoidable absence of the President) as chairman at the
public dinner, and for his Grace's personal exertions and sup-
port on the occasion of the Edinburgh Siiow." 3. " That the
thanks of the Society be given to William Chambers, Esq.,
late Lord Provost of the city of Edinburgh, for the special in-
terest he manifested in the success of the Edinburgh Show,
for attending officially along with the magistrates on the open-
ing day of the Show." 4. " That the thanks of the Society
be given to the magistrates of the city of Edinburgh for their
liberal subscription towards the Premium Fund of the Edin-
burgh Show, for allowing the meadows to be used for the pur-
poses of the showyard; for the very efficient services of the
police ; and for the assistance rendered by the city authorities
in carying out the various arrangements of the meeting."
5. " that the thanks of the Society be given to the Commis-
sioners of Supply for the counties of Edinburgh, Haddington,
and Linlithgow, for the liberality with which the auxiliary
fund of the Edinburgli Show was provided." 6. " That the
thanks of the Society be given to Robert Dundas, Esq., of Ar-
niston, who discharged so satisfactorily the duties of convener,
and to the other members of the committee of superintendance
for their zealous exertions in the duties devolving upon them at
the Edinburgh Show. Sir William Stirling-Maxwell went on
to say — I believe that I need not enforce the resolutions by any
lengthened remarks ; but I think it will be a pleasure to the
members of the Society here present to congratulate our noble
President on having been able to attend at our last show, and
a'so to be present here to receive the thanks now moved to
him, and to others, on whose zealous and efficient services so
much of the success of the Show depended.
The report and resolution were agreed to.
The Chairman said ; The next subject to be taken up is the
report of the Committee on Steam Cultivation. Although we
have been long in giving in the report, we have taken as much
pains as we could to master the subject. The report will ap-
pear in due time in the Transactions of the Society. I must
say this, that the committee were confined to a particular dis-
trict to get the necessary information, and I am sorry to say

T?HE i'ARMER'S JiAGAZINE.

DO

that \ve have not received that amount of information which
woukl enable us to make so full a report as we could have
desired. We think that much more information would be re-
quired before it could be said that steam cultivation will be as
suitable for Scotland as it is for England. We must remember
that in the countries where steam cultivation is general the
soil is quite of a dillerent nature from what it is in this coun-
try. In England the soil is mostly alluvial, whereas in this
country the soil that has been brought down by currents of
water from the bills into tbe low grounds is mixed with stones,
and the expense of cultivating it is, I believe, so much increased
in consequence of that. You have got an excellent report by
Mr. Hope, Fentonbarns, on steam-ploughing ; and I hope that
in the course of a short time we shall be able to give you more
information on this important subject than we can at present.

The Secretary then read the following conclusions, to
whicli the committee had arrived on the subject : —

" 1st. The committee observe that cultivation by steam-
power is much more common in England tban in Scotland. It
cannot be said that the farmei's of Scotland do not possess
practical knowledge, skill, and economy in the management of
the land, and yet they seem to adhere to ploughing the land
with horses, which the committee, however, believe as a rule,
much better done in Scotland tban in England.

" 2nd. The committee are of opinion that before a steam
plough can be advantageously employed, the land should be
thoroughly cleared of all large stones and other impediments
to the free action of tbe plough, and that tliis can be most
effectually done by having the land previously ploughed by
horses to the deptli of 1-i inches, in the same manner as the
committee saw done at Yester by the Marquis of Tweeddale.

" 3rd. The committee are farther of opinion that where deep
cultivation is desired (that is, not less than from 13 to li
k inches) the double engine system of Fowler appears to be best

suited, as the action of the engine is more direct, and a much
less extent of rope is required. Deep cultivation must, how-
ever, entail a great strain on the implements, and a conse-
quently increased risk of breakage.

" 4lh. Where a shallow furrow (that is, not exceeding 8
inches on ordinary soil) is all that is required, the single en-
gine and moveable anchor system of Fowler, or the roundabout
system of Howard, but with Fowler's balance plough, seem
well adapted. Fowler's system requiring a shorter rope and
fewer hands to work it, but necessitating the plough to work
at right angles, or nearly so, to the engine, is therefore not
well suited for uneven-sided fields. Howard's system, from tlie
engine remaining stationary, does away with the strain on the
engine moving along the soft headland, and the consequent
poaching and compressing of the soil, but requiring two addi-
tional men to work it, and a large extent of rope. It is also
better adapted for fields of an irregular shape, as the plough
with the moveable snatch-blocks and anchors wiU work in any
position.

" 5th. The committee are also of opinion that on a large
farm liaving a comparatively flat surface, with fields of not less
than twenty acres, as nearly square as possiljle, and free from
stones or other obstacles, and where three or four pairs of
horses can be dispensed with, that steam cultivation will pro-
bably be highly beneficial as an auxiliary to horse power, as the
work can be done with greater celerity and the ground cropped
at the proper time, whereby an increased return would be likely
to ensue. On a smaller extent of land there does not seem to
he sufficient scope for the profitable employment of a steam
plough.

" 6th. The committee consider that further experience of
steam cultivation in Scotland is necessary, in order to ascer-
tain the actual expense of it, and tlie endurance of the engines
and apparatus. On all the farms which they have inspected
the machinery is comparatively new, and it is not to be ex-
pected that much outlay should be required to keep it in good
order."

The Hon. George Waldegraye Leslie asked whether
the committee was to be continued ? Since last year an im-
portant improvement had been made in connection with double-
furrow ploughs. If he mistook not, when tlie Thomson india-
rubber tire-wheeled engine was put before these double-furrow
ploughs, it was found to be an improved form of steam culti-
vation. He could not help thinking that, if the committee
was to be continued, it would be desirable to get some infor-

mation regard'ng the appliance of steam engines to the double-
furrow plough.

The Chairman said the Society were obliged to the gen-
tleman who had put the question, and if he would write out
his question in detail the Society could have no objection to
answer it. The committee had given all the information they
had obtained on the subject. There were experiments going
on just now in most parts of the country with regard to double-
furrow ploughs, and the information as to their results varied.
He believed, however, that very much depended upon the
soils in which they were used. They were frequently too
heavy for two horses, and three oere required,

Mr. Leslie said that the reason he had mentioned the
matter was that Mr. Fowler, whose plough had been so much
praised, had taken great pains iu the matter, and had improved
Pirie's double - furrow plough very much. He considered
that the experiments which had been made of Thomson's
engines had been satisfactory so far as they had gone, and he
understood that by their application to double-furrow ploughs
a considerable saving could be effected.

The Chairman asked what the lion, gentleman wished the
Society to do ? Did he wish that the matter should be
referred to the special committee for steam cultivation ?

Mr. Leslie said he should like to direct the observation of
the committee to Thomson's India - rubber tire - wheeled
engine.

The Secretary stated that the committee had exhausted
their remit, and they now ceased to exist, but he had no doubt
the suggestion would be at once taken into consideration by
the directors.

Mr. Wilson (Edingfon Mains) said he had taken great
interest in steam cultivation, and it was now nearly three years
since he had worked Fowler's double engine, and it had given
great satisfaction. Eefore getting it he made inquiries at
those who had used it, and felt encouraged to go into the
matter. He knew very well a great deal of the land he
farmed was full of large stones, and he had a good deal of
apprehension tliat he would meet with much difiiculty in that
direction. He was glad, howevee, to say that when it came
to be dealt with in practice there was no such serious difficulty
as was anticipated. In the land encumbered with large
boulders there was no breakage except in the shares with
which the plough was fitted. So far as tiie experiment had
gone, it had yielded liim very great satisfaction indeed. With
regard to the matter suggested by the lion, gentleman, he must
say that, judging from his experience, he liad no hope of
seeing any good done by steam cultivation with the engine
travelling over the ground. When he required to take an
engine diagonally across a field after it was cultivated by the
powerful steam apparatus, they could always very well see the
track of the engine ; and to go over the whole surface of the
ground with a ponderous engine, would only result in undoing
what they had done. He thought the double-furrow plough
was well adapted for fitting into the steam cultivator. In that
way they could reduce the number of horses which were kept
on a farm and were employed in working these double-
furrow ploughs, and would overtake a large quantity of the
seed furrow work which might not be so conveniently at all
times overtaken by the steam tackle. The one being exceed-
ingly well adapted to fit into the other, a man going into a
new concern would economise his outlay very considerably by
purchasing a stock of these along with his steam tackle. He
tiiought that the proposal for an engine to move over the
surface of the ground was in the wrong direction alto-
gether. He had lain aside three pairs of horses by using the
steam tackle.

Professor Rankine thought it should be ascertained as a
matter of fact whether engines with indiarubber tirewheels
actually pressed on the ground so as to produce an injurious
effect. His own impression was that they did not. They had
been seen to pass over soft substances on the street without
injury, as, for instance, a potato or a carrot ; and having
regard to the yielding nature of the tire, it was reasonable to
suppose there could not be any great impression on the ground.
However, that was a matter to be obtained by exact observa-
tion.

Mr. Smith (Whittingham) said that Mr. Wilson had re-
ferred to an important point in speaking of the obstacles in
the way of the steam plough. He thought it would be well
to know from Mr. Wilson how deep the ordinary furrows

100

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

made by the steam ploughs were where the large stones
existed.

Mr. Wilson said that where the soils were suitable for
being worked, he liad usually ploughed in the autumn stubble
land, or rather dug it, about a foot deep. But he might say,
further, that in the fields which he knew had the greatest
quantity of stones, he had been going over them with the
ordinary subsoil plough, worked by horses, removing stones.
Many of the fields bad not been previously gone over with the
subsoil plough, and in these no such serious inconvenience
was met with as might be supposed. In fact, he had seen
more breakage with a pair of horse plouglrs — breakage in
chains and swingle-trees — than with the steam plough, which
went over the ground amazingly.

The CHAiRM^\JNr : What kind of soil is it ?

Mr. Wilson : Strong loam.

The Chmrman : Drained ?

Mr. Wilson : Yes ; drained.

Sir W. Stirling Maxwell: Among how many horses
have you effected the saving of three pair ?

Mr. Wilson : Eleven pair.

Professor Wilson said, in reference to the subject to which
their attention had been directed by the Hon. AValdegrave
Leslie, it was only a question of the force and power required
^whether it required more power for an engine to move itself
across a field with a plough attached to it, or to transmit its
force through tackle, like Ms. Fowler's and Mr. Howard's, for
the purpose of dragging the implement up and down. These
matters were tested very critically at the meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society at Leeds iu 1861, and a report was made
by the judges that the amount of power consumed in trans-
mitting the force through a series of those tackles to the im-
plement was infinitely less than what was required to move
the engine along the ground, dragging the implement after it.
He thought with Mr. Wilson they would be going entirely
backwards if they adopted these engines, and that the experi-
ments to which he had referred had set the question at rest.
Mr. Thomson's engine was an admirable one for certain pur-
poses, but he could not conceive it would abviate these diffi-
culties and lessen the force required to draw an implement
through the soil. The amount of power required to be trans-
mitted through a series of wire ropes was much less than ex-
perienced engineers thought it would be.

The Chaiiim.\j;j said lie thought it right to remind the
meeting that the instructions to the committee confined them
in their investigations to the county of East Lothian, and
they were not expected to go to other parts of the country.
With regard to the question of engines going over the ground,
his own experieuce was that it was quite difficult enough to
get the engine to move over tlie ground without the plough.
As to tlie depth in East Lothian, tiie greatest power seemed to
be able to get down 12 inclies,'and his fancy was U. He had
asked several makers of implements if they could tell how the
force was afi'ected by the depth. Supposing a power to be
exerted at a depth of 13 inches, what would be the power at
13, 14f, or 15 inches? However, he could get no answer. It
was a very interesting subject the diminution of the expendi-
ture iu the cultivation of land, whether it be by steam power
or horses. To make three horses accomplish what four did
previously was a very important matter. He thought that
the committee would be very glad to take advantage of Mr.
Waldegrave Leslie's proposition.

The Duke of Bucclebcii moved — " That the special com-
mittee on steam cnltivatiou be renewed, and that the question
of double-lurrow ploughs drawn by Thomson's indianibber
tire-wheeled engines be considered ; and that the committee
also take into their consideration generally the subject of cul-
tivation by steam." He thought it would be very desirable
to have all the information they could get on the subject.
He had only one suggestion to make, and that was tliat the
committee should not be restricted to any one portion of the
country in making their investigations, but, if necessary,
might go across the Border, and see what had been done
there.

The motion was then agreed to ; and, on the suggestion of
the Duke of Buccleuch, it was agreed to remit to the directors
to draw up details for the guidance of the committee.

Mr. Gillon (Walhouse), said that, as convener of the
Veterinary Committee, he had to report that Mr. Wm. Duns,
vetennary surgeon, Dunbar, had been appointed to fill the

Chair of Cattle Pathology. Mr. Duns was a graduate of the
Edinburgh Veterinary College, and had studied under Profes-
sors Dick, Strangeways, and Dalzell, and had obtained his
diploma in 1863. Since then Mr. Duns had been in constant
active practice. He (Mr. Gillon) might be allowed to state
that, in this instance, a very able man liad been appointed, and
he liad no doubt that Mr. Duns would be a credit to the college
to which he belonged, as well as a great advantage to the
public whom he would serve. The winter session of the col-
lege of 1869-70 was opened on the 1st November by the
magistrates of Edinburgh, on which occasion Principal
Williams delivered his introductory address. The attendance
at the college had greatly increased in number — there being
now ninety-five students. This number had never before been
approached. It was also gratifying to know that the students
were of a superior class to what they used to be, and were
very orderly and well conducted. Several of the students had
come from a distance — from England, Ireland, and Canada,
and some even from New Zealand. He thought that said a
good deal for the fame of their College abroad. The practice
of clinical surgery, which he regarded as one of the foremost
branches in veterinary science, had been more and more in
practice lately than it had been for many years previously.
He was sorry that the accommodation for the proper practice
of this branch was very defective in the College ; but how
that was to be remedied it was not for him to say. The com-
mittee and the board of directors had had before them a repre-
sentation from the Boyal College of Veterinary Surgeons,
London, regarding the preliminary examination of students,
and asking the support of the society in the matter. Although
the committee were fully agreed as to the advantages of a
scheme of preliminary examination, yet, after carefully consider-
ing the whole matter, they were of opinion that the society
should not take the matter up, but leave it to be settled
entirely by the diiferent teaching schools.

Mr. Leslie asked whether the question of shoeing horses
had been under the notice of the committee ?

Mr. Gillon said that had not yet been before the com-
mittee ; but he thought it was a subject that the committee
should certainly take up. So far as his experience of thirty
years went, he thought they had not arrived at a proper
method for slioeing horses. He had taken some trouble in
looking over the new systems proposed. The best that he had
seeu was the Charlier system which had been brought out in
Paris. It had been tried to a great extent with omnibus
horses — no fewer than 5,000 or 6,000 were working under the
system — and it was found to work admirably. Whether it
would do for hunters and roadsters he could not say. The
advantage of this method was that it put the horses' feet into
a more natural position than could possibly be the case with
the shoe at present in general use. He observed that the
society offered a prize for the best method of shoeing horses,
with special reference to those systems recently introduced.
The prize would consist of a medium gold medal or five sove-
reigns, so that they would have a chance of getting a good
deal of information on the subject. He believed that Prin-
cipal Williams was to bring out a new t.ystem of horse shoeing.

Principal Williams said he had had some experience of
the Cliarlier system, and might say briefly that for hunters
and light saddle horses, and for horses not required to be very
hard worked, it stood pre-eminent over any other system. Por
omnibus horses and horses on the road, the Charlier shoe
would have to be made with steel ; it wore out too quickly.
At present, in the case of these horses, the shoe went away in
the course of a few days at the toe. For hunters he could re-
commend it with confidence to those present.

The Chairman asked Priucipal Williams if there was any
general system of shoeing horses that he could recommend ?

Principal Williams said the whole secret of horse-shoeing
lay in the fact that the foot should not be mutilated, but left
as whole as possible. It should be left sufficiently strong to
protect the internal and sensitive parts. If this were done the
form of the shoe would be a matter of secondary importance.

Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell asked if the Charlier system
was not adopted in the French cavalry ?

Principal AVilliams said he could not testify as to the
Charlier shoe having been adopted in the French cavalry
regiments ; but lie knew that at Chatham a graduate of the
Edinburgh College had introduced the Charlier shoe, and with
great success.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

101

Mr. Leslie said a large number of cavalry regiments in
France had adopted the Charlier shoe by order of the Emperor,
and a large number of the omnibus horses in Paris had worn
it for twelve months.

Principal Williams said that to make the Charlier shoe
generally adaptable all that was required was to tip it with
steel round the toe to prevent it wearing. If that were done
they would have a revolntiou in horse-shoeing.

Tlie Secretary stated that the members were aware that
the directors had given leave of absence to Dr. Anderson, the
society's chemist, in consequence of his having to spend the
winter in the south of Englaud, on account of his health. He
read the following report on the work of the chemical depart-
ment during the past year, sent by Dr. Anderson i — " In re-
porting on the work of the chemical department, I believe I
may say that in no previous year has the work been so large
and varied. The number of analyses made for members of the
society has amounted to no less than 372, embracing the
analyses of soils, waters, manures, feeding stutfs, and, in fact,
all the ordinary articles of agricultural consumption. This
exceeds the analyses made by Dr. Voelcker for the Royal
Agricultural Society, although the number of members of that
society exceeds thai ol the Highland and Agricultural Society
by more than 1,000. The experience of tlie year's operations
has been, on the whole, satisfactory ; and though cases of
adulteration are still too numerous, I think it may be said that
some improvement in the quality of manufactured manures is
slowly becoming manifest. One of the most troublesome mat-
ters in this respect lies in the great difference in the quality
of different manufactured manures, none of which can be des-
cribed as adulterated in the strict sense of that word, but which
differ so greatly that, though sold at the same price, one may
be worth £1, £2, or even £3 per ton more than the other.
This occurs to such an extent that by tne judicious choice of
manures the farmer can often effect a very material economy,
and numerous cases have occurred in which £10, £20, and £30
have been in this way saved on comparatively small purchases
of manures. During the past season the series of experiments
extending over a rotation have been continued, and a set of
experiments on tlie action of different manures on the potato
have been successfully carried out. For some time past the
state of my health has been such that, acting under the advice
of my medical friends, I have been compelled to obtain from
the directors leave of absence from the active work of the
laboratory. I have, however, taken care to make such ar-
rangements that the work has been carried on without inter-
ruption, and that I am able (o exercise a close supervision
overall that is done. All the letters relating to analyses are
sent to me, so that I may determine the exact nature of the
analysis necessary to supply the information required. The
analysis, when finished, passes through my hands, so that I
am able to give ray opinion on any matters of interest or im-
portance which it reveals. On the state of my health I am
glad to be able to give a favourable report, for though I have
had a pretty severe illness during the greater part of December
and the present month, which had somewhat retarded my
general progress, my medical advisers consider that I have
made as much progress as could be expected, that my case
must be very tedious, and that I must not attempt to engage
in active work for some time. There is one point on which I
am compelled to ask the indulgence of the society. I had
hoped to have published the results of the field experiments in
the Transactions for this year, but my illness during December,
which is the very time during which the reports must be drawn
up, has made it quite impossible for me to do this, and I am
most reluctantly compelled to ask permission to postpone this
until next year. As regards the rotation experiments, I be-
lieve it will even be advisable that they should be postponed
till quite complete, when the results will be much more useful
and instructive than if they are published in a fragmentary
form at the end of each season, and I would leave it to the
society to decide whether this course should be adopted. The
potato experiments, of course, I shall put together as soon as
possible. " Thomas Anderson.

" January 18, 1870."

Mr. Walker (Bowland) reported that the following
premiums had been awarded for reports on subjects connected
with the science and practice of agriculture since the general
meeting in June :

1. The gold medal or £10 to William Alfred Gibbs,

Gillwell Park, Sewardstone, Essex, for a Report ou the Hot
Blast Pan used in Harvesting.

2. The gold medal or £10 to William Wallace Hozier of
Tannochside, Bellshill, Glasgow, for a Report on Agricultural
Drainage.

3. The gold medal or £10 to Robert Hutchison of
Carlowrie, Kirkliston, for a Report on the Dietaries of
English Agricultural Labourers.

4. The gold medal or £10 to George Malcolm, factor,
Invergarry, Inverness-shire, for a Report on Striking the
Piars' Prices.

5. The gold medal or £10 to the late William Paterson,
Union Street, Dundee, for a Report on Propagating New
Varieties of Potatoes.

6. The gold medal or £10 to Patrick Shirreff, Haddington,
for a Report on the Means employed by him for Obtaining a
New Variety of Wheat called "King Richard."

7. The gold medal or £10 to N. P. Stewart, Cemaes,
Llanrwst, North Wales, for a Report on Dipping, Pouring,
and Smearing Sheep.

8. The medium gold medal or £5 to George Armatage,
M.R.C.V.S., Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, for a Report
on the Duties of the Veterinary Surgeon in Examining Horses
as to Soundness.

9. The medium gold medal or £5 to said George Armatage
for a Report on Veterinary Contracts.

10. The medium gold medal or £5 to Robert Laidlaw,
Chapelhope, Selkirkshire, for a Report on Dipping, Pouring,
and Smearing Sheep.

11. The medium gold medal or £5 to John Milne, Laithers,
Turriff, for a Report on the Agriculture of Aberdeenshire and
Banffshire.

12. The medium gold medal or £5 to Andrew SpreuU,
M.R.C.V.S., Milngavie, Glasgow, for a Report on the Duties
of the Veterinary Surgeon in Examining Horses as to
Soundness.

Mr. Walker also stated that the directors had resolved to
publish the Picport on Agricultural Drainage, by Mr. Hozier
(No. 2 of the above list), in a separate form for sale, so as to
place it within the reach of all interested in such operations.
Mr. Walker further reported that the following premiums
had been suggested for competition in 1870 and subsequent
years :
On the agriculture of East Lothian ... ... ... £30

On the agriculture of Inverness-shire ... ... ... 30

On ancient farming customs in Scotland ... ... ... 20

On autumn manuring ... ... ... ... ... 20

On land manuring ... ... ... ... ... ... 5

On manures produced by different kinds of feeding ... 20
On manures made with and witliout cover ... ... 20

On covering grain crops in harvest ... ... ... 10

On improved varieties of agricultural plants ... ... 10

On failures of the wheat crop ... ... ... ... 5

On the comparative productiveness of potatoes ... ... 10

On the comparative productiveness of turnips ... ... 10

On the cultivation of cabbage as a field crop ... ... 10

On vegetable productions of India, China, and America 10
On the best modes of housing fattening cattle ... ... 20

On different descriptions of food for stock ... ... 20

On disinfecting agents for stock ... ... ... ... 10

On the operation of the Contagious Diseases (Animals)

Act, 18G9 10

On the different modes of shoeing horses ... ... 5

On lambing ... ... ... ... ... ... 10

On transporting butcher-meat ... ... ... ... 5

On vessels used for transporting milk from country

districts ... ... ... ... ... ... 5

On rural economy abroad susceptible of being introduced

into Scotland ... ... ... ... ... ... 10

On the general improvement of estates by proprietors ... 10
On the reclamation of waste land by tillage by proprietor

or tenant ... ... £10, £5, and silver medal

On the improvement of natural pasture without tillage... 10
On the invention or improvement of implements of

husbandry ... ... ... ... ... ... 50

The report was approved of.

Professor Balfour reported that the following premiums
had been awarded in the department of Woods and Forests
during the past half-year : —
1. The medium gold medal or £5 to Robert Hutchison, of

102

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ciirlowiio, Kirklislon, for a E-cport on the Effects of the
Dry Season 1868 on Trees and Shrubs.

2 The minor gold medal lo John Blaikie Webster, forester,
to Sir AVilliam Vcrncr, Bart., Church Hill, Verner's Bridge,
Moy, Ircliiud, f(jr a lleport on the Growth of the roots of
Coniferous Trees after relling;.

3. The silver medal to the author of a Report on the Effects
of the Dry Season 1868 on Trees and Shrubs, bearing the
motto " Hortus Siccus."

Professor Balfour further reported that it was proposed to
offer the following premiums for competition in 1870 : —

On extensive planting by proprietors £10

Ou the general management of plantations 10

On planting on exposed or barren tracts... _ 10

Ou the value for economical purposes of Corsican fir ... 5
On forest trees of recent introduction ... ... ... 5

On home-grown timber as compared with foreign ... 5

On continental modes of forestry ... ... ... ... 10

On prices of forest produce ... ... ... ... 5

On effects of dry season of 1869 on trees and shrubs ... 5
On seedlings of conifers ... ... ... ... ... 5

The report was approved of.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.

Mr. Irvine, of Drum, reported that the next number of
the Society's " Transactions," being No. 5 of the Fourth
Series, would be published in February, and that it would
contain the following prize reports : —

1. On tlie Agriculture of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire, by
James Black.

2. Ou American and Canadian Trees, by John E. Brown.

3. On rieuro-pneumonia, by George Armatagc.

4t. On tlie Diseases of Forest Trees, by John B. Webster.
5. On the Management of Poultry, by Robert Hutchison.
G. Ou the Corsican Fir, by John Morrison.

7. On the comparative Advantages of Spring or Autumn

Manuring, by John Allan.

8. On the Formation and Management of Young Planta-
tions, by Robert E. Brown.

0. On Sanitary Arrangements for Stock, by AVilliam
Brown, jun.

10. On the varieties of Poplar best suited to the Climate o(
Scotland, by Robert Hutchison.

11. Ou Propagating New Varieties of Potatoes, by tlie late
William Paterson,

13. On the Improvement of the Farm of Quarryhead, by
James Stevenson.

13. On Forest Trees of Recent Introduction, by Robert
Hutchison.

l-I. On the Cultivation of Cabbage as a Field Crop, by Gil-
bert Murray.

15. On Striking the Fiars Prices in Scotland, by George
Malcolm.

16. On the Duties of the Veterinary Surgeon in Examining

Horses as to Soundness, by George Armatage.

17. Ou the Same Subject, by James Spruell.

18. On Planting on Exposed or Barren Tracts, by C. Y.
Michie.

And any other prize reports the directors may be enabled to
)iublish. The Transactions will contain the report by the
Special Committee on the various systems of cultivating land
by ste?m-power in East Lothian — the proceedings at the
board and general meetings — the premiums awarded in 1869,
and of those offered in 1870 — the accounts of the income and
expenditure of the society for 1868-69, and other official
documents.

Tlie fullowing communication from the Board of Trade was
submitted :

" Office of Committee of Privy Council for
Trade, 18th Jan. 1870.

" Sir, — I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council for Trade to transmit to you, for the information
of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, and for
the purpose of being made public, the enclosed analysis and
report upon the guano at Guanape Islands, which have been
received through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. —
I am. Sir, your obedient servant,

"Louis Mallet.

" The Secretary of Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland."

" The guano of the Guanape Islands partakes of a compo-
sition varying much according to locality and depth. In
geneial, on the north as well as on the soutli island, the super-
ficial strata exposed to the vicissitudes of the atmosphere are
deficient in soluble salts, and consequently in ammoniac, aug-
menting the proportion of phosphate of lime. In the lower
strata, on the contrary, the quantity of ammoniacal salts aug-
ments, tlius diminishing the phosphate of lime. It is probable
that by the action which has dissolved the ammoniacal salts of
tlie superficial strata it may have penetrated by infiltration into
the strata underneath, thus increasing the richness of the latter,
so that in the end the ammoniac, which forms the most valu-
able principle of guano, is not lost, being concentrated as it is
in the deeper layers of guano.

" In the southern island the change is manifested in a man-
ner still more evident, as of the three samples that have been
analysed, the most superficial contains only 7'562 per cent, of
ammoniac, and in the sample extracted from a greater deptli
the ammoniac contained in 100 parts of guano rises to 18'830,
a greater quantity than is contained in the best guano of the
Chinchalslauds.

" This last is formed almost entirely Qo'OOO of ammoniacal
salts, soluble in water, consisting in greater part in oxalate and
urate of ammonia, and should not be considered as a variety
of guano, but as a combination of the soluble parts of the
guano which appear to have been separated by the action of
water.

" This sample, although possessing a strong ammoniacal
smell equal to the guanos of the best quality, differs, neverthe-
less, through its other physical characteristics, presenting itself
under the form of a pulverulent homogeneous matter of a more
pronounced yellow colour than that of common guano, and
with a eyystalline structure only to be perceived through the
medium of a microscope. ,

" If the bed of this material is in reality seven feet in >
thickness, according to Mr. Harris, who extracted the samples,
it appears to me that a greater advantage could be obtained
by selling this material to certain manufacturers of chemical
productions, as liquid ammonia, oxalate of ammonia, or uric
acid could be extracted with much facility for the manufacture
of the colouring matter called ' murexida.'

" As this sample is very rich in ammonia, and very poor, on
the contrary, in phosphate of lime, containing less than 5.100
of this salt, it could not be employed with advantage in agri-
culture, one of the principal elements being wanting for
plants ; and in ease it conld not be sold, as was suggested, to
manufacturers of chemical productions, it could be utilised
very well by mixing it with the guano from the Lobos Islands,
which in general contains a strong proportion of phosphate of
lime, and, jicr contra, is very poor in ammonia. By mixing
the material in question, this guano would be improved, and
would cause the value of the guano of the Lobos Islands to be
enhanced, equalising it with the guano of good quality.

" Some of the samples of guano from Guauape subjected lo
analysation contain a strong proportion of water, so that,
when the guano is pounded in a mortar, with the object of
rendering it more homogeneous before proceeding to analyse
it, it collects and forms a really sticky paste.

" At first sight, it would be said that this guano had been
wetted ; but, recognising the great hygrometric power which
guano has, and knowing that the sample in question had been
extracted in winter-time, when the atmosphere of the coast is
almost entirely saturated with water, the great quantity of
moisture which it contains is easily explained. I myself at
another period made some experiments for studyiiig the
hygrometric power of guano, by keeping exposed to the open
air a certain weighed quantity of guano ; and I have beheld
it increase or diminish in weight according as the weather was
more or less dry.

" The element which is of most value in guano after the
ammonia is phosphoric acid ; but, as is known, almost the
whole of the phosphoric acid contained in the guano is com-
bined with lime, forming a phosphate of lime-tri-basico, not
very soluble in water, and consequently absorbed with difficulty
by plants.

" Various chemists who busy themselves with the study of
guano have thought, and with justice, that by rendering the
phosphoric acid contained in guano more soluble in water, and
consequently easier to be absorbed by plants, the value of thia
material would be augmented.

THE FARMER'S MAQAZmE.

103

" So, for many years, Mr. Nesbit advised mixing guano with
sulphuric acid, the which, by uniting itself with part of the
lirae, leaves free a part of phosphoric acid, which forms with
the other portion of the lime a phosphate acid easily soluble
in water. Mr. Richardson put this theory in practice.and asked
for a patent for the transformation and amelioration of guano.

" Now, as not the whole quantity of phosphoric acid con-
tained in guano is found in a state insoluble, under the form of
tri-phosphate of lime, I have deemed it necessary in the
Rnalyzation which I have made to make known likewise the

proportion of soluble phosphoric acid which the guano of
Guanape contains." [The results of the analyzations were
given in an elaborate table.]

Two communications which had been received from the
Board of Trade were laid upon the table. One was on the
culture of the beetroot, and the other a number of reports on
the cultivation of flax on the continent, which reports had
been received at the Foreign Office.

On the motion of the Duke of Buccleuch, a vote of
thanks was given to the Chairman, and the meeting separated.

LANDLORD AND TENANT IN SHROPSHIRE.

At the dinner of the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture,
Sir Baldwin Leighton said : On the bench magistrates
had often no easy tasks to perform — they had to hear
both sides of a question ; and, upon the most contradictory
evidence say which was right. He believed the magistrates
always acted in such cases to the best of their judgment ; and
he also believed they had thus earned the good opinions of
the public. If they did not succeed in maintaining their good
opiiijns they (the magistrates) must fall. Among the theories
of tlie present day some were good and some bad — some were
as wild as wildness could run. Some persons clamoured for
paid magistrates ; but the advantage to be derived from such
appointments was not plain. If they had a stipendiary magis-
trate they might, perhaps, get one man who would do the work
very well, and another would do it as badly. It was not every
lawyer who knew so much of agricultural law, if he might so
term it, as their present magistracy. A stipendiary magistrate
might be born and bred in London, ar some other large town :
and in many cases would not even be acquainted with the
language of the agricultural districts — he would have to
inquire what was a " cratch" and in what condition a man was
when he was " clemmed." In this way, from not knowing the
Welsh language, he (Sir Baldwin Leighton) experienced great
difficulty in a neighbouring county (Montgomery) during the
nine years he was Chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions
in that county.

Colonel CoRBETT said : Those who knew anything about the
London markets and about prices knew the difficuties the pro-
ducer had to labour under when the supply exceeded demand,
and the cattle could noc be driven away from the market alive.
Butchers then gave any price they liked. He had been in-
formed by a farmer in that county that he had lost £5 a-head
on cattle in this manner. And was the consumer benefited by
this state of things ? Certainly not, for they found that the
stock sent up was not usually excellent, and they must, he
thought, attribute it to the fact he had mentioned — that pro-
prietors were unwilling to risk the loss upon their stock by
sending it to that particular market. This was an instance of
what might be done by well-considered measures of the
Chambers of Agriculture, and he thought it a point that
should receive their attention. He urged that nothing could
be done in relation to any question by mere discussion. They
must take the example of the Chamber of Commerce in
urging on the cause of " Reciprocity," and apply it to them-
selves, before the next session, in relation to the subject of local
taxation. He recommended the further agitation of this
question, expressing his belief that unless further pressure
were put upon Parliament they would not be likely to get the
question considered this session.

Lord Bkadford, the president, said he could not help think-
ing that a considerable amount of gratitude was due from the
agriculturists of that county to some of the agricultural asso-
ciations in the county that they had had before that society
was originated, and some of which still existed. He referred
particularly to oue .issociation with which he had been con-
nected— the Wenlock Farmers' Club. He thought that that
society deserved a word of acknowledgment. He was pre-
sent a short time at the last meeting of the Chamber, but he
was, unfortunately, rather late, and as he did not hear the
whole of the discussion, he did not take any part in it. The
discussion was as to whether the Chamber should select
for their next discussion the subject of roads and highways,
or that of ground game. For his own part he should

have had no objection to have discussed either subject,
but if he had voted at all, he should have given his vote for
the question of highways. He thought this an important
matter, and one that should be discussed at once, as tliey had
reason to suppose that tiie Secretary of State intended to
bring in a bill upon the subject, and it was most desirable that
the opinion of the local Chamber should be known. He re-
peated that the subject was of great importance, and one that
was deserving of the attention of Chambers of Agriculture,
for he was afraid the bill passed a few years ago had not
tended to lower the rates throughout tiie country. There was
no doubt, he thought, that the roads and highways of the
country were in a most unsatisfactory condition — at least they
were so in that part with which he was connected. There
were other important matters that would require to be discussed
by the Chamber. Among them was the great question of the
sewage of towns, which was, at present, in its infancy. It
was, of course, of more importance to those who lived in the
neighbourhood of the large towns, but it was a growing ques-
tion everywhere, and he thought the Chambers of Agriculture
of the country may be of the greatest possible use by raising dis-
cussions upon it. There were certain things that were within the
control of each individual ; there were other things that re-
quired the co-operation and the union of the large body of
farmers of that country. There were questions upon which
public opinion may be said to have expressed itself, and which
were ripe for legislation, and there were others that were not
so. It was the former class of questions that were ripe for
legislation, not the latter. Another very important question
that Chambers of Agriculture should entertain was the great
question of education. It, of course, came under this great
question of local taxation, which, in fact, comprehended all
the other questions that had been alluded to there that even-
ing. He had observed the rather significant cheering just
now when he alluded to the question of game, and here again
he was rather inclined to take a leaf out of the book of his
noble friend and distinguished predecessor, Lord Granville,
who said that there was an old saying to the effect that a cer-
tain class of persons rushed in where angels feared to tread.
He did not think he (the President) should have said one
word in allusion to that, had he not within the last few
days read a paragraph with regard to himself which had sur-
prised him a good deal. It was to the effect that the " farmers
of Shropshire would have an opportunity on Saturday next
(that day) at Shrewsbury of expressing their views on this
question, for Lord Bradford, one of the greatest game pre-
servers in the county would preside at the dinner." He was
not generally in the habit of taking notice of things of that
sort, and as the author of the paragraph might be in the room
at that very moment, it would be uncivil to his face to contra-
dict him ; but this he (the speaker) may say — he thought all
those who knew him, knew pretty well that shooting was by
no means what he may call his sport. He liked a day's shoot-
ing, as he thought his noble friend said last year, but the sport
he indulged in — his sport — was fox-hunting. He cared little
more for shooting than for the sake of his friends. He
thouglit therefore that the man who wrote that paragraph
did not know him very well. He would go further, hoping,
however, they would forgive him for speaking so much of
himself. He had frequently seen in the public press
during the last twelve months paragraphs headed with
large letters " An example to landlords," and all that
sort of thing, which were to the efl'ect that lord so-aud-

104

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

so had (lone this or the oilier with reference to his
game, and expressing a wish that others would follow
the example. He had never troubled himself to make any
answer to these things, hut as he was now on his legs and
speaking of himself, he would say that on those estates
which he had inherited his tenants had now, and had before
the laud came into his possession, the liberty to kill rab-
bits whenever they liked. He found no fault with his
tenantry for killing the rabbits, he was more inclined to find
fault when he found too many than when he found too few.
But he assured them he did not take to heart at all any little
paragraph of that sort. He hoped the tenant farmers in that
room would excuse him if he told tliem a little story, whicli,
at all events, had the merit of being true. He was out hunting
one day, not very long ago, with a pack of hounds, and going
into one of the covers, the master was asked how it was that
he drew that cover, and he said, " Because Mr. So-aad-so
asked me to do it, as the foxes were doing so much damage —
they were eating all the rabbits " (laughter.) That was a fact.
There were some who would like to have more rabbits, and
some less ; and for his own part he was certainly not in
favour of too many. He would rather have foxes upon his
property than any kind of game,

Mr. George Cureton said : I have much pleasure in
responding to the toast of Agriculture. We all know its im-
portance. It is, as a pursuit, a pleasant and invigorating one,
but not a very profitable one. We farmers cannot make
fortunes like those who are engaged in commerce. Circum-
stances put me into harness early. I have had forty years'
servitude, therefore I may presume to be a practical farmer ;
and though we are called " clod-hopping farmers," if we, by
intelligence and perseverance, with the use of the modern
appliances, make two blades of grass grow where only one
grew before, and produce two beasts where only one was pro-
duced before, I think we are worthy of our country. I
do not generally^ agree with the would-be agricultural

leader, Mr. Mechi ; but what he said lately, with regard to
ploughing up and tilling the poor pastures of this country, I
quite concur with, since the produce would be much increased
thereby. I do hope every effort will be made to get the meet-
ing of the Royal Agricultural Society here next year ; and we
shall see great strides made in the breeds of our live stock,
and the vast improvement in agricultural machinery since
1845, when it was held here before. I should like to mention
the very great improvement in the breed of Irish pigs, which
I have had the opportunity of observing, having acted as
judge frequently at tbe Royal Agricultural Shows in Ireland.
Twenty years ago they used to drive along the Holyhead road,
near which I live, to markets in England, ugly, long-legged
animals, with flopping ears that would knot under their chins,
and backs like a knife. Now the Irish pigs are of first-rate
quality, and uniform in character and symmetry. The British
farmer requires security for capital invested in permanent im-
provements, and other extraordinary judicious outlays. He
wants relief in local taxation, by bringing other pro-
perty to bear its fair share of the burden ; he
wants fairplay in free trade. As long as there is such an
amount of taxation on his produce, in the shape of a malt-tax,
I say the present state of the law is anomalous, and an in-
justice. He wants protection from the depredations of the
ground game, which, in many instances, are very vexatious
and injurious to tbe tenant-farmer, and a loss to the com-
munity. I speak with some experience ; and I say that how-
ever clever and careful a valuer is, he cannot arrive at a
satisfactory result as to the estimate of the damage done by
ground game. I do not speak feelingly on this subject ; for
ray noble landlord. Lord Powis, allows me to kill the hares,
and he hates the sight of a rabbit, so that I sustain no
damage ; and I only with all landlords would follow his ,

example. I believe if these privileges were conceded to the \

British farmer he would better his position, and produce more
food for the increasing population of this country.

INOCULATION FOR PLEURO-PNE UMONIA.

At the meeting of the Council of the Norfolk Chamber of
Agriculture, the following report was presented :
First report of the experiments of the inoculation of cattle for

pleuro-pneumonia in Norfolk, commenced in November,

1869, by William Smith, M.R.C.V.S., Norwich.

Having beeen requested to report to you the progress made
in the inoculation of cattle for pleuro-pneumonia wliich I have
been conductiug, the following detailed statements and obser-
vations are respectfully submitted for your consideration.

It is desirable to observe that as these experiments were all
made on infected farms — indeed, in infected herds — they are
open to objection, as at the time of operating, some of the
animals, probably all that have taken it since the operation,
may have been incubating the disease in the system, but this
was an evil that could not, under existing circumstances, be
avoided ; agriculturists are not proverbial for readily adopting
anything novel, and perhaps they are right ; difficulty was
found in obtaining the owner's consent to have the operation
performed, even in infected herds, whilst in healthy ones, in
no instance has the proposal to inoculate tliem met with suc-
sess, although they were assured that it was highly improbable
and next to impossible that by this means pleuro-pneumonia
would be introduced into their herds ; but who can be sur-
prised at this? Individual exertions must be aided by a re-
sponsible body, and supplemented with means, if it be desired
to thoroughly test the value of inoculation as a preventive of
pleuro-pneumonia, and it must be done on a scale sufficiently
comprehensive to enable us to form sound, practical, and defi-
nite opinions ; half doing things in medical as well as in most
other matters, leads only to confusion and error.

The subjoined details of the experiments follow each other in
the order in which they were conducted, and were made with
fresh lymph, selected from the lungs of animals suffering from
a mild type of pleuro-pneumonia, in which only one lung was
involved.

Experment No. 1.— On November 11th were inoculated in

the tail, about three inches from the tip, eight Irish streers, at
Griston, age 1 year, condition poor, unhealthy looking, regis-
tering a very high internal heat, in one the thermometer stood
at 104 degs., and in others the reading was above 103 degs.,
as will be seen by reference to the table below. No local
swelling or redness worth noticing followed the operation, or
observable constitutional disturbance.

Register of internal heat of body at the time of operating,
as indicated by Cassella's self-registering clinical thermome-
ter:

Steer No. 1 , 102°4-5 The normal heat

„ 2 *103 3-5 in the ox being 102,

J, 3 103 3-5 those steers marked

J, 4 *103 1-5 with an asterisk in

jj 5 103 4-5 the tables were con-

„ 6 103 2-5 sidered supicious.

„ 7 104

8 *103 3-5

On November 19tli, the owner, writing to inform me how
his bullocks are, says : " I do not see any of them fall off in
any way from the inoculation. On Wednesday (five days
after the operation) I saw some fluid issuing from the spot
where the inoculation was performed."

Experiment No. 3. — On November 17th, one bull at Thorpe
St. Andrew, from au infected herd, was operated on, his two
companions having died from pleuro-pneumonia, age 9 months,
condition fair. Result to this date — unaffected, either locally
or otherwise.

Experiment No. 3. — On November 23rd were inoculated
eleven Irish steers from an infected herd at Beighton, age 2
to 3 years, condition fresh. No local specific action was set
up in the tail. Result — three attacked, two of which were
killed and one recovered.

Experiment No. 4.— On November 39th, ten steers from an
infected herd at Bradfield, age 3 years, stall-fed, condition

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

105

forward. No heat or tenderness of the inoculated part of the
tail or any observable effect followed. Result up to this time
—all weU.

Experiment No. 5. — On December 6th, nine steers from an
infected herd at Basham were operated on, age 3 years, con-
dition forward. No local or other observable action ensued.
Result — none attacked.

Experiment No. 6. — On December 7tli, eighteen steers and
stags, 1 and 2 years old, some fresh in condition and others
poor, Irish bred. Result — before the end of the montli
three were attacked and six since, one badly diseased and
died, four others were killed or died, and two recovered.
These were part of an infected herd at Booton, to which fur-
ther reference will be made.

Experiment No. 7. — On December 8th, twenty steers from
an infected herd at Freethorpe, age 2 to 3 years, condition
fresh. Result up to January l-±th — all well. In this, as in
the experiments which follow, no local or constitutional dis-
turbance or sign of illness occurred after the operation, and it
will not be necessary to repeat the observation.

E.vperiment No. 8. — On December 23rd, three Irish steers
from an infected herd at Blolfied, aged 1| year, condition fair.
Result up to this date — healthy.

Experiment No. 9. — On December 30th, eight home-breds
inoculated, of various sex and age, condition fair, from an
infected herd at Brundall. Result up to January lith — none
attacked.

Register of internal heat on December 30, at the time of
operating, and on January 2 and January 6, 1870.

!2!

Condi

p

Breed

Sex.

Age.

tion.

Dec. 30.

Jan. 2.

Jan. 6.

1

Home

Heifrs

3to4yrs

Fresh

101«3-5

101°4-5

102=2-5

2

,,

J,

103 2-5

102 1-5

103 1-5

3

*103 3-5

103

103 1-5

4

1,

6mo8.

*103 4-5

103 4-5

103 4-5

5

Steer

J,

103 2-5

102 4^5

103 2-5

6

„

103 2-5

102 4-5

102 4-5

7

Heifrs

3to4yrs

101 2-5

102 4-5

102 1-5

8

„

„

102 2-5

102 2-5

102 1-5

Summary. — Inoculated, 87 ; attacked with pleuro-pneumonia,
12 ; died and slaughtered, 9 ; recovered wholly or partially, 3 ;
remainmg at present healthy, 75.

Thus we see that only 13 animals out of the 87 inoculated
were attacked with pleuro-pneumonia and these I confidently
believe, took the disease in a natural way, for these reasons,
that they were not at all affected locally by the operation ; and
that inoculation for other contagious diseases in animals, such
as sraall-pox in sheep, rinderpest, and foot-and-mouth disease
in oxea, communicates the specific malady to 9-ths or more of
those operated upon in a form either mild or more or less
virulent.

Having already stated that these experiments were all made
in infected herds, it is worthy of note that those subjected to
the experiments numbered 6 and 9 had lost several animals
from pleuro-pneumonia prior to the inoculation, in fact, the
disease had been amongst them for some week, and in No. 6,
four animals had died from parasitic disease of lungs as well
as some from pleuro-pneumonia.

A.fter these remarks it will be apparent that I do not attach
much importance to the results of these experiments. They
are, in ray opinion, insufficient and incomplete. I think, how-
ever, they incontestibly demonstrate two facts : 1st, that
pleuro-pneumonia iuoculation, when scientifically performed is
a harmless operation, and not likely to cause an extension of
the disease, and that the loss of animals' tails and other unto-
ward effects, when they occur, are produced by the ignorance
and want of skill of the inoculator ; 2ndly, that it differs in
most essential points from the conditions induced by inocula-
tions in other contagious diseases, such as small-pox or cattle
plague. In the inoculation for pleuro-pneumonia we have a
total absence of the manifestations apparent in o'her inocula-
tions ; there are no local signs of its liaving taken, nor con-
stitutional or febrile disturbance that can be detected, even
though we call in the aid of that delicate instrument, the
clinical thermometer, as proved by its readings in experiment
No. 9, the particulars of which are in a tabulated form under it.

As no opportunity has occurred of examining the lungs after
death of inoculated animals under circumstances favourable
for the forming of a truthful opinion as to their condition,

it maij yet le discovered that some morbid lesions, serous exuda-
tion, so characteristic of pleuro-pne%imonia, or traces of snch,
may exist as a consequence of inoculation, and in order to put
this to the test, as well as the whole question of the prophy-
lactic influence of the operation, I venture to suggest the fol-
lowing series of experiments.

Proposed Experiment No. 1 . — That twelve young animals
bred on a farm where pleuro-pneumonia has not existed for
four years should be purchased, and inoculated, and that four
should be slaughtered six weeks, four twelve weeks, and four
sixteen weeks after the operation, for the purpose of examining
minutely the cavity of the chest, pleuroe, and lungs.

Proposed Experiment No. 2. — That 100 young oxen, bred
under the same conditions as in proposition No. 1, should be
purchased, and that 50 of them should be inoculated on the
farm, and 10 of the inoculated, and 10 of the uninoculated
should be sent into five infected herds, and kept on the premi-
ses, where practicable, for a period of from six to twelve
months.

Proposal No. 3. — As it is a well-known fact that certain
farms in this county have never, for the last fourteen or six-
teen years, been without one or more cases of pleuro-pneumo-
nia occurring annually amongst the herds, that the proprietors
of such farms shall be induced to have all fresh animals intro-
duced upon them for the next four years inoculated.

Before concluding this report, I beg to thank Mr. J. D.
Overed, M.R.C.V.S., of Blofield, for the ready and valuable
assistance he has rendered in the prosecution of the foregoing
experiments.

To Professor Garagee, of London, thanks are especially due
for the kind presentation of two clinical thermometers of very
delicate construction, which he had regulated at Greenwich,
before sending them for the purpose of these experiments,

Norwich, Jan. 15 1870.

THE LANDLORDS AT THE CENTRAL
CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

At the dinner of the Hereford Chamber of Agriculture,

Mr. Vaugha:;!, of Brobury Court, said as he had been
honoured by them in being sent to the Central Chamber as
their deputed member, he must say that he had seen some-
thing at the meetings of the Central Chamber which did not
please him. He thought the opinions of the deputed members
did not have that force they ought to have. All was not right.
And he felt that he should not be doing Ids duty to the
Chamber he had the honour of representing at the Central
Chamber if he did not say what struck him as not carrying
out what that Central Chamber ought to be. The Central
Chamber was supposed to consist of a Council of its own
members and of the deputed members sent by the country
cluimbers. But wliat did he find ? He found (with all due
deference to Sir Herbert Croft and Sir Joseph Bailey) the
parliamentary element very strong there. He alluded to the
peers and the members of the House of Commons who were
present. He thought that the discussions which took place
were a good deal toned down, if he might so speak, by the re-
peated interpolations of the peers and the members of the
House of Commons who were present. There was one gentle-
man— Mr. Corrance — he was like an irrepressible " Jack-in-
the-box." He was continually upon his legs ; he was eleven
times upon his legs in one discussion, and it was difficult to
put in a word. Now he understood that by the laws consti-
tuting the Central Chamber it consisted of the Council and
the deputed members, and tliat the peers and members of the
House of Commons who attended the meetings were there to
" read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest ;" and in their re-
spective places in Parliament give effect, if they thought right,
to the decisions of the county chambers which were expressed
through the Central Chamber.

Mr. Burrows said that he could in some respects bear, out
the remarks of Mr. Vaughan with regard to the meetings of
the Central Chamber. He was present at one meeting of the
Central Chamber, and he was then convinced that what Mr.
Vaughan had stated was true. At the meeting he referred to
the game question was brought forward, and the landlord
interest was much too strong. Peers, members of tlie House

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

106

of Commons addressed the meeting, and landlord after laudlord
spoke stron-ly against any further legislation upon the subject.
There were amendments to be brought forward there, which
he thought were shelved, lie knew that Mr. Duckhara had
an amendment wliich he was to second, but the chairman (Mr.
C. S. Read) held up a lot of amendments and asked the meet-
ing if they wanted any more ? The meeting seemed to think
that they had had enough ; but he thought that meeting broke
np without properly discussing the question. He thought the
tenant-farmer interest required to be more strongly represented
at that meeting, and he hoped that upon future occasions it
would be.

QUESTIONS FOR CHAMBERS OF
AGRICULTURE.

At the meeting of the East Suffolk Chamber of Agriculture
last month, a list of subjects selected by the Central Chamber
having been read, Mr. Newson Gaukett said there was one
question upon which he felt strongly, and he did not know
whether this was the right time to introduce it. He wished
some one more immediately connected with agriculture, but
not more deeply interested in it, should have spoken upon it.
He saw a good many farmers present, and he maintained that
it was one in which they, and we all, ought to feel an interest.
He did not intend to make a long speech, hut he sincerely hoped
that before long, before many months were over, that this great
and important subject would be discussed. Since he had been
sitting there gentlemen had given notices of motions ; he
thought he should like to mention the subject of the game
laws (applause). This was an important matter, and he knew
well that it was a dangerous one. It required to be handled
very gently and smoothly. He only hoped it might fall to his
lot, if the subject should 'be discussed, to say nothing that might
be held personal, or cause an ill-feeling one between another ;
but still he did feel, and he knew it was a feeling that was
gaining ground, that this question should he discussed at this
Chamber. He would, therefore, move that the Chamber should
consider " The present state of the Game Laws, their bearing
upon the tenant farmers and the agriculture of the country in
general." As far as the tenant farmers were concerned they
were quite able, if they would do it, to protect their own in-
terest, and he was quite sure there were many outside who
were not so immediately connected and interested in the land
who felt for them, and were anxious and willing to express
their feelings and opinions upon this important subject. He
felt, himself, that it would do good— at any rate it would ven-
tilate a principle that required ventilation— and he only hoped
and trusted that if it was brought before the meeting that it
would be done with every degree of good feeling, and every
desire to do good, not only to the tenant farmers, but to the
country at large. He would then propose that a motion should
he placed upon the paper to consider the present state of the
game laws. He would do the best he could.

Mr. R. L. Everett seconded the motion, remarking that ob-
servations had been made about the Chamber not having
brought forward the subject. There would no doubt be two
opinions on the question, that a good deal would be said, and
that a very interesting evening would be spent in talking over
the game laws.

Tlie resolution, as foUows, was then unanimously
carried :

" That this Chamber should consider tlie present state of tlie
game laws, and their bearing on tenant farmers, on agriculture,
and the country at large."

It was decided that this question should be brought forward
on the 12th of April.

Mr. R. L. Everett said there was one suggestion he should
like to make, viz., that the Central Chamber should arrange a
deputation to tlie Chancellor of the Exchequer, and suggest
that a part of the surplus should be given towards a reduction
of tlie malt-tax. There was no doubt hut that there would he
a large surplus, and he (Mr. Everett) could not see why agri-
culturists should leave off agitating the question ; he could not
understand, especially after a report of the House of Commons,
why the tax should not be put on a different footing. He
thought they, as farmers, would do well to urge tlie Central
Chamber to send a deputation to Mr. Lowe.

Mr. J. M. Dawson seconded Mr. Everett's proposition,
which was agreed to in this form : " That the Central Com-
mittee should organize a deputation to wait upon the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer on the subject of the^^repeal of the
malt-tax, before the iutroductioa of the Budget,"

OVER-DOING IT.

At the meeting of the Herefordshire Chamber of Agriculture,
The Secretary said a communication had been received
from the Central Chamber stating that there would be a
meeting of that body in London on the 8th of February to
consider " the best mode of providing for the future main-
tenance of turnpike roads and highways," and requesting this
Chamber to send a deputed member to the meeting. On
looking through the minutes of the meetings held last year,
he found that there liad been two discussions upon this sub-
ject, and that on the 21st of April the following resolutions
were passed : " (1) That the Government be requested to
bring in a measure for the total abolition of turnpike gates.
(2) That the future repair of turnpike roads be borne with
that of the other parish roads by each Highway Board by
district rate, and that the same be assisted by grant from
the Consolidated Eund. (3) That the debt of any trust be
met by rate upon the owners of property." On the 19t" O'
May those resolutions were again brought forward and dis-
cussed, and signed by the Chairman. If the resolutions now
met the views of the Chamber, it would be desirable to
appoint some gentleman to attend the meeting of the Central
Chamber on the 8th of February, and he (the Secretary)
would furnish him with a copy of the resolutions as expres-
sive of the opinion of ibis Chamber, unless it was thought
advisable to disuss the subject again.

Mr. Birch thought it would be quite necessary to do so.
He saw that many Chambers had discussed the question again
and complained loudly of the Highway Act, and he was sure
there was cause of complaint in this district.

Several members were of ojjinion that as the question had
been twice discussed, it would be unnecessary to re- discuss it,
and it was decided on a majority of ten to one not to re-open
the question.

THE MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY IN 1871.— At the ordinary monthly meeting
of the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture, in Shrewsbury,
Mr. John Bazeiey in the chair, the principal business
was "To consider what steps should be taken to promote the
visit of the Royal Agricultural Society of England to Shrews-
bury in 1871.'' A letter was read from the Town Clerk of
Shrewsbury, suggesting a coulerence between the Corporation
and the Chamber. Ou the motion of General Herbert, it was
agreed "That the chairman be requested to write to the Lord
Lieutenant of the County, in the name of the Shropshire
Chamber of Agriculture, to suggest for his Lordship's con-
sideration the desirableness of calling a county meeting on the
15th inst. (the day of the annual dinner of the Chamber), for
the purpose of considering what stens should be taken to en-
sure the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
" for 1871, being held at Shrewsbury if thought desirable."
Also that the Mayor of Shrewsbury have a copy of the above
resolution, and that the co-operation of the Town Council be
invited in the matter."

It was stated at the dinner of the Herefordshire Chamber,
that the discussion of the game evil was fairly, or very un-
fairly, swamped by the landlords on the Council of the
Central Chamber. It is, indeed, now said that an Anti-
Game-Law League is about to he formed, whose action in
Parliament and" elsewhere will he entirely independent of
the Chamber of Agriculture. When the cattle disease was
rife, it became thebusiness, not of the Central Chamber,
hut'a special Cattle Defence Association, to sec to this
matter in Parliament ; and most likely, when there is
anything else to do, " the work will be put out" again.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

107

FARM CAPITAL.

The following paper was read by Mr. J. J. Meciii, at the
last meeting of the Framlingham Parraers' Club : Accepting
the invitation given to me by your intelligent club to say a
few words about agricultural capital, I approach the subject
with a full appreciation of the difliculty of removing long-
cherished convictions based upon the practice of our fore-
fathers, who were, no doubt, fully entitled to our respect and
confidence ; but the circumstances under which they lived are
now changed, and are still rapidly changing, so that we, as
landlords and farmers, must deal with these altered conditions
in a commercial spirit, which always adapts itself to the pe-
culiar iuiluences that at the time surround it. Who would
have thought in my time, some 60 odd years ago, that the
smoke from coal would be made to flow in underground chan-
nels, and re appear, almost magically, in our chambers as a
blazing light, sending to the shades the gloomy ilickeriugs of
the venerable oil-lamp, with its contemporary dips and moulds.
Again, we have no longer to beat about for three weeks within
sight of Dublin harbour in the face of an adverse wind, but
can now make sure our voyage with almost unerring regu-
larity. Lovers can exchange soft words, and merchants may
buy or sell cargoes at lightning speed beneath the broad At-
lantic. In fact, in my early days we had no ocean steamers
or railways, no gas, no telegraphs or photographs, no penny
post, no cabs, omnibuses, or police ; but we had to boose over
our port wine because the coaches could only accommodate 20
people, who had, in many cases, to book their places a day or
two previously, and then to travel at 7 or 8 miles per hour.
The now broadsheets of daily news were then puny slips, as
cramped as were then our general education and literary oppor-
tunities. But mighty steam has changed all this. And we
can and must advance at modern not ancient speed. I feel
sure that you will agree with me in this view of our changed
position, and that both you and your landlords will gradually
but surely glide into the profitable stream of steam-driven pro-
gress. It is wrong to charge agriculture as especially pre-
judiced and attached to old customs, for, some two or three
centuries ago, our Lord Mayor and Corporation of London
petitioned the King to prevent the introduction and consump-
tion of coal, as its smoke created such a nuisance ! Now, the
supply to the metropolitan district exceeds 5,000,000 of tons
annually. Our principal towns once opposed the approach of
railways as a nuisance, and have since repented of their folly.
Even now there are people who won't believe that the safest
place you can live in all your life is constantly travelling in a
first-class railway carriage. It is, in my opinion, too much the
custom, and a great mistake, to congratulate each other upon
improvements that have been made in our agriculture, rather
than to lament over that which remains undone, and for which
there can be no excuse, seeing that there is no lack of cus-
tomers for our produce (one-third of our food comes from
abroad), and that our overflowing and rapidly increasing
capital goes to encourage foreign enterprises, instead of being
applied to the increased fertilisation of our soil. The bright
examples [of agricultural progress which are so frequently
brought to public notice in bold relief rest as mere specks
upon a most extensive and dark back-ground of bad and im-
perfect farming. It must be so, or we should produce more
per acre than the admitted average of less than £4. Remem-
ber that I do not speak of Suffolk, or any particular county,
but of the 45 millions of available acres that coHstitute the
agricultural area of the United Kingdom, as returned annually
to the Board of Trade. It is not in my nature to despond,
rather the contrary ; but I consider it a duty to endeavour to
awaken public attention to that paramount national question,
the means of increasing the food and employment of the
people by a profitable and enlarged investment of capital. I
am not a believer in large farms, for they are already, most of
them, too large by more than one-half for the capital em-
ployed both by landlord and tenant. A farm can never be too
large where the tenant's capital is £20 per acre, and where
the landlord has effected necessary permanent improvements.
My own small farm of 170 acres is aa illustration of what

should be done— for with a tenant's capital of £10 per acre
there has been, for several years, an annual surplus of more
than £G00, available for rent and profit, after paying every
other expense. In this case the landlord (myself) bought the
laud for £23 per acre, and expended nearly as much in drain-
age, building, roads, removal of trees and fences, and other im-
provements, thus raising the rent to 40s. per acre. The time
will come when a landowner will be appreciated, not by the
number of his acres, but by the amount of his rent-roll, the
latter representing a high rate of rent and a well-ordered
estate. Steam-power has so multiplied population by afford-
ing increased and more profitable manufacturing employment,
that we are now no longer in the primitive pastoral period,
when the people were few and the acres many. All this is
being rapidly reversed ;

Available.
Year. Population. Acres.

In 1800 10,000,000 45,000,000

In 1869 32,000,000 45,000,000

These thriving and hungry millions who throng our manufac-
turing districts demand of us agriculturists (I mean landlords
and their tenants) a change of practice, and a progressive in-
crease of food more in accordance with the rapidly-enlarging
demand for it. A considerable area of land is passing into the
hands of manufacturing and commercial miUionaires, who,
happily, in many cases, bring to bear upon the soil the power
of intelligence and capital, unfettered by a previous attach-
ment to antique customs. I consider it a disgrace to us that,
wanting 10 million quarters of foreign wheat annually, besides
other grain, we permit one-half of our acreage (22,000,000 of
acres) to remain in primitive pasturage, producing a minimum
of food, and employing a minimum of labour. I know that
there is a strong feeling in favour of permanent pasture, but
when I see that I can, not infrequently, realize on my poor
farm as much as from £15 to £26 per acre in corn and straw,
I feel vexed that those 22,000,000 of acres of permanent pas-
ture should be starving the people by producing probably not
more than 40s. to 50s. worth of food per acre. I now proceed
to inquire, How much is ihe Capital of British Ayrkulhire ?
I mean the landowners' and tenants' capital ? Taking the
average of the kingdom, the 45,000,000 of acres returned to
the Board of Trade, the landowners' capital would probably
be £33 per acre, or £1,500,000,000, besides the value of timber,
possibly £30,000,000 more. The average rent is probably 25s.
per acre, or about £56,000,000 annually. The Farmers' Capital
can hardly reach £5 fer acre, or £227,000,000. I have
taken no account of the mountains, wastes, &c., which are not
enumerated in the Board of Trade returns. My estimate of
the farmers' capital may appear low to arable farmers, but we
must not forget that 22,500,000 acres (half the land) are in per-
manent pasture, much of it very neglected, and employing little
labour or capital. The gross saleable produce I estimate as
under £4 per acre, or £182,000,000 ; probably £3 12s. would
be nearer the truth. Additional landowners' capital will be
some day required in the matter of town sewage, for on to the
land it must ultimately go. Probably it will be dealt with
(when landowners can agree) on the principle of the great
Fen drainage by Acts of Parliament and local commissioners.
The London sewage will be indeed a great affair, for it takes
the annual average produce of 20,000 acres, landlord's measure,
to feed the population of London for only one day, and about
an equal quantity weekly to feed the horses of London. One
can judge from this how great must be the daily manurial
power and value of the London sewage. Farmers will then
have sewer meters (as manufacturers have water meters), and
take their supply according to their requirements. If I am
asked by landowners where the capital is to come from for
necessary improvements, I point to the several land im-
provement and drainage companies which are overwhelmed
with unused capital, seeking for employment in this agri-
cultural channel that remains, as yet, almost nhopened
to it. Covered yards, cottages, farm-houses, roads, drainage,

108

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

&c., may be all effected, even to the extent of £20 to £30 per
acre, without any outlay on the part of the landowner, and at
a moderate annual charge, divisible in equitable proportions
between landowner and tenant, to both of whom it must prove
a source of profit, as well as to the nation a boon. When I pur-
chased my poor land in 184.1, it cost me £23 per acre. I in-
vested nearly that sum in drainage, roads, and buildings,
clearances, and machinery, so that I have to pay myself 40s.
per acre annual rent. Last year, 1868, I sold one field of
white wheat for £23 per acre, and the straw for an additional
i'3 10s. My farm capital is £16 per acre, invested as follows
on the 31st December last (see details at p. 45 of my book,
published recently by Eoutledge and Co., Ludgate Hill,
London) :

£ B. d.

Livestock 6 10 0

Farm houses 110

Tillages, manure, &c 3 15 6

Implements and machinery 3 10 0

Hay, corn, &c., unsold 3 5 0

Per acre

16 1 6

This may appear to you a large sum, especially for live stock
and tillages, but I want you to believe that the considerable
amount invested in live stock, fed mostly on purchased food, is
the very key to my profit, and to those large and frequent
crops which many people will hardly credit until they see
them. The costly tillages arise from very deep cultivation,
and a much larger dose of rich cake and corn manure than is
generally administered. It is thus that I grow 40 tons of
mangold per acre, as I have done this year ; and this, too,
accounts for my frequently growing from 6 to 8 quarters of
wheat per acre, and on my highly manured clover leas two
heavy crops of wheat in succession (the second crop rivet
wheat). Some of you have on various occasions seen my
crops, and can form your own opinions. Although not a good
season, my best two fields of white wheat have yielded 6
quarters per acre, and ray barley (grown after 6 quarters of
white wheat) was thrashed last week, and yielded over 6^
quarters per acre, sold at 38s. per quarter. The quantity of
seed wheat drilled was one bushel per acre, and of barley 6
pecks per acre. This has not been a good year for arable
land farmers, for the crops vary a good deal, and the price of
wheat is now very low. Stock breeders have the best of it this
year, for the abundant crops of roots and hay have caused a
large demand for their store stock at higher prices. They,
however, suffered severely in 1868 from the drought, while the
arable farmers prospered, especially on heavy lands.
My experience has taught me that on such farms as mine £10
will pay a much better profit on one acre than on two. Poor
farms require more manure, and consequently more live stock
than rich farms, and, of course, much food must be provided
that did not grow on the farm, thus adding to its fertility.
Many Norfolk and Lincolnshire farmers have from £20 to £30
per acre capital. They are thus enabled to hold their corn a
proper time, keep plenty of stock, and purchase food for it.
I could do better than I do now had I £20 to £25 per acre
capital ; £16 is not enough. I presume, from my knowledge
of Suffolk, that its general tenants' capital does not exceed £7
to £8 per acre, and that there is ample room for investment of
landlords' capital in drainage, buildings, and other necessary
improvements. It is true that you have more grass-land than
I have (I have only 14 acres), but 1 predict that the intro-
duction of steam cultivation will annually diminish the area of
pasture, especially of pasture in heavy laud. Steam cultiva-
tion will place land in a more favourable position than it has
hitherto had. The advantages of ample capital are obvious.
You can buy when other people are obliged to sell, and sell when
other people are compelled to buy, and can maintain ample
stock and machinery. Ample capital sometimes leads farmers
to hold their corn when they ought to sell it. As a safe
maxim, I would say, always hold wheat at 40s. per quarter, but
sell when it is at 60s. I have known of a good deal of money
lost by farmers who always hold their corn for a higher price
than buyers are willing to give. We see, in consequence, old
corn-stacks riddled by rats and mice, and, when thrashed,
minus the grain. Capital with judgment is an immense power,
and only fails when it is overstrained. If I am asked how 1
would employ additiouiU capital, I reply that our subsoil, im-

mediately below the ploughed soil, is now a mass of undis-
turbed poverty, unaerated, unmanured, and unfit for tlie roots of
plants ; we dare not, in its present unwholesome state, bring it
to the surface and bury our top soil ; we should, therefore,
uncover the subsoil by ridging or ploughing together the top
soil, and incorporate with the subsoil an immense quantity of
rich manure. To obtain this additional manure, a large capital
must be invested in live stock and purchased food. _ In fact,
to farm to the greatest advantage, the soil and subsoil, to the
depth of 3 feet, should be well manured ; now we only manure
the top 5 or 6 inches. Our root and green crops can ncYcr be
over-manured, for they feed in the deep subsoil when in a fit
condition. Market gardeners understand this well; and
around the metropohs they easily grow 70 tons of mangel per
acre, and other crops in proportion. This system of large
capital and highly manuring has au immediate bearing upon
the growth of beetroot either for sugar or for distiUing. In
times to come factories for both purposes will be greatly mul-
tiplied. Landowners are very anxious on this point. They
say to me, " It is all very well for our tenants to sell off their
roots, but how about the restoration of fertility P" My reply
is, " Let them farm as they like, provided they invest a
capital of £15 to £20 per acre, one-half of it invested in
cake-fed live stock." The frequent growth of red clover
and swedes is rendered impossible by the absence of manure
in the subsoil. Baron Liebig, and the late Rev. Samuel
Smith, of Lois Weedon, well understood this. Before
free-trade, "Down corn, down horn" was the motto.
Since then bread, milk, butter, and cheese have iucreased in
price, and are free from the fluctuations that occasionally, as at
present, depress the price of wheat. Let us, therefore, go in
for more live stock and more capital. The return of the beeb
pulp to the soil restores most of its inorganic elements, and
they to some extent prevent exhaustion. Live-stock pur-
chased cheaply in July, when feed is scarce, pays well for car-
rying on with a little cut straw, cake, &c., until the root sea-
son commences. Poor land may be almost immediately made
fertile by heavily folding with sheep, consuming £10 or £15
worth per acre of cake, corn, hay, roots, &c., not the produce
of the land on which the sheep are placed : supposing that
there should be a loss even of £3 to £5 per acre, great will be
the after gain. This system requires capital ; but where there
is capital, it is by far cheaper than guano or other artificials.
AVhere my 40 tons of mangel per acre grew this year, the land
was autumn-manured with shed manure at the rate of £20 worth
of cake, &c., consumed for every acre manured, and some guano
in addition. This is what I call capital farming, as well as
farming with sufficient capital. It is the true way to make
land pay. The land of England is generally not one-third
manured. One can never over-cultivate or over-manure, for a
root crop especially, when, like mine, it follows two wheat
crops, and is followed by another wheat crop. There is no
need for landowners to tie down tenants who farm with a
capital of £20 to £30 per acre. Their land must improve
under such circumstances. Your sugar-beet land should be
all richly manured and very deeply cultivated before Christ-
mas, and only scarified and guanoed before sowing in April.
This I find is the best plan for mangel. My farm is all arable
except 14 acres of permanent pasture. I have no fences ex-
cept an external one, and I am very glad to hear that some of
your distinguished landowners have realized the propriety
of removing many of those fences and pollard trees that dis-
figure the country and prevent the farmer from deriving the
full benefit of his land ; for, you know, he has to pay rent for
the ground occupied by fences, trees, and their roots, besides
suffering a diminution in his crops. A farmer of 600 acres
told me the other day that he offered his landlord an extra
£100 per annum rent, provided he might clear the ground of
those obnoxious and unprofitable obstructions to good tillage.
Yet his offer was declined, although the growth of the timber
did not come to one-fourth of the proffered annual increase of
rent. Now that 30-horse power steam-engines are culti-
vating 36 acres per day, we shall soon see such a
clearance as at one tixe was never anticipated. Said
an implement - maker to me at the show last week, "A
favmer declined to buy one of the great traction-engines be-
cause his gateways were too narrow !" The implement maker
svondered, smiled sarcastically, and thought many things-
some of which he told me. Remember, that while I advocate
ample fields untimbered, I strongly urge the formation of jplwi-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

109

tations or lielts at intervals, not only as shelter, but as breeding
places for birds — the farraers's friends. We roust remember
that as we clear and drain the country we not only produce a
drier and warmer climate, but our buildings should be strong
enough to resist the gales that will sweep less interruptedly
over the country. By the way, speaking of tillage, my de-
pendable friend, the Rev. Mr. C, plumbed the depth of the
cultivation at Buscot, near Farringdon, the other day, and
found it to be 30 inches. It was done by two of Fowler's 30-
horse power engines, and when the land is cross cultivated the
depth is to be 3 feet — in preparation for sugar-beet. My
shallow-drainage friends may as well take a hint, and consider
whether even 4 feet will be deep enoueh when the 50-horse
engines are put to work. We are on the eve of many great
changes — your middle-class college, so creditable to Suffolk, is
doing much to enlighten the rising generation of agriculturists.
The Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, in which I,
many years ago, took a great interest, has now become an
established institution, granting diplomas for agricultural
efficiency, and sending forth men learned in the theory as well
as practice of agriculture. I begin therefore to hope that the
peroration to a lecture which I delivered at Chelmsford in 1852
(seventeen years ago) may soon be in some degree realized, I
therefore give it as a conclusion to this long paper, which you
have heardsopatiently, trusting that I may ultimately be found a
true prophet : " I see in perspective a railway activity pervading
agriculture. The time is coming when farms wiU be squared,
trees removed, and game moderated ; when tramways will
intersect estates, and one horse will draw to market the load of
four ; when the sewage of our towns will ebb back to its
original source; when the waters of our rivers and drains will
be applied to the irrigation of fields; when our millers will use
steam instead of water ; when our farmers and tlieir children
will be better educated and rank higher in the social scale ;
when our labourers will be better housed, taught, and fed.
Then will the blundering rudeness and clumsiness of
ignorance be exchanged for the watchfulness and thought of an
enlightened intelligence ; then will the fractional calculations
of profit outweigh the fears of cost ; then will antiquated
territorial legalities be superseded by personal responsibility,
identity, and possessiou. I see all this in the distance : it is
a mere question of time. I see mighty engines on railwayed
opeu fields, tearing up furrows a yard deep, making the land
look like a sea. I see those hungry earthy masses saturated
and immediately fertilised with the sewage of towns. I see
ample evaporation and facile percolation. Tottering and
dilapidated farmeries will give way to permanent and conveni-
ent homesteads ; the pinching economy of a penurious and per-
nicious system will be exchanged for liberal views and large
operations ; capital will develop its giant strength, unfettered
by seigneurial restrictions ; agriculture, commerce, and manu-
factures will unite by the ties of a great common interest and
common intelligence for the good of our people and for the
honour of this great nation."

Mr. R. Garrard, Brandish, would like to ask Mr. Mechi
how it is possible for a tenant to put £30 an acre upon the
land if he has no security for it. He thought Mr. Mechi's
estimate of the amount of capital a tenant had invested in
the land rather low, and that it was something like £10 or
£12 an acre in this district. At present the amount of capital
lying in the valuation between incoming and outgoing tenants
was very large, but if the tenant were to put three times the
amount of capital in the land of course the covenants would be
very much higher, and he doubted whether he would see his
capital back again.

Mr. G. Ling, Bedfield, had for a long time thought their
friend Mechi was simply a beacon for farmers to beware of, and
that opinion was confirmed that night. Mr. Mechi talked to
them about putting a lot of capital into the land, but he had
seen his own figures to the effect that he gave £25 an acre for
the Tiptree Hall farm, and then laid out nearly £50 an acre as
landlord's permanent improvements, and then it was to have
£20 an acre as tenant's capital, which amounted on to £12,000
on the 160 acres. His profits were £600 a year at the extreme,
which was 5 per cent, for his money, including landlord's and
tenant's capital, and a man must be a very bad judge of laying
out his capital if he could not make it pay more than 5 per
cent. The landlord would claim 2^, 3, or some wanted 4 per
cent, for his outlay, and if that was paid to the landlord how
was the tenant to live? Mr, Mechi wai a self-appointed

teacher of farmers — and he had got a lot of very inapt pupils.
If he (Mr. Ling) wanted information he would prefer to go to
a man who farmed 200 acres at say 30s. an sere rent and 10s.
more for rates and tithes, and who, he knew, had brought up
8 or 10 children and given them a good education. He always
looked on Mr. Mechi as an amateur farmer, which was the
same as an amateur runner or sculler — he did not do it for
gain. There was no difficulty in making a lot of fat bullocks —
it could be done with money, but the question was how about
the pay ? It was all very well to talk about growing food for
the people, but what he (Mr. Ling) said was, " Let us grow
food for ourselves first."

Mr. H. BiBBELL said he had opposed Mr. Mechi as much as
any one who had met him as little as he, but he did not term
him a self-appointed instructor. He thought Mr. Mechi a
very willing adviser, but they were at liberty to take or reject
his advice — but they should be very careful to do so in the
same kindly and good-tempered manner in which ic was given.
For his own part, if he were not restricted as to capital, he
should examine some of Mr. Mechi's suggestions very closely
before he should think himself justified in using capital as he
advised. Questions such as those raised in Mr. Mechi's paper
could hardly be discussed except on paper, and, therefore, they
would reserve their judgment on many points. He understood
Mr. Mechi to say that the employment of more capital would
answer better on poor land tlian good land. Now between
Will'ord Bridge and Oxford quay was a large quantity of very
poor land worth perhaps 7s. an acre, and he would ask
whether it would pay better to put £15 or £20 an acre capital
on that land than on such land as they would find in a circuit
of a mile and a half round Franilingham Castle, the rent of
which would be 37s. an acre. His own opinion was that if
this great capital were used, the better the land that it was
used ou the better return would be obtained. It was quite
true that many things which Mr. Meclii told them years ago
had been accomplished, but he did not doubt on many, which
he once thought quite as necessary, extended experience had
led him to alter is mind.

Mr. Meciii : No.

Mr. BiDDELL said then Mr. Mechi was more fortunate
than most men who could see further than their fellows.

Mr. Meciii hoped some gentleman would say what he
thought was a sufficient tenant's capital in Suffolk.

Mr. Ling said about here it was generally thought that a
man who farmed his land best with the least money was the
best farmer. The man who made a little money go a long
way was the best. The tenant's capital in this district might
be set at about £10 an acre on the average.

Mr. Mechi wished some gentlemen to speak about deep
cultivation.

Mr. G. GoODWYN said Mr. Mechi said the natural result
of the application of steam to agriculture would be to reduce
the amount of pasture, and he based that assertion on the
statement that he could produce a much larger amount of food
from cultivated arable than from the pastures. He (Mr.
Goodwyn) did not deny tiiat, but they must look to their
balance-sheet for the results. Mr. Mechi said that with the
pastures but a small amount of labour was required. Now,
labour was a very serious item in their expenditure, amounting
to from 30s. to 40s. an acre. At the present time stock brought
more remunerative prices than some cereal crops, and it became
a serious question whether it was desirable to continue to
reduce the amount of pasture land at the ratio which had up
to the present prevailed, for it was by means of the pastures
that stock was kept. Another effect of Mr. Mechi's proposal
would be to sweep away altogether an immense mass of men
now engaged in agriculture, and the result would be that the
competition for occupations would be much less and the land-
lords would not get such high rents ; and he must confess ho
regarded it as a thing to be contemplated with much serious-
ness when it would put Jiors de comhat a fourth or a third of
the present tenantry of the kingdom. Twenty or thirty pounds
an acre was a formidable amount to invest in an occupation.
Mr. Garrard had said the valuation paid by the in-coming
tenant is so much capital lying dead instead of being lively ;
and if more capital were put in the land of course the valua-
tion would be heavier. Mr. Mechi contemplated getting rid
of all fences and trees and substituting steam for the present
source of labour. By so doing he would, of course, sweep off
the l^orses and men too, for he told them one man could worlc

110

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

an eneine of 30 or 50 horsepower, whereas it would take 25
mea to work 50 horses. Then what an enormous amount of
cauital would be sunk in these engines. , • i i „

fc Mechi said the pair of 30-horse engines to which he
had ail uled with the tackle cost £4,500, and they were doing
cultivation 10 inches deep at 2s. 6d. an acre, after paying
interest on the outlay. These enormous engines >^ere used as
a matter of economy, and it was considered that 50-horse.
DOwer engines would be cheaper than 30.

Mr. GooDwYX did not suppose any one in this neighbour-
hood had any experience of cultivating two or three feet deep,
but some years ago sub-soiling was the fashion on poor lands,
and in some of them the result seemed to be that all fertilizing
power was done away with for several years. He supposed
m Mechi would accompany this with heavy manuring, and it
seemed to him almost impossible to make manure enough lor

^Mr. Mecui : Not with the present amount of capital in
live stock. „ , • i i

Mr. GoODWY^ said Mr. Mechi spoke of keeping more stock
per acre, and yet he sold the straw off the farm. Then he did
not mix the manure the animals made with straw t*
Mr. Mechi said when under the boards he d.d not.
Mr. GoODWY-f said at present the difficulty was to find
straw enough. He knew Mr. Mechi ^o^l^,^";:'} '^°""? '^'^'^
tell him that he should cover the yards ; but Mr. jNIechi should
tell the landlords to do that. ,,,..,, -j a

Mr D Smith (Parham) asked Mr. Mechi if he considered
a bushel of wheat and six pecks of barley the maximum amount
of seed per acre . , i * „„

Mr. Meciu said he did, except when sown very late on
light land, and then he sometimes went to five pecks ot wheat ;
but five-sixths of his wheat was sown with a bushel, and barley
invariably with six pecks.

Mr. Smith asked whether Mr. Meclu could keep cattle
cheaper on arable land than on permanent pasture ?

Mr. P. Read (Framlinghara) argued that closely connected
with the question of agricultural capital was that ot labour,
and asked if labour was unenlightened and unskilful what was
the use of their capital ? He urged the necessity for a better
system of education, and as an illustration of the necessity
said if an agricultural labourer came to his shop and had to pull
off a glove, the operation took him a quarter of an hour, whilst
the tradesman stood looking on, whilst if he wanted a boot-lace
and had to take off a boot, a good half-hour was wasted. Edu-
cation would make them quicker, and without it we should be
leit in the rear by other European countries. He would like
to ask Mr. Mechi how many men he would think it advisable
to have on a hundred acres of land, what wages he paid them,
and whether he liked an inteUigent or a stupid man best lie-
cause there were farmers in this district who positively preferred
Btupid labourers.

Mr Mechi said he paid ordinary labourers 10s. and horse-
men lis. a week, but almost all_ his work was done by the
piece, and a man earned about £35 a year.

Mr Read said that was about £5 a year more than they
made here [" No, no"]. He would take it 10s. a week and

the harvest. ^„ ^ i, • i j.

Mr IMechi said his men earned about £G for their harvest,
and beer worth about 15s. besides. They had to cut the wheat
and see it on the stack at lis. 6d. an acre, and most of his
crop was wheat, and at that rate they earned the £6 in about
a month. , , .

Mr Read contended that the present scale of wages was
insufficient to maintain labourers so as to enable them to do a
good day's work and educate their children.

Mr CoiiRA^'CE, M.P. (President) said if the whole of the ap-
plian-es Mr. Mechi had mentioned were brought to bear the
tenant's capital would not be less than £40 an acre and he
wanted to see how far that view was boine out. ^\ hether it
was practicle was a totally different thing. Theory must pre-
cede practice, and the one unanswerable argument against
putting that amount of capital in tho land was that they had
not got it. It would, however, be useful to see whether the
possibility existed for the appliance of that amount of capital it
they had it, and with that object he would follow Mr. Mechi
through a few of his statements. He agreed that capital goes
abroad to increase the profits of foreigners and employ foreign
labourers in competition with us when we buy foreign produce.
Mr, Mechi further said this was a pity, because not more than

M or £5 per acre was employed on the average on the land
under cultivation, and that statement was borne out by the
estimate of M. Laverne in 1854, which was £3 7s. per acre halt
the land being pasture. This miserable sura might bring
something back ; and from a series of calculations he liad
made he had come to the conclusion that £4 capital per acre
would bring a return of not more than 5 per cent., and he
defied them to make more. That was, supposing the arm
contained 100 acres and the capital was £400 they ^vould get
the not very adequate remuneration of £20. 1 they l-ad £G0O
and the per-centage were the same, they would g^t ^SB-not
a labourer's wages-and if £1,000 the profit would be £o0.
Mr. Mechi said they might go to £15, £20, or £2o an acre
Now, to apply the test. He had assumed that he return
would be 5 per cent, whatever the amount of capital employed,
but he had come to the conclusion that under circumstances
as at present existing, without the large supp y of town
manure, without the assistance of landlords in the way ot
covered yards and the other improvements Mr. Mechi advo-
cated £15 per acre might, under the best possible manage-
ment produce 15 per cent, profit. That was the maximum he
thought could be obtained under the present circumstance.,
and If they employed a greater capital they would find the
profit would be^diminishel, and w^th £20 anacre they codd
not get more than 10 per cent., and wi h £2o an acre they
would go down to 7 or 5 per cent. Applying this to a farm of
100 acres with £500 employed, the profit would be £2o ; w
£1 000 capital it would be, at 10 per cent £100 ; with
£1500, at 15 per cent., £225 ; with £2 000 they had passed
the maximum and found the scale descending, and would only
ge?Tope7cent.,or£200; and with £2,500 they would only
get 5 percent., or £75. .

Mr. Mechi : How r.re you going to crop it :-
The Preside>t : T am taking it under existing conditions,
without all this additional artificial manure and buildings.
Mr Mechi : I cannot deal with the existing conditions.
The President said he did not say Mr. Mechi cou.d, and
this calculation did] not controvert Mr. Mechi's position under
the circumstances he wished to bring about Mr. Mechi told
them he had £16 per acre capital, and that it produced a suf-
ficient per-centage. wi,„„

Mr Mechi said he first allowed 40s. an acre rent, and then
had an average_ profit of 12^ per cent., it bemg sometimes 8
and sometimes 15. . ,.

Mr CORRANCE then referred to the question of breaking up
the pastures, the policy of which he questioned until both
landlord and tenant had the capital, reminding them that arms
with a fair amount of pasture were most sought after, and that
everv acre of grass which is broken up made more capital and
more labour a necessity. Their grass might be very poor and
badly treated, but it was an immense acccommodation. As to
the description of land to which more capital might be most
advantageously apphed, he thought the poor clay lauds could
so be improved in a greater ratio than others. Ihe next
question was, where the additional capital is to come from and
why landlords would not take the money which the Land
Drainage Companies would lend on such easy terms ^ ihe
deficiency of capital arose first from the fact that the farming
class, as a class, were not wealthy. A commercial man with
money hesitated about taking a farm, knowing that he will lose
a ereat deal of money before he can get an adequate result.
The main reason rested on the principle of political economy—
that capital will go where it meets an adequate return and
where the conditions are favourable to its employment What
would produce these favourable conditions ? High profits, low
taxation good security. A man with a thousand pounds would
not put it into a business in which a very moderate proiit ot B,
9 or 10 per cent, was made and he was exposed to an enormous
burden of taxation, some special and some general ; the local
burdens alone faUing on landlord and tenant amounting to no
less than £57 15s. lOd. on every hundred acres It a man had
a sum in the funds at 3,4, or 5 per cent, would he put it into
farming, where the profits would not be greater and he would
have to pay such heavy rates? He would say, /^o J wUl
employ my capital in brewing or some other rnde, for vliy
should I make it subject to such a tax?" Theu, another
reason was the low security. This brought him to the question
of leases and agreements. His idea ot security was ha the
tensnt should not invest any capital at.all over wluch his land-
lord could have any absolute command. It was monstrous that

THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

Ill

a tenaat on a yearly hire or short tenancy should bring in
capital to be subject to the will of any other man. It seemed
monstrous to him in these commercial days, though it did not
twenty years back, when the state of things was more of a
patriarchal nature, and they occasionally heard of a landlord
at Christmas retarning his rent to a tenant who had been un-
fortunate, but they did not hear of that now. They stood on
other relations altogether — business relations — and those rela-
tions ought to rest on a sound and solid foundation, and
ills conclusion was that all permanent improvements,
such as farm buildings, &c., ought to be absolutely
done by the landlord, if his capital permit, or if
the security he could offer permit, for though he
had not always capital, credit was equally good. It we could
remove uU tlie capital that the tenant has invested, not only
here but in Ireland, on the security simply of good faith, aud
put it on the landlord's back, we could stand on thoroughly
sound relations. To give the tenant adequate security for the
capital he would invest he would always give him four years to
prepare to leave the occupation. That was the form of agree-
ment that had been adopted on his father's estate, and if the
tenant could see a good four yearr before him, to
get a fresli occupation and prepare to leave that which
he then held, he thought they would agree witli him
that there would be no necessity to talk about fixity
of tenure or any such nonsense. There had been a total want
of knowledge on this subject. He contended tliat if a land-
lord allowed a tenant to lay out £1,000 in permanunt im-
provements on the estate he really alienated from himself a
portion of the fee simple. Customs of the country had done
a good work and were of enormous use, but only until the
two parties could come to fair business-like working relations
with eacli other. In conclusion he asked Mr. Mechi what in-
ducement tliey could offer to bring capital out of the coffers of
the wealtliy men to be employed in the cultivation of the
land?

Mr. BiDWiLL said the president told them that the profits
of farming ranged from 5 to 15 per cent., according to the
amount of capital invested, and then he said that capitalists
would not take money out of the banks or the funds where
they got 2| to 3 or 4 per cent, to put it in the land, because of
the taxation. He (Mr. Biddell) thought if the commercial
man knew he could make 10 per cent, of his money he would
not be frightened by the taxation cry into letting it remain
where it returned only 2^ or 3. Why did not capitalists come
and invest their money in farming? Because they did not
believe that it paid — they knew better, that was the reason.

Mr. Meciii, in reply, said the real point at issue is whether
it would be better in his case to put his £16 on one acre or
two. He had arrived at the conclusion, from his experience,
that the £16 will pay a better per centage on one acre than on
two of his land, and he went further and said if he had £5 an
acre more he could do better than now — he could buy his
cattle and sell his corn when it suited best, could keep more
stock, make more manure, [and grow greater crops. Now,
there was one difference between him and many of them. His
landlord — and he always spoke kindly of him, for it was him-
self— (kughter) had done what the President said he ought.
He had made the conditions favourable to the employment of
capital. Tliat v/as the most important word the President had
said that evening. His (Mr. Mechi's) conditions were fa-
vourable for the employment of capital. Was that so as a
rule ? He said it was not. They were shut in by fences and
trees, they had not covered yards in many cases, and many ap-
pliances were wanting, and he therefore asserted that the land-
lords had not put the land in a condition favourable to the
employment of capital. His landlord had, and he paid him
the fair interest of 4 per cent, or 40s. per acre instead of the
20s., which was about what it was worth before the farm was
improved. They must compare the conditions as well as the
operations, and he said if he had £16 an acre invested in their
land he could not derive the same profit he did from his own,
though he paid the higher rent for the improved conditions ;
and if he had to pay the diminished rent for his own land in
its former unimproved state, he could not make the per centage
he did now on his £16. Let us hope the time will come wlien
landlords will think it right to put the land into this condition
by their own capital, or tiiat which they can get elsewhere. It
was admitted that the average produde per acre was from £3
13s. to M, That was unsatisfactory, and arose in a great

degree from what Mr. Goodwyn commended so much — poor
grass-land, which was not estimated to produce more than from
■iOs. to 45s. per acre. It was said that grass-land required little
labour, but the question was whether, if that land was broken
up and farmed with a largo capital, the return, after pay-
ment of the expenses in produce and profit, would not be
greater than now. His experience was greatly in favour of
arable land.

The President : Where is the capital to come from ?

Mr. Me(;hi would say to both landlord and tenant if they
take 200 acres mstead of 400 they would double the capital per
acre directly. If a man with 200 acres would be content to
take 100 with the same capital he now employs on 200 he
would be much better off, and the same may be said of the
landlord. Half the land in the kingdom is unimproved, and if
tliey had less it would be better both for the tenants and the
country generally. He reminded them that this was no longer
a pastoral age. If he had all his land under pasture he might
put all the capital he could on it but could not make it pay
him. He knew pasture is acceptable because it employs very
little labour aud requires very little capital.

Tlie President : What would you breed ?

Mr. Meciii : Where I can grow great crops of tares, and
roots and other food. Never mind if you can give them plenty
of food and air and not too much exercise.

The President : Can you breed in yards without
grass ?

Mr. Meciii : To be sure ; I have 30 calves a year.

Mr. Biddell • Wliere do the calves come from ? (laughter.)

Mr. Meciii : Prom the cows, of course (much laughter.)

Mr. Biddell : Where do the cows live ?

Mr. Meciii said it was not necessary to have pasture. Give
the animals plenty of corn and cake and clover hay and so on,
and tliey would produce as good animals as any one — in fact,
he believed the best animals were not those produced on poor
grass land, but as he had mentioned. He then alluded to
restrictions, asking whether they thought if he had been tied
down to a particular rotation suitable only to a small capital
that he could put a large capital on the land with advantage?
When tliey produced an enormous quantity of manure by the
employment of large capital they produced large crops of roots,
&c., which they could sell off the farm, but under their present
conditions they could not sell those crops without diminishing
tlie fertility of the land. Mr. Goodwyn professed a very great
deal of feeling for the labourer, but he (Mr. Mechi) did not
believe in it. Of course, Mr. Goodwyn had a kind feeling for
the men in his employ, but if he could do with one-fourth of
the number he would without a moment's hesitation.

Mr. Goodwyn : Of course I should.

Mr. Meciii said : Then what became of the cry, " What are
the labourers to do P" The farmers had to look to the clieapest
way in which they couM raise their produce. They had the
natural and proper kind feeling towards the labourers they
must of necessity employ, paid tliem according to the market,
looked to their welfare, education, and so on ; but don't tell
him (Mr. Mechi) tliat tliey were afraid of not having employ-
ment for their labourers. AVhat they wanted was to reduce
the amount of labour (Hear, hear). The same was the case
with horses. They had no love for their horses if they could
supersede them by a cheaper power. If they now proposed to
a manufacturer to put horses in a wheel to drive his machinery
instead of steam, he would think they had gone back a hun-
dred years, when a man wore his breeches three years instead
of having a new pair every six montlis (laughter). The
landlords had not according to modern principles done their
duty. It was a failing on their part rather than a fault ; but
steam was changing all that, and he anticipated the time when
there would be freedom of action and security of investment on
the part of the tenant such as now existed to a great extent in
Scotland. What had made Scotland, but nineteen years' leases
and freedom of action? (Hear, hear). A Scotchman, if he
could raise a good crop of potatoes, aud it would pay him to
send them to the London market, did so. The great point was
that a tenant must not reduce the fertility of the soil below
what it was when he took the land, and if his action is to in-
crease rather than diminish it, he ought to be as free as air to
produce that whicli is suitable to the requirements of the
population. He treated all his farming transactions as a
matter of business, and he said tiiat it paid him best to raise
40 tons of mangold on one acre with one ploughing, one rent

Il2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

rates, taxes, seeding, &c., than to grow the same quanti y ou
two acres with these expenses doubled. Mr. KnatchbuU told
him he had seen 68 tons of mangold to the acre. „.,.,,
Rev. H. E. Knatchbull said he saw, at the Smithfiela
show, a sample of mangold certified to be part of a crop that
weighed 100 tons to the acre. On inquiry he found the acre
was an Irish one, which gave 66 tons to the English acre.

Mr. GoODWYN said Mr. Mechi misunderstood what he said
about the labourers. He said breaking up the pastures would
increase the demand for labour. As a matter of business he
should reduce his farming to the least expense. He proposed
a vote of thanks to Mr. Mechi. , ^ . , ,

Mr. Mechi proposed a similar compliment to the President,
and the meeting ended.

MIXED HUSBANDRY.

At a meeting of the Ballymahon Farmers' Club, the Hon. L.
H. King Harman, President of the Club, in the Chair, Mr.
John LuNEM said :— Mixed husbandry is what I have selected
to bring before you in tjiis paper, and as the notice I had for
writing it was very short, and my time limited, ray thoughts
on the subject are expressed in a very cursory way. 1st., Is
mixed huslmndry necessary in good farming? I would answer
in the affirmative, and say it is necessary. It is a fact patent
to all that the population of Ireland is becoming less every
year, and multitudes of the labouring classes are leaving our
shores and seeking employment in other countries. By some
this is considered a good omen for Ireland, by others bad. I
confess I cannot see it to be a good omen to know that so
many of Ireland's bravest sons should be driven from their
native country to seek a home and employment in a foreign
land ; and whatever may be the causes at work to produce
this sad elTect, one cause must be apparent to all — want of
mixed husdandry. It is said by many experienced farmers that
tillage will not pay, and in many instances it is true, when it
is carried on too extensively or in an injudicious manner ; but
the want of tillage has tended very much to the driving away
from our country the labouring classes. In some of the coun-
ties of Ireland men are only employed to put in and take out
thecrops, and then during the winter months the same men
are dismissed, having nothing to live on, and the consequence
is a prolonged existence of misery, or else quit the country for
one where tliey will liave permanent employment. Mixed hus-
bandry will give constant work to a certain number on a farm,
whereas on large grass farms only a herd is employed, and the
number of families who might be comfortably supported as
labourers on this farm, must seek a home elsewhere. A happy
combination of tillage with pasture creates employment and
tends to keep the country from being depopulated. Iq travel-
ling over mauy parts of the country one cannot but admire
the rich pa^itures of the green isle, with plentiful woodlands for
shelter ; yet whilst such scenery calls forth admiration, it
produces in a refleetive mind melancholy, to see nothing but
attie as the inhabitants of those places which the great
Creator designed for human beings. It has been said by some
competent authors that Ireland has abundant resources in the
soil, if properly developed, to maintain eight millions of people ;
but whether such a number could be supported in comfort or
not, W8 will not venture an opinion. On thing, however, is
certain, that mixed husbandry would support many more, and
leave the farmer more happy and independent. Mixed hus-
bandry is necessary for the judicious management of the farm.
It is true that there are some farms so rich in pasture that to
break them would be a mistake ; but the large proportion of
farms, especially where there is a limestone bottom, gather moss
and com; letely choke the grasses. Top-dressing with lime
compost or linnstone gravel will do much to remove it for a
while ; but there is no effective cure but to break it, until the
moss is completely rotted, and then lay it down again in good
condition with best grasses. And this young sole will suit well
for sheep pasture, as the grasses are ranch sweeter and more
nutritious than the old ones. Some portions of the farm may
not be adapted to pasture, but suit pretty well for tillage ; and
to keep such in pasture would be a great loss to the farmer.
Large tracts of Ulster, for example, must be tilled, as the soil
is not naturally adapted to grass, and large tracts even of our
own country will not produce grass in such a measure as would
warrant the occupier to adopt such as remunerative farming.
Land that will not produce pasture should be tilled with such
a rotation of crops as are suited to the subsoil, and mossy
land should not be broken until the sod is rotted. In this way,
if the land is well drained, it will be made to yield its increase,

and give comfort to employer and employed. Mixed husbandry
is necessary for bringing to profit the stock on the farm. If

a proper rotation of crops be observed it will give ample sup-
port to the whole stock of the farm. " I have a farm of very
medium quality," said a good farmer once to me ; " but yet I
sell all fat in Dublin market, and rear all." Now, to follow
this system, which I hold is a most profitable one, it is neces-
sary to have mixed husbandry. Ou most farms the rearing of
young stock is necessary, as the pastures are not rich enough
to fatten, and if the young stock are to be kept until they pay
well, there must be a sufficiency of food raised to support them.
Turnips, mangels, cabbage, beans, carrots, flaxboUs, and oats
are necessary to bring them to maturity for the market, and
unless they are well fed they will not pay. A farmer m Ulster
on a farm of eighty acres told rae his soil was naturally poor,
but he reared young stock and fed them every winter upon a
little turnips and straw, with a small quantity of bruised oats
mixed with flax bolls, until they were of age to fatten, and that
every winter he had the number in the stalls that he reared,
and although his iarra was what might be called a high rent,
yet by mixed husbandry upon it he was able to live comforta-
bly and save nearly £100 per annum. Had he sold his young
stock before they came to maturity he said he could have done
nothing like save so much— that he would have had a hard
struggle to make his rent. Mixed husbandry is necessary to
realize the full amount of profit whicli the farm properly
managed will yield in accordance with the state of the
markets. Every year the variety of farm produce is
varying, some portions of it will be high, some low, and
thus the farmer always catches good prices for some
of the produce ; whereas if he is wholly dependent upon one
kind of crop or stock he maybe disappointed. A little sold
of everything makes muckle, and if one thing does not pay,
another will. Let there be as great a variety of crops as pos-
sible, but all of a real marketable value, and this in skilful
hands will increase rotation of cropping, which will be good
for the land. Keep down the weeds, and take out of the ma-
nure all the ingredients, so that none of them may be dormant
in the earth. It will tend, we believe, on medium-sized farms
and on small ones, more than any other system, to increase
the purse. I have seen the large flowing river with its broad
sheet of water emptying itself into the ocean, and how did it
come to be so large. Trace it to its source and you will find
that small— perhaps a spring, and the question arises, How came
it to be so large? namely, by the tributaries poured into it.
It is large from many sources. So we hold that tributaries
from mixed husbandry swell the whole, and make the little a
muckle. Let there be a proper system of pig feeding, cattle
feeding, dairy farming, with a sufficiency of crops grown to
support all, and some for the market. The result will be suc-
cess and prosperity. Some may say all this appears very well
on paper, but it is a different thing to carry it out. To such
we say that every great discovery in science and art appeared
first on paper. The steam engine appeared first in its plan
upon paper ; the great discovery of the telegraph, which now
tends to the concentration of the whole earth, appeared first
on paper, and so must all improvements in farming appear on
paper. A proper plan, a good system, is more tiiau half the
success. A thing well begun is more tiian half finished ; so
with this system of farming. But a mixed system of husbandry
is necessary to make a man a good farmer. His mind should
be trained well in every department of agriculture, and when
he begins to cultivate a variety of crops, he will get as much
knowledge as possible about each species of crops, and that
will lead him to read, inquire, and investigate until he has
succeeded, and in his success he wiU carry on his investiga-

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

113

tions, in order to improve, knowing that there is no end to dis-
coveries and improvements. This training is most useful to
his own mind, adds happiness to him in his industry, and com-
fort in his prosperity. If the mind is only fixed upon one
kind of farmiug, the training that it would otherwise have will
be neglected ; but if he cultivates a variety of farm produce,
the mind will be upon the stretch to make the best of it.
Mixed husbandry is necessary to suit the variety of soils on the
same farm. There is frequently a great variety of soil and
subsoil ; oue part is better adapted to one kind of crop than
another, and thus, by the skilful adaptation of crop to soil
and soil to crop, there is a more abundant supply. In the
study of nature we find nothing but variety, and mankind is
so formed that they live upon variety, and are made happy by
variety. The eye is adapted to variety, and feasted with va-
riety ; we live upon variety, and the earth is made to yield
this variety. In advocating mixed husbandry, we are only ac-
commodating ourselves to nature, and endeavouring to produce
that variety whicli nature has taught us to produce, and with-
out which mankind could not live or be happy. Variety is a
necessity of our nature, and there is a beautiful adaptation of
the earth to this variety. As we study to be like nature and
imitate nature, so do we become beautiful, profitable, and in-
dustrious ; for nature is not only clothed with beauty, but it is
both exceedingly profitable and industrious. Mixed husbandry
is nature's imitation, excites to industry, and, as we shall try
to show, is really profitable. It is a good maxim to learn well
in all departments of business the arithmetic of profit and loss,
and we agriculturists should ever keep this rule before us, as it
ought to be tlie aim of every farmer to make everything pay.
Farming for amusement and ornament may pay those who
engage in it in a rich return of health, knowledge, and plea-
sure, but not in money. It is money that most farmers want,
and the question is, will mixed husbandry yield that. On this
subject there is, no doubt, a great variety of sentiment, and
almost every man forms his own opinion from his experience ;
hut an opinion to be correct and influential must be founded
on intelligent experience. In trying to show the necessity for
tliis systeM of fanning, we have hinted that it will pay ; every-
thing necessary pays, and if it be admitted to be a necessity
on most farms, then it must pay better than any other system.
Will it pay to bring stock to perfection, and turn them out in
good condition to the fairs ? Then such cannot be done on
medium quality of land without feeding materials grown on
the farm. Will it pay to have a variety of produce in the
market, even though that should be small ? Then the judi-
cious system of cropping produces that. Much of the disap-
pointment to farmers arises from the necessity of being com-
pelled to sell their stock ia a poor condition ; and this is
owing as much to their injudicious method of feeding as to
tlie want of capital. If there be a bad system of tillage on
the farm, there wiU be a lack of feeding materials, and the
stock is either starved or half-fed, and the res'ilt is always
small prices. I have observed when small farmers are taking
con-acre, and always making large quantities of manure to
raise crops of their farms, that most generally these men are
prosperous. On small farms no other system will pay than
mixed husbandry. The northern farmers are compelled from
the poverty of the soil, as well as from long custom, to carry
out this system, and it is generally admitted by all parties who
know Ulster that the farmers there are much more independ-
ent and have more money and capital than in some of the
other more favoured provinces. Besides the emigration from
Ulster has not been anything equal to that from tlie other
provinces ; and this arises from the variety of employment
for the labouring classes, and tlie remunerative wages they get
for their work. Some time ago in the south of Ireland there
were twenty labourers for one farmer ; now it is twenty farmers
for one labourer. Many causes may have been at work to
produce this change, but one cause is patent — want of regular
employment and fair wages all the year round. It may be
objected to the mixed system of husbandry, labourers cannot
now be obtained ; but if machinery were introduced more
largely, and a good pair of horses could be kept at work during
the entire year, under a skilful man, a large amount of cropping
could be carried out with comparatively few labourers. The
scarcity of labour necessitates the introduction of machinery,
and in a very short time farmers will save as much from hand
labour as would purchase the necessary machines. Thus by
machinery in part and doing as much as possible by horse

work, enough of cropping could be done on most farms, suffi-
cient for all purposes of feeding, rearing, and some to sell. By
skilful management much labour might be saved which is now
on many farms expended for naught. Seasonable work sel-
dom or ever expends labour, and one reason why tillage will
not pay many is the consequence of the unreasonableness of it.
I have seen the ploughing commenced on a farm of considera-
ble dimensions when it was nearly the time to sow, and thus
every species of crop was shunted back to meet the farmer's
convenience ; bad crops, as might be expected, was the result,
and the farmer was always saying tillage will not pay. Ano-
ther reason why it does not pay, many have the system of era-
ploying labourers, instead of keeping a few constant men at
work, giving them comfortable little houses and gardens, so
that they may take a deeper interest in their employer's work ;
a number of workers are engaged to put in and take out the
crops at high wages, and then dismissed. This system is bad,
and always disappoints. A writer on mixed husbandry asks
the question. Will it pay to raise from 30 to 60 tons of turnips
to the acre P Why, even to sell an acre of 40 tons at lOd.
per cwt, would amount to the sum of £33, and all the other
crops if properly grown would pay in proportion ; but used
for stall feeding and rearing stock they pay much more, as the
manure is very valuable for the land. The consumption of a
large portion of crops upon the farm is always wise, as it leaves
the manure beliind ; the land requires to be stall-fed as well
as the cattle in order to pay, and the cleaner it is kept with
good feeding the better the pay. Unskilful husbandry will
not pay, but we affirm without fear of contradiction, and our
opinion is founded upon the experience of more competent
men, that mixed husbandry, unless on very rich pasture, is the
best farming in order to.pay both farmer and labourer. It
would be unwise to say what proportion of the farm should be
tilled, as that depends very much upon the nature of the soil,
drainage, markets, &c. ; but the system I advocate must be
guided by experience. I know the popular motto in agricul-
ture at the present time is "Till little and graze all," but grazing
all on small or medium sized farms would not pay. The ne-
cessities of agriculture as a branch of industry, the clear ten-
dencies of economised science, and the growing education of
many farmers will lead them to see that mixed husbandry is
not only profitable, but required. Instead of driving away
the people from the country, we want to establish branches of
industry to entice them to stay ; and instead of having merely
one resource out of which to draw the revenue, the farmer, we
consider, wiU be richer and more independent to have many
resources. Whatever tends to industry tends to wealth and
comfort, and this system, if properly carried out, will have that
effect.
Thus then we say^

Mixed husbandry is the thing that should be-
Not too much, nor too little, but all to agree,
The farm well divided by labour and skill
Looks rich in its pastures, with no weeds to kiU.

Emigration has ceased, for the men are at work,
And the farmer is active, and able to talk
About his cattle, pigs, sheep, the best of good stock,
All fed on produce, with a little salt rock.

The markets have risen, and he has something to spare
To catch the good penny and go the fare.
He buys some of clean stock, on his turnips to feed,
And says to himself, I will not be in need.

My neighbours may laugh. Oh, it's all very well ;
But with mixed husbandry I am sure to excel.
These cattle, well fed to the first week in May,
In Dublin's good market are quite sure to pay.

Let all who object to this system first try,
For once in their life, and not be too sliy,
By labour and skill they are sure to outrun
The timid in life, who are stiU overcome.

" Be men," said the general ; " we'll fight it right out,
By gun and good bayonet we'U drive them all out."
By spade, plough, and harrow, the farmer should try
What benefit he'll have in liis mixed husbandry.

114

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE GAME LAWS,

At tlie last meeting of the Devon Central Chamber of Agri-
culture, at Newton Abhot, Mr. C. J. Wade, the president,
read the following paper :

Game and the Game Laws are questions occupying the
attention of not only the landlord and tenant, but the whole
community, and they will be found, on a careful and thorough
examination, deservedly to do so. Chambers of Commerce,
as well as Chambers of Agriculture, should take up the sub-
ject. It has antiquity on its side, and is a relic of the " good
old days," and the numerous and various Acts which have
been passed relating to it would, if collected, form a large
volume, and some of them would be considered as curious
specimens of a bygone age. About the year 1390, in the
thirteenth year of Richard II., we find an Act relating to
" such persons as should not have or keep any greyhounds
hound, or other dog to hunt, and should not \isefi/re/s, keps,
nets, hare-pipes, cords, or other engines, to take or destroy
hares, conies, or of her gentlemaiCs game." And subsequently
in 1492, in the seventh year of Henry VII., an Act was
passed " against taking feasants and jyart ridges'' In nearly
every reign legislation took place, from " hare pipes" to
" taking hares in the snow." The mere fact of so many
statutes being from time to time passed conclusively shows
systematic opposition to or dissatisfaction with the game
laws. There appears to have been a spirit of unrest respect-
ing them. It will be our duty on the present occasion to con-
sider, without prejudice on the one hand, or partiality on the
other, some of the results of the game laws, and of the re-
pugnance to them. We hear it said with regard to game —
"that a merciful Creator" sent game as well for the poor as
for the rich. How many are satisfied with this statement,
without considering that the observation applies to all God's
gifts ! and ho-." comes it, that so many persons are to be
found, who are calL-d respectable, and yet sympathise with
the detected poacher ? ana il.jse same persons, or of that class,
do not hesitate to purchase g,ame which may have been
surreptitiou-ly killed ? and yet they would feel horrified
at the mere thought of purchasing goods obtained contrary
to and in breach of the laws ? Tiie fact that such sym-
pathy does exist cannot be denied, and how few there are who
take the trouble to inquire why it is so. By the common law,
which, in this respect, is consistent with, and the exponent
of, the natural law, tame animals were the subject-matter of
property, and a man could bnng his action in respect thereof.
But wild animals were not so considered, and no person could
have property therein unless they were tamed or reclaimed by
him. Hence it appears that by the common law every man
had an equal right to such creatures as were not naturally
under the power of man, and that the mere capture or seizure
created a property in them. The common law being as I have
stated, it is clear that the whole of the laws for the preserva-
tion of game now in force, or which have been in past ages,
are the creatures of statute, and it is because these Acts are
looked on with disfavour, not merely by the poacher, but by
his sympathisers, that the notion has become prevalent
that there is no moral offence in their breach, forgetting that,
were each individual to break every law which he disapproved,
or deemed to be oppressive or unjust, there would soon be
produced chaotic confusion in every community. If laws are
bad, we ought to endeavour, by every legitimate mode, to get
them altered, but, as good citizens, we are bound to obey them
so long as they continue. By the present statute law " all
game belongs to the tenant or occupier unless the landlord
lias expressly reserved the right thereto," and in further con-
sidering the subject we may dismiss, to a great extent, although
not entirely, those cases where the tenant or occupier has the
rif/hl to the game : although we may dismiss it to a great extent,
still there is the question tvhere game is excessively preserved
so as to induce a breach of the law. The cases where it is re-
served, and preserved in excess, either b>j the lamtturd or his
lessee, are those cases which affect, not only the tenant by the
destruction of, and injury to, his crops, but also the general
public by the withdrawal from taxation, local and imperial,

of the value of the crops so destroyed or injured. It is an
anomaly, and a gross injustice, that if the tenant or occupier
has the game, or the right to kill tlie game, he is taxed locally
and imperially ; but if his landlord reserves such right and
keeps it himself, or lets it to another person other than the
tenant of the land, there is a withdrawal from all taxation,
local and imperial. This directly affects, not merely the land-
lord and the tenant, but the public also. It is the class where
there is excess of game kept by the landlord or by his tenant
which affects the tenant of the land ; he is debarred from ex-
pending as much as he would otherwise do, and in these days
of progress and agricultural improvement, he is bound to do, if
he keeps his ground, because he does not know " if he shall
reap as well as sow." It is to this class (of excessive preser-
vation) also we are indebted for " the keeper " and do not for
one moment think I am going to condemn this class abso-
lutely, for I have known some as good and honest men
amongst them as in any other class of her Majesty's subjects.
And I have known and heard of some quite different— men
who, by the temptations held out to them, have sold and dis-
posed of that game which they were paid to preserve ; and if a
keeper will not hesitate to sell the game, he will not be over-
scrupulous in trying to place the blame on others; and the
tenant is made to bear the burden of the keeper's default.
There is also another evil (and I have known cases of
this class too), where a tenant has destroyed the young rabbits,
thus touching the keeper's perquisite, and so sure as he does
this the quiet whispering to the lord takes place, which is
destructive of that confidence which should exist between him
and his tenant. If the rabbits in every case were to be
allowed to the tenant, and no other game kept to excess, I
fully believe that the landlords would have plenty of true and
genuine sport, and there would be a better feeling existing ;
there would be no withdrawal from taxation ; offences against
the Game Laws would be few ; the trespass on the tenant's
land would be less ; the tenant would be proud in welcoming
liis landlord to a good day's sport ; and the sympatliy with the
poacher would cease. We look on the agrarian crimes in
Ireland with horror, and count the murders committed by the
assassin ; and yet we do not count the murders and murderous
attacks in England ; and v.'hat is the cause of the same ? I
fear that drink, and the false opinion I have referred to, and
the sympathy with the poacher, and the temptation of excessive
preservation of game, are amongst the chief causes. There
are those (and I regret to have read the other day the name of
a clergyman amongst the number) who say if landlords were
not to have the game and sporting, they would leave their
estates and rush into towns and to the Continent. I think
this is a low estimate of the landlords of Great Britain ; they,
as a class, are ready to perform, and do perform, the duties as
well as enjoy the rights of property, and I hope the day is
far distant when we shall have to look on the landlords as an
absentee class. They are quite alive to the truth that property-
is for the benefit of a nation, and the schools and acts and
works of kindness and charity, all helped on and aided by
landlords, bear ample testimony to my assertion, and to the
contradiction of the threat I have referred to having any base.
There are also those who say, " Let there be a valuation of the
injury done." To this I make answer, it is almost impossible
to tell the daily consumption of rabbits. We can appreciate
the loss of the corn ciop, but that is a part, and part only ;
the grass and seeds, and clover and eaver cannot be measured
or valued, and there is the loss or withdrawal from taxation of
the amount consumed, and the grave and serious fact that any
continued annual valuation could and would only be the source
of irritation between the landlord and the tenant. I said I
read with regret that a clergyman should have stated or hinted at
landlords leaving the country and the homes of their ancestors.
By so doing, indirectly, he advocates the keeping up the present
system. If, however, we were to examine how much crime exists
in this country which may be traced to poaching, which produces
drink and leads to other excesses ; and if a man is out poaching
and gets no game, something else must supply its place— drink

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE.

115

must be had, and frequently a family in-ecariously supported
lor poachers as a class do not make the best labourers • and
when a mau once enters a gaol (and how many owe it to this
cause !) the first step is taken, and the ruin of the whole family
too requcutly follows. Ouce accustom a man to a breach of
the laws and how can he define or determine the line of dif-
ference between a small crime and a crime of the deepest dye P
in agricultural parishes, I will ask, what influence have the
game-laws and tlie over-preservation of game had on the ne-
cessity lor rural police ? And how often have we known the
poor-rates burthened from the same cause ? Some gentlemen
wou d now perhaps inform them how much they had indivi-
dually suffered. For his own part he knew instances where
parties had been turned out of house and home tlirou^-h this
very over-preservation of game. In one case an action for
slander was instituted, and this slander was through sorae-
t ung whispered by tlie tenant to the lessee of a noble house •
tlie farmer was immediately turned out of house and home ■
butfortunately,by ajury of his own country he was enabled
to get heavy damages, and so he was partly recompensed
lor the injury done him by this ejectment. No doubt they
could supplement these instances from their own personal ex-
perience—though, perhaps, it might be hardly prudent for
some of them to do so. As to the partridges and pheasants,
he did not believe they did any material injury to the farmers,
except when tlioy were preserved to such an extent that they
might be killed by hundreds in a day (Hear, hear). Then of
course the landlord compensated the farmer, or at all events
he ought to do so (applause). But as to the ground game,
unless the rabbits were kept down day by day they would be-
come a perfect scourge to the farmer (Hear, hear). He thought
that some plan or scheme should be devised to give the
landlord a good legitimate day's sport : he did not call it sport
^ when you drove game up in a corner, and then had loaded guns
handed you so as to fire away as fast as possible. That was not
tiie sport of a gentleman : let them kill the game when they
could catch it (Hear, hear). As to what he had stated in his
paper,he could support all he had said by facts (Hear, hear). He
beheved the day was not far distant when landlord and tenant
would come together on better terms, and if the landlord had
game on an estate he would let the tenant have the first right.
If he let the game to a stranger, he should pay taxes, local or
imperial ; and if he (Mr. Wade) was asked how to levy those
taxes, he would say the amount of taxes should be the value of
the injury done. That would stop over-preserving (Hear,
hear). He had been rather careful on this qnestion because it
was a touchy subject.

Mr. G. Stooke did not disagree with Mr. "VVade':? paper,
but he had no sympathy with those who went in for uncondi-
tional and absolute abolition of the game laws. If he was to
be a sufferer, though he did not say he was one, and if they
were to look on over-preservation as a nuisance, he would
rather see the landowner reap the benefit of the tenant's injury
than see a lot of idlers let loose on the country with no re-
strictions on them (Hear, hear). Many people, he thought,
went in for the total abolition of the game laws because they
thought there would be no penalty then ; but they must re-
member that Dick, Tom, and Harry might then go over the
farmers' land with impunity. He did not agree with that ;
outhe thought there was _a measure which every chamber of
agriculture should advocate, and with which the country at
large would sympathize, and it was tliis— that game and
rabbits should be regarded in the eye of the law as the property
of the occupier, and then an understanding might be come to
by the owner and occupier. It was true that the landlord
would, to some extent, be able to dictate terms to the tenant,
but then, in return, the tenant would be able to say on what
terms he would let the game back again to the landlord. They
would then be able to make up in some measure for the damage
done by the game, and at the same time tenants generally
would be proud to give their landlords a good day's sport. If
there was a proper feeling the tenant would feel it a pleasure
to relet the shooting of the game on the property which he
occupied. That would, he thought, " cut the knot ;" for if
the tenant became aggrieved it could only be by some of the
conditions on which he took tlie farm being broken. He be-
lieved that if a tenant was iiijnred by the game he should have
some voice in the matter (applause), and all the power should
not be m the hands of the landlord (Hear, hear). There then
could be a proper understanding as to the shooting, and the

tenant would be able to have some voice in saying who should
be the lessee (Hear, hear). In some instances the lessees were
really gentlemen. He knew one lessee who never shot the
rabbits himself, but left them to the tenant, and he never said
anything if the tenant had an occasional day's shooting, and,
kept within moderate bounds. On the other hand, he knew
one property on which was a lessee, and ou that property all
the game seemed to be " farmed." He could not say that he
knew for certain that the game was all turned into hard cash,
but everything was " kept close," and a tenant would not like
to shoot even a rabbit, nor would the lessee like to see him
either, except, perhaps, in the month of February, the tenant
might be allowed to do so. He thought there ought not to be
a thud party like this coming in between landlord and tenant.
A tenant ought to be able to say whether such a party should
be a lessee or not. This idea might take some gentlemen by
surprise, but in his opinion they ought to have what was
straightforward plain dealing and fair play. It sliould not be
all on one side. A tenant should certainly have his privilege
and he did not think any right-minded landlord would refuse it.'
Some chambers of agriculture were goin? in for the total abo-
lition of the game laws. He did not think this would meet
with general approbation, but he believed that a very great
number would fall in with the scheme he had mentioned if it
was generally known. He would also try to assimilate the
game laws to the dog tax ; he would reduce the cost of a cer-
tificate to a mere nominal sum, and call on every man who
carried a gun to pay say lOs. a-year, and that would deter
many a poacher who now slinks about with a gun, and he be-
heved the revenue would be a gainer by this (Hear, hear).

Mr. J. Ckeed agreed with much that had fallen from the
previous speaker. He thought the game question laid in a
nutsliell. He thought tliat every person who kept a large
stock of game should pay compensation to the tenant for all
injury done, and he felt that if the compensation was paid the
tenant had nothing more to complain of. But then, on the
other hand, there would be a complaint from an outsider, and
that would be the consumer, who would say there was so much
consumed by the game, which would otherwise be brought into
the market. He felt that if they legislated severely on the
game question it would be the means of driving the game
altogether out of the country, and that, as an old sportsman,
he shou d not like to see. He thought that if compensation
was made, and there was a clause in the lease giving the tenant
power to call in a valuer who should say the amount the tenant
had suffered from the game, and that the landlord should pay
this amount, then he thought the matter as between the land-
lord and tenant would be at an end. The tenant-farmer ought
to have the compensation which he deserved and which he ought
to have a right to demand. As to the question of driving the
landlords out of the country, there was something in that,
iliey might depend upon it that if the large landowners of
JiiUgland had not an inducement to come and reside among
their tenants it would be a very sad day for the tenants. A
landowner migh; be in town or on the Continent during the
summer months, but when September came the landlords carae
to their homes and remained there until January. Their
coming to their country residences and spending their money
was a very great benefit to the neighbourhood in which they
resided He should be sorry to see the tenantry of England
drive the game question so hard as to drive the landlords away
from them. He agreed with what Mr. Stooke said as to the
tax on guns, for he believed that if the tax was put on the gun
instead of on the certificate it might be the means to some
extent of obviating the present difticulty they had to contend
with and the amount of expenses they had to meet by the over-
preservation of game. On the other hand he thought— and
he was sorry it did not eome from the chairman— it was
to be regretted that there was no law of trespass except a man
was in pursuit of game. He should like to see some law of
trespass whereby if a man was found on your ground you could
have the power of removing him and so prevent parties from
going over your land just as they liked. That would do a
great deal to put down poaching. He had seen that some
advocated the keeping of game just the same as you would
barn-door fowls, but he was not an advocate for that. This
question of the game laws was a very large one no doubt, but
he thought the tenant-farmers had it in their own hands It
was for them to say whether they would take a farm on a
lease having the game-reservation clause in it. If they only

116

THE FARMER* S MAGAZINE.

stuck together they could dictate terms to the landlords, and
he thought they had the remedy iu their own hands if they
only liked to use it. He did not think they should waut to
■ have llouse-of-Comraons legislation on the matter, hut as
Englislimen they should assert their right, and he did not
thiuk tliat if tliey came honestly before the landlords that
right would be refused. In conclusion he thought that as tl\e
chairman had read so excellent a paper and gone so far into
the question — though not so far as he should like to have
seen, lor there was a lot behind — he deserved their best thanks
for the great trouble he had taken and for his admirable paper.

Mr. NoRTiiCOTTE (Christow) said he felt very strongly on
this subject, and might have what were called extreme opin-
ions. He felt that shooting was not in accordance with the
age (" No, no," and " nonsense"). On looking in history he
saw that the origin of sliooting was iu a most barbarous age,
when it was necessary for the savages to use bow and arrows
or some weapons to kill wild animals for subsistence. But as
soon as the country became more populous it was found neces-
sary to till the soil, and the weapons were laid aside. We
were now in a commercial stage, and what did they want of
shooting now ? He held that the agriculturists were en-
trusted with a very great mission, and that was to grow food
for the people, and if they did not do it some others would.
At the time the Free-trade measure was passed it was said to
farmers, " Oh, you needn't grow anything more," but they
found it necessary to grow more and more. But the game
had done a great deal in destroying much of their produce,
and he was of opiuion that in the last dozen years the game-
laws had ruined more produce than would have paid off the
whole of the National Debt. There was of course a differ-
ence in the amount of injury done to different estates by the
rabbits. He was on one estate where scarcely 5s. worth of
damage was done by the rabbits. On the estate he was now
occupying he had a four-acre field, aud last year it was sown
with wheat ; he manured it well, and iu about ten days the
wheat came up, and it was no sooner up than the rabbits bit
off every blade ; when he thrashed that wheat the whole pro-
duce of the field was three bags and six pecks. The injury
was not only the loss of the crop, but there was also the waste
of the manure. He thought the tenants should have a safe-
guard for the outlay of their property of two years' rent. He
then referred to a committee having been appointed to draw
up a model lease and their failure in doing so, after which he
went to the question of trapping rabbits. Some said they
kept the rabbits down by employing a trapper, who got so
much for each rabbit he trapped. It was ridiculous to say
they kept them down by this means, for there were two parties
interested iu preventing their extermination. One was the
man who caught tlie rabbits, and the other the man who sold
them ; if they killed all the rabbits their trade would be gone,
and of course it was to their interest not to exterminate the
rabbits. He protested against shooting because it was a sport
that could not be enjoyed by all parties, and lie thought that any
sport should not be kept from the lower classes. As to what
Mr. Creed had said about the tenant dictating to the landlord,
that could not be carried out, for where there was one farm to
let there were ten applicants. He urged that no on e ought
to be allowed to foster that which was so detrimental to the
welfare of the general community as rabbits. Good farming
could never be earned out unless a regular basis was laid
down by which shooting should be ruled. He was in the
position now where the game was rented, and he felt that
it was a position in which no man should be put. He con-
cluded by seconding the vote of thanks, which was carried by
acclamation.

Mr. H. H. Watson (Totnes) said he had been struck
by the tendency of one or two of the speakers who had
led them to believe that the land-owners would leave the
country if the game was going to be destroyed. He could
not help thinking that many of these fancies were ima-
ginary, for he did not believe that the landlords were so
unpatriotic, so selfish and unwise, as to think of such a thing
for one moment. As to the injury that was done to the people
of this country by the ravages of the game there could be no
two opinions. It was thought by some that it was only a
question between landlord and tenant, but it was very much
I'arger than this. He believed that the tenant was not fairly
compensated, nor would he ever be, for a surveyor who was
called in could not give a fair estimate, for he could not tell to

what extent the crops had been damaged. It was very dis-
couraging to a tenant, after he had laid out a lot of money, to
find his crop destroyed and each succeeding crop injured. It
would affect not only the farmer himself but also tbe landowner.
The public generally had an interest in this question, inasmuch
as they must be fed from the produce of the land. He was
surprised to hear some gentlemen say the game-laws were in-
violable. As to the plans that had been spoken of, he could
not understand tliat either Mr. Creed's or Mr. Stookes' would
be a remedy to the evil. lie did not think that the game-
laws should be entirely abolished, but he hardly knew where
to stop ; at all events he should not like to see the laws re-
main as at present.

Mr. SowTON (Ipplepen) did not understand Mr. Stookes'
plan, and did not see that Mr. Creed's would meet the require-
ments of the case. He was not in favour of the game-laws
being done away with altogether. He thought, however, that
the tenant should have the rabbits lor himself, that he should
be allowed to kill them any way and at any time he thought
fit. Then he thought the great evil would be destroyed. As
to partridges and pheasants, he did not think there was any
very great ground for discontent about them. But he thought
they ought to agitate for the rabbits becoming the property of
the occupier, and then their crops would not be destroyed. He
thouglit that if they went in for extreme measures they would
not get anything, but if they went to work in moderation they
would get all they required. As to the lease, what was the
use of a farmer dictating to the landlord P The landlord would
say, " I must have the game," and if the tenant demurred at
this, the landlord could say, " If you don't like it, twenty
others will have it." He could not see any other way of
meeting the case than that which he had stated.

Mr. Stookes wished to give a word in explanation. Mr.
Sowton had said he was astonished at his scheme, and could
not understand it, and then he went on to say that the rabbits
should belong to the occupier. His (Mr. Stookes') scheme
was just this, only he went in for a larger slice. He only
asked that Chambers of Agriculture should advocate this, and
that the law should recognise the rabbits as being tlie tenant's.
He did not mean to take solely what the landlord said, but let
it become law, and then landlord and tenant could come to
terms afterwards. Unless they had it made law some differences
would be sure to arise.

Mr. CotJLTON (Paignton) agreed with nearly all that had
been said by Mr. Sowton. As far as hares, partridges, and
pheasants went, he did not think they did much harm in this
county to the crops. He thought, however, that the rabbits
should be entirely under the control of the tenant, who should
have the power to trap, ferret, and destroy them at any time.
He thought that where hares and winged game did £1 worth
of damage in the county, £20 damage was done by the rabbits.
Every right-minded landlord who went over a farm, and saw
the injury done by rabbits, must feel that it was not right to
allow such a state of things to exist. For his own part, his
late landlord. Col. BuUer, and his present landlord. Lord
Churston, always called the keepers to account if they saw
many rabbits on the farms. The rabbits generally did most
damage on the poorer parts of the land, where the tenant had
to expend most money, and they soon took the rent out of the
crops. The great evil was where the game tenant got all the
rabbits, and that was what the tenant farmers ought to prevent
if they could. Then, as to the keepers, he should like to see
the tenant trusted more and the keeper less — there should be
greater confidence between landlord and tenant. He had seen,
and of course there were, good honest gamekeepers, but some
of them were as great scoundrels as ever existed. As to the
game-laws, he should not wish them to be altogether done
away with. He referred to the speeches of Lord Morley and
Sir M. Lopes at Plymouth, and regretted to see that the land-
lords were not present to-day, for it was a question which
materially affected them as well as the tenants. He concluded
by proposing : " That this Chamber is of opinion that the
tenant should have the full power to trap, net, or destroy the
rabbits at any time." This, he thought, would meet the case.

Mr. W. Eendell (Netherton) would be sorry to see
the law deprive the good old English landlord of his sport.
If thnre was a proper confidence between landlord and tenant,
they would, instead of having less game, have more. The
great complaint was where the third man stepped in. The
rabbits were kept at the expense of the tenaut, and carried to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINiJ.

117

market to the profit of the third man. That was the galling
part of it. It was not the game generally, he thought, that
did any great damage, but only the rabbits. The total aboli-
tion of the game laws would not, in his opinion, benefit the
farmers, nor did he agree with Mr. Stockes' plan to take the
taxes off and make them less than at present. It would be
taking it from the rich and putting it on the poor man.

It was then suggested by the Cuairman that this meeting
should be adjourned to the Totnes meeting, which would take
place on the first Tuesday in January, when it would be dis-
cussed by a large assembly, who would also be brought
together to speak on the Turnpike Question.
_ Mr. Watson, after saying that he thought the total aboli-
tion of the game laws would be the result, tliough he did not
quite advocate it, moved the adjournment of the meeting.

Mr. J. H. Browse (Paignton) agreed that the tenant
should have the right to destroy the rabbits, but he did not

think there should be a total abolition of the game laws. He
thought that any ill-feeling that existed between landlord and
tenant was caused by the third person stepping in. As to the
game shops in towns, they were no doubt supplied by game-
keepers and poachers. They ought to do away with these
two parties ; and to get rid of the poacher, he suggested that
everyone carrying a gun should have to get a certificate cost-
ing him £3, and to enable him to kill game he should have a
second £3 certificate. This should apply to all except tenants
of farms, and then it would put a stop to poachers.

Mr. Pollard (Paignton), tliought the landlords should
take care to let the farms only to men of honour, and place
the game entirely in their hands. Then the tenants would
always be proud to provide their landlords with a day's sport.

The Chairman then acknowledged the vote of thanks
awarded to him, after which it was agreed to adjourn the
meeting, as proposed, at Totnes.

FARM LEASES.

At a recent meeting of the Maidstone Farmers' Club,
Mr. Thomas Bridglaud, jun., in the chair, the sub-
ject of discussion was larm Leases, and the circular
stated that the subject had been brought before the
notice of the committee by the Chairman, at the request of
a large landed proprietor in this part of the county, who had
expressed a wish tliat the Club should endeavour to draw up
the clauses of a farm agreement, which would be fair both to
landlord and tenant.

Mr. Chittenden said the subject which he had the honour
of bringing before them for consideration was one of such very
great imijortance, that he must apologise for taking upon
himself the duty of introducing it. It came before them under
very impartial auspices, liaving been pressed upon their atten-
tion by a large landowner in the neighbourhood. But inde-
pendent of that, many members of the club had been for some
time anxious of discussing the subject with a view of calling
to it the attention of owners as well as occupiers of land and to
elicit, and, they hoped, to obtain considerable benefit from the
various and opposing opinions which undoubtedly existed upon
it, and not from any wish on their part or liis of recommending
any specific form to be adopted, far less of fettering the free
rights of the owner of the soil of doing what he likes with his
own; but ifiiisodoiog he wishes to improve his estate, to
act fairly to the tenant, and contribute his item to the general
advancement of agriculture, the terms of tenure and cultivation
must be fully and fairly considered. The first relation of land-
lord and tenant was one of buyer and seller. The principal
item of the bargain, as all would understand, would be the rent,
and it became the duty, as well as the interest, of the landlord'
that question being settled, to see how far, while securing
himself liom injury, he could give to the tenant full and fair
scope for the exercise of his ability, so that he could obtain
from the land the greatest possible amount of produce ; and
not, perhaps, as is too often the case, tying him up to farm
upon some particular system which is either out of date, ill-
adapted to the position of the farm, to the requirements of the
market, or to that course which the man himself may be best
adapted to carry out successfully. They were all aware that
certain methods were adapted to certain lands, and individuals
also had peculiar methods which in their hands best tended
to success. The general security which tenants have had for
some time has been the character of the large landowners of
this country, which has- certainly stood very high, and men
have farmed under them with confidence and satisfaction for
many years. Still, changes, in order to keep pace with the
times, involved a more expensive, a more energetic system of
cultivation, and the farmer did not now look to his reward
this year or the next, but to a distant period, probably spread
over years. In that case, iiowever sure a tenant may be of
the good faith of his landlord, something may intervene.
Death, or a change of ownership, or a change of stewardship,
or some unfbrseen event, may deprive him of his expected and
just reward. Many as tenauts-at-will liad occupied under their
landlords and their fathers before them, and that indisposed
them to say anything about the matter. Others felt it not to

be prudent, for the landlord might very possibly say, " What
you and your family have occupied under me so many years,
and begin to doubt my word ? Have you lost confidence in
my sense of honour? If that is the ease, some one else must
have the farm." Let us suppose that the landlord, valuing for
himself a reasonable independence and protection from loss,
thinks he might extend it to his tenant, andreplies, " Very
well, I will give you a lease. I am going to London to-nior-
row, and I will see my lawyer on the matter." He went , to
London, and the lawyer got down from his dusty shelves a cut
and dried form, and brought to bear such an amount of agri-
cuUural knowledge as he might have picked up in his walks
through Lmcoln's-inu-fields or the Temple gardens and drew
up a document; and could it be a matter of surprise if it
should prove very good law but very poor farming. In this
clauses are introduced, which, if fully enforced, are ill-adapted
to the agriculture of the present day, so that the desired result
is as far off as ever. There was, however, this saving clause,
and it was a blessed one, that those stipulations were rarely
looked after and enforced. In nineteen cases out of twenty
if they were enforced, they would be a serious injury to the in-
dustrious and praiseworthy tenant. But although those
clauses were not enforced the stipulations were ever before the
man's eyes, and were one of those little checks to the advance-
ment of agriculture which all were supposed to wish to have
removed. On the othci- liand, it was only reasonable that in
giving up his land the owner should wish to retain a little power
over it. To prevent it from being injured by bad farming
there should be such restrictions as would protect it. Penal-
ties and restrictions bristled in some leases, but that they were
any check against injury he doubted ; they were a far greater
check against improvement and progress. They could endorse
that from their own experience. Land let to a good farmer
was certain to be improved and returned to the owner in a
more valuable condition, and all the laws by which an agree-
ment might be fenced round would not prevent a bad farmer
from deteriorating his holding. This, of course, involved the
necessity of inquiring into the character of the would-be
tenant, and in this there was little difiiculty. A large propor-
tion came from the immediate neighbourhood, but where the
applicant came from a distance there was little trouble in in-
quiring into his antecedents. The leases ought to be drawn
with as few limits as possible. Men who wished for leases were
generally hopeful, earnest, energetic men, who were not quite
satisfied with the old way of jogging on, but hoped to see
something better than has been done, and were willing to ex-
pend both money and labour. Whereas the expenditure of a
man who feels that he may have to leave his farm at six
months' notice must always have a view to immediate results.
He will not, and cannot, wisely lay his plans involving outlay
and labour far into the future ; thus permanent and ureent
improvements must be discarded, and he is too often haunted
rightly or wrongly, by the bugbear of having his rent raised
over his head as the result of his own improvements. With
regard to the terras of the lease, he would recommend, as he
said at first, no specific form, only to press the principle that

il8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

security of teiuire sliould be given to the tenant as well as free-
dom of action, freedom to introduce or originate any better
system of cultivation tliau tliat of his neighbour if he can.
Tlie term should be for 14 or 21 years. Seven or ten years
might possibly answer the purpose of the agreeing parties,
but any term less than seven years was little better than a yearly
tenancy. Many of the clauses of the lease must be what they
are now. Tlie usual guarantee of reut and taxes by the tenant,
the timber not cut, underwood not to be grubbed, nor the
grass land broken up without consent. It might be desirable
— lie did not say that it was — that in this part of tlie county
there should be a certain acreage of hops stipulated for, but in
that case the tenant ought to have reserved to him the right
to grub and plant at will. All moneys received for hay, straw,
and roots should be expended on dung, artificial manure and
oilcake, and that the tenant should quit the farm on the same
terms as those on which he enters. But, above all, wliat to
plough and what to sow, what was to be the system of cultiva-
tion, ought to be left to the judgment of the tenant, so long
as there was no cause for dispute. If dispute should arise, it
ought to be settled by two independent parties or their um-
pire, and if they found that the man was not farming in a good
and husbandlike manner, then and then only should he be
compelled, on pain of forfeiture of the lease, to manage the
land on a fixed system named in the lease as that to be pur-
sued during the last year or two of the terra. Although the
tenant ought to be allowed his full swing during the greater
part of his tenure, it was necessary that the land should be
left at the end of the lease in such a condition as to secure the
incoming tenant from injury. They now came to a term in
the lease which if they were to talk till doomsday they would
not quite get settled. It was generally expressed in this way,
" the landlord reserving to himself tlie right of sporting over
his farm." And a very good right he had to reserve it if he
chose, and very few tenants would object to it, provided the
owner himself shoots. But if he was going to turn his land,
which ought to be growing food for the people, into a poultry
yard, then he contended it was a serious injury to the tenant,
and contrary to the spirit of the age. It was no more justifiable
than would be the re-introduction of the barbarous boar hunt
of their Norman ancestors. A landlord, benefiting largely
by the immense strides of arts and commerce, and civilisation
generally, must be prepared to make some concessions, and
his love of sport must be kept within the bounds of modera-
tion. There was plenty of shooting, which no farmer would
object to, and which, he believed, every tenant farmer liked to
see, but when 20 or 30 keepers were placed on a farm and
pheasants rau about as tame as their own cocks and hens then
it was that they protested. He ventured to speak plainly, for
it was quite as well that landlords should understand "their
opinions upon the question. They said let them shoot, let
them sport, but let them do it like sportsmen and gentlemen,
and tliey would lend them a helping hand and preserve all the
game they could. That was a matter which should be settled,
as part of tlie original agreement, and not left to tiie discre-
tion of either party, and should be fully borne in mind when
considering the rent. Then there was the question of rabbits.
They heard something about them lately. His opinion was
that they should be subject to the same laws as the rats. He
would keep them under, not exterminate them, and the tenant
ought to be the party to deal with them. He could only ex-
press his regret that they should in these days hear of some
glaring cases where the property of the tenant was destroyed
through the heedlessness of the landlord. This naturally
caused some dissatisfaction, whicli he hoped might be removed
through the good sense and good feeling of both parties. He
did not look to the remedy which some people were advocating,
and which was now being promoted by the Scottish Chamber
of Agriculture, that of legislation on the subject of ground
game. With regard to the clause against sub-letting, Mr.
Chittenden pointed out that it required a little relaxing, es-
pecially under circumstances of ill-health or death, and said
when a tenant was unable to carry on his farm, he ought to
be able to dispose of his unexpired lease. Although a landlord
in case of death, might not forget the rightful claim of the
widow and orphans, they ouglit not to take that as a favour
which was their right. Witii regard to culture, he said, some
leases provided that the tenant should not grow two white
straw crops in succession, a restriction decidedly absurd and
unreasonable. They had lately some of them seen Mr. Lawes'

farm, where wheat had been grown successively for 16 years.
He did not pretend to say that tliey could do that as farmers,
lie only knew that it had been done, and that there wag a
possibility of doing a great deal more in growing white crops
than had ever been dreamt of. Ou anotlier piece of land Mr.
Lawes had grown nine crops of wheat in 14 jears, and if Mr.
Lawes had done this, why might not they all hope to
do it ? He, therefore said, " wipe out all restrictions re-
garding white straw crops." The land would speak in
very pocket-touching terms to the tenant if he attempt to corn-
crop too closely in proportion to the skill and liberality of his
management. In conclusion Mr. Chittenden said he would
venture to press upon landlords — he was sorry they were not
there that evening — to give leases, for he was sure in the
majority of cases their property would be materially benefited ;
and to the tenants he would say " strive hard, and never rest
till you get them, and you will have a security and comfort
which you have never felt before." The tenant would then
have opportunity of carrying out schemes of improvement
wliich would be the natural result of more leisurely reflection,
and would benefit the state and his own private interests.
And while pressing the general adoption of leases upon their
consideration, he need scarcely remind them that when Scot-
land and Norfolk farmers took tlieir first famous steps in im-
proved cultivation, leases were demanded, and were granted as
the sole secure basis of action. Obtain, then, these leases,
he said, but make their conditions more free ; strike off the
fetters that have so long tied the thoughts and hands of the
farmers, and althongh it may not be even then all serene, it
wiU conduce to the prosperity of all parties concerned, and
will help on a progressive and a more largely-producing system
of agriculture. He might remind them of what, perhaps,
they were all too well aware, that the farmer was very hardly
pressed by the foreign producer, and that iu many respects he
was at a considerable disadvantage. He had high rents, high
taxation, and his expenses were large. He had sufficient im-
pediments already without any further being placed in his way.
He thought, therefore, they might ask fairly for security of
tenure, and such freedom of action that the farmer might enter
with lieart and energy, and let them hope with success, into
that competition whicli he must encounter.

The Secretary then read a letter from Sir Edmund Tilmer
expressing his desire that the connection between landlord and
tenant migjit be established on a fair basis. He also said that
he was constantly in the habit of giving leases himself. He
should have been present, but an unavoidable engagement pre-
vented his doing so.

The following letter had been also received from Mr. Elvy ; —

" To the Chairman of the Maidstone Farmers' Club.
" Dear Sir, — As the oldest member of the club, being from
age unable to attend, I have put down the heads of a lease I
should be willing to take or to give. I believe the shorter and
plainer leases are drawn the better. Farmers may have brains
enough to farm, but none but lawyers can understand the pre-
sent leases — that is if they be meant to be understood.
" Yours verv obediently,
" BowhiU, 18th Nov., 1869. ' " F. B. Elvy.

" Where a lease is not granted a yearly notice to quit should
be given, not six months, which is unfair both to landlord and
tenant. Whatever the term of the lease the following, I think,
are fair terms : — No restrictions as to farming ; the times will
not allow this. Let the restrictions be a covenant to farm
according to good husbandry. To be determined by referees
at the end of the lease, or the landlord to have the power of
calling on them before the expiration if any gross conduct
should render it necessary. Tlie premises to be put into good
tenantable repair by the landlord, the tenant afterwards keep-
ing them so, on being allowed materials. No permanent pas-
ture to be ploughed up or woods grubbed without consent of
the landlord. AH draining, or other improvements which re-
quire time to repay, to be done by the landlord, the tenant
paying 5 per cent. ; or, if done by the tenant, with the consent
of the landlord, the moiety of the improvements not worked
out to be paid for at the expiration of the term. The land-
lord, or his agents, to have the right to examine the state of
the farm from time to time. Hay and straw, or dung, or other
manures to be paid at market price ; no half manures allowed.
AVood, of course, valued to the stub. Timber and fruit trees
preserved. Hares and rabbits the joint property of the land-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

lord aud tenant. Winged game, if desired, the sole property
of the landlord. Rent, half-yearly if required. Tithes, poors
rate, &c., paid, as usual, by the tenant. The lease to be drawn
in a plain intelligible style; no tautology, such as most leases
contain, to render it impossible to understand them. If neces-
sary let the charge be as much for short common sense."

Mr. HoDSOLL said there could be no doubt whatever as to
the importance of the subject. It had occupied the attention
ot the Committee of the Farmers' Club and the Council of the
West Kent Chamber of Agriculture. There was no doubt
Whatever tliat a good lease was necessary for the protection of
the tenant, and the progressive character of the age had been
well illustrated by the letter which had been received from Sir
MmuudFilmer Any advance in the matter would be alike
to the interest of landlord and tenant, and he was sure that it
was only necessary for their requirements to be made known
for the landlords to fall in with them. The question was, what
did they want ? The tenant had a right to ask for a free and
lair user of the land, presuming the rent was paid, and that he
should be able to make the most of his capital and labour for
in advancing his personal interest, as he said before, lie was
advancing at the same time the interest of his landlord With
regard to the terra of the lease, he thought it should "not be
less than 14 to 21 years, so as to enable the tenant to make
the utmost use of his capital. He tliought that evening they
should come to some practical result by forming themselves
into a committee, so as to draw up a farm agreement " which
would be fair to both landlord and tenant." There was one
matter on which Mr. Chittenden, although he had treated the
whole subject in a most admirable manner, had borne too ten-
derly—the subject of ground game. It was quite time that
question was settled. The farmer was now in sharp competi-
tion with the foreigner, and anything that restricted his opera-
•' tions ought to be done away with . He t bought they could not
do better than send up a strong resolution to the Central
Chamber of Agriculture, to the effect that the club seriously
wished to record its opinion that the over-preservation of
ground game should be put an end to by legislation. Mr
Hodsoll then pointed out that his crops in a certain district
were eaten off by his neighbour's rabbits, and said nothing
could justify Ins being placed in that position. He thouHit
there was a criminality in the over-preservation of ground
game, and that the tenant ought to be allowed to kill all the
ground game he found on his own land.

The Chairman said he could not conceive how a man who
was in the happy position of farming his own land, could'com-
plam of anybody's game. If he was in that position, and any
nobleman s rabbits or pheasants should come upon his land he
should have them. He then caUed upon tlie members of the
club to keep as strictly as they could to the point, that of farm
leases.

Dr. MoNCKTON said, he believed if a table were drawn up
showing how many farms were held under leases, they would
find out that the very best landlords in Great Britain granted
the fewest number. Still that was no argument against
claiming as a legal right what has hitherto been ceded as a

119

friendly privilege He quite agreed with Mr. Chittenden as
to the absurdity of a large number of leases, and he gave an
instance. He said in leases they ought to agree, and write
down in lair common sense what they meant, so that they
could understand it when it was written. But all this he
said, would of course, after all, depend upon arrangement
Upon the subject of growing two straw crops in succession,
while he uUy went with the experiments carried out by Mr
Lawes, where nine wheat crops had been grown in 1-i years'
he thought it was not a precedent to be adopted for their
radical guidance in the construction of a lease. A note to the
steward where a man was desirous of carrying out a honest
straightforward course in the management of his land, would
be found generally sufficient. He protested against any broad
and general rules being laid down in all cases. All permanent
improvements, he said, ought to be carried out by the landlords
so that they should no longer have any questions of compensa-
tion. With regard to game, he humourously pointed out that
pheasants were extremely scarce, and said if any one stood on
Kebthng-hill aud took in a radius of 10 miles, he did not think
mncli damage could be said to be done there, aud that would
include a large game-preserving district.— (Mr. STor^iiAM : « I
have had £100 damage done on 300 acres of land in one year ")
In reply to Mr. Stonham, he would put a purely suppositious
case. Supposing a farmer on 200 acres of land lost £100 by
game and rabbits, and supposing he paid 10s. per acre less on
account of the fore-known game, how much would he lose ?
(Hear, hear and " That's it.") After all the lease should be
the mere embodiment of what was accepted by business men as

the custom ot the country."

Mr Stoniiam urged that " market" instead of " feed" price
should be paid to the tenant for hay and straw on leavinghis

u3'i£T ^f'*^/''^* "ff ' ''^""^'^ ^« ^ c^^eJi^it in the lease
anlln II ^°'"°'''^ '^'"''^'^ f"'"^ "^1 t''« ^^''^"^Is except straw,
and do all the repairs, so that the tenant should not be snbjec
to a claim for dilapidation. ''

Mr. Wool) pointed out that the generality of landlords were
honourable and liberal to their tenants, when they eould make
direct application, but a second party frequently intervened in

w!l ?f, °^ t '^^^''''^ °' ^'''^'^- I*^ "=^"y districts the land^
lords let the shooting over the heads of the tenant to a com-
parative stranger, who sent down three or four keepers and
the land was stocked with game instead of sheep or oxen
lie knew an instance in which a landlord had given power to
a tenant to dispose of his lease on terms equitable to the
tenant and satisfactory to himself

,.J\ ^""^^^^"™ '•'^Plie'l. With regard to the leases, he
!vl' ff -^^P everything away that affects cultivation, and let
everything, whether dilapidations or damages through the
andlord having too much game, be referred to arbitration.
He believed that all matters in dispute could be settled by two
gen leinen competent to judge quite as fairly and quite as
justly as if they wore the wig or the ermine. ^

A vote of thanks to I\Ir. Chittenden was carried, and the
proceedings terminated. ' '

THE SMITHFIELD CLUB SHOW.

(Concluded from, our last. J

THE IMPLEMENT DEPARTMENT.

_ We have here to notice more fully the ingenious and
simple arrangement shown by Messrs. Hornsby for
throwing the cutting-knife of their reapers and mowers
out of gear. In their self-delivery machines it is im-
portant of course for the man working them to have his
hands free to guide the horses out at the ends, or to pull
them up in the event of a casualty. And in the smaUer
machines, where the rake is used, it is equally important
that his hands should be at liberty to work-off the sheaf
at the right time, and to do this too, as it generally
requires to be done, simultaaeously with throwing the

knife out of gear for turning a corner or backing for the
purpose of re-starting in the right position. Being able
to do this with the foot, therefore, and much easier too
than it has hitherto been done with a lever and the hand
IS an arrangement which merits the greatest consideration
by practical men. Supposing the knife is workino- and
It IS necessary to throw it out of gear, all that the' man
working the machine needs to do is to kick the catch with
his disengaged foot, and the required object is effected in
an instant. And, again, supposing it is necessary to
throw the work iuto gear, all he has to do is to place his
foot on the lever to tighten the rod, when the catch drops
mto the eye previously referred to, and the cogs are held

120

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

as rigidly to their work as though they were a fixture.
Any one who has driven a phseton or waggonette with a
hand-lever to affix a break will at once appreciate this
arrangement, and, apart from the perfect convenience
this is, as applied to reaping machines, it is not
of less value for attaching to travelling carnages
in hilly countries, when a break is necessary to keep
the cross-bars off the horses' thighs or hocks To
complete the apparatus for reaping and mowing by horse-
power the Messrs. Hornsby have designed and completed
a portable knife-erinding machine. This compact appa-
ratus is fitted with a seat, and it can be worked with
single or double treddle. With it there are rests for
hearing and holding the knife when it is necessary to file
it, or only requisite to " refresh" it with a stone. As the
draught and cleanliness of cut greatly depend on the keen-
ness "of the knives, this portable grindstone and rest will
prove a valuable auxiliary in the field when at a distance
from the homestead. The Beverley Waggon Company
have added a self-acting motion to their back-hand deli-
very machines. This is accomplished by a small cog-
wheel, which is worked by the driving-wheel, so that at
the end of every revolution of the smnller wheel the open
"platform" is allowed to fall backwards, and the gathered
corn is thrown off without any assistance from the rake,
which can therefore be employed in gathering evenly the
corn that is still being cut. Different sized wheels are
provided for this purpose, so that the dropping of the
platform may be more or less frequent, according to the
thickness or other conditions ot the crop. The accom-
plishment of this variation will be understood if the effect
of different-sized wheels on a barrel of a corn-drill be
called to mind. A small wheel comes round to act upon
the lever more frequently, and a large wheel less often,
and the distance the machine goes before it throws off
each sheaf is regulated accordingly. Messrs. Picksley,
Sims and Co. exhibited their improved machine, which
has the advantage of a set of driving cogs in each wheel,
one of which is less numerous ; and, therefore, by shift-
ing the axle so as to throw one set out of gear and the
other in gear, the knife is driven slower or more rapidly
according as the crop of corn or grass may require a dif-
ferent speed. Messrs. Burgess and Key exhibited the
various forms of their mowing and combined reaping
and mowing machines, one of which was the original of
" The Autobiography of an Old Screw," which appeared in
the 31arlc Lane Express in September last, and wherein
it was said it had been through ten harvests, and with a
little care in regard to bolts and screws and a renewal of
wearing parts, it was likely to go through as many
more. Messrs. Howard have, we are informed, made
several improvements m their reapers and mowers to ob-
viate the vibration and friction which prevented their
attaining their usual prominent position during the trials
at Manchester. Messrs. Samuelson and Co., Banbury,
had an effective show of their "Eclipse" and other reapers
and mowers, both combined and self-delivery.

Of mills and food preparers generally, for single hand use
or for grouping under a shaft for driving simultaneously by
steam power, there was the usual display on several stands.
There is but little new, however, in these machines which
is of any practical importance. Messrs. Turner, of Ips-
wich, exhibited their usual stock ; Messrs. Woods, Cock-
sedge and Warner had one of each of their grinding and
crushing mills,pulping apparatus,and soon, and an excellent
verticat engine, at a low figure, for standing in a small
space to worlc them. Messrs. Ransome, Sims, and Head
had also their stock of elegantly-finished mills and
machines for preparing corn and roots for the mangers
of stables, stalls, and folds. In Gardener's turnip-cutter
we found the Beverley Waggon Company had a decided
Wiprgyemeut j for the reyolving drum which carries the

knives was in the form of circular bars, between which,
at the bottom of the hopper, are fixed small iron "pickers,"
or tongues. As these tongues project slightly beyond the
bars (indeed, as far as they can be fixed so as not to catch
the knives), the thinnest slice is caught by them, and cut
into the required shreds, instead of pp.ssing through, as
must be the case when only a plain surface for the roots
to be pressed against is employed. On the gallery we
found Messrs. Picksley and Sims had a most efficient
root-scra])er, which shaves turnips and mangolds into
tape-like shreds. For mixing with chaff for store stock,
so that they may not be made too dainty with a few roots
to eat straw or inferior hay, and thereby be simply in-
duced to bellow all the day after they have gobbled up the
few roots that can be spared for them— for this purpose,
and now that there is some prospect of great efforts being
made at home to grow sugar-beet to compete with the
Indies in producing saccharine, this "shredder" is a
machine which is likely to increase in importance and de-
mand. Messrs. Richmond and Chandler were on the
gallery with their large stand of mills and chaff-cutters,
which are allowed " in the trade" to be unsurpassed for
efficiency and durability of wearing parts. This character
is attained from an additional pound, on an average, being
spent in labour in drilling bearers and in planing spindles
mouth-pieces, and so on. The application of springs, be-
sides, to compress the " feed," instead of the old lever and
weight, assures greater pressure when the hay or straw is
thicker, while with the lever a thick " feed" tossed up the
weight, and the pressure was thus made less at the very
time when greater compactness was required to allow
a clean and comparatively easy cut. The endless band
with its cross-bars for carrying the " feed" forward, in-
stead of its having to be dragged by the rollers near the
mouth-piece, together with the long drawing cut of the
knives used, make these machines as perfect in operation
as can be desired. Mr. H. Bentall, of Heybridge, was
also strong in his various preparing machinery, the plain
and serviceable character of which is almost as well
known all over England as it is in the county of
Essex, in which it" is made. Horse ploughs are
" looking up," in favour and demand. Earmers, in-
deed, are coming hack to a practical consideration
of all things from a paying point of view. This
consideration includes horse-ploughs. As it has been
found that horses must still be used on the
for general carrying-purposes, it is desired
they should not "" eat their heads off," that
must be worked. It has also been found that tearing a
steam-plough along at the rate of five miles an hour, from
8 to 12 inches deep, is not a safe plan for preparing a
seed-bed, either for wheat in the autumn, or oats or barley
in the spring. Curious examples of technical knowledge,
as practised when a steam plough has been bought or
hired, have been produced during the last few years.
Farmers who would watch their men as cats watch mice,
lest a greater depth than four inches should be reached
for wheat when a horse plough was used, have no sooner
obtained the command of steam power than they have
rushed in where they previously feared to go, the result
being an eight, ten, or twelve-inch seed bed, and scarcely
any plants at all in the spring, and no crop worth cutting
at' harvest— in short, the steam ploughing produced a
deathAi&di, instead of a seed-bed for the wheat. This
may account in some measure for no steam plough being
in the Hall during the late show. The success, too, of
Pirie's three-wheel and two-furrow plough, as made by
Messrs. Fowler and Co., Leeds, is proof positive that
the use of the steam plough for a cereal crop is
almost altogether abandoned. Two other ploughs oa
Pirie's principle are said to he in the field, and that
the right to make the diagonal axle, wheels, and othe?

farm
that
they

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

parts of this singular plough may possibly be contested iu
the law courts. In regard to one-horse ploughs we need
only mention the names of such makers as the Howards
the Ransomes, the Hornsbys, and Balls, for their iron
ploughs are everywhere well known and practically ap-
preciated according to their merits. Indeed, these ancient
implements of husbandry have become so perfect under the
iiands of our modern agricultural engineers that it is now
just a matter of the character of the work to be done the
quality of the wearing parts, and the price that need
guide any one in selection. But Messrs. John Cooke and
^0 _ot Lincoln, have recently produced a novelty in wood
and iron, vvhich has attracted a good deal of attention
not only of farmers but of other makers. This imple-
ment is as strong in the parts which take the strain of
the draught when it is at work, as the beam and handJd
01 an irou plough are at one stone more weight. This
strength with lightness is obtained by afiBxingto a wooden
beam a length of " angle" iron 3^ inches by 3 in width.
The thickness of the " angle" iron is regulated according
to the work the plough is required to do. But the
strength of 3^ inches of iron one-eigth of an inch in
thickness may be reckoned by an attempt to bend a
M>row iron hoop sidewise. We here, of course, confine
our remarks to the strength and durability of a beam so
constructed, for any form of mould-board and other
arrangements can be fitted, and we have already allowed
that work by ploughs, like the cutting part of reapers
and mowers, is an accomplished fact, needing no further
improvement. The whole matter has now, therefore
> resolved itself into work to be done, first cost, and wear
and tear of parts.

In screens and hand-winnowing machines there was
nothing new, but Messrs. Garrett, the Ransomes, Penney
of Lincoln, and Boby, had specimens of the ro-
tating and oscillating . screens, all of which are scarcely
open to improvement for the purposes for which they
were intended. The smut and atmospheric separatino-
machine, however, of Messrs. Nell, Harrison, and Co
of 75, Aldermanbury, London, is a wonderful contrivance
for a combination of economised space, and doino- an ex-
traordinary amount of work in dressing corn. The smuts
are first rubbed to pieces in a cylinder, or any foulness
which may have been produced during a long sea voyage
IS then rubbed loose, when corn and dust together pals
into a box at the bottom of the machine, where a
sieve is at work to receive stones. Through this box a
draught of air is produced, which bodily conveys corn
and dust to the top of the machine, over which all in-
jurious matter is carried away, while heavy, medium, and
light valueless grains fall upon sieves as they arrive into a
wider space, and the air pressure on each grain is thereby
diminished. This application of an artificially produced
and confined draught of air to separating grain is by far
the most efiicient process yet introduced ; for the specific
gravity of a grain generally determines its comparative
value, both as regards its nutritious character and purity.
The most accurate screen or sieve cannot take out bulky
light grains, when they do not exceed in size the ordinary
measure of the bulk, but by causing them literally to be
suspended in mid-air, and then carried by a cross-current
over a sieve or box, where the draught grows uniformly
less, must take from the bulk anything which it is de-
sirable should not be there. This machine, however, is
too expensive for farmers, except it be on very large occu-
pations, but for mills and the granaries of merchants, it
is a mechanical contrivance which performs its work in
the most complete manner.

The seed stands were as large, as elaborately arranged,
and as cleverly decorated with the more ornamental pro-
ductions of each exhibitor as ever; and Messrs Gibbs
Sutton, Caiter, Wheeler, of Gloucester, King, of Cogges^

121

hall, Harrison and Sons, of Leicester, and others, had
most effective displays, showing the advantages attendant
on purity of seed for all kinds of agricultural crops.

THE SMITHFIELD CLUB SHOW.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir,— The return of the Sraithfield Club Cattle Show sug-
gests many pleasurable reminiscences to my mind, causing me
to look back to what I always have considered its origin. T
refer hereto the practice of two patriotic individuals— Francis
Duke of Bedford, and Thomas William Coke, Esq., afterwards'
Earl of Leicester— of inviting agriculturists from every quarter
of the civilized world to their annual sheepshc-ariiigs, for the
avowed purpose of promoting the interests of agriculture by
bringing together in social and harmonious intercourse a body
of men hitherto isolated and almost useless to each other ; but
amongst whom in a collective capacity, by which mind is brought
into contact with mind, the results of individual tliougiit and
experiment could be compared, a fund of useful iuformation
disseminated, and traditional errors in practice corrected.
Those annual gatherings I had the pleasure of attending for
many years, and both witnessed and partook of the almost
lavish hospitality extended to five or six hundred persons,
who, for three consecutive days, were invited to a sump-
tuous dinner, the noble host presiding. Men of all ranks
classes, and professions met there on equal terms, and men of
science particularly chemists, were special objects of attention
Mr. Coke being the first man of note who introduced those who
professed it to the attention of the agricultural world. That
science as applied to agriculture was in its infancy ; but from
tlie patronage of such men as the Duke of Bedford and Mr.
Loke it soon assumed an importance which has ever since pro-
gressed uutd it has become the leading agent in the cultivation
ot the land.

The Duke of Bedford unfortunately died in 1801, and his
successor thouglit proper to discontinne the annual gatherings
the last was hekl the same year in which his brother died, and
at this I happened to be present, and heard the expressions of
regret that so useful an institution should be given up. Mr.
Coke continued the meetings at Holkham as usual, until an-e*
and infirmity rendered the labour of preparing for and su's-
taining them too onerous to be continued. But the founda-
tion was kid for that flood of light and knowledge which has
since been brought to bear upon the practice of agriculture.
U e see the eff'ects of tliis, in a greater or less extent, upon the
whole body of agrisulturists, not only at home but abroad; on
the continents of Europe, America, and Australia (for this last
must must have such a character from its extent), and in every
colony and country to whirh British intercourse extends.
JNow, whatever may have been the subseciuent efforts of other
men— and a powerful phalanx of scientific and practical men
have sprung up and followed in the same steps— the move-
ment certainly had its origm in those annual gatherings which
took place on the domains and under the auspices of the Wo-
burn and Holkham chieftains.

And what have been the ultimate results of these periodical
invitations to men of science and practice from all parts of the
world, uniting men of wealth, enterprize, and intelligence-
men of all ranks and classes in society ? We see the results
in the universal movement of the agricultural world for the
formation of kindred institutions, of both a local and a general
character ; in the establishment of Farmers' Clubs and of Agri-
cultural Societies throughout the kingdom, by which mind is
brought into contact with mind, which, like that of flint and
steel, necessarily elicits sparks of intelligence, and knowledge
IS disseminated amongst a body of men who formerly led lives
of isolation from the sources of information. We see these in the
weekly reports of agricultural journals, of the papers read, and
the discussions which follow on all subjects connected with agri-
culture and the cultivation of the soil. We see the results like-
wise in the multiplication of agricultural machines and imple-
ments, and in the rivalry of the makers of them, by which such is
the perfection to which they have attained that manual labour in
all Its most onerous forms is reduced to a mere healthful exer-
cise. We see these in the superior education of farmers, iu
the establishment of agricultural colleges where the youths are

122

instructed in both the theory and practice of their profession.
Lastly we see all these efforts culminate in the increased pro-
duction of the soil, in the improvement of the types of both
animal and veget'ible produce, as exemplified at the various
local shows throughout the kingdom, and especially those of
the Royal Agricultural Society and of the Sraithfield Club, tlie
anniversary of which has just been held, and has given rise to
this letter.

Considering the heavy losses sustained by the graziers and
breeders of cattle, and the continued dread of a recurrence of
the disease under which they lie, of a renewal of the decima-
tion, the present show is perhaps better than could have been
expected. The Devons, which, as usual, occupy the first five
classes— the aristocracy of the show— are, I thought, fully
equal in merit to those of any former occasion. The number
exhibited is large— 41 ; and in many instances in this, as well
as other breeds, the judges must have been frequently per-
plexed by the near equality of merit. The first prize animal
in Class 2, the property of Mr. C. Humbro, M.P.,is a splendid
animal. There is one in the first class belonging to Mr. John
Overman, of Biirnliam, Norfolk, which struck me as more
worthy of a prize than some of its compeers. I have, how-
ever, been too long out of practice to pass criticisms upon the
professional critics, who, there is no doubt, have exercised
sound judgment.

The Herefords occupy the next five classes, consisting of 24
animals. These were not so good as usual, probably owing to
the decimation the country suffered in its herds by diseases, only
four of the specimens belonging to residents there. I noticed
a beast belonging to Mr. Robt. Wortley, of Suftield, as being
specially meritorious, although it took only an inferior prize.
Bee. 15. The Old Norfolk Farmer.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

BY A PRACTICAL FARMER.

The chief particulars of the exhibition of the above-named
Club in cattle, sheep, pigs, implements of husbandry, and
agricultural machinery have been so well and ably reported in
the Mark-Lane Express, that it would be quite superfluous for
me to make any observations in the nature of a report ; there
are, however, some things arising out of this, our country's
annual gathering, which may be very properly and usefully
brought before the public, and which it would be well to dis-
cuss and have thoroughly considered, so as to make these
most interesting meetings of the greatest possible benefit.

The Club has adopted and carefully put in practice one very
important feature in the show, whereby much true practical
knowledge might be gained and diffused — I mean in ohtaining
the weights of each animal. Upon entering the hall of exhibi-
tion, I found it a very useful and pleasing addition to the in-
terest with which I viewed the show. No one is well qualified
to judge with accuracy the weight of animals of the many
different breeds exhibited. He may approach with tolerable
exactness in estimating the weights of cattle and pigs, but I
cannot conceive of any accurate judgment in the various classes
of sheep ; hence the great value in taking the live weights
upon entry. Many specimens in these classes are so beauti-
fully shown, in exact proportion and shape, as to be very de-
ceptive to the uninitiated. I took some trouble in comparing
some of the sheep classes. The two prize pens of Leicesters,
23 months, shown by Lord Berners, very compact, beautifully-
fed animals, weighed respectively, or averaged 6 cwt. 2 qrs.
211bs. and 5 cwt. 3 qrs. 71bs. live weight. The gigantic
Cotswolds, 23 months, near them, averaged respectively 7 cwt.
2 qrs. 51bs., and 7 cwt. 161bs. Mr. Byron's 23 months' prize
pen of Lincolns averaged respectively 7 cwt. 3 qrs. 2Glbs. ;
Mr. Casswell's 23 mouths' 7 cwt. 3 qrs. lib. ; and Mr. Mor-
ley's 23 months' 7 cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs. ; Lord Walsingliam's 23
months' Southdowns averaged respectively (i cwt. 2 qrs.
211bs. ; his 35 montiis', G cwt. 1 qr. 251bs. ; Sir W. Throck-
morton's 35 months' pen, average 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 161bs., his 23
months', 6 cwt. 1 qr. 71bs. ; Earl Radnor's 35 mouths', 7 cwt.
17ibs. Messrs. Russell's prize pen of Herefordshire Downs
average 7 cwt. 1 qr. 201bs. ; Mr. Walter's second prize pen, 7
cwt. Slbs. Lord Chesham's prize Sliropshires weigh respec-
tively 6 cwt. 251bs. ; Lord Wenlock's average G cwt. 1 qr.

21bs. ; his 35 months' 7 cwt. 1 qr. 261b3. ; Mrs. Beach's 35

months' average 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 181bs. Mr. Rogers' 23 months
first prize pen of Oxfordsliire Downs weigh respectively 7 cwt.
41bs. ; Mr. Street's second prize pen, G cwt. 3 qrs. lUbs. ; Mr.
John Overman's prize pen of 21 months' Long-wooUed South-
down 'half-breds weigh respectively 7 cwt. 1 qr. 31bs. Now,
I think instruction of no mean order may be derived from
some comparisons of the above breeds and weights. Lord
Berners' 25 mouths' Leicesters weigh C cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs.
These are taken to be pure Leicesters, and finer specimens of
the breed are seldom seen. Lord Walsingham's 23 months'
Southdowns are equally fine specimens, and weigh precisely
the same weight— /.s.,G cwt. 2 qrs. 211bs. I venture to say that
few visitors at the show, nor even judges, would estimate the
two pens at equal weights, their appearance and size being so
dissimilar and disproportionate. The Cotswolds near them, to
all appearance, from their size and proportions, seemed vastly
to overweigh them ; but not so, when the proportion of offal
is taken into account, which is far heavier in the Cotswold
than the Southdown. The Lincolns again average more than
the Cotswolds— yes, considerably, which is unusual, and denotes
advancement in the breed. The Hampshire Downs come
nearest in weight to the Lincolns as a distinct breed ; the Ox-
fordshires next, followed pretty close by the Shropshires. The
Half-bred Lincoln and Southdown stand in point of weight
next to the Lincolns, and are of superb quality. We will
also take the sheep at 35 months ; Lord Walsingham^s 3o
months' sheep weigh respectively 6 cwt. 1 qr. 231bs., his 23
months' sheep, 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 211bs., showing an actual loss by
12 months' keeping. SirW. Throckmorton's 35 months sheep,
average 6 cwt. 3 qrs. IGlbs., his 23 months' sheep, G cwt. 1 qr.
71bs. : this again proves a very trifling gain in 12 months (and
goes far to prove that Southdowns are earlier brought to
maturity than some other breeds). Lord Wenlock's Shrop-
shires show an increase of more than 1 cwt., and Mrs. Beach's (
pen denote a tolerable increase in weight during the year, but
not enough to justify over-holding ; and in looking over my
figures it will be found they tell conclusively against this over-
holding, and that early maturity in the majority of breeds is to
be sought for universally, and early feeding practised. We
also learn the near appro.ximation in weight of different breeds
of sheep, as also their respective weights when got up for com-
petition. The Lincolns, Cotswolds, Oxfords, Hampshires, acd
Long-wool and Southdown half-breds, are nearer upon a par
as to weight than is generally supposed. The Leicesters,
Southdowns, and Shropshires are of less average weight, but
approximate near to each other. It may be said that this one,
this single show, is no great criterion upon which to found a
judgment. It may be so ; still, I think all breeds were repre-
sented with tolerable fairness. At all events, by continuing
this practice of taking the weight, good practical results will
be ascertained ultimately. The like results may be obtained
of the cattle and pigs. It will be important to collect these
facts relative to cattle, because year by year we have a greater
influx of cross-bred animals, many of them showing superior
points, and greater weights than pure breeds. There were
splendid specimens of crossbreds at the past show, some ap-
proaching 1^ tons live weight. There was another feature in
the show that struck me forcibly : it was the number oi exhi-
bitors from the upper classes, from Royalty downwards— the
Queen, the Prince of Wales, Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Lords,
Baronets, Knights, and Esquires. I should be the last to
call such most important and praiseworthy endeavours in ques-
tion ; nothing can add more to a country's benefit than such
noble examples ; but what I do call in question is the possi-
bility of ordinary breeders and country farmers coming into
successful competition with such noble exhibitors, who are
regardless of cost. I have seen many of their establishments
for fattening stock, their conveniences, and the attendance
most admirable, such as tenant-farmers can but very rarely
imitate. The Smithfield Club have ample funds ; what should
prevent the Club from offering a series of prizes for tenant-
farmer's classes only. It would greatly enhance their show in
point of numbers. Tenants are not often found to compete
against their landlord, simply because they cannot go to the
expense. There are tenant-farmers who do successfully com-
pete, but they are exceptions. I want to prevail upon the
general class of farmers to aim at such distinctions, depend
upon it they would be gainers in their business ultimately.
The fattening of stock is, upon many farms, I had almost said
the majority of farms, a matter of course. Tliere is little or

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

123

no regard paid to warmth, ventilation, cleanliuess, punctuality,
in administering iood, or the best application of the food
given. Prize stock know of no privation or discomfort.
Something approaching such care should be general with
graziers or feeders of stock. The Club show is wholly con-
fined to fatted stock. I should like a tenant-farmers' class in

each of the Devon, Hereford, Shorthorn, and cross-bred classes

as a beginning, ultimately to be extended to sheep.

[Of course it would be absurd to establish " tenant-farmer" or

any other limited classes at a national meeting, the very

heart of which depends upon the competition being open to

all.— Editor F.M.]

INOCULATION FOR PLE URO-PNEUMONI A.

The following is the report in full of the deputation from
the Cheshire Chamber of Agriculture that visited London:—

" We are sorry to have to say that the results of our inquiry
respecting the efficacy of inoculation as a preventive of pleuro-
pneumonia in cattle is not as satisfactory as we could wish.
All the cow-keepers we saw in London spoke favourably of it ;
but the opinion in its favour we found was evidently given
more as an expression of hope and of feeling than of direct
testimony from actual experience. They resorted to it on a
first attack of the disease, said they, but as a rule did not
inoculate so long as their stocks were healthy. When asked
why they did not inoculate all their cows as soon as they came
into their possession, or when they were quite free from the
disease, as a safer precaution if their theory was correct, they
answered, ' There was always a risk of some cattle dying from
the effects of inoculation, and they thought it best to let well
alone.' The utmost support of the practice we got was that
they thought their losses were less in an attack of pleuro when
their cattle had been inoculated, than when they had to com-
bat the disease without this protection. Since the plague had
swept away their cattle, tlieir sheds had been comparatively
free from pleuro; but now it was making its appearance again,
and they were again resorting to inoculation. That they did
inoculate largely before the time of the plague was confirmed
to us by Mr. Priestman, a veterinary surgeon having an ex-
tensive practice among cattle, who was recommended to us by
Professor Simonds, as the best authority on the question in
London, and who supplied us with a list of fifty-seven
names of persons for whom he inoculated 4,515 cows from
the year 1858 to 1863, and many cattle-keepers, he informed
us, practised the operation themselves in their own stocks.
On the other hand, he admitted that some cows took the
disease after having been successfully inoculated, and that
some died from its effects. The proportion of deaths was
diificult to state, he said, as the rule with them was to sell
their cattle to the butcher as soon as attacked. Their practice
was to keep their cows in good condition, and as they were
always meat it paid them better than to attempt their recovery.

" We visited nine large dairies in different parts of the
town and suburbs, being introduced and accompanied by Mr.
Priestman, and saw the effects of inoculation in several of
them in different stages. The operation in itself is very simple.
The hair being cut close off on one side of the end of the tail
for about an inch square, an incision is made lengthwise well
through the skin with a sharp-pointed knife and held open
while one or two drops of matter are dropped in out of a bottle.
The selection of the virus or matter is most important. Mr.
Priestman prefers obtaining it from the lung of a cow that has
had that disease three or four days only, and using it as soon
as possible, as stale matter induces swelling of the tail and
often necessitates its being cut off. A blow on the tail after
the operation, and before the wound is properly healed, should,
be avoided, as it will cause much swelling and may soon result
in mortification. Careful attention should be given daily, and
prompt means used to reduce inflammation as soon as it ap-
pears. Of the 4,514 which Mr. Priestman inoculated 32 died
from its effects, or three-quarters per cent., and 248 were
seriously affected but ultimately recovered.

" We also had the advantage ol a conversation with Pro-
fessor Brown, of the Veterinary Department of the Privy
Council, on the subject, in the course of whicii he stated
that he had little faith in its effects. The evidence of its
success was most conflicting. Professor Gamgee, he knew, was
enthusiastic in its praise, but he had known cattle to die of
pleuro tliat he had inoculated, some of which had suffered the
loss of their tails from the operation, Professor Simonds, he

said, had inoculated cattle in the tail with guiu-water an
Croton oil, and had obtained the same outward results as
with the matter from a diseased cow's lung. It was true, very
likely, that few cases of pleuro, or perhaps none, occurred in
some dairies in London after inoculation ; but it was also true
that there were many dairies which had not been visited by it
for years in which inoculation had never been practised, lle-
ferring to the experiment being made at the instance of Mr.
Tollemache, in Cheshire, in placing inoculated heifers by the
side of beasts suffering from pleuro, and exposing them to the
effects of contagion, he remarked that the trial would not prove
much. To be perfect, heifers that had not been inoculated
should also be placed with them. Some cattle seemed to be
invulnerable to its attacks. Some facts which we gathered in-
cidentally may not be without interest in our report to the
Chamber. Dutcii cattle, we were told, suffered less from at-
tacks of pleuro and disease generally than any of the English
breeds in London. An instance of the recovery of 25 cows
out of 60 from plague was given us, 21 of which were Dutch
and only 4 English. Poot-and-mouth disease seemed to prevail
more or less in most of the dairies we saw, and it was thought
that pleuro often followed in its wake. This, however, did no
appear to deter dairymen from making fresh purchases. One
man had just given £90 for three cows, which he would have
to place in the same shed with about 20 others, nearly all of
which had got foot-and-mouth disease. Milk-selling in London
we thought must be profitable. Two only of the sheds we
visited were in good keeping. One, containing about 120 cows,
was a daik, ill-arranged building, and so crowded that we won-
dered not at the proprietor's statement that he had lost 10
cows per month for moaths together, from pleuro ! Mr.
Priestman strongly recommended the use of carbolic acid in
cases of pleuro and foot-and-mouth disease, and he|furnished us
with a detailed report of the treatment he had pursued in
eighteen different stocks of cattle, and the results. He pro-
poses to apply it as a disinfectant, diluted with water, on the
floor, walls, and ceiling, or roof of the shippons, applied with a
syringe, and to adminster it internally three times a day in
suitable proportions, and asserts that when used early and
plentifully, it is ' pleuro's master,' and soon drives away the
foot and mouth complaint. Professor Brown also spoke
favourably of the treatment." In a discussion which
followed,

Mr. Aston was in favour of inoculating cattle for pleuro •
pneumonia. He would not attempt to argue that it secured
entire freedom from the disease. Those who were acquainted
with the experiments made in the country and on the continent,
must admit that there was a certain per-centage of cattle
which had been inoculated that were liable to take the con-
tagion ; still, if they had been operated upon in a proper man-
ner, he believed that the attacks were not so numerous or
virulent, and the recoveries were greater from those inoculated
than others. The suggestion which had been offered to them
by Professor Brown, that two young heifers not inoculated
should have been sent with those so kindly placed at their dis-
posal by Mr. Tollemache, was very timely and worthy of their
special attention. It appeared from an experiment made on
the continent some few years ago on rather a large scale,
that 34 per cent, of the cattle removed from healthy dis-
tricts to those which were affected entirely escaped con-
tagion, 66 per cent, were affected with the disease in a
greater or less degree, and 17 per cent, of those died. It
was proved by the experiment that the pleuro was a very
contagious disease, and he also concluded from the trial that
it was possible to remove stock out of healthy districts, to
those animals ths^t vvere suffering from plenro, and yet

K

124i

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

escape the contagion. His belief was that it would be better
to associate inoculated heifers with the inoculated cattle, but
he thoueht it would be unreasonable to expect that gentleman
to expose any more of his stock to such a highly-contagious and
destructive disease ; and he considered it was a matter which the
Chambermight very properly take up, and purchase two yearling
calves or stirk heifers and send them to the premises where the
infection existed. The cost of doing so would be very trifling,
and he had no doubt the agriculturists of the county would
look forward with very considerable interest to the final issue
of such an experiment. He (Mr. Aston) had a conversation
with a farmer on Tuesday evening, residing within about two
mi'es of Tarporley, who lately had pleuro. On inquiry he
ascertained he had only six cases, three of which had proved
fatal, while there were three recovered. After the first four
cases', he inoculated all his cattle ; one was suffering from the
disease at tlie time, and this recovered. He had also another
attacked after the operation, but this also had recovered, and
since that time, which was about ten weeks ago, his stock had
continued in a healthy condition. He appeared to have strong
faith in the operation, considering it was inoculation which
had arrested the progress of pleuro.

Major Legh said he should like to know if any stock which
had not had pleuro hud been inoculated. As far as he could
ascertain, inoculation had been tried only upon cattle that
were suffering from pleuro.

Mr. Aston said he had had a conversation with a farmer
last Saturday, who had inoculated a herd of heifers. How
many there were in it he (Mr. Aston) was not prepared to
say ;' but the reason he did so was that he had tlie disease on
his premises, and had occasion to bring these cattle, which
were then two or three miles away, on to the premises. He
inoculated them as a preventive, and they did not take the
disease after their removal. They were inoculated while they
were in a healthy state.

Major Legh wished to know whether they could tell him
why tlie tail was the part chosen for inoculation ?

Mr. Tellwright thought it was because they would lick
the matter off if it was done elsewhere.

Mr. Jackson said he was very happy to confirm the very
correct report read by the secretary. In addition to it he
would read the following letter, which he had received in
reply to one he had addressed to a large cowkeeper, living at
KeuningtoQ Park Road, London :— " Kennington Park Road,
London, Dec. 15th, 1869 : My dear Sir,— We have practised
inoculation for the last twelve years with very good results,
and in every instance that the cattle have lost a portion of
their tails they have kept free from pleuro-pneumonia. We
have lost several by the inoculation running up into the body,
but that we could generally attribute to want of care. There
are a great many that will not take when inoculated, and of
course it is not a preventive ; neither do we think it is much
good unless they are inoculated when first they are brought
into the sheds. Our own men that attend to them perform
the operation, and great care is required in choosing the lung
at the slaughter house. — I remain, yours truly, Jas. Eiggs. —
G. Jackson, Esq." Some time ago he was reading a
paper, by Howard, M.P., Mr. reported in the Journal
of the Farmers' Club, part of which was to the following
effect : — " Pleuro-pneumonia has made such ravages tliat
M. Dumont and many others have adopted the practice
of inoculation : the pus is obtained from the State
Veterinary College, and inserted at the tail. If the operation
is performed in hot weather the tail drops off through morti-
fication setting in, but wlien done in cool weather no injurious
consequences ensue. Having suffered much from this fatal
disease among my cattle, I was determined to try it, but have
hitherto been prevented by order of the veterinary inspector of
the county, who has acted on the advice of Professor Simonds.
Tiie Professor opposes the practice ; but those practical Bel-
gian farmers who have had extensive experience, regard it,
to use M. Duraont's own words, as a ' sovereign remedy.'"
Since this he had addressed a note to Mr. Howard, and had
received tliis reply : — " Dear Sir, — It would afford me much
pleasure if I could give you any further information on
the question of inoculation tlian is contained in my lecture on
Continental Farming. All I can say is, that many sound,
practical farmers in Belgium, Germany, and France seemed to
place much faith in the practice. M. Dumont, of Fleurus,
Belgium, is ^uite aa authority '\% that couatry. On his farm I

saw a considerable number trader inoculation. I have suf-
fered much upon my own farm from pleuro-pneumonia, and
hence I strongly urged on Mr. Forster before the introductioa
of his Bill the necessity for dealing with this and the foot-and-
mouth complaint, as weU as making provision for rinderpest.
I agree with you that the only plan to rid the country of this
pjinous disease, pleuro, is combined exertion to stamp it out.
I believe the virus remains active for an almost increnible
period. For three years in succession it broke out on my farm
in one field, and months elapsed in the last case before fresh
stock were put into it.— I am, yours, &c., James Howard.
P.S.— The Government departments of France and Belgium
would doubtless supply information on the subject. I had a
talk this week with Mr. Forster about inoculation, who
thought it was not a matter for Government to undertake,
but rather for the agricultural societies. I tliiuk the Royal
might fairly be called upon— it has plenty of funds." He
(Mr. Jackson) had a strong impression at first that inocu-
lation was hke a good many other things that had been tried
to prevent the spread of pleuro, and was unwilling to believe
that there was much to be relied upon in it ; but from the
inquiries he had made, and from a statement made by a
neighbour of his who had been to Australia and had consider-
able experience in connection with the matter there, he was
strongly inclined to come to a different conclusion. About
five years ago a cow was brought out to that gentleman from
England, which in about three months after landing was
seized with pleuro. She was slaughtered, and all the animals
in connexion with her were slaughtered too, and it was hoped
that these strong measures would stop the spread of the
disease. Unknown to them, however, some bullocks had beeu
in connexion with the cow, and these being travelling bullocks,
went up the country about 200 miles, and spread the disease
along the whole track. Slaughtering was largely resorted to,
but that was impossible in all cases. What they did not
slaughter, however, they inoculated, and they found the
practice exceedingly beneficial. They seemed to consider
that they stepped it quite as much by inoculation as they
did by slaughter, and he said that he inoculated thousands
himself. If they inoculated with virus of a particularly
malignant kind they lost them; but generally speaking
the losses were not serious, and they had so modified
their virus that they could calculate upon a very small
per-centage of death. He did not recommend the inoculation
of healthy stocks unless there was a likelihood of their coming
in contact with the disease ; but when there was actual disease
he recommended all the cattle in contiguity with it to be in-
oculated. It was quite true that it could not be looked upon
as an absolute preventive. Unfortunately in his own locality
they had the pleuro about six months ago, introduced by a cow
brought from Wrexham fair. After slaughtering nine or ten
they sent for Mr. Dunn, of Tarporley, and inoculated tlie rest.
Afterwards three cases occurred. One was violent, and they
slaughtered it ; the other two were milder, and they allowed
them to live. Since then they have had no cases of pleuro
whatever. This would seem to throw some doubt upon the
value of inoculation, but the general impression in the neigh-
bourhood was that the virus had not taken proper effect, as
only three or four of the dozen cows which were operated
upon seemed to have suffered infiammation in the tail. He
would only say further that had he a case of pleuro in his
own stock, he would consider it is duty to inoculate the whole

Major Legh said he believed the matter was taken from the
lung of a dead cow. (Mr. Jackson : A slaughtered cow.) It
seemed to him that they would be more likely to have favour-
able results if they were to take the matter from a living
animal, because the dead beast must;have had the disea:e badly.

Mr. Rigby said he believed the matter was considered best
when it was taken from a beast that had had the disease three
or four days. They did not Hke to take matter from cows in
the last stage of the disease, as the blood might be poisoned,
and this would produce mortification. Mr. Rigby then read a
letter of apology for absence which he had received from Mr.
Tollemache, M.P., in which that gentleman referred to the
subject of the meeting, remarking that though inoculation was
not found to be an infallible preventive it might be of great
vahie to the farmer, just as in the case of vaccination, the bene-
ficial results of which, though it sometimes failed, were uni-
versally ackaowledgedi

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

_ Mr. Jackson said, witli reference to the appearance of the
inoculated beast when the opperation was effectually performed,
the tail was generally inflamed, and in some cases inflammation
came on to a very serious extent indeed. A number of tbose
seen by the deputation had had portions of their tails cut off
in consequence, and one cow had iiad three pieces cut off her
tail, which was then not more than five o: six inches long. In
some cases it produced a seiious fever of the system, and in
others they died.
Major Legh : Does it always create pus ?
Mr. Jackson : A little matter where it takes.
Major Li;GH : Do you know whether they have ever tried
to make use of it ? It seems to me that if that were the case,
yo" would have a much better chance of saving your cow.

Mr. James Edwards said that was a subject more for the
veterinary world. The question before the meeting was whe-
ther the Chamber would recommend to the farmers generally
the practice of inoculation P For his own part he thought if it
was of any value at all it should be performed on the healthy
beast and that it would be unwise to leave the stable-door un-
locked until the horse was stolen.

Mr. KiGBY fancied that when the inoculation took in a
favourable way there was very little pus created, and that
was the reason why a slaughtered cow was chosen in prefer-
ence to a live one. However, he would make the inquiry
from Mr. Priestman.

_ Mr, G. Slater said he had been sceptical in regard to
inoculation, but he was pretty nearly converted. He had
some conversation lately with a man of great practical experi-
ence, who had lost three or four of his cattle by pleuro, and
had then inoculated the whole of his stock, numbering thirty
or forty, and had saved every one of them. He (Mr. Slater)
asked him particularly what he would recommend in refer-
ence to healthy stock, and he said this— he certainly would
not inoculate healthy stock unless the disease made its
appearance, as there was a little risk and expense with it;
but wlien lie had aa animal suffering three or four days, he'
would slaughter it, take the virus from its lung, and inocn
late the rest, and he should confidently calculate upon savino-
them. He (Mr. Slater) had seen another farmer who gave
evidence of a similar character, and he thought they were
not only bound to listen to evidence, but that when it was so
strong it became absolutely irresistible. Mr. Slater then re-
ferred to the case of a friend who had been for some years
residing in South Africa, where he said inoculation was very
generally practised, and he laughed at the ignorance of the
Cheshire farmers, wh9 were only just making experiments to
test its value. The things about which they should take
particular care in manipulation (said Mr. Slater) were that the
virus was properly obtained, that cattle were not inoculated
till disease appeared upon the premises, and that the very best
skill was procured to conduct the operation. The animals,
too, sliould be carefully watched to see that they did not lose
their tails, which frequently resulted from pure neglect. He
thought if they attended to these things they would find good
reason to put faith in inoculation.

Lord Egerton, the chairman, said, after the very able re-
port which had been read, the question to consider would be
this— whether the Chamber considered itself in a position to
commend to the farmers of Cheshire the process of inoculation ?
He confessed that after the strong opinion which had been
pronounced by the gentlemen in London upon the subject, he
hardly thought they were in a position to make a positive re-
commendation to that effect. Mr. Tollemache having been
good enough to place two inoculated heifers at their disposal,

125

he (Lord Egerton) would like to suggest that, in case of any
of their members having the disease upon his premises, their
Secretary, as an experiment for the information of the Chamber,
should be empowered to pay for the inoculation of the re-
mainder of his stock. They would then be in a position before
the summer to see whether inoculation had answered. Oue
single case he thought was not sufficient to base the recom-
mendation of the Chamber upon. He should like to make a
remark with respect to carbolic acid. He (Lord Egerton) had
had the foot-and-mouth disease through the whole of his stock,
and they found the use of carbolic acid diluted both in washing
the mouth and feet, and in some cases taken internally to
be of the greatest value. At the time of the rinderpest
he lost a great number of cattle out of doors. They took
the remainder into the shippon, where they re-
mained nearly a year and a-half shut up, chlorine gas
being freely used, and they found it the ;best disinfectant
I that could be employed. It never affected either the cattle or
I the men, and it was no inconvenience whatever. He was
I 'lappy to say that in consequence of the able measures taken
by the Chief Inspector, Captain Smith, with the co-operation
of the farmers, pleuro had not spread very extensively in this
county. The number attacked from the 28th of August to
the 11th of December was 123, out of which 26 had been
killed for burial, 31 for meat, 23 had died, 38 had recovered,
and five were under treatment. In the case of foot-and-
mouth disease during the same period 2,269 had been attacked,
four killed for burial, three for meat, 11 had died, 1,935 had
recovered, and 316 were under treatment. He might say like-
wise that the other day one of the committee on the subject
had looked over the accounts of Capt. Smith, and had found
that it had been done at a very small expense indeed, not
exceeding £80 for the three months, and out ot that a-half
or two-thirds had been paid for the dresses of inspectors
and other things which would not recur. The county
then might feel that they had a very efiicient body
of inspectors at a very small expense. With regard
to stock, he should strongly recommend that, if they tried
the experiment, they should do it with cattle of a certain
age. Very young stock were not at all liable to the disease.
It went through the whole of his (the chairman's) herd of
oxen, but out of 700 head in the adjoining park outat ley not one
was attacked. Cows in milk, and especially those in full milk,
were much more liable to the disease, and when th> y had it,
they had it far more severely.

Mr. MiLLiNGTON, who had the charge of Mr. Tollemache's
heifers, said that up to the present time they were very healthy.
He himself had had 12 cases of pleuro altogether out of 20
cows. Early in October he had his stock inoculated, hut eight
cases had broken out since. There was no inflammation of the
tail, however. Four had died, one was killed, six had re-
covered, and one was ill now.

Mr. Jackson said he was quite of Lord Egerton's opinion
that they were not in a position to recommend the absolute
adoption of inoculation, but they ought not to lose the oppor-
tunity of trying a further experiment. He would move a re-
solution to that effect.

A resolution was then submitted to the meeting to the effect
that, " Not being in a position at present to offer a decided
opinion on the value of inoculation, the Secretary be em-
powered to purchase cattle for the purpose of exiierimeiit, and
that one or two of the milking stock be left not inoculated, in
order to institute a comparison."
The resolution was carried.

SMALL FARMS.

At a dinner at Cirencester the other day, Mr. Edmund
KrcK said : A word or two has been said about the agricul-
tural labourer. This morning I looked over some of my books
and i hud 1 have some men living rent free and taKing wages
from me of from £70 to £80 per annum. We had just now a
remark that; the Irish were going to have a plot of land and a
cottage to live in. Compare this with what the labourer takes
mm Jjie. He takes from me five acres of the best wheat I

have grown in the year ; he takes from me the same in value
which is grown in the county of Gloucester on eight acres
a-year — what used to be grown on 16 acres. It is perfectly
ridiculous to talk of these little occupiers. They may perhaps
grow enough to keep their families, but what are we to do
with those who don't live in a cottage at all P I can say I do
wish the landlords would sweep away many of their restrict
tions from the statute books, I feel convinced that if the

5 2

126

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tenant had what liberty it is desirable he should have, he would
uot only imiirove liis own estate, but he would improve tlie
land and the labourer, and the couutry generally. As I am on
this point, I beg to say that I perfectly believe that you can
sow cereals on strong land without any farm manure.

Mr. Bazley said : Our population increases rapidly, but the
opportunities for employment do not appear to increase in the
same proportion. In passing through the country one can
hardly help being struck with the magnitude of the estates
and the size of the farms. Now, I am not going to say any-
thing in contravention of large farms. Where capital is
available there is no doubt that large farms can be managed
more profitably than small ones, and I know more than one
estate where the largest farm is in all respects emphatically
the best; but like the manufactory, like the railway, they
must be conducted on sound commercial principles ; and I
venture to suggest whether it would not sometimes pay better
for the farmer to be content with a less amount of acreage, to
pay a less rent for that quantity, to cultivate it more fully, and
to employ more labour and to pay less poor-rates. But there

are two kinds of capital required for this efficient cultivation.
There is the tenant's capital, but there is also the landlord's
capital, which is necessary for the erection of suitable build-
ings, and very often this latter capital is not forthcoming. I
will venture to place my Lord Bathurst in the witness box on
this occasion. You have heard his lordship deplore that many
landlords who are called upon to make improvements are really
unable. But why should this be so ? The wealth of the
country increases in a rapid ratio. The English people are
ready to invest their savings in all sorts of schemes, at home
and abroad, limited and unlimited ; but as a rule tlie spare
capital of the country does not iind its way to the land. For
the existing laws with respect to the transfer of land are such
that in their effects, in many instances, the legal difficulties are
insurmountable in the way of investing money upon it ; but I
do not hesitate to avow my conviction that the laws of strict
settlement and entail are those which keep land in an uncul-
tivated state (great applause), which lend a shadow of owner-
ship when the substance has gone, which keep the land inac-
tive, and prevent au increase iu the employment of the people.

SUSSEX OR SUS SEX-DEVONS?

At the dinner of the Hurstpierpoint fat stock Show on the
Thursday in the Smithfield Club week, Mr. George Daeby,
of Marklye, said : I was very happy when I came here to-day
to see so excellent an exhibition of stock, and I am glad to
say we were equally fortunate this year at Hailsliam, where we
had one of the most magnificent shows we have ever seen. I
have for nearly 50 years taken a great interest in Sussex stock,
and I am not sorry to have this opportunity of saying a few
words on the breeding of Sussex stock, to which our attention
has been lately directed in rather a singular way. I have been
very much amused by an assertion in one of the London papers
that the great improvement in Sussex stock is owing to their
having been crossed with Devons. As I have said before, I
have been greatly interested in tlie breeding of Sussex stock.
I have bred many myself, and I have been among the large
herds of the county, and I can unhesitatingly say there is not
one word of truth in it. I do not say for one moment that
no one has not for the sake of an experiment crossed Sussex
with Devon ; but that the improvement in the Sussex stock of
late years is in consequence of crossing with the Devon, or
any other breed, I entirely deny. I will tell you what has
improved the Sussex stock. I remember many years ago,
when Mr. King and other breeders got together to pull off
some of the large-hipped gentlemen of those days with narrow
chests and light fore-quarters. I told them they never looked
a bullock in the face, that they would not produce good ani-
mals unless they did so, and if they wanted to keep up the
character of the Sussex stock, they must cross with animals
which did not show such deficiency from other parts of the
county. They took the question into consideration, and the
consequence was, they went and got animals of good strong
constitution from other parts of the county — from Rotherfield,
Mjiyfield, Bartons, and other places, from Mr. Selmcs, Mr.
Noakes, and Mr. Tilder Smith. They crossed their own stock
with those animals, both being pure Sussex, and thereby im-
proved the breed in those points in which it had formerly been
deficient ; and whoever said that crossing witji Devon has
produced that result, has simply stated that which is not true.
At the same time there lias been, I am glad to know, a great
improvement in our stock, but it is mainly in consequence of
the competition at these shows, wliich enables men to find out
the faults in their own animals. We also sometimes see the
result of crossing with other herds, and, as I told Mr. Mar-
shall, I saw a cross liere to-day that wanted crossing out. I
am delighted to hear that there is such an excellent show of
Sussex stock at Smithfield. I have not been able to get there
yet, but, if possible, shall go to-morrow. For many years, as
you may remember, justice was not done to our native breed
at Smithfield. I had been a very old subscriber, and I said I
would cease to give a subscription until our fair demands were
granted. Shortly afterwards the Sussex classes were estab-
lished. I want to know whether anyone here who has seen
the small squabby Devons wo'ikl liVe to see our breed crossed

with them. And I should be very glad if an opportunity were
aiforded for an investigation in wliich the breeder of stock
from different parts of the county might take part — to show
whether or not the improvement of Sussex stock has taken
place in consequence of crossing with Devons.

Mr. James Dumbrell, of t)itchling, said : Last night I
was dining in town with a few friends, and among them one
of the judges of the Smithfield Club; We all agreed that the
show of Sussex stock was remarkably ^ood. My friend, the
judge, said to me, " You quite understand the improvement is
the effect of having the Devon breed brought into the county."
I am not a breeder of Sussex stock myself, and do not pretend
to know anything about it, but I took on myself to give that
assertion an unqualified denial; and I threw the burden of
proof on him, he having made the assertion — the proof that
Sussex men have had Devons brought into their herds, and
have crossed with tiiem. I have asked Mr. Darby, Mr. Mar-
sliall, and every other breeder I have seen to-day, and they
scout the idea, and say that, instead of importing Devons into
Sussex for breeding purposes, the Devons would be improved
by taking stock of us. [Notwithstanding this, the best fat
cow at Hurstpierpoint, described as a Sussex, is entered as
bred by Mr. James Dumbrell, of Ditchling.]

Mr. Darby remarked that he did not say there were no
good Devons ; what he said was, that Sussex stock was not
improved by being crossed with Devon. He had certainly
seen some very good Devons, as evenly fatted as one need wish
to see, in the market that day. It was a curious fact tliat
some years ago a gentleman from West Sussex visited him at
Marklye for the purpose of purchasing, and he did purchase a
Sussex bull to send into Devonshire ; but he (Mr. Darby)
would not be justified in saying tiiat all tlie Devon stock had
been improved by that Sussex bull.

Mr. Hamshar, the Vice-Chairman, said that he was not
a breeder ; but he fatted a great many animals in the course
of the year. With regard to the two breeds, Sussex and
Devons, if he wanted to buy lean stock at a fair, he should
not buy Devons. He only wished there were more breeders
of Sussex stock, that tliose who did not breed might have an
opportunity of picking up Sussex steers.

At Horsham, Mr. Cane said he recoUected fifty years ago,
and that was a pretty good way back, and he knew pretty well
every breeder in this county ; but he didn't know anyone but
Mr. Brandon who had crossed a pure Sussex with a Devon,
and that was only one. With that exception, and he knew
from one end of the county to the other, there had uot been
one crossed with the Devon stock.

Mr. Lee Steere said : It may be five-and-twenty years ago
that I went to the eastern part of this county, and bought a
cow of Mr. Fuller, of Mays, and from that cow all the animals
I have exhibited have sprung. From these auimals I have
exhibited — two in London and two here to-day — all from the
same stock. All these are from one particular lot of cowi

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

127

down upon a farm of mine, and are all by the same bull.
They are as perfect in their breed, and more especially in their
constitution, than any other animals I have ever been pos-
sessed of. Why it is said that they have been crossed with a
Devon, I know not ; but if I may be excused for making a
pun, it may be in consequence of a cross feeling of a reporter
from some of those more enlightened papers. I think any-
body who looks at our stock — and mind me, I do not cry a
word against tlie Devons, I think it is a beautiful breed, be-
cause It IS the most perfect of their kind that is exhibited, but
let them keep them if they like— will see the difference. We
all differ in our wants. We want power as well as symmetry
and good constitution — animals that will do our work in more
ways than one, and in a more effective manner than bv show-
ing them at our exhibitions. We want them to do anything
that may occur ; but I most emphatically deny that there has
been any cross whatever. We never intend to have a cross.

The Si/ssex Erj?ress says : No doubt, of late years, there
have been great and constantly increasing pains taken with our
stock, and we have, as Mr. Darby said, gone further afield to
supply the deficiencies in form. But there was no occasion
for Sussex men to try a cross with the Devons to remedy de-
fects in their stock. We need only look back to that olden
time, when, as tradition has it, and no doubt the story is some-
where on record, Mr. Selmes offered to show one" hundred
Sussex beasts against one hundred of Earl Spencer's famous
Shorthorns, to feel certain that at that time, perhaps the better
part of a century ago, there was, at least, one great herd of
the Sussex breed, which was of rare excellence in every pos-
sible respect ; and that herd, though it might be neglected for

a time, must nevertheless have kept up in the far east of
Sussex, a high standard of excellence amongst those of our
breeders who were anxious to improve their stock. AVhat has
led to the present improvement, which is universally admitted
by the press and the public to be unexampled in the history
of breeding, is simply the giving Sussex stock a class at Smith-
field, and the consequent compilation of the Sussex Herd-
Book, for which we are indebted equally to West and East, to
Messrs. Heasman, of Angmering, and Mr. E. Cane, of Berwick
Court. In tliis way it is that pedigree has been more and
more studied, and the value of particular strains of blood has
been more accurately ascertained, and broueht into play. It
does so happen that in the very case in which it might be
supposed that one gentleman was more likely than another to
have risked the Devon crossing, there is a special ground for
the belief that that has not been the case. Mr. Lee Steere,
of Jayes Court, Dorking, does just live out of the county of
Sussex ; but one of his successful beasts was actually bred by
Mr. Woodman, of Southease, wlio would never have dreamed
of trying to improve his stock by a cross with Devons. Mr.
Lee Steere, then, though living out of this county, has shown
us what he can do, not only with animals of his own breeding,
but with those actually bred in Sussex, and we cannot doubt
that the same causes which made him successful with the one,
led also to his victories with the other. AVhat we believe is,
that the Sussex breed is not only not crossed with the Devon,
but as the improvement in it goes on, it will one day be found
no mean competitor for that blue ribbon of the yard. [It
will be remembered that only a year or so since a Sussex ox
was within one, or at least two, of taking the Gold Medal of
the Smithfield Club.— Editor, M, L E.']

FAT y. DAIRY STOCK.

At the quarterly meeting of the Dalrymple Farmers'
Society, at Dalrymple, there was a large attendance of mem-
bers and others. Mr. Smith, Baruford, president of the society,
occupied the chair. Tiie subject for discussion was, " Whether
does a Dairy or a Feeding Stock pay best ? "

Mr. Wilson, AVoodlands, read the following paper: This is
a subject, in my opinion, of very great importance, and well
worthy of being discussed by such a meeting as this. I am at
a loss to understand how it was not taken up long ago, and
that by abler hands. AVhatever view we may take as to which
of the classes is the most profitable, I am sure we shall all
agree that it is second to none iu all our agricultural depart-
ments. In tiie management of our respective holdings we
must always keep prominently before the mind how we are to
provide for our stock— the greatest quantity and finest quality
of food ; for according to the amount of stock we can keep on
a given portion of land depends to a great extent our success
or failure. It is a bad sign of an occupant to see a small
stock on a common rotation farm. I would not give much for
that party's success. But whatever be the number of our
stock, the principal thing is to have them well-fed, well-housed,
and properly attended to, with plenty of grass in summer, and
an ordinary amount of house-feeding in winter, being always
careful to guard against waste or extravagance, as there is a
limitation in feeding that will pay to come up to, but won't pay to
go beyond. We must always keep in view wherein the profit
lies. But to come to the point at issue, whether a dairy or
fattening stock is the most profitable ; we are apt to look at
certain things from certain stand-points, and according to the
view we take we fix our opinions, and these opinions may not
easily be changed unless something is brought forward to
prove that we are wrong. We are sometimes ready to be
biased by the thing we are most familiar with, but in every
case we ought to discuss the thing within ourselves with-
out partiality for either side, and not leave, as it were, a
stone unturned. In times of strong competition for farms,
with manure rising in price year after year, it becomes us to
bestir ourselves if we are to exist at all as a class. We must
be at tlie utmost stretch of our abilities, and have the kind of
stock that is most profitable, although it be not the kind we
have been used to. It won't do for us to move on in the old
track, if there is a way that thousands have proved to be better

for us to take. I have tried both ways. I had my own sus-
picions at first, but I have found that a fattening stock is the
most profitable. The expense of utensils and working a fat-
tening stock is very small in comparison with that of a dairy,
and the income per head will only ii exceptional cases be in
favour of the dairy. AVhereas one third more in number can
be kept of fattening than dairy cows on the same portion of
land in summer. Therefore the balance comes to be greatly in
favour of fattening stock. To make it as clear as possible we
might take, for example, two parties entering into two farms
at the same time. The farms are of ordinary size, alike
in every point, and in the same locality. Both tenants
start with their respective farms under very propituous
circumstances. A prefers a dairy and B a fattening
stock. A purchases for his grass land, at May, 1st
30 cows at £12— £360, and B 45 young cattle at £8, which
makes £360. So far both are alike. Both have to see that
their fences are secure before turning their cattle on their
pastures. B has now only to see that his cattle are looked to
once or twice a day during summer to see if they are all
right ; vrhile A on the other hand has a great deal of expense
and anxiety to encounter that B knows nothing of. In the
first place he has to provide a considerable number and variety
of utensils, for the proper management of such a dairy ; and
in the second place he must look out for a first-class dairy-
maid, and I am sure all will be at one, that such an individual
is not easy to be got. There must be two other women to
assist, for where there are 30 cows you can't do with less than
three women, whose board and wages will take about £60 a
year — certainly they will do the ordinary house work, and if
necessary one of them occasionally out-door work, which will
reduce the above sum by about £20, leaving £40 for attend-
ance on cows. Then to keep up this dairy at its original
state must take about £20 a year for tear and wear of cows
and utensils. I think the most systematical mode is to sell
out a certain number of the oldest and least productive cows
every year, and fill their places with queys in-calf. Still in
this way there is a loss of produce, if we consider that a quey
the first year does not give as much produce by one-third as
an ordinary cow. AVe might adopt other methods, but the
above, in my opinion, is the simplest in practice. To keep a
cow one year will take about £11 5s., in the following pro-

128

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

portions, viz. : £4 for pasture, £1 for cut grass, vetches, and
soft turnips, £3 for straw and hay, 35s. for turnips, and 30s.
for beanmeal and bran. There is to be added 10s for wear of
cows, is. for tear and wear of utensils, and about 26s. for
work, making a total of £13 5s. The dung might stand
against the last two items and thereby reduce the expenditure
by 30s. Still, after all, it is questionable if there are many
dairy stocks in this district in ordinary seasons giving produce
to that amount. Now, what is the use of a large income if
our expenditure go beyond it ? "We are sure to get into difii-
culties, and may not get easily extricated. As to a fattening
stock they are allowed to roam on their pastures at fuU liberty
until the first or middle of October. They should then be
brought into well ventilated byres and kept warm and quiet,
the byres sliould not have more than eight or ten double stalls
eich, so that one lot may not be disturbed wliQe the others are
being fed, and care should be taken as to the kind, quantity,
and quality of the food they receive ro as not to allow them
to fall off in condition, as cattle at first are apt to do when
taken from pasture to stall-feeding. I think the most econo-
mical plan of I'eeding is to grow on the farm nearly all they
require, and any one who has accommodation could not send
their farm produce to a better market, according to present
rates, than to consume it with feeding cattle. I would begin
them with cabbage, which are in a good state for lifting at
tliis time, and nothing suits the constitution of the cattle
better at the first stage of stall-feeding. About half an
acre will supply 45 cattle with two meals a day for two
weeks at a cost of a little less than IJd. each per meal. I
would prefer boiled unmarketable potatoes for the third meal,
mixed with a variety of stuffs, such as chaff, corn dust, and a
mixture of beans, light wheat, rye, barley and oats, all ground
up together, giving about 3ibs. of this bruised grain to each
and every day. Under this treatment they are sure to improve
from the first day they are housed. When cabbage and pota-
toes are done give tliem turnips instead twice a day, 281bs.
sliced raw, and once boiled, with the usual mixture of chaff
and bruised grain. I approve, during the last six weeks or

two months, of giving them per day twice boiled and once raw
food, and with double the quantity of bruised grain and a 'ittle
oilcake, always giving straw or hay after each diet. To provide
food as I have described, will take for pasture, fromlst May to
1st October, £2 10s., and for stall feeding from 1st October to
1st May, £10 10s., and 15s. for attendance and implements'
making a total of £13 15s. The manure will reduce the ex-
penditure about 45s., which leaves £11 10s. to be added to
£8 inlaid price, which makes £19 10s. for each animal. With
ordinary markets they can be made worth fully that sum. The
kind of stock I prefer for stall-feeding is either pure Ayr-
shire bullocks and heifers, or a cross between Ayrshire and
Shorthorn. But I would not too partial to any particular
breed. Get a well-moulded frame, be careful in making pur-
chases, and there is less difficulty at the end. In ordinary
cases we don't allow such a length of time for stall-feeding
well-conditioned cattle, but by giviug them seven months' stall
feeding after five months' good pasture is the sure way to
bring them to perfection. In a herd of any considerable size
there is always a per centage that don't require much stall
feeding. After good pasture, select these into a byre by
themselves, and send them off as soon as ready, and fill their
places with lean cattle ; by adopting this plan a double profit
may be gained at no extra cost of feeding stuffs. In deference
to tiiose who may hold different opinions on this subject to
myself, I have endeavoured to give my views in as moderate a
form as possible, and have only touched on some of the points,
leaving plenty of scope for discussion, so that more light may
be tlirown on such a subject.

Alter the reading of the paper, a discussion followed
in wliich the majority of those present took part. A few ex-
pressed themselves as in favour of the feeding system ; some
questioned if the land in the locality was suited for such a
system, as far at least as regards its grazing qualities ; while
others thought that the better way was partially to adopt both
methods. The greatest number, however, expressed them-
selves as inclined to keep to the dairying, so long at least as
anything like present prices ruled.

THE TESTIMONIAL TO MR. JOHN CLATDEN, OF LITTLEBURY.

At a dinner at Saffron Walden, there was presented to
Mr. Clayden a testimonial in recognition of his services to
agriculture. The testimonial took the shape of a centre-piece
or candelabrum, a service of dessert dishes, six in number, a
liighlychased waiter, and a watch, value ^£35.

Colonel Brise, M.P., the Chairman, in presenting the
testimonial, said : The people at large appreciate fully
Mr. Clayden's valuable services in connection with,
and as a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultu-
ral Society, as a member of the Council of the Sraithfield
Club, as one of the committee, or as the honorary secretary, I
should say, of the Agricultural Benevolent Association ; as
chairman of the Home Cattle Defence Association ; and last,
though not least among many others, as chairman of that
great commercial and agricultural undertaking, the Islington
Agricultural Hall. All who have been connected in any way
in business matters with our friend wish now publicly to ac-
knowledge his great services, and the great satisfaction he has
given both to the shareholders and the public at large in these
vast undertakings. I think I may say that had not Mr. Clay-
den brought to bear great diligence, great intelligence, great
industry, and great business-like habits, those great undei tak-
ings \AOuld not have advanced to the extraordinary extent they
have. And now what shall I say as to the local character of
our proceedings ? I will endeavour not to tax you, sir, by
any personal allusion ; but I will draw you, gentlemen, a pic-
ture of a man of genial disposition, of pleasing exterior, with
a heart large enough to rejoice with those who do rejoice, and
feeling enough to v\eep with those that weep — a heart warm
enough to glory in the success and to sympathise with the
misfortunes of his fellow-men — a man with a kind word ever
ready in his li'^js for rich or poor alike — a man who cannot be
spoilt by flattery — a man who cannot be put down by vulgar
prejudice — a man always prepared to deny himself for others
—a man of straightforward business-like habits, of uncom-
promising honour, and of unswerving integrity.

Mr. Clayden said : What have I done to deserve this ?
I feel that it is due more to your generosity and kindness than
to my own deserts ; but I beg to say that no greater gratifica-
tion could possibly be felt by any man than to know that he
enjoys the respect and esteem of those among whom he moves,
and in no way could that be more fully and forcibly exempli-
fied than by your presence. Gentlemen, I trust I shall ever
be sensible of your kindness. It is true that I have tried to
advance agriculture in every way I possibly could ; but when
I look around this room, I see many friends who on all occa-
sions when I have requested it have given me their counsel,
and, when it has been needful, they have not refrained trom
opening their purses. Without their aid I should not have
been able, on many occasions, to serve your cause in any
effective degree. I trust I shall continue any efforts I have
made, and that I shall still be able to apply to my friends in
this neighbourhood, whose confidence I have the good fortune
to possess, for their assistance when anything beneficial to
agriculture can be done. It is true that from a boy I have
been very fond of agricultural pursuits, because I have looked
upon agriculture as one of our oldest institutions, and one of
the best interests of the country. I have ever thought that
the land in this country should be farmed in such a manner
as to produce the utmost for the country in general, and the
utmost benefit to the occupier and the owner. It falls to the
lot of very few men to be presented with such a testimonial
as you have thought proper to offer me this evening. It was
more than I could in any way expect, and your great kindness
has almost overpowered me.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said : If I might enlarge on one
portion of the services that Mr. Clayden has rendered to the
agricultural interest, I would specify that of his great efforts
and exertions to secure for us what we must eventuaUy have —
separate markets for the sale and slaughter of foreign stock.
And, now, sir, I believe that the measure of inefficiency in the
veterinary department of the Privy Council has almost reached

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

its climax. Let me just review for one minute all that they
have done to the agricultural interest. Some years hefore
there was any special department the government employed
certaia professors, who were supposed to watch over the health
of our flocks and herds. It was these professors who first told
us that foot and mouth disease was atmospheric— it was these
professors who, when we had the misfortune to have the
sheep-pox, told us the best way of getting rid of it was inno-
culation, whereas we know if you want to keep and extend it
yon must innoculate, and if you want to exterminate it there
IS nothing like slaughter and isolation. It was these professors
who were sent out by government years ago to watch the
cattle plague, and they came home and told us that foreign
countries took such special precautions against the spread of
this disease, that it would be impossible for it to come here.
It was Professor Gamgee who told us differently, and that
whenever we received direct importations from Russia the
cattle plague would come. Well, it did come, and although
the authorities of the government knew perfectly well what it
was, they disregarded the universal /equest that was made from
the whole country to close the London markets, and they al-
lowed that pestilence to irradiate from the London markets to
almost every county in England. I say, sir, further than this,
that the government of the day, or rather the officials of the
day— and they are officials still— set about work at that time
to kill our stock without awarding us any compensation, and
when the cattle plague commissioners made a report and said,
" [f you cannot give compensation you have no right to kill,"
they withdrew that order and allowed the cattle plague to run
rampant over the land, and it was not until such time as par-
liament took up the matter in hand and used vigorous mea-
sures that it was stamped out. Now, sir, I say that these
permanent officials at the Privy Council Office are somehow or
other totally set against the agricultural interest, or why should
they so persistently and energetically strive to prevent the es-
tablishment of these foreign markets ? When the government
changed, and Lord Robert Montagu was at the head of affairs
— a talented and clever man who had not turned his attention
particularly to cattle— they crammed him and primed him in
such a manner, that he made a speech against separate mar-
kets, which has done more I believe to injure our cause than
has been done to benefit it by all the good and excellent
speeches that that nobleman has made since. And then, when
Mr. Forster went there — a man who was well inclined'to the
agricultural interest— they would not allow him to accept one

129

single amendment, although they have since embodied some of
these in their orders. But what have they done P They told
us that when this wonderful bill was passed we should require
no more Privy Council orders. No sooner, however, did tlie
bill become law than they issued orders about as long as the
bill itself, and about a month after that they put out anotlier
order, making all the restrictions of pleuro-pneumonia apply
to foot and mouth disease. It is a very easy matter indeed to
shut the stable door, but now that that mad-horse disease is
galloping all over the country, it will take a precious long time
before we can curb and confine him again, and I do say that
the conduct of the government, when they knew that they had
this foot and mouth disease raging on almost every part of the
continent, in allowing foreign sheep that had been associated
with diseased animals to go all over the kingdom, was some-
thing that calls for the strongest reprobation. Why, what
have we, the farmers of England, done that we should have
the floodgates of this disease opened upon us ? We could
have kept the disease out, and would have done if we had
had our minds. I will take my own case. What have I done
that I should have 70 or 80 cattle nearly fit for market now
thrown back at least six weeks, to say nothing of the sheep I
have had affected with this most tiresome disease— what have
I done that T should be robbed of at least £200 ? I hope and
trust that when the poor artisans and the unemployed labour-
ers happen to get a bit of meat again, they will remember
that it is the authorities at the Privy Council Office that have
increased the price of meat at least Id. per pound, and that
they will not say it is the bloated farmer who gets all the
profit, for I can assure you, speaking for myself— and I think
I may speak for you too— that if we have fruitful seasons and
healthy stock we would rather sell meat at 7d. a lb. than sell
it at 9d. when the advance is caused by disease. I believe,
sir, that if a body of roughs were to go down to the Privy
Council Office, at Westminster, smash the windows there,
break the furniture, and chase the officials so that they had to
take refuge in the Abbey, it would have more effect than all
the facts and arguments that we have for so many years put
calmly and temporately before them. And why do I say so ?
Because w-e are told that nothing can be done in this our time
except it is urged with a little physical persuasion as well as
moral force.

The company was chiefly made up from the district, and the
other speeches addressed to local topics.

THE PRODUCTION OF CHEESE.

The production of cheese is becoming an important branch
of our agricultural industry, and the demand both for home
consumption and for export is every year increasing, factory-
made cheese will compare favourably with the best of English
and Dutch manufacture. The business of making cheese in
the United States has long been profitable to the farmer and
dairyman ; and that it will continue to be so for years to come
seems highly probable, in view of the limited crop and the
growinsf taste of our people for food of this description. It
13 estimated that there are in the United States and Canada
1,000 lactones, whose average weekly production is equal
to 117,2o0 boxes. The cheese made in the United States and
Canada in 1867 reached 215,000,000, and in Great Britain
179,000,000 pounds. The consumption in America during the
same period amounted to 160,0i)0,000 pounds, and in Great
Britain to 400,000,000 pounds, leaving a deficiency over the
joint production of the two countries of 75,000,0U0 pounds.
This deficiency was supplied by Holland and Belgium. The
principal States engaged in the manufacture of cheese in this
country are New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsyl-
vania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Western
New York, the Western Reserve, and some sections of Illinois
and Michigan, enjoy a deservedly high reputation for the
excellent quaUties of the products of their dairies. England
has long been justly celebrated for the abundance and supe-
rior quaUty of its cheese. Cheshire, Stil^.on, Derbyshire,
buffolk, and Chedder are the best known varieties. Gouda

cheese, the best made in Holland is very pungent, which pre*
serves it from mites, and this pungency is attributed to the
fact that muriatic acid is used in curdling the milk, instead of
rennet. Parmesan cheese, made at Parma, in Italy, owes its
rich flavour to the fine sweet herbage of the meadows along
the Po, where the cows are pastured. The best Parmesan
cheese is kept several years, and none is sold until it is at least
six months old. Swiss cheese is made, in part, of skim milk,
and is flavoured with fragrant herbs. They usually weigh
from 40 to 601bs. each, and are exported in casks, each of which
contain ten cheese. AVestphalia cheese derives its flavour
from the curd being allowed to become soured before it is com-
pressed. Dutch and Swiss cheese contains, according to
chemical investigation, from 26 to 40 per cent, of nitrogeuized
matter, considered the most nutritive constituents of food.
The best cheese is from 25 to 100 per cent, more nutritious
thau bread and meat, which contains only about 23 per cent,
of nitrogen. The superior qualities of cheese has been re-
peatedly proved by the experience of labourers in those
countries where it forms one of the principal articles of tood.
To delicate stomachs cheese is objectionable, ou account of its
slow and difficult digestion ; but to individuals of great physi-
cal strength, it is a healthful and agreeable article of consump-
tion. In combustible or heating qualities, cheese is only
exceeded by oil, butter, and like unctuous substances. — New
York Mercantile Journal^

ISO

tHE FARMER'S MAGAZINE^

THE CHEESE FACTORY QUESTION.

At the annual meeting of the members of the Derbyshire
Agricultural Society, beyond the formal business of tlie meet-
ing, it had been announced that Mr. Crompton, who presided
at the last annual dinner of the Society, would bring before
t he members the ([uestion of producing cheese on the factory
system, which prevails largely in the United States, which has
of late been the occasion of considerable discussion in South
Derbyshire. The interest taken in this question led to a very
large attendance. Dr. Hitchman presided. ,

Mr. CiioJtPTON said for an agricultural society there could
s carcely be found a question of greater or more pressing im-
portance at the present time than the system of factory-made
cheese which was adopted in the United States. He thought
every one of them who had bestowed the slightest study on the
subject, must feci that the people of that country had in a very
short period made gigantic strides in the mode of making
cheese. It had raised the value of the product so much that
it did become them, as English dairy farmers, to consider the
means by which those great and important results had been
achieved. He did not know that he could give them much
information ; but he had, in company with their secretary, Mr.
Smith, endeavoured to get ,some information on a subject of
such importance. As far as he was able, he would readily and
gladly place it before them. In the first place, they would
have to consider who were the great antagonists with whom
they had to deal, and what class of men they were who now
competed with them in the supply of cheese for this country.
.The American mind possessed all the endurance and all the
persistency of that of the Englishman, peculiarly sharpened by
the circumstances into which they had been placed. The fact
of their having been placed in a new country, which they had
had to subdue and civilize, and out of it to provide for their
various vtants, had made the Americans quick in acquiring
knowledge, and successful leaders in most of the clever and
important mechanical inventions of the present day. In a few
words he would tell them all he had been able to learn of the
factory system of making cheese, but he thought he might use
another word and call it the co-operative system of cheese-
making. AVhen in Liverpool a short time ago, he was in com-
pany with one of the largest importers of American cheese,
and he had heard him make a remark which struck him very
much. " In early life," the gentleman said, " I was a large
buyer of English cheese, and I was really driven to give up
that particular branch of trade by the great want of uniformity
in the class of cheese I had to buy. It became excessively
laborious ; there was an absence of uniformity in colour and
quality and other material points, which rendered it a very
difficult matter to buy cheese in large quantities. But when,
on the other hand, 1 turned my attention to the Americans,
and became a large importer of American produce, I found
this advantage — that they possessed a very great share of per-
sistent uniformity in the cheese they produced." If this system
of co-operative cheese-making should bring amongst them
an improvement as to make, and a uniformity as to colour
and quantity of cheese, it would be the means of greatly
benefiting the dairy farmers of this county. It became
them who had an interest in this Subject to deal with it. In
the districts of America, where the cheese factories were situ-
ated, there was no material difference, so far as he understood,
in the land or the circumstances attached to dairy farmers as
compared with this country ; but there was this difference,
that instead of being tenants, as a rule they were possessors of
the farm, and instead of following the lame and halting system
here persevered in, of each dairyman having his own parti-
cular dairy, and his own plant for making cheese, and keeping
very far behind as far as perfection in the mechanical arrange
ments necessary for the purpose, the Americans had marked
out their districts, erected their own wooden buildings, which
they called factories, and to those buildings they sent their
milk, which was received by weight. Each contributor of
milk to these factories received a carefully-kept account of the
number of pounds of milk which he had sent to the factory,
they purchased the best plant, and they obtained the best and

most educated of dairymen they could to superintend the
making of this cheese. The result of this was most satisfac-
tory. They were told that the Americans found no difficulty
in carrying out this system, and, in fact, that they regard any
other system as unworthy of their consideration. J\ow, what
would be the result if they adopted this plan here ? They
might have many difficulties to con^iid witli. .They could
hardly imagine that any tenant would like to spend his money
in the erection of such factories. That was one difficulty
which stared them in the face ; but they would be aware that
a large number of farmers who had invested considerable capital
in their undertakings, and who had wives and families in that
position of life in which they could not be expected to give
great and laborious attention to the art of cheese-making, had
to fall back upon hired dairymaids, who were not noted for
the production of a high class of cheese. This class of farmers
would be relieved from the necessity of having their cheese
made at home. It would relieve many from this difficulty,
which had ^o his knowledge deterred many men of large means
from engaging in farming, and it would relieve those who had
engaged n it from tliat which had been a considerable disad-
vantage to them. How would it affect the small holder, who had
so many disadvantages to contend with ? As a rule he had
very inferior premises in which to make his cheese ; his
plant was inferior ; and he had to contend and compete with
tliose who were better situated than himself. If this system
were established it wou!d put him on an equality with the
best class of dairymen. It would not only do that, but it
would utilize the milk of a number of small holders which
were not doing their full duty to the public, so far as^roduce
was concerned, owing to the want of proper conveniences at
home. It would bring that class of milk to a uniform and
good quality of cheese, and woald be a considerable benefit to
the small holders of land. It would do another thing. They
could hardly go into an English farmhouse, where the far-
mer's wife superintended the cheese-making, and not find that
she was suffering materially in her health. They would find
in most cases tiiat the wife or the daughter of the farmer, who
was employed in this arduous and wet occupation, suffered
much from rheumatism. The factory system would, if
adopted, free them from this drudgery. Then they came to
the question of how it wouli^ffect the landlord, and here he
could not but see that the landlord must be materially bene-
fited. In the first place it would be an act of economy. In-
stead of being the possessor of a large number of dairy-farms,
on each of which he had to erect a building for cheese-
making, by erecting one building rightly placed, or at the
most two or three buildings rightly placed, he would provide
better accommodation for the purpose than had hitherto been
provided ; and he would be saved that large and material ex-
penditure he had been put to in placing dairy buildings on
each of his farms. But beyond that, if this system were found
to add to the quality of the cheese, the improvement would
add to\the value of the land on which it was produced. It
stood to reason that the land on which the old system was
being carried on was not producing its full results because of
the inefficiency of the present system. He believed that this
system which he was proposing would be the means of giving
a large fiilip to the value of land, it would benefit the tenants
be they great or small, and also the landlords. If this system
did not become established, the general public, who were the
cheese consumers, would have to be contented with an inferior ar-
ticle or look elsewhere ; the makers of the bulk of English cheese
would have to content themselves with producing an inferior
article and taking an inferior price ; and the landlord would
have to rest contented to see his land not doing its full duty,
and the public with not being supplied from it with sucli a
quality of this staple food as it ought to be. England would
be obliged to take a fourth-rate position among the cheese-
making countries of the world. Some gentlemen there might
say, " But we are satisfied with the price of cheese as it is,"
and point to some which fetched a high price — some as high
as 78s. per cwt. But in comparing their best prices with that

THE FAKMER*S MAGAZINE.

of the American factory-made cheese they would find that the
i>erbyshire cheese fetclied 78s. per cwt. of 1201bs., aud if they
went to the Liverpool warehouses they wouldvtind piles of
American cheese at 70s. per cwt. of 1121bs.; tliat was equi-
valent to nearly 75s. of our Derbyshire weight. They found
mat the Jiuglish champions of cheese-making, who came
Dctore them aud said, " We are getting the very best price,"
obtained /8s. per cwt., whilst the American farmer, who made
Ins cheese thousands of miles awav, had it brought to Liver-
poo], wlicre he obtained 75s. per cwt. for it, reckoning not by
the smaller weight but at 1201bs. He had been in London a
lew days ago, and he found in a warehouse there vast quantities
ot American cheese which, instead of 70s., ranged from 73s.
to 74s. per cwt. ol 1121bs. When he said, '= Why do I find such
^ discrepancy between that imported into Liverpool and into
London? he W'as told that, as a rule, provisions obtained a
Higher price in London than in tjie country, because the class
ot shopkeepers there were particularly anxious to get the verv
best quality of articles they could obtain. The fact that
American cheese was selling at 74s. per 1121bs. in London
warehouses, he thought spoke with great force. Tlie gentle-
man who informed him of these facts in London— he did not
like to mention his name, but if he did it would be known to
nearly every one of them— had told him how much he had
been struck by the contrast between the En-^lish and the
American dairymen. " If," ^said he, " you go to an English
dairyman and point out any defect in the result of his system
of working he will turn round on you and say, " Don't put
yourself in a pet ; if you don't like it you need not take it '
If, on the contrary, when I have been among the American
dairymen I said, ' Your colour is not up to the mark,' or ' I
can make a suggestion,' the answer would be, ' I am obliged
to you for the information, and shall thank you for any su-'ges-
tions you can make.'" That showed the difference
between the old-fashioned English dairyman and the
new-world American factory cheese-maker. The one
was content to rest with the old-fashioned system
whilst the other had the f )nte]llf;ence to improve
his make of cheese, and so place it in a higher and better posi-
tion. He thought that spirit must spring up among English
dairymen if they were to carry on with success this most im-
portant manufacture. With regard to the selling of the
different kinds of cheese, he had in his hand a letter
from a very large cheese seller, who was not a wholesale
but a retail seller, who lived in the Midland counties, and who
sold over his counter no less than 40 tons of cheese yearly. He
had asked him what proportion the American cheese bore to
the English cheese he sold, and he mentioned that they were
considermg the advisabihty of imitating the Americans in their
mode of' making the cheese. That gentleman wrote and said
i have to say that I think the proposed alterations in the
mode ot making cheese would be attended with great success
My purchases of English cheese are confined to Warwickshire
and Leicestershire ; I do not deal in Derbyshire Of these
two classes of cheese I seU about 20 tons per annum, and about
the same quantity of American cheese. The sale of the latter
has very much increased, and if the quality continues to im-
prove as It lias done for several years past, the English factor
will soon become independent of the English manufacturer who
unless he improves the quality of his cheese, must give way
before the American. At the presentAtime my American cheese
is worth 70s. per 1121bs. wholesale, 'Vliieli is equal to 75s. per
Derbyshire cwt." He also found from a very large seller at
Leicester, who conducted a wholesale business, that he
sold trom one-third to one-half of American cheese as against
Leicester and other cheese. Thus the American cheese was
successfully intruding where it might be expected to be most
easily defeated, in the county-town of Leicester. That seller
said that " since the factory system had been introduced into
America, more regularity had been attained in the cheese It
iiad been scientifically made, and that out of thousands of cheese
scarcely one had varied in colour and quality, which could
not be said of the best dairies in England." Then he
came to our own county of Derby, and in a town
which was gradually springing into importance, from the
lact that it was situated in the heart of the minino- dis
tricts of this county, he found the position of English
cheese still worse. He knew no town where genuine bread
and cheese was more fully supplied to the labourers than in Ches-
lerneld. Ihe wages which were paid into the pockets of the

131

f

miner and labourer residing in the neighbourhood amounted
to more than £25,000 a fortnight, and what with the facilities
afforded by the railway, which brought the miners into the
town from Clay Cross, Staveley, and other large collieries on
alternate SaturdayJpights, when they received their pay, the
bulk was spent there in provisions. It showed what the taste
of the collier as regarded cheese was very clearly, for a seller
in the town said, " I sell 30 tons of American cheese to one
ton of Derbyshire cheese." That was a very large propor-
tion. He regretted exceedingly that this meeting was held on
Christmas-eve, the busiest day of the year for the shopkeeper.
Had it not been so, they would have had the attendance of
several of the largest and best known sellers of cheese in
Derby at the meeting, to state what was the proportion of
American to Derbyshire cheese they sold. He had asked
several, and all, with one exception, said that they mightlfairly
put their sale down as about one-half of American, as against
one-half of English-made cheese. If that were the state of
things in Derby, it behoved them to consider what they ought
to do to ensure the milk of this large milk-producing district
making the best quality of cheese, and so keep out their
American competitors. He knew of no system which could
meet this emergency with a greater probability of success
than the American system. It was important, at any rate, ^^l
that they should give the system a fair trial.yJ'Jo Ameri- ' '
can could get his cheese from the factories landed in Lon-
don or Liverpool under a charge of 8s. or IQa^ a cwt.
If they obtained 70s. per cwt. for it at Liverpool, it^uld nett
to the producers in America about 62s. at their'oWn facto-
ries. That was the only point where English dairymen had
the advantage of them. But still, having adopted the system
of factory cheese-making, they could do it so cheaply, so ex-
peditiously, and so uniformly good, that they were gradually
assuming the first rank in the world as cheese-makers ; and it
was the duty of English cheese-makers to meet the Americans'
as far as they could, with their own weapons, and set about
with perseverance, that system which had wrought them so
large an amount of success. Mr. Smith had reminded him of
an important poiut. A very eminent importer in Liverpool
had said to them, " Well,Vlook at the variation in the price of
English-made cheese. Cheshire cheese, for instance, is de-
clining in quality, and the bulk is very inferior. If you go to
Cheshire you find a variation in the price of middling cheese
trom the very best, 30s. per cwt., and it is not so much less in
Derbyshire." He thought there was as much variation as that
m Derbyshire (between middling and best quality; whereas
two-thirds of the American cheese made did not vary more
than 3s. per cwt., and it neverwaried more than 6s. It proved
at once that the most was iflade of American milk, aud it
proved as satisfactorily that they did not make the most of
English milk. He had a statement in his hands which showed
the number of cows whose milk was made into cheese at one
factory. It was called" Akerly's Cheese Factory." The whole
number of cows was stated at 750. He supposed that this was
the largest number whose produce found it way into the factory
at any time, but the average number was 600. What we
should call " shareholders" they called " patrons." Having got
a certain number of patrons, they erected their building, which
cost from £300 to £500. It was built of wood, and was not
very elaborate, consisting sometimes of only two rooms, the one
down-stairs for making cheese, and the other up-stairs for
storing it. They had no steam power ; they had only a steam
boiler to \raise their curd or water to the right tempera-
ture. A running stream of water was essential. They se-
lected six, of their best men whom they called their managing
committee, and out of them they selected two most able to go
into the trading world and sell the product of theij labours for
the best prices they could get. This factory commenced work
on the 30th of March and closed November the I6th, thus
being in operation 231 days. They received during that' time
l,310,5401bs.of milk, aud 246,8311bs. of cheese was manufac-
tured from it. When sold the produce realised £7,870. Each
cow averaged £13 ; they would be best able to judge whether
the cow did its duty. The patrons paid for manufacturing
£987 ; paid for carting £71 ; and they appeared to have made
a present to their directors of £39, possibly for travelling ex-
penses. The worst thing against them was that they hadVo
roads worth being called by that name. The person who Had
furnished him with this information described the roads as
very primitive and bad, and declared that he would sooner

182

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

ride 30 miles on an English road than seven on an American
one. This person also gave an instance of American sharp-
ness. He liad travelled to a factory and bought a quantity of
cheese. He went at once to another at some considerable dis-
tance, hoping to purchase cheaper, and allhougli he lost
no time on the way he found when he arrived that they
Inew the price he had just paid, and he gained nothing by his
arduous journey. He mentioned that to show how wide-awake
they were. The profit left to divide in the factory, whose
figures he had just quoted, was £6,772, and the names of the
gentlemen were published who received tlie amount between
them in propQrtion to the number of pounds of milk contri-
buted. Those yho sent a small quantity had equal advantages
witli tliose who sent a large quantity, every one being paid
according to the milk he had sent, some sending under
2001l)s. in the year. The cheese was disposed of in America
very much as it was in England, and they had agents in Lon-
don, Liverpool, and elsewhere, to whom they consigned a large
quantity, and they remitted back to them the results. He be-
lieved that was a very good type of a factory. Looking at this
state of things, they must come to the conclusion that these
are not days to go to sleep, j^his factory system of making
cheese had spread from the X^nited Stales into Canada. Sweden
was following their example, and Northern Italy was also be-
coming a large producer of cheese uniform in quality, which
alone could be achieved by this co-operative system of cheese-
making. There was no factory ior cheese-makingin England.
The subject had been mooted in Cheshire some time ago, but
no satisfactory result had been arrived at. One cheerful cir-
cumstance ahout the subject was that there was more cheese
consumed in England and America than was manufactured by
both those countries. The American consumption was about
160 million pounds, against 300 million of pounds consumed
in Great Britain. Formerly the Americans did not consume
cheese to any great extent, because they had not time to make
it. They had got the heavy work of clearing and subduing
the land to do, and had to content themselves with animal
food, which required less time to produce, and the cheese they
made was at first inferior. But as they overcame their first
diflficulties, they found the value of cheese as an article of
food, and so improved their make; and so impressed were
they now with its nutritious properties, that they were^bout
to supply the army with it. Mr. Crompton also stated, in
answer to a question, that a certain number of pigs were
attached to some factories, and were fed upon the whey.
When sold the profits went to swell the dividends of the " pa-
trons," and was divisible upon the milk.

Mr. Greatorex said that with an income of about £10
per cow, which he estimated would be the amount, from Mr.
Crompton's statements, he would not be able to pay the rent
of his farm, cultivate it in the way he did, and maintain his
family. Many of the farmers in his neighbourhood — Burton-
on-Trent — had not farms of 200 acres, and he would not hesi-
tate to confess that he could not keep his family in idleness.
They would be forced to do something. He would be very
glad indeed to hear the opinion of his brother-farmers upon
this difficulty. i'lO per cow would not pay them.

Mr. NuTTALL thought Mr. Greatorex must have been la-
bouring under some mistake. Mr. Crompton said that £11
was left for each cow, I'rom the price at the factory, after sell-
ing the cheese at 60s. or 62s. per cwt. That would be tlie price
they would receive, after deducting the freight to this country,
but the English farmer would get 75s. to 80s., which would
give about £13 for each cow. That would, he thought, be
perl'ectly satisfactory. Then there was whey or bacon, which
would produce £2 or £3 each cow.

Mr. Webb observed that there was also the calf.

Mr. NuTTALL was satisfied they must resort to some such
system as that adopted by the Americans, for he was not satis-
fied to be beaten as they were now. All they had to decide
was, he thought, the system to be adopted in building factories
of this nature, whether by the co-operative system or by the
landlords. Such a step was.now as necessary as the adoption
of the mowing and reaping machines. Machinery had done
much to improve farming ; but, so far as it had been applied
to cheese-making, it had not in any degree improved its qua-
lity. He hoped there would be no unnecessary delay.

Mr. Murray said that the establishment of a factory, to be
successful, must be on the co-operative principle. It would
Bot succeed as a commercial undertaking, in which case the

farmers would have to pay interest on the capital. There
were plenty of farmers possessed of sufficient- intelligence to
manage a factory. He anticipated that the- landlords would
make a start by providing a building, and then he saw no
difficulty.

Mr. Crompton and others said they were all in favour of
the system being carried out on the co-operative principle.

Mr. Coleman called the attention of the meeting* to a
scheme he had drawn up to apply to the first factory only.
He suggested the factory be for the produce of not less than
400 cows. The consent of a sufficient number of farmers to
be obtained belbre the erection of a factory is attempted at any
place. The farmers to bind themselves to supply to the
factory the whole of the milk from a given number of cows,
and not to dispose of any of their milk to any one other than the
factory. The agreement to be for one year only. The farmers
to deliver their milk free of cost to the factory twice each day,
at hours to be fixed by the managers of such factory. The
produce of the factory to be divided amongst all persons ac-
cording to the quantity of milk supplied, or by such other
mode as the committee of management may think proper. The
management to be by six committee-men, to be chosen from
those farmers who supply milk to the factory, and onetormore
persons not being farmers, to be appointed by those who built
the factory ; this committee to appoint their own manager
and other servants. He put down the cost of the erection of
the building at £1,000, for they could not expect to build so
cheaply as in America, and the plant and machinery he esti-
mated at £200. The owner of the land on which it might be
decided to erect the first factory, to find one-half the cost of
the building, the other half to be subscribed by those land-
owners and gentlemen who may be interested in the move-
ment. The buildings, plant, &c., to be the property of the .
landowner upon whose estate they may be erected ; and he *
shall not charge any \rent for the factory for the first three
years, or until six otlrer factories are at work in the county.
The disposal of the produce of the factory to be left entirely in
the hands of the committee of management. The promoters
to guarantee the farmers against any loss which m?y arise in
the manufacture of the cheese, should such loss be incurred
through the factory and not through the committee or their
manager. The promoters to provide a guarantee fund, to ad- -
mit of the cheese being held in the factory until it is ready
for the retail dealer, who should be the person to whom the
managers of the factory must in aU cases sell their produce.
The produce to be sold by the cwt. of 112 lb., instead of
120 lb", as is now the case. Should any dispute arise as to the
liability of the promoters, or any other matter between them
and the committee of management, any such matter in dispute

to be left to the arbitration of , and his award to be final

and conclusive. .By adopting the co-operative system the far-
mers would get every penny the milk brought in.

Mr. Crompton said he had a letter from a proprietor in an
American cheese factory, a Quaker, to one of his friends in
England on the subject of cheese-making. It read thus :
" Yours of the 28th inst. is to hand, and contents noted. In
reply to your interrogatories I would say. the night's milK
having been kept at about 65 degrees, we draw the mornings'
milk into the same vats, and immediately heat to 83 degrees ;
then add the annatto, and rennet sufficient to coagulate in about
30 or 40 minutes. As soon as the curd is solid enough to
break clean over the finger, draw a curd knife, containing
thirty blades one quarter of an inch apart, gently through the
vats lengthwise, cutting the curd into thin slices. Wait a few
Nninutes until the curd settles into the whey a trifle, and then
cut across the vat the same as before, lengtliwise. Then cut a
few times lengthwise, but not to make the curds firmer than
chesnuts, or perhaps kernels of Indian corn. Next put on
the heat gently and equably, until the temperature rises to 88
degrees, stirring very gently in the meantime with the hands
and wooden rake to keep it from settling on the bottom. Then
let it stand from one half-hour to an hour. Then continue to
heat just as before, until the thermometer shows 98 degrees.
After this let it be quiet, with an occasional breaking up with
a rake, and keeping the heat at the same point, until the whey
shows decided acid, but the curd is sweet. The curd will now
break dry, instead of moist and clammy ; it will squeal between
the teeth, and wiU feel hard and like shot instead of doughy.
On pressing it in the hand it will not adhere in a lump, but
again fall to pieces by its own elasticity. When these

taE FARMER^ S MlGA^INfi.

133

plienomena appear, syphon off the whey forthwith
pretty cbsely, and dip the curd and remaining whey
into a large curd sink, aud spread it evenly and thinly.
After draining a few minutes most thoroughly, stir in
3j" salt, if in the spring, or 3" if in hot weather or
fall. Let the mass cool to the temperature of the atmosphere,
and put to press, pressing gently at first and harder in 15 or
20 minutes. In one hour turn and bandage and press heavily ;
turn the screws down again at night, and as much as you can
in the morning. Remove from the presses before noon, and
take to the curing-liouse, and oil the top and bottom. Turn
on the ranges, aud rub with the hand and arm every day for
three weeks, greasing occasionally if they become dry and in-
clined to crack. After this turn every other day until sold.
Keep tliacuring-house as near 70 degrees as may be day and
night. In 20 days they will be passable ; in 30 days they will
he ready to ship ; and in 40 days they will please the palate of
lovers of fine cheese. All this is said on the supposition of
having clean, sweet, pure milk at the commencement."

The Hon. E. K. W. Coke said, although he was for going

ahead, he did not wish them to do so too fast. He was glad to

see ihat Mr. Greatorex had risen and stated iiis difficulty, for

he remembered that there were many in this county who did

I not see tlieirway clear-^^'support the factory system. He had

I met Lord Waterpark a.few days before, and his lordship, who

I had just returned from America, and had heard notiiing of

, what they were doing in Derbyshire, expressed to him his

"surprise that the admirable system of factory cheese-makiug

h^ad not been started in England. He thought Mr. Greatorex's

objection had been answered satisfactorily by Mr. Nuttall.

Tlie system succeeded admirably in America, and he saw no

reason why it should not answer at least equally well in this

country, where they had advantages both in the climate and

the! roads for the convt-yance of milk, for he could speak to the

tiSd character of those in America. The question was'certainly

a landlord's and a tenant's question.

Colonel WiLMOT said they had been told that in some cases
large bacon factories were attached to the American cheese
factories. Would the profits from them be divided in the same
way as the profits from the cheese?

Several members answered that it would be divided in the
same way, and Mr. Crompton observed that in some cases the
whey was returned to the farmers in proportion to the milk
they furnisiied.

Mr. Crompton said the necessity of a guarantee fund,
which Mr. Coleman had urged, had also struck bim,as farmers
might be deterred from sending their milk to a factory in con-
sideration of the risk which might be supposed to attend a new
undertaking. He suggested that a number of gentlemen might
enter into a guarantee in shares of £50 or £100, and thus make
themselves responsible that under any circumstances the
farmers who had sent in their milk should be paid not less
than 65s. per cwt. lor the cheese the milk ought to have made.

If the system was tried and turned out an entire failure, which
was very improbable, then everybody who had contributed
their milk would receive 65s. per cwt. ; and if, on the other
hand, this system resulted in a higher class of cheese, and
brouglit a higher price, then the gentlemen who had made the
experiment and contributed their milk would have the benefit,
and the proceeds would be divided amongst them.

Mr. Coleman said he had at first thought of fixing that
amount, but afterwards thought that those who produced a
superior cheese would hardly be satisfied with that guarantee,
but Mr. Crompton replied that the farmers must incur a little
risk.

Mr. Greatorex said that a great deal of his objections
would be removed if the co-operative system were adopted,
and those who supplied the milk got the whole of the pro-
ceeds, for he acknowledged there was no more slavish work on
a farm than devolved upon a farmer's wife and daughters if
they did their duty ; and if they did not, the husband would
suffer seriously. The female portion of his household were at
work in connection with the dairy, alter all the rest, including
himself, were at lest. In case of the sickness of t!ie fe-
male members of his family, he had himself to turn the cheese
regularly.

Mr. Cromi-ton stated that the quality of the mik supplied
was tested by a lactometer, and so strong a hold had the ques-
tion taken on the farmers in the United States, that it was a
penal offence for any one to send to the factory any milk
diluted with water or dirty, or otherwise unfit for use. An
Act of the Senate passed in 1865, empowered two magistrates
to fine a person convicted of such an offence in a sum not less
than 25 or more than 100 dollars.

Mr. MoERAY hoped that the coming summer would not pass
away without a factory being established.

Lord Vernon would suggest that it would be a desirable
thing to appoint a committee composed of those gentlemen
who had acted in this Society for a considerable time, and
especially of all those who had taken an interest in tlie sub-
ject. His own idea was, and had been before he came into
that room, that a system of co-operative factories was the only
one that was practicable, and he ventured to say that to his
tenants at a rent dinner two days before. He certainly had
not thought of the question of a guarantee, but he thought
sufficient had been said to show that the point was deserving
of serious consideration. ^He begged to propose that themem-
hers of tht! cumiutUfee-lw^ suggested should be Mr. Crompton,
Colonel VVilmot, the Hon. Mr. Coke, Mr. Murray, Mr. Cole-
man, Mr. Greatorex, and Mr. Sims, and that they report as
soon in February as possible.

The names of Lord Vernon, the Mayor of Derby, Mr. 0.
Canner, Mr. Nuttall, Mr. Faulkner, Mr. T. Travis, Mr. Walker,
and Mr. Jacob Smith having been added to the committee, the
motion was passed.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — The attention of the Council of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society having been drawn to the increasing adultera-
tion of manures and feeding cakes, especially guano, nitrate of
soda, ground bones and linseed cakes, Dr. Voelcker has been
requested to submit to the monthly Council in March, June,
and December, a report on the various samples forwarded to
him by members of the Society, so that such report, together
with the names of the dealers who supplied the substances
analysed, shall, if the Council think fit, be published in the
agricultural journals.

At the monthly Council Meeting held on December 8,
Dr. Voelcker presented a report in accordance with the above
resolution, and I now beg leave to forward you the following
extracts irom it, and to request that you willpubhsh them in
the next number of your paper,

I have the honour to be, sir,

Your most obedient servant,

H. M. Jenkins, Secretary.

Analysis No. 1 represents the composition of a sample of
guano which I analysed for Mr. C. C. Hamilton, Harlstone.

This analysis was produced by Messrs. Perkins & Sons,
Auctioneers, of Southampton, at the time of the sale. No. 3
shows the composition of a material sent to me as a sample of
the bulk, bought by auction by Mr. Horace Leggatt, Brovvn-
wich, Titchfield, Hants : —

No. 1. No. 2.

Moisture _ 1528 4.66

*Organic matter and salts of ammonia ... 46.41 23.22

Phosphate of lime and magnesia (bone earth) 24.65 8.28
Oxide of iron and alumina (clay) ... ... — 11.84

Sulphate of lime 2.28 43.52

Carbonate of lime ... ... ... ... — .70

Alkaline salts 8.71 1.70

Insoluble siliceous matter ... ... ... 2.67 708

100.00 100.00

"^Containing nitrogen ' 12.06 1.99

Equal to ammonia 14.66 2.43

Instead of 14^ per cent, of ammonia, as in the analysis No.
1, No. 2 barely contained 2^ per cent. The latter further con-

L34

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tained scarcely onc-lhird tlie iuiiouiit of phospluites whicli is
found in genuine Peruvian guauo, and appeared to be princi-
pally made up of gypsum and a yellowish coloured loamy soil.
,The next illustration of a spurious guano was furnished in a
sample sent for analysis by Mr. Alexander Howdeu, Marston
Court, Pembridge, Herefordshire, who informed me that he
bought it of Messrs. G. C. Dobell & Co., of Liverpool. These
gentlemen maintain that this is guano genuine as imported.
This may he quite correct, for they may liave imported a
spurious article ; nevertheless it is not a genuine guano, but a
compound resembling guano in external characters, and
having hut little else in common with that fertiliser.

Spurious Guano sent by Mr. Alexander Howden, Marston
Court, Pembridge, Herefordshire.

Moisture 11.53

*Organic matter, salts of ammonia, and water of com-
bination

fPhosphoric acid

Lime

Oxide of iron and alumina

Alkaline salts ...

Insoluble siliceous matter (fine clay and sand)

100-00

^Containing nitrogen ... ... ... ... .73

Equal to ammonia ... ... ... ... .89

f Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime ... ... 28.53

These analytical results do not require any explanation.

The latest case was brought under my notice by Mr. IL
Barneby-Lutley, Brockhampton Court, Worcester: —
Composition of a sample of Adulterated Guano marked
"Feathers," sent by Mr. H. Barneby-Lutley, Brock-
hampton Park, September 23.

Moisture 7.27

*Organic matter and salts of ammonia ... ... 14.31

Phosphate of lime (bone phosphate) ... ... ... 5.83

Oxide of iron and alumina ... ... ... ... 6.42

Carbonate and a little sulphate of lime ... ... 10.98

Alkaline salts 4.33

Insoluble siliceous matters (sand) ... ... ... 50.85

100.00
*Containing nitrogen ... ... ... ... 2.34

Equal to ammonia ... ... ... ... 2.84

It will be seen that this so-called guano contained only 5j per
cent, of phosphate of lime in round numbers, instead of 22 to
25, the per-centage found in genuine Peruvian guano, and that . ,
it yielded not quite 3 per cent of ammonia, instead of 16 pef
cent., which is the average per-centage in good guano. Ad-
ding together the worthless matters in this feathery com- /
pound, for it was nothiug else but a mixture of a sandy yellow ^
loam with a little Peruvian guano and plenty of guano birdL
feathers, we have no less than 75 per cent, of uselsss materials, /
and only 25 per cent, of fertilizing constituents. On inquiry, ' g
I find that the " Feather Manure " was sold as Peruviant
Guano at £14 a ton by a Mr. Weekes, of Bromyard, Hene^
fordshire. Its real value cannot he put higher than £2 ids.
or £3 at the most. Augustus Voelckjee.

TURNIP GROWING IN SCOTLAND.

The Garioch Turnip Growing Association have held their
annual meeting at Inverurie, for the purpose of receiving the
report of the Inspectors appointed to examine the different
crops. The interest in the competition was this year enhanced
by the fact that two silver medals were offered by the High-
land and Agricultural Society of Scotland, to be awarded for
the best crops of Swedish and Green-topped Yellow Turnips.
Mr. Uobert Maitland, Balhaggardy, gained the medal for the
former variety, and the medal for Yellows was won by Mr.
William Philip, Lofthillock. The second and third prizes of
the Association for Swedish were awarded to Messrs. Philip,
Lofthillock, and Tait, Crichie ; and for Green-topped Yellow
the second and third prizes fell to Messrs. Tait, Crichie, and
Stephen, Conglass. The following is the report of the In-
spectors : —

Inverurie, 4th Dec, 1SG9.

In submitting the thirteenth report of inspection of turnips
to members of " Garioch Turnip Grown'ug Association," the
undersigned have pleasure in stating that the crop of this year
is much superior to that of last. Prospects at the early part of
the season were not encouraging, the months of May and June
being unusually cold, followed by great heat and drought in
the month of July, and accompanied often by a scorching
north-west wind. Land exposed to the sweep of the wind
from that direction was under great disadvantages from that of
sheltered localities. The rain of the 7th of August fell most
opportunely, and from that date the growth was rapid and con-
tinuous. Although 1861 and 18G6 exceed the average this
year for Swedish, and the latter for Green-topped Yellow tur-
nips, it contrasts very favourably with the two last seasons,
being 4 tons 19 cwt. above the average of 1868 for Swedish,
and 7 tons 3 cwt. 1 qr. for Green-topped Yellow ; also 5 tons
0 cwt. 2 qr. and 5 tons 5 cwt. 3 qr. respectively above the
average of 1867. Eor soundness and quality we do not re-
member a year which presented a better sample. Unless the
present severe frost injure the vitality of the root, the pros-
pects for the winter are very encouraging.

We may Kgain call attention to the advantages of early sow-
ing. During the last thirteen years, with few exceptions,
Swedish turnips, sown not later than the 15th of May, and
Green-topped Yellow previous to the 5lh of^ June, have yielded
the heaviest return.

Referring to the suggestion of the inspectors in last report,
we beg to embody the report of the Committee appointed for

carrying out experiments with different artificial manures.
Trials were made with different manures on three farms occu-
pied by members of the Association. Ten poles of ground
were set apart for each trial, divided in four drills of 27 inches
broad and 100 yards long, which corresponds to nearly that
area, each manure being apportioned to an outlay of 45s. per
acre. The experimenters state that the plants of the whole
came well forward for thinning, and were hoed on each farm
by one individual. Millar's Manure at first took the lead ; but
after the rain of the 7th of August Langdale Challenge and
Peruvian Guano soon presented the best appearance. The
two centre drills of each test (viz., 5 poles) were carefully
weighed by the Committee, and the following are the results
viz. : —

Langdale Chal-
lenge

Peruvian Guano....

NitroPhospho

Millar's Manure....

Bone Dust

Somerville's Ma-
nure

Burrell's Manure...

Richardson Bro-
thers' Manure....

Hill & Sous' Ma-
nure

J. B. Lawes' Ma-
nure

No Manure

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. Averages

tn.ct. q.lb. :tn.ct. q.lb.

22 16 2 8,21

6 3 12

18 4 2 8ll5

13 1 20

17 11 0 16 16

3 0 16

15 13 0 16 15

17 1 20

17 5 0 16 16

13 1 20

16 1 2 2415
14 10 1 4jl3

2 14
18 1 4

14 13 1 2015
14 7 2 24^14
14 19 0 16 13 15 2 24

tn.ct. q.lb.

10 2 8 13
13 2 24 14

6 0 0
15 2 24
6 14
6 2 8
13 1 20

4 2 8
6 3 12

6 2 8

0 2 8

8 3 12
8 0 0

tn.ct. q.lb.

20 9 3 6
16 17 3 17
15 13 2 2
15 12 1 14
15 4 0 0

14 16 0 21
14 11 3 6

14 10 0 21

14 7 1 9

13 1 0 26

The Secretary stated that, through the kindness of an un-
known donor, an elegant Silver Cup was forwarded to him in
April last, to be awarded to the manufacturer of the best arti-
ficial manure for turnips. By examination of above statement
it nill he observed that Mr. Langdale is clearly entitled to the
cup. His manure not only stands highest on the average, but
in each particular case. James Miljib.

John Tait.
James Philip.
[Surely there is something suspicious in a prize forwarded by

" an unknown donor," who makes his own conditions ! —

Editor, E. M.]

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

135

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON THE WEATHER.

At the meeting of the Melplaish Agricultural Society at
Bridport, Mr. John Pope, of Symoudsbury, iu the chair,
Captain Edwakds said, in the outset, that he was guilty of
a piece of imposition in venturing to tell them what the moon
had to do with the weather. He would, however, premise
that he did not appear before them with any fiicts of his own,
but simply with a series of facts which he had culled from
books which he had had the opportunity of getting at. Popu-
lar opinion has in all nations and in all ages claimed for the
moon a vast number of influences which do not seem to apper-
tain to its mere physical attraction. The vicissitudes of the
weather which have been supposed to follow the course of the
lunar phases might be imagined, if they could be shown to
have any reality, to be produced .by atmospheric tides or cur-
rents arising from the moon's attraction, like the tides of the
ocean. But I shall endeavour to show that there are no
grounds wliatever, either in theory or observation, for imputing
to the moon any such influence, and that, as a matter of fact,
there is no such accordance or correspondence whatever be-
tween the lunar phases and the changes of the weather. Ac-
cording to popular opinions and traditions the moon is respon-
sible for a vast variety of influences on the organized world.
The circulation of the sap in vegetables, the qualities of grain,
the goodness of the vintage are severally laid to its account ;
and timber must be planted, transplanted, and felled, the har-
vest cut and gathered in, the juice of the grape expressed, and
its subsequent treatment regulated at times and under circum-
stances having determined relations to the aspects of tlie moon,
if excellence be looked for in these products of the soil. Ac-
cording to popular belief the moon also presides over human
maladies, and the phenomena of the sick chamber are governed
by hmar phases ; nay, the marrow of our bones and the very
weight of our bodies suffer increase or diminution under its
influence. Nor is its influence limited to mere physical or
organic effects ; it extends its sway into the region of intellec-
tual phenom.ena, alid notoriously governs mental derangement.
If such doctrines and opinions were limited to particular na-
tions only prevailed or at particular epochs, they would be less
entitled to serious consideration. But it is a curious fact, and
one whicli it is difficult to account for, that many of these
doctrines prevail and have prevailed among nations and peoples
80 distant and tinconnected, that it is impossible to imagine the
same errors to have had the same origin. At all events, the
extent and long continuance of their prevalence entitles them
to grave consideration. I propose, therefore, at present to
state some of the principal facts and arguments bearing on
these points, and shortly examine how far they can be recon-
ciled with the established principles of astronomy and physics.
It is believed generally, especially in the neighbourhood of
Paris, that in certain months of the year the moon exerts great
influence upon the phenomena of vegetation. Gardeners give
the name of " Red Moon" to the moon which is full between
the middle of April and the close of May. According to them
the light of the moon at that season exercises an injurious
influence upon the young shoots of plants. They say that
when the sky is clear the leaves and buds exposed to the lunar
light redden and are killed as if by frost, at a time when the
thermometer exposed to the air stands at many degrees above
the freezing point. Tliey say, also, that if a clouded sky in-
tercepts the moon's light it prevents these injurious conse-
quences to the plants, although the circumstances of tempera-
ture are the same in both cases. The fact observed by the gar-
deners and agriculturists is real, subject only to the objection that
their observation of it has not been sufticiently extended. Had
they seen the eff'ects produced on clear and clouded nights which
are not moonlit, they would have discovered the moon's inno-
cence of the offence they charge her with. That these phe-
nomena are wrongly ascribed to the influence of the moon
will be easily comprehended by any one who is familiar
with the physical principles which govern the radia-
tion and reflection of heat. A clear and unclouded sky,
being in fact empty space, caanot reflect back to the earth
any of the heat which is radiated by bodies on the earth ;

but if the sky be clouded the heat thus radiated will
be reflected back to the earth in a greater or less de-
gree. If, therefore, the firmament at night be clear and un-
clouded, all bodies on the surface of the earth radiating heat
towards it, and receiving back no part of that heat by reflec-
tion, will lose temperature, will become colder ; and this fall
of temperature will become gre iter with bodies which are
strong radiators than with those which are feeble radiators.
But if the firmament be covered with clouds the heat which all
bodies on the surface of the earth radiate will be reflected back
to them by the clouds, and, receiving nearly as much as they
emit, their temperature will be maintained. The leaves and
flowers of plants are always strong radiators of heat, and on a
clear and unclouded night they lose temperature continually
by this radiation, not receiving at the same time any return
by reflection. But if, as has been before explained, the sky be
clouded, they will receive as much as they give, and their tem-
perature will not fall. The moon, therefore, has no connec-
tion whatever with this efi'ect, and it is certain that plants
would suffer under the same circumstances whether the moon
is above or below the horizon. An opinion is also entertained
that timber should be felled only during the decline of the
moon ; for if it be cut down during its increase it will not be
of good or durable quaUty. This impression prevails in
various countries. But can there be imagined in the
whole range of natural science a physical relation more
extraordinary and unaccountable than this supposed corres-
pondence between the movement of the sap and the phases of
the moon ? Certainly theory affords not the tlightest coun-
tenance to such a supposition ^ but let us inquire as to the fact,
whether it be really the case that the quality of timber depends
upon the state of the moon at the time it is feUed. M. Du-
hamel, a celebrated French agriculturist, felled a great many
trees of the same age, growing from the same soil, and exposed
to the same aspect, and never found any difference iu the quality
of the timber, when he compared those which viere felled
in tlie decline of the moon with those which were felled during
its increase ; in general they have afforded timber of the same
quality. It is maxim among gardeners that cabliages and let-
tuces which are desired to shoot forth early, flowers which are
to be double, trees which are desired to produce early ripe fruit,
should be severally sown, planted, and pruned during the in-
crease of the moon ; and that, on the contrary, trees wliicli are
expected to grow with vigour should be sown, planted, grafted,
and pruned during the decrease of the moon. These opinions
are altogether erroneous. The increase or decrease of the
moon has no appreciable influence on vegetation, and the ex-
periments of several eminent agriculturists have clearly proved
this. Pliny states that if we would collect grain for the pur-
pose of immediate sale we should do so at the full of the moon,
because during the moon's increase the grain augments re-
markably in magnitude ; but if we would collect the grain to
preserve it we should choose the new moon. So far as it is
consistent with observations that more rain falls during the in-
crease of the moon than during its decline, there may be some
reason for this maxim ; but Pliny can scarcely have credit for
grounds so rational, besides which the difference in the quan-
tity of rain which falls during the two periods is so utterly in-
significant as to be totally incapable of producing the effects
adverted to. It is a prevalent notion in some parts of Europe
that the moon's light is attended with the effect of darkeuing
the complexion. That light has an effect upon the colour of
material substances is well-known in physics and in the arts.
Vegetables and flowers which grow in a situation excluded
from the light of the sun are different from those in colour
which have been exposed to its influence. The most striking
instance, however, of the effect of certain rays of solar light
in blackening a light-coloured substance is afforded by chloride
of silver, which is white, but which iramediathly becomes
black when acted upon by the rays near the violet extremity
of the spectrum. This substance, however, highly susceptible
as it is of having its colour affected by light, is, nevertlieless,
found not to be changed ia any degree wlieu expoijed to thfl

136

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE.

liKht of the moon, even when that light is condensed by the
most powerful burning lenses. It would seem therefore,
Tat as fiTr as any analogy can be derived from the qualities
of tWs substancJ, the impression of the influence of the
moon's rays in blackening the skin receives no support.
Plinv and Plutarch have transmitted it as a maxim that the
liEht of the moon hastens the putrefaction of animal sub-
stances and covers them with moisture ; and that if a wounded
mule be exposed to the pght of the moon during the night the
wound will become irritated, and frequently become incurable.
The answer to this is, animal substances exposed to a clear
sky at night are liable to receive a deposit of dew, which hu-
midity has a tendency to accelerate putrefaction. But this
effect will be produced if the sky be clear, whetlier the moon
be above tlie horizon or not. The moon, therefore, in tins
case is a witness and not an agent, and we must acquit her ot
the ra'sdeeds imputed to her. It is a very ancient remark
that oysters and other shell-fish become larger during tiie in-
crease than during the decline of the moon. The fact, how-
ever has been carefully examined by many, who have com-
pared shell-fish taken at all periods of the lunar month, and
found that they exhibit no difference of quality. An opinion
is prevalent among butchers tliat the marrow found in the
bones of animals varies in quantity according to the phase ot
the moon in which they are slaughtered. This question has
been examined by a series of observations continued lor ZV
years with a view to test it, and the resul was that it was
proved completely destitute of foundation. Sanctorious,
whose name is celebrated in physics for the invention of the
thermometer, held it as a principle that a healthy man gained
21bs. weight at the beginning of every lunar month, which he
lost towards its completion. This opinion appears to be
founded on experiments made upon himself, and affords an
instance of a fortuitous coincidence hastily generalised. The
error would have been corrected if he had continued his ob-
servations a sufficient length of time. It is a prevalent opinion
that births occur more frequently in the decline of the moon
than in her increase. Tliis is also incorrect. Oilier sexual
phenomena, vulgarly supposed to have some relation to the
lunar month, liave no relation whatever to that period. It is
a maxim, handed down by Pliny, that eggs should be put tO
hatch when the moon is new. In France it is a maxim gene-
rally adopted that the fowls are better and more successfully
reared when they are hatched at full moon. As these both
differ I must leave you to decide which, or if either,
is correct. The influence on the plienoinena of human
maladies imputed to the moon is very ancient. Hippo-
crates had so strong a faith in fhe influence of celestial
objects, especially the moon, upon animated beings, that he
expressly recommends no physician to be trusted who is
ignorant of astronomy. Hence in diseases the lunar periods
were said to correspond with the succession of the sufferings
of the patient, 01 these absurd notions there is now no relic
except the term lunacy, which still designates unsoundness of
miud. But even this term may in some degree be said to be
banished as a medicinal one, and it has taken refuge in that
receptacle of all antiquated absurdities of phraseology— the law
—lunatic being still the terra for the subject who is incapable
of managing his own afl"airs. The eclipses of the moon were
long considered injurious to health. In 1693 an unusual
number of persons died in Italy at the time of a lunar eclipse,
but an epidemic fever which was then raging had, doubtless,
more to do with these deaths than the moon. An amusing
anecdote is related of a village curate, near Paris, some years
after finding numbers of his flock coming to confession were
so great at the approach of an eclipse that he, with a view to
ease their minds, and to gain the necessary time to get
through his business, seriously assured them that the eclipse
was " postponed for a fortnight." (Loud laugliter.) Captain
Edwards then remarked that they had assembled not simply
to hear his lecture but also to have a discussion. As far as lus
" lights " would allow him he should endeavour to answer any
of the arguments that might be advanced in opposition to the
opinions he had expressed. , . ii,

Mr. Miller stated that as a rule he had more lambs at the
time of full moon than at the time of decline.

The Chairman thought that the answers which Captain
Edwards had given to certain questions were perfectly
conclusive ; his arguments as to the clear night and the
(jpgsy aight were conclusive beyoad all debate, Oa many

other points, too, the captain had brought before them opinions
supported by the besi of authorities. So far as his own ex-
perience went he concurred in all the answers given to the
opinions and maxims introduced. With regard to Mr. Miller
he had the same impression as he had— that more lambs and
calves were produced just at the full of the moon than
were produced at tne decline ; but he could not support that
view by any detailed experience. There were several strange
facts worth notice. Some persons, for instance, would not
kill a pig at certain seasons of the moon— they said that pork
would not then salt. He was very pleased that the subject
had been ventilated, and hoped that if any present differed
from Captain Edwards they would state their reasons, and then
the worthy captain would be kind enough to reply.

Captain Edwards said they had all seen the full moon nse,
and perhaps some of them had awoke early enough to see the
sun rise. They must have noticed the changes m the appear-
ance that had taken place ; they must remember that there
were many optical illusions, and these being handed down to
us we believed that the moon had an effect on different things.
He was supported in the view which he took by opinions ot
high authorities. The moon, he believed, had no more to do
with the number of sheep born than he had ; nor had it any-
thing to do with lunatics— as to whether they were more raving
during a certain stage of the moon than at other times. He
might be permitted to tell them he had heard it affirmed by a
gentleman that he was a lunatic who beUeved that the moon
had anything to do with these things.

Captain Edwards then proceeded taking up tlie second aM
main part of his address, the influence of the moon on the
weather. The physical laws which govern the phenomena of
our atmosphere and regulate the changes of the weather have
always been a favourite topic of speculataon. The connection
of the lunar motions with the tides was apparent, long be ore
the influence by which the moon produced the rise and fall ot
the waters of the ocean was explained ; and this gave counten-
ance at a very early period, to the idea that that body liad an
influence on the atmosphere, if not as certain and regular as
on the ocean, still sufficiently so to furnish grounus for conjec-
ture as to changes of the weather. Ancient prognostics de-
rived from the moon were in the first instance used as indica-
tions of the state of the atmosphere by persons too simple to
trouble themselves with the philosophy ot cause and ettect ;
but when these appearances came into the hands of philoso-
phers they were at once elevated to the rank of physical causes.
Such notions were in keeping which made the moon the
boundary between chanse and passiveness on the one hand and
the active powers of nature on the other. Although froni
a-^e to ao-e the particular eircumstar.ces connected with tlie
m'oon by which the atmospheric vicissitudes were prognosti-
cated, were changed, still the faith of mankind in general in
her influence on the weather has never been shaken Many,
it is true may discard predictions which affect to define, from
day to day, the state of the weather. There are few, however,
who do not look for a change of the weather with the changes
of the moon. It is worthy of remark that this persuasion is
stronn-est by those most interested in loreknowiug the weather.
JNo navio-ator fiom the captain to the commonest seaman, no
agriculturist, from the largest farmer to the field-labourer, ever
doubts the influence of new and full moon on fair weather and
foul. In a work on gardening I find a chapter on the means
of telling the weather, in which the supposed influence of the
moon's changes has precedence over the indications of the
barometer, the thermometer, and the rain-gauge ; the former
being characterised by the author as natural, and the latter as
artificial data. Why the variations of the atmospheric pressure
and temperature should be regarded as less " natural" indica-
tions of the weather than the moon the author does not say.
In one of the weather almanacks lately in circulation there
appeared a table professing to indicate the relation betweeu
the changes of the weather and the moou's phases en-
titled " Herschel's Weather Table." The general public have
fallen into a mistake in supposing that this absurd affair has
been sanctioned by the authority of the illustrious astronomer
whose name it bears. Whether the table in question is really
the production of any person bearing that celebrated name, _i
cannot say ; but you may be assured that neither of the emi-
nent astronomers who have rendered the name of Herschel
ever memorable has had any concern in it. As you must aU
kaow, panics of diffei eat kind have occurred la England, ill

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

1838 the English puhlic were seized with what I shall call a
weather panic. There was at that time a rage for weather
prognostics, produced apparently by an unusually rigorous and
long-contauued frost, which took place in the months of Janu-
ary and February. In one of the numerous almanacs which
were then circulated, it appeared that the coldest day had been
predicted by the author, named Patrick Murphey. So extreme
wasthepubhc excisement at the moment on this subject that
tlie book was actually purchased, though its price was high
by the hundred thousand. So urgent was the demand for it'
that the shop of the publisher was obliged to be protected by
the police, who, to keep the thoroughfare unobstructed, mar-
shalled the expectant purchasers in a quene, which extended
to an incredible length. Yet will it he beheved that when this
weather almanac was read, witii the actual changes of the
weather, its pretended predictions were found to fail in 17
cases out of 24 ! The imputed influence of the moon on the
weather may be considered either as a question of theory or a
question of fact. Let us consider for a moment the theoreti-
cal question. If the moon acts upon our atmosphere by at-
traction, as she acts upon the waters of the ocean, she will pro-
duce atmospheric tides. Thus, as there is high water twice daily
so would tliere be high air twice daily. The same causes also'
which at new and lull moon produce spring tides, and at the
quarters neap tides, would produce spring and neap atmo-
spheric tides at the same epochs. At new and full moon
therelore, tlie air ought to be higher daily, at noon and mid-
night, than at any other times during the month, and, on
the other liand, at quarters it ought to be lower. The baro-
meter, therefore, siiould be always highest at new and
full moon and lowest at the quarters ; and were this the
case the weather at new and full moon would be fair, while at
the quarters bad weather would generally prevail. But this is
, not the popular opinion, the traditional maxim being that a
change may be looked for at new and full moon ; that is if
the weather be previously fair, it will become foul, and, if p're-
viously foul, fair. Investigations have been made at the Paris
Observatory for twelve years, and it has been found that the
effect of the lunar attraction on tlie barometer at the epochs
of the high and low atmospheric tides could not have exceeded
the 16-lOOth part of an inch— a quantity such as could have
no conceivable effect on the weather. It is evident, then, that
if the moon has any influence on our atmosphere it cannot
proceed from any cause analogous to that which produces the
tides of the ocean. But let me dismiss the theoretical view
ot the question and iuquire as to the facts. Toaldo gives the
result of observations extending at Padua over a period of
lorty-five years. He was himself an avowed believer in the
moon's influence, not merely upon the atmosphere but even
on the state of organised matter. In his memoir he has not
informed us what atmospherical changes he has taken as changes
of weather ; and it is fair to presume that the bias of his
mind would lead him to class the slightest vicissitudes under
this head. But, further, in recording the changes of weather
coinciding with the epochs of the phases, he did not confine
himself to changes which took place upon the particular day
of the phase. On the pretext that time must be allowed for
tlie physical cause to produce its effect, he took the result
of several days. At the new and full moon he included in
his enumeration all changes which took place two or three
days before or two or three days after tiie day of new or full
moon; while for the quarters he included the day precedino-
and the day following the phases. It anpears, then, that by
the changes coinciding with a new and full moon recorded by
him are understood any changes occurring within the space of
from four to six days, while for the quarters those changes
which occur within three days. It will not, I presume, require
much mathematical sagacity to perceive what the results of
such an inquiry would be. These are, as he found them— at
every seven new moons the weather changed at six and only
settled at one ; for every six full moons the weather changed
at live and settled at one ; for every three epochs at the
quarters there were two changes of weather. With such
a calculation the only wonder is that the proportion he
has found was not more favourable to his hypothesis. A
M. Schubler examined this question with considerable
care so recently as 1830. His calculations were founded
on observations extending over twenty-eight years. So far as
these may be relied on it would follow that there were leos
Changes of ^be weather on the average the days of the moon's

137

changes than on any others. A stronger argument against the
moon having an influence upon the weather cannot, I think
be adduced than the following : After a cycle of 53 years, the
moon being on the same day of each successive year at ' the
same distance from the earth, her influence, so far as depends
on distances, will be the same, and will produce the same effect
on the weather ; thus, if the state of the weather throughout
the year 1816 should be examined, it ought to be the same as
we are now having, and next year it should correspond with
the weather of 1817 ; but it is well known that no calcula-
tions can be made on this data. In conclusion I will mention
the absurdity, which you will all remember, of Mr. Saxby's
predictions ; opposed to him we have the authority of our
astronomer royal, who has asserted that the coming weather
, as a rule, cannot be predicted with any certainty for more than
I twenty-four hours. The point, and the only point of ira-
portance that remains for discussion, is whether, regarded as a
I mere matter of fact, any correspondence between the changes
of the moon and those of the weather exists, as is popularly
supposed. I think that the short examination of recorded
facts which I have made proves that it does not.

Mr. Loggin's impression had been not that the moon did
affect an actual change of the weather, but that whatever was
the state of the weather when the moon changed it would
continue till there was another change of the moon. Regard-
ing tlie tides, it was generally believed that the spring and neap
tides were affected by the moon. It seemed Captain Edwards
thought that if the moon affected the water it would also
affect the air.

Captain Edwards observed his remark wasthatif themoon
affected the tides the atmosphere would be affected in the same
way; if you had high and low tides you would also have \iW\
and low air. The truth was that the sun and not the moSn
affected the atmosphere.

Mr. LoGGiN : How about the change of weather?
Captain Edwards : It has nothing to do with the change
of the moon, nothing whatever. A certain condition of wea-
ther often lasted a great number of days, and if the weather
happened to change on the day of the new moon, and lasted
or some time, it was put down to the moon, whereas the moon
had nothing whatever to do in the matter, and there was no
rule regarding it. Prayers were offered in our churches for a
change of weather when rain or drought had prevailed much
longer than the then state of the moon. If a new moon would
bring a change of weather it was unnecessary to offer prayers
He assured them that the moon had nothing to do with it'
The weather was influenced by the state of the earth and the
sun. The latter it was that jTineipally influenced the weather
It was the sun tiiat caused certain winds to blow at certain
times. In the southern latitudes there were the " trade winds "
and what caused them ? Why the sun and not the moon. If
the sun caused the wind to blow in a particular direction* was
there any doubt that the sun also was the cause of the changes
in the weather ? He spoke modestly on this matter and wtth
all due respect.

Mr. LoGGiN pointed out that if the moon had no influence
on the tides there should be something else to account for the
difference in the tides at different places, for an instance
haw was it that it was high water at Bridport harbour say at
SIX o'clock, and yet not high water at a place say hundred
miles off till nine or ten o'cl ck ? Apparently it ought to be
high water at the same time at the different places, if themoon
had no influence on the'tides.

Captain Edwards said a difference of a few hours in the
tides say at Bridport and London could be easily accounted for.
A Member : Two-and-a-half hours.
Captain Edwards : Oh, it bad been already reduced to
two-and-a-half hours. Well, that was not difficult to explain.
They all knew that London was about fifty miles from the
sea ; therelore the matter was easily explained. London was
a long way up the river; hence the difference in the time of
high tides.

Captain Swain remarked that there was a difference in the
time of high tides at Weymouth and Bridport.

Captain Edwards considered this was also explained by the
difference in the situation of the places. He sa'd it was the
same with the man living on the coast of the English Channel
as with the man living in London, who exclaimed regarding
the Thames, " What a magnificent river !" and set it down as
the largest in the world. So the inhabitants of the coast

138

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

towns seemed to fancy they had the open sea, whereas such
was not the case. It sliould be remembered that the channel
gradually contracted ; hence the difference in the tides.

The Chairman observed that in the early part of Captain
Edwards' address reference was made to the influence of the
weather on plants. They were favoured by the presence of
one of the most successful gardeners in the county. The
vegetables on his table were superior to any he (Mr. Pope)
had seen before. He would now ask Mr. Toby to oblige them
by expressing his opinion as to the influence of the weather
on plants.

Mr. Toby failed to perceive any analogy between the science
of gardening and the influence of the moon on the weather.
He could not see that there was any analoey at all. They
had met to discuss whether the moon and the weather had
anything to do with each other — whether the animals in the
field, as Mr. Miller had stated was the case, were better
brought forward at full moon than any other time. He knew
something about the breeding of animals, which was a very
important matter. When sheep had the rain constantly
falling on their backs and were in a bad condition there was
no chance of getting good lambs to the same extent as when
there was fine, clear, dry weather. When moisture was con-
stantly about the body there was an immense amount of
evaporation which took away the power of delivery. Indeed,
in many cases stimulants were needed before delivery. They
all knew that in the wet, close seasons lambing was never so
successful as when the atmosphere was bright and clear.
Ewes before lambing should be placed under cover, and no ewe
should be allowed to lamb at all in the open air.

[Indignant Farmer : Lord have mercy upon thee !1

Mr. Toby hoped that in wet weather sheep would be taken
under cover for lambing purposes. No sensible man cared
about exposing his best animals to the inclement weather.
Care was taken even of pigs ; why not take care of valuable
ewes ? The speaker remarked on the superiority for breeding
purposes of the hilly country of Dorset over the vales of
Somerset, which were valuable for grazing.

Captain Edwards briefly replied. Witli regard to the lamb-
ing of sheep he had no doubt that more lambs were born after
it was dark than by daylight. There could be no doubt of it.
The weather, however, had nothing whatever to do with it.

The Chairman remarked, regarding the weather, that he
placed considerable confidence in the barometer ; he thought
it was the best guide as to the changes of the weather. Re-
specting the observations of Mr. Toby, he was decidedly op-
posed to the theory which he had laid down, and could not join
issue with him. It was generally admitted by practical men
that it was a bad plan to take ewes to lamb into the house.
They did not thrive well after. He acknowledged, however,
that nothing tended more to lessen the strength of sheep than
badly prepared food and a wet back at lambing. Nature was
generally sufiicient in itself for the requirements of the sheep
if they were properly taken care of. It was noticeable that
the fattest ewes did not always produce the most healthy
lambs. The dry hills of Dorset, for breeding purposes, taking
size into account, produced a larger increase of sheep than
any other county in the country. The hills were dry and
healthy. Somerset was more of a grazing county.

CHIPS

SECOND SERIES. — CONCERNING MANURES.

(1). Farmyard Manure. — What food is to the stock,
so is manure to the crops of the farm. Without the one
the farmer cannot expect to maintain his cattle in health,
or to fatten them for the shambles ; without the other
he cannot expect to add to the fertility of his soils, and
thereby increase the produce of his crops ; and, of all the
manures at the command of the farm, that of the farm-
yard is the most valuable, and plays the most important
part in the role of his cultivating processes. Nor need
we wonder at this when we consider the sources of its
supply — how it comes to him from the stock he feeds,
so that the circle of operation is complete ; the crops
which feed the cattle, the cattle which give the manure,
and the manure which in time gives fertility to the soil
which yields the crops ; and further, from the fact that
this manure contains in itself all the elements of fertility
which the plants require. True, that these elements are
small in bulk as compared with the bulk of the manure in
which they are present ; thus, in every ton there is no
less than some fourteen hundredweight of water, from
four to six hundredweight of solid matter of inferior
value, and only from two to hall a hundredweight of fer-
tilizing constituents. But we are inclined to think that
we too readily take the purely chemical truths which
these facts indicate into consideration, and lose sight of
what ijay be a great truth, and which will go to ac-
count for the high manurial value whicti farmyard
dung possesses. For, independently of the fact that
the manure exercises a most important mechanical in-
fluence upon the soil, opening it up most usefully
in the case of heavy soils, and even in the case
of light ones to the ameliorating iulluences of the
light and air, we are not sure that the large per centage
of water which the manure is sure to contain is to be
set aside as useless, not reckoning it as part of the fertil-
iBing value of the manure. As water pure and simple it
CJ^nuot be of value iu this respect; but it may be. and we

are inclined to think it is, a very different matter when
combined with other constituents. In the absence of
positive information as to what the circumstances of the
combination really are, conjecture is as sound and is
as likely to be as safe on the side of the supposition that
the water of combination plays an important part in the
manure, as that it does not. The point is one, assuredly,
which demands a close investigation, if, indeed, this
investigation can ever be properly made when so much is
uncertain. In fresh farmyard manure the ammonia is prc-
present in a very small proportion, the major part of the
nitrogen being present in the state of insoluble, nitroge-
nous materials ; these, however, as the dung increases in
rottenness increase in solubility, and the per centage of
ammonia is raised. Hence is deduced the recommenda-
tion that in order to prevent the escape of the volatile
products, the manuee sliould not be exposed to the air,
but kept covered up. We have in this journal given
plans of covered manure pits, which are, beyond, all
question, appliances most useful on a farm, and which
should have always a place iu all farm-buildings.
These pits should not only be covered at top, open of
course at the sides ; but the bottom part, in which the
manure lies should be made perfectly water-tight, so that
the liquid shall not be suffered to escape and be lost.
This liquid will best be preserved in a tank which com-
municates with the bottom of the pit, and from which,
from time to time, it may be pumped up. Some prefer
to pump the liquid-manure from the tank on to the heap,
allowing it to soak through the mass on its way a second
time to the tank.

As this is the season for carting out manure in the
stubble-fields, we shall glance very briefly at the way in
which this should be left. The point is much disputed as
to whether it is best to plough the dung into the soil in
the autumn, ov to spread it on the surface of the same,
allowing it to lie all the winter and be ploughed in at
spring-time. We put out of court altogether the practice of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

139

cartiug the dung into the fields, placing it in heaps, and
then allowing those heaps to lie all the winter, or at least
a large portion of it. The practice of spreading the
manure on the soil and allowing it to lie all winter,
ploughing it in in spring, meets with the approval, not
only of practical men (whose opinion is worth listening to,
if not of following), but also of high scientific authority.
One of our agricultural savants who recommends this
practice, maintains that, being washed into the soil by the
rams, it is much more uniformly distributed than by
ploughing it in. Now, before being washed in, it may
happen (as in practice, iu fact, it does happen) that a long
tack of dry weather takes place after the manure will be
spread on the surface ; and in this case the manure is
placed iu the very worst position for returning its fertiliz-
ing constituents, for ihe ammonia must be distributed in
the air. That it is so, our olfactory sense tells us in
crossing a field treated iu this way. If we are told to
keep our manure iu covered pits, in the farm steading,
in order to prevent the ammonia from being dissipated in
the air, how can we reconcile this with the advice to
spread it out upon the surface of our fields, and allow of
its exposure for weeks, if not for mouths, in the action of
the air ? For our part, we would rather not trust to the
matter of fertility present in the dung being washed into
the soil. We would then be inclined to allow the general
practise of ploughing in the manure to the soil as shortly
after it is spread on the sm-face as possible to be per-
sisted in as the safest. Where manure during the
, frosty weather of winter months, when the fields are
hard-surfaced and the roads good for cartage, is carted
on to the field, we would most strongly urge the plan to
be followed of making a manure-pit or pits as closely in
accordance with the principles we have indicated. We
should even advise the farmer to go to some trouble and
some expense in preparing a pit for the manure, if not to
make a special one. At all events the site of the pit
should be carefully rammed close, if not puddled with
retentive clay, to prevent the liquid, which is of high
manurial value, being allowed to soak away into the soil.
To secure this the best way will be to make an excavation
of some 18 to 24 inches deep, with sides and ends
sloping inwards towards the centre, ramming the soil
well up, or, as above stated, puddling it. It will be
a good plan to spread a bottom-layer of compost-manure,
into which the liquid will soak,* this being m spring
thoroughly \yell-mixed with the manure placed above it.
The foundation being thus prepared, the manure may be
carted to the pit, from the steading, and laid in it in
uniform layers. If the heap cannot be finished at once,
each time it is left a thin layer of soil should be spread
over the whole surface. When the heap is finished, it
should be properly shaped ridge fashion, and the surface
covered with soil.

CONCERNING STOCK.

Per-eentage of Flesh-formers m Cattle Foods. —
We have given a statement of the per-centage of water,
starch, and oil in foods ; we now do the same with regard
to the flesh-formers, dividing the foods into the classes of,
1st, cereals ; 2nd, leguminous seeds ; 3rd, straws ; 4th,
roots ; 5th, leaf crops ; 6th, grasses ; 7th, refuse of the
cereals; and 8th, artificial foods. (1) Cereals: Wheat
14.6, barley 12.8, oats 17, rye 13.83, Indian corn 12,
buckwheat 8.6. (2) Leguminous Crops: Beans 24
(taking the form of caseine), peas 23.4, lentils 26.
{i) Straws : Wheat straw 1.79, oats 1.63, barley 1.68,
lye 2.29, beans 6.79, peas 12.55. (4) Roots: Swedes
1.443, white turnips 1.143, mangolds 1.54, potatoes 1.4,
parsnips 1.21, carrots 0.6, kohl-rabi 0.227. (5) Leaf
Crops: Cabbage 4.75, cauliflower 3.61 (leaves), 3.84
(flower), mangold leaves 1.76, turnip leaves 2.45, swedes
2.08. (6) Grasses (dried state) : Red clover 3.60, white

ditto 4.52, yellow 4.48, Alsike ditto 4.82, lucerne 4.40,
sainfoin 3.51, vetch 3.56. The above in the natural state
as cut : Red clover 18.64, white ditto 28.31, yellow ditto
20.00, Alsike 20.69, lucerne 16.56, sainfoin 15.50, vetch
20.00, sweet-scented meadow or vernal grass (Anthox-
anthum odoratum) 2.00, crested wagtail grass (Cynosurus
cristatus) 4.13, cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) 4.06, rye-
grass (Lolium perenne) 3.37, Italian rye-grass (Lolium
italicum) 2.45, grass from water meadow 2.78, meadow
hay 10.69, (7) Refuse of the Cereals: Bran 13.80,
malt-dust and malt-coombs 25.62. (8) Artificial Foods :
Linseed-cake 29.75, rape-cake 29.53, cottonseed- cake
41.25, linseed-cake (average quality) 28.21, Patent
cake 20.66, Company's cake 34.62, ditto 65.87, ditto
45.31, ditto meal 38.44, palm-nut meal 18.01, compound
nut-meal 31.81, Cruchley or greaves-meal 24.75.

Treatment of Ailments of Stock. — Commencing
our brief notes upon this important department in the
care of stock with the calves, we find that the first com-
plaint to which they are subjected is the souring of the
milk in their stomachs. This, if not prevented or cured,
gets frequently to such a point that a post mortem ex-
amination will show a mass of curdled milk so hard that
it may be cut with a knife. A very eminent breeder and
rearer of stock uses, as a preventive means, a dose to the
calf as soon as dropped and before it is allowed to suckle
the cow, composed of rhubarb, magnesia, and castor-
oil — a teaspoonful of each. If the disease or complaint
has set, the same medicine with the omission of the
castor-oil is given, but twenty grains of the " grey
powder" is substituted for the latter, the doses being re-
peated every six hours. For attacks of the " scour," a
complaint to which calves in a more advanced stage are
liable, a dose of a quarter-of-an-ounce of nitre, ditto of
ginger, and sis ounces of Epsom salts will be useful ; to
this we would recommend the addition of a tea-
spoonful of sulphur. A gaseous fluid has been found in
many instances an admirable remedy for the scour. A
third complaint to which calves are liable is the " husk,"
which is accompanied with a short hacking cough, and
generally attacks the animals when about nine months
old. The complaint is caused by small worms or para-
sites attacking the wind-pipe, and, if allowed to go on,
ultimately the lungs. Tar applied daily to the nose of
the animal in small quantity will be found a cure in
the majority of instances. The hoose or "catarrh," .
to which calves are very liable, often commits
great ravages amongst them. As soon as the
disease appears attention should be paid at once to
the animals, " the first cough heard," says an authority,
" should be the signal for the display of unceasing vigi-
lance on the part of the attendant." If at the commence-
ment of the disease remedies are applied, it will soon
likely be checked. A very simple remedy in the first
stage is a little nitre, given at night in a warm bran
mash ; two drachms will be enough, and a little sulphur
will be an improvement — say a teaspoonful. When these
are administered, it is necessary to guard against the
auimal taking cold, to which it is a little more liable
than usual when these are given. Should the cough not
yield to this simple treatment, one a little more energetic
will be required, as small doses of tartar-emetic and
digitalis. Along with medicine careful attention should
be paid to maintaining a uniform temperature in the calf-
house, and to have this kept thoroughly clean ; the food
should be of the best quality, and it should be given
rather at frequent intervals m small quantities than at
longer intervals and in larger quantity. " Experience,"
says an able authority, " will teach the farmer that these
chest affections in cattle often, and speedily, assume a
highly inflammatory character, and that they must be
conquered at first or not at all."

140

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Of quarter-ill, "black-quarter," or " joiut-murraiu,"
an able authority states, inflammatory fever but indicates
the nature of the malady. So sudden, he says, are its
visitations that the beast in perfect health to-day, may be
found drooping and out of sorts to-morrow. The symp-
toms are too well known to be here given, the prominent
ones being great langonr, with unsteadiness in the hind-
quarters when walking or moving, which the animal has a
great dislike to do ; the breath is heated, the pulse quick,
the muzzle dry, and the disturbed anxious look of the eye
shows how uneasy the animal is. "When an animal is
seen to be attacked, get it, if in the field, housed as soon
as possible, and supplied with good litter, in a clean,
well-ventilated stall. The animal should then be bled,
and a purge — say of Epsom salts — given to it. If a
change for the better takes place, the symptoms not in-
creasing, doses of nitre, tartar emetic, and digitalis should
be administered twice or thrice a day. If the joints be-
come swelled, hot water fomentations should be at once
applied, and afterwards well rubbed, but gently, with a
liuament made of camphorated spirits of wine, liquid am-
monia, and salt. In the worst stages of the disease ulcers
may break out in various parts of the body, but these
will be especially in the mouth. No better application to
these can be made than sulphurous acid {not sulphnric acid) :
this wiU at once allay the inflammation, and stop tbeir
spreading. One of the most valuable preventives
of quarter-ill is good feeding, with carefully-cleaned
and well-ventilated housing. Another preventive, highly

praised by eminent men, is the passing of a "seton"
through the dewlap of the calf. In feeding, oil-cake should
form part of the food, as this substance tends to keep
the bowels regular. A dose of nitre, ginger, and sulphur,
with Epsom salts, as already named, should also be given
to the animals occasionally ; this will serve to keep the
bowels regular, and it has moreover a remarkably good
influence upon the general health of the animal : indeed,
of all the medicine used for stock, we are inclined to con-
sider this as the most valuable. As to the use of setons,
Mr. Youatt believes them to be of great advantage;
they excite inflammation in the neighbourhood of the
diseased part, and thus cause a determination of
blood, to a greater or less extent, to this new seat
of irritation. They are useful in both acute and chronic
inflammation of the respiratory organs. For young
cattle, rapidly thriving, and placed in pastures perhaps a
little too luxuriant, permanent setons are highly bene-
ficial ; they act as a salutary drain, and prevent that ac-
cumulation of the circulatory fluid which is the usual
cause of inflammatory fever and other fatal complaints.
The seton is passed through the loose skin of the chest,
but not too far down, so as to enable the animal to lie
down with ease. The seton is made of twisted cow's tail
hair, of the thickness of a flnger, and is provided with a
button of wood at one end, and a knot at the other, and it
should be saturated with turpentine before insertion.
The seton should be pulled from one end to the other once
every day.

THE CENTRAL FARMERS' CLUB.
CONTINENTAL FARMING AND PEASANTRY.

APPENDIX TO THE PAPER READ AT THE FARMERS' CLUB BY MR. JAMES HOWARD, M.P.

The answers to the following questions were given either
by letter or viva voce, and are from gentlemen of experience
and position. The iuformation received has been much con-
densed ; nevertheless, it is hoped that the facts given may not
be without interest.

Question. — Is ilie land In your immediate district divided
into large and small farms ? If so, what is considered a large
and what a small farm, and which form the greater pro-
portion ?

Answers :—

Monsieur J. Leclerc, Inspector-General of Agriculture,
Belgium. — The following table indicates how rural property
is subdivided in Belgium. In the year 1856 there were farms
not exceeding-
ly acres 247,551

lito 2i acres 70,413

3^

13X

„

1'4

25

25

37^

37^

50

»

50

fS-l\

63^

125

„

125

350

,

250 and

upwards

Total number of farms 572,550

This total comprises 6,507,590 acres, of which 3,558,632 acres
are cultivated directly by the owners, and 2,948,958 acres by
tenant-farmers. Tlie following is the mean extent of the
farms in the various provinces :
Antwerp 13 acres

Brabant

W. Flanders...

E. do. ...

Uainault

Average for the whole country, 11;^ acres
Landed property in Belgium tends to subdivision.

Lit'ge \\\ acres

Limburg ... 17 „
Luxemburg 28 „
Namur 181 „

This is

the inevitable consequence of legislation which gives to each
child the right of claiming one share of the paternal estate,
and also is a consequence of the increase of public wealth.
Many people who have acquired wealtli in business wish to
become landed proprietors.

Baron Peers, President of the Agricuhural Society of West
Flanders, Belgium.— In tlie two provinces of Flanders pro-
perty is much divided. There are a few large and many small
farms; most of the latter are let without buildings. The
majority consist of 12^ to 20 acres ; the tillage, &c., being done
by the help of cows.

Herr Joest, of the Rhenish Beet-root Sugar Company,
Prussia.- Land is much divided; 400 acres is considered a
large farm ; small farms 27 to 34 acres. Small farms pre-
dominate.

Baron Eisner von Gronow, member of the Royal Prussian
Board of Agriculture, Silesia. — Land over the whole of East
Prussia is divided into great and small properties. There were
in Prussia in 1858 farmed properties under 3 acres 871,926,
properties from 3 to 18 acres 521,690, properties from 18 to
180 acres 359,697, from 80 to 360 acres in the country 14,082,
from more than 360 acres 14,082. The assessment of landed
property in 1865 showed—

5,518 properties of £150 to £300 annual value
2,600 do. £300 to £450 do,

1,871 do. £450 to £750 do.

689 do. £750 to £1,500 do.

108 do. £1,500 do.

In 1865 were 291,614 properties in the townships
„ 1,503,434 „ parishes

„ 22,467 „ hands of the gentry.

If you take the taxed revenue 30 times, it will represent the
real value of the property. The morgen, or Prussian acre, pays
in my neighbourhood on land of middle quality about three
thalers a year (5s. 5d. per acre).

Dr. Emit Perels, Professor of Agriculture at the University
of Halle, Prussia. — Most farms are in the hands of independent
owners ; hired farms, with the exception of the State domains,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

141

are exceptional. By a large farm is mostly understood one of
600 English acres. The largest estate in my neighbourhood
is Saltzmuiide, with a superficies of 6,000 acres, the smallest
(peasant's liolding) about 12 English acres. In the Prussian
kingdom the peasant holdings preponderate.

Monsieur Edouard Lecouteux, landed proprietor and editor
of the Joi/rnid d' A^ricidhrre Pra/iqiie, France. — In the dis-
trict of Sologne large estates predominate. There are domains
of 5,000 acres, but they tend to subdivision. Estates of about
700 acres are the most easily disposed of. Tlie large
estates are let in farms of 250 to 500 acres. There are many
small holdings of 20 to 50 acres, and others of 2 to 12 acres.

Monsieur Gustavo Hamoir, agriculturist, Valenciennes,
France. — Landed estates here are very much divided. There
are few large proprietors. All are let on lease, and, if large,
are often distributed among several tenants. Twenty-five
acres is considered a large extent. Ten acres may be consi-
dered as the average. A large number are only I5 acres. It
is a rare exception for the landed proprietors to farm their
own estates. A great number of farmers have a fourth or more
of their land their own property, and hire the rest on lease.
Tliere are some farms of 4-50 to 650 acres ; but the mean size
of a farm must be considered 3^ acres, and such farms may be
considered to predominate.

Monsieur de Pimpin, manager of the farms of La Briche, the
property of Monsieur Cail, near Tours (Loire), France. — Ex-
cept upon the banks of the Loire, where the plots are very
small, landed property is not much subdivided in Touraine ;
many farms of more than 2,500 acres may be counted ; ordi-
nary farms are from 125 to 200 acres ; the largest are 4,000
acres in extent, and the smallest 125 acres. The small farms,
of which a good many frequently belong to one proprietor, pre-
dominate.

Monsieur Maurice Lapointe, farmer, near Metz, France.—
Amongst 100 farms in this district there are 20 of from 125
to 200 acres, 70 from 200 to 250 acres, and 10 exceeding 250
acres. The largest farm is from 375 to 400 acres, and the
least 50 acres : holdings of a less extent are not considered
farms. I consider the mean size 200 to 250 acres.

Monsieur Bovet, agriculturist, Neufchutel, Switzerland.—
Land is ranch divided. Farms in a ring fence are very rare,
except in the mountains, where they are tlie rule. In Western
Switzerland farms of 12^ to 25 acres are considered small, 25
to 75 medium, and 75 to 250 large. Larger than 250 acres
are very rare, except in the mountains. The greater proportion
of farms are small.

Mr. Whitmore, agricultural engineer, Bologna, Italy. — In
this district there are not the large properties or farms as
in England, nor the very small ones of Ireland, but instead,
medium farms. There are a few large holdings, but not con-
ducted as in England, but rather several small farms united.
Each farm is of a size to be cultivated by one family of la-
bourers ; the number of persons in a family will be about 12.
In this district a farm such as is above intended will be about
25 to 50 acres in extent.

From an agriculturist in Austrian Galicia ; communicated
by Professor Fuchs, Perpetual Secretary of the Imperial Agri-
cultural Society of Austria. — The land in my immediate neigh-
bourhood (district of Cracow) is divided into large farms of
120 to 450 acres, and peasant farms of 3 to 45 acres. In my
district the largest farm is 450 acres, and 120 acres the least,
Peasant projjrietors farm 3 to 45 acres. In my environs farms
consist mostly of 300 acres arable and 45 to 75 acres pasture.
For each farm of 300 to 375 acres there are in proportion 30
to 40 peasant farms.

From an agriculturist in Austrian SUesia ; communicated by
Professor Fuchs, Vienna. — Farms are seldom let on hire. They
vary in size from 450 to 750 acres. The largest is 1,750
acres, the smallest 120 acres. Farms are generally from 450
to 750 acres in extent.

Herr Nitsch, steward of Count Magni's estate of Strassnitz,
in Moravia ; communicated by Dr. Fuchs, Vienna. — The land
is all in large farms. Above 3,000 acres is considered a large
farm, and under that extent a small one. The largest farms
are 30,000 acres, the smallest 900 acres. In Moravia the
larger farms predominate.

Herr Nicholas Feher, farmer and agricultural engineer,
Hungary. — There are liired farms in this country as large as
225,000 acres, and some as small as 7i acres. There are
some landed proprietors who own as much as 600,000 acres.

WJiat is about ilie average n>it of hmje farms mid of small
ones, laud say of medium quality ? If the land in your dis-
frict is of three quat dies, perhaps it may be as easy for you to
give the rents of each.

Monsieur J. Leclerc, Belgium. — The average rent of farms
in the various provinces in 1856 was :

per acre.

Liege, 32s. 4d. per acre.
Limburg, 19s. lOd. „
Luxemburg, 14s, „

Namur, 20s, 4d, „

Antwerp, 24s.
Brabant, 32s.
W. Flanders, 26s. 8d.
E. Flanders, 34s.
Hainault, 35s. 2d.

Average rent for the whole country, 26s, 2d. per acre.

Rents have increased considerably during late years in those
parts where agricultural industries have been established,
chiefly sugar factories. There are in the neighbourhood of
Brussels farms which are let at the rate of 583. per acre. The
rents of small farms, for which there is much competition,
range generally from 40s. to 48s. per acre.

Baron Peers, Flanders. — For third class land, in large farms,
farmers pay 21s., for medium quality 29s., and for the best
land 38s. 6d. per acre. Small farms let for 29s., 40s., and 45s.
per acre for land of similar quality to the above.

Herr Joest, Cologne. — The average rent is 31s. 6d. per acre,
both of large and small farms. The different classes of land
are brought almost to one standard.

Baron von Gronow. — The Prussian landowner farms mostly
himself, and small landowners do not let farms; only the
State and great landholders let land. The greater landholders
sometimes let small plots of arable land to the smaller land-
holders or farmers, or to the labourers. In my own case I let
about 360 acres in pieces of 2^ to 7§ acres, at a rent of 25s.
per acre for the best quality, and 7s, 6d. for the worst. Land
is divided into six classes for taxation purposes.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — The rents of farms, medium quality of
soil, varies much ; the extreme limits are from 20s. to 75s. an
acre. In general the small holdings are not let as farms, the
owner farms himself. Small lots are let at 30s. to 35s. per
acre. The rents may be classified as foUows : SoU, first qua-
lity 50s., second 35s,, third 25s. per acre.

Monsieur Lecouteux. — The rent of large farms is from 4s.
lOd. to 8s. per acre, the minimum rent of small farms is 8s.
Ganerally, however, the rent is paid in produce on the
" metayer" system.

Monsieur Hamoir, France. — The average rent of land is
72s. per acre. Large and small farmers compete for the land.
The very small farmers pay a higher price, because they have
to do with small plots, and do not offer so good a guarantee
to the proprietor. The difference in the rent of the various
classes of land does not bear any analogy to the natural qua-
lity of the soil, as high farming based xipon root crops has
brought all land almost to the same level.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — In the north of Touraine
the rent of the land is about 3s. 3d. to 4s. an acre, whilst in
other districts of the department rent varies from 13s. 9d. to
25s. 6d. an acre. The general rent for small plots of medium
quality is 9s. 6d. per acre. First quality land is let at 25s. 6d.
per acre, second ditto at 12s. 9d., third ditto at 8s. in the good
part of Touraine. In the north, however, the rents are :
First quality 6s. 5d. per acre, second ditto 4s. 9d., third ditto
2s. 8d.

Monsieur Maurice Lapointe, France. — F^irst class land lets
at 19s. to 22s. 6d. per acre, second ditto 16s. to 19s. 6d,,
third ditto 13s. to 16s. In this departement there are farms
let from 33s. to 35s. an acre, and others at 9s. 6d. to lis. 6d,

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Good land lets for 40s. an
acre, medium 25s. 6d., poor 16s. Pastiires are let according
to the number of cattle they will carry. The difference be-
tween the rent of large and small farms is unappreciable.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — The average rent is about 32s. per
acre. It is aU good land, and varies little in quality.

Dr. Fuchs, Austria. — (From Austrian Gallicia), — The ave-
rage rents of the larger farms in Austrian Gallicia, second to
third quality soil, is lis. to 14s. per acre. The rent of small
plots of Ig to 3 acres ranges from 32s. per acre for best qua-
lity to 5s. for the poorest. Peasant farms, the property of
former serfs, are held by the class, and are not let.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — Rent varies from 15s. to 60s.
per acre.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia,— 21s, 4d, to 25s, 6d, per acre ; 19s,

I* 2

142

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

2d. to 22s. 4(1. First class 33s. per acre, second class 22s. 4d.
to 25s. 6d., third class 16s. to 19s. 2d.

Herr Felier, Hungary. — Rents range from 2s. 8d. to 8s. per
acre. The proximity of the railway has a great deal to do
with the value.

At what price can land of medium qualilij le purchased
in large lots ? and at ivhat price in small lots ?

Monsieur J. Leclerc, Belgium. — Here follow the average
selling prices of land in the various provinces in 1856. —

per acre.

per acre.

& s.

d.

& s. d.

Antwerp . . .

47 17

6

Liege

57 10 8

Brabant ...

68 17

8

Limburg ..

34 18 6

W. Flanders

50 19

0

Luxemburg

16 13 10

E. do.

69 11

8

Namur

39 8 6

Hainault ...

70 14

8

Average for
country ..

the

50 14 8

On account of the situation, or of particular circumstances,
land frequently reaches the value of £112 to £160 per acre.

Baron Peers, 1 landers. — Lands of medium quality can be
purchased at £56 per acre, that is, in lots of 125 to 150 acres.
In small plots of 5 to 15 acres £64 to £73 per acre is
realized.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — From £50 to £75 per acre is the
price of land in large lots ; iu small lot £30 to £37 10s. per
acre.

Baron von Gronow, Silesia, Prussia. — Land in large lots
fetches from £15 to i'20 per acre with the farm buildings,
&c., and in small lots £25 to £37 10s. per acre without
buildings, &c.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — The selling price of land varies con-
siderably according to locality. It ranges from £37 10s. to
£75 per acre.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France. — Land in large lots is sold at
64s. to £8 per acre.

Monsieur Hamoir, France. — Large lots £96 per acre, and in
small £144 per acre. When there has been a succession of
good crops for several years, and the farmer has saved money,
the price of small lots is considerably augmented, because the
ordinary farmer does not and will not appreciate any other in-
vestment than land, and buys therefore at any price when
there is a possibility of doing so. 1 have known laud sold at
£193 per acre.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — The price of land varies from
£8 to £20 per acre, according to the quality of the soil and
the position of the property. £38 per acre is realized for
small plots. When higher prices than these are paid it is
owing to special circumstances.

Monsieur Lapoiute, France. — Large plots £30to£40 per acre ;
small ones £34 to £48. Some farms sell for as much as £128
to £160 per acre.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — In large farms £24 to £32
per acre including the farm buildings. Mountain and forest-
land £3 OS. to £5. Small farms sell for £48 to £56 per acre.
Vineyards fetch from £200 to £320 per acre.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy.— Large farms can be bought at about
£20 per acre, and small one at about £22 10s.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Gallicia, — Large farms of medium
quality can be bought at £7 to £8 per acre.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia — In large plots from £20 to £25
per acre. Iu small plots from £35 to £30 per acre.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia.— Large plots £5 6s. 8d. to £13 6s. 8d.
per acre ; small plots £8 to £16 per acre.

Herr Fehcr, Hungary. — Large estates sell from 533. 4d. to
93s. 4d. per acre, according to their position. Small farms
54s. 4d. to £20 per acre, according to situation.

Are the small farms in your district the property of the occu-
piers, or do they rent them? What is your opinion upon the
question of peasant or small farmers ? Is it Ijctter for their own
interests and those of the country that they should be the oxvners
or simply the tenants of the soil ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium.— The number of small farms let
to tenants or farmed by their proprietors is about equal. In
my opinion it would be better for both small and large farms
to be worked by the proprietors.

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium.— Botli small and large far-

mers are generally tenants, few are proprietors of the land
tliey occupy. There is nothing worse for the small as for the
large farmer than to be proprietor of his farm. When he buys
he has almost always to borrow a part of the purchase money
to pay a heavy interest, and has to be careful in payment.
At his death, if there are many children, they sell. Tlie ex-
penses come to from 15 to 18 per cent. ; in a word, those who
are well advised invest their money, and the greatest number
do this. In this manner they have their money when they
want it, and can meet all eventualities. However, our farmers
are not always ready to buy. They often enter upon a farm
of from 100 to 125 acres, with a capital of £40, whilst they
ought to have £80 to £100. It is only by dint of economy
and privations that they get round, and this at the end of 30
or 40 years.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Farms are mostly the property of the
farmers. Prosperous farmers are to be preferred to poor pro-
prietors, but many owners are said to produce a rich country.

Baron Eisner von Gronow, Silesia, Prussia. — I think you
get a more steady population if every one owns the land he
farms. In eastern Prussia there exists no class of persons
who would farm a very small property, so I had never occa-
sion to compare the results. For the State and the great
landowners it is better to let the farms out to farmers with
intelligence and capital, but a man of intelligence could not
subsist on a smaller farm of middle quality than 130 to 200
acres.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — The small estates are as a rule the
property of the farmer ; it is an exceptional case when they
are hired. As a general rule, it is considered in this country
more advantageous when the farmer owns his land. An in-
dependent peasant proprietor is to be preferred to a tenant
farmer.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France. — The small farms are worked
by farmers or " metayers." The position of proprietors is the
best in the world for the peasant, but on the condition, how-
ever, that he has sufficient money to work his land. Gene-
rally the peasants are possessed by the demon of property, they
buy too much land, and have no capital to work it with.

Monsieur Hamoir, France. — Very few of the small farms
are completely the property of the occupier ; it is quite the
exception. It were certainly preferable that the small farmer
should not be a proprietor or landowner at the price he pays.
The interest of his money invested iu ordinary securities
would permit him to hire, even at a high rate, double the
quantity of land that he could hold as an owner, but he does
not enter upon this path, because of his ignorance and fear of
investing money, and for another fear at least as serious, that
of the short duration of leases, at the end of which he dreads
to be ousted for some competitor.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — As a rule small farms are
not the property of occupiers ; they are hired for a money
rent. This system of letting equally prevails iu the north of
Touraine, where the proprietor gets from 3s. 2d. to 4s. an acre;
in the south, contrarywise, " metayage" prevails. The system of
letting land for money in the north of Touraine is bad in this
sense, that the fanners for the most part are destitute of the
requisite knowledge, nor have they capital enough to work
the land they rent. In order to live they have to work upon
the feelings of the landlord by inducing him to take a low
rent whilst they exhaust his soil, for they never manure it ;
the result is a state of non-progressive agriculture, and these
farmers are constantly complaining. To insure progress where
neither the rent nor the selling price of the land is high, there
must be either fanners possessing both money and intelligence,
knowing their business in fact, or else the landlords must
farm themselves.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — The small farmers though not
numerous are in easy circumstances. The owners of small
farms who wish to cultivate themselves, when they have money,
often let their own land and cultivate a larger quantity, which
they hire on lease. I think for the most part they would find
it to their advantage to employ their capital in the cultivation
of a less extent of land.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — They are generally farmed
by the owners. We think it is better they should be owners ;
it is a great guarantee for the fixity of social order. For
high fiirmiug it is a different matter, though for the last few
years the example of the large proprietors and neighbouring
farmers has exerted a salutary influence, The class of farmers

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

143

in this country are, as regards the majority, men belonging to
the class of small proprietors.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — They are nearly all let out to the
labourer on the "metayer system," the proprietors residingin the
adjacent towns. The general opinion in this country is, that
so far as the labourers or their families are concerned, the
" metayer" is the best system.

Dr. Euchs, Galicia, — The small farms are the properties of
the peasants. The farming of tlie peasants is in a very poor
state. There is no industrial manufacture in this district,
consequently there is no capital ; if there were capital the
farming would be better, and it would also be to their ad-
vantage under such circumstances to be owners of their land.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — Small farms are the property of the
occupier. 1 think it would be better if they were tenants.

Herr i<'eher, Hungary. — Scarcely one-tenth of the land is
let on hire. The land is the property of the occupier. I
think it is every way better for the peasant or small farmer to
cultivate his own land rather than that of another.

Is land let by the year or upon lease for a number of years ;
if upon lease, for what term of years ? Are the leases verbal
or hi writinrj, and is it usual for them to contain, covenants or
stipulations binding the tenant against overcropping the land
or cropping it in a purticnlar way ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — The land is always let on
lease. The duration of the leases is generally nine years, with
the option of withdrawal at the end of three and six years ;
but some intelligent land owners are beginning to understand
that it is to their interest to give longer leases, and there are
already some of 13 years. Agricultural societies aim at this
amelioration. In some parts of the country the outgoing ten-
ant has a claim to an indemnity on the part of the incoming
tenant for manure in the land and the improvements he may
have made ; this is an excellent system, and gives much
security to the farmer. Agricultural societies endeavour, also,
to make this custom the general one. Leases are always made
in vvriting, and they often contain restrictions. These last,
however, are disappearing as the leases become longer, and as
the principle of paying the outgoing tenant is adopted.

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium. — All the land is let on
lease; the general term is 9 years; some for 12, 15, and 18
years, but these are the exception. There are few verbal
leases, almost all are written. Frequently they are made out by a
notary. Nearly all are private agreements. All contain rigor-
ous stipulations of annulling, or heavy penalties when the far-
mer exceeds his powers. He ought to cultivate like a good
father of the family, put on manure, lime, and plough and hoe
properly. The last year of his lease he must not, in a farm of
135 acres, grow more than 5 acres of buck-wheat, 5 acres of
oats, and other exhaustive crops. At the end of his last har-
vest, he receives, according to estimates, from the incoming
tenant, the price of the farm-yard manure and former dress-
ings ; even for the liquid manure he receives a value. The
farmer is charged with the repairs of the hired buildings,
painting, &c.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Land is let on leases for 3 and 6
years ; but as a rule leases are for 9 years — some are for 13
years. They are written contracts drawn up by a notary.
The farmer must manure his land according to local custom.
In the last year of his lease, he is restricted as to the extent of
cropping.

Baron von Gronow, Prussia. — Small parcels are let out from
1 year to 3 years ; but farms, properly so called, with home-
steads, are let upon a lease of 13 or 18 years. No one would
take a farm with less than a twelve years' lease. The con-
tracts are in writing. The farmer is precluded, by law, {rom
selling straw or meadow hay ; most contracts forbid him to
sell such feeding stuff as clover, mangold, &c. The rotation of
crops is very seldom mentioned.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — As a rule the state domains are let on
18 year leases, short leases are the exception. Leases are
always in writing, there are limiting conditions, particularly
as regards selling straw ; which, for instance, on the state
domains is prohibited — furthermore, conditions are made that
a restorative rotation of crops shall be observed, and that the
laud shall be kept in a fertile state.

Monsieur Lccouteux, France — Leases are from 3, G, and
9 years. The metayer is by the year. There are few written

and registered leases. The stipulation is by word of mouth or
private unstamped agreements. No covenants are given for
maintaining the fertility of the soil.

Monsieur Gustavo Haraoir, France. — Leases are generally
and almost entirely for 9 years. The leases are generally
made out by deeds before a notary ; each proprietor adds some
particular clauses of little importance. The rotation of crops
is no longer stipulated for, except indeed for the last 3 years.
What is most generally required is a thorough manuring 3
years before the expiration of the lease.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — Land is let in the north of
Touraine, on leases of 3, 6, and 9 years. The rent days being
the 3'ltli of June or the 1st of November of each year. In the
south the leases are for half the crops. Leases are stamped
and sealed, they contain many stipulations prohibiting the far-
mer from exhausting the soil, and which often oblige him to
manure it ; but these agreements are seldom or never observed
The landlord is tolerant, and the lease runs its course without
any improvements taking place.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — On leases of 9, 13, and 18
years. Leases are always in writing, and generally contain a
prohibition against selling off green food or fodder, roots, &c.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Generally on leases the term
3, 6, and 9 years, with a right of continuity if there should
not have been a twelvemonth's notice given. Leases are in
writing throughout almost all Switzerland. In western Switz-
erland a stipulation is made, that no more than three white
crops shall follow together, and no more than two of the same
kind. Also, the extent of cereals, root-crops, and industrial
crops that may be grown is sometimes specified — generally, a
third of the total area.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — The length of contracts is 9
years ; but sometimes, as short as three years. The general
opinion is that it would be better if leases were of longer
duration. Leases are in writing, some even are printed and
explain all that the farmer has to observe, not only for the
rotation of crops, but the manner in which the work is to be
done ; and also, as to the management of the beasts or cattle.

Dr. Fuchs, Galicia. — The lease of large and small plots of
land is from 3 to 6 years. They are in writing and contain
reciprocal conditions. The tenant is not allowed to sell straw
from the same but must make it into manure. Rotation of
crops is not specified ; but for small plots of land no condi-
tions whatever are named.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — Leases are for 4 years. For
large estates 25 year leases are frequently given, for medium
sized farms 10 year leases are generally given. Leases from 1
to 4 years are only verbal, longer leases are in writing and the
tenant is constrained to keep the land in good order.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia.— On leases of 13 to 31 years. In
writing. Exhaustion of land is prevented by the covenant
that on every 4^ to 6 acres one head of grazing cattle must be
kept, and the dung produced must only be used on the farm and
cannot be sold.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — Land is let on lease mostly for 6
years, some for 9 and 12 years ; sometimes for longer periods.
Contracts are in writing, the stipulations are exact with res-
pect to the system of cultivation.

Have you game laws in force, and, if so, does the landlord
reserve to himself the right of sporting ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — There is a very stringent
game law in Belgium ; the result is, so much game is
often preserved, that farmers have frequently to complain of
its ravages. The right of shooting is always reserved by the
landowner, if not for his own pleasure, for letting to others.
About 3s. per acre is paid for the right of sporting.

Baron Peers, Belgium. — Our game laws are severe ; with-
out a licence, which costs 36s., it is not permitted to shoot
even on one's own estate. The proprietor reserves the right
of shooting in the lease.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — We have no game laws ; but the
proprietors reserve to themselves the right of shooting.

Baron Gronow, Prussia. — Yes ; but the law gives also some
security against damage done by game, going so far as allow-
ing the tenant to kill it, if the proprietor does not keep it in
bounds. Nearly always the proprietor retains the right over
the game.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — Game laws exist; but from time to
time there is agitation for their repeal or alteration. The

144

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

proprietor has not the riglit of shooting, except he has 180
acres of land.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France. — The law protects the game —
too much so. The landlord reserves the right of shooting.

Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, France. — We have a game law ;
I herewith send you a copy. On account of the great sub-
division of the land, the owner has little interest in reserving
the right of shooting ; he only does so when he possesses a
large amount of laud in his parish. As a rule, the right is
given to the farmer, who is in a position to prohibit the entry
to his field to auyoue who might cause damage.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — We have laws which regu-
late the beginning and close of shooting, so as to prevent the
total destruction of game. As a rule, the landlord reserves
the right of shooting.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — The game law of France is
dated May 3, 1844. The landlord generally reserves the
riglit of shooting by a clause in the lease.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — In nearly every canton there
exists a game law. The shooting season begins September 1st,
and ends December 31st. There are, however, some excep-
tions, as there are open times between the latter date and the
end of February.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy — In the sense understood in England,
there is no game law here. There has lately been one passed
prohibiting the destruction of birds during the hatching
season, and no man can shoot on the land of another without
leave.

Dr. Fuchs, Gahcia. — There are laws for the preservation of
game. When there is any quantity of game, it is generally
let with the land.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — There are laws ; but they are
not enforced. Tenants of large plots are bound to keep
poachers oif their laud.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — Unfortunately none. A farm of
more than 300 acres entitles to the right of sporting ; other-
wise it is let in districts to the highest bidder.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — We have game laws ; and the
right of sporting is reserved by the proprietor.

What are the crops usually grown, and in what rotation ? and
what is considered a good average yield ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — Cereals : Wheat, rye, barley,
oats, buckwheat; Roots: Turnips, carrots, beetroot, and
potatoes ; Plants used in industry : Colza, rape, flax, sugar-
beet, hemp, hops, chicory, tobacco ; Vegetaljles : Vetches,
beans, horse-beans ; Fodder. The rotation of crops is
triennial or quadrennial.

Wheat 22 bushels per acre.

Rye 23 „

Barley 38^ „ „

Oats 37i „

Colaa 25

Has (of grain) 10^ „ „

Do. (fibre; 14| cwts, „

Beetroot 17 tons „

Beans 28^- bushels „

Baron Peers, Belgium. — Our harvests in the sandy, districts
are : Wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, buck-wheat, haricot beans,
white turnips. On fallows or upon very ordinary land, spergula
iu cultivated, cut green. The rotation of crops is as follows :
Wheat (when the land is suitable), rye, oats (without clover),
flax, potatoes, beetroot, or carrots. Upon manured oat land,
clover ; upon manured rye, an alternate crop of turnips. A
full crop is considered : —

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Rape (highly manured), wheat, rye
(slightly manured), clover, oats ; or, wiieat (manured), sugar-
beets (without manure), rye, clover, oats.

Of Wheat

» Rye

„ Oats ...

„ Buckwheat ...

„ Peas ...

„ Colza or Rape

„ Beetroot ...

„ Potatoes

„ White Potatoes*

„ Do.t

„ Flax (in fibre)

* On fallow. f As au alternate crop after rye.

36^ bushels per^acre.
27^^ „ „

38i „
26i „
22 „
22
16
12|
36
28
4J

tons
cwts.

Wheat ...

35 bushels per acre.

Rye

... 33 „

Oats

46 „

Rape

*5 „

Beetroot ...

about 12^ tons „

Baron Gronow,

Prussia.-

— Rye, wheat, barley, oats, pulse.

red clover, white clover, lucerne, Esparsette, cow-grass,
Swedish clover (trifolium hybridum), rye-grass, Timothy
grass, and other grasses, Indian corn (for feeding geese), rape-
seed, flax, potatoes, mangolds, lupins. The rotation is very
different, but nearly a four years' course : —
1.

Potatoes or Mangolds.

3, Clover.

Barley or Oats.

4. Rye or Wheat.

Rye

27 bushels per acre.

Wheat

22i „

Barley

33i „

Oats

36

Potatoes

Ti tons „

Mangolds

. Hi „

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — In my district, wheat, rye, oats, barley>
pease, potatoes, roots for fodder, sugar-beet, clover, lucerne,
are grown. A strictly -observed rotation of crops does not
exist, but it is the usual practice to observe a change between
green and white crops. A good yield may be considered :—

Wheat 45 to 60 bushels per acre.

Rye 35 45 „ „

Barley 50 60 „ „

Oats 50 120 „ .,

Peas — 30 „ „

Potatoes ... . . — 8 tons „

Turnips ... ... 12^ 25 „ „

Monsieur Lecouteux, France. — Cereals ; fodder of all kinds ;
meadow-grass. Little wheat, which yields from 14^ to 18
bushels per acre, but, in carefully cultivated fields from 22 to 27
bushels per acre. IMuch rye, yielding from 18 to 24 bushels
per acre. Fodder yields from 32 to 40 cwt. per acre.
Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, FVance. —

Beetroot ^ f Beetroot

Wheat Wheat

Clover I J Oats

Wheat r ""^ "S Clover

Oats Beetroot

Beetroot J [^

Large farmers have no rotation of crops. Many have one-
third to one-fourth of their land in beetroot ; the largest
farmers, one half and more in roots.
Per acre.

Beetroot 18 tons.

Wheat 31 bushels grain 36 cwts. straw

Oats 60 „ 33

Clover 1st cut, 2 tons 2nd cut, 1 ton.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — Corn, rye, root-crops, oats,
and artificial grasses. The petite culture foUows a five-course
shift in the south of the department : 1st year, corn ; 2nd,
clover ; 3rd, pasture ; 4th, fallow or root crops ; and 5th year,
small grain. In all the north there is no regular rotation of
crops ; but, mostly, cultivation is conducted on a three-course
system : 1st year, rye or wheat ; 2nd year, oats ; 3rd
year, fallow. High farming follows the three-course
system : 1st year, root crops ; 3nd year, corn ; 3rd year,
artificial grasses. The yield on small farms, where little
manure is used, is of corn, say 10 to 12 bushels per acre. In
good farms the yield is 30 to 36 bushels per acre of corn, and
13 to 16 tons per acre of beet-root.

Monsieur Lapointe, I'rance. — Ordinary rotation : 1st year,
fallow, clover, potatoes, beetroot, peas, lentils, vetches or
beans ; 2nd year, wheat ; 3rd year, oats, barley, rye. Out of
the rotation we cultivate lucerne and rape, also the vine. The
mean yield is :—

Wheat 18 bushels per acre.

Oats 24 „ „

Barley 22 „ „

Rape 6 „ „

Wine 168 gallons „

Potatoes ... ... ,., 4 tons „

Beetroot 6 „ „

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

145

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Very lew fixed rotations.
In Western Switzerland, wheat, oats, rye, barley, roots, rape or
colza, a little toljacco, sainfoin, clover, lucerne, &c. German
Switzerland : Coarse wheat, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, clover,
many fruit-trees. Wheat, 30 to 3-f bushels per acre, maxi-
mum 43 bushels ditto ; oats, 36 to 42 bushels per acre, maxi-
mum 54 bushels ditto. On the table-land of Western Switzer-
land in proportion to the seed, wheat 6 to 10 to 1, and oats
8 to 15 and even 20 to 1. Potatoes give 144 bushels per acre,
carrots 240 ditto, beetroot 480 ditto. Natural meadows 16
cwt. to 1 ton per acre ; considerably more in central Switzer-
land ; artiticial meadows 24 to 36 c\\t. per acre ; on the moun-
tains 8 cwt. per acre ; the most in the Jura.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — The principal products are : Hemp,
wheat, Indian corn, and green crops. The rotations are, in
lands good enough for growing hemp : Wheat after liemp ;
and on the lands not good enough for hemp : Indian corn,
after wheat, and sometimes trefoil, wheat, and hemp.

Wheat yields about 14 bushels per acre.

Indian corn „ 21^ „ „

Hemp „ 10 J cwts. „

Dr. Euchs, Galicia. — Wheat, rye, barley, oats, rape, pota-
toes, and carrots. The potatoes and carrots are not grown
upon the small farms. The usual rotation is : 1st, green
crop, manured with 3 cwt. of artiticial manure per acre; 2nd,
rape ; 3rd, wheat ; 4th, clover ; 5th, rye, with 1\ cwt. of arti-
ficial manure, or 3 cwt. of bone-meal ; 6th, oats. Another
rotation is : 1st, roots manured ; 2nd, barley ; 3rd, clover ;
4th, wheat ; 5th, rye, with 3 cwt. of human manure or bones ;
6th, oats.

Dr. Fucbs, Austrian Silesia. — The crops grown are potatoes,
mangold, barley, wheat, rye, clover, oats, flax, and a little rape.
The rotation of crops on small fiirms which will not grow
clover is : 1st, potatoes ; 2nd, rye ; 3rd, oats ; 4th, pasture.
When the land will bear clover the rotation is mostly : 1st,
potatoes ; 2nd, barley ; 3rd, clover ; 4th, wheat or rye ; 5th,
oats. The yield is as follows : Mangold 10 tons per acre,
potatoes 5 ditto ; wheat 20 bushels per acre, rye 20 ditto, bar-
ley 25 ditto ; oats 30 to 40 ditto ; clover-hay 30 cwt. to 2 tons
per acre ; meadow-hay 13 cwt. to 17 cwt. per acre. The irri-
gated meadows give a great deal of grass, but of bad quality ;
flax, 1 ton of fibre ; rape, seldom more than 12 to 15 bushels
per acre, on account of the cockchafer. Pease grown between
rows of potatoes give 2 to 3 bushels per acre.

Dr IFuchs, Jloravia. — Wheat, rye, barley, oats, millet, maize,
apeseed, potatoes, mangold, and sugar-beet, white and red
clover, lucerne, " Esparsette," hops, carraway-seed, carrots,
&c. Wheat 15 to 18 bushels per acre, rye 15 to 18 ditto, bar-
ley' 30 ditto, oats 30 ditto, miUet 18 ditto, maize 40 ditto,
rape-seed 20 ditto ; potatoes 4 tons per acre, mangolds IS-j-
ditto, sugar-beet 1(3 ditto, carrots 10 ditto ; canaway-seed 12f
cwts., hops 6-2" ditto.

Herr Teher, Hungary. — Crops generally grown : Wheat,
barley, rye, oats, Indian corn, rape, mUlet. 1st year, wheat,
rye, or rape ; 2nd, barley, oats, or Indian corn ; 3rd, fallow
or fodder (green). The average crop is: —

Wheat ... .,, 12 to 15 bushels per acre.

Kye 14 „ 18 „ „

Barley 12 „ 15 „ „

Oats 15 „ 20 „ „

Indian corn,., ... 13 „ 20 „ „

Rape 8 „ 20 „ „

Is (juaitOt botie, or other artificial manure much t'sed ? If so,
for what crops ? and what qwanfity is applied ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — We use in Belgium guano,
animal charcoal, superphosphate of lime, crushed bones, turf
ashes, powdered oilcake, rags, and woollen refuse, lime, ^marl,
fcecal matter, and town mud.

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium. — Much guano is used, par-
ticularly on the light lands. It is the custom to use it at the
rate of two cwts. per acre,

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Guano for rye, 3 cwts. per acre.

Baron Gronow, Prussia. — Bones, superphosphate of bones,
or " Baker guano." Nitrate of soda, sulphate of potash,
sulphate of magnesia, and gypsum are much in use. The
use of guano has decreased. The bones and most of the other
artificial manures are used for rye, wheat, potatoes, and

mangold, gypsum for clover, saufoin, and lucerne ; sulphate of
potash on very light or moory land (l^to 3 cwts. per acre.)

Dr. Perels, Prussia.— Artificial manures are much used,
mostly for early crops, and indeed in quantities of 5 cwts.
per acre ; chiefly are used, Peruvian guano, superphosphates
made from Baker Island guano and ground bone, ammonia-
cal superphosphates, dissolved bones, pure bone meal, Chilian
saltpetre, and alkaline salts.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France.— Guano \\ cwts. per acre,
fossil phosphates 4 cwts. per acre, animal charcoal 10 bushels
per acre, sidphate of ammonia \\ cwts. per acre, superphos-
phate \\ cwts. per acre. _ ,

Monsieur Hamoir, France. — Artificial manure is beginning
to become popular. Some use guano at the rate of Sj cwts.
per acre, Ijesidcs 16 tons per acre of farmyard manure.
Others apply 9 J cwts. per acre of rape or colza cake, \\ cwts.
per acre of guano, besides the farmyard manure. Oilcake is
the manure most used. Guano is becoming less esteemed, be-
cause it gives bad sugar beet-root. I have established a manu-
factory of artificial manure suitable for different plants and
soils, which has increased considerably, and excites compe-
tition.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France.— In " petite culture" no arti-
ficial manures are used ; but, on large estates farmed by their
owners, from 2^ to 3 cwts. per acre of Peruvian guano is
used.

Monsieur Lapointe, France.— The only artificial manure
employed is gypsum, for clover, lucerne, and vetches, about 7
bushels an acre.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland.— Very little guano; a little
pulverised bones, about 9 cwts. per acre generally. Several
progressive farmers are now engaged in making comparative
trials thereon, also the Alpine Societies for the mountain dis-
tricts. In the Jura marl is used as manure.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — They are beginning now to use bones
and other artificial manures, but for the hemp lands it has
long been the practice to employ crushed linseed cake at the
rate of about 12 cwts. per acre, costing about £4 16s. per
acre.

Dr. Fuchs, Galicia. — Guano is rarely used with us ; it is too
dear, We mostly use human manure in powder, at 6^ cwts.
per acre, or bone meal at 5^ cwts. per acre.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — Guano is never used ; lime
and gypsum are used.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — Crushed bones, wood ashes, and lime
for straw and root crops.

Herr Feher. Hungary. — Very seldom. It depends whether
there is much stable manure or not.

What is the usual cleptli of ctdtimtion for root crops, and
what for cereals ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — Depth for cereals, 6 to 7
inches ; roots, 8 to 9 inches. Deep ploughing is not generally
practised. On the small farms the laud is sometimes dug to a
depth of 8 or 10 inches.

Baron Peers, Flanders. — ^The usual depth for cereals is from
4 to 5 inches ; for roots, 8 to 10 inches.

Herr Joest, Prussia.— For beet-root 13 inches, and for
cereals 10 inches.

Baron Eisner von Gronow, Silesia.— The land is cultivated
from 9 to 12 inches deep.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — The average depth of ploughing for
cereals is 7 inches, and for turnips and potatoes 12 inches.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France. — 6 inches is the general depth
of cultivation of the country ; 10 inches deep is attained in
good cultivation.

Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, France. — In ploughing for roots
10 inches is the ordinary depth ; the large farmers who have
plenty of power turn up the soil 12 to 14 inches, and often
16 inches deep. The depth of ploughing for cereals is 7 to 8
inches.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — A great deal of land is
ploughed only 2 to 4 inches deep. On well managed farms
tlie depth of cultivation is 8 to 10 inches deep.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — The depth of cultivation varies
from 42- to 6 inches.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — 6 to 8 inches deep for
cereals ; for roots up to 12 inches deep. The introduction of
new ploughs has increased the mean depth from 4 to 6 inches.

Mr, Whitmore, Italy. — The medium depth for cereals is

146

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

18 inches ; for the hemp crop even deeper culture is re-
sorted to. Roots are not grown.

Dr. Fuchs, Galieia. — The usual depth for white crops 6 to
7 inches, and for roots 8 to 9 inches. A subsoil plough is
seldom used.

Dr. Euchs, Austrian Silesia. — On large estates tlie depth is
7 inclie.s in the spring and 9 inches in the autumn.

Dr. Puchs, Moravia. — For roots, 16 inches deep ; for corn,
6 inclies deep.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — For roots 7 to 10 inches, and for
cereals 4 to 6 inches deep.

WTiat wages are paid io fhe farm labourers in the winter
months, and what in the summer? Say how m/uch in monei/
and kotv much in rations. What extra wages {if any) are paid
during ttie harvest months, cither in money or in rations ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — The average wages of farm
labourers are Is. Id. per day witliout food, and 7id. with food.
The maximum wage without food is Is. 8d. for men and lid.
for women ; the minimum is 9d. for men and Gd. for women.
With food the maximum wage is lid. for men and 6d. for
women ; the minimum is 5d. for men and 3d. for women.
Workpeople engaged by the year do not receive anything extra
at harvest-time, but day labourers are paid 2s. 5d. to 3s. 2d.
per day at this season. In many parts the harvest is gathered
by men working by the piece, who earn from 4s. to 4s. 9d. per
day. In the cultivation of the soil of Belgium it is computed
that the labour amounts to 27,500,000 men's working days,
and 14,060,000 women's working days.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Wages are Is. 2d. to Is. 6d. per day
in summer, and Is. to Is. 3d. iu winter — all paid in money.
3^d. to 6d. per day extra is paid in harvest. Many women
are employed who receive about Is. per day. No farm-work
is done by the piece.

Baron Eisner von Gronow, Prussia. — Wages are 4d. a day
in winter, 5d. in spring and autumn, 7^d. to lOd. in harvest,
without victuals. In harvest a little corn brandy is given.
Unmarried women and widows are extensively employed ; their
wages are about Id. less than the labourer. In harvest-time
they .are paid 5d. to 6d. per day. As much work as possible is
done by the piece.

Dr. Perels, Prussia.— Women earn from £7 4s. to £9 a year ;
they are boarded like the men. Industrial farming has a good
deal of work done by the piece. The average wages of field
labourers are Is. 6d. a day in summer, and Is. per day in
winter ; as a rule they are paid iu cash, not in rations. The
rise of wages in harvest-time varies ; it depends upon competi-
tion ; in pressing times it is often double. We employ many
women in field-work, who receive as a rule one-third less than
men. Piece-work is becoming more and more general ; all
kinds of work are done by the piece.

Monsieur Lecouteur, France. — Wages are Is. 7d. per day in
summer, and Is. 3d. per day in winter, without provisions ; but
much work is performed l)y the piece at this season and at
other times. Few women are employed ; their wages are lOd.
iu summer and 7d. in winter.

Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, France. — One or two men are
hired by the year, and are paid a fixed wage of 24 to 27 bushels
of corn for the summer months, and 2s. a week in money for
the rest of the year, besides 8s. at the hiring and at festivals.
In harvest-time piece-work is the rule, and a man may at this
season earn from 3s. to 4s. a day, and a woman Is. 8d. The
general wages of women are lOd. per day in summer, and like
the men they often work by tlie piece. I send you the tarifl'
for the various operations performed upon the farm : —

Cutting hay, clover, lucerne, &c. ; first cut... 3s. 6d. per acre.

Ditto ditto second cut 2 11 „

Bag hooking corn, oats, &c 5 5 „

Putting in sheaves not bound 14 ,'

Ditto in shocks 2 3 "

Making binds 0 8 per'lOO

Cocking clover, lucerne, kc 1 4 per acre.

Hand-sowing cereals ... ... ... 0 5^

Ditto artificial manure 0 7

Spreading dung, (16 tons per acre) ... 1 4 "

Ditto lime ... ... ... ... ... \ 4

Loading and unloading manure 0 2J pcr'ton.

ii-mptying the stables of manure „ 0 4^ .,

Hand-hoeing beetroot four times ... ... 12s. Dd. per acre.

(The horse-hoeing is supplementary)
Hoeing " rutabagas " once (artichokes) ... 3 3 ,,
Drawing beetroot, cutting olf leaves, and

loading up ... ... ... ... 13 10 „

Setting out Jerusalem artichokes ... ... 10 10 „

Feeders of the thrashing machine, per

hectolitre 0 Of per sack.

Covering a stack ... ... ... ... 4 0

Monsieur de Pirapin, France. — A farm labourer engaged by
the year, and living in the house, has £13 to £14 a year — his
board comes to about as much — he costs, therefore, from £24
to £28 a year. J'arm labourers living in the house are paid
by the year, and do not receive anything extra in harvest-time.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — The farm labourers are boarded
and lodged, and receive from 16s. to 24s. a month all the
year round. Thirty days' work at harvest times are paid with
4 cwt. of wheat.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — A great difference exists.
With board and lodging 8s. to 16s. a month, without board
and lodging Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d. a day in summer, lOd. to Is. 8d.
in winter. In remote districts still less. Sometimes drink,
particularly wine, in the vineyard districts.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — As the system of "metayage" pre-
vail, little work is done by the day. Wheu it is, the wages
are from 8d. to lOd. per day in winter and spring, and Is. 2d.
in summer. For extra work, such as cutting wheat, grass,
and thrashing, the wages are Is. 6d. to Is. lOd. The women
belonging to the families on the " mdtayer " farms work in
some way or other. Hired women are paid about one-fourth
less than the wages paid to men.

Dr. Fuchs, Galieia. — Farm labourers receive in summer 9d.
per day, and in winter 6d. They have no provisions. In
harvest they only receive money, from Is. to Is. 2d. per day.

Dr. Fuehs, Austrian Silesia. — The usual rate of wages for
women and children is ud. a day for hoeing potatoes in summer
and digging ; a little corn brandy is given. The men are em-
ployed by the year, and have board and lodging and £4ayear.
Women employed by the year get £3 with board and lodging.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — In summer 8d. to Is. 4d., in winter
6d. to lOd. per day; only in money. When cutting corn,
four pints of beer per acre.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — Wages vary much, and little money
is parted with by the employer. The labourers are paid in
provisions, or by a per-centage share, generally about £2 168.
per year in money, 60 bushels of corn, food for a cow, and a
pig, and fuel and lodging free. No extras in harvest. Women
are much employed, and get from 7d. to Is. 2d. per day. The
plan of piece work is increasing.

Have you an ahundance of tahour or a short supply ? Have
wages increased during the last 25 years ? If so, to what
extent ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — Manual labour is becoming
more and more rare in Belgium, on account of the great de-
velopment of industry and the high wages obtained by work-
men who leave the country for the seats of manufacture. The
insufliciency of manual labour is partly supplied by the use of
machines, which have much increased during the last 10 years,
particularly thrashing machines. Eeapers and mowers are not
yet much used. Wages have increased 2d. to 3d. per day
since 1846.

Baron Peers, Belgium. — Although the population increases
the farm hands decrease. Several causes tend to this. Wealth
increases, and everyone seeks to better himself. Farm la-
bourers earn little, work hard, and are exposed to all weathers ;
they are, however, much attached to the soil. Our nearness
to France causes us to lo.se many. Emigration, however, is
not much felt. Manufactories and mechanical pursuits abstract
many of our people ; and, as labour is more in demand, owing
to a higher state of cultivation being carried on, the abstraction
of labour is the more felt. Wages have increased during the
last 25 years 30 per cent.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Labour has become rarer and dearer,
and wages have increased during 25 years from 25 to 35 per
cent.

Baron Gronow, Prussia. — Being situated in the neighbour-
hood of a large mining district, labour is becoming a little
rarer ; therefore wages are rising. Twenty years ago we did
not pay more than 2Jd. a-day in the winter-time, and now

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

1*7

wages are 4d. per day. 9d. an acre was formerly the price for
mowing and binding an acre of wlieat ; now it is 2s. 3d.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — In many districts the want of agricul-
tural labour is much felt. The cause is that the many indus-
trial and manufacturing establishments attract labour from the
rural districts. Wages have risen in the last 25 years about
60 per cent.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France. — Hand labour is becomiug
scarce, and wages have doubled.

Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, France. — We have suffidcnt
manual labour. Our district is covered with sugar factories.
The price of manual labour is high for a short time during
winter, whilst it is low in other places. This allows workmen
to tide over difficult times without sulfering, and to wait for
the spring season. Emigration is insignificant in this part.
Wages have risen 20 per cent, during tlie last 20 years.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France. — Labour is becoming scarce.
When the wages are not wliat workmen can get in commerce
or industry there is a rush to the towns ; but when the same
price is given for agricultural as for industrial work the rush
to the towns will be stopped. This can be accomplished only
by good agriculture, and above all by the adoption of piece-
work. AVe pay 50 per cent, more wages than we did 25 years
ago.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — Labour is becoming scarcer
and dearer, and tlie efflux of the country population is daily
augmenting. The wages of farm labourers have trebled
during the last 20 years.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Scarce in the manufacturing
districts, abundant elsewhere. When manufacturing business
was good, 10 or 15 years ago, the agricultural population mi-
grated to the towns, but now it returns to the fields. Berne,
Valais, the smaller cantons, liave the greatest populatien and
greatest pauperism, particularly the two first-named cantons.
An increase of at least one-third in wages.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — In this district (Bologna) there is
plenty of labour to be had, but it is not so in other districts.
Within the last 10 years day-labour has increased in cost more
til an double.

Dr. Fuchs, Galicia. — There is plenty of labour with us since
forced labour ceased some twenty years ago. Wages have
somewhat increased.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — During the last few years, owing
to the construction of railways, there has been a lack of labour.
We can obtain labour, however, from the mountain districts,
and are also beginning to use more macliines. Since the year
1848, when serfdom was abolished, wages have increased
60 per cent.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — In consequence of the building of
railways and the sugar manufactories, and the rage for building
in large towns, labour is become scarce. Very considerably ;
about 1^ times at least.

Ilerr Feher, Hungary. — The want of manual labour is pain-
fully felt. Since the free development of Hungary wages have
enormously increased, {. c, during the last three years. In
many parts the increase is 150 per cent.

Are coUages found for the labourers, if not, what rent do they
pay ? Does each married lahourer occupy a separate cottage,
or is one house occiqned by a numher of families i" lias each
married labourer a small plot of land allotted to him ; if so, is it
Jree, or subject to a rent ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — Hired farm servants are lodged
at the homestead. Day labourers are lodged at their own ex-
pense in small houses which belong to or are let to them. A
labourer's house in the country costs from £G to £8 a year ac-
cording to its size. In the poorer parts of the country a
Rimilar house lets for only .£2 8s. a year. The general usage
in Belgium is that each family has its own separate habitation
even in towns. In the country one never finds several families
in the same house. Every family in rural districts has a
kitchen garden, and very frequently a small field, which furnish
potatoes and grain for the family consumption. These gar-
dens and fields are rented.

Baron Peers, Belgium. — Married farm labourers pay rent for
their dwellings. Each has as a rule Ij acres of land, for
which he pays £4 a year. They have also to pay the usual
im.perial and parish taxes, which amount to from Is. 8d. to
2s. 3d. Each labourer occupies a separate house, and but few

live together. He generally has a little kitchen, one or two
bedrooms, a small cellar, a pump, a little stable for his cow
or goats, also a little granary for his crops.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Cottages are not found. Rent varies
according to the locality. A labourer, as a rule, has a separate
cottage ; and each has a small plot of land, for which he pays
a small rent.

Baron Gronow, Prussia. — Dwellings are found for the
labourers, but they pay for the use of them a day's pay weekly.
The houses consist mostly of two rooms, and a stall for a cow.
Generally two or more families occupy one house. The prac-
tice, however, varies. The careful proprietors let some I5 to
"\ acres of land to the labourer, or a garden about the house,
on which to raise potatoes and to keep a cow or some goats.
The labourers on the larger estates are nearly always allowed
to collect the dry wood in the forest on futcd one day.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — Farm labourers on large estates often
have dwelling-houses found them, for which of course they pay
rent. In most cases several families dwell in one house. As a
rule the fixed labourer who is hired for several years has a plot
of land allotted to him, which is cultivated by the landowner,
and for which no rent is expected.

M. Lecouteux, France. — The labourers are lodged onmy farm.
They pay a rent of £4 per year. They have a garden, a cow,
and a pig. Each labourer has his own room. One house
contains several dwellers — four is the average.

M. Gustavo Hamoir, France. — The farmer has nothing to do
with finding the labourer a dwelling. A labourer has mostly
a cottage belonging to him, either bequeathed by his parents
or built with his first savings. The poorest have to hire their
house from some house proprietor. Each family occupies a
separate house. The farmer has nothing to do with the
wants of the labourer ; in exceptional cases, however, he lets
him a small portion of land to cultivate, for which a rent is
charged.

Monsieur de Pimpin, France — In general, labourers are
charged rent for their dwellings. About £2 a-year is paid to
the landlord, a garden being included. Each family is lodged
separately.

Monsieur Lapointe, France — The farm labourers are generally
house owners, having a garden attactied to their house. They
are often owners also of a small plot of land. Each family
occupies a separate house. Sometimes the labourer has basides
a right to a portion of the land belonging to the parish.

M. Bovet, Switzerland — It is rare for them to be housed
gratis. They pay £4 a-year for house and garden. In
Western Switzerland the farm labourers live in the villages.
In Western and Central Switzerland they have generally their
own house, the population in those parts not being grouped in
serried villages, as in the West. Nothing fixed ; generally
not ; in any case not gratis.

Dr. Fuchs, Galicia — The field labourers do not get a house.
They are mostly small peasant farmers who possess a house,
or pay 10s. to 16s. a-year for one. They have no land given
them by their employer, but frequently possess a piece of their
own.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia — On large estates farm labourers
have houses provided for them, 16s. to 24s. being deducted
from their wages in lieu of rent. They mostly have separate
houses. When two or three families dwell under one
roof they live separately. They have generally a small piece of
land free of tithe and tax, for which they pay 16s. to 34s,
a-jear.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia : Cottages are not found. Custom
varies as regards married labourers ; in most cases they rent
houses.

Herr Feher, Hungary — A number of families often live in one
house. Sometimes the labourer has a separate dwelling. In
most cases each married labourer has three acres of land
allotted to him free.

Have the cattle in your district suffered from foot-and-mouth
disease or pleuro-pneumonia, and have your sheep been attached
withfoot-rot or small-po.r ; if so, have you found any treatment
medical or otherwise, efficacious ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — Pleuro-pneumonia has made
serious ravages in Belgium on several occasions, particularly
on the farms of beet-root distillers, who fatten much cattle.
No good curative is known. Dr. Willems de Hasselt has pro-
posed inoculation as a preventive, and this method i s prac-

148

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

tised by a large number of distillers and farmers, who maiutaiu
that it gives good results. The special commission, however,
instituted by the government to experiment upon this system,
has not been able to conclude anything positive from the nu-
merous experiments which it has carried on for several years
past. The foot and mouth disease is prevalent at this moment
in almost all parts of Belgium. The animals suffer from a
fortnight to three weeks, but few die. Cleanliness and the
use of oximel (a mixture of water, vinegar, and honey) are the
means employed for combating the disease. Small-pox and
foot-rot are not frequent amongst our sheep.

Herr Joest, Prussia. — Our cattle have suffered, but no
treatment has been found efficacious except repose and cleanli-
ness.

Baron von Grouow, Prussia. — My cattle have been free
from murrain, foot and mouth disease, or affection of the
Inngs ; but in my neighbourhood nearly every lierd of cattle
suffered from foot and mouth disease. Affection of the lungs
is common, because cattle are nourished on many farms with
the refuse wash of the potato distOleries, which are very exten-
sively combined with the larger farms. The sheep are well all
over the country. Animals never die of the mouth and foot
disease, but lose much flesh and milk. Wood vinegar, * and
sulphate of copper are used as medicaments with success.

Dr. Perels, Prussia. — Cattle suffer from many diseases, foot
and mouth disease at this moment is general. Pleuro-pneu-
monia is often prevalent. Sheep suffer from inflammation of
the spleen, also small-pox and scab. In each district there is
a veterinary surgeon appointed by the state (Kreisthierarzt),
there are also many private veterinary surgeons.

Monsieur Gustave Hamoir, iVance. — Footaud mouth disease
and pleuro-pneumonia are two diseases which are frequently
prevalent amongst us. The former presents itself as an epide-
mic, contagious to the last degree. It extends from neighbour
to neighbour, and attacks all the stalls without sparing one.
Pleuro-pneumonia is permanent in certain farms, but it presents
itself rarely in its contagious character. In my opinion this
malady arises, according to the hygiene or sanitary arrange-
ments of the farm. If the animals being fattened are fed to
an extreme degree, if the quantity of food absorbed exceeds
the assimilative power of the organs, pleuro-pneumonia arises,
and arises all the quicker if the substances given to the ani-
mals contain irritating and volatile matter, such as alcohol,
acetic acid, or active essential oils. If the animals do not re-
ceive the quantity of food sullieient for their existence, or the
quality which suits them — for instance, a cow poorly fed and
having remarkable lactiferous qualities, draft oxen which are
over-worked — in these cases pleuro-pneumonia will arise. In
the first case the affection is easy to combat, because it suffices
to modify the conditions of feeding, to weaken the animal,
and diminish the inflammation of the blood, a result which is
obtained with ease ; but in the second case, when you have
to feed up the animal in order to restore the equilibrium of its
functions, a long time is necessary, during which the disease
progresses and carries off the subject ; therefore, pleuro-pneu-
monia created in these last conditions is much more terrible
than the other. It is my opinion that a good farmer ought
never to have this disease except in extreme cases of want of
foresight, the causes of which depend upon himself, or upon
circurastauces over which he has no control. Sheep are rarely
attacked with small-pox or other disease except foot-rot, which
prevails almost continually. To cure it we cauterize the feet,
having ))reviously washed them with sulphate of copper.

Monsieur de Pimpin, I'rance. — We have never had pleuro-
pneumonia, but we have had foot and mouth disease in the
cattle. The treatment we have followed consists in cooling food,
cleanliness of the stalls, washing the feet of the bullocks and
cows with fresh water, cleansing them with clean rags, and
rubbing the affected parts with ointment.

Monsieur Lapointe, France. — At this time the cattle are
suffering everywhere from foot and mouth disease, against
which no remedy is used. Pleuro-pneumonia is not known in
this district.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Cattle has suffered exces-
sively in one or two localities where the sick beasts have been
slaughtered immediately by order of the government. In
eastern Switzerland there have been some cases of typhus

* I do not know the English expression for " Holzessig,"
perhaps methylatecl vinegar. It ia vinegar out of the cUs-
tillation of wood.

imported from Austria, which has been stamped out in the sam**
way. In western Switzerland there have been some cases of
foot and mouth disease in cattle, and foot-rot in sheep ; it has
never been dangerous, but seriously hinders the sale of beasts
while it rages.

Dr. f uchs, Galicia. — Not only my cattle, but that of the
whole neighbourhood have sxiffered from the mouth disease.
Pigs had small-pox and diseased feet. Sheep are very little
bred in my district, they had foot-rot. It was the first time
my cattle had foot and mouth disease. Einsing with acids,
but principally with cold water, had a good result. I had my
beasts driven four times a day into the water, in eight days the
disease began to disappear, and in four weeks the beasts were
quite well.

Dr. Fuchs, Austrian Silesia. — We have suffered from foot
and mouth disease this year. We have had pleuro-pneumonia
twice ; the first time I believe from want of nourishment, tlie
second time from giving them too much. Sheep are inoculated
for smallpox, and thus preserved from it. All we have to fear
here with the sheep is liver worms.

Dr. Fuchs, Moravia. — Cattle : Foot and mouth disease. —
Remedy : (</) an embrocation of vinegar and salt ; {b) petro-
leum. Lung disease. — Remedy : To inoculate and isolate in
a wood, witJi good result. Inflammation of the Spleen. —
Remedy ; Puncture. Sheep : Inoculation against small-pox,
quite ctiicacious.

IVhal burdens iire there upon the tund in, your country in the
shape of rates or (axes for the support of the poor ? How
much do they amount to per acre ^ If no tax is levied per
acre, is'ihe income of the proprietor, or are the profits of the
tenant taxed for this object F If no taxes are tevied for the
support of the poor, how are the destitute poor supported i"

Monsieur J. Leclerc, Belgium. — Landed property in Bel-
gium pays rates to the Government, theProvince, and the Parish.
These rates are based upon the assessed income fixed by the
assessor. The assessed income is generally 35 per cent, less
than the real income. The contributions to the Government
vary somewhat, according to the difl'erent districts of the
country under consideration. It is on an average calculated
at the rate of 0.067 of the assessed income. The contribu-
tions to the Province are on an average 0.15 of those paid to
the Government. The contributions to the Parish are very
variable, according to the districts. They vary from 5 to
50 per cent, of the contributions to the Government. There are
no special taxes on the land for the support of the poor. The
summary of the taxes noted above may be estimated on an
average at 5s. 6d. per acre. These taxes are based on the
income of the proprietor derived from his possessions. The
fanner has also to pay personal taxes towards the Government,
Province, and Parish expenditure. The poor are relieved by
the bureaux de bienfaisance, or public relieving offices, in the
rural parishes. In towns there are, besides the bureaux de
bienfaisance, hospital-boards (ad uiinlst rations dcs hospices).
These two institutions, which are under the control of the
Government, have for the most part — the hospital-boards
(administrations des hospices) always — properties of more or
less importance, resulting from donations, legacies, &c. The
bureaux de bienfaisance are subsidized by the parishes when
they have no longer sufficient resources. Several hospital-
boards, those for example at Brussels, Nivelles, and Namur
are very rich, and cannot find ways to employ all their
revenues.

£aron Peers, Flanders, Belgium. — All the land in Belgium
is surveyed and assessed at 5s. 6d. per cent. Thus there are
four or five classes of land, and it is upon the assessment that
the impost is raised; for instance, a hectare (3^ acres) of
laud is rated in the register as worth £•1. The State levies
5s. 6d. annuaUy thereon, and upon this levy of 5s. 6d. are
superadded " additional centimes," with which the State, the
Province, and the Commune meet their expenses. The desti-
tute poor are supported by the {bureaux de bienfaisance) public
relieving offices, of the parishes and townships of the kingdom,
all of which possess real property for the succour of the poor.
Only workhouses are paid by the parochial Boards, which dis-
burse for the poor contained therein, their daily expenses vary-
ing from 6d. to 6d.

Herr Joest, Rhenish-Prussia. — There are no burdens upon
the land for the support of the poor ; but each parish has to
see to its own poor.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

149

Baron Grouow, Silesia, Prussia. — The poor-rates are not
paid by the landowners alone, but by every sort of tax-paying
people ; they are on land-tax, building-tax, income-tax, and
the trade- taxes.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France. — All the taxes together upon
land amount only to from 'id. to 6d. per acre. The taxes are
levied upon the proprietor and not upon the farmer. The
support of the poor rests with the biireau.c de bienfuisancc and
private charity.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — In some cantons there are
no .burdens, land paying a direct tax like any other capital.
At Neufchatel the landlord pays for his land as hiscapitai, and
the farmer pays on his profits. In other cantons each pays on
his revenue. The poor are generally dependent upon the parish
and private charity.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — There is no special tax for tlie poor ;
the destitute are supported by charitable societies dependent
upon voluntary contributions and legacies.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — There are no poor-rates. The
destitute are supported from the treasury of the parochial Board,
to which all are bound to contribute.

What rates or taxes does the land have to bear for the mai/i-
temince of roads, bridges, ^c, or are they mubdaiiied by tolls
levied upon the passing traffic ?

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium. — Formerly there were
turnpikes to meet the expenses of repair and maintenance ;
now it is with the aid of State " additional centiiiies" that the
roads are maintained. Formerly there was a system of volun-
tary labour of men and horses ; all this has been abolished,
and the new system answers.

Herr Joest, Rhenish-Prussia. — Maintained by tolls,
lit Baron Gronow, Silesia, Prussia. — The macadamized

highways, as well as some of the bridges are kept in order
out of the tolls. Tlie common roadways are kept in order by
the landowners of those communities through which they
pass.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France. — The roads are maintained by
the State, the Departement, or tlie Commune ; there arc no
tolls. The high-roads are maintained by the State. The bye-
roads by extra centimes added to the fixed taxes levied by the
Communes.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — There are taxes called " communaU"
and " provincial!," also " tassi suol dell terra." Tliese taxes
are imposed upon the landowners or occupiers for the expenses
of maintaining roads, bridges, canals, &c., and for regulating
which there . are commissioners expressly appointed. There
are no toll-gates.

Herr Feher, Hungary. — The Government maintains the
high-roads ; the provincial roads are maintained by the pro-
vince. Turnpikes are abolished.

Is any portion of the expense for the panishmant of crime
and support of prisoiters levied by any tax on the land or in-
come of the farmer ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — All borne by the State.

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium. — No impost is levied to
maintain criminals. The budget for carrying out justice
(voted every year by the Chambers) takes into account these
expenses. The expenses only for mendicity are at the charge
of the parish.

Baron Gronow, Silesia, Prussia. — There is no tax on the laud
or income of the farmer. The State pays out of its revenues
for the maintenance of criminal prisoners.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France. — The expenses of the punish-
ment of crime and the support of prisoners are borne by the
State.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — ^Both expenses paid by the
State.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy.— These are all Government expenses.

Are there any compulsory payments either hi tithes or rates
for the support of the Chnrch ? If so, what is the amowit per
acre or vpon income, us the case may he ?

Monsieur Leclerc, Belgium. — There areuospecial compulsory
payments, although the ministers of religion are supported by
the State. The expenses of worship are defrayed by the reve-
nues of the Societies for the Building of Churches, which are
generally possessed of property ; and in case of insufficiency
the Government intervenes with a subsidy.

Baron Peers, Glanders, Belgium.— There are neither tithes
nor compulsory payments for the maintenance of worship.
The expenses are defrayed by the State out of its revenues,
and are estimated for in the budget.

Baron Gronow, Silesia, Prussia. — The landowners are com-
pelled to pay for church building. The other payments from
landed property to the Church are converted into a rent pay-
able to the State. That rent has a sinking fund, and the
capital is made over to the Church. The rent varies much
in diiferent localities.

Monsieur Leeouteux, France. — There are no tithes or rates
levied on land for the support of the Church.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — There are no rates or tithes
for the support of the Church in the Protestant Cantons. I
have no knowledge of what is done in the Catholic parts.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy. — The lands are subject to a payment
called " decimal or tenth-parts, which in reality is about 13
per cent., 8 per cent, of \\ hich goes to the bishop and 4 per
cent, to the priests. But a law has lately been passed for
freeing the land of this tax or tithe, and allowiug the pro-
prietors to buy it up at so many years' purchase.

Are there any other imports or taxes levied upon the land,
either for imperial or local purposes ? If so, for what purposes,
and tohat do they amount to 2>er acre ?

Baron Peers. — The parish tax is raised, as already stated by
the several parishes, to meet all needs, and is levied according
to its presumed wealth.

Baron Gronow. — Li Silesia and some other parts of Prussia
a land-tax existed for more than a century. In 1860 the land-
tax was regulated all over the kingdom. It is paid to the
treasury for no express use. As the land-tax is paid after a
fixed estimate of the revenue, it is very diverse — bad land paying
a small one and good land a high one.

Monsieur Bovet. — Imports are levied in some cantons for
the destruction of cockchafers, lice, and mice, also for the keep-
ing of a bull for breeding purposes, &c.

Mr. Whitmore. — Besides the taxes already given, there are
Government taxes which amount to about 15 per cent., based
upon the amount of the last valuation, which, however, is
only equal to about one-third of its real value.

In your school system, is the land or the income of the far-
mer taxed for the support of the scJwols ? Hare you a law to
compel the attendance of children at school until they arrive at
a yiven aye? if so, what is that aye ? If not, do the majority
of parents send their children votuntar'dy ? Have you a laio
to prevent children being employed until they arrive at a given
age? If so, at what aye do children begin to work upon the
farm ?

Mous. J, Leclerc, Belgium. — By our system of parish schools
for the education of chUdren of the working-classes, poor chil-
dren are received therein gratuitously. The funds necessary for
these schools are taken out of the ordinary resources. They
are furnished in part by the parishes,'_and in part by the State.
The State intervenes with subsidies, which amount generally
to a third of the expense in the construction and furnishing of
the school buildings. The province also grants subsidies for
this object, but they are less important than those furnished
by the State. There are at this time in Belgium 3,511 parish
schools, 637 private schools subject to inspection, 1,4'92 pri-
vate schools perfectly free ; in all, 5,630 elementary schools.
The first are attended by 382,484 pupils, the second by 73,824,
and the third by 107,408— total, 563,718, for a population of
4,827,833 in our kingdom. — Compulsory education does not
exist in Belgium. It has been a question during the last three
years, and an interesting discussion on this subject took place
recently in the Chamber of Representatives, but without re-
sult. This system has numerous partisans here, but it is
generally believed that its application presents great practical
difficulties. The principle is that Belgium, in spite of the con-
siderable sacrifices that the Government has made during
several years for tlie sake of elementary education, isnotyet suffi-
ciently provided with schools and school-masters to allow of
compulsory education being efficaciously applied. The law
allows benevolent societies to withraw their succour from poor
parents who do not send their children to school. This is the
only measure of coercion which we have. The majority of
parents send voluntarily their children to the parish schools.
Statistics show that amongst the young men of 19 years of

150

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

age who draw lots for the mihtia, there is only 24, per cent,
who can neither read nor write ; but this is not a precise basis,
because many young men who attended the elementary schools
have forgotten what they learnt when they come to the age
for drawfng for the militia. According to the statistics ot the
elementary instruction which I have given m a previous
answer the relation between the number of pupils and tlie
total popiUation of the kingdom is 11.7 per cent but the num-
ber of pupils indicated does not comprise the children ot the
age of 7 to 14, which are admitted in large numbers to the
ordinary schools and reformatories. Children begin to woik
upon the farm generally at the age of 14- or 15 years, when
regular work which requires a certain physical torce is re-
quired. In certain parts of the country children from 11 to
13 years of age are employed to drive cows, sheep, and pigs to
the pasture lands, and watch them there. In this case these
children attend school in the winter.

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium.— We have no compulsory
school regulation for enforcing attendance, but instruction is
free under laws issued by the State. The majority of parents
send their children to school voluntarily.

Baron von Gronow, Silesia, Trussia.— School buildings are
maintained by the landowners. The maintenance of the
school-master is arranged in different ways. If he receive
part of his salary in kind, say, in corn or fodder for cow, the
landowners are bound to give it. This payment in money is
distributed amongst the landowners and the houses. Some-
times a very small " school money" for every child is asked,
not exceeding Is. 6d. yearly for the child. In harvest-
time there is all over Silesia a vacation of four weeks, and in
the potato harvest a fortnight, during which the children are
employed. If the children are not sent to school, a penalty
upon the parents is enforced. As one part of the chUdren
goes to school in the morning and the other part in the after-
noon, no inconvenience is felt.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France.— The cost of our schools is
borne by the State and the Commune. Each scholar pays a
fixed fee of lOd. per month for boys, and Is. for girls. Edu-
cation is not compulsory, but schools are more and more
frequented. Children commence work upon the farm about
12 years of age. . . ■. i

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland.— Education is gratuitous and
compulsory for every class, and is paid for by the commune
and the State. In the Canton of Neufchatel children are
compelled to attend school until the age of 14 years. There
are evening schools for the period of 14 to 18 years.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy.— There are rural schools, free to the
children of both sexes, provided by the taxes. At present
there is no law of compulsory attendance, but the question
has been noticed in the'.Chambers, and a law is expected com-
pelling attendance until 14 years of age. The children are
sent to school in the winter ; at other seasons the schools
are deserted.

Is the " metayei-'" system adopted i/i any part vf your coun-
try ? If so, ivifh what result ?

Baron Gronow, Silesia, Prussia.— Only where tobacco plant-
ing is common. Here there is a kind of " metayer" farming.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France.— The " metayer" system pre-
dominates in many districts because the farmers have not suf-
ficient capital of their own.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland.— It is rare in Switzerland.
The result depends upon the character of the contracting
parties.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy.— The " metayer" system, or mez-
zadria," as it has been called, is adopted by nearly all, the
result being that nearly every kind of progress in agriculture is
arrested. Under existing conditions, however, there is perhaps
uo belter system for keeping the land from going back.

Is the transfer of land from setl'.r to Inyer simple and easy ?
or is it, as in England, hampered with legal expenses, delay, and
difficulty ?

Baron Peers, Flanders, Belgium.— The acquisition of land,
although many guarantees are required, takes place easily. It
is effected cither by means of a public notary or from hand to
hand. A registration fee, which amounts to 5 per cent, and a
fee for inscription at the oflice of hypothec, which amounts to
about 1 per cent. The notary prepares a minute of the
stipidation of the sale, and delivers to the buyer an act of

transfer in due form. These are all the formalities in the case
of minors, interdicts, or absentees. Then the tribunals are
called upon to grant authorization by the entry into the
assessment book of each parish. It is so easy to prove the
property of each individual, as a plan is engraved by each
parish, and divided into different sections. Each piece of land
has its number. This has cost a good deal, but it is an admir-
able work. One can never be ejected. The revision of the
assessor's book is made every two years by a surveyor
paid by the Government. Every change of boundary alterations
caused by purchase, are entered in registers for the time, as
far as it goes, and rectified upon the plan of land plots of the
parish. Thus, I have all the extracts of my property. At
each change I betake myself to the central uliice, and the
revision is made there and then. Three deposits of these maps
are made. There is one in each parish, a second in the chief
town of the province, and another at Brussels.

Herr Joest, Prussia.— The transfer of land is both simple
and easy, but it is transferred in legal fashion. The stamp duty
costs 1 per cent, upon the value. There are no hindrances or
difficulties.

Baron Gronow, Silesia, Prussia.— The transfer of land is not
so diflicult as in England, but not so easy as we should like.
We are urging a reform ; nevertheless, an Englishman would
think our system easy, simple, aud cheap.

Monsieur Lecouteux, France.— The transfer of property is
effected very readily.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland.— The transfer of land is very
simple and easy.

Mr. Whitmore, Italy.— The transfer of estates is very
difficult, as many formalities are necessary, besides a very heavy
tax to the Government, amounting to 2, 4, and sometimes 6
per cent. „ ^ , y

Herr Feher, Hungary.— The sale and transfer of real pro- ^
perty is sadiUed by i.o hindrance, but Imperial dues of from
1 to 8 per cent, are levied, according to whether the transferis
a gift, a sale or an inheritance.

Is any portion of the land in your country artificially irri-
gated i' If so, with, 7chat result ? and is the practice extending
cither hy the application of town sewage or water ?

Monsieur J. Leclerc, Belgium.— In some provinces, parti-
cularly in Luxembourg where the land is hilly and smallVater-
courses abound, the water is used in the winter for artificial
irrigation, but the results are not very satisfactory, because ir-
rigation is generally badly conducted. The proprietors will not
go to the necessary expense for levelling the land so as to facili-
tate the regular distribution and flowing off of the water. It
is only in that part of the provinces of Antwerp and Limbourg,
known under the name of " Campine" that well-established
irrigation is found. With the view of fertilizing this region,
which 25 years ago was quite uncultivated. Government caused
to be constructed about 120 miles of canals, which are fed by
the lliver Meuse, and which serve simultaneously for naviga-
tion and irrigation. Since the year 1848 we have been able
to create, by means of these canals, irrigated meadows, which
occupy now a superficies of about 9,250 acres. The insuffi-
ciency of water has not permitted us to extend them more.
The soil of the " Campine" district being on about a level, it
is set out in ridges for irrigation, and this is effected by tap-
ping the main courses. The comparative expenses come to about
62s. 6d. per acre. A new law on water-courses is at this
moment before the Chamber. Its application will probably
admit of the utilization, for the profit of the agriculturist, of
those riches which are at present lost or badly employed on
account of the state of the water-courses. Irrigation would
then develope itself in a manner quite impossible at the
present time. Sewage-water has not been used for irri-
gating in Belgium up to the present time. An Enghsh
public company (the Belgian Public Works Company)
is carrying out at this time at Brussels an important
work of purification, which comprises the utilization of
the sewage water of this towu for the irrigation of 150 acres
of meadow situate in the valley of the Seune. But this por-
tion of the work is not yet begun, and it is likely that it will
not give a good result, because the extent of the meadows to
be irrigated appears much too limited for the quantity of sew-
age-water to be employed.

Baron Gronow, Prussia.— All over the land artificial water
meadows exist, principally where small streams and a hilly or

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

151

mountainous configuration of the soil make the arrangement
of water meadows after the " Tr5ges" system easy. The result
is good where water is not wanting and the soil is not too flat.
On 240 acres of water meadows in my neighbourhood where
the land is too flat the result is bad, only aquatic grasses spring-
ing up.

Monsieur Bovet, Switzerland. — Water is generally utilized
for irrigation as well as drainage with more or less skill in the
application. Thus, in western Switzerland, irrigation is in its
infancy, whilst in Aargau particularly, and several of the cen-
tral cantons, it is carried out with considerable skill.

N.B. — The beet-root distillery referred to by me as being in
course of erection, the locality of which I was not at the time
at liberty to name, I am now permitted to state is being erected
for Mr. Campbell, of Buscot Park, Berkshire, and the engineer
is M .Jacques Barral, of 10, Basiughall-street, London, the son
of the eminent French agriculturist, Mons. J. A. Barral, the
proprietor and editor of the Jouriud of Agriculture. M.
Barral, jun., has made beet-root distilleries his study, and he
autliorizes me to say he will be happy to give full particulars
to any who may he interested in the subject.

SWEDISH FARMING AND PEASANTRY.

Mr. Juhlin-Dannfelt, of Stockholm, Secretary of the Royal
Agricultural Society of Sweden, who is also an eminent
farmer and Shorthorn breeder, and well known to the leading
agriculturists of this and other countries, thus reports on the
Agriculture of Sweden.

The land in most of the provinces of this country is pretty
equally divided, as to area, between large and small proper-
ties. The largest arable estates are, however, to be found in
the more fertile provinces of Ostgothlaud, Westgothlaud, and
Scania. Estates, combined with a large extent of forest land,
may be chiefly sought for in the provinces north of the great
lakes, Millar, Hjelraar, and Wener.

It is only in the province of Scania that large farms, exclu-
sively of arable land, can be found. In other parts of the
country, with but few exceptions, farms consist of arable,
meadow, pasture, and forest; the proportion of arable de-
creases the farther one goes northwards.

In the central provinces, the arable soil is a strong but fer-
tile clay. Here are large farms, containing 600 acres or more
arable ; others of middle size, from 100 to 600 acres ; and
• many small ones, of less than 100 acres arable. The propor-
tions of arable, meadow, and forest land in these parts may be
taken as follows : for every 500 acres arable tiiere are from 100
to 200 acres meadow, 200 to 300 acres pasture, and from 500
to 600 acres forest.

The largest farms in the environs of Stockholm consist of
3,000 to 5,000 acres arable, combined with 10,000 to 20,000
acres of pasture and forest. The smallest farms, maintaining
entirely the family who till it, consist of 40 acres arable and
meadow, combined with 50 to 100 acres pasture and forest.

The occupiers of very small farms have generally other re-
sources beyond farming for the maintenance of their families.

The following table is extracted from the Agricultural
Statistics of the year 1867.

The superficial area of Sweden is about 80 million Swedish
acres (the Swedish acre is one-fifth larger than the imperial
acre), of which there are :

Market gardens 49,059 acres

Arable and other land under cultivation 4,919,884 „

Natural meadows 3,923,828 „

Waste lands and forests 70,933,967 „

Total 79,826,738 „

There are owners of farms of 4 acres and under... 57,755

4 to 40 acres 146,819

40 to 300 „ 23,664

Exceeding 200 „ 2,697

Total 329,935

The number of tenants and pro-
prietors cultivating farms of 4 acres or less 92,849

4 to 40 acres 97,092

40 to 200 „ 15,097

Exceeding 200 „ 1,823

Total 206,861

It must be noted that most landed proprietors cultivate their
own land, also that the same proprietor may possess or work
several farms.

Tiie tenements are comparatively small, but continually in-
creasing in nimibers. A small portion of most of the farms
is let olF to labourers, so-called " torpare," i. e., cottagers who
pay in labour instead of rent. The number of these plots
" torp" at the close of 1867 was 179,034. The area of such a
" torp" seldom exceeds 4 acres of arable land ; but pasture for
a certain number of cattle throughout the winter and the right
of wood for fuel are almost invariably included. The labour
due for such a plot or " torp" varies between one and three
working-days per week, besides a certain number of day-work
done by women at harvest. On many farms such " torpare"
furnish a large portion of the labour required.

The average money rent of small farms, where the land is
of medium quality, is about 17s. per Swedish acre, and of large
farms lis. to 13s. per Swedish acre. The rent of the best
quality land varies from 17s. to 35s. per Swedish acre, and for
land of inferior quality 6s. to lis. per Swedish acre. These
rents are for arable and meadow land, but pasture and forest
land are almost invariably added in the proportion already
stated at a nominal rent, except when timber is sold. Rents
are generally estimated at 5 or 6 per cent, of the fee-simple.

In Scania (the most fertile province) arable land fetches
from £16 to £30 per Swedish acre. In other provinces
from £6 to £16 per Swedish acre. In most cases pas-
ture and woodland are included without being appraised.
Should, however, the woodland be in excess of what is required
for fuel, it|may be specially appraised, according to its position
and quality.

Small lots of land cost about 35 per cent, more than large
lots.

Swedish landed proprietors have from time immemorial had
the right, under certain restrictions, of subdividing their es-
tates ; recently, however, all such restrictions have been removed
by the Legislature, so that this right is now unlimited.

My own intimate conviction is, contrary to that aflirraed by
the Government and Parliament (Riksdag), that if the sub-
division of land is carried out too far, Swedish agriculture will
sufter ; indeed, experience has already proved this to be the
case.

The abundance of small occupations induces small farmers,
with insuflicient [capital, to purchase them, in most cases at
such a price that they have no money left to farm the land
properly, the result is that their profits are less than if they had
rented a farm proportionate in size to the extent of their capi-
tal.

The pecuniary difficulties in which so many Swedish landed
proprietors are involved, cause dejectcdness, check improve-
ments such as the times require, and render impossible that
increased fertility of the soil, which would undoubtedly take
place had they sufficient farming capital.

The facilities for acquiring land and the great temptation
consequent thereon to become landed proprietors, create a
state of things opposed to good farming, and therefore to na-
tional prosperity. It is, however, only right that I should
state, that these views of mine are not entertained by the majo-
rity of my countrymen.

Leases are mostly for ten years. The crown lands, how-
ever, are let for a term of 20 years. Leases are always in
writing, and seldom contain any stipulations as to cropping.
It is sometimes covenanted that hay and straw may not be
sold off' the farm, and that no paring and burning shall take
place ; however, at the present time the right of selling fodder
is granted, especially on farms in the vicinity of mining dis-
tricts and large cities, where the sale of fodder for horses is a
profitable item.

The Game Laws have been vigorously enforced during the last
few years, and tended to the increase of useful game ; the
country is not, however, over-stocked. The abundant wood-
land also shelters the game and prevents it being hurtful to
agriculture,

152

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

It may be lievfi stated that beasts of prey are still very
numerous in some provinces, wliicli may be best judged by the
fact that tlic auuual value of domestic animals destroyed by
them is about £3,000. The Government uow grants a pre-
mium for killing beasts of prey, the aggregate of which pre-
miums have frequently exceeded £4,000 per annum.

Owing to the extent of Svvedeu and its geographical posi-
tion there is great diversity in the crops grown.

In the southern provinces and the islands of Gothland and
Olaud, grapes and walnuts ripen ; the principal field crops are
rape, wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, peas, vetches, potatoes,
turnips, carrots, beetroot, &c. In the central provinces, apples,
pears, plums, and cherries ripen ; the principal crops are wheat,
rye, barley, oats, peas, vetches, potatoes, turnip, and beetroot.
In the northern provinces, north of the river Dalelf fruit wil.
not ripen ; barley and potatoes are the chief crops, rye, oatsl
and turnips in a lesser degree ; the business of the northern
farmer is indeed chiefly restricted to growing grass.

The rotation of crops diflfers according to the district and
province. In the northern provinces the one-course system of
grain every year on the same soil obtains. The fwo-comse
system, with bare fallow on one-half of the arable land, grain
and to a lesser extent root-crops on the other half, still con-
tinues in the provinces round lake Mlilar. The three-coin-se
system, one-third of the arable land in fallow, one-third in
wheat and rye, and one-third spring crops, prevails in the
southern provinces. In all these systems there is more or less
meadow land attached to the farm, which produces hay.

Throughout the country, however, a more rational system is
gaining ground, and in the southern provinces the following
prevails, differing, however, slightly according to climate, soil,
and the farmer's individual taste. It is a 6 to 10 course
rotation, according to whether grass is grown during two or
more years successively. For instance, on mild clay 1st fallow,
2ud wheat or rye, 3rd, 4th, and 5th clover and grass, 6th oats,
7th potatoes, 8tli barley, 9th clover or vetches for green
fodder, 10th wheat. On stiffer clay — 1st fallow, 2nd rye, 3rd
clover, 4th wheat, 5th vetches or peas, 6th barley, 7th oats.
On light land — 1st fallow, 3nd rye, 3rd roots, 4th barley, 5th
and 6th grass, 7tli oats. On sandy soil only the bare fallow is
exchanged for root crops, and a shorter course generally
pursued, thus — 1st root crops, 2nd spring corn (barley or
oats), 3rd and 4th white clover or grass for pasture, 5th rye.
A good average yield per Swedish acre ;= r22 (say 1 l-5lli)
imperial acre, is as follows :

Bush. Lbs. straw.

Bush,

Wheat 40 4,000 Potatoes 500

Rye 40 5,000

Barley 40 2,500

Peas 30 2,000

Vetches ... 40 3,000

Beans 50 2,000

Oats 50 3,000

40 4,000

Turnips 1,000

Beetroot 750

Red clover ... 6,0001bs. hay.
White clover 3,0001bs. „
Swedish „ 6,0001bs. „
Timothy grass C.OOOlbs. „

The use of phosphates is increasing more and more ; that
of guano and Chilian saltpetre lias almost ceased. There are
numerous establishments in Sweden for the manufacture of
artificial manures ; besides which considerable quantities are
imported. Nigbtsoil in a pulverulent form, mixed with lime,
ashes, and earth, is in considerable demand. Phosphates are
mostly used for root crops and rye, not often for grass. The
quantity applied per acre depends upon circumstances ; 3 cwt.
per acre of phosphates is a fair quantity.

The depth of cultivation is 8 to 10 inches for roots, G to 7
inches for cereals. Subsoil ploughs, going to a depth of 12 to
15 inches, are being introduced, and will become general as
the growth of beetroot for sugar is extended.

Wages vary according to the provinces. During tlie winter
they are from 7d. to Is. Id. per working day of niue hours.
During the summer, when the working liours are thirteen,
wages are from lOd. to Is. 8d. per day, all paid in money.
Where the labourer boards with the farmer, as is customary
amongst the jieasantry, he only receives half the above amount.
As already stated, the greater part of the agricultural labour is
performed by the so-called " torpare," who are paid by an
allotment on the farm. Land liaving recently risen in value,
the " torpare" system is not found economical, and it is becom-
ing the practice to employ married servants, who reside on the
farm, and are paid partly iu money and partly in rations. It

may be assumed that the yearly wages of a farm laljourer re-
duced to money are from £17 to £23, according to the pro-
vince. In this part of the country (about Stockholm) the
annual wages of a labourer are £10 in money and the following
rations ;

2 cubic feet of Wheat

26

do.

Rye

12

do.

Barley

2

do.

Pease

20

do.

Potatoes

0.2

do.

Milk per diem

200

do.

Wood

and sufficient land to cultivate about 10 cubic feet of
potatoes. This suffices for the maintenance of a
family with two or three children. If the family
increases the wife and elder children must work. Farm la-
bourers engaged by the year receive nothing extra at harvest,
but day-men receive extra pay, and there is an increase iu
rations. Women are employed in the summer, and receive
about half as much as the men. Children are also employed,
and paid according to their age and ability. Piece-work is
increasing on the larger farms ; it is confined to draining,
weeding, raising fences, chopping wood, getting in root crops —
mowing and haymaking : Reaping, harvesting, ploughing,
sowing, and harrowing are done by time.

The supply of labour depends upon local circumstances and
the quality of the harvest. When the yield is small wages are
low and hands are many, but during and after favom-able years
the contrary is the case. Iu general, agricultural labour is
sufficient ; in many parts, indeed, superabundant. The super-
fluity is taken up by the mining industries and wood-felling, for
which higher wages are paid but greater exertions exacted.

Wages have increased during the last 25 years at least 25
per cent.

Hired farm labourers have always a cottage rent free. As
a rule several families live in one house, having separate rooms.
The " Torpare," or such labourers as are allotted land in ex-
change for their labour, have always a separate cottage. As a
rule every married labourer has a small plot of land allotted to
him rent free.

The contageous diseases amongst cattle and sheep
are most rare iu .Sweden, owing to the very strict
laws which entirely prevent, or to say the least, render ex-
ceedingly difficult, tlie importation of cattle and sheep, as well
as their hides and wools, from countries in which such diseases
prevail. Cattle-plague is unknown. Foot and mouth disease
has not appeared for tlie last twenty years, Pleuro-pneumonia
only once, about ten years ago, in a herd of cattle imported from
Scotland via Norway. As soon, however, as the disease was
discovered, the ivliote herd was slit lightered on tlie spot ! Foot-
rot and small-pox iu sheep are diseases unknown in Sweden,
The importation of cattle, sheep, &c., from countries in which
cattle-plague has raged, is altogether prohibited for a whole
year after its disappearance in that country. Cattle, slieep,
&c., imported from countries iu which foot-rot, foot and
mouth disease, pleuro-pneumonia, or small-pox is raging, are
subjected to a rigid quarantine.

Our poor-laws compel each parish to support its own des-
titute or disabled poor. A rate is levied upon each tax-payer
in proportion to the property or income-tax he pays to the
State. The contribution of the whole country for the sup-
port of the poor amounts to Is. Id. per head of the entire
population ; the aggregate is £200,000, the paupers being,
of course, deducted. Of this tax about lOd. is paid by each
country resident, but 3s. Id. by each citizen. The tax paid to
the State by landed proprietors amounts to about l-20th per
cent, on the assessed value. Tenant-farmers pay 1 per cent,
of their assessed income from their farms. In the capital
where I reside, the poor-rates paid by landed proprietors and
tenants amount to about 40 per cent, of the taxes paid to the
State. The excessive burden of poor-rates upon communities, in-
creased through the claims of those able to work and othercauses,
has called forth much discontent with the laws ; the present
law which admits the claims of individuals still able to work
being able to claim relief, has been repealed by the last Par-
liament, and only awaits the sanction of Government.

The new law does not recognize the absolute right of indi-
viduals to obtain relief from the parish poor rates, unless they
be insane, or destitute orphans under the age of fifteen ;

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

153

paupers disabled by age, lameness, illness, or other causes,
may obtain relief, provided the parish poor board think it
right to grant it. Roads and bridges are maintained by the
landed proprietors, but their contributions, being in labour
and material, are not easy to estimate. There are no tolls or
turnpikes.

The punishment of crime is paid by the State.

The church and clergy are supported by tithes, or a rate
upon the land ; it varies according to localities, but is not a
serious item.

For State taxation, laud is divided into different classes,
on which taxes, differing considerably in proportion, are
levied. Taxation differs considerably in the difl'erent pro-
vinces. The basis of State taxation is the so-called " mantal,"
that is the area upon which a household engaged in agricul-
ture and cattle-breeding may be maintained. The original
"mantal" differed considerably, but in the course of time
have become further altered by cultivation ; it is therefore
difficult at present to produce a trustworthy standard for com-
parison ; one of the heaviest burdens upon the land consists
in the support of a large number of army and navy pen-
sioners.

Elementary education is accorded gratis in the Public State
Free schools. For the support of these schools a national
school rate of about 6d. is levied on each male above the age
of 15, and about 3d. on each female, JJesjdes this, a tax,

adapted to the wants of each parish, is levied upon each tax-
paying inhabitant thereof. In tlie district to which I belong,
this tax amounts to about 60 per cent, of the property or
income-tax paid to the State. Besides these contributions,
considerable sums are granted to the schools by the State, and
no expenses likely to conduce to the spread of useful know-
ledge are shunned.

The attendance of children at school is compulsory. Pa-
rents are bound under legal penalties to see that their children
go to the schools ; when requisite the children receive the ne-
cessary food in school. The obligation to attend school com-
mences at the age of 7 years, and continues until the children
have acquired the minimum of knowledge prescribed by the
laws. They generally cease their attendance at the age of 14
or 15. There is no law which prohibits the employment of
children in agriculture before having attained a certain age.
There is such a law for factories. Children go to work upon
the farm as soon as they leave school. The metcitjer system is
unknown in Sweden.

The transfer of land, although controlled by the law courts,
is very simple and easy ; the legal expenses seldom exceed 1
per cent, of the fee-simple.

Irrigated meadows are common in the northern parts of the
country where rivulets abound. The result, dependent upon
the quality of the water, is as a rule exceedingly favourable.
Town sewage is not yet used for irrigation.

INOCULATION AS A PREVENTIVE OF PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

The Tyrant of old sought to eucouvage the patentee of
a new pleasure ; but in these utilitarian times we exercise
our invention through more commendable channels. We
seek to develop new industries, new agencies, and new
remedies. We combat continually in our every-day life
the despotism which declares there shall be nothing new
under the sun. Ou the contrary, we exist the rather
with a faith in all that the novel and strange may do for
us. The mere precedent of practice is more to be defied
than respected ; and a man, to command attention, should
talk of doing something that no one ever did before.
The farmer is especially open to such influences, as, if
occasionally he has been somewhat slow in action, it has
certainly not been from any want of prompting amongst
those whohavebeeuanxioustosethimgoing. Often enough,
however, he is quite willing to go with them, a disposition
that he is evincing at this very moment. With regard to one
of the agriculturist's chief difficulties, the mortality
amongst his stock, if rinderpest cannot be cured pleuro-
pneumonia may, or better still, altogether averted. The
last new thing under the sun is that inoculation is your
only true panacea ; in order to thoroughly eradicate the
disease this is the operation to which our breeders and
feeders must resort. And to this they very dutifully re-
sort accordingly, A deputation has been sent to London,
and an inoculation trial is about to take place in Cheshire,
as we believe another has been arranged for in Norfolk.

But still there is nothing quite new under the sun. If,
as the learned say, we import our ills, we can also import
the correctives. Inoculation has, it seems, proved
singularly successful on the Continent, and therefore
it is only right and reasonable that deputations
should be started and inquiries instituted. But, alas!
again there is nothing new under the sun. These
deputations have been started, and these inquiries have
been instituted. It is now close upon twenty years since
that Professor Simonds, at the instance of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, went to Belgium, where
he not only watched the " cases" of other Professors, but
took cases under his own especial charge, whereby to
prove the value of inoculation as a preventive to the

spread of pleuro-pueumonia. And these are the con-
clusions at which, after a prolonged and careful investiga-
tion, our representative of the English schools arrived :
" That inoculation of cattle, as advocated and practised
by Dr. Willems and others, is not founded on any known
basis of science or ascertained law with regard to the pro-
pagation of those diseases called specific. That plenro-
pneumonia occurs at various periods of time, after a so-
called successful inoculation. And, lastly, that the
severity of pleuro-pneumonia is in no way mitigated by
pl•e^^ous inoculation, the disease proving equally ra])id in
its progress and fatal in its consequences in an inoculated
as in an ?fw-inoculated animal." This is tolerably
strong, the more ])articularly when collated with the
elaborate Report upon which such an opinion is grounded.
Bnt then, as we have said, all this happened some twenty
years since, and in the interim the theory may have been
improved upon or perfected, either at home or abroad.
After Professor Simonds, certainly the most practical
authority in this country, would appear to be another
member of the Veterinary College, with whom the
Cheshire deputation veiy properly sought an interview,
that they report in this way : — " Mr. Priestman supplied
us with a list of fifty-seven names of persons for whom
he inoculated 4,515 cows from the year 1858 to 1863,
and many cattle-keepers, he informed us, practised the
operations themselves in their own stocks. On the other
hand, he admitted that soine cows took the disease after
having been successfully inoculated, and that some died
from its effects. The proportion of deaths was difticult to
state, he said, as the rule with them was to sell their
cattle to the butcher as soon as attacked." There is cer-
tainly not much in this, neither is there in the evidence
of the cow^-keepers by whom Mr. Priestman was chiefly
employed. According to the Cheshire deputation, " the
opinion in favour of inoculation was evidently giveu more
as an expression of hope and of feeling than of direct
testimony from actual experience. They resorted to it ou
a first attack of the disease, but as a rule did not inoculate
90 long as their stocks were healthy. When asked why
they did not inoculate all their cows as soon as they

154

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

came into their possession, or when they were quite free
from disease, as a safer precaution if their theory was
correct? they answered, ' There was always a risk of some
cattle dying from the effects of inoculation, and they thought
it best to let well alone.' " Still, it must be ever borne
in mind that the theory is of foreign rather than of English
growth, as, moreover, it has manifestly so far taken but
little root in this country. Hence all the greater neces-
sity for tracing it home, as we believe Professor Simonds
did most efficieutly some twenty years since. Now, how-
ever, after some very recent experience, another good
authority, Mr. James Howard, the member for Bedford,
writes thus : — " All I can say is, that many sound,
practical farmers in Belgium, Germany, and France
seemed to place much faith iu the practice. M. Dumont,
of Fleurus, Belgium, is quite au authority in that country.
On his farm I saw a considerable number under inocula-
tion." Nevertheless, as his letter runs on, Mr. Howard
himself would not promise to place much faith in the
practice : — " I have suifered much upon my own farm
from plenro-pneumonia, and hence I strongly urged on
Mr. Forster before the introduction of his Bill the necessity
for dealing with this and the foot-and-mouth complaint,
as well as making provision for rinderpest. I agree with
you that the only plau to rid the country of this ruinous
disease, pleuro, is combined exertion to stamp it out."
This is bringing us back very nmch to where we were.
Still, of late years inoculation has been much resorted to
abroad, and if on the Continent it is spoken of as
"a sovereign remedy," it is only fair that we
should once more cross the Channel and ascertain its
effects, as Mr. Howard has hardly supplied us with such
material data.

According, then, to The Veterinarian for Janu-
ary : " If we take the Continental view of the sub-
ject, the prospect is not all sunshine. In Germany, Bel-
gium, and Holland the operation is extensively practised,
and the faith in its efficacy is unbounded ; but we have
not yet heard that pleuro-pncumouia has been exter-
minated in any of those countries. Perhaps we may be
more fortunate here ; but it seems rather odd for us to
get into a state of excitement iu favour of a practice
which originated, and is most supported in those parts of
the world whence, as we persistently assert, animals are
constantly sent to us infected with the disease, which, if
the theory of inoculation is worth anything, should have
been long ago eradicated." Of course this is the
awkward part of the whole story ; we continue to import
the disease from countries where, properly speaking, there
should be no disease whatever. To promptly eradicate
pleuro-pneumonia we must resort to inoculation, as
practised in Germany, Belgiiun, and Holland, where
pleuro-pneumonia has not been eradicated. It would
be well for the present to confine the argument as
directly as possible to this point ; although, of course, a
variety of collateral issues might and have been raised
as '.to beasts generating or developing disease on their
travels, and so forth, Suflicient be it here to ascertain
whether inoculation has eradicated pleuro-pneumonia in
the stay-at-home stock, in the homesteads of Germany,
Belgium, and Holland ? Iu Sweden, according to a fur-
ther supplement to Mr, Howard's paper which we give
to-day, pleuro-pneumonia never showed itself but once,
the immediate remedy being the slaughter of the whole
herd.

We confess that we have little hope of the results
about to be reached in Cheshire and Norfolk ; but
if these experiments are to be worth anything, we
do trust that those who imdertake them will do so
only after having thoroughly studied the Reports
which Professor Simonds addressed in 1852 and

1853 to the Royal Agricultural Socieiy of England.
These papers furnish a very useful guide as to how such
trials should be conducted, as well as to how far they caa
be trusted. It may be, that from the outset the Pro-
fessor put but little value upon the theory, whereas the
Cheshire committee would look to set about the business
in a far more sanguine spirit. This feeling might of
itself tend to render the investigation not so searching
as it should be ; but with the Royal Journal at hand
the Professor's objections, doubts, and more decided pro-
tests must be met and overcome to make the experiment
ever " worth the candle."

" In treatment," says Mr. M'Combie in a lecture he
delivered only a year or two back, " I have no confi-
dence, having tried everything that could be tried and
completely failed." StDJ, a little further on he admits
" Mr. Sorely [and I were brooding over this state of
matters, when I asked him whether he could do anything
to save the herd. He said, ' I will think over it till to-
morrow.' He came on the morrow, and seven successive
evenings, and administered to each animal a drench, and
he would trust uo one but himself to do it. I believe
there were thi'ce changes of medicine ; not one animal
which got the medicine took the disease, although they
had been standing in the midst of it. There was one
worthless old milk cow amongst the others that I did not
think it worth giving the medicine to ; she took
the disease, and was fed with gruel for fourteen days, and
recovered, while the others continued in perfect health."
Is there anything so satisfactory as this in all the evidence
on inoculation ? And when the Cheshire committee has
got through its work in that way, would it not be as well
to start another deputation for Tillyfour ?

TITHE COMMUTATION. — SEPTENNIAL
AVERAGES.

TO THE EDITOR.

Siu, — As mauy of your readers may feel anxious to know
the result of the Corn Averages for the seven years to
Christmas, 18C9, published in the Loudon Gazette of this
evening, viz. : —

Wheat
Barley
Oats

6 3^ per imperial bushel.
2 11#

I beg to state for their information tliat each £100 of tithe
rent-cliarge will, for the year 1870, amount to £104 Is. ^d.,
or nearly f per cent, more than last year.

The following shows the worth of £100 tithe rent-charge
for the last seven years : —

For the year IBBi
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870

103 3 lOf
98 13 lOi-

97 7 9i

98 13 3
100 13 8

103 5 8i

104 1 Oi

The average value of £100 tithe rent-charge for the 34 years
elapsed since the passing of tlie Tithe Commutation Act, is
£100 193. 5|d.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

Montague Marriott,
Editor of " Willich's Tithe Commutation Tables."
26, Montpelier Sqwtre, Wi Jan., 1870.

THfi FAEMBR'S MAGAZINE.

THE NEW FARM.

A fearful gusty (clearly a fcmiMiie) wind blowing!
Went ou the river with aiy youngest born ; glad to get
off again. The waves ran half-a-yard high, and the savage
tempest blew so lustily ! twice the mast was unshipped,
and the little craft heeled over far more than pleased me.
Uy myself I should have persevered, 'out I did'nt like to
risk the life of little Benjamin, who sat wet, but calmly
unconscious of danger, with the tiller-ropes in his tiny
hands, as I attended to the sheet and an occasional oar.
Several lots of partridges rose along the bank in places.
How odd that they should choose so cold a lair ou
so boisterous a day ! taking the air, I suppose, as ladies
after the season on the Brighton strand ; and the swans,
too — four of them — for one has chivalrously detached
himself, and taken up with a lonely maiden some eight
miles lower down the river than this (her former swain was
ruthlessly nmrdered by some boys last year) ; they sailed
about our craft so contemptuously, and saw us off, or
rather off and ou again, for we were driven ashore
I don't know how often during the first half-hour,
ere we got off, by force of wind and current.
How oddly they strain their necks out to meet a gust !
One could not help remarking it. It is so inelegant in
so graceful a bird. I suppose it enables them to expose
less surface to the impulse of the wind. As we could
not ascend the stream, the little chap on landing made a
merit of his mishap, and emptied his pockets of his
biscuits, which he threw in morsels to the grateful birds,
who, after much slobbering and sucking, to soften, I pre-
sume, the too hard outside, finally disposed of the float-
ing feed.

This reminds me that the tomtits are in luck, and the
linnets as well, for the Indian corn, which one fancied
was, from its weight, proof against their purloining,
having been soaked in the rain, they get in holes and
corners and against stones upon the walk thereby
speedily managing to scoop the contents of the berry at a
destructive pace. All I can say is the pheasant must look
ont and feed faster.

Oh ! such sadness pervading the whole household ; the
dear, old, pet terrier, Vic, is no more. For some weeks
she had been evidently ailing. She had also an excessive
weeping at the eyes. She seemed to have caught cold
through sleeping out one severe night on a mat by the
lodge-door. She had been jealous, too, of another dog
which had been imported into the school-room, so for
some weeks she honoured me in my study with her pre-
sence, and used to sit so prettily gazing into the
fire, with her head upon her paws on the fender.
To the last she tried to follow the children about, but had
to be carried home one day, and another afternoon she
was found lying on some hay under the rick quite
exhausted. A little girl carried her in, and carefully
tended her ; but all this I did not know until afterwards.
When, however, the household became aware how seriously
ill the old pet was, we had her put into a hot bath, and
tenderly packed in a hamper before the fire. I got up
early, before the servants were stirring, to see her; and
although evidently in much pain, it was quite touching
to watch the sad expression of her peculiarly melancholy
brown eyes as she laid her head on one side against the
hamper, and seemed to be saying a long good-bye. She
did not long survive, and it has cut ns all to the quick.
One does not know the value of a pet, to whicli tender
associations cling, until we lose it, Wc had ber stuffed,

but the eyes were so great a failure that we have banished
the case from the house, preferring the image that lies of
her upon our mental miri'or.

We have been unfortunate, too, with the steam-engine.
We had an idle fellow imported to put it uj), who, after
three-weeks' work, finally got the boiler so fixed that we
cannot keep up steam. The worst of living in the coun-
try is that we cannot get skilled workmen to carry out
our plans, and '" city mice" introduced take upon them so
many airs.

This will end in the apparatus being sold again, and
the horse-tackle being reverted to.

To return, however, to the spot I always delight in —
the river bank. When comi)elled to strike our sail and
drift down home, I took the opportunity of testing the
action of my precious jetties, and steered by the bank
down. Quite smoothly the water lay within them, al-
though so rough outside. (I find everybody asking me
about them now, for their unexpected success is a jjuzzle.)
So thoroughly eftective is their action, that I could not
get my boat near the bank. Acting as a buffer to the
current on which we drifted, they would have nothing to
do with us. I shall be so glad when the spring has
come, and consolidated the new earth upon the slopes
with well-rooted grass. We shall then be beyond the
reach of treraour.

How odd it is that, despite all the wet we have had
lately, the springs have not "come home" yet. The well
that supplies the kitchen-range is lower than it was in
June.

" As the days lengthen.
So the springs strengthen,"

is an old, and I suppose — at least from my own experi-
ence— a true adage. Why it is I don't know. One
would think that if a fair tap were flowing in June, that
an October soak would sufficiently re-supply the vessels.
In practice it is not so however.

Alack-a-day ! Since writing the above (for one stuffs
this pie at odd hours as occasion serves), such a dire flood
hath invaded us, or rather a tremendous reduplication of
floods — one yet more angry over-riding another. Such
an onset of waters has not occurred in this valley since
1852, bearing along with it a spoil of all sorts from the
upper country— dead carcases, and gates, and mighty-
trees, and in one instance a set of steps belonging to a
church ten miles above us, that is built upon the bank.
The boatmen were driving dangerously in their punts
backwards and forwards all the daytime that the light
lasted, fishing out the waifs and strays. One night before
the flood arrived at its highest I got a moonlight stroll
beside the rising waters. The Jense, dirty volume had been
visibly swelling for hours, and was just beginning to over-
spread the meadow along its immediate margin, beside
making insidious inroads by every hollow spot and ditch.
I had some colts out, which I did not want drowned ; so
merely changing one's dress-boots (we had just returned
from the warm "slicker of a festive drawing-room— a very
different climate to that to which the colts were sub-
mitted), and throwing on an Inverness cape, I hurried
down to see how far it might be safe to trust the
night, as our head servant, who is a stranger to these
parts and not yet used to the river's vagaries, had not
thought fit to have them moved, and it at! nek me as hard
linerto disturb at such an hour a zealoua man. Well, T

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE,

166

hurried down, and was enraptured. The long grass on
theTrchard slopes, kept as rowen for the ewes and lamhs
a sp ng rustled 'quite crisp under my tread for the air
was frostv, and when the moon shone-a brilliant all but
fidl moon-each blade glistened with a coronet of dia-
monds Then the river, when I reached it, lay m a ovely
S-oon, so calm, so lustrous, solovelily reflecting at once
each twinkling star— the dark hanging woods and sharp
cut clifi-. So calm is the pool that I doubt its advance
upon the meadow, and have to watch by the light of the
moon where it is nevertheless most determinedly though
slily stealing on through rootlet and mould-heap. \ou can
tell the fact only by watching the gradual disappearance of
some glistening leaf as it is swallowed up or the move-
ment of some floating twig; and our boat there-she who
played us, as I have recorded, so nearly false— floats gaily
and indifferently buoyant on the surface of a flood, which
though so treacherously still upon the one side, upon the
other pours along, swishing surlUy with a deep smothered
sound suggestive only of suicide, „ -n <• +i r

But how after all did the jetties answer ? Perfect y.
And bow did the newly-made l)anks hold ? Excellently,

so long (I am bound to record all my exnerience) as the
flood did not rise above the top of the stOne, where it is
built into the land. Not an atom of the newly disturbed
soil gave way until then. But when the angry waves
surmounted the uppermost stones and over-ran the whole
plain then, resenting the obstacles to its progress, it did
wash off a good part of the softest mould, accumulatmg
however a quantity at the bottom of the river between
the piers. So that after all, I am upon the whole rather
a gainer than a loser. Where I had turfed the slope it
did not suffer. It was only where the holes had been
filled with soil and sown too late in the season for the
grass to gather root. I am rapidly repairing the damage
with a paring plough, taking off the rough surface of
some interior sward, which I beat and peg down, and
which I propose to overlay with close small laurel twigs
which old Melon has been trimming off the avenue stuck
in flat and closely like the feathers on a pheasant s breast.
Over this the water will glance, as I know by experi-
ment already made. Next year I shaU raise the jetties
a foot above the mainland, and tbeu uo harm can possibly
occur to the bank, ^^^^^•

THE CULTUEE OF THE BEETEOOT.
e.o. » . new .e« or c^^i-^- -^O SST " "" '" ' """"

Of aU cultures, the one which yields most per acre is
that of the beetroot. But with the methods that have
been in use down to the present time this cdtnre is
extremely exhausting, as it draws off from the sod potash
and other chemical substances to an extent sometimes
amounting to five per cent, of the weight of the beetroot
Where this kind of culture is carried to a high degree of
development, landowners usually try to repair the loss ot
alkali sustained by the soil by means of chemical in-
gredients. Independently, however, of the great expense
incurred and minute care necessitated by this system,
great uncertainty generally prevails as to the proper pro-
portion of chemical substitutes to be infused into the soil.
Now I am able to state that a method at once more
rational and more economical has been employed for six
years and has been attended with the most favourable
results, inasmuch as the beetroot has not only been culti-
vated for six successive years on the same soil but the soil
itself so much improved as to be worth double its former
value Thus this new system, far from exhaustiug the
soil may, on the contrary, be employed— 1st, in the cul-
tivation of land, the subsoil of which contains clay covered
with a sterde layer of one metre ; 2ud. The value of the
land is enhanced, or at all events a larger yield will be
obtained. I have seen a trial field of about fifty English
square roods on which beetroot has been cultivated with-
out intermission for six years without any inconvenience
having been experienced from insects. Its produce has
uniformly been six tons per square rood, Euglish measure.
The system consists in restoring to the soil all that has
been taken away by the culture of beetroot, its elements,
viz., carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, being constantly
carried off into the inexhaustible receptacle of the atmos-
phere The pulp, being the residue from the miU, lorms
a very nutritious food. Instead of being aqueous, as
hitherto, but a smaU proportion of flour and otlier sub-
stances is needed to make it fit for food for animals, ihe
azotic and other elements withdrawn from the land by the
sale of the cattle are restored to the soil. The residue
left in the still is conducted over the soil by a system ot
irrigation which restores to the land in the precise pro-
portion required the alkalis contained in the beetroot.
The beetroot requires in the subsoil a large amount of

alkalis, which would become troublesome if the plant weie
intended for the manufacture of sugar, but which are
quite innocuous when the beetroot is intended for the
Jroduction of alcohol. The implements used are simple,
and much care has been bestowed for the last six years to
diminish the labour, and to adapt it to the capabihties of
the labouring population. The object in new maybe
shortly stated to be, to make the soil yield the greatest
possible amount of produce, by not removing from it by
sale any substances but those drawn from the atmosphere
The lands which for six successive years have produced
beetroot have increased two-fold in value. An outlay for
working material of £4,000 sterhng would permit the
advantageous application of this system to a surface of
I 700 to 800 English acres. Five artisans and eight
labourers would suflice to carry on the work, which is so
to say, self-acting. The work is done during the four
winter months, which in most countries are devoted to
the fattening of cattle and in-door farm-work, at a time
when labour is generally abundant This labour produce
64 100 English chaldrons of alcohol at 95 degrees. A^ hen
th^ fermentation of the juice has once set in, it is kept
up by the germs of fermentation contained in the jmce

'^'to the expenses mentioned above, including labour,
the redemption of capital, and the fuel, are to be added
those for maintenance. Thus a large allowance bemg
made the manufacture of the alcohol leaves a consider-
able profit, which would be further largely augmented by
the profits resulting from-lst. The improvement of the
soil ; 2nd. The fattening of cattle by means of a very

'^"^AlUhat I have stated above is based upon experiments
made on a large scale for more than six /^^vs ; and 1
would gladly undertake the introduction into England ot
The same system, provided those who take an inteijs m
the matter would previously come over herein ordi^o
satisfy themselves with their own eyes as to how com-
pletely the theory here stated has been justified by the
practical results obtained.

Brussels, the 33nd November, 1869,

•°* ' (3) G. M. Kemmis,

Civil Engineer.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

157

THE DEVONSHIRE LABOURER.

At the dinner of the Devon Central Cliamber of Agriculture,
on Jan. 12th, at Newton Abbott, Canon Girdlestone said :
I am now about to speak a few words of myself per-
sonally and individually, though not, I hope, egotis-
tically— for myself, then, the tie that binds me to the
land is not merely of a public nature ; it is also domestic.
For centuries past my family have held, and now hold, land in
the couQty of Norfolk, and though, as the youngest son of a
youngest son, I was of course sent forth into the world to
seek my fortune, still I passed my childhood amidst, at that
time, the somewhat rude ploughs and harrows of that now most
maguifieently cultivated district. I have still the same connection
with the laud. It is not, therefore, simply that I feel — though
I do strongly feel — that the laity are the bone and sinew of
the church ol England, and that it is in their, at this eventful
crisis, taking up their proper position, asserting their own
rights, and not shrinking, however troublesome it may be,
from their own responsibilities, that depends, at this time, the
church remaining in reality, perhaps even in name, the na-
tional church — a church opposed to priestcraft, as I believe,
and favourable, as I believe, to free intellectual inquiry, and tlie
development of civilization and improvement. But, over and
above these considerations, my own special and particular sym-
pathies are, by birth and education, not merely with the laity,
but with the landed interest. I therefore say it was with great
pleasure I received the k-ind and courteous note from your
secretary with an invitation from your committee to be present
at dinner with you this day. I hope I may not be presuming
too much in speaking of your invitation as partaking somewhat
of the nature of an olive branch. All I can say is this, that if
I am correct in the supposition, I am as anxious to accept the
olive branch as you can be to offer it. If, sir, there have been
some hard words passed — if I have sounded the alarum per-
haps rather too loudly for some sensitive ears — if there have
been faults on either side, and generally there are faults on
both sides, then I say let us forget it all, and in the old fami-
liar language " let bygones be bygones." If you should think
fit to make me a member of your Chamber, all that I can say
is that I will work with you and for you with heart and soul
for the common weal and the common good. When two
Arab chieftains meet, however bitterly opposed they have been
before, if once they have broken bread and eaten salt
together, it is the same as if they had sworn eter-
nal friendship. Now, you members of the Chamber —
landowners and farmers — you have broken bread ai this table
this day with the Vicar of Halberton ; and I say, gentlemen,
let us swear eternal friendship from this moment — friendship,
not for any selfish end — friendship, not for any particular in-
dividual advantage — but friendship for the purpose of promot-
ing to the utmost of our power the common weal and pros-
perity of all classes: For it can't but be as plain as plam can
be — that there can be no prosperity to any class unless there
is sympathy for all classes one with another. It is when the
landowner, and land occupier, and labourer, and, as the Chair-
man said, the poor " passeii" himself, are all agreed and united
together, that we shall arrive at the common weal and pros-
perity of all. This county is one, as we here all well know,
of many honourable and glorious traditions — traditions of war,
of art, of commerce, of trade, of manufacture. I, for one, as
a man of peace, cannot express any wish that our glories in
war should be renewed. I wish most anxiously that aO the
future victories of this country should be marked not by blood,
but by the peaceful trophies of education, improvement, en-
lightenment, and civilization. Let us then unite for that
which is the greatest and noblest mark for all of us to aim at
— the improvement of the social position of everyone with
whom we move and mix. AVith a long pull, a strong pull,
and a pull altogether, let us unite to do our best to make this
county of Devon — this county of ancient tradition and re-
nown— this garden of England as it is justly called, with its
almost Italian climate, and fertile soil — let us endeavour to
make this county that which it seems to have every capability
of becoming, as an agriQultural ponnty, the best caltivated in

tlie empire — a county in which its landlords shall be far and
wide known as the most kind and considerate towards the
labourer, and in the treatment of the tenant — a county in
which the farmers shall be known as the most intelligent, en-
lightened, and enterprising of their class — a county in which,
lastly, the labourers shall be spoken of as the best-fed, the
best- educated, the most contented, thriving, thrifty, happy,
rosy-cheeked peasantry in the land.

Sir Lawrence Palk, M.P., said : He regretted that the
Duke of Somerset and Sir Stafford Northcote were not present,
but if any consolation could be afforded for the absence of such
distinguished men it would be found in the splendid speech
which they had just had the pleasure of listening to from
Canon Girdlestone, one more replete with kindness of feeling
and with better expressions of friendliness and good wishes it
had not been his good fortune to hear. He (Sir Lawrence),
in common with others, had thought that both in his writings
and in his speeches the rev. canon had been extremely hard
upon the landowners and farmers of the western counties.
But he thoroughly recognised in him the same spirit which
actuated all landlords, and he believed all farmers, namely, a
desire to do the best they could to raise and promote the con-
dition of the agricultural labourer, and the interest of that pro-
fession to which they are allied and which they represent. He
was glad that he had one common feeling at least with the rev.
canon, in which he cordially agreed with him. He could agree
with every word that he had written with reference to the in-
cidence of the Poor Law upon the condition of the labourer,
and upon the taxation of tlie agricultural interest. He bad
heard it said that the agriculture of this county was very
far from what it ought to be, that the landowners were un-
mindful of their duties, that the tenant farmer was ignorant
and unskilled. He thought that was a superficial view to take,
because as a point of fact he would venture to say that in
Devonshire he could show as good farming as would be found
in Norfolk or in the Lothians of Scotland. The agriculturists
of Devon were not at the low pitch they had been represented.
If they were they would see farms out of cultivation, rents
falling, labourers in the deepest distress, villages in ruin, and
the country in decadence and poverty. There was not a man
in the room that did not know that that was not the true state
of things ; there was not an agriculturist that he was now
addressing who did not know that year by year the breadth of
land under cereal crop had increased, the quality of corn im-
proved, and the quantity improved. There was not a man —
and the rev. canon had admitted in his writings that the wages
of the labourer had gradually and surely risen — there was not
a man in the room connected with a Board of Guardians or a
Board of Health who did not know that great improvements
had been made in the dwellings of the poor, that the sanitary
laws passcu by a wise Legislature had been in many instances
strictly enforced, and he, as a landowner, regretted that
they were not more strictly enforced than they had been.
It was a patent fact that the condition of the labourer
in this county, especially in this vicinity, was one
of amelioration and improvement. He might be met
by being told that the pauperism of the country was daily and
yearly increasing. He admitted that it was a sad fact ; but
the pauperism arose in the towns, and not in the country dis-
tricts. He divided paupers into three classes — the agricultural,
the urban, and the criminal ; and inquired how the poor-law
operated on their respective conditions ? The principle of the
poor-law of 1834- was simply relief from destitution, and, if
rigidly carried on, it was a singularly cruel principle to apply
to the agricultural poor, because it was seldom that the agri-
cultural labourer was in a thorough state of destitution. These
were times when, from illness or otherwise, he needed tempo-
rary relief; but the law of 1834' was incapable of relieving
him till he had become utterly destitute, and then he must go
into the union. The law was therefore useless to the agricul-
tural labourer. As to the urban population, stagnation of
trade had thrown large bodies of men out of work. The poor
rate? had increased ivm j|6,439,516 in 1865-6 to £7,498,061

M 2

158

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ill 1SG7-S, This vv.as a fiigUtlul iucrc.ise, aud where did the
burden of it fall ? Why, on the laud ; for while the auuual
income of the country was 296 millions, only 94 millions was
assessed to the poor rates. The poor-law, then, did not benefit
the agricultural labourer on the one hand, while ou the other it
pressed with peculiar hardship on the landed property of Eng-
land ; nor, he thought, could such a law be defended in any way.
With respect to the criminal and vagrant class, the poor-law
provided that there should be a labour test ; but, practically,
writers told them, the test was not applied. He enlarged on
the dreadful evils that flowed from the mass of criminal po-
pulation, and suggested tliat the younger portion — the " city
Arabs" — might be made men of by being assisted to the colo-
nies, where their bone and sinew would be useful. Mean-
while, one result was certain, the poor-rate was increasing to
an extent which threatened to overwhelm property.

Mr. Wade, the Chairman, said, with respect to the land
question, the position of the tenant iu Ireland as to farm
buildings and improvemeuts, was different from that of the
English tenants, and tlierefore, he thought there was no ground
for the supposition that a tenant-right law in Ireland would be
followed by a tenant-right law in England. He thought legis-
lation of this kind between landlord and tenant in England
undesirable. Turning to the subject of education, lie could
not see that practically the Factory Act could be applied
to farming; and he had been, and was still, opposed to
compulsory education. Still, he confessed that he liad
been shaken on this latter point by a cogent argument.
It was stated very clearly that not more than 5 per cent, of
the agricultural population were unable to read or write ; but

from that per-centage a large proportion of the criminals of
the country were found, and if those were the facts, would it
not argue that they ought to get hold of that 5 per cent., and
educate them, even by compulsion, if necessary ?

Mr. Elias Cumming said that he found that he liad paid
during his time in business £2,500 in poor's rates, besides the
duty of guardian, costing him £10 a-year for many years past.
Pauperism would never decrease. Though men got more
wages, yet there were excursion-trains, beer-shops, aud other
ways by which they could spend it. The more wages some of
them got, the less they could pay their debts, till now it was
common to find many who paid nobody. Too much money
was often a cause of drinking, and thereby of pauperism.

Mr. CouLTON stated that the Canon had been mistaken as
to the rate of wages. He himself paid 12s. a week iu winter,
and 15s. a week in summer. He was very ranch pained at the
time to see the statements that were put forth, for they were a
libel on the agriculturists of the West of England. He maia-
tained that the labourers in the rural districts were better
educated than those in the towns.

Mr. Elias Ford, invited Canon Girdlestone to accom-
pany him in a visit to some neighbouring villages where he
should see and converse with the labourers, and after that visit
Torquay and see the labourers in that fashionable town; he
would then be able to compare the condition of the two. He
could agree with Sir L. Palk in saying that seldom or never
was destitution existing amongst the agricultural labourers.
At the Guardians' relief table that day they had pages of
apphcationa from distressed labourers in Torquay, but few
from agricultural labourers.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND ARTIFICIAL MANURES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SCOTSMAN.

Sir, — At the Christmas meeting of the West - Lothian
Agricultural Association, a motion by Mr. Arkley, Philpston,
asking the Society to graut a sum of money annually as a
retaining fee to a practical analytical chemist, in order that the
members of the Society may get .'i cheap and reliable analysis
of all artificial manures, chemicals, or feeding stutfs at a lower
rate than is now charged by chemists in individual cases, was
submitted for discussion. Other business prevented the sub-
ject from being taken up and ventilated, and the motion was
referred to the Standing Committee. The oommittce at its
last meeting have thought the subject involved a money diffi-
culty, and have handed it back to the general meeting to be
held in tlie Council Chamber, Linlithgow, on Friday first.
The circular calling that meeting has just now been put into
my hands, and under the head of business appears a motion,
" Whether any funds should be taken from the Society for a
blood stallion," or for a draught horse, and " also, to consider
the whole question of a chemical analyst."

I understand the committee are not prepared to advise the
Society to undertake the responsibility of the latter motion,
but 1 fear they have looked at the subject not as it affects the
community or themselves individually, but in their position as
guardians of the funds of the Society, and have barely given it
tliat attention which it seems to me to deserve — in fact, I
understand some of them think it might 'ead the Society luto
trouble. This is a mistake, as it can no more lead a society
into litigation than the granting of a £50 premium for the
best horse to serve the district can ; and the advice and pro-
tection of the Association in the question of manures and feed-
ing stuffs is as legitimate a part of the business of an agricul-
tural society as the encouragement given to the breeding of
cattle or the improvement of agricultural implements.

The question of analysis of artificial manures is one of grow-
ing interest to the farmer, and one which only collective and
organized bodies can sufficiently cope with. The Highland
Society, through its chemist. Dr. Anderson, have had various
lectures on the vahie of artificial materials for feeding and
manures, and which explained their properties. The Had-
dington Farmers' Club have also had before them similar dis-
cussions, particularly the value of artificial feeding-stuffs in
the fattening of store stock ; and in your Saturday's paper
appears a notice of a meeting'of the Kelso Club, where Mr.

Burn says " he has no doubt as to artificial food being profit-
able, and he thought it specially advantageous on poor land
where few sheep are kept." But while this is extending their
adoption, it is not preventing but rather fostering and encou-
raging the cases of adulteration so much complained of — and
certainly it has enormously increased the demand for artificial
stuffs ; aud in your extract of date 7tli, from M'Lean & Hope's
report, they say : " There is a continuously active demand for
all the ingredients for artificial manures, and also for the
manures themselves ; and the scarcity of phosphatic guanos
and other cognate materials is evidenced by the high range of
prices and the readiness with which all ofl'ers are taken out of
the market. Bone cargoes are excessively scarce, aud ship-
ments in the spring months from the Baltic and other northern
ports are quoted at almost unprecedentedly high figures. The
recognized value of the Highland Society and its offshoots,
the local societies, as a means of improving whatever affects
the interest of agriculture, by the granting of premiums and
commendations, has undoubtedly changed the system of farm-
ing, and the impetus and interest of late years taken in
Christmas shows of fat stock is also compelling the farmer to
fall back upon artificial stuff's to a larger extent llian ever , and
the genuineness of the material supplied now demands atten-
tion, and, with many others, I also hold jjrofectioii. The
question is, how is this to be accomplished.

It is well known that the great competition amongst dealers,
and the merit of being cheapest, encourage the introduction
by dishonest men of adulterating materials ; aud how often do
reports appear of disputes between farmers and merchants as
to adulterated guanos, and bad oilcake often filled with the
dry worthless " shellen seeds" which the miller used to send
down the river, or the introduction for pure bran of that use-
less refuse, " used bran," the soul and substance of which
has been previously extracted by the power-loom manufacturer
to make " paste" or " size," afterwards caked and bought by
some oilcake-makers to cheapen this otherwise valuable feed-
ing material when genuine.

If a society can give a premium of £40 or £50 for a horse
to improve the stock of a district (and some farmers of high
intelligence are beginning to think that our splendid Clydes-
dale is, like the American Indians, being improved off the face
of the earth), would the money of the association not be equally
well spent in protecting the soil from being robbed, and the

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

169

cattle from beiug defrauded, by means of au analysis of these
art ificial stuffs, and thereby save the farmer the risk of losing
half his crop, and certainly half his money ? A case of some
interest came under my observation lately. A farmer in this
neighbourhood ordered some guano from a most respectable
Edinburgh inerchant, at £13 10s. per ton. The first Wednes-
day he was in town afterwards he went and paid the guano.
He found on using it, he had bought too little, and sent for
ariother quantity. This was also sown, he leaving certain rigs
without any to test its usefulness or influence. Not being in
Edinburgh again till the crop was a good way up, he received
a note by post of his second purchase. The farmer by this
time was getting anxious about the fate of his crop, as there
was no perceptible difference between what had got the guano
and what had not ; but, not resting satisfied with his own
judgment, he called in two of his most skilful neigh-
bours and got their opinion. They were equally at a loss to
distinguish the difference. He now complained to the mer-
chant, and got him to send a practical man to examine the
crop, with the like result as already mentioned. It was so
unaccountable that the merchant would not allow any reduc-
tion, and threatened legal proceedings. The farmer was un-
willing to pay in full, and equally unwilling to go to law, so
he caused his men to produce the sacks in which the guano
had come to him. He made up a good breakfast-cupful and
sent it to Dr. Stevenson Macadam, who analysed it, and sent
a report of the value. Erom this it was proved to be deficient
in all the essentials, and valued at £5 15s. With tliis report
in hand, he went to Edinburgh, the merchant being now glad
to withdraw his account, the farmer thus saving himself an
expensive law-suit and the price of his second purchase — for
the analysis he paid one guinea. Now, what I understand by
this motion is, to retain and give, say Dr. Stevenson Macadam,
or some practical chemist of equal merit, a sum such as the
Society can atford — let it be £50 or £100, according to the
strength of the Society, and the number of members likely to
apply for such analyses — so that they can have this done at
the nominal rate of 5s. for each analysis, instead of paying
one guinea, as at present — in other words, it is just forming

an assurance against fraud in the sale of these stuffs, without
the machinery of a board of directors. And as scores of the
members of agricultural societies, farmers included, are not
and never will be exhibitors of stock, the protection herein
afforded them will be the means of increasing the membership
of these bodies.

The details of the working of this plan could be arranged
in something like the following : — Say a farmer gives an order
for a quantity of guano or any artificial material, which he
himself cannot analyse, and of which he has doubts as to its
being equal to the recommendation on which he was induced
to give the order, let him, eitiier through the secretary of his
society, or, to save thatolHcial trouble, send himself direct to
the chemist named by tiie society a sample of the material
wished to be tested ; but, in order to prevent fraud even on
tliepart of the buyer, and to protect the seller, the sample
would require to be taken from the bulk of the purchase
within a reasonable number of days after delivery, in the
presence of two witnesses, signed and sealed by them in a
printed paper, which could be furnislied by the society of
which he is a member. The duties and risks of the society
end here, as it has enabled its member to get a correct know-
ledge of his purchase ; and any after-dispute, as to value, is
between the purchaser and seller, and with which the society
has nothing to do.

I believe this subject was before the Association some years
ago, on a motion by Mr. George Davidson, Walton, he basing
his motion on the principle of every member paying at the rate
of 10s. per £100 of rent. This, however, did not meet with
appioval, and now, whether the other motion is adopted or not,
it contains much that is worth considering. The demand for
artificial materials is increasing, and their adulteration is keep-
ing pace with their demand, as evidence the number of com-
plaints made by farmers when they congregate at markets, and
sooner or later the motion founded on something like the
machinery described in this letter will be necessary for protec-
tion in this department. — I am, &c.,

A West-Lotiiian Member,

Linlithgow, Jan. 11.

THE TREDEGAR SHOW.

AT NEWPORT, MONMOUTHSHIRE.

" I do not recollect a Tredegar Show with which I have
been more pleased," writes a good judge, who has been for
years familiar with the show, and an occasional exhibitor.
And it was a good one. The Shorthorns were satisfactory,
the Herefords excellent, the Devons few but fair. The sows
with litters were a wonderful sight, principally of the native,
long, flap-eared sort, which holds its ground among the small
farmers noi withstanding the beautiful proportions of fashion-
able, prick-eared, small, improved breeds. It is true that
there is usually a dash of the Berkshire in them, or they have
had a cross from the Squire's pig, more to please him than
their owners. Anyhow, each sow occupied one pen ; and an
abundant litter of about a dozen or over was such as would
make the Sullblk men's teeth water. The fat pigs were good.
The winner was a Berkshire, very like Mr. Stewart's sort,
but bought as a squeaker for 12s. in Newport market, as the
happy winner delightedly related.

The sheep were few but good. A Gloucestershire man, and a
considerable breeder, said he had never seen better longwool
lambs at any slwic. There was one exquisite Cotswold ewe in
a pen of four of Mr. Spencer's, so broad and level and deep
and stylish that she formed the cynosure of many eyes, but siie
unhappily spoiled by her extraordinary excellence the appear-
ance of tlie pen, which was otherwise good.

To particularize more respecting the cattle, the yearling
Shorthorn bulls were a good class. The winner, a funny-
coloured, but level animal, with poor crops however, was the
winning bull-calf last year, and is said to have been picked up
with his dam in the Gloucester market. He is probably a
first-cross, and wants the thorougli-bred look of the fashion-
able herds. Mr. Strattori and his son as usual showed some
good animals, particularly a bull-calf with a back like a

billiard-board, roan, wcU-haired, and full of rich promise. In
the best class of the cattle-show, where every competitor was
beautiful (" the best yearling heifer" class;, we thought Mr.
Stratton should have won ; his animal had so niucli more
real character than the winner about the head. But you can-
not tell until you see them led out, which I did not. In a use-
ful class of fat o.xeu, Mr. Arkwriglit showed a capital beast.
Tliat gentleman has got material in his hands to galvanize
the Hereford breed, so wealthily-fleshed, curly-coaled, and
refined-looking are his show animals generally. We hope he
will steer clear of the thick hided, wiry-haired ones which
some breeders persist in retaining.

Mr. Thomas, if St. Hilary (an annual celebrity), showed
some excellent beasts of this breed, his bull taking Mr. Hom-
fray'sprize, for the best horned beast in the yard, for which, how-
ever, Mr. Tudge's two-year-old heifer, Manchester and Leices-
ter Royal winner as a yearling and calf, ran him hard. Slie also
won as a yearling at the Bath and West of England. Mr.
Rogers showed the winners in tiie Hereford buU-calf and
heifer-calf classes. It is curious that his name is omitted in
the catalogue. The fat cows were ordinary, Lord Tredegar's
winning animal being apparently deformed on one side. Eor
the best pair of cows Mr. Tudge showed a well-ribbed and
rich-coated, but small pair. Mr. Keever's beating him was
disputed by the public a good deal, until the referee, happening
to pass, had them led out anew ; alter which no more was said.
The Hereford yearling steers were good, the two-year-olds
poor.

The cart mares were fair, but not such as we have seen there
before. The cart stallions were simply monstrous, misshappen
beasts. If they could but get the beauty of the improved
Suffolk into these great brutes, who have plenty of pluck — but

160

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

somehow or other, although two at least Royal winners
have beeu of late years brought into South Wales from the
eastern counties, they found no favour with the local farmer.
The nag mares were a splendid class, the winner. Brandy,
being as superb a mare as we have ever looked over. At a
distance she appeared a small, handsome, well-bred, compact,
but elastic specimen of the real old hunter class used 30 years
since, fuU of bone, bred out of an active mountain-side mare,
by a horse of worth. When, however, you approached her,
she stood 16j hands high. It was her exquisite sym-
metry made her seem small. We looked her over and over,
and positively could see not a single fault. Slie was
distinguished by a beautiful small but broad-fronted
head and lustrous gentle eye, flat short legs, escelleut
back and loins, quarters stylish and powerful, grand
withers, an astounding depth of well-rounded barrel, and she
was a showy fast mover. Never has our eye rested on a mare
more tlioroughly good. Why she has never been at tlie Royal
Show I wonder. Her present owner obtained her and a
" highly commended" mare in the same class from Mr. Talbot,
the master of tlie Ledbury hounds, who is recorded to have
cleverly jumped a well-known brook of dangerouscharacterupon
her. This gentleman (then master of the Cowbridge harriers)
had in his stable at the same time Topstall, a horse vrhich has
won for Major Barlow so much this year. Mr. Williams who
owns Brandy now inherits a property which used to be cele-
brated for mountain ponies, his father being in the habit of
using Arab and other sires as Mr. Smith of Exraoor lately did.
His son aspires higher, and with success to judge from these
mares and his lightweight hunter (also the winner in his
class), a lengthy clever animal, far superior to the whole lot
against which he competed. There was nothing remarkable
amongst the weight-carrying hunters. They were a corky-
looking lot, ordinary and rather lightish horses. Brandy would
' have made them look small. The ponies were a disgraceful
collection of spindle-shanked brutes. The cobs a good class.
There was a good three -year-old colt for hunting purposes
shown, by Llandafi", a brother to Ely, and the trials of hunters
took place on the Monday — a very " dirty day" it was. In the
class for heavy-weight hunters there were 13 entries, and in the
light-weight class 30 ; but the numbers that came on the
ground for trial vrere reduced to 8 and 14. Col. Morgan took
Mr. Cartwright's prize for entire thoroughbred horse with the
varmint old screw Harcourt, although Cliristmas Carol, whicii
ran second to Gladiateur for the Derby, was in the entry.

Judges. — Por the horned stock, sheep, pigs, cart horses, and
implements : W. Yeomans, Stretton f 'ourt, Hereford ; G.
Hitchman, Long Ashton, Bristol ; and M. T. S. Winter,
The Hartridge, Newport. For the thorough-bred horses
and cobs : E. Bowly, Siddington House, Cirencester ; Major
Probyn, Huntly Manor, Gloucester ; Capt. Dightou, New-
land, Coleford, Gloucestershire; and 11. Higgins, Wool-
laston Grange, Lydney.

PRIZE LIST,

Horned breediug animal selected from any in the yard. — A
piece of plate, value 20 gs., T. Thomas, St. Hilary, Cowbridge,
Glamorgan.

Yearhng bull. North Devon breed.— Silver cup. Rev. A.
Morgan, Machen Rectory, Newport ; highly commended, Hon.
G. C. Morgan, M.P., Ruperra Castle, Newport.

Two-year-old heifer. North Devon breed. — Silver cup and
highly commended. Rev. A. Morgan.

Pair of three-year-old heifers. North Devon breed. — Silver
cup, Rev. A. Morgan.

Yearling bull, short-horned breed. — Silver cup, J. Pybus,
The Court Farm, Magor, Chepstow ; highly commended. Lord
Tredegar ; commended, Lord Tredegar and Rev. W. H.
Beever, Pencraig Court, Ross, Hereford,

Two-year-old heifer, short-horned breed. — Silver cup, Rev.
W. H. Beever; highly commended, M. Hale, Cold Harbour,
Nash, Monmouthshire.

Bull calf, short-homed breed. — Silver cup, J. TiU, Caer-
went, Chepstow ; highly commended. Lord Tredegar and R.
Stratton, jun.. The Dufi'ryn, Newport ; commended. Rev. E.
T. Williams, Caldicot Parsonage, Chepstow.

Heifer calf, shorthorned breed.— Silver cup, T. Hewer,
Inglesham, Lechlade ; highly commended, R. Stratton,
sen., Buraerop, Swindon ; commended. Rev. W. H. Beever.

Yearhng bull, Hereford breed. — Silver cup, T. Ed-

wards, Wintercott, Leominster; highly commended, W.
Evans, Llandowlas, Usk ; commended, W. S. Powell, Eglwys-
nunydd, Taibach; and R. Tanner, Frodesley, Dorrington,
Salop.

Two-year-old heifer, Hereford breed. — Silver cup, W,
Tudge, Adforton, Leintwardine ; highly commended, W. S.
Powell.

Bull calf, Hereford breed. — Silver cup, J . Morris, Madley,
Hereford ; highly commended, T. Thomas, St. Hilary, Cow-
bridge.

Heifer calf, Hereford. — Silver cup, T. Thomas.

Pair of yearling steers. — Silver cup, Lord Tredegar ; highly
commended, W. Williams, Red House, Ely, Cardiff.

Yearling heifer. — Silver cup. Lord Tredegar ; highly com-
mended, R. Stratton, sen., and T. Thomas.

Fat ox. — Silver cup, John Hungerford, Arkwright, Hampton
Court, Leominster ; highly commended, W. S. Powell.

Fat cow. — Silver cup. Lord Tredegar ; highly commended,
C. Duckham, SaUsbury Farm, Magor, Monmouthshire.

Pair of cows, of any pure bred, in-calf or in-milk. — Silver
cup. Rev. W. H. Beever ; highly commended, W. Tudge.

Bull, cow, and offspring, the offspring being under one year
old, the cow being in milk, or within three months of calving.
— First prize, £10, T. Tliomas ; second, £5, T. Edwards,
Llanarth, Raglan, Monmouthire ; liighly commended, W.
Jones, Cefnllogell, Castletown, Cardiff.

Pair of breeding cows, in milk or within three months of
calving. — W. S. Powell ; commended, W, Evans, Llandowlas,
Usk, Monmouthshire.

Pair of two years old steers, £10, W. Harris, Llansoar,
Caerleon.

Pair yearling steers, £5, W. Williams; highly commended,
T. Dowle, Ifton, Chepstow ; commended, W. Evans.

Pair of in-calf heifers, under ^three years old, £10, W,
Evans,

Pair of yearling stock heifers, £5, R. Stratton, jun. ; highly
commended, W. S. Powell.

Ram lamb, long wool, silver cup, T.Thomas; highly com-
mended, T. Thomas.

Four shearling ewes, long wool, £5, J. Williams, Caercady,
Cowbridge, Glamorgan ; highly commended, C. Spencer, Gil-
leston, Cowbridge; commended, R. Leyshon, Island Farm,
Brigend.

Ram lamb, short wool, silver cup, G' Wallis, Old Shifford,
Bampton, Farringdon ; highly commended, G. Wallis.

Four shearling ewes, short wool, £5, G. Wallis; highly
commended, R. Tanner.

Pen of four breeding ewes and one ram, of Welsh-mountain
breed, six guineas, J: Stephens, Slieep-house, Hay, Brecon ;
highly commended, R. Rees, Coldbrook-cottage, Aberga-
venny.

Pen of five wether lambs, long wool, £5, T. Thomas ;
highly commended, T. Thomas.

Pen of five ewe lambs, long wool, £5, C. Spencer; highly
T. Thomas, and J. Williams.

Pen of five yearling stock ewes, long wool, £5, T. Thomas.

Pen of five breeding ewes, long wool, £5, J. Williams ;
highly commended, T. Thomas.

Boar. — Silver cup, R. Keene, Pill House, Tidenham. Glou-
cestershire ; commended, J. Wheeler, Long Compton, Shipton-
on-Stour,and J. Seys, The Craig, Newport.

Fat pig. — Silver cup, H. Workman, Coedkernew, Cardiff;
higldy commended, F. Jones, Castletown, Cardiff.

Boar and sow, under a year old. — Silver cup, H. Workman,
Coedkernew, Cardiff ; highly commended, Hon. F. C. Moman,
Ruperra Castle, Newport ; commended, C. Homfray, Glan Usk,
Caerlon, Monmouthshire.

Breeding sow, with litter of pigs. — Prize, £5, H. Hale,
Troston Farm, Christchurch, Newport ; highly commended, J.
Seys ; commended, J. Till, Caerwent, Monmouthshire.

ExTKA Stock. — Highly commended, J. Wheeler.

Yearling cart colt or filly. — Silver cup, J. Williams, Llan
Farm, Brecon ; commended, A. Watts, Coity, Bridgend.

Cart mare and foal. — Silver cup, C. Coleman, Usk ; com-
mended, H. Williams, Llandenny, Usk.

Cart stallion, that has covered in the county of Monmouth
in 1869. — Prize,W. Dukes, Grosmont Wood, Hereford.

Nag mare for general purposes, in foal to, or with colt by
her side, by a thorough-bred horse. — Silver cup, M. S. Wil-
liams, Aberpergwm, Neath, Glamorgan ; highly commended.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I6l

W. Powell, M.P., Temple Stroud, Blackwood, Momnouth-
shire, and M, S. Williams.

Pouy, under four years old. — Silver cup, J. Thomas, Arcade
Wine Vaults, Cardiff ; highly commended, J.Williams.

Cob or galloway. — Prize, W. Allen, Vaindra Hall, Cardiff.
Highly commended, H. Elkington, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire ;
W. Tliomas, Marcross, Bridgend, Glamorganshire ; and T.
Evans, Market Street, Newport, Monmouthshire. Com-
mended, R. Allen, Ty-to-Main, St. Melons, Cardiff.

Yearling colt or filly, for hunting purposes. — Silver cup,
Messrs. L. and H. Thomas, Tydraw, Cowbridge.

Three-year-old colt or filly, for hunting purposes. — Silver
cup, C. Spencer, Gileston, Cowbridge; highly commended, J.
Williams ; commended, J. L. Mon fries, Pwlly Pant, Caerphilly.

Hunters' Prizes.

Weight-carrying hunter. — First prize, £20, J. Pybus ; se-
cond of £10, C. Phillips, William IV., Newport, Monmouth-
shire. Higlily commended, C. H. Williams, Roath Court,
Cardiff.

Light-weight hunter. — First prize, £20, M. S. Williams ;
second of £10, J. L. Monfries. Highly commended, C. H.
Williams ; commended, Hon. P. C. Morgan, and J. Stratton,
Chilcomb, Winchester.

Thoroughbred entire colt or stallion. — Silver cup. Hon. G.
C. Morgan, M.P. ; highly commended, T. P. Price, Newton
Lodge, Monmouth.

HORSHAM FAT STOCK SHOW.
There was a very successful exhibition here.
LIST OF PRIZES.
BEASTS.
Fat ox or steer three years old and upwards. — First prize
£7, L. Steer ; second, &i, T. Child ; third, £2, J. Napper. .
iSest steer under three years of age. — First prize, £6, J
Agate ; second, £3, W. M. Stanford.

Best cow. — First prize, £5, J. Agate ; second, £2 10s, W.
M. Stanford.

Best heifer under four years of age. — First prize, £5, L.
Steere ; second, £2 10s., W. Sturt.

Best heifer under three years of age. — First prize, £5, AV.
Sturt ; second, £2 10s., A. Agate ; third, £1, H. Butcher.

SHEEP.

Best pen of three wether sheep. — First prize, £6 Messrs.
E. and A. Stanford ; second, £3, A. Agate ; third, £2, J.
Napper.

Best pen of three ewes, that shall each have reared a lamb
during the present year. — First prize, £4?, E. Churchman ;
second, £2, Rev. J. Goring.

PIGS.

Best fat hog of any age. — First prize, £4, E. Churchman ;
second, £3, W. M. Stanford.

Best three fat hogs under twelve months of age. — First
prize, £% H. Hemming ; second, £2, Rev. J . 0. M'Carogher.

EATRA PRIZES.

BEASTS.

£2 10s. for the best beast shown as extra stock, W. Wood,
(Ifield Court) ; second, £1 10s., R. Pronger.

A silver cap for the best beast, L. Steere.

A silver cup for the best beast of pure Sussex breed, L.
Steere.

A piece of plate, of the value of £5, fbr the bestbeast shown,
W. M. Stanford.

A piece of plate, of the talue of £5 5b., to a tenant farmer,
and best fat steer or heifer under three years of age, H.
Butclier.

SHEEP.

A piece of plate for the best pen of sheep shown in any
class, Messrs. E. and A. Stanford.
PIGS.

£1 for the best hog shown, E. Churchman.

GUILDFORD CATTLE SHOW.

The annual show in connection with the Guildford Agricul-
tural Association, was held at Guildl'ord. The meeting was
certaialy tlie best in point of excellence, as well as the largest,
which has ever taken place here. Among the fat beasts, the
Devon exhibited by Mr. Hugh Sears was a capital beast, as
was Mr. Smith's steer which took the second prize. There
was a dinner, at which Mr. Bradshaw, of Knole, presided.
Subjoined is the

LIST OF PRIZES.
FAT BEASTS.

Fat ox or steer, not e.Kceediug four years of age. — First
prize, £5 5s., H. Sears ; second, W. S. Smith ; third, II.
Sears.

Fat steer, not exceeding three years.— First prize, £5 6s.,
L. Steere ; second, R. Beale ; third, H. Daws.

Maiden heifer, under four years of age. — First prize, £5 5s.,
L. Steere ; second, J.Hooker.

Maiden heifer, under three years of age. — First prize, £5 Ss.,
G. Cubitt, M.P. ; second, W. Sturt ; third, W. Wells.

Shorthorn steer, under four years. — First prize, £5 5s., Mr.
Roker ; second and third, R. Channell.

Fat cow with a live calf. — First prize, £3, R. Channell ; se-
cond, M. Marshall.

EXTRA PRIZES.

Best fat ox, steer, or maiden heifer, in either of the above
classes, a piece of plate, L. Steere.

Best fat beast in either of the foregoing classes, £6 5s., L.
Steere.

Best fat heifer or steer of any age, fatted and exhibited by
a tenant farmer of less tlian 150 acres, £2, H. Daws.
FAT SHEEP.

Pen of three Down wether sheep, under two years of age. —

First prize, £5 5s., J. C. Ramsden ; second, G, Cubitt,
M.P. ; third, M. Marshall.

Pen of three maiden ewes of any breed, under two years of
age. — Prize, M. Marshall.

FAT PIGS.

Pen of three fat pigs, under twelve months old.— First prize
£5 5s., W. Wells ; second, M. Marshall.

Pen of three fat pigs, under nine months old. — First prize,
£3 3s., M. Marshall ; second, M. Marshall.

LEAN STOCK.— BEASTS.

Best bred bull under two years of age. — First prize, £5 5s.,
L, A. Coussmaker ; second, G. Holland ; third, M. Marshall.

Best bred hull calf, not less tlian six months and not ex-
ceeding twelve months old. — First prize, £2, L. A. Couss-
maker ; second, G. Holland.

Best cow and offspring of the present year. — Prize, L, A.
Coussmaker.

Best heifer under three years of age, in calf or with a calf.
— Prize, L. A. Coussmaker.

Best heifer under two years. — First prize, £3, H. Sears ; se-
cond, L. A. Coussmaker.

EXTRA PRIZE.

Best bull calf.— Prize, G. Hollands.
STORE SHEEP.

Best pen of ten pure-bred ewe lambs, under twelve months
old. — Prize, M. Marshall.

Best pure bred ram lamb, under twelve months old.— Prize,
G. Cubitt, M.P.

STORE PIGS.

Best boar, not exceeding twelve months old.— Prize, W.
Drewitt.

Breeding sow in pig (or with her pigs), and which shaU
have had one litter or more. — First prize, £2, W. Wells ; se-
cond, J. C. Ramsden.

MANGOLD WURTZEL.

Nine roots of long mangold wurtzel. — First prize, ^£2, T;
Drewitt and Son ; second, W. Drewitt ; third, M. King.

Nine roots of globe wurtzel. — First prize, £2, W. Drewitt;
second, G. Holland ; third, L. A. Coussmaker. Highty com-
mended : G. H. Pinkard,

SWEDES AND TURNIPS.

Nine roots of swede turnips. — First prize, £2, W. Drewitt ;
second, M. Marshall ; third, J. Franks.

Nine roots of white-fleshed turnips. — First prize, £2, L. A.
Coussmaker ; second, L, Hilder ; third, M, Marshall.

lOi

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WEST OF ENGLAND FAT CATTLE
SHOW.

This Slicsv was lield at riymoutli under uufavourable
auspices, the weather being very wet and stormy, wlucli much
atfectcJ the attendance. There was, however, a hirgc show of
stock.

The Judges for cattle, sheep, and pigs were — J. i>ult, Kings-
ston, Durston, Somerset ; W. Paige, St. Germans ; A. Par-
son, Iligliwtck, Bkcktorrington.

PRIZE LIST.

NORTH UEVONS.

Steers not exceeding three years and three months old. —
first prize, £10, W. Farlhing, Stowey Court, Bridgwater;
second, W. Smith, Hoopcrn, Exeter.

Oxen or steers exceeding three years and three months old.
— Pirst and second prize, W. Farliiing.

Cows and heifers of any age. — First prize, R. Bnrton, Place
Barton, Broadelyst; second, J. Bussell, Town House, Gitti-
shani, Honilon.

SOUTH DEVONS.

Steers not txceediug three years and three months old. —
First prize, W. Coaker, Charleton Court, Kiugsbridge ; second,
S. Huxham.

Oxen or steers exceeding three years and three months old.
— First, W. Coaker ; second, J. M. Toms, Coyton, Ivybridge.

Cows or heifers of any age. — J. Drew Artiscombe, Tavi-
stock ; second, J. Drew.

SHORTHORNS.

Steers not exceeding three years three months old. — Second
prize, R.Tremain, of TrethurlTe, Grarapound-road.

Oxen or steers exceeding three years three mouths old. —
Prize, J. Horswell, Burn Hall, Lew Down, Exeter.

Cows or heifers of any age — First prize, W. Drew, Ply-
mouth ; second, E. Elliott, Laudulph, Cornwall.
HEREFORDS.

Oxen or steers exceeding three years three months old. —
First prize, W. R. Grose, Peupout, Wadebridge ; second, G.
and \V. E. Lobb, Lawhittou, Lauuccston.

Cows or heifers of any age. — First prize, J. W. James,
Mappowdcr Court, Blandford ; second, W. R. Grose.
CROSS BREEDS.

Oxeu or steers of any age. — Prize, J. Jaekman, Meadwell
Kelly, Tavistock.

SHEEP.

Pen of three Leicester wethers under i'i months old. — First
prize, R. Nicholls, Lostwithiel, Cornwall ; second, R. Nicholls.

Pen of three wethers of any other long-wooUed breed, not
being Leicesters, under 23 mouths old. — First prize, R. C.
Clark, Barne Barton, St. Budeaux, Plymouth : second, R. C.
Clark.

Pen of three Down wethers under 23 months old. — First
prize, S. Hyne, Stonehouse ; second, S. Hyne.

Pen of three Exnioor wethers of any age. — Prize, W. Smith,
Hooperu. Exeter.

Pen of three Dartmoor wethers of any age. — First prize, J.
Drew, Artiscombe, Tavistock ; second, J. Drew.

Pen of three ewes of any age or breed. — First prize, T.
Potter, Yellowford, Thorverton, Cullompton ; second, R.
Nicholls.

PIGS.

Pen of two pigs under nine months old. — First prize, E.
Trood, Bowhay, Exrainster ; second, J. S. Davey, Redruth.

Fat pig of any age. — Prize, W, F. Collier, Woodtown
Horrabridge.

The show of s-liecp and pigs was not so good as of beasts. The
judges were Edward Cane, of Berwick Court ; F. Tuppen,
Priesthawes, Westham ; and Richard Broad, of Ilurstpier-
point. Their awards were:

Ox, five years old or upwards. — First prize, £8, P. Gorringe,
Pebsliani, Bexhill ; second W. Mannington, Isfield.

Ox or steer, not exceeding four years old. — First prize, £8,
Right Hon. II. Brand, M.P.,Glynde-place; second, W.Taylor,
Glynley, Westham.

Steer, not exceeding three years old. — First prize, the silver
cup, value £10 (being the best beast in the show), W. Bolting,
Westnieston-plaee ; second, J. Shoosmith, Berwick.

Cow, four years old and upwards. — First prize, £8, J. Shoo-
smith ; second, W. Bolting.

Open heifer, under four years old. — First prize, £5, E. and
A. Stanford, Eatons, Stcyning; second, J. Russell, Hastock's
Gate.

Pen of five Southdown Methers, under two years old. — First
prize, £7, J. Walker, Firle ; second, E. and A. Stanford.

Pen of three fat pigs, under twelvemonth old. — Prize, £,2,
T. Cooper, Bishopstoue.

LEWES FAT STOCK SHOW.

The class for oxen, has always been a good feature in the
Lewes Show, and there were here six exhibited. There
would have been more, not only in this class but in some of
llie others, had the entries of i\Ir. Tylden Smith, of Beckley,
arrived. The best ox was unquestionably that of Jlr. Pen-
jiington Gorringe, of Pebshain, Bexhill, and it was of course
awarded the first prize. Some Hue beasts were shown as
extra stock, and the market was well supplied with fat cattle.

THE WEST HERTS CHRISTMAS SHOW.

This show, held at Watford, was on the whole very good in
quality, and the number of cattle, sheep, and pigs was about
equal to that of last year.

The judges were — for stock, G. Game, Churchhill Heath,
Chipping Norton, Oxon ; R. E. Home, Waxwell, Pinner ; R.
J. Newton, Cainpslicld Farm, Woodstock, Oxen. The prizes
were as follows :

CATTLE.

Shorthorn oxen or steer, not exceeding three years old. —
First prize, Mrs. W. Morten, Lea Farm, Watford ; second,
the Earl of Clarendon, K.G., The Grove, Watford.

Shorthorn ox or steer, three years old and upwards. — First
and second prizes, Thomas Leach, Longcrolt, Bovingdon,
Herael Hempstead.

Shorthorn heifer, not exceeding tliree years old. — First
prize, the Earl of Clarendon ; second, W. Jones Loyd,
Langlebury, Watford.

Shorthorn cow, above three years old. — First prize, G.
Stone, 'Cassio Bridge Farm, Watford ; second, H. F. Hill,
New Hall, Watford.

Ox or steer, of any breed or age (not Shorthorn). — Prize,
J. Purrolt, The AVood, St. Alban's.

Fat heifer, of any breed or age (not Shorthorn). — First
prize, C. Waghorn, Nether Wylde Farm, St. Alban's; second.
Lord Ciieshain.

EXTRA PRIZES.

Ox or steer of any breed, not exceeding tlirec years old. —
Prize, £10 10s., Mrs. W. Morten, Lea Farm, Watford.

Ox or steer of any age or breed, exhibited in any of the
classes by a tenant-farmer residing in Herts. — Prize, £10
10s., T. Leach, Longcroft, Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead.

Cow or heifer of any breed or age exhibited in any of the
classes, bred by a tenant-farmer residing in Herts. — Prize,
£10 10s., J. White, Parsonage Farm, Rickmansworth.

The best animal exhibited by a tenant-farmer residing
within a radius of 15 miles of Watford. — Prize, ~0 guineas,
G. Stone.

SHEEP.

Cross-bred or longwool fat wether, one year old. — First
prize, C. Longman, Shendish, Hemel Hempstead ; second, J.
White,

Fat wether, of the Southdown breed, one year old. — First
prize, W. Jones Loyd ; second, the Earl of Essex.

Hampshire, or other sbort-woolled wether sheep not
Southdov.ns, one year old. — First prize, James White, Apple-
tree Farm, Rickmersworth ; second, Jones W. Lloyd.

Fat wether sheep of the Shropshire breed, one year old.
— First and second prizes. Lord Chesham.

Fat long-wool sheep (ewe or wether) of any breed or
age. — Prize, Cliarles Longman.

Fat short-wool sheep (ewe or wether) of any breed or
age. — Prize, Lord Chesham.

i'lO 10s. for the best pen of sheep in the show, exhibited
by a tenant-farmer. — Charles Longman.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

163

£10 10s. to the breeder of tlie best pen of sheep in the
show, lie beiug a tenant-farmer. — Charles Longman.
PIGS.

Three pork pigs of any breed, not exceeding sixteen
weeks old. — Prize, W. Jones Loyd.

Three fat pigs of any breed, not exceeding nine months

old. — First prize, W. .Jones Loyd ; second, the Earl of Essex.
Three fat pigs of any breed, not exceeding fifteen
months old. — Prize, John White.

Eat pig of any breed or age. — Prize, W. Jones Loyd.

£5 5s. for best pen of pigs in the show, exhibited by a
tenant-farmer. — Prize, John AVhitc.

CARR'S ANNUAL HARVEST REPORT.

Rostock and Dantzic, 31st Decembei!, 1860. —
Regarding the Fast, wc regret to say it has been " flat,
stale, and unprofitable" to all concerned iu the trade in
general at lioine and abroad, prices having gone on
gradually dropping from the top price, ruling iu the
month of June, 1808, about 4U per cent., and are now
below the standard at which they ruled some three years
ago, ere the rise took place, wheat being now consider-
ably below its value to other cereals, owing to the con-
tinued large arrivals from abroad, which must have in-
Jlicted severe losses on the shippers or receivers, or
perhaps on both ; in fact, shipments were continually
made, though a loss of several shillings per quarter was
staring the parties in the face whilst shipping. The cal-
culations of the trade for the campaign of 1867 and 1868
were battled by the six weeks' earlier harvest than usual,
and this campaign (1868 and 1869) they have been
baftled by the unexpected enormous supplies. The
British farmers are to be pitied, as they have been, and
arc still keeping back their produce in tlie hopes of better
prices, as they cannot reconcile themselves to any other
idea bwt that with short crops at home prices must im-
])rove, whereas it is more than probable (as many well-
iuformed people say must take place) that they will have
to bring it to market without reference to price. Be this
as it may, we pity the poor fellows, and repeat the advice
we gave them when IVee-trade became the law of the
land (in Great Britain), namely, " To grow less grain for
human food (particularly wheat), and turu their attention
chiefly to cattle-breeding and the production of feediug-
stutts, as they cannot compete with the foreigner in the
jirodiice of wheat;" whilst they must fear no foreign
competition, at least none of great importance, for this
simple reason, the cost, and still more, the sea risk being
too great.

Present. — The trade remains in an unsatisfactory
state, owing to supplies being considerably more than
what the consumption can at present digest. The mild
weather has, more or less, also to do with the present
stagnant position. Frost would give it a lift, as frost not
only stops further shipments, but also strengthens the
nerves and hopes of holders, increases the appetites of
consumers, and invigorates the body and mind of buyers.
It is true that stocks are not moderate; on the other
hand, they are not so enormously large as many consider
them to be — were they but proportionately spread over the
whole of the United Kingdom, instead of their being
hoarded up in a few of the leading ports (principally
Liverpool and London), they would be cousidei-ed light.
AVheu the sliding scale (the old Corn Law) was in vogue,
and when the L^nited Kingdom imported yearly only 3 to
4 million quarters of wheat, a stock of 1 to 2 million
quarters was then thought nothing of, whereas now-a-
days, when 8 to 10 million quarters are required, a stock
of 1-^ million quarters is considered large, and this is
chiefly caused by said stocks not only being in a few ports,
but because they are held by first hands (the importers or
consignees) ; this fact, however unfavourable it may now
operate on the purse and nerves of present holderS; is the

surest safeguard that thei-e is more certainty of the trade
sooner or later mending, than if the stocks were in the
hands of millers, flour dealers, bakers, and consumers, it
being well known that said parties have for many months
past held, and still continue to hold, next to no stocks,
which is generally the case with them in falling markets,
and still more so at this time of year. So much
is certain, prices have fallen 40 per cent, from the
top prices paid in June, 1868, and that they cannot
fall another 40, nor not the fourth of that, and that it
only requires a slight speculative demand and a week or
two of firm markets, with but a slight upward tendency, to
change the scene from one of apathy to one of animation ;
and we feel satisfied that this is just the time to try the
truthfulness of the adage of an old and much respected
London corn factor (we mean the late John Ashlin, Esq.),
who, as he left a deal ol money, must have felt the glit-
tering force of this mode of doing business, viz.: To buy
dear and sell cheap and make money," that is, to buy and
sell when others t////i& you 'ire wrong and an ass for doing
so ; in both cases you have the market to yourself and
buy and sell accordingly that to advantage. At present
everyone is anxious to sell, ert/o, now is the time to make
a bargain, as it appears to us that it is not so much the
fear of a further fall, but the want of suitable store accom-
modation, that is making importers on own account, or
the receivers of consignments, to knock ofi:" their stuffs at
prices which will most probably not nett the shipper
(particularly the American) the cost of production to the
growers. Large as have been the arrivals, they have not
much exceeded what we estimate must be the monthly
imports into the United Kingdom, to meet the require-
ments of the population therein, as, by referring to our
N.B. you will find that we put down the requirements
for this campaign (from the 30th August, 1868, till the
1st September, 1869), at 11 million quarters of wheat and
flour, which is tantamount to 916,666 quarters per month,
t'n/o, four months ending 31st this naonth (December)
3,666,666 quarter wheat and flour. The quantity of
wheat afloat to direct and indirect ports, barring what is
afloat per steamer, according to Mr. Dornbusch' list of
the 13th instant, amounted to 454, against 367 cargoes
same time last year, crffo, only 77 cargoes, or about
200,000 quarters more of wheat, which is a mere nothing
when one compares the last year's excellent crop in every
respect to the present year's growth, which is deficient
both in yield, weight, colour, and condition, and this
not only applies to wheat, but to oats, beans, and peas;
and further, potatoes are not quite as they ought to be,
being more or less diseased, particularly in Ireland.

As TO THE Probable Future. — What we have above-
stated applies more or less thereto. On referring to our
N.B.'s under the various countries, you will find, that
Great Britain and Ireland will require foreign aid to the
extent of 11 million quarters of wheat and flour, provided
the harvest of 1870 takes place as in average seasons,
and nothing occurs to postpone it any length of time.
Further, that the Mediterranean districts, particularly
Portugal and Spain, will compete with Great Britain to

164

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

about the same extent as last campaign, also Belgium,
Holland, and Switzerland will require at least their usual
annual assistance. France, will remain about neutral ; what
she imports of wheat, she will, as usual, re-export in
Hour. Further, it will be seen, that the British Lion's
providers, will have again to be North America, Califor-
nia, and Chili, which we have put down as being able to
spare 3 million qrs. wheat and flour; Russia, I5 ditto;
Germany, 1\ ditto ; Austria and her provinces, f ditto ;
the Turkish dominions and Danubiau principalities,
700,000 qrs. ; Egypt, 250,000 qrs. ; Denmark, 250,000
qrs. ; total, 7,700,000 qrs. wheat and Hour, leaving
3,300,000 qrs. wheat and flour to be made up by economy,
which we fancy will be rather a difficult matter to enforce,
for this simple reason, low prices generally produce
the reverse of economy, namely, " wilful waste, which
too often ends in woeful want, and consimiers won't
eat bread made from rye, barley, peas, maize,
or oatmeal so long as they can get wheat en
flour cheap ; with low prices, not only do human
beings take their fill, but all kinds of animals and fowls
come on for more than their share, and thus we fear
that when prices have risen to a pitch to cause consumers
to pull up it will be too late. As stated in our remarks
on the present, the low prices ruling just now are caused
by stocks being, as it were, all huddled up at a few of the
leading ports, instead of being proportionately spread
over the whole of England, Ireland, and Scotland ; so
soon as a depletion takes place, we expect a reaction for
the better. Were we the owners of grain cargoes at
ports of call, we would most assuredly prefer ordering
them to any good port, where vie could have our property
properly stored in airy, dry, and safe stores, rather than have
the same landed in insecure wooden sheds. Better far pay
afterwards a couple of shillings extra freight and charges
(if obliged later on to re-ship for sale) than risk having one's
pi'opcrty either totally spoiled or perhaps pilfered. With
the exception of London, Liverpool, HuU, Glasgow, and
perhaps Leith, we fancy there are warehouses enough to
be got at moderate rates ; if not in Great Britain and Ire-
land, the French and Belgians, and also the Dutch, will,
we think, gladly accommodate grain holders, as the said
countries don't appear to be overburdened with foreign
or home supplies, as they arc our best customers — that
is, they are paying the best prices, and are buyers, par-
ticularly the Belgians ; but, we repeat, we are certain
there is room for more than double the quantity if pro-
perly spread over the United Kingdom ; and we are con-
vinced that those who store and look on awhile won't go
far wrong ; and we hear that many holders are storing,
and intend waiting what the chapter of accidents, between
this and summer, may bring forth. We do not expect to
see great fluctuations during the winter, should there be
normal weather, and nothing occurs in politics to cause
the probability of an European war (of which, fortunately,
there is no prospect), which, 01 course, would send up
prices in a jiffy. On the other hand, we are of opinion
that prices will go up so much as will suffice to pav the
expenses of those who land the grain, instead of selling
at present low rates. In spring a pause will take place,
as usual at the said time of the year, provided always
that the weather continues favourable, and mankind in
general are at peace with each other, it being customary
for sellers, but still more for buyers, to act on the reserve,
in order to see what the Baltic may send off per first
open weather, and they (especially the buyers) generally
continue in this passive position till they see what
the United States are likely to ship ; but during
the summer and early part of the autumn we most
assuredly (even under the most favourable auspices or
circumstances and prospects for the coming crops) expect
a smartish rise, which wiU increase in intensity should

anything occur to endanger the growing crops. Prices
being low," cannot well go much, if anything, lower ; but,
owing to their low standard, there is plenty of scope for
a smart reaction upwards.

Thomas Cakr & Co.

Hoffmann, Cark & Co.

England. — Excellent autumnal seed time, and a somewhat
larger breadth than usual sown, but o\\iug to wet weather less
(in fact for a series of years there has not been so little) spring
wheat sown and more spring corn in its place, as such paid
better than wheat. The winter was mild, the thermometer
ranging a great portion of the time about 50 degrees Fahren-
heit ; and in the middle of February vegetation was very for-
ward, many spring flowers being in bloom, and the cereal
plants presented a very luxuriant appearance, strong in the
stem and vigorous in blade ; from that time till the beginning
of April vegetation maae no progress, but rather went back,
but some hot weather in April gave it a start, so that in the
early part or about the middle of May wheat promised to yield
in every respect equal to that of 1868 ; from that time the
weather changed, became cold and wintry, with some slight
frost at night, and continued so until about the 27ih June,
when we had ilie first appearance of summer. Hardly can be
remembered such a cold June ; the month was characterized
rom beginning till nearly its end by an unusually low tempe-
rature, an absence of sun, and frequent showers of snow, and
intensely cold biting winds ; the wheat at that time was coming
into ear (some of it was in bloom), so that it passed through
that critical stage under most adverse circumstances, the cold
weather had the efi'ect of keeping it back ; seldom has it been
known to be so long a time in coming out ; all this, in ordi-
nary season, would have awakened fears of bread famine, but
this cold weather was so far fortunate that had the plant been
more forward much greater damage must have been done,
though, of course, there is no doubt whatever but that the
damage done by the cold weather, end of May and in June,
was very great. Had it not been so, there is no doubt there
would have been the largest crop on record, there being
enough straw on the ground for a crop and a half. From the
begmning of July the weather was all that could be desired,
except, perhaps, that it was a little /oo forcing ; crops matured
so rapidly that several fields of oats and barley were cut about
the 21st July. On tlie whole this harvest has been carried
equal to ordinary seasons, and about three weeks later than
that of 1868, and well harvested. The counties most favoured
are Essex, Suffolk, Kent, Devonshire, Berkshire, and Somer-
setshire. The worst crops have been grown in Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire,
Northumberland, and Gloucestershire ; the Midland Counties
and the Fens in particular having suffered most from storms
and inclement weather. The quality, although there are many
complaints that the wheat worKs weak (no doubt owing to the
absence of sunshine, which produces grain more or less defi-
cient of gluten and lessens its bread-making properties), in
general considered an average, thougli here and there blight,
rust, and smut (the latter in some districts has not been so
prevalent since 1862, white wheat in particular) ; weight on
the average 60 lbs. to 62 lbs., which is about an average
weight, though 2 lbs. lighter than in 1868. On the whole the
wheat crop is considered 10 to 15 per cent, below an average,
or 25 to 30 per cent, under that of 1868. In Wales crops
satisfactory in quantity and quality. Barley, a large breadth
sown, quantity over average, but the quahty considerably be-
low last year's, which was unprecedented, being a bright straw
colour, mellow, regular in size, and very heavy in weight, this
year it is more steely, irregular in size and colour. Oats,
larger breadth sown, yield not so good as expected, varying
greatly in quantity and quality, the hot weather which set in
in July did harm to the growth. On the whole a very mode-
rate crop. Peas, larger breadth planted, owing to the mis-
plant in clover, suffered from insects, particularly in the Mid-
land Counties, premature ripening, in many districts a failure ;
in other respects peas are bulky, but not podded in proportion
to their stem. Beans, winter sown, average, but spring bad
crop. Potatoes, more soil planted, yield tolerably satisfactory,
quahiy and flavour on the wjiole good. Turnips and man-
golds various, sirffered from drought, particularly in Yorkshire,
on the whole not full average. Hay, large and fine crop, sel-

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

365

dom better. Pastures yield very largely. Ou the whole feed-
ing stuffs seldom have been more satisfactory.

ScOTLAJJD. — Usual breadtli of land sown with autumn but
less spring wheat ; both grades were got well in, the early
wheats suffered in many instances somewhat from fly. The
summer was fine. In June some stonns and wet, together
with frost at night. The strong gales early in July in many
situations did more or less injury, chiefly to the white wheats,
Harvest commenced middle of August and progressed favour
ably for about tliree weeks, during which time a deal of the
crops were secured in fine order ; but in the first or second
week of September the weather became unsettled, and the corn
still exposed, sufl'ered in colour, but the rain was of great benefit
to the pastures and root crops. The bulk of wheat straw is good,
but the ear not developed. Wheat may be called nearly an
average, though about 20 per cent, below that of last year ;
quality and condition various ; where secured before the un-
settled weather, is good ; but a deal, housed during tlie in-
clement weather in September, will have to remain a few
months in stack ere it can come out a useful sample. The
best weighs 61 to 651bs., others 58 to Gllbs. Barley covered
more than usual breadth of land, with full average quantity
of grain, though deficient of last year. In the best lands tlie
(Xuahty is remarkably fine, mellow, and plump, and will malt
well ; finest chevalier weighing 581bs., fine quality 561bs., and
the lower grades from 51 to 541bs. ; condition good generally,
though in the late districts a good ileal carried in middling
order. On the whole, barley is the crop of the season ; tjulk
of straw fine, and it cuts up well. Ou the other hand, Oats
are the worst crop of the season, less breadth sown, and varies
much in quantity. lu some districts it is a full crop, in others
very poor, and in some even not worth cutting. Many stacks
I heated by rain, owing to their being badly covered ; many
have been pulled down and rebuilt : of course in such cases
the colour is bad, though in some favoured districts the quality
ia fine ; weight i-h to 451bs., generally runs 43 to 43lbs., and
lowest grades 38 to 39lbs. ; early saved, good condition.
Beans and peas less than usual breadth planted ; suffered from
strong gales in July, though tolerably bulky in straw, and
some of them pretty well podded, but on the whole defective,
and below an average. Hay tolerably good crop, and secured
in the finest condition, particularly the first cut ; the second
cut not so good, being checked by dry weather. Potatoes,
usual breadth of land planted ; about an average produce per
acre, though smaller-sized, as usual, but quality is good.
Turnips, early sown, much cut up by the green fly and cold
nights, and some of the fields re-sown with rapeseed; the
later sown (of which the bulk consists) have done well : on
the whole, the crop may be taken as seven-eighths of an
average.

Ireland. — About 4,033 acres less land sown with wheat,
which was got in under favourable circumstances, and iu fine
condition, iu autumn as well as in spring. Generally, the
plant stood through the winter well, it being mild and open,
but in spring the plant received a check, owing to the cold
weather, and on the whole the harvest was a late one. The
early carried is of fine quality and condition ; the late cut is
improvin? in stacks : on the whole, the yield is about 15 or
20 per cent, below an average, the midland counties liaving
fared worst. Barley, much larger breadth sown, and the best
crop of the season, being fully equal to that of last year.
Oats, 16,857 acres less land sown ; yield in quantity and
quality very deficient condition ; middling weight 34lbs. Peas
and beans, 3 acres less sown ; yield in general under average.
Potatoes, 7,156 acres more planted ; short of an average,
generally middle-sized, quality good, and mostly free of disease.
Turnips, 1,786 acres more ; and 2,018 acres more land planted
with mangold and beetroot; yield under average. Meadow
and clover, 22,335 acres less ; suffered from drought and frost,
and yield deficient. Flax, better crop than expected.

N.B.— Last year there was but one opinion as to the result
of the harvest of 1868 ; this year, variety in the yield and
quality, anil difference in weight and condition being the
predominating feature. This apparently operates upon the
mind, and causes much diversity of opinion as to the yield
of 1869. Taking everything into consideration, we think we
are not going far ^vi'ong in putting down the yield of wheat
in Great Britain and Ireland at ^th Ijelow an average,
and that, owing to diversity of quality, weight, and con-
dition, fine wheat will be proportionately wanted ; and that,
in order to meet the requirements of the population and seed,

an importation of equal to Cin round numbers) eleven mil-
lion quarters of foreign wheat and flour will be required,
namely, we make our calculation as follows : we go by
McOuUoch's calculation, and put down the average produce
of the United kingdom at 18,000,000 qrs.

Deduct one-eighth for estimated deficiency 2,250,000 ,,

Makes the yield of 1869 15,750,000 qrs.

According to the last census (1861), the population of England
and Wales were 20,066,221, added to this number 1,605,297 for
increase since 1861, at the rate of one per cent, per anniun,
brings up the number to 21,671,521 ; then comes Scotland (as
per census of 1861), with 3,062,29-1, and Ireland -svith 5,798,967,
making in all 30,532,782, without taking into consideration
the inhabitants of the Channel Islands. The consumjition of
the United Kingdom we take as follows : —

England, 21,671,521 of people consume 1 qr. of Qrs.

wheat per head 21,671,521

Scotland, 3,062,294 of people f qr. per head, to be

made up by oatmeal 2,216,720

Ireland, 5,798,967 of people ? qr. per head, to be

made i^p by potatoes, maize, &c 1,419,742

Add to this for quantity roquhed for seed, which,

according to M'Culloch, is one-sixth produce ... 3,000,000

28,417,983
Deduct from this the probable stocks of old wheat
in the hands of the farmers and trade general,
on the 1st September, at the outside, and in
round numbers 1,500,000

26,917,983

From which deduct the yield 1869 15,750,000

Have to be imported from abroad wheat and flour 11,167,983
Last campaign, that is from the 1st August, 1868, until the
31st August, 1869, both included, the quantity imported was
30,110,164 cwts. wheat, and 4,256,127 cwts. flom-. Reducing
flour to wheat, and wheat to quarters of 500 lbs. each, the im-
portation of wheat and flom- amounted to 7,960,713 quarters.
Last year the yield was large in every respect, say about 15
per cent, (or equal to 2,700,000 quarters) above an avei-age,
this year it is nearly as much under an average, and the con-
sumption, owmg to the prices being about 25 per cent, lower
than last year at this time (Mr. Caird, in his aljly concocted
pamphlet laid before the Statistical Society of the 16th March,
states " that every 10 per cent, additional price in the crop
diminishes the consumption one per cent., and as bread has
risen 50 per cent., I reckon a saving at 5 per cent., or a little
over one milUon quarters on the total consumption"), will
have increased 2i per cent., equal to about 500,000 quarters.

France. — The usual breadth of land sown with the various
cereals, which were got well into the soil, both in the autumn
and spring. The crops promised well up to the end of Feb-
ruary, but rain in March, and partly so in April, with frost and
rains, accompanied by thunderstorms in June, did harm to the
young plants, destroying the early bloom, &c., whereupon the
hot weather during the month of July and part of August
forced the crops too rapidly forward, so that in many cases
premature ripening is complained of, also mildew and smut is
more or less prevalent. The wheat crop is worst in the south,
south-west, south-east, and very much so in the central, but
somewhat better (though far from satisfactory) in the north
and north-west departments. The best crops are in the
western and in the east and north-eastern districts. The wea-
ther during harvest-time being fine, the crops in general have
been housed in fine condition, and the quality very good,
though, for reasons above stated, the weight and colour have
suffered somewhat, the weight perhaps to the extent of from
one to four per cent, lighter than average. Rye is a very fair
crop, and the same may be said of beans and peas. Barley is
a very large crop, the largest during the last six years, quahty
fine. Oats a very full crop, fine quality. Buckwhciit two-
thirds of an average. Rapeseed half a crop. Hay defective.

N.B.— On the whole, the crop of wheat may be called 10 per
cent, imder an average (we calculate 93 to 94 million hecto-
litres to be an average), in quantity fine, useful quality, and
about two per cent, under an average in weight, ercro about
12 per cent, short in all ; therefore cannot be compared to the
excellent and abundant crop of 1868 (as such a crop only is
gi'own perhaps once in 25 years) ; in fact it is about 30 per
cent, inferior, and yet it will, together with the stock of old
wheat left, which is estimated at about 13 million hectohtres,
we think, about sufiice (if nothing particular occurs to the
growing crops, or takes place in politics to cause speculations,
to which the French are very much addicted, going from one
extreme to the other) for home wants, which, according to
the average of the last 10 years, is 96 million hectolitres, in-

166

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

cludic- about 15 milliuu hectolitres requii-ed for seed. At all
events'^ France will have no surplus to spare, though no
doubt the quantity imported via Marseilles in grain will be
re-exported in the shape of flour northwards as usual to
Switzei'land, Spain, &c.

Ii(jLL.\.:ND. — Wheat, usual breadth sown ; rye and harley
about one-sixth ; oiUs about one-third more, iu consequeuce of
tlie deficiency in the quantity of rapcseed, of which about one-
fourtti less planted. In Groningen and IViedland less rape-
seed and oats sowu, and more flax, as the iucreasinj? value of
the latter encourages this cultivation. Seed time in general
passed oir under favourable circumstances. The weather mild
in autumn and winter ; the first fall of snow took place in
I'ebruary. Owing to the want of frost the crops suffered from
vermin, and later ou the rapeseed from frost rather severely
early in March, so much so that iu many places it had to be
ploughed up, and summer corn suffered much from rain directly
it had been sown ; and again at harvest time, whilst housing,
especially rye, and also wheat and barley, suffered more or less
in colour, particularly barley, and wjieat contains more or less
smut. The weight "of all kinds of cereals is about 3 kilos,
lighter than last year. Wheat is about tliree-fourths to seven-
eigliths of an average. Rye moderate average, but in no
respects so good as last year. Buckwheat bad crop ; suffered
from frost and drought. Oats tolerably satisfactory. Teas
and beaus ditto. Rapeseed in the northern parts one-fourth
of an average ; in the western districts tolerably fair. Rape-
seed is being greatly less cultivated, but the cultivation of
linseed is ou the increase. Potatoes good crop, but here and
there diseased.

N.B.— Holland this year will have to import, more or less
(as usual) ; we fancy she will require even more foreign aid
than last year.

Belgium.— Wheat : The usual breadth of soil planted, but,
if anything, less, owing to the increasing cultivation of beet
root. Seed time passe'd off favourably ; for the want of hard
frost in winter the weeds were not destroyed, thus the cereal
crops in general, but in particular wheat and rye, iu point of
clearness, leave much to" be wished for. The quality of the
grain suffered more or less from rain (where not secured ere
the wet weather set in), and rye sufl'ered early in June from
rain and frost ; also wheat in point of colour. Wheat and oats
are the best crops of the season, being a full average in yield
and quality ; good weight 6-:! to 631bs. and 35 to 36 lbs. re-
spectively. Rye not so good as last year ; weight 56 to 57 lbs.
Barley satisfactory ; weight 48 to 49 lbs. Potatoes good
yieldj'but here and there infected with disease.

N.B.— Belgium we class amongst the importing countries,
and she will requu-e fully the same quantity, if not more, of
foreign aid, as last year.

SwiTZERLiNi). — The cold weather in June did a deal of
harm to the cereal crops, fruits, and vines. The cereal crop is
scarcely even a moderate average, but quality good.

N.B.— Switzerland is always an importing country, and
this season will re(iuii-e her customary assistance, received
chiefly from Marseilles.

Germany.— Bavari.v and Southern Districts : Wheat
iu general not so good iu corn and straw, black ball being
also more or less prevalent. Rye is very good, particularly in
Upper Bavaria ; iu the hilly districts not so well spoken of,
having suffered from frost in June. Barley a good crop in
every respect. Oats less satisfactory. Hay and clover mid-
dling. Potatoes good. Hops one-fourth to one-tlurd of an
average, and poor quality. Saxony (Central Germany) :
Wlieat very moderate average— not so good as last year, being
small in the berry and light in weight ; rust and sprout more
or less prevalent. Rye tolerably good yield, quality middling.
Barley good, middling crop, but the berry is frequently found
to be very small. Oats 40 per cent, sliort in quality and weight.
Beans and peas defective yield. Potatoes middling. Berlin
Districts : Wheat not quite up to the mark, neither in
quantity nor quality. Rye good yield in straw, but less in
corn ; quality very good. Barley very good ; also oats in
quantity, but quality not altogether satisfactory. Pulse satis-
factory. Buckwheat very deficient in every respect. Tilsit
AND Memei. Districts: Wheat and rye very good crop,
though here and there smut and sprout is prevalent, and tlie
storms in July did barm to botli. Barley, oats, and peas very
good in every respect; seldom has tliere been such a fine
barley and oats crop. Linseed suH'ered in colour and quality

from rain, the colour being darker than last year. Flas ex-
cellent. KoNiGSBERG DISTRICTS : Seed time in autumn and
spriug good ; the usual breadth of land sown in autumn, but
in spring more barley sown in soils which had previously been
sown with rubseed aud ploughed up. The crops of all kinds
of cereals in regard to quantity are satisfactory, but quality
middling. Tlie crops in general stood well in autumn, 1868,
but sutlered in winter from bad weather. Riibsen and clover
suffered most. Wheat is affected with rust ; condition rather
various (might Ije better) ; weight 59 to 61 lbs. Rye, quan-
tity satisfactory, also quality; weight 57 to 58 lbs. Barley
large crop ; weight 51 lbs. Oats large crop. Peas satisfac-
tory ; not so fares. Riibsen half a crop ; quality good. Rape-
seed all but a total failure. Potatoes good. Hay and flax
sutlered from frost. Dantzic Districts: Usual breadth
of land sown with cereals. Seed got iu last autumn under
favourable circumstances ; the young plants wintered well —
perhaps too much so, aud the consequence was they could not
recover from the harm done them by night frosts in spring,
tlicy beiug too far forwarded. This was particularly the case
with Riibsen, which had to be ploughed up to a very great ex-
tent. Wheat scarcely a moderate crop, condition and quality
various, 61 to 62 lbs. being the higliest weight, some weigh-
ing only 59 lbs., and a deal 51 to 55 lbs. Rye moderate
average ; quality and condition tolerably good ; weight 56 lbs.
Barley beyond a full average; quality not so good as last
year. Peas very full average ; quality good ; weight 66 lbs. ;
condition good. Oats a full average ; quality and condition
good ; weight 36 to 37 lbs. Riibsen and rapeseed one-sixth
of an average ; quality good. PosEN AND Prussian Poland
Districts : Crops various, having suffered more or less in
some few districts from wind and ungeuial weather, and want
of hands to carry the crop when at maturity ; on the whole,
however, the harvest is satisfactory ; the hay crop in particu-
lar is large, and a deal is beiug exported to Great Britain, &c.
Peas are also a good crop, seldom being so abundant for
years. Rye and oats ditto, though rye is not so heavy as last
year, which was an exceptional one for weight. Flax good.
Potatoes rather short of average. Wlieat in every respect de-
fective, though in some districts there is better quality than in
others, yet even then it cannot he called good. In nearly
every district rust is to be found more or less, and the average
weight scarcely o91bs., whilst 551bs., and even below that, is
frequently to be met with. Silesian Districts : The usual
breadth of land sown with cereals ; if anything rather more
grain and less oilseed. Seed got well in the soil in autumn,
but germinated unevenly ; later on, however, it shot a-liead,
but suffered from the frost in spring ; but again recovered.
Spring sowing also got in well, though late. Wheat a full
average ; various in quality, condition dry ; weight 571bs.
to GOlbs. Rye a full average; good quality and con-
dition ; weiglit 55 to 6Ulbs. Barley 16 per cent,
above average, quality good; weight and colour not
up to expectation. Oats 20 per cent above average;
quality not quite up to the mark. UrrER Pommeranian
AND Stettin Districts: Pom.merania: Wheat satisfac-
tory in quantity, though not quite so good in quality. Rye :
Largs crop of straw, but quantity of griaa 75 to 100 per cent,
of a average. Barley generally good. Oats far from satis-
factory. Pulse more satisfactory in straw than than in corn.
Pototoes a fair yield, though here aud there diseased. Stettin :
Usual breadth of laud sown ; if anything, rather more barley,
owing to better prices ; wintered well, that is wheat and rye ;
only in the Uckermark complaints of insects in wheat. All
cereals not so good in quality ; colour and condition as last
year (which, however, was an exceptional one in this
and many other respects), owing to tlie rain during cutting.
Wheat and rye 31bs., barley 1 to 21bs. lighter than last
year, and colour as above stated damaged by rain ; but
notwithstanding this it is fit for brewers, owing to its
mild aud mellow quality, and it is freely taken for export. All
cereals bulk well in straw. Lower Pommeranian (Anclam,
WoLGAST, Griefswald, Demmin, Island oe Rugen,
Stralsund, and Bartii Districts : Usual breadth of land
sown with cereals in autumn (if anything a little more wheat
in some districts), and well got in. Spring sowing was not
quite so favourably efl^ected, and proceeded normally through
the winter. In spring the autumn-sown grain stood most
luxuriantly, so much so, that it was feared it stood too rank,
particularly wheat aud rye, but dry weather and night frosttj

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

1G7

prcvculed IhiSj and caused tlicm to sidYer more or less, evcu
spriug coru, particularly early-sown oats. Wlieat is 21bs. ;
barley, 1 to 21bs. ; oats, 21bs. lighter iu weight than last year.
Barley got rain ; therefore, light ; bright colour, seldom to be
met with. Wheat is here and there infected with sprout.
AVheat 6 per cent, above average in quantity, quality various,
but one finds often very good, indeed some excellent qualities ;
weight 60 to 631bs. Rye 3 per cent, under average, not near
so good as wheat, and where caught in the raiu, condition poor
and sprout prevalent ; weight 57 to 5Slbs. Barley 4 to 7 per
cent, under average, quality various, suffered from wet ;
weight 50 to 511bs. Oats 20 per cent, below average, suffered
much from rain, straw short, quality various ; weight 3i to
361bs. Peas and tares 20 to 30 per cent, under average,
mostly small, suffered from mildew and insects. Hay 12 per
cent, below average. Wliite clover total failure ; red ditto
two-thirds of last year, quality good. Pototoes 15 percent,
under average. Tubes not large, here and tlure diseased.
Rostoc:k and "Wismak (Mecklenbukg Sciiwerin) Dis-
tricts : One-fourth more land under wheat, and
one-tenth more under rye, in place of oue-tliird
less being sown with oilseeds. The usual acreage has been
sown with barley aud oats, one-third of the land usually sown
with beans, peas, and tares, has been sown with clover. Seed
time in autumn and in spring passed off well ; all cereals
wintered well ; tlie sudden change to dry and not weather in
April, did harm to rye in particular, aud the severe night frosts
in May did also harm, but more than all, the frosts in Juue —
as the ungenial weather in June not only prevented the for-
mation of the berry or quantity, but also caused the quality to
suffer from smut and rust, particularly oats ; barley and peas
suffered more or less in general ; wheat full average in straw,
10 per cent, more in corn, quality and condition various, on
ll the whole good and useful, though more or less sprout preva-
lent ; weight from 58 to G21bs. Rye, iu straw 5 per cent,
above average, but in corn 10 per cent, below, quality good ;
weight 5-1 to 601bs. Barley 10 per cent, short iu straw and 5
per cent, in corn, quality tolerably fair, but cannot be de-
nominated malting barley for export, though freely taken by
our brewers and distillers ; weight 50 to 521bs. Oats 30 per
cent, short in straw and 20 per cent, iu corn ; quali*y very
moderate ; weight SGlbs. Peas and tares 15 per cei't. short in
straw, and 35 per cent, in corn. Peas a full average in every
respect ; the colour of all cereals suffered somewhat from the
ungenial weather and is not so lively as one could wish. Rape-
seed and Rubsen about an average yield per acre and quality
good. Potatoes good crop. Clover nearly a failure. Hay 40
per cent, below an average. Hamburg District : The
breadth of land planted with grain is the usual, but the yield
of wheat and barley exceeds to a trifling extent an average.
The rain during the harvest, also the cold weather which pre-
ceded, did harm to the condition, quality, and weight, and
wheat is less mealy, also contains less gluten ; weight seldom
COlbs., and still seldom above. Very little wheat is to be found
that is in a perfectly dry condition and free from sprout. The
poorest is the Saal wheat, tlien conies Marks, tlien Bruns-
wick, and then the Mecklenburg. Barley good yield, but
generally speaking has suffered in colour and condition from
rain. In some districts in the Mark the barley was housed
before rain set in, and is a fine pale colour, but uot mellow,
and this quality finds less favour than yellow-coloured barley,
as the latter is mellow and malts better ; weiglit varies from
51 to 561bs. A considerable part has been housed damp and
has often a slight smell, but the greater portion saved and
free from sprout. Rye has mostly yielded below average in
quantity and quality. Oats also below average, suffered much
in colour, condition, and weight ; in fact, the most unsatisfac-
tory crop of the season. Beans good in quality, but damp
and soft. Peas deiective. Holstein and Sciileswig Dis-
tricts.— Holstein : About usual quantity of land sown with
grain, but less with oilseeds ; wheat good average, quality and
condition very good ; weight 60 to C31bs. ; colour fine. Rye
moderate average, partly infected with sprout ; weiglit 54 to
571bs. Barley tolerably good average ; bold berry ; dry con-
dition ; and weight 53 to 541bs. Oats nearly average ; good
quality and condition ; weight 40lbs. Scheeswig : Breadth
of land sown with wheat, one-third less, with rye one-third
more, and half as much with oilseeds. Wheat moderate aver-
age per acre ; quality and condition middling ; weight 60 to
fillbs. Rye full average, but quality not over fine, having

suffered from rain whilst liarvestiiig. Bremen and Olden-
burg DiSTRii^TS : Crops got weU into the soil in autumn aud
spriug, but the cold summer was not very favourable for their
getting a-head. Wheat (little grown iu the Bremeu and
Oldenburg districts) full average per acre ; quality, generally
speaking, tolerably good. Rye suffered much in M.iy from
night frosts, and during the harvest time, from rain ; under
average ; quality and condition, not satisfactory ; weight, light
Barley in the neighbouiing interiors not much grown, but on
the coast a deal of land sown, particularly in tlie soil which
Iiad been previously occupied with rape, afterwards ploughed
up, and then resown with barley ; eryo, larger than usual yield;
but even this is of no great importance, as the quantity of
land sown with the article, on the whole, is but trifling. The
same may be said of oats ; quantity and quality good, aud the
coast will have some to spare. Beans, good yield ; quality,
various. Potatoes, tw'o-thirds of an average ; various in
quality. Emden and Leek (Hanover) Districts : One-
sixth more land sown with grain and oilseeds, but the seed had
to be ploughed up and barley aud oats sown instead. Wheat,
best crop of the season, being 25 to 30 per cent, above an
average; quality good, though a sprinkling of smut is to be
found ; weight, 59 to 601bs. Rye is the worst crop ; mostly
carried iu a damp state ; weight, 54 to 551bs. ; quantity con-
siderably below an average ; will require an importation of
foreign rye. Oats, about an average, but owing to the extra
breadth of land sown, the quantity is a very full average, say
similar to the yield of 1868, but quality uot so iiue ; weight,
36 to 371bs. Beans, a good average ; a large breadth having
been sown, but quality lieing soft, will require kiln drying ;
the quality, on the whole, not being bad. Barley uot culti-
vated much in the districts ; quality suffered from rain. Rape-
seed, never known to be so bad ; not enough for home use.
Potatoes and hay, good. Rhine Districts: Wheat, satis-
factory; also barley and rapeseed ; rye, not satisfactory;
neither quantity nor quality. Oats, various ; some good and
some bad ; on the whole, about an average. Bnckwlieat suf-
fered from tlie dry weather, and is only about half an average.
Potatoes, moderate crop. Westphalia Districts : Wheat,
on the whole, good crop ; suffered a little from rain during the
harvest. Rye, moderate average. Oats below an average ;
suffered from drought ; barley also. Buckwheat, full crop.
Peas, good. Beans aud tares, not so good. Rapeseed, poor
crop. Potatoes, good ; though liere aud there diseased.
Clover, a failure.

N.B —According to the official report of the Prussiau
Minister for agriculture, and compiled by liim from l,-lt8 re-
ports, i-endered from competent parties in the different dis-
tricts, the following ia tlie average : Wheat, 97 per cent, of
an average ; rye, 92 ; barley, 9i ; oats, 89 ; peas, 87 ; beans,
83; buckwheat, 62; potatoes, 85; rape, 73; beetroot, 88;
and flax, 83 per cent, of an average, and the bulk of straw is
considerably better than last year. Taking the average of
the last ten years, from 1860 to 1869, both included, the yield
this year is, wheat, 0.06 ; rye, 0.04; barlej', 0.03 ; peas, 0.01 ;
potatoes, O.OJi ; beetroot, 0.01 more ; but oats, 0.06 ; buck-
wheat, 0.14, and rapeseed, 0.02 less than an average. Tak-
ing Germany on the whole, we don't think she will be able
to spare so much as last year (which we in our last yearly
report put down to one and a half million quarters, and
which has turned out close upon the mark, namely in round
numbers, seven millions cwts. of wheat and flour) for the
simple reason, liecause Stettin won't be able to export so
much, owing to low prices ruling there, and the very short
crops in Hungaria, &c., we will, therefore, put down the pro-*
bable export of wheat and flour from German j' this campaign,
at one and a quarter million quarters in all.

Denmark. — The usual breadth of hind sown with cerealf.
Autum seedtime effected uuder most favourable circumstances.
Got well through the winter ; being strong, tlic cold spring
and the general cold (borderiug at times on frost) during the
whole summer, did more good than iiarin. Wheat, 15 to 20
per cent, above an average yield ; quality and condition various,
some having been housed in damp weather ; colour good,
weight, 60 to Gllhs. Barley, very full average yield, and good
average quality ; suffered from rain in August, which caused
the colour to be rather dark, ml not over fine for maltiug
purposes ; weight, 54 to 551bs. Rye, full average, notwith-
standing that it did not blossom under very favourable circum-
stances; quality, satisfactory; weight, 57 to 581bs. Oats,
uuder average ; quality and condition various ; a deal will re-
quire kiln-drying, having suffered from wet ; weight, 401bs,

168

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

Buckwheat, nearly a failure. Potatoes, tolerably satisfactory.
Hay, large crops, and of good quality.

Norway. — Usual breadth sown with cereals. Seed time in
the soutlieru districts took place under favourable circum-
stances. In the northern districts not so good, as frost and
snow came early and put a stop to it. In the southern dis-
tricts, rye moderately good yield in quantity and quality ;
weight, 561bs. Barley, ditto ; weight heavy, 34 to 3Glbs.,
colour good. Oats, middling crop ; weight, 371bs. Potatoes,
poor yield, suffered from frost. In the northern districts, crops
very middling, even in November a good deal of oats uncut
and potatoes uulifted — the frost did great havoc.

Sweden. — Unusually good crop of everything, all secured
in good dry order, particularly rye, wheat, and barley, and also
part of the oats. Tlie northern districts are not quite so good,
having suffered more or less from frost. Oats and rye, the
two chief articles of export, the quality and condition is good,
having been carried in favourable weather.

N.B. — Scandinavia has this year been blessed with good
crops ; Denmark will have more than usual to spare of all
cereals ; Norway, in cousequence of its being a mountainous
country, grows but little grain, the chief produce being grass
and other feeding stuffs, thus little grain (except oats, of
■which a portion can at times be exported), in fact not suffi-
cient for home use and imports yearly, more or less, farticu-
larly rye, which is the customary food, and harley, which is
used ijy our large brewers ; and last of all, peas, but less of
wheat and beans, and no maize. This year the southern dis-
tricts will reqiiire considerably less foreign aid than usual ;
the northern will require fully the usual aid. Sweden will
this year reqiure no aid ; indeed a considerable ciuantity
of oats and rye already exported, and in spring will export
still considerably. Denmark will be able to spare about
250,000 qrs. of wheat.

Russia. — Owing to the high prices ruling during the past
year landed proprietors (large and small) have gone on in-
creasing the breadth of soil under grain, and last autumn
and this spring the quantity of land sown with cereals was
double and treble the quantity sown in comparison to former
years, particularly in the following governments principally.
In the southern districts in Bessarabia the increase has been
chiefly in winter wheat and maize ; in Podia (Russian Poland)
soft wheat ; in the Cherson and Ghirka governments rye ; and
in the districts of Elisantgrod tlie increased breadth consisted
of barley, oats, and linseed. The seed was got in last autumn
under favourable circumstances and wintered W'ell, and the
timely fall of snow having afforded them sufficient covering.
Seed time in spring also passed off satisfiictorily ; but later on,
up to the end of May, the crops suffered very severely Irom
drought. The government Pultara suffered most from the
drought and insects, the so-called corn- worms, thus the crops
are in this government not so good as in the others. In the
government Kiew the heat was suffocating, being thirty degrees
Reaumur in the shade, but rye was in ear, and tlie rain that
fell later refresliened tlie summer corn. In the neighbourhood
of Odessa farmers, despairing of having a good crop, were
about cutting the rye, green as it was, for feeding purposes,
when early in June rain set in and saved the greater portion of
the crops ; the rain continued but with few intermissions up
to the end of August, nay, even up to harvest, which it greatly
retarded, and did more or less damage to the colour of the
grain wheat in particular ; the quality is tolerably good, and
weight excellent, Gliirka wheat weighing in many instances
G23 lbs., and white wheat GIJ^ lbs. per imperial bushel. The
crops along the Sea of Azof, Marianople, Berdiansky, and in
the government of Rostoff (on the Don), the crops are by no
means as good as last year, the quality is various, also
colour, having suffered from rain in July along the Don,
particularly government of Rostoff, suffered from drought,
mice, and rain, and the crops are even less satisfactory, the
quality being poorer than the yield along the Sea of Azof. In
Russia Poland (particularly in Podolia) the crops are excellent
in every respect ; in some few districts hail did harm in July,
Central Russia suffered more or less from the corn worms, but
on the whole the crops are good. The Baltic Provinces have
also been favoured with moderate good crops, notwithstanding
the cold, damp, ungenial weather up to July, which caused
great fears for their safety. Estland has again been one of
the less-favoured governments, plenty of straw but very mode-
rate, of corn. In Rownr the hay crop is very poor, rain having
damaged it, and also caused more or less sprout in wheat and
Biimmer com,

N.B. —Taking Southern, Eastern, Western, and Central
Russia, also Russian Poland, on the whole, and the exten-
sive increase in the lireadth sown, the wheat crop may be
put down as very satisfactory. Rye a very moderate aver-
age. Barley a very full average, hght in weight. From the
Baltic provinces, Uttle barley will be exported, the demand
for home use being greatly on the increase by the large
brewers. Oats also full average, though light weight. Maize
and linseed satisfactory. Northern Russia, and even Arch-
angel and Siberia, have had moderate good crops this year,
and this is very gratifying after the deficient harvests of the
last years. Notwithstanding the good crops, ovmig to short-
ness of stocks on the 1st September, we think, Russia will
not bo able to spare more than last year's, which we then put
down, and which tm'ned out to be the quantity we estimated,
viz., 1^ million qrs. wheat, and even not so much as that, if
prices don't improve.

Austria and her Provinces : G.vllician, Bohemian,
Moravian, and Hungari^vn Districts. — Provinces of
Upper Austria. — Wheat and rye a better crop than barley
and oats ; on the whole, the cereal crops are about two-thirds
of an average. Lower Austria : Wheat, rye, and barley,
not so satisfactory in quantity as oats, which are a very excel-
lent crop, yet, the yield of said cereals are a good average
yield, but in quality not so good as last year. Dal-
MATiA : Wheat, barley, and oats, a moderate crop,
which suffered from ungenial weather in May, and drought in
early June, and later on hail. Galicia : In the crown lands
the yield is best ; in general wheat suffered somewhat from
storms in quantity, but the quality is good ; the same may be
said of barley ; oats in quantity and quality good ; buckwheat
excellent in every respect ; maize good. Peas, in quantity,
poor yield, but quality good. Lentils, middling quantity and
quality. Potatoes and turnips tolerably good ; suffered from
excessive rain end of August and early in September. Bo-
hemia : Wheat, a good crop. Rye suffered from frost at night
times in May, but, on the whole, not to any great extent, and
the crop is pretty fair. Barley and oats, a moderate average.
Hay and clover, not over good. Rapeseed, a failure. Potatoes
and turnips, satisfactory. MoRAViA : Crops suffered more or
less from night frosts in May, and in many sandy districts a
large breadth of land had to be ploughed up ; maize suffered
most ; the other cereals turned out proportionately much
better in every respect. On the whole, the harvest is a mode-
rate average. Hungary : In the early part of the year,
cereals promised well, though here and there some patches of
wheat, which had suffered from dry frost without snow ; the
said patches were ploughed up and sown with spring corn.
Had all gone on well, as the favourable appearance of the
( rops in spring led one to expect, the harvest would have been
equal to that of 18G7, or near thereto ; the yield, as it is, very
chequered, in some districts good, in some middling, and in
others very poor, so much so, that they had to be mowed down
for cattle feeding. Great heat in May (29 deg. Reaumur),
causing drought ; then hail and cold weather in June ; tliis is
particularly the case in the Temeswar districts, where the
crops are the worst. Autumn sown corn in Hungaria suffered
most ; spring corn sown somewhat better. Bulk of straw
considerably less, and yield of corn very much smaller than
last year. Locusts, end of July and early in August, did also
great damage to the crops. In the Banat districts, crops very
deficient in quantity, but quality, condition, colour, and weight
good ; the same may be said of the yield in the Theis, which
is one of the most fruitful districts. On the whole, the crop
of wheat is estimated at one-third to one-half of last year's
in point of quantity ; in other respects, excellent, though here
and there smut is prevalent.

N.B. — Taking Austria and her provinces in general. Lower
and Upper Austria two-thirds to three-quarters of an average.
Dalmatia nearly an average. Galicia very good average, and
no doubt would have been able to export largely (via Trieste
in particular), as the following four Railway Companies,
namely, the Lemberg, Czernowitz, the Carl Ludwig, the
Northern and Southern Railways, have combined to reduce
the rate of freight considerably on grain from Galicia, had
it not been that owing to the failures last year in the crop, a
vast deal of the present crop would )je absorbed. Bohemia,
yield good, which is very satisfactory, that province having
bad a very poor yield last year. Moravia, a moderate
average. Hungaria, 30 to 50 per cent, under an average ;
exports will be trifling, as all will be required for own eon-
sumption and to keep the mills going, although they are only
working one-fourth time. There are parties who maintain
that, in spite of the deficient crop, Hungaria -(vill export

freeij-j giyips tli© f9li9wi»g a.i It^ir rea§9fl.i f9E tkiiitoig so,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

169

namely: "In good years, Hungaria produces 60 to 70
million metzens (12 to 15 million quarters) of all kinds of
grain, of which 40 goes for home use, leaving 20 to 30 nnllion
metzens (4 to 6 million quarters) for export, and that the
• deficiency in this year's yield is more than covered by the
stocks of old grain held in store." This may he aU very
correct, but the gents have forgotten to take the quantity of
grain required for seed into consideration ; and if the official
statements of the Hungarian government may be reUed upon,
the following is the calculation, founded upon last year's good
harvest : — 44,082,600 metzens wheat ; 24,536,100 do. rj-e ; and
8,509,300 do. mixed corn, spring wheat, &c. ; total, 77,12'8,00O
metzens ; from which deduct for seed and food for 9,890,'400
people, leaves 13,544,600 metzens, or about 2,900,000 quarters;
last year the crop was a good one, and nearly one-third to
one-half larger than the present. Last year we put down the
probable exports of Austria and her provinces, of wheat and
flour as equal to 1^ mUlion quarters , this year, we think, the
half, say three-fourth million quarters of wheat and flour,
chiefly the latter,

Turkey and Danubian Districts. — Moldavia, Wal-
LACHiA, Turkey. — Same breadth of land sown as last year,
but not under favourable circumstances, as it rained heavily
during the time, and even contmued to fall copiously some
time after the seed had been got in, which proved injurious
to the crop. The continued drought which followed tlie rain
prevented the grain from germinating ; thus, the corn weighs
light, but in point of colour and appearance excels last year's.
Quantity, about half to two-thirds of last year. In tlie province
Diama (that is, Caralla, Port Lago, Kiraniati, &c.), the crops are
80 bad that they won't suffice forborne wants, except maize, which
is a tolerably fair crop. The province Vola is one of the most
favoiu-ed, but even there the weight of the wheat and barley is
light. Danubian Districts -. Last autumn (1868) was very un-
favourable for getting the seed into the soil, it being too dry,
which is a great evil in the Danubian districts, and the seed

' could only be got late into the ground, but as the months of
December and January were very mild, in fact, more like
spring than winter mouths, and had snow only fallen, autumn
corn would have promised plenty, but instead of this, dry cold
weather, accompanied by biting northern winds, set in, which
nearly destroyed the whole of the said seed. The cold, in fact,
the winter, did not last long, and the Danube w^s only closed
by ice seventeen days ; the spring as customary was damp
(which is greatly in favour of spring work), so that the greater
part of the soil sown in autumn was ploughed up and sown
airesh, and even a greater breadth of soil than usual was sown
with grain, and up to the beginning of May everything pro-
mised favourably. More land tlian usual was sown with wheat
in particular, owing to the higher prices paid in the last year
in proportion to other grain ; less maize and barley, but more

, rye tlian usually sown. The summer set in dry and hot, par-
ticularly in June, and very little rain fell in the Central Wal-
lachia, in fact in some districts thereof, the drought totally
destroyed the wheat, barley, and rye. In Moldavia the crops
were plentiful and good ; in Wallachia Minor, also, good in
quantity, but less satisfactory in quality, aud in those districts
in which too great haste had been made in housing the crops
(rain having set in during harvest time), wheat was gathered
damp, which spoiled its condition aud weight, which is, there-
fore, very various, never known to be so much diversity as this
season, there being wheat of CO to 62 lbs., and as light as 53 to
Si lbs. Rye is on the average good, also in weight good.
Barley, more bad than good. Maize, quality excellent, but
quantity far behind expectation. In Wallachia Minor a great
quantity of rapeseed cultivated, but nearly all is damp, aud,
like wheat, cannot well be shipped in sailing vessels ; other-
wise, the quautity and quality is pretty middling.

N.B.— Taking the Turkey and the Danubian Principalities
on the whole, and notwithstanding the extra breadth of land
sown with wheat in the latter, we do not think they will be
able to export verymuchmorethanlastyear (which amounted
to about half-a-million qrs.) we will say at the outside, and
in round numbers, 700,000 qrs.

Spain ast> Mediterranean Districts. — Spain :
Crops, large bulk of straw, but of corn very deficient. The
Northern provinces, which are the chief aud most extensively
cultivated part of the country, have been most favoured ; but
in the Southern the yield is very inferior, having suffered from
drought. Portugal: Crops were less favourable than in
Spain. Italy : Crops suffered from great heat aud drought in
May and June, the excessive heat forcing too premature
ripening ; locusts did also, ia some districts, harm to the crops ;

particularly oats suffered. The Central districts have had the
worst crops, being 30 to 40 per cent, below an average ; the
Northern, and then the Southern districts, have fared best,
Algeria : Large breadth of Ijnd sown with cereals ; crops suf-
fered somewhat in April from confined rain, also from hail ;
this latter did to barley, particularly in the Tunis districts, a
deal of damage. In May a swarm of locusts did a sight of
harm ; the Southern districts suffered most. Quality of the
grain in general is better than last year.

N.B. — Spain, and also Portugal. — Though the crops are
better than last year, considerably so, said countries will re-
quu'o, this campaign, extensive foreign aid again. Stocks at
harvest time, in Portugal, not being one-third of what was
held last year. Italy stocks were more extensive, but tho
yield is very short, say about 6 to 7 per cent., and this coun-
try will also requhe aid. Algeria : In spite of tho large
breadth of land sown with cereals, the crops are deficient,
and Algeria will again require more or less aid from abroad,
even though the population of the country has decreased.
Taking the Mediterranean ports in general they will require
aid from abroad, to at least half what they did last cam-
paign. Many well-informed parties think they wiU require
even more than last campaign, and, therefore, will again be
competitors for the surplus of the exporting countries with
Great Britain and Ireland, Belgium and HoUand.

Egypt. — Less land planted with beans ; yield, per acre, and
quality good ; but the quantity, owing to the less breadth of
land sown, is 20 per cent, less than last year. Barley,
about an average. Wheat crop deficient in quantity aud
quality.

N.B. — A very considerable quantity of land has, this year,
not been cultivated, the Nile not having risen to the requisite
level, and thus the soil could produce nothing. Egyjat wiU,
this campaign, have httle cereal produce, especially beans
and lentils, to spare for export. We cannot put the probable
export at more than 250,000 qrs. wheat.

East India. — Crops have suffered very severely from terrific
swarms of locusts, particularly in the west province ; the
havoc done, it is stated, is very great, threatening famine.
Rice had risen 25 per cent.

America. — Extra breadth of land sown with cereals in
general, but less winter and more spring wheat. The winter
being an open one, the plants suffered no harm ; the spring
was cold aud backward, snow being on the ground in April,
therefore spring sowing was late ; but the weather in May,
June, and July being tolerably favourable, the young wheat,
rye, and barley plants promised well, but towards the end of
the latter moath drought set in very severely, which did sad
damage. In the Southern and Eastern States the heat was
very overpowering, and the said Stales suffered most from
drought ; on the other hand, the Western States suffered more
or less from heavy rain, particularly during harvest time, which
did harm to the condition and quality, sprout being prevalent
here and there. The Central, Northern, North- Western, and
North-Eastern States were most favoured, and on the whole
the yield is tolerably fair ; the winter wheat per acre yielding
best, and the quantity of spring wheat is a full average
(though not so large as expected), owing to the extra breadth
sown ; quality of both sorts satisfactory. Oafs more sown ;
crops satisfactory in quantity and quality, though not equal to
1868. Barley, less breadth of land sown, and on that account
the yield is under average. Maize is a very bad crop in all
sections of the States, having suffered in every stage of its
growth from abnormal weather, and therefore must be put
down at 30 to 40 per cent, below average. Rye and potatoes
moderate crop, particularly the latter. Canada: Crops
suffered from storms in spring ; wheat not a good crop, but
barley is a very full yield. Australia ; The combined heat
and drought did a sight of harm, therefore the yield is not by
far so productive as last year. At one time the crops promised
abundance, and it was expected Australia would be able to
export about half a million quarters of grain, but later on the
tables were turned. California: More land sown with
grain, particularly more barley, the cultivation of this article
being yearly on the increase. The crops are this year not
equal iu any respect to those of last year ; the cold and damp
weather in July protracted the harvest two to three weeks, and
rust is prevalent. Chili : Crops about an average both of
wheat and barley.

N.B. — Taking the extra breadth of land and the enormous
deficiency of the maize crop into consideration, we think the

esportiug capai?iUti§s of Am§ri«a sap^y l^e put tlpwa at i5 per

170

THE FAliMER'S MAGAZINE.

cent, more, Califoriiia. 15 percent- loss than la.st year; ami
we tliiuk we are not, far wrong iu eiitimatiut; the probable
exports from said countries, includiDg Chili, at 3 million qrs.
wheat and Hour ; last year, wo put them down at 2| million
quarters wheat and tiour, which appears to have been pretty
near (rather over than under) the mart,

SEED TIME,

Seed time lliis fall has, in tlie United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, also in France, been good ; iu Belgium
and Holland tolerably so ; but in Germany only variable, in
some districts good in others bad ; for instance, tlie Konigsberg
and Holstein grain has been sown but under very moderate
circumstances ; and in Austria, particularly the province of
Hungaria, under very unfavourable circumstances, owing to
excessive and continual rain during the seed time, and which
flooded the Danube and Theiss, and also the Dran and Sare,
doing sad havoc ; thus the prospects for the coming crops
are not near so favourable generally speaking, as they were lust
year at this time.

PIUCES.

Konigsberg, 22nd December. — Weather winterly, and the
navigation from here to Pillau may be considered closed for
sailing vessels. Supplies are very moderate, we note as fol-
lows : Wheat, fine, 60 to 6Ilbs., high mixed, 'i2s. ; fine, GOlbs.,
mixed, 4-ls. ; fine, 601bs., red, 39s. per 4961bs. free on board.
Barley, 52 to 531bs., large, 25s. ; 4'Jlbs., small, 24s. per4481bs.
free on board. Rye, 54 to 59ibs., 26s. to 30s. per 4801bs. free
on board. Peas, fine white boiling, 32s. ; good wiiite dry
feeding, 31s., per spring the latter 29s. to 30s. per 5201bs. free
on board. Oats, 381bs., 14s. to 15s. per 3201bs. free on board.
Tares, 28s. per 5201bs. free on board.

Dantzic, 22ud December. — Weather winterly and stormy,
and except for steamers, navigation interrupted by floating
ice, but from Fairwater we can ship. Supplies moderate, de-
mand more active at the reduced prices, which we note as fol-
lows : Old wheat, fine, C21bs., high mixed, 45s.; fair, 601bs.,
mixed, 42s. 6d. ; new wheat, fine, 60 to 611bs,, high mixed,
42s. 6d. ; fine, 601bs., white mixed, 41s. 6d. ; fine, 591bs.,
mixed, 40s. 6d. ; 57 to 581bs., mixed, 39s. 6d. per 4961bs. free
on board. Barley, 52 to 531bs., large, 23s. ; 48 to 491bs.,
small, 22s. 6d. per 4321bs. free on board. Rye, 54 to 581bs.,
26s. to 29s. ; S6lbs., per spring, 29s. 6d. per 4801bs. free on
board. Peas, fine white boiling, 30s. ; good white dry
feeders, 29s. ; per spring, the latter 29s. per 5201bs. free on
board.

Stettin, 23rd December. — Navigation still fiee for stea-
mers. Supplies moderate, trade steady, good demand for
spring. Wiieat, new, 60 to Cllbs., good Uckermarks, Marks,
and Pomeranian, 39s. to 39s. Gd. ; per spring, 41s. to 41s. 6d.;
62 to 631bs., fine selected ditto, 40s. to 40s. 6d. ; per spring,
42s. to 42s. Gd. ; new, 60 to 611bs., mixed and high mixed, 38s.
to 40s. ; old, 63 to 641bs., Uckermarks, Marks, and Pomeran-
ian, 42s. Gd. to 43s. per 5041bs. free on board. Barley, new,
52 to 531bs., Oderbruck, 27s. Gd. to 28s. ; per spring, 28s. to
28s. 6d. ; new, 531bs., ditto, dressed, 28s. to 28s. 6d. per
4481bs. free on hoard. Oats, 35 to 361bs., good average
Pomeranian, 17s. 6d. to IBs.; per spring, 18s. per 3201bs., free
on board. Peas, 64 to 661bs., feeding 30s. to 30s. Gd, ; G4 to
G61bs. boiling, 31s. to 3Is. 6d. ; per spring the former 31s. Gd.,
the latter 32s. Gd. per 5201bs. free on board.

ANf'LAM, WOI.G.VST, GrIEFSWALP, DeMJIIN, AND StRAL-

SUND, 23rd December. — Supplies, owing to the stormy wet
weather, moderate, demand more lively, several orders from the
United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Holland, for spring.
For immediate shipment nothing doing, except that a large
2,500 qrs. steamer cargo wheat, being got off from Stralsund,
which had been purchased some time ago. Prices are as fol-
lows : Wheat, 41s. per 504lbs. ; barley, 23s. per 4161bs. ; oats,
19s. per 3201bs.* all free on board.

Rostock, 31st December. — Navigation still free. We may
here remind our friends that even sliould the river from the
town to Warnowmunde (the mouth of our river) be frozen
over, we can ship overland in waggons at an extra expense of
about 9d. per qr., consequently so long as the Sound, or rather
Copenhagen and Elsinore roads, keep open, we can ship ; ei'ov,
our port is the latest closed in winter .wd the first to open in

spring, whicli is often of great value to jiarties vvlio ni;ty wisli
to have their shipments off ere tbc gross of lliose from the
Upper Baltic, &c., arrives. Supplies liberal, but will fall off,
now that the farmers have raised the needful to the Christ-
mas accounts. Our local speculators have been, and are still,
buying very freely to hold overfill late next summer, they con-
sidering present rates as a safe investment. Nothing shipping
except one cargo of 800 qrs. per sailing vessel, and 2,500 qrs.
wheat per a Flensburg steamer, which has been some months
here on our slipway repairing. Some sales, via Hamburg, per
steamer, have been made, and are making, to Belgium and
France. There has also been a good demand from the United
Kingdom, Belgium, and France, per spring, bat few sales, as
our people all point to more money, and stocks are light in the
extreme. We note our 61 to 621bs. wheat 42s. free on board
per 504lbs. for immediate or per spring shipment.

WiSMAR, 31st December. — Prices about as above ; possibly
a trifle less might be taken.

Hamburg, 29th December. — The demand for wheat is
but moderate. Wheat, Holstein, 59 to BOlbs., 40s. to 41s. ;
G0| to Gllbs., 42s. ; Saale, Marks, and Brunswick, 60 to
GOilbs., 41s. to 42s. ; 60^ to 61|lbs. Mecklenburgh, 42s. to
43s. per 4801bs. free on board. Barlev, Saale, 51lbs ; 35s. 6d.
to 3Gs. ; chevalier Saale, 52^ to 531138., 37s. Gd. to 40s. per
4481bs. free on board. Good Elbe oats, 20s. 9d. per 3201bs.
free on board. Dry fresh Elbe beans, 35s. Gd. per 5041bs.
free on board.

FATTENING FARROW COWS— This is often attended
with a great and unnecessary expense of feed, simply because
tjie proprietor does not understand what kind of manage-
ment such animals require, in order to fatten well and iu
the shortest possible period of time. Young farmers — and
sometimes old ones also, appear to be iu doubt whetlier a far-
row cow will or will not fatten as well while she gives m.ilk,
and many very intelligent men have continued to milk a far-
row cow until she was almost ready for the butcher, and have
flattered themselves that the cow was just as fat as she would
have been had she not been milked. But no theory can be
more absurd. No cow, or female of any kind of animal, can
grow fat or fleshy, while giving milk, one half as fast as if
they were not milked. When there is a good flow of milk,
little or no fat is secreted. And why? Simply because all
the nutriment, in the food which they consume, which would
form fat or flesh, goes into the milk pail. Therefore, the
sooner we discontinue to milk a farrow cow, when we have
concluded to fatten her, the sooner she will be ready lor the
shambles, and the greater will be the amount of tallow and
flesh in her carcass. 1 hese suggestions apply more particularly
to spring and summer. If a farrow cow is in tollerably good
condition in the winter, and the calculation is to make beef of
her the next summer, or the next autumn, she may be milked
all winter, provided she be well fed. But she should be " dried
off" before she is turned to grass. Then by allowing such
cows to feed on good grass during the summer, they will make
fair beef early in autumn by feeding them with only a few bushels
of meal. But if they be milked all summer we may expect
less and tough beef, and but little tallow. Let farmers remem-
ber that if they gaiu ten dollais in butter and cheese by milk-
ing a farrow cow dnring the summer, they will have ten dollars
worth less of beef and tallow than they would have had if
the cow had been " dried off a few months sooner. Young
cows that are not too low in flesh dried off by the first of
August will usually make good beef late in the fall. The time
to discontinue milking depends very much upon the age and
condition of the animal, and the amount of feed the owner
has. The best beef is that quickest made and when pumpkins
and corn can be fed, we would as soon have a cow milked until
the first of September as not. An old raw-boned creature
should not be milked at all during the summer, if no feed
other than that which the pasture affords is to be given, and
the meat should be sold to those who have good teeth and
strong stomachs. A cow of this kind is never fit for food unless
the flesh and fat is laid on rapidly, — Americmi S/oc/c Joiirmlt

THiJ FARMEIi'S MAGA2;iNE.

1?1

A VERY LIBERAL AGREEMENT.^

Remember always to cultivate your farm according
to the practice of good husbandry. Never in any one
year plough up fi-om grass more than so many acres of
arable land ; and after the first, or at all events after the
second corn crop taken from the land so ploughed up from
grass, be sure to summer fallow the same, or crop
it with potatoes or tm-nips, properly manured and culti-
vated. Never take more than two corn crops without a
fallow or green crop, well manured and cleaned, inter-
vening. With the first corn or grain crop after such
green or root crop, sow down every year with at least
ten pounds weight of clover-seed and one bushel of well-
cleaned perennial rye-grass seed per acre, and so in pro-
portion for less than an acre, a quantity of laud equal to
what has been broken up from grass. Bear in mind,
further, not to mow any of your grass-lands more than
once in any one year, and never more than so many acres
of the grass-lands in the same year. Cut yearly before
seeding all the weeds growing on the pastures and banks.
Apply regularly a sufficient quantity of lime to the farm.
Never burn any part of the land without the permission,
in writing, of the landlord or his agent. Carry all the
weeds, collected while clearing the land, to a place con-
venient for having them rotted and mixed with lime, and
applied to the land in the form of compost. Consume
by stock upon the premises all roots, hay, and fodder of
grain crops grown thereon. Bestow all the manure or
compost, made or brought upon the farm in each year of
the tenancy on such fields as may from the course of
cropping be most in need of manure. Be sure to pay as
liquidated damages £5 for every cart-load, and £10 for
every waggon-load of hay, straw, manure, or compost
which you sell, or suffer to be removed off the farm.
Be sure you do not lop, top, or cut any of the trees or
underwood on the farm, but carefully preserve these, and
all trees hereafter planted, from all injury by cattle, or
sheep, or otherwise. Never destroy any of the game,
wild fowl, or rabbits, but use your best endeavours to
preserve these, and warn off all poachers and other un-
qualified persons ; for do not forget there is reserved to
your landlord the fish and fishponds, and all kinds of
game, wild fowl and rabbits, for him and his friends, and
any other persons with his permission, to hunt, shoot,
and fish. Nevertheless you may cut the hedgerows
in the months of November, December, January, Feb-
ruary and March (but at no other time), when necessary
for the benefit of keeping the fences you have made.
Before attempting to improve your farm, be careful to
give your landlord or his agent ten days' notice of your
intention to do so. If you lime your farm, let this be
properly applied in sufficient quantities on well- drained
or naturally dry land ; and be very careful that the seeds
you have sown with the crop next after a green crop have
grown well, and that the plants are not injured by de-
pasturing and the treading of stock or otherwise. Never
neglect to well and properly stock and manage your farm
and premises in an effectual manner ; and if you wish to
leave home for a month or two, mind and obtain your
landlord's permission before starting.

And all this excellent advice is not, although it
reads very like it, from the new year's number
of The Farmers' Almanac ; is not from the latest
edition of Mr. Mechi's book, nor from Mr. Anybodyelse's
Manual for Young Farmers. If anything, such instruc-
tions sound somewhat antiquated, and out of date in

these times, although, no doubt, the beginner should try
to cultivate his lands on some established principle of
good husbandry ; get his weeds well rotted in a conve-
nient place, and put the manure on such fields as may be
most in need of it. On the other hand, it is not now
quite so clear that a man should consume all the roots
and hay he grows, as that it may not occasionally be
convenient to sell off a load or two of straw. Still the
lime should be properly applied and bis seeds well grown ;
although one can scarcely see the advantage of his not
destroying the rabbits, or of cutting the hedges at any
very particular time, rather than when it might best suit
him to do so.

Such very minute directions, as we have said,
have a somewhat old-fashioned twang about them,
after the manner of " now pick grten gooseberries and
look to your celery beds." But it is not so. The in-
structions we have quoted, if not from a new year's almanac
or the last letter from Tiptree, are taken almost word for
word from the most recent of all the Model Agreements
that have been published. A document of which, when
writing on the subject, the agent for the property proudly
says : " I shall be very glad if I have suggested anything
that may lead to a more liberal construction of agreements
in general, the chief thing wanted in many districts
to secure the rapid advancement of agricultural pros-
perity." So that this is not merely "A Model
Agreement" — a thing that has certainly become
something of a bye-word amongst us — but better
still, a more liberal notion of an agreement. A
liberal agreement which does not allow of a tenant
destroying the vermin, liming his land, levelling an old
bank, putting up a wire-fence, or selling a truss of straw
without consulting his landlord or the agent upon any or
all such important business ! A liberal agreement that
dictates to a tenant how he shall dispose of his weeds !
A liberal agreement of which, as we may assume, the
framer says the publication is permitted with " the belief,
that containing as it does some important provisions for
the protection of the ' improving tenant,' their discus-
sion, and let me hope, more extended adoption, may
materially assist in bringing about some much needed im-
provement in the rural economy of a large portion of
the Principality." The writer is evidently serious,
and so proud of his handiwork that he openly offers it
not only as an example for the Principality, but for the
criticism of others further a-field.

It is thus that the commentary follows in our columns,
of this day : " Liberal forsooth ! then, will Lord Lis-
burne's agent be good enough to favour your readers with
what he calls a stringent agreement ? So far as the word-
ing of an agreement can do it there seems to be not a
single process in agricultural pursuits but what the way.
the manner, and the time is dictated to tenant. In the
schedule of allowances I find the outgoing tenant is to be
paid for his new seed bill, if they have been sown in proper
course and \w& grown loell. Paul plants, Apollos waters,
and God gives the increase, but in this model agreement
if that increase, from any cause, is withheld, no matter how
well Paul planted and Apollos watered, no remuneration,
not even money actually spent is to be allowed!"
Our correspondent is, by his own description, "a plain
practical man of business, farming 600 acres of land in Lin-
colnshire," who a few weeks back sent us an able exposition
of the Tenant Right of his own county that has since been

N

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

172

copied into half the papers in England. Further than
this at the last discussion meeting of the Farmers
Club where a form of agreement was under con-
sideration, Mr. Sewell Kead, though he would
not appear inclined to give the Club credit for much in
this respect, said, as we quoted him a month or so since,
" he did not agree that it should be necessary for the
tenant to go to his landlord and consult him about every
improvement in the cultivation and management of the
farm. K a good system of Tenant-Right, similar to that
in Lincolnshire, were established throughout the length
and breadth of the land, there would be no necessity for
the tenant to go to his landlord and say, ' I want you to
drain this field, and to chalk ihat one ;' every man would
then farm the land in the best possible manner, feeling
satisfied that he or his representatives would some time or
other reap the benefit." But here the champion of the
liberal agreement at once joins issue. With however
good a system of Tenant-Kight, he will still make it
necessary for the farmer to go and consult his landlord
upon not merely every improvement but about almost
every act of husbandry he engages in in the cultivation of
the farm.

It is some two or three years that we called attention
to a precious agreement that was propounded in
Carmarthenshire, and we have here to speak to the
merits of its successor in the Principality. But
can nothing be done to advance the agricultural
tone in South Wales, where it would seem to be politic
to give a servant more liberty in his management of your
garden than you are prepared to allow a tenant when
farming on his own account ? With the hope that the
discussion of its "important provisions" may do some-
thing for the rural economy of Wales, we have given this
liberal agreement in full, although certainly with little
thought of its " more extended adoption." An old simiJe
says that the buoys at sea serve rather as objects to avoid
than attract.

ANOTHER MODEL AGREEMENT.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE MARK. LAJJE EXPRESS.

Sir,— We who are deeply interested would be very much
obliged by your notice of the Farm Agreements contained in
a copy of the Welshman newspaper, sent by this post.
We are, sir, your obedient servants,

A Few Welsh Farmers.

Sir,— The subject of farm agreements or leases being one,
which, from its great importance, has commanded ranch atten-
tion of late, and as you express a belief that the publication
in your columns of a new lease, now being granted to his ten-
anta by the Earl of Lisburne, with a desire to improve their
condition, by encouraging them to lay out with greater secu-
rity, more capital and labour in the management and improve-
ment of their farms, would be of some use to many of your
readers who are interested in such matters, I have the pleasure
of forwarding a copy for that purpose, and I should at the
same time, without at all desiring to intrude my opinions on
any one, wish to be permitted to make a few remarks on the
subject, principally in order that some of the reasons which
induced the adoption of the form of lease now in question,
may be more readily understood— and I may premise that the
consent to publish the lease is all the more willingly given,
from the belief, that containing as it does some important pro-
visions for the protection of the " improving tenant, their
discussion, and let me hope, more extended adoption, may ma-
terially assist in bringing about some much needed improve-
ment in the rural economy of a large portion of the princi-
pality. It will scarcely be disputed that the backward state
of agriculture in many districts is owing in a great measure,
if not entirely, to the prevalence of yearly agreements, deter-
minable with the usual six months' notice, and void of any

security to the tenant for his outlaid capital and labour ; and
it cannot I think be matter of wonder that under such a
system the majority of tenants are unwilling to lay out more
money or expend more labour on their farms than is simply
necessary to cultivate them, and that too often in a very m-
different manner ; and that fencing, draining, and other im-
provements, are little thought of. I admit there are excep-
tions, and that we do sometimes see farms managed in a way
to reflect the greatest credit on the tenants ; but they are siitb-
ciently rare, and what meets the eye too often is— badly tiJed,
poor, undrained land, neglected fences, and the long string ot
attendant evils. And if you ask "Why is this P 'Why
don't you improve P" the almost invariable answer is, tiive
us some security and we wiU improve." Will any one deny
that the man who lays out his money on the property ot an-
other is only reasonable when, before doing so, he asks lor
some security, either in the shape of time wherein to reim-
burse himself for his outlay, or, in the event of leaving lus
farm, a guarantee for the repayment of a fair proportion ot the
cost of liis improvements, the benefit of which he has not had
time to reap? I am convinced that the proprietor who fails
to eneouiage his tenants to improve their farms, by refusing to
grant them some such security, will eventually be the loser._ i
know the beUef is held by many, that leases for at least nine-
teen or twenty-one years, are the only cure tor the evils 1 have
mentioned ; but it is questionable if even leases for that period
would in a great many cases be productive of the desired re-
sult. No doubt to many it would be aU that is necessary to
induce them to go on with the improving of their lands
heartily and energetically, but on the other hand I fear there
are many who have fallen into such confirmed habits from
long usage that it is at the least extremely doubtful if even a
twenty-one years' lease would rouse them from their apathy—
and who would only value a lease as the means of securing
them in the possession of their farms, which the proprietors
would have the mortification of seeing returned to them at the
end of twenty years, in as bad, or even a worse state than at
present, notwithstanding the introduction of any number ot
« restrictive clauses." While then I am of opinion that it
will be for the advantage of proprietors to give leases ot sufli-
cient length to good and improving tenants, it would 1 tear be
imwise to grant them mdiscriminately to all the tenants on
most estates, without first having applied some test whereby
the " worthy" may be distinguished from the " unworthy ;
and for such a "test" the lease now published, with the
" schedule of aUowances," will, I hope, prove useful, io the
tenant who is desirous to improve, it will give a reasonable
security, while to the unimproving tenant it will not, and is
not intended to do much, further than to show the material ot
which he is made. It may be alleged that it is only a lease
for one year, and leaves the tenant liable to removal on the
usual notice, but here again it wiU be found to work in favour
of the improving tenant. There are few proprietors so sliort-
sighted as to put away their best tenants, and it they did
attempt to do so, it is very seldom either convenient or ad-
visable to put away a man to whom a good round sum must
be paid for improvements. To another objection that may be
urged— that it provides no preventive for the rent being ad-
vanced at any time, while the tenant is raising the value o the
land by the expenditure of his own capital and labour, and be^-
fore he has had sufficient time to recompense himself for such
an outlay, again the tenant who has most improved his
farm will be most secure ; for if it is proposed unduly to raise
his rent, the fact that he can put his farm into the proprietor s
hands and demand payment for his improvement wiU la most
cases prevent any such undue advantage being taken. Un tne
other hand, no right-thiuking tenant, after being aUowed sulli-
cient time to repay himself for his outlay, wiU refuse to pay a
fair value for his land. While I therefore anticipate that this
lease will, in practice, be as valuable to a good thenant as one
for a longer period, it will enable the proprietor to judge
pretty correctly to whom it will be advisable to grant a lease
for a longer term-a thing he will find advantageous to
do. as he will thereby extinguish the liability (a very con-
siderable one) which he has created under the Schedule ot

Allowances." , , , -,,•/? i .

The conditions attached to the schedule will, if properly
acted on, effectuaUy prevent any confusion arising in regard
to the tenant's claims, each improvement account on whicn
there wiU be any " allowance," being certified and registered

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

173

within three months after completion. On the other hand,
the amount of outlay on any single farm, and corresponding
liability by the proprietor, can be kept within desirable limits
by him or his agent, as their sanction must be given (in
writing) to all improvements by the tenant, on which allow-
ances under the schedule are to be made, before they are gone
into — and while it is indispensible to the successful working
of this system to have a carefully kept register of the improve-
ments executed on each farm, in few cases, as far as my experi-
ence goes, wUl it be found necessary to " apply the drag."
The oftener such cases do occur, the more encouraging will it
be, and then the propriety of granting longer leases may be
readily considered.

I shall be very glad, if in venturing on these few observa-
tions on a very important subject, I have suggested anytliing
that may lead to a more liberal construction of agreements in
general, the chief thing wanted in many districts to secure the
rapid advancement of agricultural prosperity.
Your's faithfully,
Robert Gardiner (Lord Lisburne's agent).

Wenalll House, Crosswood, Bee. 30, 1869.

THIS INDENTURE, made the day of one

thousand eight hundred and , between The Right

Honourable Ernest Augustus, Earl of Lisburne, of tlie one
part, and in the County of of the other

part. Whereas the said Earl is entitled to the possession, or
to the receipt of the rent and profits of tlie farm and heredita-
ments, with the appurtenances hereinafter described, and
intended to be herebv demised, as tenant thereof for his own
life ; and the said Earl has agreed to demise the said farm and
premises to the said in manner hereinafter appearing :

J Now this indenture witnesseth, that in pursuance of the said
agreement, and in consideration of the rent, and lessee's
covenants hereinafter reserved and contained, he, the said Earl,
doth by these presents made in exercise and execution of the
power in this behalf vested in him, and also under and by
virtue of an Act passed in the 20th year of the reign of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, to facilitate leases and sales of settled
estates, and of all other statutes, powers, authorities, estates,
rights, and interests, in anywise enabling him in this behalf —
appoint, demise, and lease unto the said (hereinafter

called "the said lessee)," all that farm, farmhouse, messuages,
outbuildings, yards, gardens, fields, lands, and premises com-
monly called and known as farm, situate at in
the parish of in the County of Cardigan, con-
taining in the whole about (little more or less),
the particulars whereof are more fully stated in the first sche-
dule hereto, as the same premises are now, or lately were, in
the occupation of , together with the actual and reputed
rights, members, easements, and appurtenances of the said
premises respectively. Except and reserved out of this demise,
uuto the said Earl and his assigns, all such parts of the said
farm on which any timber or underwood is growing, with
power at any time to plant trees, and to enclose or make plant-
ations on any part of the said farm. And also with full liberty
for the said Earl and his assigns, and his and their foresters,
servants, and labourers, at all times to enter upon the said
farm, for the purpose of repairing fences, planting, pruning,
or other management of the woods, trees, and underwood
thereon, and to carry off any of the produce of the same.
And also except and reserved unto the said Earl and his
assigns, all brick-earth, clay, clay-pits, quarries, mines,
minerals, gravel, and sand, in, upon, or under the same farm,
with full power for him and them, and his or their agents,
lessee's, workmen, and servants, at all times to enter on the
said farm for the purpose of making trials for the discovery of
minerals, quarries of slates and stone, making ponds or water-
courses for the conveyance of water, and doing all things
necessary for the effectual working of all minerals, slates, or
stones, that may be discovered in, upon, or under the said
farm, or any part thereof, and to carry off the same at the
convenience or pleasure of the said Earl or his assigns, he or
they allowing fair compensation for any damage to the sur-
face, and to the growing crops, thereby occasioned, the amount
of such compensation to be mutually agreed on, or ascertained
by a single arbitrator, pursuant to the provisions of " The
Common Law Precedure Act, ISSl," and to be allowed for out
of the rent, on the nest rent day alter the amount thereof
shall have been so agreed on, or ascertained as afore-

said. And also except and reserved unto the said Earl and
his assigns, the fish and fishponds, and all kinds of game, wild-
fowl, and rabbits, with liberty for him and them, and his or
their friends, and any other persons with his or their per-
mission, to hunt, shoot, fish, fowl, and sport, in, over, and upon
the said demised premises, and to go, pass, and repass into
upon, and over the same, for any of such purposes. Neverthe-
less, with liberty f(jr the said lessee, his executors, administra-
tors and assigns, to cut the hedge-rows in the months of No-
vember, December, January, February and March (but at no
other time), when necessary for tlie benefit of or keeping the
fences made thereby. To have and to hold the said farm, and
all other the premises hereinbefore expressed to be demised,
with the appurtenances (except as before excepted) unto the
said lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns, from the
day of from year to year, until the said Earl or

his assigns, or the said lessee, or his executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall determine the said tenancy by a six months'
notice to quit, in the usual manner, or until the said tenancy
shall be otherwise sooner determined as hereinafter provided :
Yielding and paying, therefore, yearly, during the said tenancy,
the rent of by equal quarterly payments, on tlie

25th day of March, the 24th day of June, the 29th day of Sep-
tember, and the 25th day of December in each year, the first
of such payments to be made on the day of

next, and the last of such payments to be made in advance,
twenty days next before the ending and determination of the
said tenancy. And the said lessee doth hereby, for himself, his
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, covenant with
the said Earl and his assigns in manner following (that is to
say), that he the said lessee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall and will do, perform, and observe, all and sin-
gular the acts, matters, and things, specified, in the articles or
clauses No. I to inclusively, hereinafter contained or

set forth (that is to say) : —

1. Pay the said rent hereinbefore reserved, at the times and
in manner aforesaid. And also all existing and future taxes,
rates, tithe rent-charge, tithes, and other charges, assessments,
aud impositions whatsoever on the said demised premises, or
the rent thereof, or any part thereof respectively (the land-
lord's property tax excepted), during the said tenancy,

2. Occupy by the personal occupation of the said lessee and
his family, or by his executors, administrators, or assigns, the
farmhouse on the said farm. Not to assign, or underlet, or
part with, all or any part of the' said demised premises (except
cottages to his or their own labourers, for tenancies not ex-
ceeding six calendar months at a time) without the consent in
writing of the said Earl or his assigns.

3. Cart all materials free, for any new buildings that may
be erected on the said farm, and keep all the buildings in good
and tenantable repair (English timber in the rough, and slates,
being found by the said Earl or his assigns upon request), and
carted by the said lessee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns), whitewash the outside and inside of walls as they may
require it ; once in every third year of the said tenancy to
paint, with two coats or more of good oil paint, in a workman-
like manner, all doors, windows, and wood and iron work of
the houses, buildings, and gates, and all such other tilings as
are now, or hereafter during the said tenancy shall be painted
by the said Earl or his assigns (which he and they are at all
times to be at liberty to do). Repair all fences, roads, and
bridges ; keep all gates properly hung and in good repair ;
clean and preserve all young quickhedges, clear the drains,
scour the ditches and watercourses, and prevent stagnant water
from remaining on any part of the said farm ; leave the whole
houses, fences, gates, drains, ditches, and watercourses so well
and sufficiently repaired, and in such order and condition as
aforesaid, on the determination of the said tenancy ; permit the
said Earl and his assigns, and his and their agent, at any time
to enter on the said farm, to view the state_ and condition
thereof, aud to give or leave notice upon the said demised pre-
mises, or some part thereof, to or for the said lessee, his exe-
cutors, administrators, or assigns, of any wants of repair, or
other defects ; and the said lessee, his executors, administra-
tors, or assigns, shall repair or amend the same respectively,
within six weeks after any such notice shall be given or left
as aforesaid ; and in case of any neglect or default, the said
Earl or his assigns may do or cause to be done, whatever
is mentioned in any such notice, and reasonably necessary or
proper, and recover the amount thereof with expenses, from

N 2

174

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the said lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, by
distress and sale, or by action or otherwise, in like manner as
for rent in arrear.

4. Insure and keep insured, during the said tenancy, all the
buildiugs hereby demised to the full value thereof, in the

Insurance Office, or in some other Fire Insurance
Office to be mutually agreed on, ia the joint names of the said
Earl or his assigns, and of the said lessee, his executors, ad-
niuistrators, or assigns ; and also produce and show the re-
ceipt fur the last premium paid for such insurance in every
current year, whenever requested so to do by the said Earl or
his assigns, or his or their agent. And as often as any of the
said buildingt shall be burnt down or damaged by fire, lay out
and expend, according to the directions of the said Earl or
his assigns, or his or their agent, all and every the sum or
sums which shall be recovered or received by the said lessee,
liis executors, administrators, or assigns, for or iu respect of
such insurance, and such other monies as may be necessary,
in building or repairing such of the said buildings as shall be
burnt down or damaged by fire as aforesaid.

5. Cultivate the said farm and lands according to the prac-
tice of good husbandry — never in any one year to plough up
from grass more than acres of the arable land of the
said farm ; and after the first, or at all events after the second
corn crop taken from the land so ploughed up from grass, to
summer fallow the same, or crop it with potatoes, or turnips,
properly manured and cultivated. Xever to take more than
two corn crops, without a fallow or green crop, well manured
and cleaned, intervening. With the first corn or grain crop
after such green or root crop, to sow down every rear with at
least ten pounds weight of clover seed, and one bushel of
well-cleaned perennial rye-grass seed per acre, and so in pro-
portion for less than an acre, a quantity of land, equal to what
has been broken up from grass. In the last year of the
tenancy, the said Earl or his assigns, or his or their incoming
tenant, shall have the privilege of sowing grass and clover
seeds among the corn crops, to any extent he or they may
thiuk proper, and the said lessee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall at his or their own expense harrow and roll
them down, and will not allow the young seeds, after the corn
is cut, to be pastured or damaged by cattle, sheep, or otherwise.

6. Not to plough or convert into tillage without the con-
sent, in writing, of the said Earl or his assigns, any of the
meadow or permanent grass land. The measure of damages
for each breach of this stipulation shall be £20 per acre, and
so in proportion for less than an acre, payable by way of
additional rent, during the year in which such breach shall
occur, and during each subsequent year of the tenancy, by
equal quarterly payments, on the quarter days hereinbefore
mentioned, the first of such quarterly payments to be made on
such of the said quarter days as shall happen next after the
said breach.

7. Not to mow any of the grass lauds more than once in
any one year, and never more than acres of the grass
lands in the same year. To cut yearly before seeding all the
weeds growing on the pastures and banks. To apply regularly
a sufficient quantity of lime to the said farm. Never to burn
any part of the land without the permission, iu writing, of the
said Earl or his assigns, or his or their agent. To carry all
the weeds collected while clearing the land, to a place conve-
nient for having them rotted and mixed with lime, and applied
to the land in the form of compost. To consume by stock
upon the premises, all roots, hay, and fodder of grain crops
grown thereon. To bestow all the manure or compost made
or brought upon the farm in each year of the tenancy, on such
field or fields as may from the course of cropping, be most in need
of manure. To pay as liquidated damages, £5 for every cart
load, and £10 for every waggon load, of hay, straw, manure,
or compost, which the lessee, his executors, administrators, or
assigns, shall sell, or suffer to ',be removed off and from the
farm, at any time during the said tenancy.

8. Not to lop, top, or cut, any of the trees or underwood
on the said farm, but carefully to preserve the same, and all
trees hereafter to be planted, from all injury by cattle, or sheep,
or otherwise. Not to destroy any of tiie game, wild fowl, or
rabbits, but to use his and their best endeavours to preserve
the same, and to warn off all poachers and other unqualified
persons.

9. Pay to the said Earl or his assigns an additional rent or
rents, equal to five per cent, per annum upon the amount of

any outlay, which the said Earl or his assigns shall at any
time or times during the said tenancy incur, with the consent
in writing of the said lessee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, in or about the making or repairing of fences or
drains, or any other permanent improvements whatsoever —
such additional rent to be paid by equal quarterly instalments,
on the usual quarter days hereinbefore mentioned, during the
continuance of the said tenancy, the first of such payments
to commence and be made on such of the said days as shall
happen next after the said outlay shall have been incurred as
aforesaid.

10. Pay to Mr. the outgoing tenant of the said
farm, the allowance (if any) due to him for lime used on the
said farm, during the three last years of his tenancy, ending
on the day of , and for all rye-grass and clover
seeds sown by him on the said farm, iu the usual course of
husbandry, in the spring of the year one thousand eight hun-
dred and (of whicli the said lessee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, will have the benefit), the amount
to be so paid, to be ascertained in accordance with conditions
stated in the second schedule hereto, and the same not to be
payable until one week after the amount thereof shall have
been so ascertained as aforesaid.

11. Leave on the said demised premises, at the determina-
tion of the tenancy, for the said Earl or his assigns, or his or
their incoming tenant (if either of them shall elect to take
and pay for the same at a spending price, and give six weeks'
notice in writing of such election, before the ending of the
said tenancy, to the said lessee, his executors, administrators,
or assigns, or leave such notice for him or them at the prin-
cipal farmhouse on the said farm) all hay, straw, and roots,
being on the said farm, at a fair valuation, to be made by
mutual consent, or by a single arbitrator to be appoined by

the parties, or by a judge, pursuant to the provisions of " The i
Common Law Procedure Act, 1854," the same not to be pay-
able until one week after the amount thereof shall have been
so ascertained, by agreement or otherwise, as aforesaid. Also
leave on the said demised premises, all unused manure without
being paid for the same.

Provided always, and it is hereby agreed, that if the said
certain rent hereinbefore reserved, or any part thereof, shall be
unpaid for one calendar month next after any of the said days
of payment (although no formal demand shall have been made
for payment thereof), or if the said lessee, his excutors, ad-
ministrators, or assigns, will not, or shall not, do, perform, and
observe, all the acts, matters, and things specified in the articles
or clauses numbered respectively 1 to inclusively, as

aforesaid, and which are to be by him or them done, performed,
or observed, or if he or they shall make default in the perform-
ance or observance of any such acts, matters, or things, or
shall act contrary thereto, or shall be adjudged bankrupt, or
make an assignment of all or any of his property, deed of
composition, inspectorship, or other arrangement for the benefit
of his creditors, or shall depart or absent himself from the said
farm, for more than two calendar months at any time, or shall
be unable to cease to well and properly stock and manage, or
to carry on the same farm and premises in an effectual and
profitable manner, then, and in any of the said cases, it shall
be lawful for the said Earl or his assigns, without notice,
to re-enter into and upon the demised premises, or any part
thereof in the name of the whole, and the same to have again,
re-possess, and enjoy, as if his or their former estate,
anything herein contained to the contrary notwith-
standing.

Provided also, and it is hereby agreed, that iu case the said
Earl or his assigns shall at any time distrain for rent, or any
other payment hereinbefore reserved, and then due, he or they
shall be at liberty to sell any hay or straw to be taken under
such distress, subject to a condition or stipulation that the
same shall be consumed upon the said farm, or some part
thereof (instead of sellinfj in the usual manner for the best
price), and the purchaser or purchasers of any such hay or
straw shall thereon be allowed and entitled, and is and are
hereby authorised from time to time, during a reasonable period
in that behalf, to bring and leave stock on the said farm, or such
part thereof as aforesaid, for the purpose of and consuming
therou such hay and straw, without being a trespasser, or being
liable to pay any compensation for the same, — nevertheless,
the said Earl or his assigns, may distrain and sell iu the usual
manner, if he or they shall tliink fit,

I^HE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

1^5

And the said Earl doth hereby for himself, his heirs, execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, covenant with the said lessee,
his executors, administrators, and assigns, that he, the said
lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns, paying the
rent hereinhefore required, and performing and observing all
the covenants, articles, matters, and things, by him or them
to be done, performed, or observed as aforesaid, shall and may
hold tlie said demised premises during the said term and
tenancy, without any interruption or disturbance from or by
the said Earl or his assigns, or any other person or persons
lawfully claiming by, from, or under him, them, or any of
them. And that he, the said Earl, or his assigns, will, on the
determination of the said tenancy (provided all arrears of rent
to the time of quitting shall have been paid, and possession of
the said demised premises given up to him or them, except
such parts thereof (if any) as may be holden over by the cus-
tom of the country, or by virtue of any stipulation clause or
article contained in these presents, and provided all conditions
precedent mentioned in the second schedule hereunder written,
shall have been duly performed by the said lessee, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, but not otherwise), pay or allow, or
cause to be paid or allowed by his or their incoming tenant, to
the said lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, such
allowances as are mentioned in the second schedule hereto,
less the amount of all damages and sums then payable by the
said lessee, his executors, administrators or assigns, to the
said Earl or his assigns, for dilapidations, non-repairs of build-
ings, fences, gates, and drains, or other breaches of any of the
covenants, articles, or stipulations hereinbefore contained, such
amount to be mutually agreed on, or to be ascertained and
determined by a single arbitrator, to be appointed by both
parties, or by a judge, pursuant to the provisions of "The
Common Law Procedure Act, 1854," before any of such al-
lowances as aforesaid shall be made or paid, and the costs of,
and incident to, any such reference and award, to be in the
discretion of the said arbitrator, w4io shall direct by whom,
and to whom, the same shall he paid, and shall in other re-
spects have all the usual powers of an arbitrator, and whose
award and decision shall be final.

And further, that the said Earl or his assigns will, on the
determination of the said tenancy, provided all arrears of rent
to the time of quit:)ing shall have been paid, and possession
of the said demised premises delivered up to him or
them (but not otherwise), allow to the said lessee, his exe-
cutors, administrators, or assigns, the use of the hams for
housing and thrashing the corn crop of the last year, until
Lady-day then next, on the condition of a supply of straw
being thrashed by him or them, at his or their expense, for
the foddering of cattle of the incoming tenant of the said Earl
or his assigns, as the same may he required. Provided al-
ways, and it is hereby agreed and declared, that neither the
heirs, executors, or administrators of the said Earl (but only
his assigns) shall be liable for any breach of any of the above
covenants, happening after the death of the said Earl. And
it is hereby agreed and declared that whenever the " assigns"
of the said Earl are hereinbefore mentioned, such word " as-
signs," shall be construed and deemed and taken to include the
person or persons for the time being entitled to the reversion
of the said demised premises, immediately expectant on the de-
termination of the said term or tenancy hereby created, un-
less there be something in the subject or context repugnant to
such construction.

A.nd, lastly, it is hereby agreed that the said lessee shall
bear and pay all the costs and expenses of and incident to
these presents, and of the counterpart or duplicate.

In witness whereof, the said parties to these presents have
hereunto set their hands and seals, on the day and year tlrst
above written.

Signed, sealed, and delivered ")
in the presence of >

SCHEDULE OF ALLOWANCES.

The second schedule referred to in the preceding indenture.
Allowances to be made for improvements, subject to the con-
ditions undermentioned. No. 1 in each paragraph refers to
the description of improvement, No. 2 to the conditions pre-
cedent, and No. 3 to the amount of compensation or allowance
for the improvement effected. 1. Under-draining done by
tenant at his own cost. 3. Provided the drains are oU not
less than three feet deep, at regular distt^nces, and are pro-

perly laid and filled, to the satisfaction of the landlord's ageilt,
and are certified by him to be in perfect working order on
determination of tenancy. 3. The whole expense of those
made in the two last years of tenancy, five-sixths of cost of
those made in the third year before quitting, decreasing one-
sixth for each crop grown on the land on which drains have
been previously made.

1. Draining, the tenant filling only. 2. Similar proviso.
3. Cost of labour in filling drains, made during the three
last years of tenancy, at the rate of per perch.

1. Banks and live fences made at tenant's expense. 2.
Provided the banks are well formed, and the hedges well
cleaned and preserved, and both in good repair at quitting,
and so certified by landlord's agent. 3. The whole cost of
those made in the two last years of tenancy, four-fifths of those
made in the third year before quitting, decreasing one-fifth
each year for those made in the three preceding years.

1- Banks and hedges where landlord pays half the cost. 2.
similar proviso. 3. The tenant's cost for those made during
the three last years of tenancy, two-thirds of those in fourth,
and one-third of tbose in fifth year before quitting.

1. Levelhng old banks. 2. Provided same is done to tlie
satisfaction of landlord's agent, and so certified. 3. Cost of
labour at the rate of per perch for those done during

two last years of tenancy.

1. Wire fences ; the lessor or his assigns providing wood.
2. Provided same are properly erected and in good repair at
quitting, and so certified by landlord's agent. 3. Cost of wire
for those erected during last three years of tenancy, two-thirds
of those in fourth, and one-third of those in fifth year before
quitting.

1. Liming. 2. If properly applied in sufficient quantities,
on well drained or naturally dry land, and vouched by pro-
perly discharged accounts. 3. Three-fourths of cost (of lime
only, as at railway station) of that used in last year of tenancy,
decreasing one-fourth each year for the two terms preceding.

1. Ryegrass and clover seeds sown in the spring previous to
quitting. 2. Provided the seeds have been sown with crop
next after green crop, and have grown well, and the plants
have not been injured by depasturing and treading of stock or
otherwise. 3. The whole expense of purchase as shown by
accounts from a respectable seed merchant.

N.B. — In this schedule the word " tenant " means the said
lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns ; and the word
" landlord " means the said earl or his assigns.

Such allowances respectively to be subject also to the fol-
lowing conditions precedent, viz. : That the said lessee, his
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall deliver to the said
earl, or his assigns, or to his or their agent, ten days' notice in
writing of his or their desire or intention to make any such
improvements as those mentioned respectively, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
in the said second schedule : and that the said lessee, his exe-
cutors, administrators, or assigns, obtain the written authority
of the said earl or his assigns, or of his or their agent, for
such improvements respectively, previously to their beiug made
and provided that within three calendar months next after each
improvement mentioned in the said second schedule shall have
been made and finished, the said lessee, his executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns shall present an account, in writing, of the
whole cost of such improvement, and the same shall be cer-
tified by the agent of the said earl, or of his assigns, as correct
(either as originally made out, or as corrected and allowed by
the said agent). And to prevent mistakes and disputes, such
agent shall enter in a book, to be kept for that purpose, a true
copy of each account so allowed and certified ; and no such
allowance as above mentioned shall be made or paid in re-
spect of any matter or thing whatsover not entered in the said
book, and so certified as aforesaid, anything hereinbefore coa^
tained to the contrary notwithstanding.

LINCOLNSHIRE TENANT-RIGHT AND
THE WELSIf LIBERAL AGREEMENT.

to ■?IIE EDITOR 01 TUB MARK. LANi: EXPRESS.

Sir,— It is to be presumed from Lord Lisburne's model
agreement that Welsh fai-mers know nothing af their
]t),i\siness, and that the Noble Lord has determined to

176

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

allow no one to farm on Us estate who is willing to
do so, except in accordance with his own notions and
ideas of agricultural matters and management. I have had
twenty years' experience in agricultural matters as a
tenant-farmer, &c., in one of the best parts of Lincolnshire,
and have during that time seen many agreements, and
know most of the arrangements and customs in that
county, but T never before believed it possible that any
man could string together such a mass of rubbish and
call it a liberal agreement.

Liberal forsooth ! then, will Lord Lisburne's agent be
good enough to favour your readers with what he calls a
stringent agreement ? So far as the wording of an
agreement can do it there seems to be not a single pro-
cess in agricultural pursuits but what the way, the man-
ner, and the time is dictated to the tenant. In the schedule
of allowances I find the outgoing tenant is to be paid for
his new seed bill, if they have been sown in proper
course and have yroion loell. Paul plants, ApoDos
waters, and God gives the increase, but in this model
agreement if that increase from any cause is witheld, no
matter how well Paul planted and Apollos watered, no
remuneration, not even money actually spent is to be
allowed.

In Lincolnshire, if a farm is at liberty it is no unusual
thing for an agent to have as many as 100 applicants,
and so well has the custom of the country worked that

in almost all agreements allowances are made to outgoing
tenants similar to those I forwarded to you a week or two
ago, and those allowances as well as claims allowed to an
outgoing tenant, by two valuers, are paid by the incom-
ing tenant, the landlord never appearing in the matter.
After the agent has let the farm the entry and valuation
are as a rule conducted by two valuers, one appointed by
each party, and so weU is the custom established that it
is seldom necessary to call in an umpire. After this is
done grow good crops and keep your land clean, then
you have very little to fear ; but should a tenant be so
unfortunate as to have to quit after a short occupancy his
loss is reduced to the lowest possible amount by the
custom as before stated. Let agents select proper men as
tenants, allow them free scope in matters of management
and detail, with a liberal Tenant-Eight, and no landlord
need fear the result ; in fact, the landlord is the man who
benefits the most by such an arrangement.

Please inform the Editor of the Irish Farmers' Gazette
that I claim to be nothing more than a plain practical
man of business, farming 600 acres of land in Lincoln-
shire, and knowing many Lincolnshire men who would
gladly farm in Ireland iinder a liberal system of tenant-
right, and without claiming fixity of tenure, if life and
property were respected.

I am, sir, yours, &c.,

Lincoln.

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE.

The ploughing of stubbles for fallows must be finished
early in the month, or better done in the last month ; and,
also the grass leys for Lent crops. A late ploughing in a
dry season keeps the furrows too open and without pulve-
rization. Carry duug from the cattle yards to heaps in
the fields to be sown with green crops. Though fresh
and unfermented dung is the best manure for use, the
distance of the field from the homestead for the carriage
of duug at that hurried season of the year, compels the
keeping of farmyard dung in a near proximity, until the
day conies of the advantage of moveable railways to pro-
duce the quick application by annihilating the distance ;
which is the peculiar prerogative of that most mighty of
all the powers yet given to man. The time cannot be
far distant when all the carrying work of the farm wiU be
done by that agent. .

The turnips must be all removed from the fields, and
stored during the month, earlier or later, according to
the climate. Feed all live stock regularly and amply, and
thrash grains frequently to afford fresh straws. Greens
and turuips will be the green food of the month, with
oilcakes to finish any forward fattening bullocks. The
sheep now lodged on grass lands are maintained on sliced
turnips, chafi's and oats, to be fattened and kept in a for-
ward store condition.

Peed bacon hogs as has been directed, with steamed
roots and meals, mashed and mixed ; and, as the full fat-
tening is near, with one daily meal of dry grains, as
beans and oats, to whiten and bind the flesh into firmness.
Stoi-e pigs have roots now with a portion of steamed food.
Litter the yards frequently, to be dry and warm.

Peed poultry with light grains and steamed roots mashed
with meals, in troughs under a sheltered shed. Keep the
floors clean. Litter the nests with chaff's and short straws.
Begin to set hens on eggs for early broods of chickens.

Ewes will begin to drop lambs — a warm shelter is
most essential, with juicy food, as when the dam is nou-
rished the progeny will be reared.

During unfavourable weather, the carrying work of the
farm will be done, as the removal of dung, delivery of
grains, carrying of fuel and timber, and of stones for
building and draining.

Flood watered meadows, and lay dung and composts
on grass lands during dry weather ; bush harrow and roll
the surface, and pick oft", by hand, the stones and rubbish
that would impede the scythe. Spread mole-hiUs, and
tufts of dung or grass lands, and repair fences and gates
into a complete condition.

During the whole month, fell timber and cut under-
woods, slash hedges, and plant new lines of thorns,
plant aU kinds of useful forest trees, though a dry season
may prevent the planting in dry situations. Cut close by
the ground any unthriven trees of former years, as a
more vigorous shoot may arise from the stem. Open
ditch plantations, and secure the fences against summer
grazings. PiU up the vacancies of last year. Set osiers
in beds and in rows on low damp grounds. Lay the
beds dry by means of open dividing drains, and dig the
ground one year before planting. Use the young stems,
strong and healthy, with an eye bud at each end.

Dig hop-grounds, and open the hills to receive manures
in very strong farmyard dung in ample quantity — rags,
brines, composts of lime, and salt — aU oliaginous sub-
stances do well. Dress the roots, and plant in beds the
shoots that are cut off to come in for sets.

Spring wheats are sown during this month on last
year's fallows that may have missed the season, or on
the turnip lands of the stronger quality, from which
Swedish turnips have been grown and removed. This
crop of wheat is not much used except in the Border
counties, where the common Lammas wheat is sown in to
the middle of March, when the crop is equal to the
autumn sowing, but may be 10 to 14 days later in ri-
pening in some cases.

On dry warm lands, under benign climates, sow
early peas, beans, rye, and also oats in the end of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

177

montli. Oil very light lands a great benefit attends the
early sowings, from the moisture of winter remaining in
the ground. In dry seasons the advantage is very consi-
derable to early crops, with rollings very liberally applied.
Vetches must be sown as early as possible on lands of
good quality, in an allowance of four bushels of seed to
an acre, with a small mixture of oats. A thick seeding
ia essential to procure a close covering of barley for

an early green food, and for the purpose of smothering
weeds and retaining the surface moisture. A thin legumi-
nous crop is a most ruinous possession in growing weeds,
and exposing the lands to extreme drought. Every at-
tention must be paid to obtain an early crop of vetches,
which form a very important part of the green food of the
farm. A barley stubble, or a lay of grass, forms a favour-
able bed for the vetch plant, and always of good quality.

CALENDAR OF GARDENING.

The first month of spring introduces the sowing of
seeds for the early crops that produce seeds as the articles
of use ; and also the planting of the seeds of the stronger
plants of roots, tubers, and bulbs. Three kinds of plants
come into the use of the kitchen garden — fibrous-rooted,
as the legumes ; the stronger roots of the many varieties
of cabbages, with celery and asparagus ; and the bulbs,
taps, and tubers of the turnip, beet, and potato. The
first class of vegetables, as peas and beans, are sown on
lands prepared by the previous cropping with manures,
and brought into fertility with a niinute pulverization of
the soil ; the application of fresh dung raises fibres, stems,
and leaves, rather than fruit. Legumes are therefore to
be sown on rich lands from a previous crop of taps or
bulbs. A slight digging or forking of the laud is re-
quired, from the winter's exposure, by the ridging of the
ground. Cabbages of all kinds are strong plants, and
permit the use of the fresh dung from the liquid-pit, and
without fermentation, and applied in a large quantity.
Asparagus, celery, and rhubarb admit the same applica-
tion, and also potatoes on dry lands that require moisture.
Turnips, beet, parsnips, and carrots are best treated on
rich lands without fresh dung, especially carrots, to pre-
vent the luxuriance of tops and fibres beyond the roots
that are wanted ; the earliest plants of roots on lands
previously enriched, and afterwards with dung well rotted
in a fermented heap, as has been previously described.

On the dry soils of early climates, sow, in the intervals
of fine weather that may happen, peas, beans, carrots,
parsnips, onions, and beet-root — all on grounds prepared
during autumn, and under the favourable cii'cumstances
of soil and climate. The weather, though usually in-
constant and characterized by cold and piercing showers
of snow, hail, and sleet, is on the whole ameliorated, and
permits the operation of spades and forks during many
fine intervals. In the later climates hardly any seeds
may be planted during this month, though with advantage
if at all possible, as early crops are generally the best.

The best kinds of peas for early cropping are Dil-
listone's Early, Carter's First Crop, Sutton's Ringleader,
or Veitch's Early ; these varieties are nearly all identical,
and any one may be selected for use. Beans in the early
long-pod variety, carrots in the Erench-horn kind, pars-
nips in the Student sort ; onions, any true form of the
white Spanish ; beet in the very early variety of Uewar's.

Asparagus plots should be particularly attended to.
There is nothing surprising in the flaming accounts of the
enormous size of this vegetable. Give the plant the ad-
vantages of adequate means, and the kitchen garden will
produce with any regular market gardener. To make a
proper bed a degree of preparation is required, which
may be somewhat similar to the following description :
This is a crop that ought to yield a supply during twenty
years ; therefore, this much being expected, the founda-
tion must be allowed to be strong and generous in pro-
portion. Not fewer than four double-row beds should be
provided for, and, aa the rows of plants must be twelve

inches apart, with an allowance of an equal space on
each outer side of the rows, the beds will be three
yards wide. Besides the beds, there must be an alley be-
tween them, and one at both remote ends. Thus the
entire space required will be 17 or 18 feet, the length
of the rows being arbitrary.

The whole of this ground is to be dug out, trench
by trench, three feet deep, with good drainage where
required. If the mould be naturally rich and nutri-
tious, it may all be employed. A bad subsoil must be
removed and replaced in the bulk, with turfy loam
introduced, and with it " a third part," bulk for bulk,
of the best half-rotted farm-yard dung should be in-
corporated. It would not be amiss to add a bushel of
bone-dust, or of guano, which comprises much of that
substance, with some salt, sulphate of ammonia, and
perhaps chalk. The materials being duly blended, and
deposited, the beds will ,be found to stand high above
the ground level, and may remain in that form to
settle till Lady-day.

A similar preparation wiU be desirable for sea-kale,
artichokes, and rhubarb, all to continue fertile for several
years.

These directions for the production of most truly use-
ful vegetables, and for all other purposes, are simple, and
to be done by any tolerably expert farm-labourer, without
incurring an expense for professionabl workmanship.

Sow twice or oftener spring spinach, salads, lettuce,
and radish, and at the end of the month carrots, onions,
leeks, and some early cabbage, the Early York kind;
lettuce, the Paris White Cos; radish, the Wood's Early.

Parsley.— Sow a full crop, either in beds or for edg-
ings : it lasts for two years, but annual sowings are best.
In the end of the month sow some sweet herbs, as thyme,
hyssop, marjoram, and savory ; and further, at pleasure,
salsafy, borage, lovage, burnet, coriander, and chervil.

Prepare good loamy soils for garlic and shalots.

In later climates, where hardly any crops can be sown
during this month, the operations of winter are conti-
nued, in digging lands for crops, levelling the rough
diggings of waste grounds, in preparing manures, and in
usmg any advance that appears from the approaching
season.

FRUIT DEPARTMENT.

Proceed with the pruning of gooseberries and currants,
as the buds will be breaking. Retain a good supply of
the best-placed young wood of the former, spurring but
little. Currants require rigid spurring, to produce fruit
in close clusters. Retain about six canes to each rasp-
berry-bush. Cut these back to the bud, just under the
part where the cane takes a bend ; then collect and tie
them neatly at the summits. Mulch over the ground
about the plants ; but do not dig the ground, though
wandering suckers must be removed.

Fruit-trees may be pruned, as before directed ; and
finish with pears and apple espaliers, and all the spur-
bearing fruit-trees.

178

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Plant beds and borders of strawberries on deep, new,
and rich grounds, if possible — Keen's for an early prolific
crop ; the Fines, the Queens, and Elton's for a later
supply.

FLOWER GARDEN.

Sow annuals, seeds of the best sorts, in pots, about the
end of the month, in a compost of rich light loam or
leafy mould, or very old cow-dung. Heat in a frame

and protection under a glass will be useful for the hardiei*
sorts, as convolvulus, sweet-pea, navelwort, Venus's look-
ing-glass, dwarf lychnis, and candytuft. In open grounds
worms, snails, and slugs too often destroy the plants as
they emerge.

In the most favourable weather spread over flower-beds
a fine compost of leaf-soil or cattle-dung, to be pointed in
by hand-fork.

THE SEWAGE CULTIVATION AT LODGE FARM, BARKING.

By THE Hox. Hexhy W. Petre.

The following notes are supplementary to a report pub-
lished in the autumn of last year, iu which the experience of
sewage as a farm manure during 18G8 on Lodge-i'arm was de-
scribed. I liave now to review the results of a second year's
course of experiments in sewage cultivation conducted on the
same farm. The Italian rye-prass being of all tlie sewaged
crops upon the farm the largest iu extent, though perhaps not
the most important product, shall be first dealt witli. The
whole area cut over this season is about the same as last year,
viz., 53 acres, and it is for the most part the same land ; the
amount of grass cut exceeds 1,800 tons. The quantities are
calculated between 1st September, 1868, and 1st September,
1869. The most advantageous time for sowing, so far as a
maximum yield of grass in twelve months is concerned, is pro-
bably from the middle of August to the middle of September.
It is found from experience that the rye-grass plant under
sewage, tested by seven or eiglit cuts consecutively in the course
of a year, will not last in full vigour more than twelve months
upon tlie light soil of Lodge-farm. There is, however, a con-
siderable advantage in sowing a certain portion of grass iu
the spring, as it attains its strength in the early autumn, when
the otlier grass should be ploughed up or is getting weak. Of
the 53 acres above mentioned, 12^ acres were sown last Sep-
tember; they have given in five cuttings 478 tons ; and in six
cuttings, up to 31st August, 541 tons. Another plot, lO-^-
acres, gave in six cuttings 371 tons 15 cwt. Of the grass
grown in the spring one plot a little less than 2 acres has given
in three cuttings 45 j tons ; and another, nearly 2~ acres, sown
at the same time, has given in these cuttings 59 tons. These
plots are strong and will cut well up to the winter. The first
cutting of grass this year was in February ; it has been cut at
intervals of from four to six weeks — on some occasious, when
a strong demand existed, no doubt before it was quite matured,
and on other occasions when it was past its prime. These
irregularities in cutting, which affect the gross quantity, are
unavoidable in dealing with such a breadth as 50 or CO
acres, partly consumed on a farm and partly sold in an uncer-
tain market.

The sale of grass this season has been large, and at certain
times it has not been possible to supply the demand. All
doubts as to its value both as horse-fodder and for cattle seem
to have disappeared. There has lately been some pubhc dis-
cussion as to its value per ton for feeding cows ; there was so
great a diiference in the value claimed as from 8s. to 15s. per
ton. During the montlis of May, June, and July a daily
average of 72 barn-gallons (16 pints each) of milk was pro-
duced on Lodge Farm from an average number of 52 cows ;
the daily feeding of these cows was at one period 4 tons of
grass alone ; occasionally lOOlbs. of maize and 121bs. of oil-
cake were added for cows that had lately calved and those in
low condition. Taking tlie milk at the low price of Is. 4d.
per gallon on the farm, the daily receipt would be £4 16s., and
allowing 15s. per ton for the grass, the food would cost, in-
cluding the maize and cake, £3 9s. In putting the price of
the milk at Is. 4d. per gallon, I give its ordinary value on tlie
east rather than the west side of London, where in fact really
good milk (on which basis this statement is made) is worth at
least Is. 8d., wbieh price would give £6 for the 72 gallons of
milk per day. Stall-fed milcb-eows cannot indeed be fed so
cheaply upon any other food with an equal yield of milk as
upon sewage-grown rye-grass at 15s. per ton with a small ad-

dition of corn or cake. I must also refer to the result this
season of feeding lean stock upon it alone. On the 24th
April five steers coming three years old were tied up, their re-
spective live-weigiits being 7i, 7i, 7, 7i, and 6J cwts. ; the first
three were as poor and low as animals could be. On the loth
June, that is in seven weeks, their respective weights had
reached 8 J, 85, 8, 8, and 9 cwts. During this period they con-
sumed daily per head less than 1| cwt. of grass.

I will now detail the results of a crop of wheat 4f acres,
grown for the third year on the same land, the second and
third crop being grown with the aid of sewage, and the first
without manure of any sort. The soil is a poor gravel, any-
thing but a wheat soil. The wheat is of four sorts, viz. :
Taunton dean, long straw white, nursery, and ordinary red.
The whole was sown early in November with ten bushels of
seed ; the crop looked Isad all the winter, and up to the middle
of March, when it was sewaged, and began to improve. It
was sewaged again in the end of April, and a portion received
a third dressing in May, and by June, though a thin plant, it
was strong. The appearance of this crop was much spoilt,
and its yield decreased, by the following circumstance. The
land liad previously been on the flat, and some difliculty was
thus found last year in getting the sewage to flow over the
whole ; therefore, immediately after harvest, it was put into
high ridges 36 feet wide by ploughing and some assistance of
hand-labour. The effect of thus moving the soil was to bring on
many spots dead sub-soil to the surface ; and the natural conse-
quence of immediately sowing the land was that the plant failed,
and was over the whole very thin. In spite of this disadvan-
tage, the yield has been at the rate per acre as follows : Taun-
ton dean, 3 quarters 5 bushels per acre ; long straw white,

4 quarters, 85 bushels ; nursery, 3 quarters 3 bushels ; red, 3
quarters 3 bushels. There were 3 loads of straw to the acre.
In the same field six acres of Chevalier barley were sown in
March ; this crop followed white turnips, that were taken off
the land before November, having followed a crop of rye.
This crop of turnips produced £11 per acre on the ground.
The barley crop looked remarkably well from the time it came
up until the beginning of July, when the extreme heat
hastened it so much as to destroy the prospect of a good crop.
The laud was ridged up in the same manner as that for the
adjoining wheat, but the intermediate crop of turnips and the
winter plougliing prevented any failure in the plant. This
crop was, with the exception of one ridge, all sewaged in the
first week of May ; three ridges were sewaged a second time
in the end of May, and a third time before the ear appeared.
The result in yield per acre is as follows : That grown with-
out sewage, 14 bushels on half an acre ; that with two dress-
ings, 4 quarters and 2 bushels per acre ; with three dressings,

5 quarters per acre. Two experimental plots of about one
acre each, of superior soil, in another field, were sown with
barley, one on the 8th April, and one on the 9th May. The
one was dressed with sewage in May, and the other iu June.
That sown in April looked well throughout, and was cut early
in August, yielding at the rate of 6 quarters per acre, of good
quality ; that sown in May never looked so well, and was cut
in the end of August. These crops of barley were the first I
have known raised with sewage, and I am disposed to think
that it could be better grown in succession to another crop
that had been well done with sewage, than by the immediate
a pplication of that manure. Two acres of winter oats were

THE FAKMBR'S MAaAZINE.

179

sown after mangold. They did net look well during the win.
ter. They were sewaged in March and April, and were cut in
August, yielding 21 quarters of good quality, with a large
quantity of straw. The first attempt at growing horse beans
with the aid of sewage has been tolerably successful. The
beans were sown in April, after wheat, and received three
dressings of sewage. The first dressing, however, instead of
aiding the crop, very nearly destroyed it. It was put on by
mistake when the plant was not more than an inch or so high,
and the weather being cold, it so chilled the ground as to
check the growth for some time. When, however, the plants
recovered, the growth went on rapidly, the bloom setting well
at the bottom of the stalks. The crop was harvested in
August. Canary seed has again this year been tried with suc-
cess ; it was sown in March, sewaged the end of April and
middle of May ; it looked well throughout, was cut in the end
of August, and is calculated at not less than four quarters to
the acre. A first experiment was made this season with early
peas ; 3 J acres were sown after oats on a poor piece of
land in November, they never did very well, and were so cut
up by the frosts in March that it became necessary to resow
them ; the crop was ready by the middle of June,
and picking was continued till the 10th July, when in
consequence of the fall in the price the remainder was saved
for seed. The >iarly pea crop is at all times a precarious one,
and the last spring was particularly unfavourable to it.

I will now pass to the root and green crops, commencing
with the early carrots. I may remark that this crop failed
last year. An acre was sown in March of this year, and was
sewaged in May, June, and July, during the last month solely
for the purpose of drawing the roots, as the ground had be-
come «o hard as to make it impossible to pull thera. The
whole was cleared by the middle of August, producing over
£38, and the land was sown down again with Lisbon onions,
which, judging from the experience of last year, should be off
by May next, yielding £25 to £30 per acre. Adjoining this
crop is a very fine piece of parsnips, a better crop than that
grown last year, which realised £30 per acre on the ground ;
this crop has been twice sewaged. A most satisfactory result
has been obtained this year in potatoes ; three quarters of an
acre were planted in March with Dalmahoy, Regents, and
early Oxford ; they were sewaged in May and in June, with
about 900 tons of sewage in all ; by the end of July the
ground was cleared, and the crop had produced in the Borough
and Covent Garden markets more than £25. The land is now
planted with broccoli. French beans have been for the first
time grown this year, and with much success ; rather over
half an acre was sown in April, the weather being very un-
favourable. They did very badly at first, the crop was three
times sewaged, and picking commenced in July; by the end of
August the piece had realised over £20. Nine acres of sugar
beet have this season been sown in April and May, most of
which is a very promising crop. The per-centage of saccha-
rine contained in these roots remains to be ascertained, but I
may remark that the sewage-grown sugar beet from this farm
last year was found to contain more sugar than any other
English specimen sent to the mills at Lavenham. A heavy
crop of mangold, under sewage cultivation, is now looked upon
as a certainty ; 4^^ acres of yellow globe, sovtu this year in
April (after wheat), sewaged in May, June, and July, has pre-
sented a fine promise from the first, and the crop may be
estimated at not less than 40 tons to the acre. An experiment
was tried in transplanting three-quarters of an acre on the
12th of June of yellow globe ; it drooped very much at first ;
one application of sewage set it up, and it has all the ap-
pearance of a fine crop, but not perhaps equal in weight
to the above. This crop was preceded by winter cab-
bage, grown with sewage. Another experiment was
tried adjoining this, of sowing mangold (long red)
early in April amongst (he winter crop of cabbage (grown
with sewage), and of removing the cabbage as the
mangold grew ; two dressings of sewage were applied
to the mangold, which has now the appearance of a
heavy crop. It is the custom of the neighbourhood to plant
winter cabbage with a heavy dressing of farm or London
manure, and in the spring to plant potatoes among the cab-
bages. In imitation of this plan, potatoes were planted on 110
rods in the spring among tiie winter cabbage grown with
sewage, and the result has been a crop of potatoes producing
£10 12s. Last season a piece of swedes was tried, but the crop

failed, evidently from tlie seed being of a bad sort. This year
an acre was sown in May, and although somewhat damaged by
the fly, recovered by the aid of two dressings of sewage, but
has now again fallen off, and presents a very indifferent ap-
pearance.

The cabbage crop during the year has been large and va-
rious. A piece, not quite an acre, was planted with red cab-
bage in November, and although the crop was much injured
by the louse, which attacked the cabbages generally very much
during the winter and spring, and though the stock was so
bad as to render at least one-third of the plants valueless, it
nevertheless yielded by the middle of August upwards of £25.
This crop was sewaged five times, and I observed that the
sewage had a strong effect in destroying the louse, and reco-
vering the plant weakened by its attacks. In September last
3^ acres of exhausted rye-grass were ploughed up and planted
with cabbage, which was cut in the spring and realized £68,
one-half of the plot having received two dressings of sewage
and the other three dressings, the latter being the most pro-
ductive. This crop was much injured by the severe weather
in March. Part of a field of 11 acres was planted with cabbage
in August and September last, a portion with farm manure
and part with sewage ; the latter were planted six weeks later
but yielded a heavier crop, and when both sorts were sent to
market together, the sewage-grown always commanded the
best price, sometimes as much as one-third more than the
others ; this was greatly owing to the superior colour.

During the hot weather ot July this year a good plant of
white turnips was secured on an exhausted rye-grass plot, and
there is now a crop that will be cleared before November,
worth £10 to £12 per acre. I have again to refer to the diffi-
culty of raising an onion crop with sewage alone. Since
August last two crops have been grown. One acre of Lisbon
onions, sown in that month, had by the middle of May realized
upwards of £28, and If acres of white onions, sown early in
March, but which did not look well until June, have realized
over £67 for the plot. The real difliculty in applying sewage
to this crop appears to be to get the young plant sufficiently
strong to bear it, and this difficulty is much greater with the
spring than with the autumn crop, because the nights in spring
are often, as they were this year, so cold tliat applying
the sewage to the land chills the young plant. It un-
fortunately happened this spring that on two occa-
sions out of the four that the crop was sewaged a sharp
frost followed at night, and nearly destroyed the crop ; how-
ever, it recovered, and grew to be worth what I have stated
above. The warmth of the land^as well as the weather in the
early autumn lessens the difliculty in starting an onion crop at
that time. The sewage hasj the efl'ect, in such weather as we
have experienced in July and August this year, of keeping the
onions green to the tip of the leaves, strongly contrasting with
the ordinary crop. The strawberry crop, as compared with
that of last year, has been a failure, chiefly owing to the
destruction of the first bloom by the frosts. This, of course,
had the effect of weakening the plants, and making the fruit
both late and small. As this concludes the detailed account
of most of the sfewage-grown crops, it will be well to say a few
words as to the expense of preparing the land for the regular
application of sewage. During the last year I have brought
into this state about fifty acres of land in various forms of beds
from three feet to thirty-six feet wide ; this has been done
chiefly by the plough, and the average cost of the formation of
these beds has not exceeded £2 per acre. It must be remem-
bered that in the case of the wide beds, such as those from
twenty-five to thirty-six feet wide, the formation is perma-
nent ; in the smaller, such as those from three feet to six feet,
which are similar to the " lands" of ordinary cultivation, the
formation must be renewed with each crop, though the dres-
sing [of the surface, necessary in some cases, is a permanent
improvement. As to the question of the best form and size
of bed, it is one that admits of so much difference of opinion
and consequent discussion, that I do not think it is advisable
on this occasion to do more than state that my present expe-
rience inclines me to use wide beds for grass, corn, and such
crops as grow thick on the ground, and narrow beds lor cab-
bage, mangold, and such as require space between the plants.
Tiie natural formation of the land must in all cases in a great
measure guide the farmer in this matter. The laud on Lodge
Farm is exceptionally flat, and consequently in my opinion the
most difticult to get into proper formation.

180

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I will now proceed to give some account of that part of the
farm which is cultivated in the ordinary way without the use
of sewage. As no artificial or other manure is brought on to
the farm, this portion is entirely dependent upon the manure
made by the stock on the premises. In no case is sewage
and ordinary manure applied to the same crop. The corn
crops consist of wheat, of which a 5 1 acre field of long straw
white, after cabbage, had a promising appearance from the
first, until laid by a thunderstorm in July. An adjoining field
of ten acres of the same wheat, after potatoes, stood up against
the storm, is estimated at six quarters per acre, and is a good
sample ; both these fields were fed off with sheep. Another
field of twenty- one acres was sown with nursery and red
wheat, in the proportion of nineteen and two acres ; tliis crop
was alter mangold, and for some time looked unpromising ; it
improved in the spring, and is now estimated at five and
a - half quarters of a good sample to the acre. Twenty
acres of early potatoes after wheat, consisting of shaws
and regents, were planted in February ; by the middle of August
the land was cleared, realising over i'26 per acre ; 10 acres of
this land were brought into form for irrigation as the potatoes
were dug, and planted with cabbage, which have produced £20
per acre in the ground. Twelve acres of yellow globe mangold
present a good appearance, and may be estimated at over 20
tons per acre. For the purpose of forming some opinion of the
intrinsic value of sewage in agriculture, it may be well to con-
sider some of the results of its use in growing the crops already
referred to. The crop of winter oats of 11 quarters to the
acre is at least double what would have been produced from
the land without sewage. Tbis result was obtained by the use
of 1,000 to 1,200 tons of sewage to the acre. Potatoes, with
two dressings of sewage, yielded a better crop than was pro-
duced on land in good condition by the application of farm-yard
manure, worth, including the expense of carting and spreading,
at least £6 10s. per acre. In cabbage crops two or three
dressings of sewage, making from 800 to 1,200 tons per acre,
will produce in quantity a crop equal to that raised by means of
farm or London manure applied at the rate of 25 to 30 two-horse
loads to the acre ; whilst the effect on the colour and appear-
ance of the plants caused by the sevifage has frequently had the
effect of increasing the price from 25 to 30 per cent.

During the year 360,000 tons of sewage have been sufiicient
to render highly productive 120 acres of the Lodge Farm. Of

this quantity 53 acres have been in rye-grass, bearing au
average of five crops in that time, absorbing about two-thirds
of the whole quantity of sewage, and more than 50 acres have
had two crops, thus making 120 acres of land bear 382 acres
of crop in the year. The value of the crops in the gross grown
with the 360,000 tons of sewage is over £3,200. As a speci-
men of the rapidity with which crops can follow each other
with the aid of sewage, I may instance a field of potatoes
which was planted in February with farm manure and dug
during June and July. As the land was cleared cabbage was
planted, and in spite of the very hot weather the plants were
well established. This crop will be cleared by is^ovember, in
time for wheat, yielding not less than £20 net per acre. A
plot of exhausted rye-grass, which had been cut four times
since January, was ploughed up in July and sown with white
turnips, which will be off the land by November, giving £10
net per acre. It may be said that this succession of crops is
attainable without the aid of sewage. No doubt it is under
favourable circumstsnces of weather and with a large supply of
manure, but the advantage of the sewage lies in the fact that
the more unfavourable the weather for the ordinary
mode of cultivation, the more certain the results from the
use of sewage. It may not, perhaps, be out of place to refer to
the very unusual character of the seasons in the two years
during which I have conducted the experiments on Lodge
Farm. Last year was charactised by a summer and autumn
of unprecedented heat and drought ; the year to which these
notes apply was remarkable for a winter of extraordinary mild-
ness, which continued till March, when a real winter com-
menced, extending, with little mitigation, almost till June, and
was succeeded by a sudden and excessive heat. The effects of
sewage irrigation, observed during these two remarkable sea-
sons, have fiiUy satisfied me that all descriptions of farm and j
market garden produce may, with ordinary care, be raised with r
greater certainty and abundance, and with a less cost for
labour, than in the ordinary mode. The certainty is increased
by the power of applying the manure at the precise time that
the crop needs it. The increased abundance is a necessary
consequence of this assistance at the right moment. The
saving in the cost of labour is manifest when it is remembered
that town sewage, applied by gravitation, needs neither horses
nor carts, and that several acres a day may be dressed by one
man.

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

NORTH WALES.

Like most parts of the country we have had iieavy falls of
rain of late, though we have not yet experienced any unusual
flood. The characteristic of the weather since winter set in
has been its extreme fickleness, scarcely two days together
having been alike as regards temperature and atmospheric
appearances. The wetness of November and December caused
the wheats to be sown generally late, and the coldness of the soil
prevented a rapid germination of the seed, so that it remained
buried a long time before the blade appeared above ground.
The plant looks healthy, and there is no fear of its becoming
winter proud. The pastures have carried a fair quantity of
keep, and stock of all kinds have done well. JVIUch cows at all
near calving are in good demand, and fetch comparatively high
prices. Sheep are generally healthy, though we have seen in
some districts a good deal of scab. Fat pigs sell readily at
5jd. per lb. live weight. The great populations of l3irming-
hara, Wolverhampton, and other large Midland towns, are
good consumers of our bacon. They appear able to take any
quantity we can send them, and weekly great numbers of
hogs are despatched to these busy hives of industry. A.s the
price of oats is low, pig feeding will pay this year notwith-
standing stores are very high to buy in. Young ones from the
sow, about nine or ten weeks old, fetch fiom 25s. to 30s. a-

piece. It appears that a corresponding rise in these animals
is universal throughout England and Wales. We wish our
farmers would be a little hvelier after harvest, and do some-
thing towards cleansing the stubbles then. It is quite melan-
choly to see field after field still untouched, with couch and
other weeds making all the running. It is no use to mince
matters, we want a revolution in our arable farming. The
system, if it can be dignified by such a name, is that of fifty
years since, and is entirely exhaustive. Over large tracts
something like the following is pursued. A five or six years
ley is broken up and tilled two years consecutively, sometimes
three years, with a white straw crop ; potatoes, with a few
acres of turnips, which are all carted off with their tops,
follow, and then another white straw crop precedes the laying
down to grass again. And as no cattle are fattened, and con-
sequently no good manure made except that from a few pigs,
and very little (in many instances not any) artificial manure of
any kind bought, it is palpable that the soil cannot under such
a course of husbandry increase in fertibty. We beheve there are
many thousands of acres that have not been enriched one iota
during the past half century; we are not sure they have not
been rendered less productive. By degrees, however, we hope
that the great impulse which has been given to all agricultural
improvements in England and Scotland during the past
twenty or thirty years, will have a stimulating effect upon the
agriculture of this part of the Principality, — January 17.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

181

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE,

FAIRS, &c.

BAKEWELL FORTNIGHTLY MARKET.— There was
a good supply of stock, with moderate inquiry. Beef — Scots
9s. per lilb., heifers 8s. 6d., cows 8s. to 9s., according to
quality. Barren cows from £11 to £15 each, heifers £11 to
£15, sturks £7 to £11, yearlings £5 to £6, calving cows £17
to £2-1, ditto heifers £14 to £17, spring calvers £11 to £15,
ditto sturks £8 to £11 10s. each. A moderate supply of
mutton ; best quality 9d. per lb., ewes 8|d., rams 72d. A
good supply of pigs, at rather less money, prices varying from
30s, to 85s., according to size and quality.

BANBURY FORTNIGHTLY FAIR.— There was a good
supply of sheep, but there seemed to be little demand, and the
prices realized were from 5s. 6d. to 5s. 8d. The cattle were
principally stores.

BRIDGNORTH FAIR.— The supply of horned cattle was
small, particularly fat stock. The show of horses, pigs, and
sheep was not much better. Good cows and calves fetched
£13 to £18, good store pigs £3 to £3 10s., waggon horses £16
to £18.

CHURCH STRETTON FAIR.— The supply was below
the average, beef realising TJd. per lb. and mutton 8Jd. to 9d.
Pigs were sold at high prices.

DUNFERMLINE MONTHLY MARKET.— The attend-
ance of purchasers was large, and there was a brisk and ready
sala. Cows and queys brought from £10 to £18, being from
9s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per Dutch stone ; and milk cows brough
from £8 to £13. The best sheep brought from 32s. to 45s.,
being from 8d. to 9d. per lb. ; Ewes from 13s. to 35s., or from
6d. to 7id. per lb. A few remained unsold. The best cattle
brought from £15 to £25 17s. 5d., being from 10s. to lis. per
Dutch stone. Pigs from £1 10s. to £6 10s., about 6d.per lb.

FORRES MONTHLY MARKET.— Some lots of prime
fat, of which there seem still to be a good many in the county
of Moray, were brought forward. Sales were somewhat stiff,
but not a few lots were disposed of at remunerative rates, and
the general average may be quoted at from 65s. to 70s. A
lot of fourteen three-year-old crosses sold at £26 5s. ; five
three-year-old, polled, at £19 ; a stot and a quey for a£65 the
pair ; four two-year-olds, polled, at £24; a fat cow at £18.

GLOUCESTER FORTNIGHTLY MARKET.— There was
an average supply of stock, which sold readily, beef realising
7d. to 7id., and Mutton 8d. to 9d. per lb. Pigs hardly keep
up their late value, lis. to lis. 6d. per score being the present
price.

GRANTHAM FAT STOCK MARKET.— A smaU show
of beasts, but a good supply of sheep. Good prices were
realised, many buyers being present. Beef made 9s. and pork
9s. per stone, mutton T^A. to S^d. per lb.

HAILSHAM NEW STOCK MARKET. — Welsh and
Scotch runts, Sussex oxen, steers and heifers 5s. to 5s. 4d.
Sussex cows 4s. 6d. to 5s. Southdown wether mutton, 6s. to
6s. 4d., Kents wether mutton 5s. to 5s. 8d. Veal 6s. There
was a good supply of very good beef in our market to-day,
for which trade was brisk, and a good clearance made. Good
mutton sold readily at the above quotations, but with the in-
ferior trade was heavy.

HIGHBRIDGE FORTNIGHTLY MARKET was mode-
rately supplied with fat beasts, which met a tolerably ready
sale at 12s. 6d. to 13s. per score. Of fat sheep there was a
fair supply, and former prices realized — 8d. to 8|d. per lb.
There was a small number of cows and calves on offer, which
changed hands at £14 to £16 each. Pigs in moderate supply,
and for quarter-old slips 25s. to 30s. each asked ; large store
pigs 50s. to 60s. ; good sows £5 to £5 10s. ; but buyers were
scarce, and but little business was done.

KNARESBRO' FAIR.— There was a good attendance of
buyers and a plentiful supply of fat stock, at 8s. to 8s. 6d. per
stone, part being left unsold. Calving Cows rather lower in
price. Pork Pigs 9s. per stone. Fat Calves 7id. per lb. A
good supply of lean stock and a poor show of Horses.

LINCOLN FAT STOCK MARKET.— A smaU show of
sheep but good in quahty and a shade lower. The same
may be said of beasts, which sold from 8s. 6d. to 9s. per
stone.

LINLITHGOW FAIR.— All the stock was fresh. Twelve
milch cows sold at prices ranging from £8 to £14, and stots
at £13 10s,; farrow cows at £8, and milch cows at £13 10s.

Messrs. Kirk and Duncan purchased milch cows at from £14
to £17, Mr. Henry Aitken sold milch cows at from £12 to
£16 10s. Calving cows sold at £15.

MELTON FAIR was well attended by both buyers and
sellers. The show of horned cattle was considered scarcely so
numerous as on some former occasions. Both stores and
meated beasts were decidedly lower, and to effect sales a re-
duction from recent prices had to be submitted to. The pitch
of sheep was small. Some useful draught cart-horses were
exhibited, and prices were high for good ones.

MORETON GREAT MARKET.— There was but a thin
supply of cattle, not equal to demand, sales very brisk. Cows
and calves from 12 to 22 guineas each. Fat bullocks 12s. to
12s. 6d. per score. Sheep, fewer penned than is usual, 6^d. to
7d. per lb. Lambs 30s. to 22s. each.

MUIR OF ORD MARKET.— The first market for the
season was held on Thursday. The chief demand appeared
for fat beasts, and also for those in forward condition : in both
classes the demand was brisk, and the prices realised were con-
sidered very good. The small supply of stock at the market is
attributed in some measure to the plentiful supply of the turnip
crop, giving sellers to hope that with further feeding by next
market the prices wiU rise yet higher. Several lots of sheep
were exposed, the greater part of which were sold at good
prices. Beef may be quoted at from 65s. to 70s. per cwt.
The following are some of the transactions : Two-year-old
Highland heifers, fat, sold at £13 10s. ; cross calves from
£4 10s. to £6 ; two-year-old crosses from £10 to £14 ; and
cross cows from £8 to £13. Mr. Adam sold two-year-old
crosses at £13. Mr. Alexander Urquhart sold two-year-old
cross stots at £11 10s. Mr. Jack sold two-year-old cross
heifers at ^10. Mr. Fowlie bought cross cows at £9. A
milch cow for £6 15s. ; cross calves at £5, and a cross cow at
£9. Mr. WiUiam Anderson bought two-year-old Highland
queys at £8 10s., and a two-year-old cross quey at £17.

NOTTINGHAM FAIR.— For anunals of good quality there
was a steady demand, and prices were about the same as here-
tofore, but inferior sorts were a very heavy sale, and late rates
were difficult to support. Best milch cows made £20 to £23,
other sorts £16 to £19, barren cows £13 to £16, heifers £10
to £15, stirks £6 to £7 per head. There was a small show of
calves, and the trade was quiet at about former prices, 20s. to
40s. each. In sheep there was scarcely anything doing. Of
horses the supply was only middling. Really useful animals,
however, met a fair demand, and high prices were in most in-
stances realised. Carriage horses and weight-carryiug hunters
sold at £65 to £70, the best ranging up to £100 ; useful
horses for agricultural purposes £45 to £50, hacks and cobs
£25 to £35, ponies £15 to £18 each.

SLEAFORD FAT STOCK MARKET.— A large supply of
sheep, which met with a ready sale at late prices. Fair show
beasts, which sold at late rates. Small show of pigs. Mutton
from 7f d. to 8fd. per lb., hoggs from 85s. to 48s. each ; beef
from 8s. 9d. to 9s. 6d., pigs from 8s. to 8s. 6d. per stone.

WHITCHURCH FAIR.— There was a good attendanee.
The show of stock was not so large as at the previous fair,
but good considering the time of the year. There was a fair
supply of pigs in the pig market, where business was brisk.
Some capital cows, heifers, sheep, and pigs were well sold.

WORCESTER FAIR.— There was a very large market,
and a great quantity of stock. Beef made 72d. to 8d. ;
mutton, 8d. to 9d. ; pigs about lis. per score.

IRISH FAIRS. — Naas : The demand, except for strippers
and springer cows, was dull, as is usual at this season of the
year ; owing to the dearness of fodder and scarcity of grass
buyers generally wait till the February, which brings them a
good way into spring. There was a fair supply of pigs, which,
as usual, met a ready sale at the fuU rates which have been for
some time current. In the sheep fair there was a middling
attendance, and good mutton went off freely. Three-year-old
heifers £13 to £14, two-year-olds £9 10s. to £11 10s., two-
year-old buUocks £10 to £11 10s., year-and-half-olds £5 to
£6, strippers £9 to £12; milch cows £13 to £18, meeting
a brisk demand ; fat sheep, 403. to 60s. each ; good hoggets,
32s. to 37s. 6d. ; lambs, 21s. to 30s. ; store pigs, 55s. to 60s. ;
bonhams, 25s. to 30s. ; bacon pigs about 60s. per cwt. —
Ballybay : Bacon pigs sold at 52s. 6d. to 57s. per cwt. ; and
stores at £1 7s. to £3 each. The largest fat pigs I saw was
was sold at £8 13s, Young pigs were sold at £3 to £3 5s.
per pair. There was a fair supply of beef cattle selling at £10

182

THE FAilMEE'S MAGAZINtJ.

to £25, springers £9 to £16, strippers £9 to £12 each. The
demand for farm horses was great, and prices were very good.

, Magbiresbridge : Springers, scarce, changed hands at

£18 to £19 each. Tat milkers sold at £17, and a few good
animals fetched £20 each ; three years old heifers sold easily at
^17 to £18 10s. each, two years old at £11 10s. up to ^12 ;
year-olds fetched from £5 18s. to £7 10s., top quality. JBeeves
and three years old bullocks sold at £ li up each ; two years
old sold from £8 up, and yearlings £3 to £5 8s., which was
obtained for some fine specimens. Stirks and strippers were
scarce, and sold from £7 10s. to £9 each up. Good cows in
calf £11 lis. to £12 10s. The show of cows and springers
was not large, nor was beef largely represented. Inferior milch
cows, as usual, were numerous, and sold from £7 up. Calves
werenuraerous and sold from 30s. each. Sheep were pretty fairly
supplied, but very few animals of top quality were offered at all,
and most of the purchases were made by the neighbouring vic-
tuallers. Best mutton may be quoted at 6f d. per lb. Eat
sheep fetched 38s. to 51s., store hoggets 31s. to 38s. 6d., and
lambs 24s. to 36s., according to quality. Best pork fetched
53s. to 54s. 6d. per cwt., stores £2 to £3 10s. each, bonhams
24s. to 30s., and suckers 10s.— Slajs'e : Prime animals were
eagerly picked up at an early hour, and principally for home
consumption. The highest price per lb. was 7d. to 7id.,
sinking offal. Victuallers received 9d. to lOd. per lb., which
left them a large margin of profit. Second class 50s. to 52s. ;
and inferior 4s. per cwt. less money. In store cattle little
business was transacted, except for well-conditioned bullocks.
Inferior bullocks and heilers were at a discount. One
lot of three-year-old bullocks fetched £15 10s. The ruhng
prices, for those fit for export, were £8 10s. to £13 10s.
Tffo and a-half year-old heifers £11 to £13 per head.
Singing cattle sold from £11 to £16 each. A few very

inferior ones went at £7 10s. to £9 a-piece. The sheep fair
was a busy one. Best wethers £2 15s. to £3 each, or 8d. to
9d. per lb., ewe mutton of best quality 6|d. to 7id. per lb.
The swine fair was well attended ; light bacon pi;^s on the
foot went from 58s. to 60s. per 112 lbs. Store pigs from £2
to £2 10s. each ; slips 18s. to 24s. each. — Dundalk :
Superior beef brought 6jd. to 7d. per lb. ; inferior ditto o^d.
to 6d. There was a large supply of store cattle, at for three-
year-olds from £10 to £12 each ; two-year-olds from £5 10s.
to £7 15s. per head. Stirks from £6 10s. to £7 10s. each.
Good springers and milch cows were anxiously looked
after, but were exceedingly scarce. In one instance
as much as £20 was offered for a very fine milch
cow, which was refused. Fat wethers brought from £2 2s. 6d.
to £2 10s. per head ; fat ewes, 38s. to 46s. per do. ; superior
mutton may be quoted as selling at from 6d. to 7d. per lb.
The pig fair was very largely supplied. Bacon rated from
about 52s. to 54s. per cwt. ; stores, 42s. to 52s. each; bon-
nives from 16s. to 25s., for mere suckers, farm horses, very
limited supply, ranged from £17 to £18 10s. each, and a pretty
brisk business was done. — Castlebridge : Prime beef, from
60s. to 65s. per cwt. ; middling and inferior, from 43s. to 50s.
three-year-old heifers and bullocks, from £12 to £14 each ; two
year olds.from £7 to £11 ; yearlings, from £4 10s. to £6 15s_.
new milch cowsfrom£14to £20; springersfrom£9 10s. to£15
strippers from £8 10s. to £14 ; fat sheep from 40s. to £3 10s.
stores from 36s. to 48s. each ; lambs from 24s. to 36s. each
bacon pigs from 55s. to 56s. per cwt. ; store pigs from 45s. to
58s. ; bonhams from 20s. to 28s. each. — Athlone : The sup-
ply of pigs was much larger than for many years past. Some
large pigs brought £8. The average price for fat pigs was
£5 10s., or fully 6d. per lb. on their feet; stores and small pigs
not in demand.

REVIEW OE THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

The beginning of the year, which promised at Christmas
to open with more life and better prices, has been disap-
pointing. The sudden break up of frost as January
came, brought back the old feeling of the trade in the
expectation of further foreign arrivals from the speedy
opening of the Baltic. Frost has, however, once more
visited us, but there is little belief that it will be severe,
or of any continuance, and prices for the month have
given way Is. to 23. per qr., though receipts in London
have been inconsiderable. It is not forgotten that we
began the year with a stock of about 2 million qrs. of
wheat, of vrhich about 500,000 qrs. were in London, and
though money is not tight, and there is no prospect that
it will be so, millers of substance with tidy lots of their
own prefer looking on to increasing them- But after all,
what is two millions quarters but about a mouth's con-
sumption for the kingdom ? As most of this was bought
at about present rates, the monetary pressure is not over
4^ million pounds widely spread. We reckon that not-
withstanding the present pressure, our wants will be fully
six million quarters more up to Slst August, aud should
foreigners not like present rates or prospects, we may yet
get a turn before them. Nothing is, indeed, yet the
matter with the growing crop, but it is small and back-
ward, and should an ungenial spring be before us, there
is plenty of room for a rise, when speculation might put our
granaries comparatively into a state of blockade, as well as
raise foreign markets. Odessa has, indeed, about one mil-
lion quarters, but merchants there, with banker's aid, can
very well bear the weight of value but little beyond li
million pounds, and by the latest advices they seem to
mean it rather than ship at a loss. New York is always
more ready for a rise than decline, and though some
people lately thought California wo\Ud turn out wheat

like the sands in quantity, they have lately found a better
demand there at firmer rates. And we have always found
low prices have so many chances, that we should not be at
all surprised to see present rates exceeded by 10s. per qr.
before the cereal year has expired. France, too, receiving
large imports constantly, has lately noted a moderate rise
at Paris and some country places. The following were
the recent values of wheat at the places named : white
wheat at Paris 49s. 6d., red 46s. 6d., white at Bordeaux
47s., red in Belgium 46s. to 47s., white Zealand at Rot-
terdam 42s., red qualities at Hambro' 39s. to 40s., at
Cologne 39s. 6d., at Stettin 403. 6d., mixed to high
mixed at Dantzig 34s. to 46s., wheat at Romanshorn 48s.
to 50s., at Porrentruy 43s. to 47s., the heaviest red at
Pesth (Hungary) 39s., low sorts 33s., soft at Odessa
25s. to 31s., white Buhi at Alexandria 35s. 6d., hard at
Algiers 40s., red at Vienna 42s. at Naples 43s., Marianopli
at Genoa 38s., No. 3 spring red wheat at New York
33s. 6d. per 480 lbs.. No. 2 37s., winter red 39s.,Califor-
nian white 43s. 6d., white at San Francisco 30s. 6d.,
spring No. 1 at Milwaukie 24s. 6d.

The first Monday in Mark - lane commenced on
a small supply of English wheat, with but mode-
rate arrivals from abroad. The show of fresh samples
during the morning being exceedingly limited, fac-
tors were able to make sales at the former Mon-
day's rates, but the sales were slow. The inquiry for
foreign was quite retail, and though no general decline
was noted, the tendency was certainly downwards, and
less must have been taken had sales been forced. "With
but few arrivals off the coast prices were maintained.
The very decided change from frosty weather to ex-
cessive mildness, coupled with the dull statements from
London, occasioned a loss in the country markets of all

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

183

that had been gained during the previous week, the
improvement then, in some cases, being Is. and in others
Is. to 23. per qr. Liverpool also gave way 5d. per cental
for the week, or about 2s. per qr. Edinburgh and
Glasgow noted sluggish markets for wheat, with the turn
in favour of buyers. Ireland was equally dull, and the
markets for wheat rather worse.

On the second Monday the returns of Euglish wheat
were about the shortest since harvest, but foreign supplies
were somewhat increased. The morning's show of
samples on the Essex and Kentish stands was very poor,
both in quantity and quality. The few lots really fine
and dry went off, but not readily, at the previous rates :
inferior were neglected. Foreign wheat was generally
dull, and Russian, as well as American sorts, gave way
fully Is. per qr. Floating cargoes were a heavy sale at a
Is. decline. Though the temperature this week was
lower, and night frosts prevailed, there was no recovery
in the tone of the country trade. But little was passing
anywhere, and under the idea of foreign ports shortly re-
opening, prices universally pointed downwards. Alford,
Boston, Barton, Birmingham, Ipswich, Hull, Bury St.
Edmunds, Market Harborough, St. Ives, Rugby, Rother-
ham, and Gloucester were all Is. per qr. down; Barnsley,
Melton Mowbray, Wolverhampton, &c. being Is. to 23.
per qr. lower. Liverpool lost 2d. to 3d. per cental, or
lOd. to Is. 3d. per qr. Edinburgh was dull, and Glasgow
down Is. per qr. Dublin was 3d. to 6d. per brl. cheaper,
and Cork remained in calm.

On the third Monday there was a rather better supply
of English wheat, though still short; but the foreign
arrivals were reduced. Again the show of fresh samples
from the near counties was very limited, and fi'om the
damp and variable weather mostly in poor condition.
This circumstance alone kept the few lots in good order at
about the former range ; but it was realized with difficulty,
and rough lots were quite of uncertain value. The
foreign demand remained very slack, and a reduction of
Is. per qr. accepted on all but the finest Baltic and white
qualities. "With a large fleet off the coast, no progress
in sales could be made without accepting a similar decline.
The country markets, with broken weather and such dull
accounts from London, gave very few signs of animation in
business. Jlost accounts were heavy. Many were down
Is. per qr., viz., Sleaford, Spalding, Market Harborough,
Melton Mowbray, Louth, Newark, Alford, Ipswich,
Thirsk, Hull, Bury St. Edmund's, Manchester, and
Wolverhampton, and a few declined Is. to 2s., among
these were Barton, Rotherham, Sheffield, and Stockton.
Edinburgh was Is. cheaper, and Glasgow very dull,
Dublin was 6d. to Is. per barrel cheaper for Irish wheat,
with hardly anything passing in foreign.

The fourth Monday opened on moderate English sup-
plies, with fair arrivals of foreign. The show of samples on
the Kentish and Essex stands was limited, and again mostly
in poor condition. The few lots of fine white that appeared
went off more readily, at the full prices of the preceding
Monday, but inferior parcels hung still on hand. The
business in foreign continued on a limited scale, and
though all fine white high-mixed Danzig and red
Baltic qualities maintained their value, there was
more difficulty in clearing oft' fine sorts. Cargoes
afloat were, however, Gd. dearer for fine wheat. The
imports for four weeks iuto London were 13,124 qrs.
English wheat, 58,427 qrs. foreign, against 15,618 qrs.
English, and 48,851 qrs. foreign at the same time in
1869. The imports iuto the Kingdom for four weeks,
ending loth Jan., were 4,482,495 cwts. wheat, 697,018
cwts. fiour ; against 1,710,850 cwts. wheat, and 327,344
cwts. flour for the same period in 1869. The London
averages commenced at 433. lid., and closed at 463. 7d.
The general average opened at 43s. 5d., and closed tt

44s. Id. per qr. The London exports for four weeks
were 2,260 qrs. wheat.

The flour trade, with good supplies from the country
and fair foreign arrivals, has been dull all through the
month, with a downward tendency ; and to have sold
freely on the last market, it would certainly have been
necessary to accept fully 6d. per sack less. Barrels too,
which have been relatively dear, closed somewhat cheaper,
23s. being about the value of superfine State, and French
scarcely 34s per sack. Town qualities have been steady,
the top price continuing 43s. per sack. The imports into
London for four weeks were 87,930 sacks English, 9,714
sacks and 21,709 barrels foreign, against 75,950 sacks
country, 2,113 sacks and 2,809 barrels in 1869.

Though the supplies of Indian corn have been moderate, the
low prices of oats and great reduction in beans and peas, have
contributed to keep prices at a very moderate range, say to
293. per barrel for fine heavy yellow, and 303. for Galatz
white. The imports into London for four weeks were
27,514 qrs., against 28,280 qrs. last year.

Though the supply of malting barley, both English and
Scotch, has continued onamoderate scale, prices were barely
so good, excepting for anything really choice. Such being
scarce,commanded a full market value. Secondary and inferior
grinding foreign have given way fuU Is. per qr., with but a
retail inquiry. The supply for London for four weeks in
British qualities was 16,812 qrs., and in foreign 37,061 qrs.,
against I7,823qrs. British,and48,740qrs.foreigninl869.

The malt trade has ruled extremely dull, brewers stUl
complaining of a very limited consumption of beer, owing
to the want of employment of the working population.
Prices have therefore given way fully Is. per qr., and are
not to be depended on.

The low prices to which oats have been reduced have
almost excluded English growths from the London
market, while neither Scotland nor- Ireland have sent on
any shipments. Foreign arrivals have been irregular,
commencing and closing freely, though the intermediate
weeks brought but little. Yet, on the third market, with
mild weather, and the prospect of further large imports,
prices gave way 6d. per qr. On the fourth this was more
than recovered, the rise on fresh Swedish being 6d. to Is.
per 381bs., best quality being worth 19s. 6d. Russian
sorts, though unchanged in value, sold more freely, say
at 18s. 6d. per 3Slbs. from granary. Prices seem too
low for any material reduction, and it is plain that farmers
of the L'nited Kingdom do not intend to meet present
rates, even if they have any stock left. Should there be
any falling-off in foreign in consequence of frost, it seems
very probable we shall be higher ; and it is even doubtful,
when the frost is gone, whether Swedish and Baltic
export-houses will be induced to make shipments to meet
present rates. The imports iuto London for four weeks
were 1,380 qrs. English, 147,582 qrs. foreign ; against
2,506 qrs. English, 960 qrs. Scotch, 8,055 qrs. Irish,
117,664 qrs. foreign, for the same period last year.

Beans have almost been constantly receding in value
all through the month. It was very singular that farmers,
when prices were 6s. to 8s. higher, at the commencement
of the season, did not then forward their produce. It has
lately come forward freely, and the consequence has been
a steady downward course in demand and value, from the
low price of oats, grinding barley, and maize. Fair
small English new have been selling at 33s. to 39s. ; old
Egyptian at 34s. to 35s., and other qualities in proportion.
The decline on new this month has been fuUy 3s. per qr.,
but we think the lowest point has been nearly reached.
The London imports in four weeks were 3,083 qrs.
English, 3,479 qrs. foreign ; against 2,040 qrs. English,
12,598 qrs. foreign last year.

Peas have been in sympathy with beans, the frost not
continuing long euougli to originate an a,ctive inquiry for

184,

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

boilers ; they have receded in value about 83. also, and
old have been left for consumption as horse food, and
bi'oiight only 33s. per qr., which is about the value also
of duns ; maples nominally 38s. London imports 2,019
qrs. English, 6,429 qrs. foreign; against 1,246 qrs.
English, 766 qrs. foreign in 1869.

From the moderate imports of linseed it has risen Is.
per qr.

A quiet trade has been going on in cloverseed, chiefly
in fine red qualities, at quite former rates, France this year
not being able to send much of what the London market
requii'es.

Tares have found rather more demand at 35s. for
small Hambro.

QUERENT PRICES OP BRITISH GRAIN AND FLOUR
IN MARK LANE.

ShUlinga per Quarter.

WHEAT, Essex and Kent, white... old 47 52 new 40 to 49

„ „ red old 46 49 new 38 45

Norfolk, Lincolnsh., and Yorksh. old 47 49 new 38 45

BARLEY 28 to 32 Chevalier new 35 42

Grinding 26 28 Distilling 32 35

MALT (nominal), Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk 61 69

Kingston, Ware, and town-made 61 69

Brown 48 64

RYE . 31 32

OAtC Engiisii, feed 18 to 26.".V.""".'.'.'.".'.'.Po'tato.!".".".!!!!!". 23 25

Scotch, feed 00 00 Potato 00 00

18 Fine 18 19

17 Potato 19 24

35 Ticks 33 35

38 Pigeon 40 43

37 Maple 38 to 39 Grey,new 32 33

FLOUR, per sack of 2801b8., Town, Households 37 43

Country, on shore 30 to 32 „ 33 35

Norfolk and Suffolk, on shore 28 29

FOREIGN GRAIN.

Shillings per Quarter.

WHEAT, Dantzic, mixed 45 to 46 extra 50to52

Konigsberg 44 45 extra 46 48

Rostock 43 45 fine 46 47

Silesian, red 40 41 white.... 43 44

Pomera., Meckberg., and Uckermrk. ...red 42 43

Russian, hard, 36 to 37... St. Petersburg and Riga 38 39

Danish and Holstein, red 39 41 American 39 42

French, none Rhine and Belgium 00 00

Chilian, white 49 ... Califomian 49 ... Australian 50 61

BARLEY, grinding 22 to 24.... distilling and malting 30 31

OATS, Dutch, brewing and Rolands 19 to 23 feed 16 18

Danish and Swedish, feed 17 to 19.... Stralsund... 17 19

Canada 15 to 16, Riga 17 to 18, Arch. 17 to 18, P'sbg. 19 20

TARES, Spring, per qr small 34 35 large— —

BEANS, Priesland and Holstein 36 38

Konigsberg 32 to 34. ..Egyptian 33 35

PEAS, feeding and maple... 33 35. ..fine boilers 35 36

INDIAN CORN, white 27 29. ..yellow 27 28

FLOUR, per sack, French..33 34.. .Spanish, p. sack 00 00

American, per brl 20 21...extraandd'ble. 22 23

COMPARATIVE AVERAGES.

Irish, feed, white 16
Ditto, black 16

BEANS, Mazagan ...33
Harrow 36

PEAS, white, boilers.34

WHEAT.

BARLEY.

OATS.

Years.

Qrs. s. d.

Qrs. B,

d.

Qrs. B.

d.

1866..

. 58,2234 ... 45 7

67,2094 ... 32

10

9,406J ... 22

10

1867..

. 66,505f ... 62 3

52,3034 ... 41

5

9,1754 ... 23

4

1868..

. 52,478i ... 71 6

71,2651 ... 42

1

8,710| ...25

7

1869..

. 70,452-i ... 52 8

48,3061 ... 49

0

6,3464 ... 25

9

1870..

. 49,626i ... 44 1

56,8501 ... 36

4

3,8624 ... 21

4

AVERAGES

Fob thb tisi Six
Weeks:

Dec. 11, 1869

Dec. 18, 1869

Dec. 25, 1869

Jan. 1, 1870

Jan. 8, 1870

Jan. 15, 1870 ,

Aggregate of the above ..,
The same week in 1869

Wheat.

Barley.

s. d.

s. d.

43 8

36 2

43 10

36 0

43 6

35 11

43 8

35 9

44 5

35 11

44 1

36 4

43 10

36 0

52 8

49 0

Oats.

s, d,

22 6

22 3

21 6

20 10

20 1

21 4
21 5
25 9

FLUCTUATIONS in the AVERAGE PRICE of WHEAT.

Pbics. iDec. 11. Dec. 18. Dec. 25. Jan. 1. Jan. 8. Jan. 15.

44s. 6d.

44s. Id.

438. lOd. 1 ... r

438. 8d. |._J

d3g, ed.

n

BRITISH SEEDS.
MusTAKD, perbush., brown lis. to 13s., white lOs.tolSs.

CA.KABT,per qr 62s. 62s.

CLOV£BSBBD,red 66s. 748.

CoBiAKDEB, per cwt 21s. 228.

Tabes, winter, new, per bushel Ss. 9s.

Tbeeoil 268. 30a.

Rtbgbass, per qr 26s. 30s.

Linseed, perqr., sowing 70s. to728., crushing 60s. 638,'

Linseed Cakes, per ton £11 58. to £11 10a.

Rafesbed, per qr 648. 748,

Rape Cakb, perton £6 15s. to £7 Oa.

FOREIGN SEEDS.

CoBiANDEB, per cwt 2l8.to22s,

Caebawat ,, 48s. 60s.

Clovebseed, red 52s. to 683 white... 74s. 903.

Hempseed, small 44s. to 458. per qr.... Dutch 468. 48s.

Tbefoil 20s. 22s.

Rtbgbass, per qr 243. 25a.

Linseed, per qr., Baltic 588. to 62s. ..Bombay 60s. 6l8.

Linsbbd Cakes, per ton £10 Os. to £11 lOs.

Rapbseed, Dutch 66s. 708,

Rape Cakb, per ten £6 10s. to £7 Os.

HOP MARKET.

Mid and East Kent

Wealds

Sussex

Bavarians

French ...,

Americans

£7 0 JB9 15 £13 0

6 0

5 12

6 10

,. 5 5

5 5

YearUngs 2 0

7 5
6 10

8 8
6 0
6 0
3 16

8 0
7 0
10 10
7 0
6 10
4 4

SOUTHWARK WATERSIDE.

Yorkshire Regents 70s. to 90s.

Lincolnshire do 60s. to 80s.

Kent and Essex do 60s. to 80s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 70s. to 100s.

Perth, Forfar, and Fife do 60s. to 75s.

Do. do. do. Rocks 60s. to 65s.

French and Belgian whites 55s. to 60s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.

English Shaws 75s. to 85s. per ton.

„ Regents 85s. to 100s. „

„ Rocks 65s. to 70s. „

Scotch Regents 70s. to 100s. „

French 65s. to 70s. „

PRICES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &c.

BUTTER, per cwt.

Dorset 150 to —

Friesland 132 136

Jersey 112 132

Feesh, per doz. ... 16 19

BACON, per cwt :

Wiltshire, green... 72 74

Irish, f.o.b 70 73

CHEESE, per cwt.

Cheshire 63 to 92

Dble. Gloucester... 64 78

Cheddar 80 96

American 68 76

HAMS: York, old... 98 106

Cumberland 98 104

Irish, new 92 112

POULTRY, &c., MARKETS. — Turkeys, 4s. to 15s.;
Geese, 3s. to 5s. ; Ducks, 2s. to 3s. 6d. ; Wild Ducks, Is. 6d.
to 2s. ; Surrey Fowls, 2s. 6d. to 4s. ; Sussex ditto, 2s. ; Boston
and Essex, 2s. to 3s. 6d. ; Insh, Is. to 2s. ; tame Rabbits, Is. ;
wild ditto, lOd. to Is. 4d. ; Pigeons, Is. ; Pheasants, 4s. ; Par-
tridges, Is. to Is. 6d. ; Hares, 3s. to 4s. ; Widgeon, Is. ; Teal,
Is. 6d. ; Woodcocks, 3s. ; Snipes, Is ; Gold Plover, Is. ; Black
ditto, 6d. each ; Larks, Is. per dozen. Eggs, 16s. per 120 ;
seconds, 8d. to lOd.

ENGLISH "WOOL MARKETS.

CUBEENT PeICES OF ENGLISH WoOL.

Fleeces— Southdown hogs per lb.

Half-bred ditto „

Kent fleeces ,

Southdown ewes and wethers ... „

Leicester ditto „

SoEis— Clothing, picklock „

Prime ,,

Choice „

Super ,,

Combing, wether mat ,,

Picklock ,,

Common ,,

Hog matching ,,

Picklock matching ,,

Super ditto ,,

Printed by Rogersou and Tuxford, 265, Strand, London, W.C,

s.

d.

s.

d.

1

,0 1

14

34

44

3

34

0

14

^

34

0

44

24

3

1

2

0

04

0

6

1

2

11

0

44

6

14

24

0

11

0

m

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FEBRUARY, 1870.

CONTENTS.

Plate I.— A PRIZE SHORTHORN STEER: the Property of the Earl of Aylesford

OF Packington Hall, Coventry.
Plate H.— TOPSTALL : a Prize Hunter : the Property of Captain Barlow, of

Hasketon, Woodbridge.

11

Descriptions of the Plates .....

Deodorizers.— By Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S.

The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland: General Meeting.

Landlord and Tenant in Shropshire ....

Inoculation for Pleuro-pneumonia ....

The Landlords at the Central Chamber of Agriculture
Questions for Chambers of Agriculture . ,

Over-doing it •••...

The Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society *'. 1871
Farm Capital ••....

Mixed Husbandry ......

The Game Laws ......

Farm Leases .......

The Smithfield Club Show .....

Small Farms .......

Sussex or Sussex-Devons ? .

Fat v. Dairy Stock ......

The Testimonial to Mr. John Clayden, of Littlebury ,

The Production of Cheese .....

The Cheese Factory Question ....

Royal Agricultural Society of England ,

Turnip Growing in Scotland .....

The Influence of the Moon on the Weather

Chips .......

The Central Farmers' Club : Continental Farming and Peasantry

Inoculation as a Preventive of Pleuro-pneumonia

Tithe Commutation— Septennial Averages

The New Farm ......

The Culture of the Beetroot ....

The Devonshire Labourer .....

Agricultural Societies and Artificial Manures

The Tredegar Show: at Newport, Monmouthshire

Horsham Fat Stock Show .....

Guildford Cattle Show .....

West of England Fat Cattle Show ....

Lewes Fat Stock Show .....

The West Herts Christmas Show ....

Carr's Annual Harvest Report ....

Fattening Farrow Cows .....

A VERY Liberal Agreement .....

Another Model Agreement .....

Lincolnshire Tenant Right and the Welsh Liberal Agreement
Calendar of Agriculture .....

Calendar of Gardening .....

The Sewage Cultivation at Lodge Farm, Barking.— By the Hon. H. W. Petre
Agricultural Reports .....

Agricultural Intelligence, Fairs, &c.

Review of the Corn Trade .....

Market Currencies, Imperial Averages, &c. . .

page,

91, 92

93

96

103

104, 123

105

106

106

106

107

112

114

117

9, 121

125

126
127
128
129
130
133
134
135
138
140
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
161
161
162
162
162
163
170
171
172
175
176
^77

178
180
181
182
184

T?nflT!TRSOy&TPXF0RD'S AGRICULTURAL WOBKS.

PRICE ONE SHILLING EACH,

Neatly Bound in Foolscap Octavo,

EACH VOLUME CONTAINING from 130 to 190 PAGES OF LETTEEPRESS,

RICHAKDSOS'S RURAL HAHD-BOOKS,

HEAT : ITS HISTORY, CHARAC-

f , TEUISTICS, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION,
Olid NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES. By "The Old
Norfolk Farmer," Author of " Agriculture, Ancieut
and Modern," &c., &c.

HORSES: THEIR VARIETIES, BREED-
ING, AND MANAGEMENT.- Edited by

M. M. MlLBURN.

rpHE AGRICULTURIST'S WEATHER-
X GUIDE AND MANUAL OF METEOROLOGY.
By Henry C. Creswick, Assistant Observer m the
Magnetical and Meteorological Depai-tment of the
Rofal Observatory at Green^vich, Author of several
papers on Meteorology.

FLAX : ITS CULTIVATION AND PRE-
PARATION, and BEST MODE OP CON-
VERSION. — By James Ward, Author of "The
World and its Workshops," &c.

RURAL ARCHITECTURE : a SERIES
OF DESIGNS FOR RURAL AND OTHER
DWELLINGS. The Ground Pkns, Elevations, and
Specifications by James Sanderson, Burgh Engineers'
Office, Liverpool.

D

IX.

OGS : THEIR ORIGIN AND VA-

RIETIES.

HGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIE-
TIES.

XI.

I^OWS AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY.^

yy By M. M. MlLBURN, Author of "The Sheep,"
&c. The Dairy Department Revised by T. HoESFALt.

XII.

THE AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTOR:
or, YOUNG FARMER'S CLASS BOOK.— By
Edmund Murphy, A.B.

DOMESTIC FOWL: THEIR NATURAL
HISTORY, BREEDING, AND GENERAL
MANAGEMENT.

VII.

THE FLOWER GARDEN.— By George
Glenny, F.L.S., Author of "Properties of
Flowers," &c.

SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING : embrac-
ing the Histoiy, Varieties, Rearing, Feeding,
and General Management of Sheep ; with Treatises on
Austrahan Sheep Farming, the Spanish and SiucoB
Merinos, &c. By M. M. Milburn, Author of " Th«
Cow," and various Agricultural Prize Essays.

XIII.

q^HE HIVE AND THE HONEY

1 BEE.

XIV.

PESTS OF THE FARM. A New Edition.
By M. M. MlLBURN, Author of " The Sheep,", &c.

XV.

LAND DRAINAGE, EMBANKMENT.
AND IRRIGATION.— By James Donald,
Civil Engineer, Derby.

XVI.

C OILS AND MAOTRES, with mSTRUC-

N^ TIONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT.— By
John Donaldson, Government Land Drainage Sur.
veyor.
In the Press, in contimcation of the same Sei-ies,

THE IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM
—By R. ScoiT Burn, C.E.

rPHE POTATO: ITS HISTORY, CUL.
i TURE, AND NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.,.
By S. Copland.

London : Houlston & Wright, 65. Paternoster Row ; Rogerson & Tuxford ^f,^' f '^^''^' '^'^
Dublin: J. McGlashan, Upper Sackville Street. And all Booksellers.

ROGERSON & TUXFORD,!

[PRINTERS, 246, STRAND

THE

MARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

AGRXCUIiTUR AXi JOURNAIi

IS THE

LARGEST AND THE LEADING

FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' NEWSPAPER,

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY EVENING IN TIME FOR POST.

ROGERSON & TUXEORD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

Jlay be had of all Booksellers and Newsmen throughout the Kingdom, price Sevenpence, or £1 10s. 4d. per an num

r^RICE'S BENZODYNE.— Cough ; Consumptive Chronic Cough— Bronchkis, &c., immedi-

P ate£ rehW and permanently cm^d by Peice's Ben.odtne, an etherial extract of fnzoin the hedmg

ortman Square, London, W.

POPULAR MEDICAL WORKS,

PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, CORNHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed Ends, 16 Stamps.

-T^R rTTT?TT«^'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARRIAGE: a Practical Treatise on

founded on the result of a successful practice of 30 years.-By Dr. J. L. CUliiib, ^.U., 10, ^^^^

Bteeet, Piccadilly, London, W. .

And by the same Author, for 12 stamps ; sealed ends, 20.

\ T ANHOOD • A MEDICAL ESSAY on the Causes and Cure of Premature Decline

REVIEWS OF THE WORK.

«Manhood.-This is truly a valuable work, and should be in the hands of young andold.»-«tmd.y Times,

i ^'*' We fee7no^Sation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book wiU not be found use-

Bo^cfoflhose ^;ea^ which produce decline in youth, or more frequently, premature old age. -Pax^,
'tZJitS^d^;,S 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albemaelb Sxeeex, PiccpaLV, Lom)ON, W.

r

IMPORTANT TO

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Veterinary
Chemist, by Appointment to His late Royal Higtmess
The Prince Consort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dover
Street, Borough, London, begs to call the attention of
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
DIPPING COMPOSITION, which requu-es no Boiling, and
maj' be used with Warm or Cold Water, for efiFectuaUy
destroying the Tick, Lice, and aU other insects injurious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Fly and Shab,
and cleansing and purifying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quality, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal.

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Manu-
factory as above, and sold as follows, although any other
quantity may be had, if required :—

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2 0

61b. 30 „ „ „ 0 3 0

81b. 40 „ „ „ 0 4 0

101b. 60 „ „ „ 0 6 0

20 lb, 100 „ „ (cask and measure 0 10 0
30 lb. 150 „ „ included) 0 15 0

401b. 200 „ „ „ 10 0

50 lb. 250 „ „ „ 13 6

601b. 300 „ „ „ 17 6

801b. 400 ,. „ „ 1 17 6

1001b. 500 „ „ „ 2 6 0

Should any Flockmaster prefer boUing the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFICATE.
From Mr. Heeepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol Laboratory, Old Park, January 18th, 1861.
Sii",— I have submitted your Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the mixture neutral. If it is used according to the directions
given, I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys vermin,
it will not injure the hair roots (or •' yolk") in the skin, the
fleece, or the carcase. I think it deserves the numerous
testimonials published. I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

William Heeapath, Sen., F.C.S., &c., &c.,
To Mr. Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry.

Leicester House, Great Dover-street, Borough, London.

FLOCKMASTERS.

He would also especially call attention to his SPECIFIC
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which ^-iU be founi
a certain remedy for eradicating that loathsome and ruinoiu
disorder in Sheep, and which may be safely used in all
climates, and at all seasons of the year, and to all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price FIVE SHILLINGS per
gallon — sufficient on an average for thirty Sheep (accordSig
to the virulence of the disease) ; also in wine quart bottlM.
Is 3d each ^^

IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL.
" Scoulton, near Hingham, Norfolk, April 16th, 1855,

"Dear Sir, — In answer to yours of the 4th inst., wfill
would have been repUed to before this had I been at homS
have much pleastire in bearing testimony to the efficr
your invaluable ' Specific for the cure of Scab in Sheep.'
600 sheep were all dressed in August last with 84 gallo;
the ' NoN-Poisoirous Specific,' that was so highly ret
mended at the Lincoln Show, and by their own dresser,
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd i
dressing according to instructions left ; but notwithstani
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply of yi
Specific, which I received the following day ; and althoi
the weather was most severe in February during the dressi
your Specific proved itself an invaluable remedy, for
three weeks the Sheep were quite cured ; and I am happy
say the young lambs are doing remarkably well at preeenl
In conclusion, I believe it to be the safest and best remed;
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

" For JOHN TINGEY, Esq.,

" To Mr. Thomas Bigg." " R. RENNET,

i^" Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre
parations as " Non-poisonous Compositions :" it is onl]
necessary to appeal to their good common sense and judg
ment to be thoroughly convinced that no "Non-poisonous
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, pai-ticularly auoi
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites — creatures so tenaciou
of life. Such advertised preparations must be wholly useless
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS £14, £6, £4, & £8,

THE ROYAL FARMERS' INSURANCE COMPANY

3, NOEFOLK STEEET, STEAND, LONDON, W.C.

CAPITAL. — Persons insured by this Company have the security of an extensive and wealthy proprietarjj
as well as an ample Capital always applicable to the payment of claims without delay.

LIFE DEPARTMENT.— BONUS. — Insurers of the participating class will be entitled to four-fifl
of the profits.

FIRE DEPARTMENT-

Ist Class — Not Hazardous Is. 6d. per Cent.

2nd Class — Hazardous ... ... ,.. , 2s. 6d. „

3rd Class — Doubly Hazardous ... 4s. 6d. „

BUILDINGS and MERCANTILE Property of every description in Public or Private Warehouse!.*
Distillers, Steam Engines, Goods in Boats or Canals, Ships in Port or Harbour, &c. &c., are Insured in I
Office at moderate rates.

SPECIAL RISKS. — At such rates as may be considered reasonable.
NEW INSURANCES.— No charge made for Policy or Stamp.

FARMING STOCK. — 5s. per cent., mth liberty to use a Steam Thrashing Machine without (
charge. Nearly FIVE MILLIONS Insured in this Office.

SEVEN YEARS' INSURANCES may be effected on payment of Six Years' Premium only.
LIGHTNING ai^d GAS. — Losses by Fire occasioned by Lightning, and Losses by Explosion of Gm
when used for Lighting Buildhigs will be allowed for.

RENT. — The Loss on Rent while Buildings remain untenantable through fire may be provided agaiiwt.
HAIL DEPARTMENT.— (Crops and Glass.)

Policies to protect parties from Loss by the destruction of Growing Crops or Glass, by Hail, are granted o»
Moderate Terms.
LOSSES. — Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.

Apply to JOHN REDDISH, Esq., Secretary and Actnaiy.

No. 3, Vol.. XXXYIL] MARCH, 1870. Thod Series.

THE

FARMER'S MAGAZINE

AND

MONTHLY JOURNAL

OF

THE AdRICULTUEAL INTEREST.

TO THE

FARMERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BYROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.

ROGEBSON AND TUXFOED,] [PRINTERS, 265, STRAND.

LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING COMPANY.

ESTABLISHED 1836.

SUBSCEIBED CAPITAL... £2,500,000, in 50,000 SHAEES of £50 EACH.
PAID-UP CAPITAL... £1,000,000 EESEEVE FUND... £500,000.

iSTATHANIEL ALEXANDER, Esq,
T, TYRINGHAM BERNARD, Esq.
PHILIP PATTON BLYTH, Esq.
JOHN WM. BURMESTER, Esq.

WILLIAM CHAMPION JONES, Esq.
E, HARBORD LUSHINGTON, Esq.
JAMES MORLEY, Esq.
WILLIAM NICOL, Esq.

DIRECTORS.
THOMAS STOCK COWIE, Esq.
FREDERICK FRANCIS, Esq.
FREDERICK HARRISON, Esq.
LORD ALFRED HERVEY.
TRUSTEES.
P. P. BLYTH, Esq | J. W. BURMESTER, Esq. | W. CHAMPION JONES, Esq,

AUDITORS.
WILLIAM JARDINE, Esq. | WILLIAM NORMAN, Esq. | RICHARD H. SWAINE, Esq.

General ]Manager— WILLIAM McKEWAN, Esq.

CHIEF INSPECTOR. INSPECTORS OF BRANCHES. CHIEF ACOOUNTANT.

W. J. NORFOLK, Esq. H. J, LEMON, Esq., aud C. SHERRING, Esq, JAMES GRAY, Esq.

Solicitors— Messrs. STEVENS, WILKINSON, & HARRIES.

Secretary— F. CLAPPISON, Esq,

HEAD OFFICE, 31, LOMBARD STREET.

JVIanager— WHITBREAD TOMSON, Esq. | Assistant Manager— WILLIAM HOWARD, Esq.

THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK opens—

DRAWING ACCOUNTS with Commercial Houses and Private Individuals, either upon the plan usually adopted by
other Bankers, or by charging a small Commission to those persons to whom it may not be convenient to sustain an agreed
Permanent Balance.

DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS.— Deposit Receipts are issued for sums of Money placed upon these Accounts, and Interest is
allowed for such periods and at such rates as may be agreed upon, reference being had to the state of the Money Market.

CIRCULAR NOTES AND LETTERS OF CREDIT are issued, payable in the principal Cities and Towns of the Con-
tinent, in Australia, Canada, India, and China, the United States, and elsewhere.

The Agency of Foreign and Coimtry Banks is undertaken.

The Pdkchasb and Saie of Government and other Stocks, of English or Foreign Shares effected, and Dividewds,
Anntjitibs, &c., received for Customers of the Bank.

Great faciUties are also afforded to the Customers of the Bank for the receipt of Money from the Towns where the Com-
pany has Branches.

The Ofllcers of the Bank are boiind not to disclose the transactions of any of its Customers.

By Order of the Directors, WM. MoKEWAN, General Manager.

THE ROYAL FARMERS' INSURANCE COMPANY,

3, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.O.

Oj^p JTAL. — Persons insured by tliis Company have the security of an extensive and wealthy proprietary
as well as an ample Capital always applicable to the payment of claims without delay.

LIFE DEPARTMENT. — BONUS. — Insurers of the participating class will be entitled to four^fifths
of the profits.

FIRE DEPARTMENT,-

1st Class — Not Hazardous ... , ... Is. 6d. per Cent.

2ud Class — Hazardous ... ,.. ..■ ... ... 2s. 6d. „

3rd Class — Doubly Hazardous 4s. 6d. „

BUILDINGS and MERCANTILE Property of every description in Public or Private Warehouses.—
Distillers, Steam Engines, Goods in Boats or Canals, Ships in Port or Harbour, &c. &c., are Insured in thig
Office at moderate rates.

SPECIAL RISKS. — At such rates as may be considered reasonable.
NEW INSURANCES.— No charge made for Policy or Stamp.

FARMING STOCK. — 5s. per cent., with liberty to use a Steam Thrashing Machine without extra
charge. Nearly FIVE MILLIONS Insui-ed in this Office.

SEVEN YEARS' INSURANCES may be effected on payment of Six Years' Premium only.
LIGHTNING and GAS.— Losses by Fire occasioned by Lightning, and Losses by Explosion of Gas
when used for Lighting Buildings will be allowed for.

RENT. — The Loss on Kent while Buildings remain untenantable through fire may be provided against.
HAIL DEPARTMENT.— (Crops and Glass.)

Policies to protect parties from Loss by the destruction of Growing Crops or Glass, by Hail, are granted on
Moderate Tenne.
LOSSES. — Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.

Apply to JOHN REDDISH, Esq., Secretary t»d Acintiy*

THE JFARMBU'S MAGAZIKE.

MARCH, 187 0.

CONTENTS.

Plate I.— SOUTHDOWN WETHERS : the Property of Lord Walsingham, of Merton,
Thetford ; AND Winners of the Champion Plate of £50 as the best pen of Sheep
AT THE Smithfield Club Show, 1869,

Plate H.— FOXES v. RABBITS.

PAGE,

Descriptions of the Plates ....... 185

The Moisture in Dry Soils and Climates. — By Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S. . 186

Dairy Farming. — By the Northern Farmer ..... 189

The Irish Land Bill ...,..,, 194

Hop-Growing in the Colonies ...... 195

Are Cattle Shows and Ploughing Matches Advantageous to Agriculture ? . 197

On the Management of Sheep, — By the Northern Farmer « . . 201

Wheat and Barley Growing on the Cotswolds .... 204

Winfrith Farmers' Club: The Value of Farmers' Clubs . . . 205

The Profitable Treatment of Woods and Wastes .... 206

Growing Hops Like Vines . . . . . , . 211

The Non-Reservation of Hares and Rabbits ..... 213

Dorchester Farmers' Club : Steam Cultivation .... 215

Royal Agricultural Society of England: Monthly Council . . . 220

The Breeding and Feeding of Lambs ..... 223

The Smithfield Club: Council Meeting ..... 226

The Management of the Smithfield Club Show .... 227

The Sewage of Towns ....... 228

Mb. Hall Maxwell ........ 230

The Welsh Model Agreement ..... 231-233

The Central Chamber of Agriculture: Council Meeting . . . 234

The Progress of the Session ...... 239

Mr. Wykeham Martin's Game Laws Amendment Bill . . . 240

The Central Farmers' Club : Grass Land ..... 241

The Fisher Hobbs Testimonial ...... 248

The New Farm ........ 249

The Herds of Great Britain : Mr. Leney's ..... 2S0

The Yield in 1869 . . . . . • • .252

The Repeal of the Malt-Tax and the Use of Semi-Malted Grain . . 253

The Midland Farmers' Club ....... 255

The Formula — Forage, Cattle, Cereals : By E. Lecouteux . . . 257

Farm-Horse Duties ........ 259

The Supply of Beef and Mutton ...... 259

Foreign Agricultural Gossip ...... 260

Calendar of Agriculture ....... 261

Calendar of Gardening . . . ' . . . . 262

Agricultural Reports ....... 263

The Corn Trade . . . . . . . .268

Agricultural Intelligence, Fairs, &c. ..... 268

The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act ..... 271

Death of Mr. Adcock ....... 271

A Terrible Title . _ . . . . : . .272

The "Action" of the Central Chamber of Agriculture . . ; 272

Review of the Corn Trade during the past Month .... 273

Market Currencies, Imperial Averages, &c. .... 275-6

REES & CO.'S BIPHOSPHATED PERUVIAN GUANO.

(REGISTERED TRADE ilARK, FLYING ALBATROSS).

Is now ready for delivciy, in quantity and in fine condition. It ia believed

to bo the best artificial manure yet produced. Its base is Peruvian Government

Guano. It contains 21 per cent, of soluble phospbates, 6 to 7 per cent, "f

Ammonia with Salts of Potash. See reports of Dr. Voelcker, Dr. [Anderson,

trade: mark. Professor Way, Mr. Ogston, Mr. Sibsou. Delivered in 2 cwt. bags, each of

which is secured by a leaden seal, bearing the Company's Trade Mark. The analysis is guaranteed so long as

the seals remain unbroken.

Agents tor the North of England. — Messrs. Keighley, Maxsted, & Co., Hull.

Agent for Lancashire and neighbouring Counties. — W. S. Gladstone, Esq., 23, Old Hall Street, Liverpool.

Agents for Scotland. — Messrs. Richard Connon & Co., Glasgow and Aberdeen ; Messrs. Allan Edwards &
Co., Dundee.

Agents for Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Fife. — Messrs. Breysig and Co., Leith.

Agents for the South West of England. — Messrs. Wm. Smith & Co., Bristol.

Agents for Ireland. — Messrs. R. F. Gladstone & Co., Dublin.

Agent for Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Herts, and Middlesex — Mr. John G. Barry, 8, Old Jewi-y, London.

Price £11 per ton, delivered free to Rail or Wharf in London.
REES & CO.'S BIPH08PHATED PERUVIAN GUANO COMPANY

(LIMITED),

32, KING WILLIAM STREET, LONDON, E.G.

Peruvian Government Guano

£13 10s per ton.

Report and Analysis by Dr. A. VoELCKER, consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England :

" Analj-tical Laboratorj% 11, Salisbiiry Square, Fleet Street, E.C.,

" London, January 15th, 1870.
" Sib,— Enclosed you will find the results of a careful analysis of a sample of youi- Biphosphated Peruvian Guano. These
results speak for themselves. I need therefore hardly add anything in commendation of the high fertilizing character of this
VALUABLE Artificial Manure. The sample examiuFd by me contained only 10 per cent, of moistiu-e, and fully the percentages
of soluble and insoluble Phosphates which I understand you guarantee to furnish, and was in a fine state of preparation.
The more generallj- this Manure will become known to agricultm-ists, the more, I am convinced, will it be appreciated by
them. " Believe me. Sir, yours resnectfuUy,

" The Secretary-. (Signed) " AUGUSTUS VOELCKKR."

"Bees & Go's Biphosphated Peruvian Guano Company, Limited,
" 32, King WilUam Street, London, E.G."

mo
l 1

To NOBLEMEN and Others.— WANTED,
by a tall, powerful, middle-aged man, a SITUATION
as PARK KEEPER or GAMEKEEPER. lie is the son of a
well-known park and game keeper (who held his situation
upwards of forty years), and has passed the whole of his life
since sixteen years of age in one or other of the above de-
partments. He can be stronglj' recommended for personal
honesty and integrit.y, and, from his thorough efficieuc.v as a
shot, a manager of deer and game, would prove a valuable
servant to any one requiring a person of his description. —
Address, "John W.," Post-olfice, Burton-on-Trent.

NOBLEMEN, LANDED PROPRIE-

TORS, GENTLEMEN, &c.— The advertiser, having had
sixteen years' experience in practical farming, breeding and
rearing of stock, draining, machinery, steam and horse
power, &c., is desirous of an ENGAGEMENT to take the
management of a large farm, or some similar capacity ; un-
derstands marketing, &c. ; first-class references. — Address,
" L. S. D.," Post-otiice, Hailsham, Hawkhurst, Sussex.

0 LANDOWNERS, &c.— AVANTED, by a

well educated married man (a Northumbrian), between
30 and 40 .years of age, who has a goud practical knowledge
of agriculture, and has been for upwards of two years in a
land-agent's office of high standing in the north of England,
a Situation as Estate BAILIFF, or Under Agent on an estate.
Good references as to character, &c. — Address "Box 37,"
Post-office, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

ARM BAILIFE.— WANTED, a Situatiou,

by a farmer's son, 30 years of age, whose father holds a
farm of ■lOO acres ; understands both light land heavy soils,
can manage all kinds of stock, good accountant ; can have
the best recommendation from practical farmers and gentle-
men of the neighbourhood. — Apply "A. B. C," Welwyn
Post-office, Herts.

WANTED, a mau to TAKE CHy^-RGE of
cows, sheep, poultry, and pigs, and to make him-
self generally useful. If married, and without incumbrances
to live in the lodge. Address, stating full particulars, to
• 3. J.," Abberley Hall, Stourport.

WANTED, a SITUATION as LAND
AGENT, by a practical man, who would prepare a
couple of lads for a pubhc school, or one young man for the
university. Address "J. S., Unicorn Hotel, Altrincham,
Cheshire.

A GENTLEMAN desires to recommend a
most valuable servant who has acted as GROOM and
COACHMAN ; in; his family |for ten years. The sen-ant
referred to is in the prime of life, and in every worthy of the
confidence of his emploj-er. Apply to Mr. J. Knight, Oak
Hill, Surbiton, S.W.

PRIZE BLOODHOUND for SALE, HERO,
(second Birmingham, 1867, second Exeter, 1869), by
Young Needwood— Chauntress. Young Needwood by Lord
Bagot's Needwood — Juno ; Chauntress own sister to Mr. F.
Smith's Duchess ; age 5 years. Price £10. Apply to Mr.
Lindoe, R.E., Brompton Barricks, Chatham.

HENRY LANE, RABBIT and VERMIN
TRAP MANUFACTURER, Eagle AVorks, AVcdnes-
field. Price Lists of these celebrated traps may be had on
application.

LEWIN'S PATENT STACKER and ELE-
VATOR.—This stacker is very simple, compact, and
light in draught, works smoothly, and closes up for travel-
ling, and can be opened out and put to work by one man in
three rir four minutes. It can be used for Wheat, Barlej',
Oats, Hay, or Straw, and worked by a Pony, and deliver the
crops to a height of 25 feet. Apply for prices and testimo-
nials to Lewin's Engineering AVorks, Poole, Dorset.

ARM TO LET IN SURREY.— An cxcel-

lent FaiTu tii I^et near Dorking, in the County of Sur-
re.\-, about 25 miles south from London, >)y Rail. Extent,
about 700 acres. The Dwelling-house is first-class. Farm-
steading commodious, and with every accommodation. En-
try in October, 1870. Full particulars on application to R. E,
Brown, Wass, Oswaldku-k, York.

THE

MARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

i^GRICUXTURiLI. JOURNAI.

IS THE

LAEGEST AND THE LEADING

FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' NEWSPAPER,

PUBLISHED EYEEY MONDAY EVENING IN TIME FOR POST.

ROGERSON & TUXPOUD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

May be had of all Booksellers and Newsmen throughout the Kingdom, price Sevenpence, or £1 10s. 4d. per annum.

Just PuhUslied, Price in Cloth, 3s. 6d., Post Free, 3s. 8d.,

THE WHITER EDITIOW

OF

RUFF'S GUIDE TO THE TURF,

UNITED WITH

BAIIiY'S TURF GUIDE,

1870.

OTontents :

The Nominations for 1870, and the Horses Indexed, with their Pedigrees— The Great Stakes for 1871— A
Complete Calendar of Kaces and Steeple Chases in Great Britain and Ireland in 1869— Racing on the Continent
in 1869 fully Indexed— Laws of Eacing and Steeple-chasing, Lengths of Courses— Winners of the Principal
Races from their Commencement-Queen's Plate Articles, and Weights; Wiuners of the Liverpool Steeple-
chase ; Winners of the Royal Plates in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1869— Sales of Blood Stock in 1869.
" SPORTING MAGAZINE OFFICE," 265, STRAND ; by all Booksellers ; and at the yarious Railway Stations.

Price 3s. 6d. in Cloth.

D^

POPULAR MEDICAL VVOEKS,

PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, CORNHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed E'i.ds, 16 Stamps.

kR CURTIS'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARRIAGE : a Practical Treatise on

. ) ITS Physical and Personal Obligations. With instructions to the Married and Unmarried of both
Sexes for removing the special disquaUfications and impediments which destroy the happiness of wedded life,
found;don the res^ult oil successful practice of 30 years.-By Dr. J. L. CURTIS, M.D., 15, Albemarle

Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

And, by the same Author, for 12 stamps ; sealed ends, 20.

MANHOOD • A MEDICAL ESSAY on the Causes and Cure of Premature Decline
IN Man • the Treatment of Nervous Debility, Spermatorrhoea, Impotence, and those peculiar infirmities
which result from youthful abuses, adult excesses, tropical climates, and other causes ; with Instructions for the
Cure of Infection without Mercury, and its Prevention by the Author's Prescription (lus infallible Lotion).

REVIEWS OF THE WORK.
" Manhood.— This is truly a valuable work, and should be in the hands of young and old.''— Sunday Times,

23rd March, 1858. . .,, ^ • .• ■ -, n ,j

"The book under review is one calculated to warn and instruct the erring, without imparting one idea that

can vitiate the mind not already tutored by the vices of which it treats."— iVa^a^ and Military Gazette,

"*' We7ee?no hesitation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book will not be found use-
ful whether such person hold the relation of a Parent, Preceptor, or Clergyman."— 5im Evening Papei-.

Manhood — " Dr. Cui-tis has conferred a great boon by publishing tliis little work, in which is described the
■oui-ce of those diseases which produce decline in youth, or more frequently, premature old age. —Dail^j
TtUgravTi, March 27, 1856. ^ t w

Coninltations daily, from 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albemaelb Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

FOUNDED AD. 1844-

Empowered by Special Act of Parliament, 25 & 26, Vict., cap. 74.

THE GREAT BRITAIN
MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY,

Chairman.— LO ED VISCOUNT NEWRY.

SPECIAL ADVANTAGES TO ASSURERS.
The entire profits divided amougst tlie holders of participating policies.

The profits applied first in extinguishing the premiums at a given date, and afterwards in making the policy pay-
able during life : this important advantage being secured without tne payment of any additional premium.

ANDREW PRANCIS, Secretary.

DEFENSIO NON PROFOCATIO.

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' TEA ASSOCIATION.

Chief Offices and Warehouses. — Southwark Street, S.E.
City Offices. — Mincing Lane, and 39, Fenclinrch Street.
Parts Depot. — Rue Mont Thabor, No. 6.
Bankers. — National Provincial Bank of England, and Branches.
Secretary. — Augustus Folkard, to whom all Post-Office Orders, Cheques, and Bills are to be made payable.

TERMS .—CASH ONLY.
This Association, founded in 1867, and owing its origin to the irregular competition of the Grocers in the
Sale of Wine, has agents (Licensed Victuallers and Wine Merchants only) in every town in England, of whom
the Teas can be obtained in sealed packets of 1 lb., i lb., i lb., and 2 oz.

The Teas are very strong and very wholesome, are guaranteed pure and of uniform quality, are used by all
classes, and universally pronounced the best at the prices in the kingdom.

Tae-Ping Finest Black Tea 2s. 6d.

„ „ Mixed Tea 3 0

„ „ Green Tea 3 6

Caravan, an exquisite Tea 3 6

A sample parcel of Eight lbs. forwarded carriage free on leceipt of Post-olfice Order. A Revised List of

Agents will shortly be published.

CHEAP SUNDAY AND WEEK»DAY READING FOR THE PEOPLE.

Now Publishing,

CI)f €i)nvci) of Ciiijlauti Mns^sint,

A VERY CHEAP RELIGIOUS PERIODICAL,

Containing original contributions by several of the Bishops Intending subscribers are requested to send theii" orders
and many other distinguislied Divines; Narratives; Sketches i without delay, as the back volumes and parts are now
of Natural History; Biography, Missionary Proceedings, becoming veby scaeci;.
Juvenile Reading, Poetrj', &c., -with a Register of Eccle- !

^iastical Intelligence ; the whole combining amusement with As the Magazine enjoys a circulation far exceeding that of
instruction, in a style suited for all classes of readers. any other ehm-ch periodical, and is read by all classes of

A series of Parish Churches, with Illustrations of a superior j society, it will be found a very eligible mediiun &r Adver-
kind is in course of publication. This series, which will be : tisements, which are conspicuously printed, and inserted at
of a very extended character, will be found of particidar I the most reasonable rate,
interest.

Vol. LXVI., Imperial 8vo., Embossed Cloth, 480 pages, with highly-finished Illustrations of Parish Churches, price 6s. Sd.

Jjondon : Published in weekly numbers, price 1^., and in monthly parts, price 9.1., by S. EWINS & SON, 9, Ave Maria
Lane; ROGERSON & TUXFORD, 265, Strand, "W.C, j and sold by aU Booksellers.

CARTER'S

THE FINEST
YAEIETY IS
CULTIVATION.

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

A. HTTTLEY, Esq.,

Tirling, writes —
" Oct. 7th, 1869.

" Your Mam-
moth Long Eed
Mangel is first-
rate, so true that
I could not find
ono that did not
match with the
rest."

W. GOLBY, Jan.,
Esq.

" TJie Lanvels,
" Radv:ay,

V "6?i'Mli!7«, 1869.

" Allow mo to
inform you the
Mangel seed you
sent was first-rate.
I gained the First
Prize for the best
Two Acres, awarded
hy N. TF. Buchs.
Agricultural Asso-
ciation.''

T. TAPLEY, Esq.

" Langley Farm,
" Oct. 27th, 1869.

" I grew a very
fine crop of Mangel
from your seed ;
the shape and
quality is all that
can be desired."

The Snest Long
KedHangelin cul-
tivation.

Price Is. 6d. per lb.

{Cheaper per cwt.)

THE EINEST
YARIETY IN
CULTIVATION.

EVIDENCE OP
QUALITY.

W. GAPPEE, Esq.

" Duddlestone,
" Nov. \st, 1869.

"You will bo
pleased to hear
that I have agaiu
won the Cup for
Eed Mangels,

grown from^ your
seed. Tills is the
fifth year in- suc-
cession that I have
fnken this prize."

Hr. B. BEECHES.

" Kihnalooda,
" Oct. 25th, 1869.

" Mr. Beamish
took First Prize
at our show with
Carter's Warden
Mangel, and Car-
ter's Imperial
Swede."

A. A. MEABNS,

Esq.,

writes —

" 3Iilfo7'd Brewery,

"Oct.2Gth, 18C9.

" There is no-
thing like the
Wakden Mangel
in the County of
Pembroke. They
arc most hand-
somely shaped."

The finest Long
Eed Mangel in cul-
tivation.

Price Is. 6d. per lb.

{Cheaper per cwt.)

237 &» 238, HIGH HOaCSOKH, I.ONBON, W.C.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR HEAVY SOILS (Page 4).

"Successful Farminff is

Dependent on Grood Seeds."

CARTER'S PRIZE SWEDE AND TURNIP.

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

From Mr. R. BEECHES..

" Kihnalooda, Oct. 25fh.

'' Mr. Beamish took Firsf Prize at
Bandon Show with Carter's Im-
perial Hardy Swede, and Carter's
Warden Wurzel."

From W. SISMAN, Esq.

" Eimholton, Oct. 2Uh.

" I took the I'irst Prize at the
Huntingdonshire Agricultural

Show with Carter's Devonshire
Grey Stone Turnip."

Carter's Imperial Swede is
remarkable for a combina-
tion of fine quality and ex- HARD
treme hardiness of consti-
tution.

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

From a. S. ATJSTIN, Esq.

" 3fissenden, Nov. Ist.

" Carter's Imperial Purple-top
Swede is very tine. I certainly
have the finest crop I have had
since I have been here."

From A. LAURIE, Esq.

" Boghead.

" Your Imperial Swedish Turnip
is the best that has been seen in
this locality."

SWEDE.

Carter's Imperial Swede is
remarkable for a combina-
tion of fine quality and ex-
treme hardiness of consti-
tution.

The Hardiest and Best in Cultivation.

Carter's Imperial Hardy Swede

Carter's London Swede (the largest variety)

Carter's Improved Hartley's Swede

Carter's Champion Green-top Yellow Hybrid Turnip
Carter's Champion Purple -top Yellow Hybrid Turnip

Carter's Devonshire Grey Stone Turnip

Other leading varieties— choice stocks

0/9 per lb. ■>.

0/9

0|9

0/10 „

0/10 „

1|0 „

... 0/8

to 0/10 „ J

Price
per Bushel or

Cwt.
on application.

FOE FULL DESCRIPTIONS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, ed. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., The Royal Seedsmen,

237 X 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CABTEB'S GRASS SEEDS EOR I.AWNS (Page 4).

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR MEDIUM SOILS (Page 4).

*' Successful Earming is

Dependent on &ood Seeds."

CARTER'S PRIZE MANGEL WURZEL,

IMPROVED

MANGEL.

EVIDENCE
OF QUALITY.

E. B. Annandale,
Esq.,

>'teivard to the
Most Xohle the
Marquis of
Westminnter,
FonthiU.

" I consider, takiiiR
tliu weiglit of the
il;ui;jel crop grown
i'roui your sacil on the
aruund, liiey arc the
best I have yet had.
One thing I niiy
mention, wliich was
much in theii- favour, i
they came up very /
regularly, and con- j
sequently made even |
r.iid regular growth.
Tiio Swedes were a '
laost cajjital cr 'p. ■
All your seeds gave ''
me great sati^faction
for farm and garden.''

FROM

T. W. SWANN,
Esq.

''Ashjield,
"Nov. 25, 1«69.

" The Mangel grown
from your seed were
the most splendid
level crop I ever saw,
and they were very
much admired by

every one who saw INTERMEDIATE MAN GEL,

them in Ihe field.

GARTER'S NEW CHAMPION

Carter's "Warden Orange Globe Mangel (,«<'<? illustration)

Carter's New Champion Intermediate Mangel, an immense cropper {see illustration)

Carter's Mammoth Prize Long Red Mangel («f/' page 1) ...

Carter's Elvetham Long Yellow Mangel

Carter's Improved Red Globe Mangel

Ordinary Stocks Cheaper — Price on application.

If- per lb.

',

1/- „
3/6 „

1/- »

Cheaper
[ per cwt.

i

v- »

J

FOR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., The Royal Seedsmen^

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR LIGHT SOILS (Page 4).

CARTER'S MAMMOTH PRIZE MANGEL (Page 1).

Successful Farming is dependent on Good Seeds."

JAMES CARTER & Co.,

THE ROYAL SEEDSMEN,

237 & 238, HIGH HO LB OH H, laOHDOl^

w«e.

BAST HOUSE FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX. I JUPES HILL FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX.
THE SEED FARM, ST. OSYTH, ESSEX. | GOD'S HOUSE FARM, ARDLEIGH, ESSEX.

^s

As supplied to H.M.C-.M. THE QUEEN; H.E.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES, Sic.

Special Low Quotations

for quantities

of

more than 10 acres

of
Carter's &rass Seeds.

Second Quality

at
Cheaper Eates.

Special low Quotations^^
for quantities
of
more than 10 acres

of
Carter's (jrass Seeds.

Second Quality

at
Cheaper B,ates.

Carter's Grass Seeds for Light Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Heavy Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Medium Soils

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS

FOR ALTERNATE HUSBANDRY,

Including the greatest Food and Hay-producing Gras?es
and Clovers, in such proportions as the particular rotation
ma}- requii-e.

For One Year's Lay, best quality 13/6 per acre.

For Two Years' Lay 17/6 „

For Three or Four Years' Lay 22 1 , ,

CARTER'S SUPERFINE ITALIAN RYE GRASS.
7s. X'er bushel ; cheaper samples from 5*. to 6*'. per bshl.

PACEY'S PERENNIAL RYE GRASS.

65. 6^/, per bushel ; cheaper samples, 4«. to G.*. per bushel.

Best quality,

28/- to 33/-

per acre.

CARTER'S "ROYAL MIXTURE"

OF FINE GRASS SEEDS FOR LAWNS, Ac.
2O5. per bushel ; second quality, 18«.

CARTER'S FINE CLOVERS,

Free from weeds and dirt.

Broad-leaved Red 7id, to lid. per lb.

Perennial Red or Cow Grass lO^d. to Is. Id. „

White Dutch Ud. to Is. 4d. „

Alsike Hybrid Is. to Is. 4d. „

Yellow Trefoil or Hop 4id. to 7d. „

Lowest price on application.

CARTER'S "LORD'S MIXTURE"

Of Fine Grass Seeds; for Cricket Grounds.

18*. per bushel. (3 bushels per acre.)

J. C. Sj- Co. have reeclvcil their sfochs'of Grass and Clover Seeds in splendid conditioji, and are jn-epared to receive orders

to he supplied immediately.

FOU THE FULLEST INFORMATION ON SEEDIN'G DOWN LAND TO GRASS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

FAMES CARTER & Co., The Royal Seedsmen,

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S MAMMoTH PRIZE MANGJiL, (Page 1).

'I^ r'p

i

h

■ 11

^\

^^^

M

-\ ^

/ ' ii_f--

.til'

*

1

c'^

■llllSSiSliiilH"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MARCH, 1870.

PLATE I.

SOUTHDOWN WETHERS:

THE PROPERTY OF LORD WALSINGHAM, OF MERTON, THETFORD ; AND WINNERS OF THE CHAMPION PLATE
OF £50 AS THE BEST PEN OF SHEEP AT THE SMITHFIELD CLUB SHOW, 1870.

" Lord Walsingham never showed sheep of purer
Southdown type than he has done this year at Birming-
ham. The Mrst-prize pen were very pictures of what
they should be ; so admirably matched, with such nicely-
shaded shapely faces, such neat symmetrical frames, and
all over of such high bi'eeding and quality. They were
not large, certainly ; and we were almost sorry to hear
that they will go for more sIec in London. During the
last twenty or thirty years, some alloy no doubt has been
tried with the Southdown, but this is a mistake ; for what
we gain in weight we lose in almost every other way.
The second-prize Merton pen were not equal to the first,
but if there had been a cup for the best entry of any
animals in the Hall, the Southdowns would have won it."

It was thus that we wrote of the best sheep at Birming-
ham ; while of the Smithfield Club champions we said :

" The great pride of the show was clearly to be
found amongst the Southdowns. Lord Sondes had
some very good second-prize sheai'lings, and Sir W.
Throckmorton's third pen were heavier than the first
shearlings ; but the style and quality of the Mertons
were deservedly triumphant, as it is to be hoped we are
coming to see that it is not mere weight which marks the
excellence of a Southdown. The light-weights from the
same famous flock were still prettier, and JNlr. Foljambe
and Lord Sondes quite deserving of their places, keeping
to purity of type as well as to early development ; but
Mr. Rigden, whose stock would seem to come very capri-
ciously, was in no force, and Sussex, indeed, quite out of

form. No wonder that the judges commended the class
of old sheep, for never has there been one so regular and
true in form after high feeding from very lambhood.
And here the Merton wethers reigned supreme as they
deserved, for taking them all in all, for fineness of touch,
broad and level shoulders, muscular backs and rumps, and
' legs of mutton,' they were certainly pictures to look on,
and the £50 award spoke for itself."

These sheep were 32 months and 2 weeks old, and the
weight of the pen 6 cwt. 1 qr. 251b. The Judges at the
Smithfield Club Show were Messrs. TI. Hart, Bedding-
ham, Sussex ; H. Lugar, Ingham, Suffolk ; and R. H.
Masfen, Pendeford, Staft'ordshire, who thus speak to the
merits of this entry : " A pen of extraordinary sheep " —
" Such sheep ! Good looks, or rather expressive, almost
amounting to intelligence, nearly perfect, uniform in
every respect, and I think the best pen of sheep ever sent
from Merton to the Smithfield Show" — " They cantered
away from the rest. Upon this the Judges were unani-
mous." Mr. Woods, Lord Walsinghara's steward, also
supplied the following particulars for the Club Report :
" In the champion pen one of the three was by the highly-
commended shearling ram at the Plymouth Royal meet-
ing, and therefore half-brother to the Cup wethers of
1867; another was by the 2nd prize York ram, and
therefore equally akin to the Cup wethers of 1864 ; and
the third by the 1st prize two-shear ram at Bury, the sire
of the Smithfield Club and Liverpool Cup wethers of last
year."

PLATE II.

FOXES versus RABBITS.

The day, I believe, is not far distant when the Legisla-
ture will seek to more strictly enforce the principle as to
rabbits not being game, but in the interim a deal may be
done by talking about it. Many landlords have, to their
honour, voluntarily given up their claim to these pests of
the farm, now that they know the great injury they
cause, and others will have to follow so good a lead. The
weak place, so far as England is concerned, is no doubt

Old Series.]

in the House of Commons ; as only look at the front
" the Farmers' Friends" have lately offered there. Mr.
Green has spoken in the highest possible terms of that
Police-Gamekeeper Act ; Mr. Newdegate has mourned
over the calumnies in circulation against game-pre-
serving, and Colenel Brise said fanners were fond of
sport. But not one of them denounced the hares and
rabbits ; for, as Lord Granville says, " none of the county
O [Vol. LXVII.— No. 3,

186

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

members come within a hundred miles of such a question,
and he only feared lest he should be regarded as occupy-
ing the position of the fool who rushed in where angels
feared to tread." But these angels will most assuredly
have to try their footing here, or it will get very hot for
them hereafter ; and when we find men like Lord Gran-
ville himself and Sir George Womb we 11 speaiiing out so
strongly, we may be well warranted in looking about for
more like them. And, then, as to the fox-killer, show

him up whenever you have a chance, as the Berkshire
yeoman did the Gentleman-in-Waiting at Windsor, or
cut him dead as the parson of the parish did ; for no man
who assassinates a fox can be ever worth knowing. And
bear in mind, while these little wretches, the rabbits, are
multiplying exceedingly, foxes in certain parts are getting
very scarce. — From a Paper read by Henry^ Corbet,
at the Farmers' Club.

THE MOISTURE IN DRY SOILS AND CLIMATES.

BY CUTHBERT W, JOHNSON, F.R.S.

There are few important questions more interesting to
the agriculturist than the moisture of his soils. There
are, indeed, hardly any lands in which the supply of their
watery portion may not be so altered as to materially
increase their produce. Take, for instance, our grass
lands — compare the lands of the grass growing counties
of the west of England with a yearly average rainfall of
40 inches (equal to 4,000 tons per acre), with similar
soils of our far drier eastern counties, where grass lands
are found only in a very limited proportion, and where
the annual rainfall is only about 20 inches, or 2,000 tons
of water per acre ; and then ask if there is any reason
for this diiference in the proportion of grass lands, except
the widely different supply of moisture ? And again, why
do the great irrigators, who hold their farms on our great
chalk formation, so carefully avail themselves of the bril-
liant springs which arise in that well farmed district ?
The water they employ on their noble water meads is free
from organic matter, its chief constituent is carbonate of
lime (about 20 grains in the gallon) ; but on a chalk soil
this we can hardly consider to be a manure ; and yet these
springs, as soon as they arise from the earth, are found
to spread fertility over large districts of, otherwise, infe-
rior pastures. Then again, why do we in Croydon in
our sewage irrigated meads find that our Italian rye grass
will not yield its maximum amount of grass (say about 30
tons, or more, per annum) without we keep the land in
a certain degree of moisture — viz., by yearly applying
from 3,000 to 6,000 tons of sewage, equal to a rainfall of
from 80 to 60 inches per acre ? They would hardly need
80 copious a supply of liquid manure for the sake of its
organic matters, in fact, hardly any amount of the richest
manure would induce such a growth of grass as is here
raised by the sewage.

The question, so important to all landholders, has not
escaped the attention of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England. This great association (we may
proudly feel the greatest agricultural society in
existence), has directed its attention to one of
the most important branches of the inquiry, viz.,
I' The retention of moisture in the soil of arable soils
in dry climates," and for a valuable essay on this subject
they have awarded a prize to Mr. Robert Vallentine, of
Burcott {Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, 2nd series, vol. v., p. 336).
The question on which our author has so well and so
practically written, is, I opine, hardly exhausted by the
conditions of the Society. It might well, I incline to
think, be extended to include the absorption as well as
the retention of the atmospheric moisture. Nature (ever
in a good humour to instruct the farmer) here again lends
her aid. She shows him, that the insensible watery
vapour of the atmosphere is not deposited on all his lands
alike — for instance, the dew, so valuable to his crops on
dry soils and counties, is not found on all portions of

his farm in equal amount ; near the sea for instance, or
adjoining rivers, the insensible moisture in the atmos-
phere is more considerable, and the deposit of dew in
their neighbourhood more extensive than on fields not
very far removed. Even in the broiling climate of India,
where at certain times dew is almost unknown, even there,
during every night dew is found near to running waters.
We may here pause to remind ourselves, that in our dry
eastern corn-growing counties the farmer notices that,
near the sea and near to certain rivers, his crops of wheat
are, in general, of rather superior value.

Now, it is the insensible moisture to which it may be
useful to direct our inquiry. And it may chance that the
result will suggest some experimental examinations not
unlikely to produce profitable results. First, let us briefly
pause to remember the proportion of the water always
present in the air we breathe. On the very threshold
of our inquiry a startling fact presents itself, the varying
amount of this insensible watery vapour, and (what looks
very little indeed like a chance arrangement) the extent
of that moisture is by far the greatest when other sources
of supply to vegetation are not present, and our crops
need it the most. Let us carefully note the result of the
examinations of the atmospheric vapour, made at the
Royal Observatory, at Greenwich, by Mr. J. H. Belville
{Manual of Thermometer, p. 19).

The mean amount of insensible moisture in a cubic
foot of the atmosphere at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m is given in
the following table in grains ; it is the result of observa-
tions during seven years.

9 a.m. 3 p.m.

January 2.70 2.84

February 2.58 2.72

March 2.77 2.85

April 8.26 3.37

May 4.02 4.0G

June 4.71 4.78

July 5.07 5.26

August 5.00 5.07

September 4.66 4.77

October 3.96 4.01

November 3.27 3.42

December 2.78 2.89

The reader will here remark how, by Creative benficence,
the amount of the insensible moisture of the air, of which
our crops so copiously avail themselves, is about twice
as much in June, July, and August as in the winter
months ; so that in summer, when the other sources of
supply of moisture to plant are commonly withheld, this
is increased.

And again, not only is there this insensible moisture
placed in the atmosphere, but there is contained in all
soils, however poor and however apparently devoid of any
moisture, the power of absorbing moisture from the air.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

187

And what Davy long since proved {Elem. Agri. Chem.,
p. 183), this power increases with the vahce of the soil.
He remarked truly enough that, after having examined
many soils, he had found that the extent of atmospheric
moisture they absorbed was ever the greatest in the rich-
est lands ; so that he thought it was one good method of
judging of the productiveness of a soil. Thus he found
that 1,000 parts of a celebrated soil from East Lothian,
when first dried in a temperature of 212 deg., and then
placed in an atmosphere saturated with moisture at a
temperature of 62 deg., gained 18 grains.
1,000 parts of a fertile soil from the \alley of the Parret

gained 16 grains.
1,000 grains of a soil from Mersea, in Essex, worth 45s.

an acre, gained 13 grains.
1,000 grains of a coarse sand, worth 15s. an acre, gained

only 8 grains.
1,000 grains of the soil of Bagshot Heath gained only 3

grains.

This absorbent power of our soils is apparently ever in
action ; for I never found any soils (after even the long-
est absence of rain) but what contained a certain amount
of moisture. To give the result of only some experi-
ments : It was on the 6th of August, in 1864, that, hav-
ing noticed how well the crops, the timber-trees, and
the shrubs seemed to withstand the very dry weather, I
made the following experiments, to ascertain the amount
of water present in the dry soils around my house at
Croydon. When these specimens were taken, there had
been scarcely any rain for several weeks, only 0.43 of an
inch of rain having fallen at Croydon in the previous
July, and not any in August tiU the specimens of different
soils were collected ; and it is remarkable that during
five or six weeks, from July 1 to August 6, there were
not more than four or five nights that any dew fell. The
eight specimens I examined were as follows : No. 1 was
a black, gravelly soil, from immediately under the turf of
an old park. This soil is about 5 inches in depth, rest-
ing upon a bed of coarse gravel about 4 feet thick. No.
2 was from a bank of the Isle of Thanet sand, planted
with young timber-trees. No. 8 was from the chalk soil
of an old pasture, immediately below the turf. No. 4
was from a kitchen garden whose soil is the Isle of Thanet
sand : this specimen was taken from the surface of a bed
on which Regent potatoes were growing. No. 5 was
from the soil of the same bed, taken 9 inches from the
surface. No. 6 was blowing sand taken from some exca-
vations near the East Croydon station. No. 7 was from
a field of the London basin clay. No. 8 was from a bed
of black sandy gravel, copiously dressed with cocoa-nut
fibre. Equal weights of these soils were carefully pul-
verized, and exposed for some hours to a heat of 212 deg.
Upon again being weighed, they had all lost weight ; and
calculating that the weight of an acre of soil 10 inches
deep is equal to 1,000 tons, then the amount of water
contained in these soils (all in appearance quite devoid of
moisture) was equal, in these experiments — No. 1, soil
under turf, to about 20 tons of water per acre ; No. 2,
Thanet sand, 10 tons; No. 3, chalk soil, 5 tons; No. 4,
potato soil, from surface, 5 tons; No. 5, same soil, nine
inches from the surface, 30 tons ; No. 6, blowing sand,
72 tons ; No. 7, London clay, pulverized, 40 tons ; No.
8, cocoa-nut fibre and soil, 41 tons. At the time these
experiments were made there had hardly been any rain
for forty days. From the 29th of June till the 6th of
August it only rained on eight days; and the total
amount of rain-water during that time was only fifty-five
tons per acre, or on an average about seven tons of water
each day that any rain fell. These showers merely mois-
tened the surface of the ground, and were speedily dried
off. The water, therefore, which remained in the soils
when I examined them would apparently only have been

maintained by their absorption of the watery vapour of
the atmosphere.

And as I have in another place had occasion to remark,
when speaking of the absorption of the watery vapour
by our soils, we must not forget that this deposition of
water is not confined to the surface of the soil. Where-
ever the atmospheric air can freely penetrate, there the
deposition of the dew, under favourable circumstances,
takes place. This also often occurs in the interior of the
soil, when evaporation is taking place from the surface.
The amount of the dew deposited upon the soil has been
estimated by Dr. Dalton to be equal to five inches per
annum, or about 500 tons of water per acre. Less dew
is usually formed during the first than in the second
portion of the night. The amount of water dei>osited in
dew varies at different seasons and localities. Autumn, as
Mr. Steinmitz observes, is remarkable for its heavy dews,
owing to the depression of the temperature during the
nights. These are sometimes so abundant as to admit of
measurement in the rain-gauge. In one night, towards
the end of September, Luke Howard got one-hundredth
of an inch of water from the dew, and in the last six days
of October eleven-hundredths from copious dews and
mists, "We must not then forget that dew is only one
form in which the aqueous vapour of the atmosphere is
deposited on the earth for the service of vegetation. We
have seen that when soils are dried in a temperature of
212 deg., and exposed on their surfaces to air saturated
with moisture, they absorb very considerable portions of
water. Suppose a soil which weighs about 1,000 tons
per acre is pulverized so as to be freely permeable by the
atmosphere, and that such a soil, after being thoroughly
dried, is exposed to the air, then we find from the experi-
ments of Schubler that it will absorb water, in 24 hom'S
(being a still greater amount than in the trials of Davy) —

If a sandy clay, equal to 26 tons.

If a loamy clay, „ 30 „

If a stiff clay, „ 36 „

If a garden mould, „ 45 „

We may conclude, then, that the more deeply a soil is
pulverized, the more copious will, in certain states of the
atmosphere, be the supply of moisture from the air ; and
let us not forget that this deposition is commonly in
warm weather greater under the surface than on the
surface of the land, simply because it is the cooler portion
of the soil. To give an instance, when (at Croydon)
at 9 o'clock in the morning of the 7th of June, 1869, the
temperature of the air in the shade, on a northern aspect,
was 78 degs., at a depth of 12 inches the earth was only
53 degs. At Chiswick, when the air was 78 degs., the
earth was 68 degs. On the 5th of July, when at Croydon
the thermometer indicated 78 degs. in the air, it was only
55 degs. at 12 inches in the earth. On the same day at
Chiswick, when the temperature of the air was 80 degs.
that of the earth at 12 inches was 63 degs.

We may well then concur with Mr. Vallentine when at
the commencement of his essay he remarks :

" The most essential step towards causing the retention
of moisture in arable land is to obtain a good depth of
well-cultivated soil. All clay soils, and all such as rest
upon clay or have a hard impervious pan or subsoil
within a few inches of the surface, require, in the first
place, drainivg, which must be followed by deep cultiva-
tion of some sort when the ground is sufficiently dry to
crumble into pieces.

" It certainly at first sight appears paradoxical to speak
of draining land as a means of enabling it to retain
moisture ; but when the various effects which drainage
has upon land are duly considered, there is no real
absurdity in the matter. Without considering it neces-
sary to enter fully into the theory and practice of

Q 2

188

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

drainage, I must meutiou a few leading points on the
advantages of draining alJ impervious subsoils.

" The great object of draining is to relieve the soil of
an excess of moisture, so as to allow rain-water to filter
through the land instead of standing too long, or ruuuiug
over the surface. A good deal of land when being
drained is found to have a comparatively dry subsoil to
what the surface has, and so dense as to prevent water
readily passing through it. After draining, however, air
passages are formed, and water follows at once, when
there is any pressure from the surface. Thoroughly
drained, well-cultivated land allows any excess of mois-
ture to pass away during wet periods, whilst it also has
the power of retaining a store of moisture for periods of
drought.

" All ordinary root crops thrive best with a good supply
of moisture, and even oats and barley not unfrequenlly
suifer from drought. The best naturally fertile soils are
of such a texture that they require no artificial drain-
ing, and seldom become either too wet or too dry. Light
sandy soils, on the other hand, have too much natural
drainage, and are chiefly a trouble from retaining too
little moisture. Clay loams by drainage and superior
cultivation are rendered well adapted for root crops,
though such soils at one time were considered quite un-
suitable for them.

" After the drainage of such land as requires it, the
next most important step for retaining moisture is deep-
cultivation. Whether this may be accomplished by steam
or horse power is immaterial, so that the operations are
carried on at the proper time, when the soil is dry, or
comparatively so. To manage this always is next to im-
possible ; but to be able to do so generally requires no
more than a full strength of horses or steam properly
applied. The labour of the farm must always be kept
well forward."

" Presuming," Mr. Vallentine adds, " that a farm is in
such a state of cleanliness that there is no real mass of
couch anywhere, autumn ploughing should be as deep as
the nature of the soil will admit of. If the subsoil is very
poor or stubborn, subsoil ploughing, or stirring, is pre-
ferable to a very deep furrow, which would bring too
much inferior soil to tbe surface. Subsoding always does
good if the land is quite dry, or at least dry enough to
crumble to pieces as the plough works through it. Like
every other operation, however, subsoiling may be at-
tempted at a wrong time, and mischief naturally follows.
I have erred in this way more than once, and have seen
frequent instances of failure resulting from subsoiling
when the land was too wet, and after being cut up by the
share, fall closely down again and made a mess of by the
horses' feet. Land can seldom be suited for subsoiling
after the middle of November, and not often so late in the
season as this. Yet how many have continued this work
during the whole winter ?

" With a good strength upon a farm, one field might be
subsoil-ploughed every ordinary autumn, until the whole
of the arable land has been stirred to a depth of at least a
foot. After this the depth of the surface furrow should
be increased gradually at every rotation for green cropping.
It is quite an exception for land to be ploughed deeper
than from four to five inches. Now, instead of this, if
the soil be deepened to eight inches by degrees, the in-
crease power it will have for retaining moistttre will be
very great, and the chance of obtaining heavy crops of all
kinds increased in like proportion. It must, however, be
assumed that the due manuring of the land must also be
attended to.

" Autumn dunging for green crops on all clay soils or
stiff loams is also much to be recommended. All soils
dunged in autumn or winter retain moisture better for use
in dry weather than «Hch as are uadunged. Indeed, there

are some soils so very retentive of moistui'e, after winter
manuring, that it would be better avoided, especially if
the laud contains any couch which requires getting out in
spring. Any good system may be abused at times, and
there is nothing nmch worse than dunging ioul land at
any time. There are many good plans carried out sys-
tematically, such as subsoil ploughing, deep ordinary
ploughing, dunging in autumn, &c., when every circum-
stance is suitable ; but on the other hand, any of these
operations may be carried on improperly, loss, coupled
with disappointment, being the natural result.

" Light sandy soils, and all such as are usually known
by the name of light soils, should not, I think, be dunged
in winter. I have seen better crops of roots grown
after dunging in June than after autumn dunged land,
the weight of dung applied in both cases being the
same."

The cultivation of turnips on the flat and on the ridge
systems, in their relation to the moisture of the soil, did
not escape Mr. Vallentine's attention. He remarks :
" It has frequently been a matter of discussion whether
turnips should be grown on ridges, or on the Jlat surface.
I think it would be useless to attempt to enter largely
upon this subject. On dry sandy soils, in dry climates,
moisture is certainly retained better by sowing on the
ilat than on high tidges. A great deal depends upon
how the various operations are conducted. By slovenly,
or at least by dilatory turnip-growei-s, more moisture is
allowed to escape during the preparation and sowing of
turnips upon the^af^, than is lost by a better course of
management when the cultivation is on the ridge system.
The ridges may generally be so rolled down as to be
nearly meeting, with a depression between them ol only
a few inches. In such case there is little more chance for
moisture to escape than by the flat system. The ridge
system allows the manure to be placed more directly
under the seed than by the broad-cast method. It also
allows of a much cheaper and more efficient system of
cultivation. However important a root crop may be, it
is not more so than that the land should be thoroughly
cleaned, well stin-ed, and completely cultivated during the
growth of the crop which is to be the foundation, and, by
good cultivation, the very ground-work of three or four
crops afterwards. When roots are grown on ihejtaf, no
deep cultivation can take place. A mere surface-scratch-
ing is about all that can be done, or at least all that is
generally done. Where thejtat system of growing roots
is adopted, the land is seldom kept so clean through a
rotation of crops, as where ridging prevails. Many
people contend that heavier crops 7nag be grown on the
flat than on ridges ; still, it is well known that heavier
crops have generally bee?i grown on ridges when the
system has been properly carried out."

I am not aware of any extensive experiments that have
hitherto been made, as to the effect produced on the ab-
sorbing or retaining power of a soil for moisture, by
dressing it with certain deliquescent salts. Every gardener
is aware that if he dresses the surface of his asparagus or
cabbage beds with common salt (especially if with that
made from sea water), then the surface of the soil is,
for a considerable time, more moist than the adjoining un-
salted beds Whether, too, the spray of the sea carried on
to the lands adjoining the shore may not produce some
portion of the beneficial influence to which I have before
alluded, in the case of sea shore farms, is worthy of our
serious attention. It is very certain that other saline
matters, such as the nitrate of lime and the chloride of
lime, possess far more powerful deliquescent properties than
common salt ; and the chloride of lime must be obtainable
in the waste of the calico bleacher to a very large extent,
and at a very reasonable rate.

Some years have now elapsed since I found that when

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE.

189

1,000 parts of the rich soil of a field in Essex, 12 miles
from the sea, previously dried in a temperature of 212degs.,
when exposed to air saturated with moisture gained in
three hours 27 parts ; 1,000 parts of the soil of an adjoin-
ing portion of the same field, which had been dressed with
12 bushels of salt per acre, gained 27 parts. In the same
period

1,000 parts of some refuse marine salt gained 49J parts.

1,000 parts soot 39 „

1,000 of horse-dung (dried at 100 degs.) ... 145 „

1,000 of cow-dung 130

1,000 of pig-dung 120

1,000 of sheep-dung 31 „

These examinations, imperfect as they are, may lead to
other and far more valuable researches. "VVe have been

reminded as we have travelled together through this little
paper, what great things have been accomplished in the
regulation of the supply of moisture to our grass and other
lands. Such successes may well prompt us to believe
that not only is the addition to and the preservation of that
moisture in our arable soils far more within our power than
we are generally inclined to believe, but that such ad-
ditions to their fertility will in all reasonable probability be
at no distant day profitably accomplished.

For a long •eries of years I have most carefully avoided
making disparaging personal remarks, or entering into ar^
public controversy- ; and this must explain to the Rev. H.
Moule why I respectfully abstain from remarking upon his
temperately wi-itten note in the Mark Lane Exprefn of the
2-ith of January, in which he very naturally expresses his
admiration of the earth closet system.

DAIRY FARMING.

BY THE NORTHERN TAKMER.

Introductory. — In the United Kingdom the dairy occu-
pies an exceedingly prominent and important position,
and is a branch of industry well suited to both the
climate and soil of many districts of the country, as well
as to the means and requirements of the farmers who
make it a leading branch of business. Mildness and
humidity of climate, and fertility of soil, are essential
requisites for profitable dairy farming, the former being
eminently conducive to the health and well-doing of the
best and most useful breeds of cattle, while the latter is
indispensable for providing a full bite of succulent
herbage for the summer months, and for raising those
root crops in sufficient abundance which are to provide
food for winter and spring.

To the small farmer of limited means a dairy offers
many inducements, even apart from favourable conditions
of climate, soil, and facility for the disposal of his produce.
Capital invested in agriculture being for the most part
locked up for some considerable time, it is difficult for the
needy or struggling man ever to attain anything but a very
moderate degree of success, if indeed he can get on at all
by even the most untiring industry. When, however, a
portion of his small capital is invested in the purchase of
milking stock, and a part of the farm laid out to suit them,
the return is immediate, and from this source money is
conveniently got to meet the weekly payments for labour,
house, and other incidental expenses, much inconvenience
being thus escaped which would be altogether unavoid-
able in the case of having to wait for the ripening of the
cereals.

It is highly necessary in establishing a dairy to take
into very careful consideration the class of animals that
wiU suit the farm, it being much better to get them of a
size rather under than over the capabilities of the soil, as
in that case improvement will begin at once ; whereas, if
the opposite has been the case, the stock must recede.
This rule applies to all the breeds and varieties of the
domestic animals ; and its recognition in purchasing
breeding stock will not fail of bringing about most suc-
cessful results. A man possessed of large capital can
easily place on his land animals of immense bone and
substance, and of the most approved breeds ; but he can-
not so easily alter the character of his soil, and make it fit
to carry such cattle ; that must be a work of time, however
great may be the expenditure with the view of improve-
ment ; and, consequently, it becomes good sound policy
to keep both stock and soil progressing in the same ratio.
If the dairy is to be the leading source of profit, and its

produce in the utmost obtainable quantity the sole object,
independent of all other considerations, a breed of cattle
should be selected famed for its large milking capacity, no
animal being retained in the stock, which, after a fair
trial, has been proved to be a poor milker, her produce
not paying for keep and attendance. On the other hand,
when milk and butter do not take first place, the rearing
of young cattle being carefully attended to as a source of
revenue, a more valuable breed will be desirable, one
which reaches maturity at an early age, so that in what-
ever condition the animals are sold oft" the farm, whether
as stores or tit for the butcher, they may bring remune-
rative prices.

For a purely milking dairy, and more especially on soils
of light or medium quality, the Ayrshire can scarcely be
excelled. This breed is characterized by hardiness and
activity, the cows keeping themselves in good condition,
and giving a large quantity of milk in proportion to the
consumption of food. The most serious objection to
keeping large-framed cattle on land light of surface, is the
tendency they have to lose flesh while milking largely ; the
actual loss in money value of the animal herself, being
little more than met by the whole season's produce.
The Ayrshire is just constituted to meet this difficulty,
her compact and tidy frame being easily kept up ; her
coat is always shiny and healthy looking, unless positively
starved outright, and the close of the season invariably
finds her in blooming condition. For the combined dairy
no cross need be desired better than that between a Short-
horn bull and Ayrshire cow, both animals being pure
specimens of the breed which they represent. The stock
thus bred are exceedingly valuable for every purpose, as
they inherit the large milking capability of the one parent
and the fattening properties of the other. lu every case
where the object of the farmer is two-fold, the herd should
be sufficiently well bred to permit of the way-going
animals to be fattened and cleared off at the age of two
years, so that the permament stock of milkers may be in-
terfered with as little as possible, and a full bite preserved
for them. The very fact of the breeder having it in his
power to do this by the use of first-class male animals,
ought to be one of the strongest inducements to his keep-
ing only the best, and utterly ignoring those which are
cross-bred. Pure breeding we thus find tends largely to
economy of food, by conducing to early maturity ;
and materially quickens the return of capital. A
heifer or bullock, the sire of which was pure-bred,
will in general bring as much money at the age

190

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

of two years as could be obtained for it a year
later had both parents been cross-bred. If it suits
to clear off the young spare stock only in store condition,
the superiority is quite as marked, proportionately large
prices being received according to quality, and, moreover,
they are always saleable. On dairy farms, where the
cattle are carefully bred, with a view more especially to
the profitable production of milk, and where it is not
convenient to feed the spare stock, very good results may
be obtained by rearing the heifer calves only, retaining
them on the farm until they have milked two seasons,
and then disposing of them as they approach their third
calving time. Being now in their very prime they can
easily be sold at remunerative prices, well repaying their
breeder for his skill and trouble. And if the possession of
merely young animals gives a little more trouble, and
scarcely perhaps such a large annual return, yet the high
price received on the average for the off-going stock amply
makes up jfor the difference. When this mode is followed
there are never any aged cows to weed out, which must
be sold for a few pounds, the loss in value making a
serious inroad on the animals' produce for the previous
season. Being successful in obtaining big prices affords
much encouragement to rear as many calves as circum-
stances will permit, and acts as a powerful inducement to
breed carefully, and get a name for turning out
thriving beasts, good specimens of the breed to which
they belong.

Selection of a Bull. — The surprising influence for
good which the male of pure descent, whatever the breed,
exercises on the quality and character of the future off-
spring being now well understood, no effort should be
spared to procure purely-bred bulls, and on no considera-
tion should a cross-bred animal be used. The extra price
is not worth a thought, as by the time the progeny of the
pure-bred bull have reached the age of twelvemonths
they wiU have paid not only the difference between the
pure and the cross but the entire value of their sire, and
that without either extra feeding or attention. No
difficulty need be experienced in getting breeding animals
of the right stamp, as they are pretty equally distributed ;
but should it happen that a little trouble is necessary, it
should be cheerfully undertaken. No amount of care
will make up for want of breeding ; and it is most un-
pleasant for those in attendance to be putting good food
in bad skins, knowing, as they well do, that the results to
their employer can never be anything but unsatisfactory.
"When the stock are crossed, no home-bred bull should be
used on any pretence whatever, however well-looking he
may be ; however compact in frame, or hardy of constitu-
tion ; or however well descended he may happen to be
from animals ot rare milking property — all should be
overlooked, and the beast got rid of, as if used the stock
will recede instead of progressing. Breeding from cross-
bred bulls destroys uniformity ; the cows become un-
shapely, losing the fine level back, finely sprung rib, and
general squareness of body, which are so eminently the
characteristics of purely-bred cattle. They are also much
larger consumers of food — a consideration no one can
afford to overlook — very soon after passing their prime,
getting a raggedly and uneven appearance, and requiring
a very large amount of food to keep them at all in decent
condition. At the present day there is no difficulty in
procuring young Shorthorn bulls of pure descent, and at
prices within the reach of men of very moderate means
indeed. This blood being now so universally diffused
over the kingdom, and possessed by those who have the
good sense neither to pamper nor over-feed, rearing their
young stock in exactly the same way as they are likely to
be treated by those who purchase them for breeding pur-
poses, a great boon has been conferred on all stock farmers
of limited capital. Bulls reared iu this way are not only

to be had for far less money than those which have beeil
pampered, but they also turn out to be far more useful,
being really serviceable animals for the purpose for which
they are wanted, and their progeny healthy and thriving.
To sum up this part of a very important and interesting
subject, we consider that a better foundation, or starting
point, for profitable dairy farming can scarcely be attained
than that which begins with the Ayrshire cow and Short-
horn bull. In uplands, where the pasture is but indifferent,
and situation exposed and unsheltered, the Shorthorn is
then inadmissible, the pure Ayrshire giving more profit-
able results.

Treatment of the Calf. — A considerable expenditure of
time, trouble, and money having been gone to in procur-
ing good blood, the offspring becomes valuable before it
has seen the light ; and it therefore becomes well worth
while to bestow much care on the cows during the months
of gestation, removing as much as possible -all disturbing
influences, so that the calf may come to the world healthy
and full-timed. When the breed is valuable, much loss
is. too frequently experienced from prematui'e births, as
from whatever cause it begins in the herd, it seldom
ceases without a considerable number of the cows slink-
ing, there being an apparent, though hitherto unexplained
sympathy amongst a number of breeding cows, the con-
ditions of whose daily life is exactly similar. Regularity
of feeding, good ventilation, and abundant room, not only
in the stalls, but in the width of the doors, so that there
need be no crushing as they go in and out, are all excellent
preventives of abortion. ^lusty hay or straw, more par-
ticularly barley-straw in almost any condition, given as
food to in-calf cows, is provocative of slinking, and should
be avoided, as also the giving of a quantity of cold roots
as the first feed in the morning (frosted turnips are
particularly objectionable), a little sweet hay or fresh oaten
straw being safest for the morning feed, and accidents less
likely to occur by such an arrangement. The calf having
been brought into the world healthy, the great aim should
be to keep it so, and this can in general be successfully
done by providing it with comfortable quarters, and feed-
ing moderately at regular intervals. When the disposal
of dairy produce is more the object than stock-rearing,
the latter being subordinate to the former, and the calf
consequently intended to be brought up by hand, it
should, to save trouble, be removed from the mother the
moment she has licked it dry. It should not be per-
mitted to suck even once, and the instincts of mother and
offspring never having been aroused, they have no know-
ledge of each other, and much annoyance is thereby
avoided. Although in theory it may seem to serve seve-
ral useful purposes to permit of the calf sucking its dam
for a day or two, yet the trouble afterwards is so great
in getting the one to let down her milk, and the other to
drink out of the pail, that the good which might be ex-
pected to result from doing so becomes quite neutralized.
The beastings can be quite as easily given by hand as by
suckling, and are in this way cfuite as effectual in clearing
the stomach and intestines, and establishing that healthy
action so vitally necessary for the very existence of the
creature so recently come into the world. When the calf
has never been permitted to snck its mother there is
not the slightest trouble in getting it to di'ink out
of the pail — hunger will make it do so ; whereas if
it has sucked at all, it shows the greatest obstinacy in
learning, and cannot be got to drink freely until a con-
siderable time has elapsed. With the cow herself there
is also some trouble, and very often positive danger
from retention of the milk when she has taken
kindly to the calf, and her maternal instincts thoroughly
aroused. For several days she will scarcely let down her
milk at all, rendering it almost impossible to milk her
clean, and, from this reason alone, severe inflammation is

dPHE I^ARMER'S MAGAZINiJ.

191

liable to set iu, rcbultiug, not only in a great deal of tem-
porary inconvenience, but actual monetary loss. Should
the swelling become bard, and not yield to reijeated and
long-continued fomentation with hot water, the fol-
lowing mixtui'e forms probably as good an ointment as
could be used for soothing the pain, and reducing the in-
flammation. Camphor, 1 oz., rubbed down with a little
spirits of wine, and well mixed with loz. of mercurial
ointment, and ^Ib. of elder ointment. This should be
rubbed well in after each milking, but clean washed off
with warm water before being again milked. To the
owner of a large stock of cows, the above receipt is
very valuable, and a few pots should be kept
ready mixed for use. A number of cows in a herd
with blind paps is most unsightly; besides being a
pecuniary loss by injuring the milking qualities,
and lessening the value of each animal so blemished
when parted with ; and moreover it is not creditable, and
therefore the utmost care should be taken to keep down
inflammation at the period o^ calving. If at all possible
the calf-house should be subdivided, so that each little
animal can have a separate compartment for itself — an
arrangement which adds most materially to its comfort
and progress, and through which much after trouble and
many losses from death can be avoided. To give the calf
a good start, and lay the foundation of a good constitution,
the milk should be given undiluted and warm from the
cow for the first fortnight, the third and fourth weeks
half new and half skim ; afterwards the skim itself will
answer admirably, and as the season advances the thick-
ened milk does equally well. When given in sufiicient
quantity, coagulated milk fattens amazingly, many lots of
calves so fed being fit for the butcher when tui'ned out to
shift for themselves. The most dangerous and insidious
disease to which young and rapidly-thriving animals are
subject is black-quarter, which, when it breaks out, very
fi-equently commits sad havoc before it can be checked,
making the loss very serious when the cattle are particu-
larly well bred. It gives so little warning that remedial
measures are usually of little avail, and therefore on those
pastures liable to its periodical appearance amongst the
young stock whatever can be done in the way of preven-
tion should on no account be neglected. Dry-lying in the
field is essential as a preventive, and care not to shift too
suddenly from moderate keep to rich and succulent pas-
tures, as blood-striking is almost sure to foUow. A seton
in the dewlap is strongly recommended by many dis-
tinguished veterinarians, and as we have ourselves often
tried it, and lost none when the precaution has been used,
we consider it worth while recording the mode of using it.
So as to render the cord more irritating it should be made
specially for the purpose, with one-half hemp and the other
half horse-hair, and in substance about the thickness of
ordinary fencing-wire. When thus made, the seton does
not require to be rubbed with Venice turpentine or can-
tharides ointment, the irritation which it induces being
quite enough for the purpose required. In inserting the
seton a little care is necessary to avoid the blood-vessels,
which can be done by taking the dewlap between the
finger and thumb, and ascertaining the exact point at
which the flesh terminates, underneath which the punc-
tm'e should be made and the cord introduced, a couple of
tight knots being put on each end to prevent its slipping
out. At intervals the cords should be examined, and
drawn back and forward with some degree of force to
prevent clogging and assist the discharge. As we have
already noticed, damp bottoms are a fruitful source
of black -quarter, and according as they are rendered dry
by drainage, this dire disease becomes less frequent in its
attacks, and of a milder and less fatal type. In situations
difficult of improvement housing by night should be re-
sorted to very early in autumn, so as to obviate as much

as possible the injurious effects of the damp soil and
chilling frosty dews.

The Sapphj of Food.—ks, the cow is fed so will her
produce be greater or less, profitable or otherwise, is an
axiom pretty well known to most people whose business is
amongst dairy stock. Yet notwithstanding this, there
cannot be a doubt in the mind of even a very superficial
observer, that there are many owners of milking cattle
who act as if the contrary were the case, and that it was
of comparatively little importance whether the food given
was up to the mark in either quantity or quality. Too
frequently but little winter food is prepared, and the poor
animals have to drag out a cheerless existence on whatever
rough grass they may be able to gather from the pastures
they occupied in summer, with the addition of a little
straw or coarse hay when in the house ; the modicum of
turnips or mangolds grown being reserved for advanced
spring, when the cows are at or near the calving. By the
time they drop their calves, the cows thus trwted are so
reduced in condition as to render them quite unfit for
giving a full season's milk, so much of the food supplied
having to go to the nourishment of an enfeebled system,
and to repair the waste of tissue caused by a lengthened period
of semi-starvation. Now such treatment is the veryreverse
of the teachings of reason and common sense, as the cow
being an animal than which there is none more grateful for
liberal treatment, or gives a more overflowing return,
arrangements should be made for an abundant supply of
nourishing and succulent food during all seasons, so that
each and every member of the herd shall have enough to
eat every day in the year. Without full feeding no cow,
however good may be her milking qualities, will remain
long in fuUproflt; therefore, keeping her on a short sup-
of food is just so much lost time, and loss of income to
her owner. If, from unforeseen causes, food happens to
be scarce at the calving season, it is better policy to sell
a few of the cows and so be enabled to feed those well
which are retained, than endeavour by pinching to keep
all on, and endanger the entire season's produce byprema-
turely drying the flow of milk ; a result inevitable if the
food is limited at the period of calving. Nay, so important
is it that there should not be the slightest approach to
hunger, or even restriction, that with the money so ob-
tained, if cash is not obtainable in any other way, it is better
to purchase food, whether in the shape of grains, oilcake,
turnips, or hay, and by supplementing the honHe-grown
food stretch it so far as to give a full supply until the
season has become sufficiently advanced, and it can be
procured in other ways on the farm. During the sum-
mer months the pastures are of course the principal de-
pendence for dairy stock, and on soils remarkable for
fertility nothing else is required, and summer-house feed-
ing is unknown, large-framed splendid cattle being kept
in blooming condition and in full profit on grass alone.
Very different, however, is the case of the farmer who
farms on a medium soil, the grass of which gets burned
up when overtaken by a lengthened drought, as if he has
not provided supplementary food, his cattle cannot pos-
sibly give a profitable return, falling rapidly off both in
produce and condition. Growing a few successive breadths
of green food to be given in the house at the morning
and evening milking pays well, as it not only increases
the flow of milk for the time being, but keeps it up till a
much more advanced period of the season than is the case
when the cows have to subsist on the pastures alone.
The large quantity of manure made by the partial house-
feeding system is another source of profit, as it gives the
farmer the means of sustaining the fertility of his land,
making it in fact self-supporting, but little money being
required to be spent on fertilizers of any kind when sub-
stantial farm-yard manure of the best sort is manufac-
tured so extensively. At one time we supposed that it

192

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

was au iinpossibity, even with the utmost care and fore-
thought, to provide such a regular supply as would ensure
a hearty feed twice a day from the time the roots were
finished in May, until again available in September ; but
a neighbour of our own has shown the fallacy of that idea
by keeping a stock of about fifty head for the past seven
or eight years without letting them into the fields even
for a single night during the entire year. Tares, irrigated
grass, and second-crop clover are his principal dependence
for house food ; and so well does he manage that he has
every beast fat, from the youngest-calved heifer to the
oldest covT. Winter tares sown in September are a valu-
able crop, giving a large amount of food, and permitting
the ground to be cleared in time for a full crop of turnips.
Tares have this useful property, that however succulent,
they do not scour cows fed on them, and may be given
fresh from the scythe without injury ; indeed, there is no
way they can be given so appetizing to the animals as
when newly cut. They do not so much increase the flow
of milk as add to its richness, and sustains it throughout
the season, the butter made being firm in texture and
delicious in quality. On ordinary laud tares are not worth
growing for cattle-feeding purposes, unless highly manured,
the crop having no bulk, and moreover runs too late in
the season to be of any perceptible benefit. Much of the
profit of a dairy is lost by keeping the cows out in the fields
at night too far into the autumn, as they are chilled by
the frosty dews, and the milk prematurely dried. This
course is compulsory on those who have provided too
limited a supply of food for a protracted winter, and are
therefore forced to leave them out too long, and turn out in
spring too early. Housing in time assists greatly to keep
up the milk, and to continue it at the paying point well
into the winter. It is obvious that when cows are turned
out during cold wet nights in October they can little else
but look for the best shelter the fences will afford, and
there lie down ; and a very small allowance of food given
inside, will be equal to what they can collect in the
fields, even when the nights are moderately fine. In
October butter is getting scarce and the price rising ;
therefore it pays to look to the comfort of the cattle, and
feed fairly both in-doors and out, if it can at all be
managed, which it can be, if the necessary measures have
been taken. By this kind of treatment towards the close
of the season, we come to the conclusion that as
much money may be made extra as to convert what other-
wise would have been but a middling season into an
exceedingly prosperous one. In bringing cows through
the winter it is of great benefit to their health to get a
run out every day for a few hours, the exercise promotes
circulation, prevents swollen joints, and tends to hardi-
ness of constitution, besides improving the quality of
their produce in the case of those which are milking.
When dry the winter food of the in-calf cow may with
great propriety consist of a morning and evening feed
of roots (carefully avoiding frosted turnips) and as much
oaten-straw as she will eat. This treatment regularly
kept up will bring her to the calving in fine condition,
enabling her to give milk in paying quantity, rich in
quality, and therefore highly productive of butter. M-
though farmers holding rich land look upon turnip
growing for dairy stock as an expensive process, and trust
more to the large crops of hay they can grovv than to
roots ; yet the upland farmer cannot in this way afford to
imitate his more fortunate neighbour in doing so. Not
being able to grow on light land more than half the crop
of hay that the other can with perfect ease, the article
becomes to him a most expensive one, and he must make
green crop his main stay, the character of his soil giving
him the opportunity of doing so, and rendering roots the
most economical food he can raise. When calved, hay
can be sutstituted for straw, and the quantity of roots

increased to about 100 lbs. given in three feeds, a weight
of roots quite sufficient for the heaviest cow. Some
attention should be given in the commencement to avoid
surfeit, as serious injury to the animal may be the result
of over-feeding, and in any case, if the food should be re-
jected for a time, the produce is liable to suffer a very
serious diminution. In early spring, while the cows are
still wholly dependent on house-feeding, those newly calved
are exceeding grateful for the addition of a little concen-
trated food, in the shape of crushed oats, meal, bran, or
oilcake. When mangolds are used it is absolutely im-
perative to give meal or crushed oats, as milk from them
alone is very thin and unproductive ; and again, those
roots having a decided tendency to scour, the meal acts
as a corrective, and the animals are kept in good health
and condition. There is a striking difference between
cream from the milk of merely root-fed cows and that
from cows getting coni-meal or cake in addition ; the one
is comparatively thin and poor, while the other is thick
cand rich, affording ample proof of its superiority by com-
parison alone, before being submitted to the conclusive
test of the churn.

House Accomtiwdation . — In the stalls provision should
be made to keep up such an amount of heat as will keep
the inmates comfortable, care being taken that too high a
temperature is not maintained, as they will sweat and be
under such a constant sense of oppression as will not only
keep them uncomfortable, but prove in the end injurious
to their health. From 55 to 60 degrees of night heat
will promote both health and comfort, and materially aid
in the production of milk, none of the food being wasted
by having to restore the natural heat of the system, which
is dissipated by the cold temperature in which the cattle
are compelled to remain. Draughts should be carefully
avoided, a newly-calved cow being highly susceptible of
injury from cold currents of air ; and to prevent cutting
draughts there is nothing so effectual as a properly-
organized system of ventilation. There should on no ac-
count be any side opening underneath the level of the
occupants of the stall, a mistake too often made, and the
fruitful cause of much mischief. A series of minute open-
ings, easily made in the building of the wall by the inser-
tion of hollow bricks or even drain pipes of small bore,
should extend the whole length of the building for the
admission of fresh air, the outflow of that which has become
vitiated being provided for by ventilators placed along the
ridge of the roof, or by raising the top row of slates a
few inches, which can be easily done, looks well, and
answers the purpose admirably. In the division of the
stalls, perfection appears to us to have been reached by the
different manufacturers in iron, who make stable and cow-
stall fitting a portion of their business, their models being
exceedingly worthy of inspection and study by those who
are about to build or remodel. They almost, without ex-
ception, combine security of fastening with safety to the
animals, comfortable standing room, and excellent facility
for preserving the bed clean and dry. Being rather
expensive they are almost out of the reach of ordinary
tenant-farmers, but with cheaper materials the style could
be kept sufficiently well in view to serve the purpose.

77/1? Dairy. — A dairy is popularly supposed to be a
structure combining neatness with elegance, while at the
same time it affords every possible convenience for the
preservation of milk and cream until manufactured into
butter. Beautiful dairies are certainly not scarce, but
they are mostly in connection with the establishments of
wealthy families, who take a special pride in having the
dairy a model of cleanliness and good order, and fitted up
with every contrivance that will save labour, and enable
the dairy-maid to have everything connected with her
department in fiist-class condition, fit at all times for in-
spection, besides supplying cream and butter for the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

193

family of the very best quality. The ordinary farmer,
however, is very diflerently situated in this respect, his
dairy being too frequently a mere make-shift, in no way
adapted to the purpose for which it is used : circumscribed
in its limits, with low roof, damp lloor, and incomplete
ventilation, it is almost impossible to preserve that
thorough state of cleanliness so indispensable for the pro-
duction of high class butter. It is clear that an im-
properly constructed dairy must be most inimical to the
farmer's interests, being the fruitful cause of much butter
of inditfcrent quality, the lower price at which it must
be sold taking a goodly slice oft" the annual receipts.
For the convenience of those concerned in its manage-
ment, and for the sake of having the milk removed to the
vessels in which it is to be set with as little agitation as
possible, and before being too much cooled, it is obvious
that the milk-house should be situated conveniently to
both the dwelling-house and milking-stalls. At the same
time it should be completely removed from the manure
heap ; or if it must unavoidably be in the range of build-
ings which surround the cattle-yards, there should be no
communication on that side, isolation so as to secure
freedom from the gases evolved by the fermentation of
manure being imperative. A north or north-west aspect
is very suitable, and if at all practicable the ground should
slope away from the dairy with so much of a fall as to
render it an impossibility to have such a thing as stagnant
water in its neighbourhood. It is not necessary that the
erection for this purpose should be large, as space can be
economised by having a double tier of shelves ; therefore
a somewhat long and narrow house is preferable to one
which is nearly square, centre space, especially where
there is a churning-room attached, not being so much an
^ object. The floor should be laid with tiles in preference
to flags, as having been submitted to the action of fire
they tend to preserve that dryness of atmosphere
so essential to success ; while flags, however suit-
able they may be in other respects, attract
damp, invariably sweating on the approach of rain,
and continuing moist and clammy during the prevalence
of wet weather. A thorough draught should be obtained,
if possible, so as to keep the air pure and fresh, the taint
imparted by confined air being fatal to sweetness in the
products of the dairy. Openings at opposite sides en-
sure this when the situation permits. When, however,
these are only admissible on one side, ventilators must be
placed on the ridge of the roof. Instead of these open-
ings being glazed, perforated zinc should be neatly fitted,
which, admitting air and light abundantly, excludes dust,
flies, and all objectionable matters which may be floating
about. "Wooden shutters will be found useful during high
Avinds, and for the exclusion of frost. A hot-water pipe
carried round the house is of the greatest service in
winter, enabling the temperature to be regulated, so as
to get the cream to rise quickly and in full quantity, ex-
treme cold being very prejudicial to its separation from
the mUk. In connection with, and having a door open-
ing into the dairy, there should be a small room for churn-
ing and washing the butter and preparing it for sale.
This is a most useful addition, and should not be done
without if possible, as, if the operations which should be
conducted here are performed in the dairy proper, it be-
comes almost impossible to preserve the purity and sweet-
ness of air so essentially i-equisite. The floor of this
room should be so constructed as to to carry off the water
without stagnation, the channel which conveys it going
through the wall, and then communicating with a drain.
On no account should the latter open into the house by
being carried underneath the wall, as, however carefully
managed, foul gases will be di'iveu back, and the air in-
side become vitiated in consequence. The scalding-house
should have no connection whatever with the dairy or

churning-room, but should invariably be entered by a
separate door.

Utci/sils of t/ie Balrij. — There is very great diversity
of opinion with regard to the best material for the coolers
or vessels which contain the milk while it remains in the
dairy, china, glass, wood, earthenware, zinc, and tinned
iron having all supporters, and all having something to
recommend them, either on the score of economy or use-
fulness. China bowls being the most ornamental, are
found on the shelves of those dairies which we have al-
ready had occasion to notice; but are never seen in the
possession of ordinary farmers. Glass is an excellent
material for a milk-pan, and would appear from experi-
ments which have been made to have a certain advantage
over other materials, in conducing to the rising of the
cream. Xotwithstandiug this, they do not seem to have
come into such general use as might have been anticipated,
probably on account of the first cost being considerable,
and from a natural fear of their being easily broken; which
we believe, however, is not really the ease. The brown
ware pan recommends itself by reason of its cheapness, and
is a favourite ; it is easily cleaned, and if a few breakages
do occur in the season, the expense of replacing them is
but trifling. Wooden coolers are also largely used, and
are, probably on account of their lasting nature, the most
economical of all milk vessels. When kept as they ought
to be they are highly ornamental ; the hoops bright as
silver, and the oak scoured white as snow, affording a
pleasing contrast. They have also the great advantage
of preserving the natural warmth of the milk much longer
in a low temperature, a quality which adds to their merit
in no small degree. When temporarily out of use a little
water may be placed in them, so that the hoops will not
loosen, which they are apt to do in very hard dry weather.
Attention to this little matter will render a well-made oak
cooler almost imperishable. Shallow rather than deep
vessels are the most suitable, the cream rising more
quickly. This formation is exactly found in the wooden
cooler as usually made ; and vessels of other material
which are made in the same form are best adapted for the
dairy. The churn has of late years come as near perfec-
tion as it seems possible to bring it ; and certainly in the
hands of those accustomed to its use, the forming of the
butter can be regulated to a minute, the quality of the
article being superb when good sweet cream is used. It
is of no advantage to bring the butter quickly, as by
doing so the quantity is less and the quality inferior. To
have substantial butter, firm in texture, rich in colour,
and of good keeping quality, and moreover so as to ex-
tract all the butter which the cream contains, the process
of churning should occupy not less than half an hour :
and wiU frequently run on to the full hour if the tempe-
rature is rather under the mark, which is as nearly as
possible 60 degrees. For ease of working and simplicity
of action there is no form to equal the barrel churn, as
sent out by the best English makers ; and it seems by
general acceptance to be the universal favourite. About
801bs. can be easily churned by manual labour when the
axle of the churn is mounted on a single little roller to
ease the friction ; and in practice there is not the slightest
ditticulty in getting the butter out of this style of churu,
nor is there the slightest inconvenience experienced in
cleaning it.

MauagenwHt of the Cream and Butter. — Much bad
butter is made by permitting the cream to stand too long
before being skimmed, putrefaction having commenced,
the taint of which no after manipulation can wholly re-
move. This is done too frequently from the mistaken notion
that if skimmed too soon the whole of the cream will not
have time to rise, and butter of indifferent quality is habit-
ually made, the parties doing so arguing that what is lost in
quality is gained in quantity — a species of self-deception

194

THli] FARMEE'B MAGA^JlNf].

which results iu much loss. To assist the chiu-ning pro-
cess, there is no objection to the cream being soured ; and
the butter is in no way injured thereby, perfectly sweet
cream being seldom used during summer unless for a very
particular purpose. Dm-iug the summer months there is
some difficulty in having the temperature sufficiently low,
and in consequence cold water must be brought into re-
quisition very abundantly to reduce the cream to the proper
standard. Tilling the churn with cold spring-water over
night, and plunging the cream crocks into large tubs of
the same, saves all trouble, the butter having the firmness
and consistency of that made in the autumn. So etfectual
is this mode of management that even where ice can be
cheaply and conveniently obtained, it need seldom be
used. In situations where cold spring water has to be
brought a considerable distance, and is consequently very
valuable, a few pounds of ice is exceedingly useful on
churning days, saving a great deal of trouble, besides
enabling the dairy maid to produce a first class article.
The butter on being removed from the churn should be
washed in the iced water until the whole of the butter-
milk is expressed, which is easily known by the water
running oil at last clear and pure.

If the milk has been properly strained when brought in
from the cow (an operation which ought on no account to
be omitted) there will be no hairs or other impurities in
the butter ; and it is now ready for being salted. One
imperial pint of salt to about twelve pounds of butter is
quite enough to preserve it for any length of time that
may be required ; if for immediate use, half the quantity
will be sufficient.

It is not at aU impossible but that butter which, when
taken from the churn was of superior quality, may, from
imperfect salting and packing, be inferior by the time it is
offered for sale. Much care should, therefore, be taken in
intimately blending the salt with the butter, so that it

shall not be streaked or imperfectly mixed, any appeal'"
ance of this being fatal to its fetching the top price.

It should also be finnly packed, each lump being thi'own
into the cask with considerable force, and further packed
firm with a rammer. This has the effect of uniting the
entire body of butter into a solid mass, and forcing ofiFthe
brine, both important matters in promoting the keeping
qualities of this extremely delicate and easily injured
article. "Winter-made butter, especially where the cows
are supplied with a large quantity of roots, is very diffi-
cult to obtain of superior quality ; yet we consider that it
is not impossible to have sweet butter during the whole
of that season ; and that without even once recog-
nising the unpleasant taste of turnips. This can
be accomplished by putting a very small pinch
of saltpetre to each pan of milk ; strict cleanliness ; and,
above all, churning often ; skimming the milk after it has
stood not longer than 36 hom-s. Granting that a little
more butter might be made by letting it stand longer, that
slight loss is amply compensated by superior quality and
by the greater value of the milk, which being so sweet
commands a higher price than if it had stood for 24 hours
longer. However tedious the process of churning may
sometimes be in very cold weather, it must not be unduly
hastened by the addition of warm water, as that brings
out the bitter turnip taste, besides destroying the colour
and texture of the butter — making it, in fact, almost
worthless.

Great care is required to attain success iu the manage-
ment of a dairy ; but if there is one thing more than
another necessary, that is attention to cleanliness. Unless
this point is rigidly attended to it is vain to expect suc-
cess. Entire failure may not be the result of its absence
in whole or in part ; but the highest amount of profit,
pleasm'e, and satisfaction which it is capable of yielding
will fail to be realized.

THE IRISH LAND BILL,

For some months past we have, with what may have
looked like " curious care," endeavoured to keep as clear
as possible of the Irish Land Question. And we have
done so under every kind of temptation to break through
our reserve. Scarcely a day has passed, more especially
of late, without our receiving a letter or a pamphlet on
the subject, wherein the English and Irish systems of
tenure have been too often mixed up in inextricable con-
fusion, the difficulty of any adjustment only increased, and
confusion rendered worse confounded. "With some know-
ledge of the Sister Kingdom, for we have traversed it from
one end to the other ; and with some considerable expe-
rience of the action of Tenant Eight in England, for we
have tabulated every existing Custom that can be spoken
to, an inclination to criticise the critics has been almost
irresistible. But we have felt from the first that in this
matter the two countries could not be kept too distinct,
as we should have almost preferred that any discussion
over the tenants' claims in England stood over until those
of the Irish occupier were arranged.

It is in the outset a very manifest truism that the Irish
Land Question is of so peculiar a nature as to require
altogether peculiar treatment. Any proposed remedy
could under no circumstances be rendered in its entirety
beneficially applicable to any other part of the United
Kingdom, and any consequent comparison of usage here
or there becomes something worse than idle and useless.
The Irish gentleman has now for generations only con-
trived to "live" at a gradual sacrifice of his position as a

landlord. This is a fact that we must accept not only on
the word of the economist or the politician, but quite as
forcibly ou the evidence of the story-teller and the
dramatist. His improvidence had become a proverb, his
embarrassments a normal state of existence. He drew every
shilling he could from his property, and then left it to the
keeping of others. From such a state of things there
sprang a system with which we in England have, happily,
but little practical acquaintance. The absentee created
the middleman, and the tenant called upon to perform
the landlord's duties by the land came to acquire an in-
terest in it far beyond what would be implied by his
occupation. " In Ireland the landlord does not, as a rule,
find the capital necessary for the improvement of the
soil," said Mr. Gladstone, in the opening of his address
the other evening, and this sentence supplies the very key
to the case. We hear, with something more than a mere
feeling of surprise, of the Irish farmer claiming a right
to sell his good-will, of his maintaining his right to some-
thing like fixity of tenure, and so forth ; and we are
often enough inclined to attribute such preposterous
demands to the turbulent, dissatisfied character of the
people. But it is not so. The Irish tenant has long
been more than a tenant. To adopt a phrase just now in
fashion, his dealings with his landlord have partaken
much of the nature of a co-operative movement. So far
as the actual holding has been concerned he has been
both landlord and tenant. He has not only cultivated the
laud, but he has built the house and homestead, he has

The FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

i9S

made every improvement that has been made, and so long
as he has paid his rent he has remained undisturbed in
possession. And from this false state of society have
grown up Customs which would sound elsewhere alto-
gether obnoxious and unwarrantable. The man refuses
to be disturbed, or, if he be, he advances claims that
would seem on the face of it to interfere with the
rights of property. But, then, it must be remem-
bered how much his extraordinary labours have
done for that property, and how closely they have identi-
fied him vfiih its permanent improvement.

So long as the tenant continued in possession, if only
the stronger grew his hold, no great difficulty could well
arise. But of late years, as the Premier tells us, emigra-
tion from Ireland has been but " another word for
banishment ;" while a receipt for rent in the case of
many a small occupier, has had from time to time a
notice to quit on the other side of the paper. The man
thus lives in a perpetual state of unprofitable uncertainty
and unwholesome excitement ; and small must be our
surprise if he become restless and disaffected. The
deeper we look into this question, the more cause do we
see for its consideration, and the action which the Go-
vernment has taken over it. But we can happily
go further. Of all the pamphlets, essays, letters
or reports we have met with, we know of none
to compare with the speech of Mr. Gladstone. He has
seized the monster with the grasp of a statesman ; and
while he relieves the people, he is careful to do so at no
outi-age of their feelings or their habits. The remedy, as
we said, is one peculiar to Ireland ; but the effect will be
felt further on. Where Custom is justified in its origin
% and beneficial in its effect, let Custom have the force of
law. It is remarkable, indeed, how happily Mr. Glad-
stone has interpreted the better part of the Tenant Right
principle. To establish riyJit there must be improve-
ment, or, as he laconically defines it, " improvement,
in the first place, must add to the letting value of the land,
and, in the second place, be suitable to the holding." It will
be found throughout the whole of his admirable exposi-
tion how this proof of improvement is insisted on
before compensation is admitted ; how clearly the line is
drawn between temporary and permanent improvements,
and how carefully the landlord's position is guarded, as
to making the more expensive outlay himself or being duly
consulted before this be incurred. So far, and the Irish
and English Tenant-Right would seem to be very nicely
assimilated. The Irish claim, however, of course goes
further, and the Ulster Custom is countenanced. By this
the evicted tenant is entitled to be paid not only for his
improvements, but for his good-will, and this to an
English eye will look like the weak place in the fence.
Through the force of such an enactment the in-comer
win of necessity wrap up his talent in a napkin ; he wiU
pay so much to come in that he will only receive again

when he goes out, and hence a large proportion of his
capital will remain unemployed. In fact, the payment
for good-will in Ireland has precisely the same effect as
the payment for acts of husbandly in certain parts of
England. But the new Land BiU is keenly alive to this
evil, and would free the people from it by every possible
means. Instead of a yearly tenancy let the occupier
have a long lease, and fairly work his own again out of
the land ; or with so heavy a lien already upon it, let him
be encouraged to make the purchase outright. Or, on
the other hand, let the landlord be assisted in buying up
these now obsolete and burdensome rights, justified though
they were in a byegone age when the Irish tenant, like
the Australian squatter, settled himself upon and did
everything for the land— but call it his own. Capricious
evictions are discountenanced, if not more directly penal-
ised, the smaller the holding the greater the protection ;
and security of outlay will at any rate answer for security
of possession. And in this country, security of capital
and security of tenure work on to precisely the same end.
So far we must be understood as speaking rather to its
brilliant introduction than to the measure itself ; although
we have little fear but that one will be worthy of the
other. The Premier's speech, more especially, may be
carefully studied alike by the English and Irish agricul-
turist, for it is very pregnant with matter. Let,
indeed, the Irish Land question be adjusted, and, so
far as man can do, this would look already some-
thing like an accomplished fact, and England's turn is pretty
certain to follow. We recognize this promise equally in
the speech from the throne as in that of the Premier :
" The measm'es proposed with respect to the ownership of
land for the consideration of Parliament during the present
Session are not exclusively contained in the present BUI.
Some of them are included in other Bills, for they do not
apply to Ireland alone, but to the whole kingdom. Among
them will be measures for facilitating the transfer of land
and for dealing with the succession in cases of intestacy,
giving geater ease, liberty, and justice to the operation of
the law than in its present state it can be said to possess.
It is possible that there may be some other provisions
analogous to these, which we may deal with during the
present Session, and which wiU be applicable to the whole
of the United Kingdom ; because in reference to them we
consider the circumstances of the three countries to be
so analogous as to warrant our dealing with them to-
gether." So said Mr. Gladstone significantly enough on
Tuesday evening ; while some years since the Fai-mers'
Club said unanimously enough that " the diffi-
culties attending the transfer of land have generally
become so many and embarrassing as to demand the
serious attention of the Legislature, with a view to re-
moving them." And further, that the first and most direct
means would be " the simplification of titles and forms of
conveyance."

HOP GROWING IN THE COLONIES.

Our antipodean brethren pre going a-head, and are
ambitious of rivalling the mother country in some of
her industries ; they desire, in fact, to be thoroughly inde-
pendent of foreign supplies, so far at least as their labour
power and the capabilities of soil and climate will
permit. In excellent wool they have long shown us what
they can do. They have even a superabundance of wine
and wheat for export, and they are striving now might
and main to supply our hungi'y mouths here with cheap
beef and mutton, cooked and uncooked. They ai'e even

competing with the English farmer in the production of
beet-root sugar for their own consumption. The latest
project is to grow hops which shall displace imported
hops, and enable them to establish breweries more gene-
rally, so that Australian ale and stout may take the place
of the well known drinks of Burton, London, and Dublin.
All these endeavours are creditable to young States, and we
wish their efforts all success ; but as regards hop-growing
in most of the colonies we find more in the way of theoiy
than of practice: more of what may be done than of

196

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

what lias been done. And it should be borne in mind (as
experience even is proving) that the whole of the Austra-
lian colonies are no more adapted to the growth of the
ho]), than are the whole of the counties of England.

la Otago a conference of agriculturists was lately sug-
gested on the subject of hop-growing, for \vhich it is
believed the climate of that province is peculiarly adapted.
At Nelson hop-growing has advanced a stage further than
in Otago. A brewer in that province cultivated last year
82 acres, which produced 15,000 lbs. of hops, yielding in
the local market at the current value of 3s. 6d. per lb.
£2,625, or equal to £308 per acre. It is not to be ex-
pected that this price can be always obtained, but even at
2s. per lb. the result woud be highly remunerative, and
the latter price is the lowest at which good hops have yet
been sold in New Zealand. The average import of hops
to the port of Nelson from London alone during the past
three years is stated at from 40,000 to 50,000 lbs., and
wheu to these figures is added a large quantity obtained
from Melbourne and Sydney, it will be seen that there is
suliicient consumption to encourage a fair trial being
given to this branch of agriculture. The yield and price
of hops given here are both above the average, but we
are not disposed to be hypercritical in such a case.

The account of what has been done with hop-growing
in Victoria is not by any means encouraging. The efforts
made to grow the plant in the Melbourne Botanical
Gardens, under the skilful direction of Dr. ISIuUer, do not
seem to have been attended with success, which is much
regretted, as Victoria pays annually over .£70,000 to
England, Tasmania, and America for this valuable
product. But what if it should be found that there is no
spot in Victoria fit for the growth of the hop to per-
fection ? "What if the climate should be found too dry
and hot for this purpose ? This supposition is in part
negatived by what we are told of hop-growing in New
South "Wales, where the growth of the plant is said to be
most astonishing in favourable spots. " Sets" planted in
September have been known to produce five cwt. per acre
the following March. This was at lUawarra, almost a
semi-tropical district. But as a set-oft" to this luxuriant
production, it may be mentioned that little is ever heard
of anv extensive hop plantations in New South ^Vales,
and although ho]) growing has been tried in South
Australia, where the climate is not very dissimilar, it has
uot proved a commercial success. Even in Tasmania,
where the climate is confessedly so well adajited to the
growth of the hop, and where the hop -grounds are shel-
tered from the winds blowing from every point of the
compass by high hills, irrigation is required, and the
utmost care in every other respect to ensure success. A
visit to the Tasmanian hop plantations at New Norfolk
would well repay the cost and time bestowed on it by
those who think of trying hop-culture in the neighbouring
colonies. It is in fact to Tasmania alone that they
must look for their supply of hops, as most suited in
every way for their successful and profitable produc-
tion.

In a few years time New Norfolk will be a most ex-
tensive hop garden, for the growers are all extending
their plantations. A few practical facts connected with
the system of cultivation adopted in the colony
may be interesting to growers here, where the sea-
sons are dif-ferent, and where the bulk of the
ground employed has been for centuries under cultivation.
la Tasmania the ground to be transformed into hop
gardens is almost virgin soil, and an immense amount of
care is necessary in its preparation to ensure profitable
crops. The hop is a slender climbing plant, which re-
quires a very rich mellow soil and an unlimited amount
of attention to ensure success ; but there is no other
crop known which will so well or so surely repay the

labour and capital expended. It is a maxim with success-
ful hop growers that you cannot expend too much labour,
or use too much manure on a hop garden, and a very
satisfactory ])roof of the truth of it was afforded last
season at Eenton Forest. It was thought that the owner
was carrying the principle to extremes, but the result
fullv justified his eflorts, as he picked nearly £600 worth
of hops from an .acre and three-quarters of land. The
piece was cultivated as an experiment, and from £60 to
£70 was laid out upon it last season. It was, however,
an exceptional piece of land, and had been used for many
years as a bedding place for cattle. The ground was
thickly covei-ed with stable dung, a few loads of guano
being also used ; it was then copiously irrigated and kept
clean by the free use of the scarifier, the yield being
slightly over 30 cwt. to the acre. Such a result ought
to be a great encouragement to intending hop-growers,
and is the best proof that can be given of the remunera-
tive natm'e of the pursuit when properly carried on.

The soil of a hop garden must be rich in its nature,
and rich to a considerable depth, or if it is not, it must
be made so. The slender roots of the hop plant strike
deep into the soil and creep along over the subsoil, form-
ing a complete web, or net-work ovei the whole land.
These roots are composed of the most delicate fibres, and
the more carefully they are nourished the stronger will
the plants become. In choosing ground it is necessary to
examine carefully the nature of the subsoil, which must
be dry and sound. A clay subsoil is unfitted for hops,
and will not yield a profitable return.

The system of preparation adopted by most of the
large growers at New Norfolk is as follows : The ground
is ploughed two furrows deep, or from 12 to 14 inches,
and care is taken to see that the land is moved equally
all over its surface. The ground having been ploughed,
the scarifier is brought into requisition, and it is made as
fine as possible. The land is then laid out into parallel
lines, either six or seven feet apart, and short sticks are
set up at the same distance along the rows, so as to alter-
nate between them, and mark the place where the sets
are to be planted. Most of the plants are put in six feet
apart each way, but where the ground is particularly
strong seven feet should be allow"ed, as air and sun are
indispensable to the plants ; and an overgrowth of bine
in a confined space would choke them and stunt the crop.
In planting the sets a hole should be dug about two feet
square, and this should be filled up lightly with earth dug
out, and a compost of earth, lime, and dung ; but it
should be observed that this is well decomposed, as fresh
dung should never be applied to hop plants. The place
being thus prepared the plants may be dibbled in three
together about six inches apart, and forming an equilateral
triangle. A watering with liquid manure will assist the
roots, and the plants will soon begin to show bines.
Prior to planting the " sets" must be carefully pruned
and intermediate eyes notched out, as otherwise runners
will show, which may cause considerable trouble. The
number of plants usually set to an acre is about 3,600.
The hop is a dlcecioiis plant, some of the individuals being
male and others female, and these have respectively
flowers of a different construction and character. The
male, or staminif'erous flowers, which grow on stalks
quite distinct from the female flowers, prepare the pollen
or fertilizing dust, and afterwards wither away, commit-
ting the dust to the air, to be conveyed to the ovule of
the female. A bushel of hops, grown in a garden where
male plants were near, has been known to weigh over
thirty-six pounds, whilst those from a garden where the
males were generally eradicated weighed only twenty -two
pounds. In addition to this advantage, however, the
aroma of hops which have been impregnated with the
pollen of the male is superior, and the strength of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

197

bitter much greater. It is necessary, therefore, in plant-
ing hops to see that a proper supply of male plants is
secm'ed. At New Norfolk they are now plentiful in all
the gardens, and at Valleyiield they are planted at the
rate of one in every hundred, every tenth plant in every
tenth row being a male. As the pollen is remarkably
light, and apt to be wafted away, it is also customary in
some gardens to set a few male hops among the hedges to
secure more perfect impregnation. In reference to the
best descriptions of hop to plant the finest quality is, of
course, the Golden tops of old Kent ; next to that comes
the White bine, or Gi'ape hop, but perhaps the best
standard variety for general growth is the Colegate hop.

Of these the New Norfolk growers have a very large
quantity, and they are found a strong healthy plant giving
a generous crop.

The seasons into which the work of the hop gardens
may be divided in Tasmania are as follows : Preparing
ground, June and July ; planting, July and August ;
poling, September and October ; training and hoeing,
October, November, and December ; picking, March,
April, and May ; scarifying and cleaning ground always.
The cost of raising hops, of course, depends upon the
amount of labour bestowed, and the means adopted to
improve the soil. The average expense under ordinary cir-
i cumstancesat New Norfolk, is estimated at £30 per acre.

ARE CATTLE SHOWS AND PLOUGHING MATCHES ADVANTAGEOUS

TO AGRICULTURE ?

At the usual quarterly meeting of the Ayrshire Farmers'
Club, Mr. Robert DalgUsh, Templand Mains, Auchiuleck,
president of the Society, in the chair,

Mr. Caldwell, Kuockshoggle, read the following paper
— Competition has long been the acknowledged medium by
which the relative merits of almost everything submitted to it
has been determined ; and it is generally recognised as a safe,
sure, easy, and practicable way of doing it. We find that com-
petition leads and stimulates tlie greater part of mankind to
put forth energies and to arrive at a degree of perfection in
whatever they are aiming at, which otherwise would searcely
be attainable. Competition at school stirs and animates the
undeveloped powers of the young mind, thereby hastening and
perfecting its education. Competition in business blesses and
balances society. The subject of discussion at this meeting is
in the form of a question, " Whether cattle shows and plough-
ing, as at present conducted, are advantageous to agricukure ?"
My answer is in the affirmative. Extend to me, then, your
patience while 1 support this opinion by a few remarks.
Ploughing matches are held for the purpose of encouraging
and rewarding by premiums those who excel in the art of turn-
ing up the soil in the way best adapted for producing a good
crop, and for most effectually keeping down grass and weeds.
The ploughing which practical judges approve of is that which
is straight, evenly held, well packed, the grass well put in, the
seams between the furrows close and clean, the seed-bed as
deep as possible at the given width of furrow, the furrows so
set that wlien measured the face or socket of the furrow will
measure about half an inch more ihau the back or cutter-cut,
the finish neat and narrow, and the ridge so ploughed that
when you stoop and take an augle view over it every farrow
will meet your eye in its proper order. Many of you have
heard that the pane of tlie furrow sliould describe an angle of
45 degrees ; but this is a shape of furrow I have never seen,
and so acute an angle is altogether impracticable. The shape
of furrow that good judges approve of is, I find, about 60 de-
grees. If cut much more acute the pane will be too thin, the
back weak, and the furrows will waut that body and subst ance
necessary to give the plougliing the required solidity. If cut
much more rectangular or square we lose that depth of seed-
bed and twine of furrow so much prized in first-class plough-
ing, and the nearer we approach the square, brick-shaped fur-
row the plougli gradually loses comi-nand, the grass is near the
top, the furrows sit on their edge, and are generally badly
closed and shaky. This latter is, in my opinion, the worse of
the two extremes. A new era has dawned by the introduction
of the double furrow plough. The features that commend it
to our notice are speed and saving of man and horse labour ;
and, so far as I am able to form an opinion, the double plough
on even-surfaced land will in a great measure supersede the
single one. Many people thought that the double plough
would not be suitable for lea ploughing ; but the work per-
formed by it at the various matches has been so satisfactory
as to remove such prejudices from unbiassed minds ; and we
may now look upon it as an established, economical, and labour
saving implement. There is no doubt but that there is room
for improvement in this implement. We cannot expect perfec-

tion yet, any more tlian there was with the reaping-machiue
wlien first introduced ; but I confidently hope that ere long our
energetic and persevering local implement makers and plough
doctors, wlien educated at the public seminary of competition,
will bring them to the same pitcli of perfection to which they
have brouglit the single one. Allow me, then, to close this
part of my subject by stating that as everything that is worth
doing is worth doing well, so also is ploughing. I beheve
that we are indebted in a great measure to ploughing matches
for the uniform good plougliing to be seen everywliere
throughout the country, and also for the almost unexceptiona-
bly good working of the ploughs now-a-days. By these
matches we know where to get good ploughmen and good
ploughmakers when wanted. Competition lias placed Ayrshire
ploughmen at the top of the tree, for we find on two occasions
where a number of them w ere pitted against au equal number
from Renfrewshire, Ayrshire was the first, and on the next oc-
casion sustained her pre-eminence ; and on Tuesday week one
of Ayrshire's sons, who has been well trained in the school of
competitions, carried off first honours in the open Derby
ploughing at Johnstone against half a hundred from other
quarters. I now pass to the other division of my subject.
Cattle shows are, and have been, held for tlie ostensible pur-
pose of stimulating and in some measure rewarding the owners
and breeders of the different animals whose properties and
qualities are best adapted to the objects for which they are
required in agriculture. Por instance, the properties of a Cly-
desdale horse are soundness of wind aud limb, strength of body
and bone, with symmetry and action. The properties of the
sheep are quantity and quality of wool and mutton. As the
Ayrshire milk cows are the objects of the greatest interest
and attraction, and as time will not admit of entering fully
into the others, I propose to confine my remarks to this class.
The properties which our judges approve of, and which, I beg
to say, I endorse, are as follows : The head of the cow short,
and wide at the forehead ; the eyes prominent, clear, and
expressive ; the horns long, strong, higb, and curved back ;
the neck long, and fine at its connection with the head, and
free from loose skin or dew lap ; the back straight from the
roots of the horns to the tail, the shoulder thin at the top ;
the forequarters light, the middle short and deep, widening
and deepening backwards, with well-arched ribs, filling well up
behind the shoulder blade ; the hind quarters long, the hock
bones wide apart and somewhat prominent, with wide
haunches, broad short thighs, tapering to a small, clean, wiry
bone under the knee ; the skin muderiitdy thin and elastic, the
bran close, soft and curly, with a silky feel ; the milk veins
well developed, the milk vessel long, wide, and well
attached to the body, the sole or under surface a plane
and running parallel to the swell of the belly ;
the vessel well rounded aud firmly bound up be-
hind with four moderately-sized, cork-shaped, plumb-
hanging teats, so planted that when viewed from behind
one-half of the space is between the teats, and the other two
quarters outside, and when viewed from the side one-third is
before, one-third between, and the remaining third behind. I
admit that some of these properties, such as the size or shape

198

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

of the head and horns, the shape of vessel, or size and forma-
tion of teats, have nothing to do with the milk-giving pro-
perties of the animal. These go to constitute heauty, and
when we get the elements of heauty and usefulness combined,
we have a specimen of the prize- taking, milk-giving, money-
bringing, pure-bred Ayrshire cow, not only valuahle to sell,
but often more truly valuable to keep as a breeder. Some dis-
cussion has lately arisen as to the best size of cows, some
alleging that judges did not attach so much importance to it
as it deserved. Size has always been regarded as a point of
merit, but certainly not as a leading one by judges, nor do I
think it has any right to be, for we find that size has little to
do either with tlie milk-giving or money-bringing properties of
the cow, and we find that difi'erent sizes are adapted to different
soils and climates — that the smaller-sized one is best suited for
hare clay soils and upland districts, and the larger sized one
for the fertile plain. The greater number of farmers breed
young cattle for filling up their stock when the aged or those
that fall out of tid are withdrawn, hence it follows that from
the abundance of winter feeding and luxuriance of pasture,
or, on the other hand, from scarcity in winter and indifferent
pasture in summer, as the case may be. Nature in this, as in
many other things, beautifully adapts the size of tlie cow to
the requirements of soil, climate, and quality of feeding.
Those in favour of the larger-sized cow say that as all come to
the shamhles at last there is a loss in the smaller-sized one.
This objection is, I think, more imaginary than real, for we
find that a given quantity of feeding sufficient to feed five of
the former will do six of the latter, the aggregate weight being
nearly equal, the difference being in number only. Some
allege that with all our shows the cattle are deteriorating iu
size and quality. To this doctrine 1 do not subscribe. I find
that, in 1837, there were 38 entries for aged cows and three-
year-old cows at the Ayrshire Show, and in 1868 there were
116 entries of the same age. I venture to say that in the
former year Ayrshire could not have turned out such a number
of beautiful well-bred cows as was shown in 1868 and 1869 ;
and I likewise hazard the opinion that those specimens which
carried away the premiums have never previously been sur-
passed, for be it remembered that in 1868 and 1869 Ayrshire
competitors won and retained first and second placed in the
open show against all comers. Allow me, in conclusion, to
say that we will do well to cultivate, to keep pure, and if pos-
sible, to improve this valuable breed of cattle named after our
county ; and we are quite safe to accept and endorse those
points of excellence to which judges give precedence, for we
find tliat judges are not fanciful theorists, but selected from
amongst the most interested, practical, and experienced of the
agricultural community.

Mr. Craig (Polquheys) was glad to hear the double-furrow
plough was taking so well amongst his low country friends.
He hoped they would soon be able to bring it to the moun-
tainous districts also. As to the exhibitions of stock, he was
perfectly convinced that Mr. Caldwell had taken the right
view. His description of the Ayrshire cow might not please
every one, hut it was the one generally adopted by the judges,
and contributed greatly to the beauty of Ayrshire animals.
There were a few points that might be criticised from the
weight-making point of view. Por instance, he did not think
that short heads contributed so much as some breeders ima-
gined to the making of a useful animal. He thought the
head should be a little longer than the present fashion. With
a small head they were sure to have a small animal. Other-
wise he thought the description of the cow was particularly
good. One of the chief benefits of shows in his opinion had
been to teach the public what to breed from, and the form of
animal that would be best for them to rear. Where the judges
were properly selected, all who came to the show-yard had an
opportunity of seeing the animal that was considered the best
by men of knowledge and skill.

Mr. Tennant (Creoch) thought cattle shows were very
useful in raising the standard of their ideas in reference to
cattle, and in making them more careful in their selection of
breeding animals. He helieved also that a pure-bred Ayrshire
animal that would gain a prize would be a more kindly feeder
and be more valuable for all purposes — either for milking,
fattening, or producing cross-bred animals for fattening.

Mr. Reib (Monkton Miln) said it did not occur to him that
Mr. Caldwell in speaking of the cow's head meant a small

head, but rather a good broad growthy head, and with that he
entirely agreed.

Mr. Smith, jun. (Mossblown) said he highly approved of
the description of ploughing. He had heard it remarked that
a furrow cut in a rectangular form was easier drawn by the
plough ; but he had always thought that a good working
plough cutting a good furrow which came right over was both
easier drawn by the horses and easier on the man. He had
heard it said that as much of the furrow should he below the
seed as ahove it ; but he thought with a rectangular plough
there was too much of the furrow above the seed, because it
left the seed loose, and it got down till nearly all the furrow
was above it.

Mr. EoBERTSON (Ryehurn) entirely coincided with Mr.Cald-
well's views. His description of a well-ploughed ridge had
been most minutely given. But he remembered when he was
learning to plough, that he could get more people to tell him
what a well-ploughed rig ought to be than he could get to tell
him how to do it. That was always the objection he had to
ploughing matches and also to cattle shows and cheese shows,
that there was not enough of benefit given to the public by
those who were successful competitors. He remembered that
the man who could take a first, second, or third prize in
ploughing was sometimes in the habit of going six or eight
miles to a smithy, and nobody saw his plough, or the particular
angle of his sock or the point of his coulter. He kept all
that to himself. Consequently, like many other ploughmen,
he (Mr. R.) laboured lor a while in the dark. He thought if
it was made a condition in all these ploughing matches and
cattle and cheese shows that successful competitors were under
a moral obligation, if not a legal one, to give their feUow
members of the same society practical instructions as their
mode of proceeding with their implements or cattle, then they
would become useful, practical things in the country. But
at present he did not know that there was much good to he
derived from them. He found many good ploughmen, for in-
stance, who could not set their own irons ; and one great use
of ploughing matches should be to teach them to do this. It
was the same with the rearing of cattle and the manufacture
of cheese. You might pay a premium of £5 or £10 to learn
your dairy keeper or yourself to make first class cheese, and
a thousand to one but the person with whom you learned had
one little thing connected with his system which the learner
was too d'ill to pick up, or which was intentionally kept from
his view. He believed it would tend to the continuance of the
success of the Ayrshire Agricultural Association if it would
make it one of its standing rules that all first class prize-takers
should give instructions in the process they followed at a nomi-
nal charge to their fellow members.

Mr. Brown (Ardneil), said he subscribed to every word that
Mr. Caldwell had said in regard to ploughing ; and were it
not that he had been represented as being wrong in his ideas
of ploughing, and as disapproving of those that were becom-
ing more fashionable, he would not have added anything on
the subject. Mr. Caldwell's essay had come at a very appro-
priate time for the makers and users of ploughs. It was evi-
dent that with the double-furrow ploughs there was something
wrong at first. That was not to be wondered at ; but what he
did wonder at was, that men should have approved of them as
they were, and of the shape of furrow that they then cut. He
had no objection that a plough be made to cut four furrows at
a time. He had seen it .done, and the reason that it was not
a great success was, that it did not shape the furrow in the
way described by Mr. Caldwell. He was satisfied that if Mr.
Fowler's steam plough had cut a proper triangular furrow it
would have been a great success in this country for a long
time. His opinion of the double-furrow plough was that
whenever it was made to shape the furrow in the same
way as the ordinary plough it would he a great success too.
He could not speak about their being much easier drawn : he
knew they were a good weight in themselves ; but he was
satisfied the nearer they got the furrow to that of the ordinary
plough it would he the easier drawn. A plough in good trim
was always easier drawn and easier held. He had no doubt
the double-plough would be like the reaping machine, and that
it would be brought to such perfection that it would be car-
ried, as Mr. Craig had said, to the tops of the mountains.
With regard to cattle, he thought Mr. Caldwell's description of
the Ayrshire cow was almost perfect, still many of the points
were not essential to good milking qualities, but were more

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

199

matters of fashion, and fashion depended on the taste of the
times, and was liable to change. With regard to the breeding
of cows, it liad been said that it required a man ;to go to
cattle shows to learn where to breed from. But how did they
account for the lact that men who were at one time successful
rearers and prize takers, and who were constantly attending
cattle shows, were now nowhere in the prize list ?

Mr. Whyte (East Raws) said : They were greatly indebted
to Mr. Caldwell for his able and excellent essay. His own
opinion of ploughing matches was that in times past tliey had
served a good purposes. They might sometimes have caused
a little expense to farmers ; but he thought that expense had
not been ill-incurred. It had been the means of giving the
ploughmen an interest in doing their work well, and if good
ploughing was better for the crop than bad plougliiug, the
farmer was- not vrithout his reward. As to ploughmen not
being able to put their ploughs in older themselves, he did not
know that they would have been any better in that respect
had there been no ploughing matches ; he rather thought
they would have done it more carelessly. Competitions had
been useful in making plough-makers pay more attention to
the implements they produced, and he thought in this way
they had conduced to the benefit of agriculture generally.
And now that ploughs and ploughing were undergoing a great
revolution, perhaps they might have competitors after this of
a different description. In order to perfect the implements
and enable the men better to accomplish the work, he thought
it was Ukely that competition would be the means that would
be resorted to still. With regard to competitions in cattle, he
considered they had been only beneficial where people had
taken advantage of them. If they could manage to raise a
stock such as had been described by Mr. Caldweell, he nad no
doubt they would prove more remunerative than the cattle
generally produced, either in the production of dairy produce,
or in the rearing of store cattle. Cattle shows had been one
means of exhibiting to the public animals as near that de-
scription as they had been able to rear. No doubt many
*■ things could be said against cattle shows, and many points
might be brought up in which they had not benefited the com-
munity and had not improved the breed of cattle But would
these points have been improved had cattle shows not existed ?
He did not think the breed would have been a bit better, and
perhaps not so good. He therefore concurred with Mr. Cald-
well in thinking that both cattle shows and ploughing matches
had been in the time past beneficial to agriculture generally.

Mr. Steel (Burnhead) said he believed that but for the in-
fluence of ploughing matches, instead of having three horses
drawing a double-furrow plough, they might liave been going
on, as their fathers did 70 or 80 years ago, with the old wooden
plough drawn by four horses. He did not think, for his part,
that ploughmen generally were not able to set their own irons
— they were both able to do that, and to tell the smith how
they wanted a thing done ; nor did he think there was any
unwillingness on their part to give information. WitJi regard
to the breed of cattle, even apart from remunerativeness, he
thought it was well to have a beautiful animal that was
pleasant to look at; but he knew plenty of Ayrshire and
Lanarkshire farmers who, instead of gettiiig 7s. 6d. for a slink
calf we're not able half to supply the damand made upon them,
and readily got from £2 to £5 each for them. Surely that
must be a great improvement in itself.

Mr. Murdoch (Holehouse), while he approved of the
principle of competition generally, thought their ploughing
matches and shows had not been so well directed as they might
have been. Fine ploughing and beautiful cattle were very
good in their way ; but he did not think thf y were the means
of adding a shilling to their revenue. There was a great loss
of time in preparing for ploughing matches and other things,
and generally, those who looked on got more benefit than
those who were engaged in them. They might have had some
effect in giving them better implements ; but great mechanical
improvements had taken place in other branches of trade in
which there were no such competitions. As to the great prizes
sometimes given for prize cattle, it was more on account of
their rarity than of any real value they possessed. Unless
they gave more milk, and were worth more in the shambles,
he could not see that they were more valuable ; and he be-
lieved a comparison would show that they had not a supe-
riority in these respects, but the reverse. There was great
expense in preparing animals for cattle shows, and they

suffered afterwards when put out to the grass in such high
condition, the grass not being equal to the feeding they had
been getting in the house. If there had been benefits from
plougliing matches and cattle shows, there had also been a
good deal of evil.

Mr. Lees (West Carngillan), referring to a remark of
Mr. Brown that some old prize-takers were not now heard of,
said it was impossible that people could always stand at the
top of the list : it would be a pity if they could. When peo-
ple were fortunate for a time they were apt to get careless, and
others came up and passed them. With regard to the value
of pure-bred stock, how many men had come from America
and other places to purchase Ayrshire cattle, and their first
concern was to find out who were prize-takers, and they gave
them handsome prices for their stock. If they were not in
the competing list they had no'chanceof getting their animals
sold to such advantage. He had felt the benefit of this him-
self, and he believed the calves alone would pay the extra
expense they were at. As to dairy cows, he thought the great
loss of their Ayrsliire cows was in having too little condition
when put out to grass.

Mr. Wallace (Braehead) said he was greatly pleased
with Mr. Caldwell's paper, which appeared to him to avoid
both extremes. With reference to Mr. Brown's remark about
being astonished at some people being satisfied with the dou-
ble-furrow plough as it was three months ago, he was one of
those who had tried it. and was satisfied ; and because he was
satisfied with it then, he was not satisfied with it now that it
had been made for ploughing lea. He had used it for plough-
ing wheat land, and it made better work than ever he got done
with the common plough ; but just because it made so good
a job for wheat it did not suit lea-land. He thought
that to adapt the the plougli for all kinds of work it would
he necessary to have two sets of irons and two sets of
reists, but he did not think this would be any great
loss. One advantage of the double-furrow plough was that
they were less dependent for good work on the care of the
ploughman. Of course, it required some attention, but a man
might get on well enough with one of these ploughs who had
never held a plough before. He thought ploughing matches
were useful in stirring up their young men to emulation,
though he did not know that they were profitable to the farmer.
With regard to prize cattle, he did not think that class of ani-
mal was profitable to farmers generally. For his own part it
had been always necessary for him to study to have good milk
cows, but he did not go to a show-yard to find them. The
real reason, he believed, why some old prize-takers gave up
competing was, that tliey could not afford it any longer. One
old prize-taker had stated that as a reason to him for giving
up. He was inclined to agree with Mr. Craig about the head
of the cow. He thought it was necessary that a good cow
should have some size. He had sometimes bought some of
these delicate prize cows, and he found that they were not of
much use to him with his system of feeding till they got rid of
some of their fineness. The object of a milk cow was to give
milk, and the thing they should study was to rear a class of
cows that would give them plenty of produce. He had often
found these nice little, closed-packed cows better feeders than
milkers. He remembered sending four cows, not from his own
stock, to a gentleman — one of tliem a nice little show cow,
cost £90, and the others about £16. He remarked to him
that in aU probability the milking qualities would be in inverse
ratio to the price ; and it turned out as he expected, that the
£16 cow gave far more milk than the i'90 one.

Mr. Young (Kilheuzie) said he was a strong believer in
competitive examinations in all things. His opinion was that
without ploughing.matches the merits of the double-furrow
plough would not have been so speedily or so generally recog-
nised. He thought cattle shows had been an advantage to the
farmer in showing the breed of cattle likely to bring high
prices ; and he had always been given to understand that a
well-bred cow was easier kept and would bring several pounds
more when they came to sell her.

Mr. R. M. CuNNiNGHAME (Shields) thought Mr. Cald-
well's paper very good so far as it went ; but it did not em-
brace the whole question, which was whether ploughing
matches and cattle shows, ns at present conducted, were con-
ducive to the interests of agriculture. Now, that point had
not been discussed, and what he would say would bear on that
point specially. He admitted that competitions of all kinds

200

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

were beneficial, but the thing was to get competitions carrieil
out in a fair and natural way, and he believed neither plough-
in;;- matches nor cattle shows were so carried out at present,
lie had ascertained from the Secretary of the Highland So-
ciety that tiie conditions on wiiicli that Society gave medals
fur ploughing matches were that the land should be ploughed
at the rate of ten hours to the imperial acre, and that no
assistance should be given to the ploughmen. Now, of all the
reports of ploughing matches he had seen in the newspapers
this year, he only saw one in which the the time was given,
and that was at the rate of 16 hours per imperial acre. Whe-
llier such a rate of ploughing as that was conducive to the
interests of agriculture, he would leave them to judge. His
opinion was that if a man could not plough an imperial acre of
land in ten hours he was not fit for his business. Complaints
were frequently made that servants did not do the amount of
work they used to do, while wages were a third higher, and
yet the very farmers who spoke thus were the men who en-
couiaged their ploughmen at these matches to plough at a
rate which required 16 liours to do what might be done in 10
or S hours. He did not think any one had attempted to show
that prize-ploughed land grew any more bolls per acre than
land ploughed at less expense and with less time and trouble.
They should remember that lea ploughing, on which all tiiese
pains were taken, only stood for a lewmonths. With the price
at which grain now stood, they would find that they would
need to study how they could lessen their outlay if they were
to meet their engagements. He was glad to hear the remarks
of Mr. Robertson, whicli were only too truthful, about people
who kept their knowledge to themselves. He had himself
known of individuals who had made experiments and failed,
hut carefully concealed the results from their neighboujs.
Now, this was entirely wrong. This Club, he was
glad to say, was got up for the very purpose of
exchanging experience, and giving it forth to their neighbours
and the community through means of the press. One other
thing he had observed with pain in connection with ploughing
matches, and that was the kind of prizes sometimes offered.
He noticed that some of the ploughmen got a bottle of whisky,
or a bottle of brandy, or a pound of tobacco. Now, where he
a ploughman, and were anyone to oft'er him a bottle of whisky
or brandy, he would dash it at his feet as a deliberate insult.
With regard to cattle shows, his remarks would also bear on
thera as they were at present conducted. One objection he
had to them was that there were far too many of them.
There vv'as now one in nearly every parish. Farmers were far
too much taken away from their work with these sort of
things. If merchants, manufacturers, or professional men
were to spend one-tenth of the time that farmers did at
ploughing matches, cattle shows, fairs, and displenishing sales,
they would never get on in the world with their business.
He only spoke of the time tiiat was wasted ; but there was a
tendency in these things to other evils. If they could get
cattle shown in their natural state, there might be considerable
advantages derived from cattle shows, liut a person who
wished to be successful must take all means possible to get his
animal into the state that would gain a prize, and there was
a temptation to use unscrupulous means to attain his end.
Exposures of doctoring and imposition had been made in con-
nection with the Ayrshire Association. As regarded showing
cows in milk, he could never see where the real advantage
was. He supposed the object was to get the best milker.
Well, if cows could be shown in their natural state with ten
or twelve hour's milk in their vessel, they might be able to
get at whether they were likely to be good milkers or not.
Eut it had happened hitherto that cows liad been shown with
too much milk on them — they were what was locally termed
" hafted ;" and it was generally the case that if a cow was
" hafted" once, it was destroyed for life. Now, until some-
thing was done to do away with that artificialism and decep-
tion, he could not see any good to be got from their cattle
shows. Mr. Caldwell had stated that the cows were better
now than they were twenty years ago ; but his opinion was
that, whether as regarded substance, symmetry, or size, they
were not to be compared with what they were twenty years
ago. With regard to fat stock, letters had appeared in the
agricultural papers recently, showing that the state of obesity
to which animals were brought not only rendered them more
liable to disease, but injured their generative functions. This
must be the case with some of the cattle shown at their agri-

cultural shows. His reply to tlie question under discussion
must be in the negative.

Mr. DAL(iLisii, the Chairman, said they had had a very in-
teresting discussion, and he had no doubt that tlie remarks
that had been made would do good. It was evident that the
opinion of the majority of the meeting was in favour of plough-
ing matches and cattle shows, even as at present conducted ;
but at the same time the abuses of the system had been very
strongly brought out. Their object should be to get rid of
these abuses. In connection with cattle shows the great error
that many people committed arose from the ambition to obtain
a prize at any cost, and they often did not hesitate to keep
a cow dry the whole year, and utterly spoil her milking quali-
ties that she might take a prize. This was an extreme abuse of
the system, but there were lesser abuses, such as over-
feeding, which was a great error, particularly in districts
like the one where he was situated, where the grass and
climate could not maintain high condition unless they
added artificial feeding. If they did go on giving artificial
feeding summer and winter, they found the cow, if not
subject to disease, at all events subject very soon to natu-
ral decay. If they could get their cattle shows to bring
out only those points which were really profitable, they
might have well-shaped, and at the same time really useful
animals. With regard to ploughing matches, it was evident
that they had derived great advantage from them, and if they
were a little differently conducted, aud less time lost with
them, Ihcy would be still more useful. Certain individuals if
allowed plenty of time could do very fine work ; but place
them alongside of others, where they were restricted to time,
and they would be easily heated. He was not much
given to boasting, but when he was a young man he was told
if he went to a ploughing match he would likely take a prize.
He never tried, however (laughter); but he could plough as
quick and as well as any man he ever saw. He believed there
was not a furrow amongst them that would have taken a prize,
but at the same time after it was harrowed you could not have
known but it was prize ploughing (laughter). He thought if
there was more attention paid to the ploughing of red land it
would be a great improvement on the present system. Any
person might plough a lea furrow if he got his dimensions and
had his plough set right ; but to plough a red field with the
ridges thoroughly straight and a nice roll upon them, and
done in such a way that a string laid across would touch every
furrow, required a higher amount of skill and dexterity. The
chairman, after some further remarks, concluded by saying
they w ere all much indebted to Mr. Caldwell for his excellent
production.

Mr. Caldwell said he would briefly notice one or two
statements that had been made. Mr. Murdoch objected to
cattle shows because they did not cause the animal to be of
any greater value to the farmer. Even admitting, for the
sake of argument, that they did not give more milk, and that
they were not heavier when killed, it was surely profitable to
the agriculturist if when he came to sell his cattle he got a
larger price for them. He thought Mr. Cunninghame was
rather in error in regard to the time at ploughing matches.
He had been a good deal at ploughing matches, and in evsry
case the men had to plough to time, which was generally 16
hours to the Scotch acre. He believed that was as quick a
rate as stiff lea land could be ploughed at, and was as good as
10 hours to the imperial acre on Mr. Cunninghame's level
land. He had found that the best ploughman was generally
the quickest, and that the best lea ploughman was generally
the best driller and best red-land ploughman. He would only
again remind them that their judges were practical men, and
not likely to have a weakness for what was merely fanciful,
but generally preferred what was valuable.

On the motion of Mr. Young (Kilhenzie) a vote of thanks
was tendered to Mr. Caldwell for his able and instructive
paper.

A similar compliment was paid to the Chairman, and the
meeting adjourned.

SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.— About £200
has been collected in Sudbury for town prizes in connection
with the approaching meeting of the Suffolk Agricultural
Association at that town.

THE FABMEH'S MAGAZINE.

901

ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.

BY THE NORTHERN FARMER.

Of all the articles raised on the farm, few are so fluctu-
ating in value as the produce of the flock, the variations
recurring not only at intervals of a few 3'ears, but almost
invariably at certain seasons in each and every year, the
dift'erence in the downward direction being sometimes so
great as to cause considerable despondency in the minds
of those who own this description of stock, and who, in
consequence of faulty arrangements as to the supply of
food, are forced to sell just at the period of depression.
This is almost sure to happen with those who make a
rush and get into sheep with intense enthusiasm when
they are commanding large prices, assisting by so doing
to raise them still higher ; and by-and-by, probably in
not more than two years afterwards, the produce of the
flocks so hurriedly got -up is sent to market, too often
merely as store lambs, or badly-finished mutton — and
prices get forced down much below the paying point.
This consummation cannot, of course, be brought about
by a few isolated individuals pursuing the same system :
but singularly enough, the periodical anxiety to get into
sheep seems to be a general thing all over the country,
and they being of a most prolific nature, the pastures
quickly become over-stocked ; and hence the desire to get
rid of them is just as strong as was the anxiety to
^ purchase. Although the breeding and feeding of sheep
by amateurs does not always show the balance on the
correct side of the ledger, it is, in the hands of those who
stick to it and make it a regular branch of business, a
very profitable investment notwithstanding. In every
pursuit practice makes perfection, the management of
sheep being no exception ; and those who keep up a
constant and regular stock are careful to provide abun-
dance of food for all seasons, and thus being in a measure
independent, they can hold until such time as the state of
the markets gives them an opportunity of obtaining a
remunerative price. The flockmaster who breeds his own
stock, seldom permitting an admixture of strange blood,
except through the rams, has many advantages over those
who are constantly changing. He secures for his flock
fixity of type, always a recommendation to purchasers,
being at once significant of good breeding, aptitude to
fatten, and freedom from disease. It shows also, and
that convincingly, that care and judgment has been exer-
cised in the selection of the parent stock ; and when a
certain type has been persevered with until it becomes
hereditary, much credit and profit accrues therefrom.
A pure-bred white-faced sheep, so carefully-bred as to
present a very exact resemblance to a butter-firkin,
straight along the back, broad across the quarters when
viewed from behind, as well as over the loins, full and
prominent between the fore-legs, and altogether evenly-
balanced in both fore and hind quarters, with a good firm
fleece capable of resisting a pretty severe blast and pre-
serving the skin warm and dry, however soaked may be
the surface, is the form which all should desire to attain,
sparing no amount of trouble or moderate expense until
perfection has been reached. With the Downs there is
less diificulty in securing perfection of form, their natural
shape coming much nearer to it than that of the white-
faced breeds. We have long been of opinion that the
most satisfactory results in a monetary point of view are
to be obtained by a judicious system of crossing. The
Down gives rotundity of form to the white, while tlie

white imparts increased size and weight, and at the same
time largely benefits the fleece. Even a quarter of white
blood shows immensely on the clip, the wool having all
the qualities and much of the appearance of the Leicester
or Lincoln, from whichever it is derived, while the
general outline of the animal, and the colour of the head
and legs, is but little changed from that of the pure
Down. It is very undesirable to breed from cross-bred
rams, leading, as it inevitably does, to deterioration in
the character and usefulness of the flock ; but it is by no
means bad policy to breed from cross-bred ewes.
When the latter possess a dash of Down blood, let it be
little or much, they make exceedingly useful and highly
profitable sheep ; are hardier than the pure white, and less
injured from continuously wet weather. They make
excellent nurses, the Down blood developing the milking
property ; their progeny having every chai-acteristic
necessary for future utility and profit. A little Lincoln
blood is a very valuable accessory in a cross-bred flock,
giving the wool staple, substance, and weight. It also
adds to the size and stamina of the animals. Once intro-
duced, its good effects show for a very long time, the
substantial look of the fleeces more particidarly always
attracting especial notice.

Many of the established breeds have reached their
present state of perfection through having been crossed
with others which possessed in a remarkable degree the
qualities in which they were more or less deficient. Thus,
sooie of the Leicester stocks, noted for the weight of fleece
which they carry, owe that valuable quality to a slight
infusion of Lincoln blood ; while the now famous Border
Leicester owes much of its hardiness, compactness of
figure, and improved milking property to the Cheviot.
The resemblance is noticeable more particularly in the
formation of the forehead, which is flat, smooth, and neat-
looking ; and in the grey colour of the face and legs,
which speaks very plainly of the hardy mountaineer.
The face and forehead of the English Leicester is quite
distinct, being round and prominent, and the colour much
lighter. Downs in the same way have been and are still
crossed with each other for the purpose of eft'ecting certain
alterations in the character of the flock which may be
deemed desirable or necessary. No difllculty need be ex-
perienced in laying the foundation of a good and useful
flock of sheep, parties who propose getting into that kind
of stock for the first time having a wide and largely-
developed field to choose from. All that is necessai-y is
to fix on the particular breed which has been proved to be
most suitable for the locality, or even the particular
variety of soil on which they are to be fed, whether
Lincolns, Cotswolds, Leicesters, or any of the varieties of
Downs ; then, purchasing from a careful breeder, taking
care, if possible, that the laud they come from is inferior
in quality, as then the improvement will be marked,
beginning from almost the first day they are placed on
their uew pastures. Some people seem to be of opinion
that sheep are a very convenient stock, requiring little
care and attention ; and that they are able to forage for
themselves, and pick up a living where cattle would be in
a state of semi-starvation. This is a most mistaken idea,
whioh many have found out to their cost. If not properly
attended to, disease of a very destructive kind is sure to
break out, involving their owner in a wilderness of trouble ;

202

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

uud if a regular supply of food is uot kept up for every
season, all the profit the flock may make will be absorbed
in expenses. It is only reasonable to suppose that if the
animals are permitted to lose condition for want of a
proper supply of food at one season, 9 considerable period
must elapse, after it becomes abundant, before they
recover what they lost ; the loss in the meantime being
heavy, in the case of ewes, for instance, as the fleece will
be valuable only according to the feeding, and the lamb,
from being imperfectly nourished, will only be in store
condition, instead of thick fat.

No one can tell better than the wool-merchant whether
the sheep have been regularly fed during the winter
months or the contrary, the weight of each fleece not
alone telling the tale of imperfect nourishment, but loss
of substance in the fibre gives proof ineontestible of par-
simony or neglect. So sure is this test that even a
single week's starvation will show at clipping-time, the
growth of that week being thin and hairlike, the proper
substance being recovered when liberal treatment was
resumed. While affording a very large amount of satis-
faction to the grower to hear his wool praised by the
merchant as first-class, well-nourished, and well-handled,
it must be in the same degree humiliating should
he, on the other hand, be told that surely he must have
treated his flock very badly to have the wool so
wretchedly poor in fibre and so light in weight. The
selling mart is thus with this class of produce, as with
every other, an unfailing criterion of successful manage-
ment.

Semi-starvation during the winter months will not pay ;
if sbeep are a leading stock on a farm crops must be
grown especially for their use, as well as for cattle, and
their wants supplied with nearly the same regularity.
Breeding ewes, which are sometimes allowed to pick up
a living as they best can on very indifferent pasture,
should receive a daily feed just sufficient to keep them in
good health and preserve their condition. Assuming that
they have had a sufficient interval, from the time the
lambs were weaned until put to the ram, to recruit their
strength and recover condition, much care should be
exercised to preserve them strong all through the winter,
so that instead of dropping weak and puny lambs, which
must be the case with many of them if the dams have
been badly fed, they may come to the world strong and
hardy, and so get a fair start. A few turnips strewn on
the pastures is all that will be required for the three
months previous to lambing, the quantity being regulated
according to the roughness or otherwise of the grass to
which they have access. The very low price of oats at
present ought to be a great inducement to owners of sheep
to feed wilh liberality, a better food than oats being
scarcely obtainable, preserving them as it does in mag-
nificent health, and almost paying for itself, if kept up
continuously, by the increased weight of wool alone. A
flock of ewes, of say 100 head, will, if given three-
quarters of a pound of oats each day from 1st January to
1st May, have consumed four tons of oats, costing, at
present prices, about £25 — a sum small in comparison to
the immense benefit which the ewe and her oflspring will
derive from its use.

It is absolutely impossible to overestimate the value of
such an amount of nutritious food both to the present
and future well-doing of the flock, all other things being
equal. There will, in the first place, be fewer casualties —
a most important item, going a long way itself in paying
the corn-bill — the fleeces will be firmer, and the lambs
fat from the day of birth until that on which they leave
their mother. A fat lamb four months old, nicked along
the back like an aged wether, will, on the average of sea-
sons, be worth 85s. ; the same animal, if in merely store
coadition, scarcely bringing 20s, two months later, For

keeping up the flow of milk, turnips, corn, chaffed hay,
and cake can only be regarded as auxiliaries, as there is
no food so productive of milk in the ewe as grass. For
the early bite nothing can come up to the young seeds ;
therefore every farmer should strive to have as good a
breadth as possible held over, without a hoof being on it
from at least the 1st of November. If he has two fields
so much the better, as when the ewes with their lambs
have eaten one moderately bare, they can be removed to
the other, the fli-st recovering itself and affording a fair
amount of herbage by the time the second has been eaten
down. The extreme usefulniess of the extra food in the
shape of roots or corn now shows itself by assisting the
grass, making it last just double the time that it could
possibly do if not supplemented with extraneous food.
Lambs that have never been permitted to recede in condi^
tion or growth attain to a most remarkable size, when of
the right sort, by the time they are put on the turnip
break, the backs being immensely broad, the condition
grand, and the fleece wondrously heavy. When abun«
dance of keep has been ])rovided, and the farm is well
sheltered either naturally or artificially, it is of some con-
sequence to have the lambs dropped as early as February,
particularly if the whole or a portion of the flock are in-
tended to be cleared off as fat lambs. Their owner can
thus secure the highest prices of the season from being
enabled to sell at a scarce time, many of the cull ewes
being got rid of also at remunerative prices soon after
being relieved of their lambs. Should, however,
the intention be to hold over so as to finish on
turnips, the month of March is quite time enough,
much trouble and anxiety being saved by this arrange-
ment. Whatever time the lambs are dropped, whether
early or late, abundance of food must be provided for the
ewes ; so that there may not be the slightest chance of
running short for even the most limited period. The
cold piercing winds of early spring are sufliciently trying
to the flock when well fed ; but when cold and hunger
are combined, the milk soon dries up, and once it does
so, no amount of kindness afterwards will again bring it
on. With a short supply of milk, the lambs get stunted,
lose condition (and that, too, in an inconceivably shoi't
time), and cannot possibly be brought to the degree of
excellence which they otherwise would have attained if
not permitted to get checked in the earlier stages of their
growth. We thus find that the attempt to keep a large
stock over the winter without ample provision in the
shape of roots, cabbages, hay, oats, or oilcake being pro-
vided for their maintenance, must inevitably result in
failure, no amount of care or skilful management being
able to carry them through in profitable condition. If it
is desirable to keep a stock of ewes on a fa^-m or piece of
pasture-land, where there is no cultivation, it can only be
successfully accomplished by rimniug them thin on the
ground, so that the grass may not get dirtied too much
with their droppings, and they can have a rough bite
every day in the year. If the land is of good quality,
and has been laid down to grass in good heart and with
good seeds, a light stock will leave a profit, when a larger
number would involve a very serious loss.

On weaning the lambs, they should be removed to a
field of clean grass which has been hained especially for
this purpose ; not too rich, or else it would bring on
scour, and probably prove fatal to a number of them ; nor
yet too dry and hard, as then they could not extract
nourishment sufficient to keep themselves progressing.
Above all, freedom from sheep-droppings is the leading
point to ensure a healthy constitution in the young
creatures just at that period of their existence when they
have to depend on solid food alone for a livelihood, and
when theie must necessarily be a very great change in
the action of the digestive organs, and in the character of

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

203

the secretions. Lambs, when placed in fields whicli are,
or have previously been, occupied by cattle, do wonder-
fully well, there being scarcely a casualty, unless from
accident ; and even although the land may be very bare of
grass, they thrive surprisingly, a fact which clearly
shows the necessity of providing this class of stock
with a run which is clean and untainted. Towards the
end of autumn, when grass begins to lose its succulence,
getting watery, and devoid of nourishment, extra food
should be given to them, which they will very soon learn
to eat. This should consist of a little cake or corn (if
the latter is crushed, so much the better), a small quantity
of chaffed hay, and a few of the softer varieties of turnips,
such as the Pomeranian, greystone, and green globe. It
is of no use giving rapecake to lambs, or, indeed, to sheep
of any age, all having a strong dislike to it. Linseed-
cake they delight in ; and even such a small quantity in
the day as a quarter of a pound has a marked effect on
their healthy development. Whether intended to be
finished off for the butcher on turnips, or kept over as
stores, it is well to teach them to eat thus early, and
accustom them to the use of these foods, as in the
event of severe weather compelling them to be altogether
hand-fed for a time, many young sheep will actually die of
starvatioa I'ather than touch a turnip, or at best become so
attenuated before taking to the food as to become nearly
valueless. It is much better policy to feed store sheep
liberally in early winter, and have them strong for the
spring, than to hold over the food altogether for that
season.

If permitted to get^very much reduced in condition,
the turnips do but little good, merely running through
► them ; whereas, when the sheep are strong, they can
stand a great deal of severe weather on a moderate supply
of food. Hay alone, given in racks on a sheltering part
of the field, or even straw, which we have seen them eat
greedily when confined in yards during a snowstorm, will
bring them through a lengthened probation apparently
but little the worse. It is, however, a very serious
matter when such a trial overtakes them if iu low con-
dition, many having to succumb from actual inanition.
That portion of the young stock intended to be finished
for the butcher previous to the 1st of May must have
their wants well provided for, not a meal being missed ;
and should they have been liberally attended to up to the
period of going on the turnips, they will now both grow
and fatten, attaining a great size after four months of
feeding, and woi'th, on the average, taking one season
with another, from 50s. to 70s., wool included.

Tull-feeding from the period of birth has the great
merit of inducing early maturity, all the animals not
required for stock purposes being cleared oft' within the
year, or, if a month or two later, not permitted to tres-
pass on the pastures, and lessen the food of those which
are coming on.

No better system was ever devised for cleaning, ma-
nuring, and consolidating the soil, and putting into the
right condition for growing profitable crops of corn and
grass. No one need long complain of having his land
poor who is possessed of means to carry out an extensive
system of turnip-growing, to be fed oft' the land with
sheep, the objection being often brought against it that it
makes the land too rich, and the after-crops are injured
from the straw being too soft to stand till harvest. This
fault is on the right side, and can easily be obviated, where
there is such a tendency, by removing a portion of the
turnips, if a heavy crop, and using a larger proportion of
corn than of cake.

Very old pastures are not suited for sheep, nor land
much covered by trees, the grasses of the one wanting
succulence, and on the other their sourness tending
greatly to retard the progress of the animals. A farm,

the greater portion of which is worked on a system of
convertible husbandry, but on which is retained a piece
of permanent pasture, hard and healthy, suits admirably
for sheep. The green crops, so essential for finishing off,
are thus at hand ; and the young grasses and clovers, of
which there is every season a considerable breadth, come
in just at the right time, when wanted for the ewes and
lambs, affording an abundant supply of milk-producing
food six weeks at least before a full bite, or anything
approaching to it, could be had on an old pasture-field.
The beneficial influence of young grasses on sheep is fully
exemplified in the great improvement effected by placing
them on the stubbles to pick up what little grass they
can get on the removal of the corn. Not only is condition
improved, but the health of such members of the fiock as
have been injured by scour is thoroughly re-established.

In making arrangements for a supply of food through-
out the year, it should never be omitted to have a field or
two laid down without a crop, with a good selection of
grasses, clovers, and a few pounds of rapeseed to the
statute acre. This may extend to ten, twenty, thirty, or
more acres, according to the extent of the farm and
size of the flock. As a source of food of the very best
kind, both as regards quantity and quality, such a piece
of grass stands second in importance only to a large
breadth of turnips, and when it once has been introduced,
and given a fair trial, it will seldom ever be omitted. As
we have already seen, the turnip is both useful and pro-
fitable in enabling the farmer to get rid of each season's
young stock within the year, without trespassing on the
grass reserved for those which are coming on. A piece of
grass laid down in the manner we have described serves a
similar and equally useful purpose by giving an oppor-
tunity of finishing off all old and cast stock, making them
up in first-rate condition for the butcher, without tres-
passing on the turnips, permitting them to be held over
for the sole use of the store and feeding stock.

The field chosen for this purpose should be in as good
heart as possible, as the richer it is the better will the
grasses succeed, and the better will it answer the purpose
for which it is intended. Sown as early in April as the
character of the season will permit the necessary pre-
liminary operations to be performed, grasses will be suf-
ficiently forward by the end of August to permit of being
pastuied, and, assuming that the summer has been a
favourable one for their growth, it is really astonishing
what a vast amount of valuable sheep food will be avail-
able on each acre. If the rape is rank and strong, the
animals may neglect it, roaming over the field, and
picking out the choicest morsels ; this, however, can
easily be obviated by netting them in the same way as is
done on the turnip field, when they will eat the enclosed
square as evenly as if it had been mown with a scythe.
From four to eight sheep to the statute acre, according to
size and condition when laid on, will be fully finished,
and the field still left rough of grass to be held over for
the ewes and lambs in spring. By no other mode of
feeding or kind of food can old cast ewes be got rid of so
easily as by finishing them on such grass as this ; no
condimental or artificial food of any kind is required, old
ewes of a good breed being cleared out after a couple of
months' feeding on the produce of the field alone at 30
lbs. a quarter, and choke-full of inside fat.

Our experience and opinions on sheep-farming having
now been pretty fully detailed, we close by giving it as
our firm conviction that full profits can only be realized
on those farms which are worked on a mixed course of
husbandry, the supply of food for every season being so
great as to feed twice the number that could otherwise be
kept, and the stock being cleared off at an early age
gives both a quick return and a large profit. Much de-
pends on the breed, Crosses we have found to do best,

p 2

204

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that between the Leicester ram and Shropshire Down
ewe being scarcely excelled by any. The latter breed of
sheep we consider one of the most valuable at present
cultivated, and which it is impossible to overestimate ; its
money-making capabilities placing it in the very highest
oi'der of merit. Too much care cannot be exercised in

the management of a valuable and highly-bred flock with
regard to their health as well as their feeding, disease
once introduced too frequently committing sad havoc
before it can be expelled, the intense annoyance conse-
quent on its presence being nearly as great a punishment
to the flockmaster as is the pecuniary loss.

WHEAT AND BARLEY GROWING ON THE COTSWOLDS.

At tlie last meeting of the Kingscote Association, Mr.
BuEA'ETT said : We had lately a long account of what
may be called new systems of wheat cultivation, and we
often hear and read of people at a distance growing double
the quantity of wheat and barley they did a few years ago,
either by using steam cultivation, or by some other new
system. I would not say a word against those gentlemen wlio
have given much of their time and exerted themselves to the
ntraost of tlieir ability for the advancement of agriculture,
which is of the utmost importance to all — and owing to our
being situated on one of the highest ranges of the Cotswold
Hills, where the soil is light and near the rock, we can only feel
an interest in hearing that man is succeeding in cultivating the
land he occupies ; but we are not to be discouraged in the po-
sition we are placed in. No one will doubt that a much larger
quantity of wheat and barlej is produced now per acre than
was thirty years ago. I am of the opinion that this is not
done by any new system, but by an improvement of the old —
such as in the time of planting, using drills, instead of sowing,
cultivating, harrowing, and rolling with improved implements,
and last, but not least, having the land in what is termed a
higher state of cultivation through the application of richer
manures. All this will be readily admitted, as it is that which
every real practical man knows; but the object of our meetnig
is to gain information, that we may be worthy of the position
we hold towards the nation at large, and also towards those
with whom we are more intimately connected. The first ques-
tion is, can the present system of wheat cultivation in this
neighbourhood be changed so as to yield a better remunera-
tion without injury to the following crops and the farmer ?
Steam cultivation is one of the great improvements of the
day ou heavy lands, but where we can plough an acre per day
with a pair of horses, taking all into consideration, it will not
pay. Deep cultivatiou has Ijeeu tried in this neighbourhood,
and failed. The system of using the farmyard manure for the
wheat is good on heavy land, where the farmer is not so de-
pendent on the root crop as he is on the hills ; and on wliat
might be termed light land. I have heard it spoken highly of,
but having had no experience will not hazard an opinion as to
the result in this neighbourhood. Next, as regards top-dress-
ing with artificial manures in the spring. Many advocate this
practice, although I doubt whether there are as many in this
neighbourhood as there were ten years ago ; where the old
system is practised, the cupboard of the wheat plant is supplied
in the growth of roots (the greater part fed on tlie ground,
aud the rest given by the two years' ley). This is admitted
to be a good system, but many tell us to just add a top-dressing
in the spring, aud the results will be wonderful. In 1860-61,
aud '62 I tried this system, and with similar results. The re-
sults of 1862 I will show you.

1863.— KINGSCOTE FARM EXPERIMENTS.

TOP-DEESSING WHEAT.

Name of Manure
applied.

Proctor's Wheat

oManure

6 Guano

e Nitrate of Soda

Soot

Pro-
duce
of one
year

Bush.
38

d No Manure 32

Wheat

Lbs.
60
60
59i
60
60^

At 6s. per

Loss of

Bushel.

Manure

£ a. d.

£ s. d.

11 11 1

2 0 0

10 19 0

2 0 0

11 5 0

2 0 0

11 8 0

1 12 0

9 12 0

Balance.

£ 8. d.

9 11 0

8 19 0

9 16 0
9 16 0
9 12 0

_ a Produced a larger quantity of straw than 2, 4, and 5, but
inferior sample.

6 2 and 4, similar quantity of straw and sample.

<■ Largest quantity of straw, and worst sample.

d Least, but much the best sample.
The other evening, when we heard the subjppt of top-dressing

discussed, several were of the opinion that it was advisable
where there is a thin, weak plant. I quite agree with them,
and could bring many proofs in support of it ; but I will only
mention one supplied by a much better authority than myself
— the late E. Drew. An application of 4< cwt. of Messrs.
Proctor's wheat manure per acre, at a cost of 32s., to a thin
plant on a light soil, calculating the wheat at 6s. per bushel,
and the straw at 20s. per ton, left a loss of 4s. 8d. Guano,
under precisely similar circumstances, gave a profit of £1 4s.
9d., aud nitrate of soda £3 4s. 5d. The straw aud corn, how-
ever, from the wheat manure were of a better quality than
from either of the others. What I have said only applies to
wheats planted ou what we call old seeds. A quantity of
autumn wheat is planted after roots, and with better results
than spring wheat, even as late as the middle of next month :
the cultivation is very similar to the early planted. I would
only say, where the land has been ploughed deep for the roots,
the lighter it is done the better for the wheat ; or, if it is to be
planted immediately after the roots are oil', the cultivators
going twice through it will answ'er better than ploughing.
Spring wheat will do well with the same cultivation as barley.
Wheat cultivatiou on heavy soils has been, and can be, much
more improved by steam power. The rotation is also very
different. One year's ley and beans often take the place of
roots, aud on very heavy soils the system of bare fallow is
practised with success. Ploughing up the seeds early, and
working the land with the cultivator aud other implements
before planting the wheat, is of very great importance. So
much having been said at our late meeting respecting the time
of planting aud the quantity of seed per acre, I think it better
to leave this matter until we hear the opinion of the meeting.
Barley cultivation is a very important subject, especially in
this neighbourhood, owing to the suitability of the soil for
growing good barley, as there is a wide difference between the
price of a really good sample and an inferior one, and barleys
are not so good as they were years ago. Barley requires a
seed-bed just the opposite to autumn wheat. A stale furrow
and heavy soil are most suitable for the latter, and a fresh
furrow and light soil for the former ; or, as the old saying
has it, " Barley in the dust, and wheat in the dirt." As a
rule, we find the early-planted barley the best sample ; but I
am of opinion that this has more to do with the condition of
the soil than with the time of sowing. We all know that it
is an easier matter to get a good seed-beed on land that has
been fed off early, and raftered immediately after feediug-off —
a plan with which I hold. But when a heavy crop of swedes
has been fed off through the mouths of February and March,
especially if there has been a quantity of rain and snow, it is
almost impossible to get such a seed-bed as one would like ;
neither is the crop a satisfactory one. It is an easier matter
to point out the cause of the bad crops and quality of the
barley than to find a remedy, without making such an altera-
tion in the rotation of cropping as, I fear, would not be to
the improvement of the land, nor advantageous to the farmer.
After a discussion, it was resolved, " That, on the high lands
and light soils of the Cotswold hills, wheat is best grown after
a two years' ley, ploughed up in the end of July and through
the month of August, then well rolled down, so that, in har-
rowing and preparing the same for the drill, care should be
taken not to break up the bottom of tlie furrow. That
drilling should not commence before the third week in Sep-
tember, and be finished by the middle of October. That it is
not advisable to plant more than two bushels of seed per
acre ; and that only where the plant is thin, weak, or sickly-
looking in the spring, it is advisable to top-dress with some
kind of artificial manure, say, nitrate of soda, at the rate of
1^ cwt. per acre, or better, the same money value of soot, in
the months of March or April."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

i05

THE WINFRITH FARMERS' CLUB,
THE VALUE OF FARMERS' CLUBS.

At the dinner, Mr. J. J. Bates, the President, in the chair,
Mr. Robert Damen said the Lord- Lieutenant and Magis-
tracy of the county were a body of exceedingly able men, who
took a great deal of trouble and pains in the discharge of their
arduous but honorary duties. Their decisions were seldom
such as could be found fault with — certainly not oftener than
the paid magistracy.

The Chairman read over the list of prizes awarded for the
best root crops grown during the past year, as follows : General
root crop — First, £5, Mr. T. IL Saunders, of Watercombe ;
second, £3 10s., Mr. J. H. Calcraft, Rempstone House ; third,
£3, Mr. R. White, Burton. Best ten acres of swedes — First,
£2 10s., Mr. J.Scutt, Bere Regis ; second. £1, Mr. T. Randall,
West Lulworth. Best five acres of swedes — £1 10s., Mr. W.
C. Lacey, Bestwall House, Warehara. Best ten acres of
turnips— £1 10s., Mr. J. Reader, Winfnth. Best five acres
ditto — £1, Mr. Randall. Best ten acres of mangold wurtzel,
£2 10s., Mr. W. C. Lacey ; five acres ditto, £1 lUs., Mr. Sly,
Biudon Mills ; two acres ditto, £1, Mr. C. Besent, Shetterton
Farm, Bere Regis.

Mr. T. H. Saunders responded for " The Successful Exhi-
bitors.'" During the time he had been connected with the
club he had taken a great many first prizes, and it was again
his lot to return thanks lor the way in which they had received
the toast. He had always studied to improve tiie quality of
the root crops, not merely for the sake of winning prizes, but
to secure a good kiud of keep for his stock during the winter.
He had sown what he considered was best for feeding purposes,
and in this practice he had found it most advantageous to
grow all his roots after green crops ; he kept no fallow land
at all. He must say that, being the winner of the prize for
the general root crop, he was somewhat disappointed in not
being awarded the prize for the best ten acres of mangolds ;
but the [udges said, though his crop was exceedingly fine, he
could not enter for both the prizes. If, therefore, the gentle-
man who liad gained that prize would hand him over lial.f of
it he would be perfectly satisfied. Although he did not gain
the prize he showed his crop of mangold to the judges, and
he would leave it to them to say whether or not he was entiiled
to half the money. Some people had said that in growing a
good root crop he had gone a little too far, and that he had
kept more stock than he was justified in doing ; but if this was
true he considered his landlord had shared the benefit as well
as himself.

Mr. J. H. Calcraft, who was also called upon, quite
agreed with Mr. Saunders that it was desirable to grow a good
root crop, but there was a great diiference between the land
which it was his lot to farm and that around the neighbour-
hood of Watercombe. Last year the judges awarded him the
prize for a good lot of turnips — to look at ; but wlien fed off
his sheep did not improve much upon them, and, if the sheep
were the judges, they ^vould have returned a very different
verdict. But it was an exceptional season, and no doubt
those excellent gentlemen who were appointed to view the
crops decided in his favour from seeing the turnips in pretty
even rows with very few weeds amongst them. His turnips
had size in them, but he thought very little nutritive qualities,
thus showing that roots grown in bad land would not produce
the good effect upon stock that is to be gained by feeding on
roots grown in good land. The same rule applied to oats.
He once had a fine, upstanding, healthy piece of oats, which
produced 301b. a bushel, but his horses were starving. He
observed to his carter that the horses did not appear well, and
that their coats did not look so well as they ought to do, thus
proving that, although the oats were good in weight, they
lacked the properties of nutriment. Thus it was to the
advantage of the farmer to improve the quality of his land l)y
every means in his power, and he was proud to appear at this
meeting under tlic shadow of his excellent and experienced
friend Mr. Saunders.
Mr. W. C. Spooner, living as he did at a considerable dis-

tance, was, however, very happy to contribute his mite so as
to give a little stimulus to agriculture, more especially in the
•ultivation of roots. He congratulated the club upon the
steady progress it was making, and the sound valuable infor-
mation it elicited in the interest of agriculture. This he
attributed in a great measure to the fact that the members
embodied the representation of the various branches of prac-
tical agriculture, and consequently more reliance was placed
upon the opinions tliat were adduced at the meetings held for
discussion. It was no small matter to have held their own for
25 years, in spite ot the opposition which men formerly
evinced against meetings for the discussion of agricultural
matters, or any other subject in which they were interested.
]5ut of late years greater opposition, though of a friendly
character, had sprung up, for since the establishment of tliis
club others had been formed at Milborne, Dorchester, Bland-
ford, and elsewhere, while chambers of agriculture had also
been organised, each and all of which had their attractions.
These chambers of agriculture met in dift'erent parts of the
coimtry from time to time, and there was sometimes a greater
degree of novelty in them than they could boast of in their
farmers' clubs. But Vhis he would say, if tlie tendency of
chambers of agriculture was to destroy or to supersede farmers'
clubs, they would do more liarni than good. There were
plenty of subjects to be taken up by both, but it was the pro-
vince of farmers' clubs especially to deal with matters of
practical agriculture. He observed that the next meeting of
the Dorset Chamber of Agriculture was to be held on a
market-day, and of this plan he must express his disapproval.
When gentlemen travelled a considerable distance to attend
the corn market, was it not too hard to ask them and their
customers to divide the few hours at their disposal, and which
should be devoted to business alone, to attend their meetings ?
If the same system were adopted in other conuties as iu Dor-
setshire, chambers of agriculture must in time fall to the
ground, as farmers and those most interested could nit devote
so much of the best of their time to attend their meetings.
He trusted the Winfritii Farmers' Club would prosper for
many years to come, and he could not conclude withcmt pass-
ing one tribute of acknowledgment to the able and constant
exertions of his friend Mr. Reader, who was formerly their
secretary. For many years he had well and ably performed
his duty, and when they in other parts of the country heard of
the distressing illness with which he was afflicted, and which
forced him to relinquish the post ho had so admirably filled,
sympathy for that excellent officer was by no means confined
to this club. They in other counties were ready to send up
their earnest prayers that Providence might still spare his life,
that medical skill might prove successful in his case, and that
he might be restored to his former energy and strength to
labour for the club, and to see the continued success which he
so long laboured to accomplish.

Mr. J. H. Calcraft, in proposing " Success to the Win-
frith Farmers' Club," said those who remembered this part of
the county many years ago could not fail to bear testimony to
the great change for the better which had taken place in the
general system of agriculture and the state of the crops
throughout the whole district. How much the club had had
to do with this improvement it was impossible strictly to say ;
but, as Jlr. Spooner had said, it had been in existence for the
last quarter of a century, and, as the general root crops had
very materially increased, it was only fair to assume that the
operations of the club had had something to do with this good
result.

Mr. Groves responded for the judges. One gentleman
over whose ground he rode, produced a bottle of port 50
years old, though he would have preferred it rather more
fruity. Another gentleman drove him about in his high car-
riage, and, although there was some hard work attached to the
office of judge, the labour wis interspersed with many little
pleasantries. On some of the land over which he travelled

206

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

there was a swarm of " villainous game," and he regretted to
see so many hares and rabbits perpetrating such damage
among the crops. He suggested that in future judges should
he allowed to carry a gun a-piece, so as to " combine pleasure
wdth business," as it was a shame for gentlemen to allow such
a lot of trash to infest the farmers' crops. The crops gene-
rally, he said, were excellent, and he never saw land better
managed than in this district. It was almost as good a
specimen of farming as they witnessed in the neighbourhood
of Milborne.

Mr. W. Makke proposed "Success to the neighbouring
Farmers' Clubs," and spoke of the vast amount of good they
had effected amongst the agricultural interest. He was glad
to find there were so many \yell organised Farmers' Clubs in
the county, for, recollecting that "union is strength," it was
only by uniting their efforts that any real benefit could be ac-
comphshed. For his own part he had derived much profit
from the practical discussions on agricultural matters to which
he had listened, and he trusted that the clubs may continue to
receive the support they so eminently deserved.

Mr. T. H. Saunders, the Vice-chairman, said they well
knew it cost £100 a-year more to keep a farm in good order
than in middhng condition; besides he could speak for him-
self as to the extra expenses on his ovra farm, which had in-
creased £180 a-year on labour and rates within the last ten
years — a heavy item which neither landlord nor tenant had
any control over, but it was a burden for a tenant farmer to
bear, and it ought to be looked upon by the landlord as a rise
of rent to that amount, which it virtually amounted to. What
he called the fair rental of a farm was what was left after all
the incidental expenses were paid and the tenant had received
the fair interest on the working capital he employed. He did
not believe many of them realized half that amount. How-
ever, he should be satisfied if it stopped here ; but no — after
they had worked hard in the endeavour, as they thought, to
help their landlords, what was the result ? As soon as they
had their larms in good order, at a very considerable outlay of
their own capital, many of their landlords increased the rents.
He did not mean all ; he mentioned no names, nor did he
allude to any individual in particular, much less landlords
members of this club ; but it seemed to have become the order
of the day — except with a few whom he called patterns for
Dorsetshire landlords, who had tenants from one generation
to another, and who never thought of raising their rents
(except when deaths occurred) while farms were kept in

good order— that at the end of the year, or the expiration
of the lease, the landlords said to them, " I don't want to get
rid ot you, but I think your farm is in good condition, and I
therefore want a little more money." Then a surveyor was
sent over the farms, who knew the rent must be increased,
be it ever so high before, and when the tenant had ex-
pended a large amount of capital to improve it, without
suspicion of being so i.mfairly taxed with additional rental.
On the other hand, if they had only used the natural powers
of the soil previously, they might have done better for their
families, and the rents would not have been advanced.
Therefore, he said, where was the advantage in farmers' clubs
endeavouring to get the land in the best possible order to help
their landlords and at the same time to ruin their own
families ? He considered they ought to he satisfied with a
good enterprising tenant instead of raising him £50 a-year,
and as soon as he is obhged to quit, to lower it £100 a-year
again before he can find a middhng tenant to take it, which
by experience they knew was oftentimes the case. The
principle reminded him of the man in the fable who had the
" goose that laid the golden egg," and killed it in order to
have all the others at once. He admitted the legal right of
the landowner to let his farm to any person who chose to give
the most money for it ; but he did not call it justice to any
old tenant who had spent his own capital and was obhged to
leave it in the land for another's benefit. He had always
advocated good farming in this room, hut he now saw his
error ; but as a practical man of experience he could not any
longer do so. He could not wear two faces under one hat,
and it was on this account that he had sent in his resignation.
It had often been talked about privately that it had been the
case as he had now stated, but as they lived in a free country,
he, as an Enghshman ought to do, spoke openly on the matter,
he hoped without offence to any one. He had only expressed
what he believed to be the truth. They as farmers had not
been rewarded as they expected when they formed this Club,
and there were many ways of raising their rents besides in
money payments — some in covenants, and, worst of all, to
have their crops eaten up by rabbits and hares. They had
stood a long trial and had unexpectedly lost the verdict.
Therefore he bade them farewell, hoping that landlords who
had any respect for their tenants would never think of increas-
ing their rents, with wheat at £10 or £11 a load, and this
was the great barrier in the way of the improvement of
Euglish agriculture.

THE PROFITABLE TREATMENT OF WOODS AND WASTES.

At a meeting of the Botley and South Hants Farmers'
Club, Mr. Blundell said : I am bound to say that I have for
a number of years considered that the question now for dis-
cussion is one which 1ms been comparatively neglected and
overlooked amongst the more exciting subjects, such as steam
cultivation, and others, which have for some time past com-
manded a large share of the public attention. It, at the same
time, seems to me, looking at the position of the agricultural
interest generally, that our subject, if practically considered in
all its bearings, is one which, if well ventilated, will show
how desirable it is for the interest of landowners, occupiers,
labourers, and the pubhc generally, that the capabilities of the
woodlands and wastee of this country should be better under-
stood and appreciated, for whether we look to the production
of timber of various kinds, or whether we look to the produce
of corn and cattle, it is a question of the deepest importance
to the welfare of the people of this country, inasmuch that the
nearer approach we can make to the universal appropriation of
the whole surface af the land for productive purposes, just so
much nearer do we advance towards being able to support our
own population without foreign importations, and I trust that
before the conclusion of this discussion, it will be shown how
large and valuable a property in the " woods and wastes" has
been neglected, and how extensive and important are the
resources existing and ready to hand if profitably managed by
the judicious employment of labour and capital thereon. It
18 rather singular that only one subject at all like the present
one was ever taken up by this club during the past twenty-five

years, which was " The removal of hedgerows and hedgerow
timber." That, however, must be viewed as a very narrow
subject as compared to ours on the card. This subject seems
naturally to be divided into two sections. I therefore propose
to consider — first, the treatment of woodlands, and, secondly,
the treatment of wastes and common lands. Let us, therefore,
in reference to the woodlands, inquire how profitable usage of
the land can be obtained, either by retaining it as coppice, or
by conversion into arable or pasture land ; and I propose to
bring to jour notice, the better to illustrate our subject, a
certain number of woods and plantations, with the view of
showing by calculation, whether they are advantageously to be
retained as woods or otherwise, and in doing this I shall select
some pieces with which I am somewhat acquainted,and which, at
various times, have come under my notice during my business
engagements, in different parts of the country. No. 1 is a
piece of woodland, about 20 acres, the soil being a good loam
on chalk. There is no timber, but it is well stocked with ash
and hazel underwood, used for hop poles, hurdle making, &c.
The produce is usually cut at twelve years' growth, and is worth
£1G per acre ; the adjoining land is arable, and is worth to
rent 28s. per acre, thus showing that but little if any
advantage could be derived by bringing this woodland into
cultivation, except it were for the improvement or the better
laying out the adjoining fields, which latter points must always
be viewed as important matter. No. 2 is a precipitous piece of
woodland, of about 36 acres,in a western county, on the stone
formation, with very little timber, but a good plant of under-

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

m

Wood, chiefly of oak stems, which 'grow very quickly in their
moist climate, and is usually cut at eighteen years' growth,
the time for cutting the largest stems being deferred
until April and May, the wood being commonly stripped
for the sake of the hark. In this particular wood
the land is so steep that the men employed in cut-
ting can scarcely keep their footing. This wood, after being
barked, is used for making hurdles and other purposes, and
yields a return which could not be surpassed by any other
known usage, the land being too hilly and too near the naked
stone for cultivating or planting. No. 3 is a level piece of
woodland, in a southern county, and is situated a long distance
from chalk or marl, contains about 16 acres, is surrounded on
three sides by arable land, the value of which to rent is 20s.
per acre. The woodland is of the same description of soil,
which is strong and gravelly, but does not require draining.
There is a good plant of timber, principally oak, about IGO
trees per acre, a large proportion having been left from
stemmers. It is only those which have proceeded direct from
the acorn that make any perceptible growth. The underwood
is very rough and bushy, not worth more than 40s. per acre
at 10 years' growth. These trees do not meet in measure-
ment at more than 4 feet of timber, and do not increase
annually more than \\ per cent, on their value. The follow-
ing calculation will show the propriety and profit of taking the
crop of timber and converting the land into arable :

£ s. d. £ s. d.

Expenses — Grubbing, per acre 10 0 0

Chalking 4 0 0

Outlay ...., 14 0 0

Interest on, at 4 per cent 0 10 6

Value of 160 trees, 4ft. meetings, 640ft.

atSd 21 6 §

Annual increased value on the same, at

li per cent 0 6 6

Value of underwood 2 0 0

23 6 8
Annual value of the underwood 0 4 0

Total annual value of woodland in present state ... 1 1 0

Value of land to rent per acre after grubbing, being

tithe free 14 0

Gain by interest on value of timber and underwood

sold off, £23 6s. 8d., at 4 per cent 0 18 6

Valne after grubbing 2 2 6

Ditto before ditto, deduct 110

Actual advantage of converting into arable 116

No. 4 is a piece of woodland, of about 11 acres, on the same
description of soil as No. 3. The timber is for the most part
oak, about 100 trees to the acre, at 61t. meetings. The
underwood was of the same inferior description and value as
No. 3, say 4s. per acre per annum. This coppice of timber
was much more growing than No. 3, and would increase in
value about 2 per cent, per annum. This wood is introduced
to notice for the purpose of showing the advantage or other-
wise of a plan which obtains in some parts of England, viz.,
stubbing or grubbing the underwood, with the view of obtain-
ing pasture. In this coppice, however, the grubbing between
the timber which is left has cost £6 per acre. The feed of
this laud is of the poorest description, and not worth
more than 7s. per acre rent. The timber, I estimate,
instead of paying 2 per cent, in its growth, is so much
injured by letting in the wind that it will not now increase at
the rate of more than \\ per cent. It will, therefore, be
readily seen that this coppice has not been properly treated.
Had it, however, been brought into cultivation it would have
paid as well as No. 3, and, being surrounded by arable land,
would have greatly improved the adjoining iields, especially as
the boundaries are of an irregular and zigzag description. No.
5 is a good piece of woodland, about 24 acres, in a southern
county ; the land is level, consisting of a fine hazel loam, sur-
rounded entirely by arable fields of the like soil, and worth to
rent 35s. per acre. There are about eighty trees to the acre of
8ft. meetings, and all oak. The underwood is worth £4 per

acre, at ten years' growth. These trees have been nearly all
let up together, and they should stand or fall together. I, how-
ever, estimate that they annually increase in value about 3 per
cent. only. This land under cultivation would be worth 403.
per acre rent, being tithe free. In this case also we must not
lose sight of the immense benefit to adjoining lands by the
removal of this wood. Let us now calculate the advantage of
bringing this land into cultivation :

£ s. d. £ s. d.

Expenses — Grubbing per acre 10 0 0

Chalking 4 0 0

Outlay ^14 0 0

Interest on, at 4 per cent 0 10 6

^/alue of 80 trees, 8 ft. meeting, 640 ft.

at Is. 3d 40 0 0

Annual increased value on the same, at 3

percent 14 0

Value of underwood 4 0 0

Annual value of the underwood

£44 0 0

0 8 0

Total annual value of the woodland in its present
state 2

Value of land to rent per acre after grubbing, being

tithe free 2 0 0

Gain by interest on value of timber and underwood

sold off, £44, at 4 per cent 1 15 3

Value after grubbing 3 15 3

Ditto before ditto, deduct 2 2 6

Actual advantage by converting into arable ...

1 12 8

No. 6 is a poor soil, being a mixture of sand and gravel, with
a blue pebble in it. This wood is also in a southern county,
extends over about thirty-four acres, and is bounded on two
sides by good roads. There is no underwood, but ferns grow
strong. Some fifty years ago it appears to have been planted in
an irregular and careless way with Scotch firs, some of which
having been cut at intervals, there are now only a few trees
left, probably about forty to the acre. They are now quite fit
to cut, and it is easy to see how little gain has been or can be
derived from timber left in the manner described, and it should
be borne in mind that although this land is too poor for corn
growing, yet it is such as would be profitable under a course of
cropping for timber upon a plan which I intend presently to
explain. In the immediate neighbourhood of this woodland
there are large tracts of land, belonging to different proprietors,
exhibiting precisely tbe same state of neglect. No. 7 is a poor
hillside on a chalk soil, and contains about 17 acres. It is well
planted with beech wood, there being about 160 trees to the
acre, and of course no underwood, as the beech, like the upas
tree, suffers nothing to exist under it. This timber is nearly
arrived at maturity — that is, it would pay better te cut than
remain, because the interest of money would pay double thf.t
of the growth of timber, and under the plan to be offered to
your notice the land may be planted with firs, and continue to be
more remunerative. No. 8 is a plantation of Scotch firs on some
of the poorest soil in Hampshire, with a regular plant of about
200 trees to the acre. This plantation is deteriorating every
year ; the trees were planted about fifty-five years ago, therefore
"the crop should be taken for what it will fetch, when the land
may be planted with superior kinds of fir to be hereafter
alluded so ; and I would here remark that it would be just as
reasonable to allow our crops of corn to stand in the field for
months after they were ripe as it is to allow plantations like
this to remain when they may be sold to the best advantage
and the land cleared for another crop. Having endeavoured to
show that wherever the land is adapted for arable or pasture
in the majority of cases the most profitable treatment is to cut
the timber and invest the money to grub and cultivate the
land, except in cases where the land is too poor for corn or
grass produce ; I will now proceed to state several plans or
systems of planting firs, pines, cedars, &c. for profit. Eir^t is
a method of planting larch firs for a quick and profitable
return. The land should be trenched or steam cultivated not
less than eighteen inches in depth ; the use of fresh, strong

208

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

manure should be avoided, although good vegetable mould
may be applied with advantage ou very poor and stony soilp.
The plants should not be too large— say about 34in. to 30in.
high ; and if they liave been grown and previously trans-
planted on poor soil so much the better, if they are healthy,
clean grown and well rooted. The first two years after plant-
ing the land should be kept clean by hand-hoeing. Particular
attention should be paid during their growth by the removal
of diseased or decayed plants, and as soon as the poles are
marketable (which they will be by taking the best at the end
of eleven years) commence by thinning and selling, looking
only for a quick return. I believe a great mistake is made by
many, who allow tlie plantation to go on unnoticed until the
plants are neither fit for one purpose or the other — not large
enough for sawing into rails, pales, &c., yet having passed the
size called poles. It often happens also that the plants are set
at too great a distance from each other ; the consequence is
they do not grow so fast, neither do they make such handsome
poles. VHien planted close they protect each other, the winds
take less hold of them, and they gather more moisture from the
atmosphere in the summer months. They cover the land
quicker, keeping in check both grass and weeds. Again,
instead of growing boughs, the growth centres in the poles,
which come earlier for use in consequence. In following the
above plan the plants should be set at thirty-six inches by
thirty inches apart. I will now furnish a statement of the
cost of planting, and a'so the mode of taking and the value of
the crops per acre : —

Expenses — Trenching 18 inches deep, at Is. Od.

per rod £14 0 0

5,250 plants, at 25s. per thousand ... G II 3

Planting by spade 2 10 9

Hoeing I 0 0

Interest on the outlay of £21 2s., at

i per cent, for sixteen years
Failures allowed, at 10 per cent

£24 2
it

. 15 9
. 7 15

0

4
0

. £47 6

4

Total expenses of plantation...

Commence cutting, taking the best at the —

nth year cut 600 poles, at 3d. each ... £7 10 0

12th year do. do. ... 7 10 0

ISthyear do. do. ... 7 10 0

14th year do, do. ... 7 10 0
I6th year cut the remaining 2,850

poles, at 4d. each 47 10 0

Value
Cost

£77 10 0
47 6 4

Profit £30 3 8

Annual profit, 38s. per acre.

As, however, the plan of quick returns, as just stated, by tlie
growth of only larch firs requires a great deal of constant at-
tention, some parties may object to it for that reason or others.
I will, therefore, allude to a plan whereby a less number of
plants may be set, and take the crop at the end of twenty-five
years, and in this case, if required, rows of sweet-chestnut,
hazel, ash, &c., may be planted, with the view of remaining for
the growth of underwood after the crop of poles has been sold
off. Planting is advised in the following way — larch fir plants
at intervals of three feet and six feet alternately, and at three
feet apart in the lines, the six feet space being planted with
underwood plants at three feet apart. Then, at some interme-
diate time, each line of poles at three feet apart may be cut
and sold, as also half the poles in the remaining line, thus
leaving the lines of furs standing for the main crop at six feet
apart each way, and the underwood plants will be found
standing also at the same distance. According to this plan
there would be left at the end of twenty-five years about six
poles to the rod, which at Is. each, would give £48 per acre,
being a large return, in addition to the valuable plant of un-
derwood left on tlie laud. There is yet another system of
planting firs and pines or cedars to which I wish to call atten-
tion, more particularly where it is intended that large trees be
the object to be attained. In such case I should plant three
sorts in alternate rows, or, rather, at right angles. The sorts

I recommend are the cedrus deodara, the Douglas fir, and the
common larch fir. The first row to be cedrus deodara, with
larch alternately at equal distances ; the second line all larch ;
the third line Douglas fir with larch alternately, at the same
distance apart ; and the fourth line with all larch plants.
Then proceed with cedrus deodara and larch as for the first row,
and so on throughout the plantation, the distance recommended
for the plants being about six feet apart each way. In thinning
out the larch they may remain until worth about Is. each,
which they would be at about eighteen years' growth, thus
leaviug the cedrus deodara and the Douglas fir for the main
crop, these sorts being calculated to grow to an immense size
and height if properly set out at the right distance, which dis-
tance, as proposed above, would be twelve feet from plant to
plant each way. The cedrus deodara and the Douglas fir, as I
believe, have not been cultivated for profit in this country, but
only used for ornamental purposes. In the latter respect they
are comparatively well known, and I am only justified in in-
troducing them to your notice as profitable timber prodacers
through the high encomiums passed ou them in a work called
" Piuacea," which is the soundest practical treatise ou fir and
pine culture now extant. I, therefore, to justify my recom-
mendation for planting, quote from this work the writer's
opinions on tlieir growth in their native habitats, and his ex-
perience as their adaptation to our soils and climate in Eng-
land for timber growing purposes, and, relying on these state-
ments, we are justified in assuming that their growth here
would be profitable, not only as regards the bulk of produce in
timber, but its utility for all ordinary purposes. In order, how-
ever, to obtain plants of these cedars and pines, they must be
raised from seed, as they cannot now be obtained from the nur-
series except at a very high charge, they being grown for or-
namental purposes only ; and in growing plants for own use
they should be grown in soil and climate similar to that where
they are to be planted. In conclusion of the first part of our
subject I wish to make a few general observations. Trees for
timber in woodlands should never be lopped or shrouded, nor
should trees be ever left within twenty I'eet of the boundary
fence joining arable lands. In making plantations upon land
which is too wet, instead of underaining, as for corn land, it
is best done by opening trenches from two to three i'eet in
depth, and from twenty feet to thirty feet apart, according to
soil, as pipe file draining in woodlands would soon become
choked and useless. Steam cultivation I have seen success-
fully done in bringing heath land into cultivation, at a cost of
about 30s. per acre. It is also recommended with sufficient
power as the means of grubbing ordinary coppice land, includ-
ing the lifting of tree stools, at a cost of from £3 lOs: to £5 5s.
an acre. In the foregoing pieces of woodland noticed, I have
made no statement of draining such lands as require it, because
it is only to add the cost of draining to the other expenses, and
charge interest upon, which would still leave a large profit.
In entering upon the second part of tbe subject, " The profit-
able treatment of wastes," there is indeed a wide field before
us, and the subject seems so extensive that I almost wish it
had been kept for a future meeting and discussion. To proceed,
I beg to observe that nothing has contributed so much to the
improvement and bringing into cultivation the waste land and
commons as the late Enclosure Act, and I know of no Act of
Parliament in this country which ever answered better for the
purposes for which it was intended, and it is to be doubted
whether any part of England has benefited more by it than
the district of this club. If we look back twenty years we sec
that during that period a large extent of waste land has been
enclosed, and where capital has been expended and intelligence
has been displayed in breaking and cultivating, the land
gencraUy has been remunerative. In naming a few of the most
important enclosures, many members will recognise their own
property, for many present have been participators in the allot-
ments as well as myself. We have seen Curdridge Common,
Botley Common, Burlesdon Common, AValtham Chase, Stroud
Wood, Titchfield Common, Netley Common, and others en-
closed, all of which are now, or might be made, productive,
the largest portion for ordinary agricultural purposes. Some
of the poorest portions, the sand and gravel soils, are, how-
ever, best adapted for plantations — for the growth of timber
only. The waste lauds, within our recollection only atfording
a very scanty herbage for cattle or turbary for the cottagers, are
now for the most part, through the enterprise of individuals,
made productive of corn and cattle in abundance ; and one of

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

209

the most striking features in the ease is that, generally speak-
ing, very few persons entertained the opinion tliat large portions
of the land could be made productive. There are not wanting
instances, where tlic laud has been properly handled, which
have completely falsified the general opinion, and the example
of a few is now operating on the minds of tlie many, and the
work of breaking up and cultivating goes on with accelerated
speed. No doubt a considerable portion of the land not broken
at present is because the owners believe it will not pay for the
outlay, and tliis is the case, no doubt, in some instances where
the land is now under cultivation. It is too poor for corn or
grass production, but I venture the opinion that there is no
part of any of these enclosures but may be made profitable
under a system of planting designated by the modes of plant-
ing firs or pines before alluded to. The great merit, however,
of these extensive enclosures consists in the fact that wherever
manorial rights or individual and private rights existed in con-
nection with these wastes, it has resulted in a transformation
of the face of tlie country truly marvellous in comparison
with its former state. I shall not take up your time by
going into the best methods of grubbing and cultivating new
land, for the results of enclosing land in this neighbour-
hood show that it is generally well understood. Al-
thougli I have said much in favour of private and individual
enterprise, what am I to say when the truth must be told
of the wastes, forests, and commons, called Crown Lands,
in this country ? Suppose a foreign agriculturist on visit-
ing this country to land at Portland and take train at Wey-
mouth, proceeding by way of Southampton to the metro-
polis (and it required but little stretch of imagination to anti-
cipate the conversation with a fellow-traveller), he wonld very
naturally exclaim " Can this be England ? a country whose
boast is its agriculture !" 'Tis true he catches a view of a few
districts of well-cultivated land ; but so large a portion being
waste, or forest land, he would be struck with a.stonishment,
more particularly when it is stated that the wild and barren
jlf^ districts mostly belong to the Queen, and are in the bauds of
the Government, whose Commissioners of Woods and Forests
have the management. I am sure you will agree with me that
it is a matter of severe reproach to this country that the Crown
lands not required for the growth of timber should fail in pro-
ducing a large revenue and a large increase of employment and
food for the population. My ideas as to how this might be
done are as follows : — Take the New Forest, for example, al-
though this forms only a portion of the Crown lands, and see
how it might be turned to profitable account. About fifteen
years ago, if I am rightly informed, an Act was passed which
authorised further enclosures for planting trees, and other
matters ; after which a commission was appointed for defining
all rights and interests of parties claiming in respect of cattle
feeding, turbary, &c., and I assume that as these rights have
now been defined it would greatly facilitate further operations,
because those parties having rights might now be paid the
equivalent in land allotments. I would therefore suggest that
the Government should proceed to dispose of the land by selling
under lease for the longest term, in the following manner.
There are large portions of land contiguous to estates adjoining
the forest, which might be offered for sale in suitable lots,
having due regard to these estates, which would sell readily ;
this, as the first operation, would absorb and dispose of a con-
siderable portion of the land. There are also numerous and
fine building sites in the Forest well adapted for the erection
of country seats for gentlemen of property, by whom they
would be readily purchased, together with some number of
acres of land adjoining, especially if the timber on the land
were sold with it, this timber being in most cases quite useless
for navy purposes, but generally well adapted for ornament
and improving the landscape. I have no doubt some of these
building sites would realise long prices per acre. The sale of
other parts of the land may be made by offering it for farming
and other purposes. In fact there is no part of the Forest but
would sell well, for it is capable of being turned to account in
various ways, some as arable, some as pasture, and the very
poorest is well adapted for the production of firs and pines, if
properly planted. In order, however, to make the most of
these sales, the land should first be intersected by good roads,
and main dykes for drainage. It appears from a report made
to the commissioners in the year 1854 that the New Forest
contains G6,000 acres. Tliis includes, however, large planta-
tions of oak, which liave been made from time to time by the

Crown, ostensibly for the purpose of the growth of timber for
the navy. It is in consequence diflicult to say what quantity
of land is still in a waste and unproductive state, but it must
be extensive, as the map which 1 now produce will show. I
trust that you will agree with me that this now picture of
desolation may be converted into a flourishing and productive
district, yielding an enormous revenue to the Crown.

Mr. Purchase said larch fir and ash should be planted at a
distance of 24 inches apart. He recommended the following
mode of cultivating waste land, taking, as an example, one
acre. Fir plants, 8,800; ash, 1,440; total, 10,240 plants,
distributed thus: First row, larch; second, every alternate
plant, ash ; the cutting to commence at the end of the eighth
year, and the whole should be cleared sixteen years after plant-
ing. The cost of trenching would be £12 ; plants, £12 10s. ;
planting, £5 10s. : making a total of £.30 per acre. Then
the rent of land at 10s. per acre for sixteen years would be £32 ;
add for the cost of trenching, plants, and planting £62. The
ash, forming one-ninth, he claimed the same proportion,
£G 17s. Od., from the £62, leaving £55 2s. 3d. ; the interest
on £30 at four per cent, for sixteen years, £19 4s. ; making
the total £74 6s. 3d. He would commence cutting the eighth
year, when the produce would be 1,280 poles, which would
realise, at 3d. each, £16. The ninth, tenth, eleventii, and
twelfth years would yield 3,840 poles, which, at 3d. eacli,
would amount to £48. Tlie thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth
and sixteenth years producing 1,920 poles, at 3d. each, would
amount to £24. Then the 7,040 poles sold wonld realise £88 ;
from this take £74 6s. 3d., the total cost, it will leave a profit
£13 13s. 9d. per acre, and a plant of ash would be left on the
land to go on for a future crop. Mr. Purchase observed that
he had allowed eleven plants per pole, or 1,760 per acre, for
losses and failures. It was a mistake in planting to place the
young trees too far apart, for by placing them closer together
they nursed one another. The head of the plant was the con-
ductor of moisture.

Mr. Waknek, the chairman, agreed with Mr. Purchase
that, up to a certain time, larch could not be planted too
thick, but beyond that time they would destroy each
other. It was like leaving turnips or other plants too
thick. With oak timber the thinner it was set out the faster
it grew.

Mr. Purchase recommended that the larch should be planted
too feet apart each way.

Capt. Maxse observed tliat he simply attended that day for
the purpose of gaining a lesson in woodland growing, and
had received a very valuable one from Mr. Blundell.
He could most thoroughly corroborate his statement with
respect to the Douglas fir, having planted some himself, which
had made such progress in three years as astonished him.
With respect to waste land, he had taken every possible oppor-
tunity of entering a strong protest against a system which
permits so much waste land to exist as was now found in this
country. There was great agitation now going on in London
in favour of emigration, in which he had been asked to take
part, l)ut refused, because it seemed to him perfectly absurd to
think that the solution of our pauper and criminal problem
could be found in emigration whilst the waste lands of the
country remained in their present state. He believed that not
less than one fourth of the cultivable land of England was
now out of cultivation, and that this was not confined simply
to Crown lands, but included that of private individuals. Mr.
Blundell had referred to the enclosure of commons which
took place some years ago, and had he known this discussion
was going to take place, and that Titchfield common would be
referred to, he would have brought with him certain statistics
relating to that common, which was allotted upon the prin-
ciple of large parcels to large landowners and smaller quan-
tities, down to a rood, to small proprietors; but of the large
allotments he did not think there were more than three or
four in cultivation, whereas the whole of the small parcels
were being cultivated, and he thought this was sufficient to
justify their asking that in the event of there being any future
allotments of the kind they should be made upon the modern
principle — namely, with a condition as to their cultivation.
He said modern principle because in a recent grant respecting
the oyster fishery in the Hamble river certain rights therein
were granted to gentlemen under a new act upon condition
that they used their best exertions to utilise that river and
cultivate its resources. He should like to see a small tax, to

210

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

be deterrained by a body of scientific gentlemen, levied upon
all cultivable land left out of cultivation, on tbe principle
adopted by tbe United States, as be believed that would induce
owners to cultivate it;

The Chairman : You can rate it at what it is capable of
producing.

Capt. Maxse ; Just so. His land on Titcbfield Common
paid him very well. He supposed that it cost him about £12
per acre to get it into cultivation, but be at once received 30s.
per acre, putting it at the smallest rent, and if that did not pay
him be knew not what would. But, apart from this, he held
very strongly that tbe remedy for pauperism was the applica-
tion of waste labour to waste land.

Mr. Spooler said any one living in the neighbourhood of
tbe New Forest must be impressed with the fact that this sub-
ject required ventilation — that it could not be right for a coun-
try like England to be continually sending its population to
other lands, and at the same time to allow so many thousands
of acres to remain unproductive, more especially when there
was no longer a plea for preserving it to grow timber for tlie
navy. The subject divided itself into two parts — one, what
kind of land would pay for cultivation, and what the value of
the land should be that it might pay ; tbe other part related
to Crown lands. He thought that cold clay lands now kept
on estates for the growth of underwood would not pay for
cultivation nor to break up for pastures, but there were no
doubt thousands of acres in the I'orest wbicli could be made to
yield a greater return than by keeping them in their present
state, and, after passing through the Forest thousands of times
he could not help thinking its present state a standing dis-
grace to tbe country. The Commission which had sat to
defiue the rights therein bad done but little, beyond rectifying
a few abuses, to benefit the country at large, the Commis-
sioners having taken tbe very best parts for planting and left
the barren plnces. Tbe fee simple of some of the laud was
valued several years previously at Is. 6d. an acre, but be was
puzzled to know by what particular calculation they arrived
at this result. Whether it was supposed to keep the twen-
tieth part of a cow, or the sixteentli part of a jackass (laughter)
he could not tell, but he supposed it must have been by some
such a process. He should like to hear a practical opinion
whether the forest could not advantageously be planted in the
barren parts (Voice : " No doubt about that"), because if this
could be done there was no reason why the better land should
not be sold for the purpose of building or creating estates.
He condemned the ancient practice of allowing turf to be cut,
as tending to impoverish both tbe foresters and the Forest
itself, by denuding it of soil, and by leading people to cut that
which was not worth tbe carrying home as fuel, and concluded
by suggesting that two resolutions should be passed — one
affirming the desirability of converting tbe wood into arable
and where this could be profitably done, and tbe other for
profitably utilising the Crown and other waste lands.

Mr. Fletcher thought there w'as no portion of tbe Forest
but would grow Scotch fir, and larch might be grown as well,
nor were there any portions of it which might not be more
profitably used. In certain parts alderwood — a most remune-
rative wood — might be cultivated. He thought he had been
in every county in England, and he could name two or three
enclosures in tbe Forest which contained the finest plantations
of Scotch firs he had ever seen. He favourably noticed the
management of the deputy surveyor and his officers, to whom
great credit and praise were due, and be only wished that their
neighbours thinned their plantations so regularly and well as
tbe Forest was thinned. He believed he was justified in say-
ing that the returns for fir were now equal to those for oak.

Mr. Fletcher, in answer to Capt. Maxse, said tiiere was
corn-growing land in the Forest, but, no doubt, the best por-
tion had been taken for the growth of timber.

Mr. John Gater agreed with Mr. Blundell that the best
use which could be made of some kinds of land was to plant
it with different kinds of firs. A great deal of success or
otherwise depended on the selection of tlie firs, and hundreds
of acres lying waste in this country might be advantageously
turned to account in this way. As to the New Forest, be
thought that when more than half the bread of tliis country
came from abroad we might well turn our attention to applying
the many acres of waste there to the raising of corn, and he
agreed with Capt. Maxse that our waste labour ought to be
turned to a more profitable account. He had no doubt when

Capt. Maxse spoke of waste labour be included our criminals,
whom the colonies would not consent to receive, but who
might, under a strict guard, be employed in the cultivation of
waste lands. No doubt to bring the New Forest into cultiva-
tion a heavy expense for drainage, &c., would first have to be
incurred, but steam cultivation might be brought into requisi-
tion, and an impetus and help given to many mechanics and
skilled men, of whom there were so many scores out of employ-
ment where there was only one agricultural labourer. He was
about to start a steam engine, and he had had 50 applications
for the position of driver by good and well-educated men.
There were good roads at present in the New Forest, but more
were wanted, for a large portion of it was well adapted for
gentlemen's seats, having a southern aspect, and good, band-
some timber, such as would fetch large sums on a building
site. He thought such places should be offered on long
leases, or sold, and what was too poor to invite tlie attention
of the capitalist might be planted, and profitably planted, at
the expense of the country.

Mr. B,oberts thought tbe subject too large to be discussed
in an adequate manner at one meeting, and that the second
part, as to the application of the waste lands of the country,
was suflSciently wide and interesting for a discussion by itself.
He had not yet heard how much land in tbe New Forest was
really cultivable with profit. He disagreed with those who
thought that gentlemen's seats increased the productiveness of
a country ; for he could not see how turning land into parks
and preserves could be called profitable cultivation. In refer-
ence to utilisinsc waste labour, be had for some time past been
putting to a practical test the labour lying unproductive in
the Winchester Union, and applying it to tlie cultivation of
the land. He referred to a most valuable instrument called a
" grubber," which had been recently brouglit under liis notice.

Capt. Maxse remarked that, when he spoke of applying
waste labour to waste land, he merely wanted natural causes
to operate in a demaud for increased labour, thus using it up.

Mr. Purchase gave some explanations as to the course he
had pursued in regard to his allotment on Titcbfield Common,
and added that he was satisfied its reclamation would pay him
well.

The Chairman said no doubt there were in this country
many woods that could be profitably broken up ; and he had
himself done so on land whicli, in its natural state, only pro-
duced 5s. or 7s. an acre, making it now worth 30s. or 40s. an
acre. There were doubtless some sorts of land which it
would be more profitable to retain as underwood ; but there
were not, he believed, many large estates in this country
which would not pay for the conversion of some of the land
into arable, whilst there were hundreds and thousands of acres
belonging to private individuals, and now growing nothing,
which might be profitably planted. There were thousands of
acres now growing nothing but heath, not bringing in Is.
an acre, whicli, if planted with larch fir, would pay I5s. or
16s. an acre. This, too, would afford employment for a great
deal of labour ; and if gentlemen, instead of assisting to send
our labourers and artisans abroad, would but employ the
money they thus spent in increasing tbe productiveness of their
own lands, there would be no need for sending the bone and
sinew of tbe country to other lands (bear, hear). Emigra-
tion, instead of being made a panacea for all tbe ills vpe were
enduring, might be made a great evil, for a large population
in a country was an advantage instead of a disadvantage, and
if every gentleman would look round to see where he could
profitably employ his money, present distress could be mate-
rially reheved, and tlie whole country benefited. Capt. Maxse
referred to the quantity of land at Titcbfield which remained
uncultivated, and suggested that a tax should be put upon it,
but the only practical way of dealing with it, perhaps, would be
to put on it the fair rate at which it would be rated if culti-
vated. This would induce its cultivation by tbe landlord.
With respect to the New Forest, which he bad traversed scores
of times, he believed there was not an acre there which might
not be profitably cultivated either for corn or timber, if they
would only put tbe right plant upon the right soil. Tbe secret
of successful timber growing was attention to thinning out.
His father had some timber valued and re-valued in twenty
years. It paid but 3 per cent, whilst standing, but if be bad
cut it down at the first valuation he might have secured 5 per
cent, for his capital, and the land at anotlier use. As to keeping
the forest for the production of oak, he recollected when it did

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

211

not pay its owu expenses, and tliat might possibly be the case

DOW.

Mr. Blundell iu his reply, said there was one thing he had
omitted to notice in his paper — the damage done on so many
estates by the hedges and hedgerows. There was not a hedge-
row in Hampshire paying more than lialf the money the trees
would pay as interest, if cut down and turned into money, to
say nothing of the damage done to the adjoining arable fields.
With regard to the New Forest as a hunting field, it afTorded
no better sport than the upper parts of the country, and he in-
sisted that even if there were any grounds for such a preserva-
tion of it, the necessities of the population were paramount to
every other consideration, and these loudly called for its cnlti-
vatiou in the best parts, aud planting in the others. Much of
the land had been planted for tlie growth of navy timber, and
he maintained that there was scarcely an acre iu the forest that
could not be made higlily valuable. A league, called the Emi-
gration League, had recently been formed iu London, to which
one nobleman had subscribed a thousand pounds, and he should
like to know how many uncultivated acres he possessed on his

estate, for he warranted that he could show him how he could
improve his estate and keep his money at home. When by
these means tlie working bees were taken out of the hive how
could we wonder at pauperism increasing ? It was estimated
that fifty miles of railway absorbed a farm of 300 acres, and
when we reflected on the land taken out of our limited area in
this way and for manufactories it behoved us to try to compen-
sate by cultivating all available land.

The following resolutions were unanimously adopted :
1. That large portions of land in this country now devoted to
woods, plantations, aud commons, would pay to break up and
cultivate, and give profitable employment to the waste labour of
the country. 3. That it is the opinion of this club that the
most advantageous plan for dealiug with Crown lands, such as
the New Forest, would be, after satisfying by grants of land all
just claims, either by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests
or of private persons, to offer to public competition all the re-
maining lands.

Votes to Mr. Blundell for introducing the subject and to the
chairman for presiding brought the meeting to aclose.

GROWING HOPS LIKE VINES.

At the December meeting of the Maidstone Farmers' Club,
Mr. T. Bridgland, jun., in the chair, Mr. Coley attended to
explain his new system of hop-growing. After showing that
it was adapted to every kind of hops and form of planting,
whether square or triangular, he spoke in detail to his system,
illustrating it by a model. He urged that this new invention,
which has many, and some important, advantages over the old
style of poling, can be applied to every kind of hops and forms of
planting, whether square or triangular, but it is best suited to
a square plant. To commence with this method, two stout
poles, moderately straight, are required to each hill as per-
manent uprights. For Colegates or Goldiug hops 16 or 18
feet poles may be reduced to 12 feet in length, sawing the
tops of the poles iu a sloping direction. When these poles
are sharpened, they should be thoroughly dipped 30 hours iu
good creosote at least 26 in. up, and wlien taken out of the
dipping tank hot, which should always be their state, the
dipped part should be dusted with lime, slacked for the pur-
pose, or hot ashes from under the tank wUl serve as a sub-
stitute. This absorbs the slimy moisture about the foot of
the pole, causing a kind of cement scale or covering, which
the fibres of the plant and also the hop roots will more freely
approach without being checked by the creosote on the poles.
Next, bore a hole through each pole tw» inches below the top
at the side of tlie sloping cut, large enough for No. 0 or other
wire to pass through, which wire is to be cut 12 inches in
length. Pass this wire through the hole not quite half the
length, and turn up both ends ; tlien press them in a vice close
to the pole. Fix a small staple (special for the purpose) driven
against the longest side of the wire to prevent the fork (now
formed) from turning down, when the top parts of sloping
poles are resting between these wire-guards. The permanent
poles being prepared should now be placed to the hills from
3 feet 6 inches to 2 feet 8 inches asunder, and not less than
20 inches in the ground, carefully set up by line. If done
when the land is iu a raoisteud state, the labour will be much
less, and the poles will stand more firm than if done when the
soil is dry and hard. At this stage, it is indispensably neces-
sary to consider the ground level, which in a great measure
should beyielded to, advantage being taken to turn all'the tips of
the sloping poles to the rising ground, preference being given
to the north and south aspects. Tf the land rises fast east-
ward, then follow the rise, with the tips of sloping poles ; but
if to the west, it is better to cross the hilly ground than point
to that quarter. When the uprights are so placed, a wooden
brace should be nailed across about 4 feet from the ground, to
keep the poles a due distance asunder ; and however strong
the wind may blow, this is a perfect remedy for unsteadiness.
A wire staple, two inches wide, should then be placed in each
upright pole, about 4 feet from the ground, little more or
less, as required. This staple should pass through the pole
and clinch, being fixed, to carry the foot of tlie sloping poles,
two of which are required to every hill. These sloping

poles may vary from 10 feet to 14 feet in lengtli, according
to the strength of soil and the kind of liop. Liglit wood
and straight poles are most suitable to lay a-slope, and
should be sharpened rather flatish at the foot, in order to
their binding more firmly in the staples of the permanently
fixed poles. The upper part of these sloping poles should rest
between the wires provided for tliat purpose on the tops of the
upright poles, and so laid are safely secured during the whole
season, there being a combination of support throughout the
whole ground, whilst the greatest possible facility is afforded
at the time of picking for the removal of every diagonal pole
carrying the hops, and likewise at the proper time these poles
are all easily again replaced. The ground being once furnished
with poles upon this principle, the axe, the line, the hop-
pitcher and hop-dog may be dispensed with, and even in dry
and very difficult seasons, the necessary polling can be done
by a man and boy, at the rate of three acres per day, or by a
woman, accustomed to outdoor work, at the rate of one acre
per day. The advantage of this svstem is, that tying can
always be commenced whenever the bines are in a fitting state
to begin, as there will be no need to wait for the poles to be
first set up, nor will any useful bines be damaged by the pro-
cess of polling before the tyers begin their work. The stock
of the hill is (by this plan of polling) at all times protected by
the permament uprights ; consequently weakly, damaged, and
dead bills will not be so frequently seen, as in grounds poled
upon the old style, where the poles are all taken up year by
year, and where the crowns of the hills are much trampled on
and injured in the time of picking the hop, dung carting, &c.
With my improved ladder two rows of poles can be attended to
each way ; this saves the necessity of moving a ladder round
about every hill, as is required to be done by the old system
of poling. Eight bines are trained from each hill, four
to each upright pole ; and when these have passed two
feet above the staple on the permanent poles, two
bines are taken off each standard and placed on the
sloping poles. And here a very important advantage is
gained, namely, the sloping poles are made, not de-
pendent upon one liiU only, but every pole has two distinct
hUls to furnish it with bines. The result of this is that when
and where hop bine comes very unevenly, or platty, as it is
commonly called — one hill having too much bine, and the
next, perhaps, too little — upon the patented plan of poling the
bines are all so evenly distributed that if there should be here
and there a weakly or even a dead hill, every pole is utihzed,
aud is seen to carry hops ; and the bmes, being all separated
into twos, and running on the poles lying in a diagonal or
slanting position, trained from two feet six inches to two feet
eight inches asunder, prevents the possibility of the hops
growing housey, or beating against each other, however severe
the wind may be. Again, as tlie highest of the standard poles
is only ten feet four inches from the surface of the ground,
both sun and air descend to the lowest branches on the poles,

212

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

causing even these to be fruitful and productive. Aud upon
this new plan of poling, if the hops are self-sheltered, they
ripen more evenly, tlie colour is preserved, the weight is in-
creased, and an additional gain of at least ten per cent, is pro-
duced in measureable quantity. One other advantage is that
when young fruit trees are being raised, or wlien fruit is grow-
ing among the hops, there are no tall poles to overshadow the
trees, or any possibility of poles falliugjto injure them. The
horse-work during the summer months can be done without
the slightest inconvenience, and there will be no need for
digging round tlie hills, as the whole of the ground can be
well and sufficiently worked with the horses and nidgets.
Digging and dressing in the spring and all kinds of tillage
can be attended to in the usual way. If the hop bine sliould
be attacked with aphis blight, and washing be deemed ad-
visable, upon this new system of poling it can be done more
beneiicially and at a great saving in cost, as all the leaves,
sprigs, and branches are fairly exposed to tlie ready reception
of the liquor applied, while the position of the poles being
much nearer to the engine than upon the old style of
poling, less force from the pump is required. Conse-
quently not so much bine would be blinded by the process,
as is now complained of. And here, with regard^ to the re-
sults of syringing hops, I wiU just, make a passing remark.
Having tried various ingredients for this purpose, I have found
I'owler's Insecticide, the most eflFectual of any that I have ever
applied — aud believe this preparation to be beneficial in more
than one point of view, for it not only destroys insect life, but
at the same time, invigorates and strengthens the hine, and is
an assistance against the ravages caused by mould in hops. If
the mildew or mould should come on the plant, aud sulphuring
appear indispensable, one third of the material can be saved,
whilst the labour will be less, and the result much more bene-
ficial than when done upon the old style of upright poling. In
picking, the bines should be cut at the staple or junction of the
upright poles, and hkewise at the top, one foot below the wire
fork. The standing poles are then, with perfect ease, speedily
detached and lowered to the ground by the bill-hook, specially
invented for this purpose. The bines which are entwined
round the poles between the staple and the fork on the upriglit
can then be pushed over the top of these poles with the hook
already referred to. Hops grown upon tliis patented plan can
he gatliered with mucli greater ease, and at less expense, as
they all hang fair, both to the eye and to the hand, having no
liousey heads or blank tails, to hinder the pickers from freely
handling the fruit. Again the stock itself is much invigo-
rated, strengthened, and benefited by cutting the bines four
feet high, and leaving the portion below around the standing
poles, witli the small branches and leaves to take the running
sap, which otherwise too freely overflows and greatly weakens
and exhausts the root. As soon as the hops are picked from
the poles, the bines should quickly be stripped off, for if this is
suffered to remain upon tliem, lying on the ground a few weeks
in wet autumn weather, the poles become more injured than
the whole of the year besides. Four small blocks aud two
cross pieces can be placed at suitable distances between the
permanent standards, to serve as steadies, two of these blocks
should be liigher than the other two, and the butts of the
sloping poles should be laid one way, to form a thatched like
roof. About 400 poles can be laid in each bed, and it would
be best to cover them in winter. It should now be remem-
bered that hop-grounds once poled upon this new plan, with a
moderate amount of care, will require but a very small expen-
diture in poles for many successive years, whilst the labour of
after-poling will be a nominal consideration. When this is
required, provision is made to detach the two upright poles,
one row in ten, and lift them out of the ground. This is done
by simply fixing a stong wire brace with eye at one end, to be
stapled to one of the uprights, and turned at the other end, to
drop in a staple fixed to the opposite standard. As soon as
the manure is carted on, these poles, together with the wire
stays, can again be replaced. Another provision is made by
the introduction of an improved three-wheel dung cart drawn
by traces. This will run any alley required, without tlie ne-
cessity of removing the poles ; may be used in summer or win-
ter, aud when shelved it can be taken back to the mixen with-
out being turned. I think the latter provision the best of the
two. It may, however, be found convenient to large growers
to take up one row in ten when the hops are being picked.
With regard to the duration of poles, comment is scarcely ne-

cessary, as any practical man will readily perceive that the
difference in cost of keeping up a ground poled upon the old
system aud that upon the new plan is very plain and indis-
putable. The IG or 18 feet poles being reduced to the lengths
of 10 or 12 feet (and these all braced together), the great strain
and stress which poles necessarily have to endure upon the old
principle of poling is entirely avoided ; whilst the diagonal
poles, which take half their bearing at the foot, in the staple,
and resting midway on the top of the upright poles, the wear
of these (even if each pole carries a bushel of hops) will be im-
perceptible for years. Again, upon this patented plan of poling
only two twelve-feet poles (to each hill) have to be lifted about,
and yet each hill affords more length of pole than is equal to
tliree I6ft. upon the old system of poling, aud 36 feet of pro-
ductive bine may be given to each and every hill of hops.
Estimated cost per acre in first poling upon the patented plan,
and cost for 14 years afterwards, contrasted with the old sys-
tem of poling hops. Say ten hundred plant, aud where 16 feet
poles would be necessary. Eor the new plan :

£ s. d.
2,000 of stout 12ft. poles (say 16ft. cut, at per 100,

24s.) 24 0 0

2,000 of medium 12ft. straight, at per 100, 18s.... 18 0 0

2,000 the large size, dipped, 3s. per 100 3 0 0

4,000 wire, lid. per 100 1 16 8

2,000 small staples 0 18 0

2,000 2i patent rose nails 0 6 0

4,000 wires, cut to lengths... ... ... ... 0 3 4

2,000 turned for staples 0 3 4

Cost to fix wires ... ... ... ... ... 1 16 0

1,000 hills to brace 0 10 0

To pole an acre at first ... ... ... ... 100

Subsequent expenses per annum per acre for 14

years : —

To keep up the poles, 15s 10 10 0

Labour on extra poles. Is. 6d. ... ... ... 110

Poling per acre. Is. 6d. ... ... ... ... 110

Extra attention required for tying, 4s. ... ... 2 16 0

Total cost of 15 years

67 1 4

£67 Is. 4d. divided by 15 years, £4 9s. 5d. per acre '

per annum.
Estimated cost per acre on tlie old style of poling: —
1,000 plant, Goldings or Colegates, 3 — 16 feet to

each hill, 24s. per 100—3,000 36 0 0

Dipping 3s. Do. 4 10 0

Poling per acre ... ... ... ... ... 0 16 0

Average cost yearly to keep up the poles £4, 14

years ... ... ... ... .. ... 56 0 0

Expense of sharping, dipping, and cartage of poles,

added yearly 16s., 14 years ... ... ... 10 16 0

14 years poling 16s. ... ... ... ... 10 16 0

Cost of 15 years 118 18 0

or £7 18s. 6d. per acre per annum.

The figures which I have set forth are intended to represent
best poles, and for the most expensive grounds. If for grape
hops or Jones', of course the poles would be of a much
cheaper character to begin with, but not less cost in the long
run. If poles are purchased when green, quickly get them
shaved aud dipped without delay, as the preserving properties
of the creosote, which renders the foot impervious, will follow
the pores freely when newly severed from the stub, and will
add to the durabilty of the poles throughout, helping them to
last for many years without suffering decay. For tlie new
principle of poling, the poles should be made ready aud
placed in the ground before the spring of the year, or the
ground be dug. In the early hops we picked at the rate of
1 cwt. 3 qrs. 4lbs. per acre extra on the patented plan, and in
quality worth 10s. per cwt. more than those of the same sort
grown close by on upright poles. Here we grew 20 cwt. per
acre on Colegate liops, picked after the severe gales of wind.
We found on the new plan of poling, an increase of four cwt.
per acre extra. These were sold at £5 8s. per cwt. Those
adjacent, of the same sort, grown on the upright poles,
fetched £5 2s. per cwt. This ground yielded about 14 cwt.
per acre.

Mr. Stonuam asked what the royalty would be ?

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

213

Mr. CoLEY said lie had carefully considered that matter,
and had decided to make it of an easy nature — £1 an acre —
and tliis would not be attached to tJie land, but to the pur-
chaser of it, so that if he at any time removed to another
farm he would still be able to grow hops on tlie same prin-
ciple. Mr. Coley then entered into some statistics to sliovv
that arguing froui his last year's growth, there would be an
increased crop, both in weight and value, from the adoptionoL
the principle. There were many, he said, who, no doubt hav-
ing their poles prepared for the old principle, would not
like to adopt it extensively at first, but if they tried one or
two acres tliey would not be running much risk.

Mr. LovETT said the system would probably interfere with
valuations, as the incoming tenant might not desire to carry
out the system.

Mr. Coley said he was so convinced of the advantages him-
self that if it entailed the drawing of his poles every year he
should follow the system.

Ml . Chittenden said he suspected the poles standing would
affect their durability. Then, again, with regard to strong
bine it miglit be useful, but witli the Jones' or the ordinary
Grape tlie stout poles would not be at all applicable, as they
would injure and strain the bine too much.

Mr. Barling inquired whether Mr. Coley's estimate of the
increased yield was founded on measure of weight ?

Mr. Waterman said there was one thing which had not
been mentioned by Mr. Coley which was very much in favour
of the system. He visited Mr. Coley's ground after the pre-
valence of the very high winds of the last season, and he was
astonished at the difference in the damage done between the
two systems. There was ten times the damage done to the
upright poles than there was to those on the nev/ system. He
had not gone into the matter thoroughly, but he felt inclined
most certainly to try a few acres. lie did not see quite so
much diit'erence iu the cost of tlie poles as Mr. Coley did.

Mr. Stoniiam said he would not go into the merits of the
question as to the belter quality of the hops ; but he thouglit
Mr. Coley had very much understated the first cost of tlie
poles. He assurnied that all larch fir poles of the best descrip-
tion were used, and he would not undertake to pole an acre
under £100.

Mr. T. Reeves, jun., said he could not understand what
there was in the system that it should withstand the wind so
much better than the old system. He thought with a strong
wind blowing in a certain direction that the poles must come
down.

Mr. H. Paine inquired as to the extra expense of tying.

Mr. Coley said he had estimated tliis at 4s. an acre.

Mr. Coley replied. In his opinion if poles were thoroughly
creosoted, that no injury whatever would result to them by
standing. He was convinced that when he had once poled
his hops they would last as long as he might live. With re-
gard to the cost, he maintained that his figures might fairly

be taken. As to the improved quality, he showed that on the
old principle the hops were knocked about and bruised, but
his were uninjured, and fully exposed to the light and air, so
that they attained full weight. The estimate he made was
from measure. A bushel grown on his principle when dried
weighed 27 ounces, but upon the upright poles the weight
was 2i ounces. He had placed in the hands of the Chairman
letters which he had received from gentlemen — experienced
hop-growers in the county — who had been eye-witnesses of the
damage caused on the upright poles, while upon his system
there was not a single pole out of its place. He then showed
how, by a simple instrument which he had invented, the wires
could be bent so as to hold the poles tightly, wliich could be
easily removed at the time of picking. In reply to the re-
mark of Mr. Chittenden as to the poles being too stout for
certain kinds of hops, Mr. Coley showed how by placing the
ends of the poles cut off at the liill the weakly bines could be
enabled to climb on to the upper portion.

The Chairman said it was his pleasing duty to move a
vote of thanks to Mr. Coley for the courtesy with which he
had brought the merits of his invention before the club. His
opinion was that the plan was a very useful one, and he cor-
dially wished Mr. Coley success. If it were good, it would be
sure to introduce itself; but if it were not, the inventor would
gain very little profit by it.

Mr. Barling then pointed out that he had asked the ques-
tion as to how Mr. Coley's estimate of the growth was arrived
at, as he considered estimates made by measures were always
fallacious. He knew that it was generally said tliat a certain
number of bushels produced a cwt. of hops, but no man could
so measure without prejudice as to be able to say that the
hops he had measured represented actually what another mea-
surer might make of another quantity of liops. If he were
asked to give an opinion on the general advantages of the up-
right and the diagonal principle, he should say, supposing the
costs to be nearly alike, that his opinion was decidedly in
favour of the diagonal principle. He saw those grown by
Mr. Coley, and every hop was fully exposed to the light and
air, and he imagined that from this reason there would be
increased weight in given measure, and a better quality over
those grown on the upright principle. He then pointed out
that in his opinion there would be some wear and tear in
driving in the staples, and from tVe carelessness of men put-
ting up the diagonal poles. It was not safe to trust entirely
ty estimates iu all these matters. As a general principle, he
tliought theje would be a gain in quality, but he could not be-
lieve that any system would permanently increase the quantity
of hops grown.

Mr. Coley then expressed his acknowledgments for the vote
of thanks, and, having produced his letters patent, said he
based his calculations of the increased growth on the fact that
with the present system there was a large quantity of blank
bine, which on his plan became fruitful.

THE NON-RESERVATION OF HARES AND RABBITS.

At a special general meeting of the Warwickshire
Chamber of Agriculture, held in Coventry, Mr. J. H.
Burbury, the president, in the chair, Mr. Muntz, of Uraber-
slade Hall opened a discussion on the " Game Laws." He
said that when lie issued the circular on the 9tli of December
last, he did not intend to enter furtber upon the question at
present, but as several members of the Chamber expressed a
wish to him that he should introduce the subject to their no-
tice he consented to do so. He was not, however, prepared
to say how far the present game laws required amending, nor
was lie prepared to say whether they should not be altogether
repealed. Probably if game was made the property of the land
for the time being, and also if there was some protection of it
for a particular season, many difficulties might be removed.
But his object in writing the circular he had spoken of, and
what he had to say was with regard to the position which
landlord and tenant would hold supposing the Game Laws
were altogether abolished. He wanted to inquire that day,
and probably some gentleman present would be able to answer
tlie (luestion, which was, supposing the Game Laws no longer

existed, how would the case be if the landlord chose to keep
game on his estate ? He did not know that he need allude to
the various grievances which the tenant farmers had to sub-
mit to, and perhaps they could not too often speak of the in-
justice when they did so earnestly, thoughtfully, and with a de-
termination to remedy, if possible, those grievances. He would
suppose for a tenant taking a larm. lie would make his calcu-
lations, looking at the quantity of game then existing on
the farm, with a view of seeing how much rent he
could pay, and get a livelihood out of it. Afterwards,
however, he sees his farm overrun with game, and his
crops, which he expected to realize, and the profit of the
same which he expected to put in his pocket disappeared. But
there were still greater grievances than the one he had men-
tioned. Some of the farmers had been in possession of tiieir
farms for years, and perhaps in their families for generations.
In towns people changed from house to house, and they thought
no more of the house than child. But, in the country,
and agricultural districts, it was very different. Every Eng-
lishman had his home, and that feeling was not stronger per-

214

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

haps thau iu the iniiid of the English farmer. In every farm
which liad been held by the same farmer for a number of
years were all the associations of early youth. Why should
they forget that the farm, and the farm-house, was the farm-
er's house, and that he had an attachment to it ? Suppose a
farmer had lived from his youth to maturer years on the same
farm, and had been a good tenant, a good neighbour, and an
industrious man, and obliged to leave it in consequence of the
overrun of game, it would be a great hardship to liim. A
farmer generally took his farm for a long lease — 21 years —
and with a fair quantity of game upon it. He made his cal-
culations so as to get his livelihood and maintain his family
respectably out of it. In three years, or perhaps in a less
period, the farm miglit fall into other hands by succession or
by sale, and the tenant have a new landlord. The quantity of
game may be increased, and a probable loss stare the farmer
in his face. Every workman must have his tools to work
with, for without them he would be a helpless individual.
Every man must have the means by which he could earn his
livelihood. How, therefore, could a farmer earn his livehhood
without his farm ? If a man forgoes all his loss and left his
farm, what was he to do, if he could not get possession of a
farm at any time ? He might rent a large farm and be obliged
to leave it because he had sustained so great a loss by game.
He did not wish them to suppose that any landlord would
willingly allow such an injustice, but he thought this evU
arose in consequence of the landlord not being sensible or aware
of the damage and injury done to the tenant by the game.
What he wanted was this : some means adopted by which a
true state of things could be put before the world. He wanted
the amount fixed when every tenant when he took a farm
should agree to provide either capital or damage for the land-
lord's sport or pleasure. When there was an increase of
damage by game, it should be decided by an impartial judge,
and the landlord should pay to the tenant any increased
amount above the original bargain. Landlords always made
provisions for their own protection, and provided that the ten-
ants should not remove either hay or straw from their farms;
and also every other protection they could frame for themselves
they put to the agreements. But there was no protection
against the landlord walking off with the property of the ten-
ant. An objection was raised against this. How could the
tenant interfere ? If he opened liis mouth about it he was
probably turned out of his farm. [A Voice : " It ought not
to be so"]. He would make the matter compulsory, so that
the landlord nor tenant should open their mouths. He would
make it compulsory by law that whenever a landlord chose to
preserve game he should be bound to appoint a valuer, who
should make a valuation annually of the amount of damage
done. The tenant, as well as the landlord should also appoint
a valuer, and the valuation should be laid before both parties,
who would then see the true state of things. He was also in
favour of making the valuation public, so that everyone
might see the amount of damage done by game. One ob-
jection might be made iu the difficulty of valuing it, and it
might be said that no one could make it. He would remind
them that if they could not value it, professional men who
had had great experience in valuing could be obtained, and
who would make it their business to ascertain, as near as
possible the true value of the damage done. They must be
professional and independent men, who devoted themselves to
their business. The next thing was respecting the time when
the valuations should be made. He thought that iu July or
August was the proper time, but he would leave the time of
the valuation to the valuer. The crops should be valued
at the time when the greatest amount of damage was done.

Mr. Manx, a tenant farmer, was strongly against the con-
tinuance of any game-laws at all, and commented on the crime
and immorality which they occasioned. He thought the rate-
payers should be no longer burdened with the cost of pre-
serving game for sport, and that hares and rabbits should be
treated as vermin.

Mr. KicHA-RDS, another tenant-farmer, was also against the
game-laws.

Mr. P. W. Martin, M.P. for Rochester, pointed out that
as the law at present stood the game belonged to the tenant.
The only way in which game could come into the possession
of the landlord was by the tenant giving up his right, which
he surrendered to the landlord under certain conditions. He
quite agreed with the last speaker that the time had come

when rabbits should be dealt with differently from any other
animals. However bond fuh the landlord might act, there
was always a soreness about these unfortunate animals, and he
spoke from his own knowledge when he said that it was pos-
sible practically to give a tenant back the whole of Ids rent,
and yet not satisfy him. Rabbits were a nuisance to the land-
lord in his turn, and they were the great attraction to poachers.
He thought if the landlords of the country would make up
their minds to deal in a generous spirit by their tenants, and
to pass a measure that concerned this one tiling, they would
hear little more complaint about the game laws. The pro-
posal that he had to make was this — that a short act should
be passed, absolutely vesting the right to rabbits m the tenant,
and prohibiting them from being made matter of agreement.
With regard to partridges, he believed, from the quantity of
insects they destroyed, that they did hardly any harm, but an
immense amount of good. As to pheasants, they did not, as a
rule, prey on the produce of the fanner, but lived on Indian
corn and such things as were provided for them.

Mr. FosTEK, tenant farmer, thought the game laws ought
to be entirely abolished. He did not stand there to advocate
the abolition of sport, but he did stand there to advocate that
sport be put upon a different footing. He looked at this ques-
tion as a national question and as affecting the whole country
in its supply of food. Some years ago Providence visited them
with a cattle plague, and Sunday after Sunday they sent up
petitions that the plague might be stayed. They deplored the
loss of animal food which that cattle plague occasioned, but
vihile doing so they forgot they were suffering annually another
loss of food from causes entirely within their own control. He
believed the loss of food to the nation in one year by
the over preservation of game was greater than the loss in
any one year by the cattle plague. The game laws
he considered a remnant of the feudal system, and he
said, " Ijct us make a clean sweep of them." He thought
if landlords treated their tenants fairly, and left the pre-
servation of game entirely in the hands of their tenants,
they would require no gamekeepers, and would never want a
good day's sport. Gamekeepers he considered a very great
nuisance to the farmers ; they were generally taken from an
uneducated class of men, and made themselves offensive in
many ways. They were, to a certain extent, set to watch
poacliers, but they rather watched the farmer and they gene-
rally made more mischief between a landlord and his tenants
than it was possible for him to describe. He said, therefore,
do away with game laws ; do away with keepers, and there
v.as not a tenant in the country that would not take
a pride in providing a reasonable amount of sport for his
landlord and in carrying a gun with him. He condemned the
battue system, and saw vpith regret the encouragement which
had been given to it by the Prince of Wales.

Mr. S. B. CoNGREVE, tenant-farmer, thought hares and
rabbits should be struck out of the game-hst. He did not
think partridges did much harm, although pheasants did. But
what they wanted most was, to get rid of the niiisancG of pre-
serving large quantities of hares and rabbits. As to Mr.
Muntz' proposal, he thought it impracticable. Mr. Muntz
spoke about getting an impartial man ; but where would they
find him ? He spoke about a professional impartial man, but
what would a professional man know about it ? Those pro-
fessional men who did not lean to the landlords' side would
get devilish little employment.

The CiiAiRiiAN here intimated that a telegram had just
been received from Mr. Newdegate, M.P., senior member for
North Warwickshire. It was as follows : " I much regret
that I am prevented attending the meeting of to-day. I hope
you will say this for me. 1 have read Mr. Muntz' letter. The
annual valuation, if enforced by law, would be an arbitrary
measure, and lead to great inconvenience both to tenant and
landlord. It would be simpler to declare that the game be-
longs to the tenant, all agreements to the contrary notwith-
standing. This would be unjust without power to alter the
rent. The remedy for any evil which exists seems to be iu
specific contract between landlord and tenant, without the in-
tervention of third parties, except by agreement between land-
lord and tenant."

Mr. Bromley Davenport, M.P., was unfavourable to
Mr. Muntz' proposal, which he thought would prove dillicult
in working. He understood from this meeting that there
was no objection to landlords coming down to shoot. The oh-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

215

jection was the excess in preservation of game, which, like all
other excesses, was bad. He thought, if some provision could
be made whereby rabbits could be more decidedly left to the
tenant than they were, or, if you will, all ground game, that
it would conduce to a more satisfactory state of things. Prac'
tically, he might say that on his estates every tenant of his had
leave to kill rabbits ; and therefore, in regard to them, he
never had any complaint except from one or two small
tenants who lived near the wood, and whom he had always
endeavoured to compensate. As a landlord he was in favour
of preserving game in moderation, but not in excess, which
he regarded as intense folly. Keferring to battues, he said
he had seen in the papers the most absurd and exaggerated
statements regarding that mode of sport ; as, for instance, that
the excess of game was buried. They had seen that statement
made in the papers, but had anyone seen it in practice ?
Equally absurd statements had also been made by men who
did not know anything about game or game-preserving, or the

relations between landlord and tenant. He had seen a London
leading article in which the writer, commenting on the hard-
ship of farmers being obliged to preserve game, said, " What,
for instance, could be more unjust than that tenants should be
compelled not only to keep the rabbits for their landlords, but
even be obliged to preserve tlieir eggs? His feeling was that
something should be done by the Legislature which should
liave the effect of diminishing the quantity of ground game ;
but if a tenant had no objection ti) an arrangement with his
landlord whereby the landlord could have a reasonable amount
of sport, then they had no right to use compulsory legislation.

" That rabbits and hares should be the absolute property of
the occupier of the land, and that any agreement to the
contrary between landlord and tenant should be null and
void."

The following resolution was unanimously adopted, as it
appeared at the time ; although as a county member Mr.
Bromley Davenport has of course since expressed his dissent.

DORCHESTER FARMERS' CLUB,
STEAM CULTIVATION.

The members of this Club, who tried the experiment of
holding meetings with closed doors, have returned to their
former practice of inviting reporters to record their deli-
berations.

At the last meeting, Mr. Richardson, the representative
of Fowler and Co., of Leeds, said : The subject of steam
cultivation, which he understood had not previously been
ventilated in the county, demandedtheir serious attention. Prac-
tical experience as a member of the firm which had been instru-
mental in introducing steam cultivation in other counties had
led him to conclude that sooner or later it must be adopted iu
every county of the country. When he told thera that the
great pioneer of steam cultivation was the Viceroy of Egypt,
who had ordered £70,000 worth of machinery of Messrs.
Fowler and Co., he thought they world rest satisfied that if the
farmers of England did not progress in that matter foreigners
would tread on their heels. The gentleman who had managed
the machinery supplied to the Viceroy of Egypt was a young
German, who learnt farming. At the time of the cattle
plague the Viceroy was driven to his own resources. During
the year of the great international exhibition he had seen the
steam plougli of England at work. When his cattle were
dying by hundreds and thousands, and when cotton was at a
fabulous price he sent a telegram to Messrs. Fowler and Co.,
asking them in what time they could supply him with 20
double steam ploughs. The answer was " four months,
provided that £30,000 is lodged at a London bank." Within
four days the money was lodged, and the Viceroy had since
been supplied with 75 double steam plougli engines. Mr.
Richardson afterwards proceeded : It is not my intention to
treat of the mechanical part of this subject, for I am aware
that many and various opinions are held respecting the different
adaptations of machinery necessary to encounter the greatly-
varying nature of the soils. But all descriptions have been
brought to a high degree of perfection, and, therefore, the
farmer has little difficultv in selecting the one which is more
particularly suited to his own immediate requirements.
Moreover, the system of hiring out machinery in the shape of
two powerful traction engines has made steam subservient to
the wants of all classes of agriculturists, and with proper
management this system can and will economise the working
expenses of the farmer materially. Labour, whether animal
or manual, is a very serious item of expense to the farmer,
for the former has been confined to the grain-consuming
horse, while the latter is daily demanding higher wages,
which tends to lessen the farmer's profits. But a brighter
morn is now dawning upon his prospects. After years of
expensive and laborious experiments, that all-powerful, untiring
agent, the steam-engine — the great abridger of time and
labour — is now ready to prove to the farmer as tractable and
serviceable in the field, when attached to the plough or culti-
vator, as it has liitherto been while setting in motion the
various machinery of the farm-yard, The year 1869 has not

been a year of great productiveness or prosperity to the agri-
cultural interest and to the county. But judgment and
industry combined will, with the assistance of mechanical
skiU, insure to the husbandman more safety and stibility,
freedom from preying anxieties, and greater ability, with a
proportionate capability to supply the increasing wants of an in-
creasingpopulation. It isverygratifyingtonotetliegreat interest
every where manifesting itself in favour of steam cultivation, and to
discern thegradual crystallisinginto form of the crude vie ws at first
entertained as well as the partial dissolution of those pre-
judices which at one time apparently threatened to oppose
such an improvement in the field of labour ; and it must tend
to confirm our belief that a grand and sublime development of
practical and industrial ideas, however slowly accomplished
amid embarrassments and discouragements, wiU at length be
acknowledged one of the crowning glories of this noble king-
dom. It is a fact, too, that cannot escape the attention of the
observing class, that men of superior education and wealth are
now taking an interest in farming, giving to the world the
benefit of scientific experience and research, and pursuing their
vocation with a view to render the labourer a more mechanical
agent, and thus obtain from him his mental in lieu of his
animal power, AVe must all admit that England has surpassed
all other nations in the excellence and variety of its agricul-
tural machinery. Now all improvements in agricultural ma-
chinery have a tendency to reduce to the lowest minimum the
proportion of animal and manual power employed in its ope-
rations. I will now propose to consider four points connected
with this subject — First, the advantages to be derived from
employing steam power in the cultivation of the land;
secondly, the economy which will be effected in all the tillage
operations on the farm ; thirdly, that tlie work can be done
at precisely the proper time ; and fourthly, and the most im-
portant of all, and one that constitutes the gist and pith of the
whole subject, that the produce of the land can be materially
increased and thecost of production decreased. First, then, I will
consider the advantage to be derived by employing steam power
in cultivating the soil. As an instance, the steam thrashing
machine, at one time the flail — worked, of course, by manual
labour — was at length superseded by the horse thrashing-
machine, or animal power ; whereas it has now succumbed to
the mechanical power of steam. The further this saving of
both animal and manual labour progressess, the greater wHl be
the profits of the farmer, and the more extensive become the
garners of the world. Coincident with this application of
mechanics to agriculture, systematic and enlarged business
aptitudes will seek alliance with this noble art. Farms of
hundreds of acres will be managed with more skill, and a
larger margin of net profit than even farms of smaller extent,
for the larger the farm (so long as it is within the means and
capacity of the manager) so much the better and cheaper will
it be cultivated. In view, then, of all these evidences of the
progress and of the expanding capabilities of agriculture, I

216

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

have pleasure in introducing to your favourable cousideratiou
the steam-plough or cultivator, believing you vfill give it a
trial, after hearing the great advantages it possesses over all
animal and manual power, and encourage it with that spirit
of liberality which becomes a great and important county.
And wbeu we consider that but a few years have elapsed since
steam cultivation was only an idea, and that the inventors had
no previous models or similar appliances to work from, but
had fust to discover the principles and then apply them in all
their details to the invention of proper machinery, the present
developed condition of the steam plough or cultivator is truly
wonderful. We must all admit that our gardens produce much
more (whatever the course of cropping) than the same area of
land does in any part of the farm ; and a satisfactory reason
can be assigned for it. It is in consequence of deep treuchiug,
a thorough loosing and mixing of the soil, and the non-com-
pression of it by treading with liorses' feet after the process of
digging or forking it over. Such, tlieu, is the case with the
steam cultivator. All the roots and plants are allowed to
penetrate through a soil thoroughly disintegrated or broken
up, being in no way intercepted by a hard subsoil or indented
path, upon which horses have trodden for years ; consequently
a complete change is effected in the nature of the subsoil, and
more particularly as regards its drainage, and this on strong
soils is a most important feature, for the drainage of all strong
tenacious lands is the first step towards improving it. But
the practical solution of the great advantage of steam cultiva-
tion on all strong soils is that all treading is avoided. More-
over, there is an old inspired credence, that " the clouds drop
fatness." Therefore I consider water must be the great fer-
tihzing process, if by proper cultivation it can percolate freely.
But can such be the case if the subsoil is not broken up ; or if
the land is consolidated or compressed by the action of the
plough irons, the squeezing of the inouldboard, the laudside,
and sole of the horse plough, together with the horses'
feet? For the sake of explanation I will take a team
of three or four horses, ploughing a 10 -inch fur-
row. They will leave more than 300,000 footprints
on the acre, and, since tliese nearly cover the ground,
the effect will be a hard subsoil or pan beneath the cultivated
ground is left, which becomes worse wilh every successive
ploughing at the same depth. Now the tractive power which
horses are able to exercise upon a plough is very limited, and
is further decreased in consequence of their having to convey
their own weight over the land, as well as partly to undo the
compression caused by their own feet. I will just practically
illustrate this, since it is of iuch importance. Suppose a
horse is taken when the laud is wet, or in a waxy state, and
walked across the track of a steam plough, and made to travel
to and fro transversely on every ten-inch width until a breadth
of six yards is trodden over, it is ascertained that if the steam-
cultivating engine has just sufficient steam to perform its work
properly before it arrives at the ground so trodden down, it
will be completely stopped before it gets through the six yards ;
and, considering the momentum of the lly-wheel, this experi-
ment clearly shows, and plainly and practically convinces us,
that the power required is something very important ; and ex-
perience further shows that one-third additional draught is
required on land so trodden down and consolidated, Now,
there is no treading or poaching the land by tbe steam culti-
vator. Tlie engines stand on the headland, and draw the im-
plement to and fro by means of a wire rope. It is driven at
a much more rapid speed : it throws up the soil in a loose
state, and thereby enables it to derive considerably more benefit
from the influences of the atmosphere acting upon it. The
rapid motion of the steam-driven implement tends also to
loosen and aerate the soil much below the actual depth at
which the tyne or share is working. But lu horse or ox
ploughing the case is just the reverse, for the soil of the
plough and the treading of the animals so consolidate the sub-
soil that the necessary chemical action between the soil and
subboil, and consequently all escape of water and gas, is en-
tirely prevented. The result of tearing up and loosening the
subsoil is that a much greater quantity of ground is penetrated
by air, and its temperature is thereby raised. The air is re-
placed in the same proportion by water (when rain falls), and
this moisture is retained in tbe steam-cultivated ground as if
in a sponge, any superfluous quantity sinking away to the
driins beneath, instead of the whole lying for a long time in
a hard and trampled subsoil as though held in a dish, making

the land cold and ungenial. As regards the temperature of
the soil, I am satisfied, from practical observation, that this
subject in connection with agriculture demands our investi-
gation and consideration, for the improvement of the tem-
perature of the soil is directly accomplished by the improve-
ment of its drainage, as aeration and its power of absorptiou
and evaporation. A high temperature of the soil materially
assists the growth of plants, and that temperature cannot be
kept uniform except by deep cultivation and an equal looseness
of the bottom soil. I have frequently seen fields of wheat in
the spring time turn completely yellow in tliree or four days,
arising, in my opinion, from shallow cultivation, the water not
getting beyond the horse-beaten surface of the subsoil, thus
producing a low and injurious temperature ; but the case is
altogether altered if you cultivate very deep and break up tliis
board or pan, and so allow the water to get away into the
drains. With such a quantity of loosened soil as I recom-
mend, say two feet, on all strong soils, it must be obvious to
everyone that, so long as the excess of water can pass readily
away, it will not cool the land, but will, on the contrary, rather
tend to lieat it, and leave in the soil its ammouiacal proper-
ties. The temperature of the air is of le,-s importance than the
temperature of the soil, as regards tlie healthy state of the plants,
for an early development is of vital importance to all root
crops, for if you once get the root to take good hold of the
soil the probability is that the crop will continue healthy and
luxuriant ; but how can laud be kept in an even temperature
when horses have trodden and left with every foot-print a sort
of basin for the water to stand in ? These remarks, of course,
only refer to strong, heavy, and tenacious soils ; but
a similar result is observable on light lands, but of course
they are not so damaged by wet or excessive moisture. Their
greatest danger is from " burning" in dry weather ; but deep
cultivation and loosening of the soil causes them to retain their
moisture in a dry season for a much longer period than if the
subsoil migiit be what is termed a board, then the roots of the
plants have more liberty to penetrate the soil until stopped by
natural causes. They can follow the moisture in the ground
much further than would be possible after horse cultivation,
for, since no burning takes place until the deepest roots have
entirely exhausted the moisture around them, the crop is made
capable of resisting the action of heat and the effects of
drought for a very loug time. I am practically convinced that
the success or otherwise of a root crop depends upon the
number of cubic feet of soil that the roots are able to
penetrate ; and I am satisfied that a grain crop on light lands
will stand up much better and is not so easily laid on a deeply-
cultivated soil as one which is shallow. But a further and
additional advantage is obtained on light soils in the greater
facility offered in eradicating couch grasses. The horse im-
plement, from want of power to go sufficiently deep, cuts the
couch into small pieces, very frequently leaving the roots in
the ground, which must afterwards undoubtedly rise up in
judgment against the occupier, and, being brought to the
surface in small pieces only, the horses' feet while harrowing
transplant a considerable portion of it, which of course neces-
sitates more draggings and numerous other operations. But
this brings me to the second part of my subject, viz., that by
steam the tillage operations on the farm can be effected more
economically. At present I must admit that the cost of per-
forming tillage operations by steam is far from being so cheap
as it should be or what it eventually will be. In majij cases,
and especially in regard to steam machinery worked for hire,
the very worst and heaviest portion of the work is given to it,
and very frequently that which cannot be done by horses.
Now, before we obtain the maximum of cheapness, we must
allow steam power to perform all the operations connected
with the tillage of the ground, for if after steam cultivating a
field horses are taken upon it, for the purpose of harrowing
it or doing similar work, the ground is of course
trodden down again and consolidated. The consequence
IS, the next year it requires much more power to break it
up than would otherwise be the case, and not only docs
it require this extra force, but clod-crushers and other im-
plements have to be applied to it, which should not be the
case if it had been worked immediately after harvest time, or
when the land was thoroughly dry. The generality of land,
if worked by steam power and kept entirely free from the
tramphng of horses, would only require one very deep culti-
vation every fourth or fifth yea/, and w'ould be kept in such a

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

217

state as to allow the air and moisture, together with the roots
of the crops, to penetrate freely, so that tlie cultivation of the
com crops in their proper rotation would only require a light
or surface operation sufficient to cover the seed. We may not
he ahle to calculate the precise amount of increase in propor-
tion to an additional inch obtained in depth ; but experiments
have proved that in many cases it bears relatively a near pro-
portion to the increase in depth of culture, so that, when the
soil IS only worked to six inches, an inch greater depth of cul-
tivation would give nearly one-sixth more production. An er-
roneous impression exists relative to the depth to which the
roots of the cereals and clovers, as well as many other plants,
will descend in a well cultivated and fruitful soil. In pits
filled with surface soil, or wherever the mould is of suitable
texture and condition, carrots and parsnips are often found of
a length of three feet or more, clover roots from three to four
feet, and instances have been known of still greater length of
the roots of wheat and oats. But with the prevalent mode
of horse culture, in very compact soils, wheat roots are so
near the surface as to be thrown out by the mechanical dis-
placement of freezing and thawing, and, if not utterly de-
stroyed, they struggle fruitlessly to pierce the unbroken sub-
soil, packed, perhaps, by the tread of horses for a century or
more, and finally yield lo the blasting power of an early
drought, and become blighted, light, shrivelled, worthless for
seed, and of no value for bread. Now deep culture with
proper drainage will procure exemption from most of these
liabilities, and more especially on light soils, from all danger
of loss from drought. Deep cultivation then aud thorough
pulverisation is a prime necessity for all root culture, and in
uo way can deep cultivation be so cheaply and more economi-
cally performed than by steam power. This, then, brings me
to the third part of my subject, and I will endeavour to show
that the work of the farm can be done at precisely the proper
time. I must admit that the cultivation of the soil is a busi-
ness which requires a great amount of care and attention,
I, combined with practical experience. A very false idea of a
farmer's business is conveyed when it is said that any one is
fit for farming. On the contrary, I do not know of Kny busi-
ness which requires such minute attention and such keen
observation, and this arises principally from the extraordinary
variations in the climate, weather, and the soil, and the great
and important effect these variations have upon the crops.
Those farmers who most carefully observe the state of their
land, and never work it except at proper times, will, of course,
derive the greatest advantage from it. On a farm under
horse cultivation, however, this is a very difficult task, as tlie
small amount of profit yielded by farming will not allow the
number of horses, implements, &c., to be kept which would be
necessary to deal with all the land at the proper period and in
the most economical manner. This inability, then, to deal
with the land when dry and in the best condition, involves
its deterioration until it can scarcely be considered to be in
growing condition, and not unfrequently the total or partial
loss of the crop is thus caused. Wiien we consider that
there are only two or three months in the year during
which the tillage operations can be'profitably performed, the
fact that the horses are sometimes kept working continu-
ally in order that they may not fall behindhand with their
work shows clearly that the land must often be operated upon
when it is in a very unfit and improper condition. But the
person who farms by steam has a powerful and ample force at
his disposal, so that he can afford to wait until his land is in a
fit state for working, and this force being an untiring one he
can work night and day if necessary to complete those opera-
tions for whicli the season will not tarry. It is often customary
to hear farmers complain that tliey have got behind hand with
their work, and they will point out a field, or perhaj)s two, in
which the crop has been nearly lost, simply because it was put
in two or three days later, or when the land was really unfit
for the reception of the seed. Now this occurs because the
farmer is usually obliged to keep his working force of horses
down to the narrowest possible limit, and the couse(juence is
that in some unfavourable seasons he requires twice the num-
ber at his disposal to complete his work in proper time. But
surely I have siiown and I trust convinced all practical men
present that these irritating and expensive difficulties are al-
most unknown to the man who farms by steam. Such being
the case, 1 will proceed to point out lastly that the produce of
the land can be considerably increased and the cost of produc-

tion decreased. This is the most important part of my lecture-
To accomplish this, however, science and practice must go
haud-iu-hand, for Liebig, the greatest chemist that ever lived,
has stated that deep pulverization of the soil was attended with
most important results, for he had discovered tliat when the
surface of bodies was exceedingly exlended by a minute eom-
munitiou of their particles they could condense 80 times their
substance in gasses, as, for instance, a piece of beechwood
when powdered and reduced to a state of charcoal. The
effect of this, then, in a finely pulverized soil would be to ab-
sorb and intensify the action of tlie atmosphere upon that soil,
and thus absorb 80 times the amount of air. Thus, then,
science confirms the daily and practical experience of agricul-
ture. It explains the whole system of fallows, the whole sys-
ten> of the rotation of crops, for in tliis way the whole action
of the atmosphere upon the soil was so deeply intensified that
the soils which were made fallow entirely altered their chemi-
cal character, and, further, the rotation of cropping was only
a different kind of fallow, for a crop was put in wiiich did not
exhaust the soil instead of one which had exliausted it ; and
in this way, by the action of the air (wliicli after all is the
great pabulum of plants) upon the soil, those mineral con-
stituents whicli had become deficient were obtained. By
these remarks I only wish to justify the importance of science
as closely connected with agriculture, for all scientific and
mechanical inventions which assist in the pulverisation of the
soil will confirm and strengthen the importance of employing
steam as an agent io carry out the operations with advantage.
But, as I said previously, science and practice must work
together, and all the inventions of the mechanic must directly
or indirectly pass through the practical and observing mind
of the agriculturist ; for by their skill, frugal industry, enter-
prise, and capital, laud once barren and unproductive have
been made to unfold the most luxuriant crops of grain and
turnips. Take, for instance, the improvements made by the
tenant farmers in Norfolk. That county is a triumph of
English excellence in agricultural pursuits. There, where
at one time two rabbits fought for a blade of grass,
you can now see a wide waving corn field, and I feel con-
vinced that if the farmers of Dorsetshire or any other
county will make up their minds to employ the steam
cultivator, if only as an auxiliary on their farms the re-
sult in improved crops will fully justify the expense. In
support of this statement, then, I will read you an ex-
tract from a letter written by Mr. Bailey Denton to the Times.
I can also show you that in the application of artificial
manures to the land a very economical feature suggests itself,
for I have known an application of only one sack of bones to
tlie acre after steam cultivation for a turuip crop produce a
larger crop of roots than from an application of two sacks
after horse culture, and the trial was made in the same field.
I account for this in consequence of the one sack of boues be-
coming immediately available to the plant, in consequence of
the soil being thoroughly pulverised by the action of the steam
cultivator, and, the bones becoming more mixed with the fine
soil, they formed a continuous supply of increasing nourish-
ment to the plants. Now, I have asserted that not only can
the produce be increased, but that the cost of production can
be decreased. I find from careful observation and practical
experience that, including interest on the outlay, depreciation,
and repairs, the average yearly cost of maintaining a set of
steam tackle working 2,000 acres per year, say six or eight
inches deep, will be £300 or 3s. per acre. Now, how many
horses would be required to work 3,000 acres ? Allowing a
pair of horses can plough one acre per day, it would require a
team of 20 horses to average 10 acres per day, or 60 acres per
week, 240 acres per month ; and they would be employed be-
tween eight and nine months before they had completed the
2,000 acres. Now, the wear and tear of the harness, imple-
ments, and the amount of farrier's and other bills in connec-
tion with these 20 horses, with interest and depreciation, will
be at least twice as great as the corresponding items, which
are chargeable against the steam-ploughing tackle. The ave-
rage price of coals per horse-power per day — i.e., the cost of
the quantity of coals we should burn in an engine to get out
of it work equal to one horse or half-an-acre per day — would
be 7d. Can you, as practical men, couvince yourselves you
can maintain a horse a day for that sum ? for an engine only
requires food when working, whereas horses eat nigh.t and
day, and, moreover, require many hours for rest ; but, with a

Q

218

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE.

relay of hands, you cau work an engine night as well as day.
But I will put it more plainly stUl. If, under the present
system of working with horses, a farmer could take each field
consecutively, and attempt to calculate beforehand the cost of
the different operations required for cultivating it under or-
dinary circumstances, he would probably find that such an
estimate would have to be doubled before it would cover his
actual expenditure, and this in consequence of wet days and
other contingencies compelling him to keep his men and horses
idle. Now, such a state of things in any ordinary mercantile
business would be ruinous, and this is the great drawback in
all calculations connected with farming where horses are the
motive power. Surely, then, the cost of production can be
proved to be decreased by employing steam-power, because the
actual cost of cultivating the land is known and agreed upon
before the engine enters the field. Such being the case, and
until there is a supply of steam-cultivating machinery to meet
the increasing demand of the farmers, they must rely upon
horses, and are at any moment liable to be compelled to pay
advanced wages to their labourers ; consequently, I fearlessly
assert that the farmer has greater difficulties to contend with
than any other producing class. The powers of machinery
are controlled, mastered, and subdued by art ; but the powers of
nature in her wild state are encountered by the farmer in the
mildew on his corn, the murrain amongst his stock, the seasons
too wet or too dry— all these combined tend to try the in-
domitable pluck of the English agriculturist. Consequently,
how important that they should meet together to communi-
cate their ideas and obtain information in a manner not only
agreeable and useful to themselves, but also advantageous to
the general welfare of the community at large. I wish, then,
every success to your club, for by it you are diffusing sound,
practical, and useful information ; you are, in fact, promoting
the progress of agricultural improvements ; you are not
merely developing the national resources, you are not merely
lightening the national burdens, you are not merely adding to
the strength and power of England, or increasing the wealth
of those who are already wealthy, but you are indirectly
engaged in one of the highest and noblest tasks which human
enterprise cau propose to itself, and, by employing m.achinery,
you are relieving tlie sufferings and elevating the condition of
the labouring classes of the country. And I must dwell
particularly upon this, because I confess it gives the whole
subject of steam cultivation an interest which otherwise it
would never posses.i, for the higher the farming becomes,
and the more machinery you employ, the less need will there
be for mere brute labour, and the more you will require skilful
and cultivated intelligence, for you will exercise the mental in
lieu of tlie animal power of your labourers, or, in other words
you will have less demand upon their muscular strength and
a greater demand upou their brains. " Necessity," we all
know, " is the mother of invention," and she is not giving birth
one moment too soon to a system most essential, highly
necessary, and conducive in a great measure to the happiuess,
comfort, and prosperity or all who are or who will be engaged
in agricultural pursuits, for experience, the best of all school-
masters, is everywhere establishing a common credence in the
great necessity for employing mechanical inventions. But
they must be brought before the bar of practical experience
and then stand or fall upon their own merits. A practical
and sensible man only can succeed or make money by farming
for (in the face of the numerous ditticulties I have enumerated
with regard to the seasons, Sc.) i farmer must have the intelli-
gence of a mechanic, the business habits of a merchant, the
mathematical talent of an accountant, and the shrewdness
and perceptive genius of a banker. Yes, he must have all
these individuals' talents concentrated within his own breast ;
he must be a mechanic to understand the construction of
the implements brought before him ; an accountant to enable
him to keep an accurate account and record of his outgoings
and incomings — his experiments, profit and loss, &c. ; a mer-
chant to know how and when to buy and sell cattle or dispose
of the products of his labour to the best advantage ; and a
banker to discover when drainage and fertilisation will prove
a better investment for surplus profits than funds or railroad
stock. On this account, therefore, I say the dolt of the family
must not be selected for the business of farming. For, as the
population of the earth increases, the necessity for a more
careful and improved tillage becomes apparent, and its im-
portance in this country at least cannot be over-estimated, No

limit can be assigned to the increase of population, unless it
be from the want of means to sustain animal life ; and hence
it follows that, with aa increase of human life, there must be
a corresponding increase of the means to support that life.
The application of steam power to the propulsion of macliinery
for the purpose of travelhng and transportation has proved a
success beyond the most sanguine expectations of its warmest
advocates. No animal power can possibly compete with it.
It is as untiring as the sun in his course ; and when its day's
work is done, it needs no rest, but is ready at a moment's
notice to renew its task. Cau we doubt, then, for a moment,
that it is destined to supersede animal power in agricul-
tural operations ? Briefly, then, to sum up the advantages
derived from the steam plough, I have endeavoured to
show that it will cultivate more deeply, cheaply, and
rapidly, leaving a mellower and warmer soil. Its rapidity of
execution enables the farmer to cultivate a larger area at
exactly the time to secure the best possible results. It excites
greater activity and promptitude amongst the labourers, and
leads to habits of system and order in all their operations.
It substitutes artificial or machine power (always attainable to
any extent) for animal power and manual labour, which are
often unattainable to the extent required. It secures uniform
seeding and ripening of the crops, for the same engine can at
the time of ploughing also sow and harrow the ground by
having sufficient power to draw all the implements at once.
And in this mode of cultivation, novel to perhaps many of
you, we shall have pleasure united with profit, ease with en-
hancement, dormant earth below made to revive the exhausted
soil above, and all improved ; and in all this process the mind
as well as the purse is filled and benefited ; for deep cultiva-
tion, by which a warm, dry, mellow, and improved soil is
produced, is the true acme, the real c harm and test, of good
farming, and is not second even to a wise adaptation of good
seed to soils. Unless, then, the farmer keeps pace with the
spirit of the age, uniting art with science and science with
mechanical skill, he will find himself in an iuferior grade,
where he will enjoy less of the blessings, the treasures, and
refinements of life, and endure more hard work than any
other classes: for the experience of all enlightened communi-
ties proves that the necessaries of life, as well as its luxuries
are cheapened and improved in the same proportion as the
ingenuity of the mind guides the power of the muscles, and
the mechanical powers supersede the animal forces. Then
the nation at large will derive benefit from the increased yield
of crops, as well as from the fact that the materials to feed
tbe power used in tillage operations will be drawn from the
coal mine or tiie forest, instead of being taken from the pro-
duce of the fields. We shall not be obliged to import so much
eoru as hitherto, and a larger percentage of the crops will be
converted into food for human beings instead of food for
horses. Then will farmers prove " benefactors to their
country" in everj' sense, for they will not only increase the
yield, cheapen the cost, and lighten the labour of obtaining
the necessaries of life, but they will give convincing proof
that they appreciate the labours of those who have spent their
time, money and energies in this glorious attempt to uphold
the character of British agriculture, to maintain her position
as a nation on the face of the globe, and wiU acknowledge
steam cultivation not only a fact but a glorious triumph of
human genius over mere soulless matter, and one which, if
encouraged, wiU more fuDy develop the character of English-
men than any invention yet introduced — will also materially
assist in alleviating the w.ants of our poorer bretliren — have a
tendency to increase our wealth as a nation, as well as add
strength, glory, and lionour to our British Constitution by
elevating tlie condition of all classes in society.

Mr. J. G. Homer, the Chairman, was one of those old
farmers who had used but little and therefore knew but little
of steam power. Some practical men would perhaps like to
offer a few observations. There was Mr. Barnes, for instance ;
no man had had greater experience than him in steam culti-
vation.

Mr. Barnes had certainly had long experience. He should
like to hear Mr. Richardson show how he had managed steam
cultivation at 3s. per acre. His own experience of five or six
years did not enable Mm to see how it could be done at that
price.

The Chairman ; Give us your opinion as to the merits of
steam cultivation.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

219

Mr. Barnes : I decidedly recoiuuieud it. I should not like
to manage a farm without it, I mean a farm of extent — say
over 400 acres. Steam power we shall see more used than
ever. I should not like to be without it.

Mr. H. Taylor said his own experience in steam cultivation
extended over six or seven years. A few friends had liired his
tackle for steam cultivation, but he had never been able to do
the work at 3s. per acre, nor had he known it done at that
figure. He should be very pleased to do so, but he had never
used any of the double tackle on Fowler's new principle.
Perhaps with that tackle he should be able to carry on steam
cultivation at 3s. per acre with a profit ; he should be very
pleased indeed if he could do it. He thought that at present
few men letting out steam tackle for hire could accommodate
many customers, at least as many as there were likely to be in
Dorsetshire. Certainly those who hired out tackle would not
be able to manage with one set or yet with half-a-dozen sets,
and it was not likely that they would pay, considering tiie
limited time they would be required — say three months. It
must be remembered that the tackle was very expensive. He
had a set wliicli cost him a considerable sum, but he was happy
to say that he had put sometliing into his pocket — the tackle
had worked very satisfactorily. He thought that if lie were a
farmer and had 400 acres of arable laud he should have a
steam cultivator. The way to make steam cultivation pay was
to work say half-a-dozen farms after harvest consecutively,
doing perhaps 50 acres per day. The job, however, was to do
that amount of work ; he had found ten acres enough. But,
as he had just said, he had not yet used Fowler's double tackle.
The other day he saw two or three sets of tackle sold, and on
the farm one of them stood still while the other was at work —
which was not a very prosperous game. Mr. Richardson
might possibly be acquainted with the soil of Dorset ; perhaps
he would kindly state what he thought would suit the Dorset
country best. He felt convinced that Fowler's ordinary culti-
vator would not suit this country. Mr. Taylor spoke highly
of Smith's implement — constructed on the " turn-round" sys-
tem. No implement for steam cultivation which had come
under his own notice was like Smith's " turn-round" — he had
worked Smith's tackle for six or seven years.

Mr. John Galpin was one of the first in this neighbour-
hood to introduce the steam-plough for hire, and he found the
difficulty which Mr. Taylor had expressed. He could not
please everybody, and was glad to be relieved of the chance of
offending everybody. It perhaps might be worth the experi-
ment to keep a steam-plough between two or three farmers.
As to which implement was best adapted to do the work, he
would leave that to those who were more experienced than
himself. He had used Fowler's which gave very great satis-
faction as far as it went ; it had the power of turning up the
land a greater depth than any customer wished to have it. As
to the merits of Smith's implement he believed it might be
worked most economically. He agreed with Mr. Richardson
regarding the steam-plough that you must not judge of the
value of it by one experiment. Mr. Richardson had very ably
laid before them the advantages of steam cultivation, and
there were many gentlemen present whose practical knowledge
on the subject enabled them to speak thereon. As regarded
Mr. Richardson's estimate of 3s. per acre, he (Mr. Galpin)
found that he was obliged to charge more than 2s. or 3s. per
acre, and then with little profit to the person hiring. He
hoped that Mr. Richardson would explain his estimate, because
that was a very essential point. Of course, all would be in
favour of steam cultivation, provided it was the most econo-
mical, and on this point it was important that they should
have before them the actual and not merely isolated facts.
He hoped they would have a full explanation from Mr. Richard-
son on this important point. As to the value of the steam-
plough there could be little doubt.

Mr. Duke, in response to a general invitation to say a few
words, observed that he had used a steam plough for six or
seven years. He would not now do without it, but if he had
not one he would not buy one. He had, however, bought it
and paid for it, and very useful it was ; it did double the
amount of work done by an ordinary implement. He would
remind the meeting of the differences in the nature of the soil,
some being light and others quite the reverse ; and conse-
quently, as he pointed out, different cultivation was required.
He spoke of the inconveniences and difficulties occasioned by
the shifting of the tackle, apparently forgottea in calculating

3s. per acre for ploughing. He had himself kept a correct
account of the work which he had done. He could not do it
at less than 6s. per acre, and he did not think any man could
do it for less, reckoning everything. He agreed entirely with
previous speakers on the point that the steam plough would do
double the amount of the work done by the ordinary plough .
He pointed out that for the steam plough to be remunerative
there must be considerable work — the owner must at least
have 500 acres of arable land. [He used Howard's tackle ;
he thought Smith's was very good.] On small occupations of
from 100 to 200 acres, where the fields did not extend over
more than ten acres, the work could perhaps better be done
without the steam plougli, in consequence of the time taken
up in shifting of tackle and getting water. While tlie latter
was going on the ploughing could be done by horses. In
conclusion, he repeated that he should not get rid of his
present steam plough, but that if he had not one he should
not buy one.

Mr. Genge thought tliat Mr. Richardson's remarks were
all on one side of the question. They had heard the opinions
of gentlemen on the opposite side, and now they had to draw
their own conclusions as to the advantages or otherwise of
the steam plough. The question for their consideration re-
solved itself into this — whether a set of steam tackle was de-
sirable or not on a farm. Tiiat, he thought, depended entirely
on the extent of the farm. The system ot hiring was, he con-
sidered, a very convenient one. There was this drawback,
howct'er, you could not always get the tackle at the precise
time you wanted it. That was the rock on which so many
split. Such was the amount of capital required to be invested
in steam tackle that he was afraid it would be unproductive
unless an extra price was charged for the work. The great
point for consideration was the saving of horse labour. If
you kept 20 horses and you could by the use of steam tackle
dispense with most of them it would decidedly pay to effect
the alteration. Mr. Genge agreed that the differences in tlie
character of the soil to be worked was a point of great im-
portance for consideration. He was decidedly in favour of
the steam plough on large farms. There must, he said, be
plenty of work to make it pay.

Mr. G. W. Homer also dwelt on the importance of there
being a large extent of land in order to make the steam plough
pay. He pointed out that ou an extensive farm there was a
deal of work to be done in the removal of stubble.

Mr. Chapman Saunders pointed out that the treading of
the horses over the land in many cases did good.

Mr. Duke reminded the meeting of the advantage of
manuring the land well.

Mr. T. Lock brought before the meeting the value of get-
ting in the crops at the proper season.

Mr. Atkins should say that the work could not be done at
3s. per acre.

The Chairman had very little to say, because he had never
adopted any means of cultivation except horse and manual
labour. Therefore he could not testify from personal expe-
rience of the value of the steam plough. But occasionally he
looked over his neighbour's hedge and learnt a little. If he
had a large occupation he should not have the least hesitation
in adopting the steam plough. Mr. Richardson had, he
thought, given them a capital lecture, and during its delivery
he had made a few memoranda. The first note he had made
was the cultivation of strong land. Now he had farmed
strong land for 28 years, and he had no doubt of its being
thoroughly adapted for steam cultivation, lu some cases
steam cultivation would, he considered, pay over and over
again. In some instances a crust was formed on the ground,
becoming an obstruction to the water going to the drains
under. This, with other matters, had to be well considered.
He pointed out that in chalky subsoils deep ploughing would
never pay ; that chalk at the top brought up by ploughing
was no good and never would answer. He believed a great
quantity of our light soils was rendered more productive by
treading. He had not one word to say against steam culti-
vation. He expressed an opinion that there was a deal to
learn before steam cultivation was generally adopted. He,
however, set it down as for the good of ^riculture and the
good of the community generally. Regarding the cost of
steam cultivation, he thought that the 3s. estimated by Mr.
Richardson was the average on 2,000 acres. He, however,

Q 2

220

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

could not speak positively on the subject. He was not expe-
rienced in the use of the steaiu plough, lie had been a
farmer a great many years, and he supposed that to the end of
his days he should continue to use a two-horse plough, a man
holding after. At the same time he had a son who had gone
in for steam cultivation, and was now cultivating all his land
by steam. If he were young and had sufficient capital he
should probably fall into the same view as his sou.

Mr. Richardson pointed out that he had distinctly stated
in the outset of his address that he did not intend to treat on
the mechanical part of the subject. He was aware that there
were many opinions respecting the difterent adaptations of ma-
chinery necessary to eucouuter tiie varied nature of the soils.
He had come there to try to show them the beneficial
and economical results of steam cultivation. When he told
them that he had spent upwards of £20,000 in introducing
steam cultivation before he had a penny in return, he thought
they would say either he was a fool or ought to have learnt
gomething. He was happy to say that what he had done had

fallen on a good soil, and was now reluming a handsome in-
come. In Berkshire be had introduced in one year three sets
of ploughing tackle, on one single farm, where 1,100 acres
had been worked. Respecting the 3s. per acre, he had never
said the work could have been done for that. Was it at all
likely that he would have said so ? If he had done so they
would have replied, he should think, by saying " Bring us
down twenty sets and work our land directly." He begged
them not to go away with the erroneous impression that he
would work their land for 3s. per acre. He submitted that
£3,000 laid out in steam ploughing would be well laid out,
that the purchaser would be reimbursed 10 to 15 per cent,
more than lie would ever get by farming. He also submitted
that he could work the steam plough nine months out of the
twelve. At a trial at Bury St. Edmunds five acres and one
rood was done in an hour. Meeting the difficulty of being
able to get the steam plough when they wanted it, he recom-
mended the contract system, which he looked upon as perfectly
safe for the farmer.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

Monthly Council, Wednesday, February 2. — Pre-
sent : Lord Walsingham, Vice-President, in the chair ;
the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl of Powis, Lord Cheshani,
Lord Tredee;ar, Lord Vernon, Sir Watkin Wyun, Bart.,
M.P., Mr. Barthropp, Mr. Booth, Mr. Bowly, Mr. Cau-
trell, Colonel Challouer, Mr. Davies, Mr. Dent, M.P.,
Mr. Druce, Mr. Edmunds, Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, Mr.
Holland, Mr. Hornsby, Colonel Kingscote, M.P., Mr.
Lawes, Mr. Leeds, Mr. Milvvard, Mr. Pain, Mr. Ran-
some, Mr. Rigden, Mr. Shuttleworth, Mr. Thompson,
Mr. Torr, Mr. Webb, Mr, Whitehead, Mr. Jacob Wilson,
and Dr. Voelcker.

The following members were elected :

Baillie, Lieut.-Col. Hugh Smith, Househill, Nairn, N.B.
Binney, Charles H., North Cheam, Sutton, Surrey
Blundell, J. H., Woodside, Luton
Botfield, Rev. W. B., Garnett, Decker Hill, Shifual
Bull, J. H. W., Great Walford, Shipston-on-Stour
Burnham, W. H., Long Compston, Shipston-on-Stour
Carter, J. Quartly, Arborfield, Reading
Clarke, E. C., Manor Farm, Iladdenbara, Thame
Clifton, T. Henry, Lytham Hall, Lytham
Cockburn, George, Ncwcastle-on-Tyne
De Mornay, Alfred, Cold Harbour, Wallingford
Fair, Thomas, Westwood, Lytliam
Fisher, E. Knapp, Market Harborough
Fisher, John, Wood House, Cross Hills

Ford, Sir Francis Colville, Bart., The Ridges, Ilartfield, Tun-
bridge Wells
Fowler, Richard, Brompton Farm, Aylesbury
Fowler, William, Fauntley, Navent
Franklin, Thomas, Ascott, Wallingford
Franklin, VV. Taylor, Ascott, Wallingford
Garrett, Richard, Carleton Hall, Saxmundham
Godwin, John, Troy Farm, Doddington, Oxon
Hall, Marriott, Thorpe Salvin, Worksop
Higgs, John Birch, Brewood, Penkridge
Jackson, James, C, Chapel Street, Preston
Lane, John, Winslow Hall, Bucks
Latham, Tiiomas, Wittenham, Abingdon
Little, Heibert J., Tliorpelands, Northampton
Mauley, Augustus East, Mauley Hall, Lichfield
Marshall, James, Low Horton, Cramlington
Marsland, William, Baguley Hall, Northenden
Masters, Albert Edward, Nevenson Hall, Chelmsford
Mitchell, Jolin, The Beacon, Penkridge
Owen, Griffith H., Ymwleh, Tremadoc
Parr, John, Cropwell Butler, Bingham
Phelps, H. G. Hart, Ridley Parsonage, Wrotham

Roberts, Joseph, Caswell House, Witney
Singleton, John, Poulton Le Fylde
Smith, Samuel, Somerton, Deddington, Oxon
Stilgoe, Natliauiel, Mauor Farm, Anderbury, Banbury
Thomas, William, Peiifields, Wolverhampton
Tomlin, J. R., Stoke Field, Newark
Tompkins, John, Town Farm, Irvinhoe, Tring
Tovey, Joseph, Cirences*er
Turner, John, Tlie Grange, Ulceby
Walton. H. L.,Burmington, Shipston-on-Stour
Wharton, G. Livingston, Grovehill, Beverley
Wheeler, John, Long Compton, Shipston-on-Stour
Whittall, Thomas, Bailey Inon, Llandrindod Wells
Wingfield, John H. L.,Tickencote, Stamford
Woodcock, Richard, Wolverhampton
Wyatt, Robert, Acton Hill, Stafford.

Finances. — Colonel Kingscote, M.P., presented the
report, from which it appeared that the Secretary's receipts
during the past two months had been examined by the
committee, and by Messrs. Quilter, Ball, and Co., the
Society's accountants, and were found correct. The
balance ia the hands of the bankers on January 31 was
£1,748 4s. lid. The balance-sheet for the quarter
ended December 31, 1869, and the statement of sub-
scriptions and arrears, were laid upon the table ; the
amount of arrears then duebeiug £1,150. One hundred
and fifty-nine members have given notice duriug the past
year of their withdrawal from the Society.

The committee reported that Mr. Wilkes, the junior
clerk, wished to retire, owing to his health failing, and
his having an engagement better adapted to him. They
wished to express their entire satisfaction with Mr.
Wilkes during the nine years that he has been in the
employment of the Society ; and they recommended
that Mr. Iline, who has been employed as temporary
clerk for some years past, should be appointed to succeed
Mr. Wilkes. The Manchester country meeting account
was laid before the Council, by which it appeared that
the receipts exceeded the expenditure by £9,152 lis. 3d.
It was recommeded that the name of Mr. Davies be added
to the list of the committee. This report having been
adopted, a conversation arose with regard to the award
made against the Manchester local committee for com-
pensation to the tenant of the trial-fields ; and Colonel

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

221

Challouer gave notice that, at the next Monthly Council,
he would move—" That a sum of £500 be given to the
Manchester local committee in aid of the extra expendi-
tm-e occasioned by the compensation awarded to the
tenant of the trial ground."

Journal. — Mr. Thompson (chairman) reported that
the committee recommended the publication of the Feb-
ruary Number of the Journal as soon as possible, without
Malting for the usual statistics. They also recommended
that the annual lists of the Council and committee shall
in future be circulated in March instead of February. —
This report was adopted.

General Oxford. — Lord 'Walsingham (chairman)
reported the recommendation of the committee that the
Oxford Stock I'rizc-shcet be finally closed. — This report
was adopted.

Education. — Mr. Holland (chairman) laid before the
Council the syllabus of subjects for examination in agri-
cultural chemistry, botany, geology, land-surveying, and
mechanics; and he reported that the committee recom-
mended them being printed and circulated amongst can-
didates, together with a syllabus of subjects in general
chemistry and in anatomy and animal physiology. — -This
report was adopted.

Chemical. — Mr. Dent, M.P., reported that the com-
mittee had had before Ihem the correspondence between
Messrs. Dobell and the consulting chemist and secretary
of the Society. They decline to enter into the corres-
pondence between JMessrs. Dobell and Howden. They
are satisfied that the sample of guano sent to Dr. Voelcker
was described to him as " Guano genuine as imported,'
and that Dr. Voelcker's analysis of the manure was
correct. It is no part of Dr. Voelcker's duty to in(iuire
from the seller the price of an article submitted to him
for analysis, but to give a correct analysis ; and in cases
where the constituents of such articles appear to be
agriculturaUy valueless, this committee recommend the
publication of the analysis to be continued. The object
of publishing these analyses is not merely to show that
the dealer is charging more than the value of the article
sold, but to warn the purchaser against buying at any
piice an article which is of only a nominal agricultural
value.

Professor Voelcker reported on a correspondence from
the Foreign Office on the subject of guano now being im-
ported frrm the Guanape Islands, that he had made
analyses of five difl'erent samples from bulk, which
vary considerably in composition, and generally resemble
Peruvian guano damaged by water. The variation in
samples is so considerable that purchasers should be
careful not to buy this guano without a guaranteed
analysis. This is corroborated by the analysis furnished
in the official report forwarded by the Board of Trade to
the Society, where, out of 13 samples, the amount of
ammonia varies from 3.8 to 14.1 per cent.*

It was moved by JMr. Milward, and seconded by Mr.
Jacob Wilson, " That Messrs. Bovvly and Sanday be paid

'•' Tiic detailed olEcial report is appended, liaving been for-
warded to the Society by the Secretary of tlie Board of Trade,
with a request that it should be made public.

for their services as judges at Manchester, in accordance
with the letters of the Secretary to them." After a dis-
cussion on the question whether there existed any rule to
the contrary, which was decided in the negative, the mo-
tion was put from the chair, and carried unanimously.

Lord Vernon having moved the resolution of which
he had given notice, it was seconded by Mr. Milward,
and a rider was added, at the suggestion of Mr. Thomp-
son. A discussion then arose as to whether judges were
paid for their time, or only a sufficient sum to cover their
exjienses ; and it was stated by Colonel Challouer and
Lord Vernon that cases had arisen where members of
Council had resigned their seats in consequence of their in-
ability to perform the duties of the office of judge to which
they had been elected without the usual payment. Lord Ver-
non, Colonel Challouer, and Lord Walsingham also com-
mented on the desirability of obtaining the aid of the most
competent men, whether they are on the Councilor not.
Ultimately the resolution, as amended, was carried, with
one dissentient, as follows ; — " That judges who arc
members of Council may be paid as other judges, by
special vote of Council after a month's notice."

The Earl of Lichfield called the attention of the
Council to the inconvenience arising out of the conditions
of the charter fixing the date and place of holding the
general meeting, and excluding from the Society's meet-
ings the discussion of all subjects having reference to
measures pending, or to be brought forward, in either
House of Parliament. He sketched the history of the
last reference of this subject to a committee ; but as that
committee had never reported, he wished to refer the
matter once more to a committee for consideration. He
also stated that many subjects enumerated in the existing
charter as objects for which the Society was established,
could not be discussed without reference to politics and
to necessary legislation. Mr. Thompson stated, that al-
though the time fixed by the charter for holding the
annual meeting was very inconvenient, he did not think
that alone would justify the expense of obtaining a newchar-
ter. He also drew a distinction between the functions of
the Legislature in passing laws, and those of the Society
in dealing with questions after those laws had been made.
After a further discussion, in which Col. Challouer, Mr.
Holland, and Mr. Dent, M.P., took part, the question as
to the date of the annual meeting was, on the suggestion
of Mr. Thompson, referred to the commmittce for the
revision of the bye-laws.

It was moved by ^h\ D. 11. Davies, seconded by Mr.
Jacob Wilson, and carried unanimously, that Sir Watkin
W. Wynn be elected steward of live stock. Letters were
received from the authorities of Shrewsbury, Stafford, and
"Wolverhamption, announcing their intention of inviting
the Society to hold its country meeting for 1871 at their
respective towns; and the Secretary was instructed to
forward the usual documents to the mayors of the com-
peting localities. Mr. Jacob AVilson gave notice that at
the next jNIonthly Council he would move — " That the
committee for the recoinincndatiou of judges be appointed
at the ^March Council, that this committee shall sit in
April, and that the absolute appointment of judges shall
take place at the May Council."

Letters were read from the Secretary of State for
Foreign Aftairs, enclosing reports on the cidtivation of
Flax, received from her ISfajcsty's licprcscntativcs at St.
Petersburgh, Brussels, and the Hague; and from the
Secretary of the Board of Trade, enclosing a document
entitled, "Notes on a new method of cultivating and in-

2-22

'THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

creasing the productiveness of the soil." Thanks were
ordered for these communications.

The following is the official report on the guano of the
Guanape Islands :

" The guano of the Guanape Islands partakes of a composi-
tion varying much according to locality and depth. In general,
on the North as well as on the South Island, the superficial
strata exposed to the vicissitudes of the atmosphere are de-
ficient in soluhle salts, and consequently in ammonia, aug-
menting the proportion of phosphate of lime. In the lower
strata, on the contrary, the quantity of ammoniacal salts
augments, thus diminishing the phosphate of lime. It is pro-
hable that by the action which has dissolved the ammoniacal
salts of the superficial strata, it may have penetrated by in-
filtration into the strata underneath, thus increasing the rich-
ness of the latter ; so that in the end the ammonia, which
forms the most valuable principle of guano, is not lost, being
concentrated, as it is, in the deeper layers of guano. In the
Southern Island the change is manifested in a manner still
more evident, as of the three samples that have been analysed
the most superficial contains only 7.562 per ceut. of ammonia,
and in the sample extracted from a greater depth the ammonia
contained in 100 parts of guano rises to 18.020 — a greater
quantity than what is contained in the best guano of the
Chincha Islands. This last is formed almost entirely (95.000)
of ammoniacal salts soluble in water, consisting in greater part
of oxalate and urate of ammonia, and should not be considered
as a variety of guano, but as a combination of the soluble parts
of the guano which appear to have been separated by the
action of water. This sample, although possessing a strong
ammoniacal smell equal to tlie guanos of the best quality,
differs nevertheless through its other physical characters,
presenting itself under the form of a pulverulate homo-
geneous matter of a more pronounced yellow colour than
that of common guano, and with a crystalline structiire only
to be perceived through the mediom of a microscope. If the
bed of this material is in reality 7 feet in thickness, according
to Mr. Harris, who extracted the samples, it appears to me
that a greater advantage could be obtained by selling this
material to certain manufacturers of chemical productions as
liquid ammonia ; exalate of ammonia or uric acid could be
extracted with much facility for the manufacture of the colour-
ing matter called ' murexide.' As this sample is very rich in
ammonia, and very poor, on the contrary, in phosphate of
lime — containing less than 5'100 of this salt — it could not be
employed with advantage in agriculture, one of the principal
elements being wanting for plants ; and in case it could not be
sold, as was suggested, to manufacturers of chemical produc-
tions, it could be utilised very well by mixing it with the guano
from the Lobos Islands, which in general contain a strong
proportion of phosphate of lime, und per contra, is very poor
in ammonia. By mixing the material in question this guano
would be improved, and would cause the value of the guano of
the Lobos Islands to be enhanced, equalising it with the
guano of good quality. Some of the samples of guano from
Guanape subjected to analysatiou contain a strong proportion
of water, so tliat when the guano is pounded in a morter with
the object of rendering it more homogencons before proceed-
ing to analyse it, it collects and forms a really sticky paste.
At first sight it would be said that this guano had been
wetted ; but recognizing the great hygrometric power which
guano has, and knowing that the sample in question had been
extracted in winter time, when the atmosphere of the
coast is almost entirely saturated with water, the great
quantity of moisture wliich it contains is easily explained.
I myself af another period made some experiments for
studying tlie hygrometric power of guano, by keeping
exposed to the open air a certain weighed quantity of guano,
and I have beheld it increase or diminish in weight according
as tlie weather was more or less dry. The element which is
of most value in guano, after the ammonia, is phosphoric acid ;
but, as is known, almost the whole of the phosplioric acid con-
tained in the guano is found combined with lime, forming a
phosphate of lime, tribasic, not very soluble in water, and
consequently absorbed wdth difficulty by plants. Various
chemists who busy themselves with the study of guano have
thought, and with justice, that by rendering the jihosphoric
acid contained in guano more soluble in water, and conse-
quently easier to be absorbed by plants, the value of this mate-

rial would be augmented. So for many years Mr. Nesbit
adnsed mixing guano with sulphuric acid, the which, by
uniting itself with part of the lime, leaves free a part of phos-
phoric acid, which forms with the other portion of the hme
a phosphatic acid, easily soluble in water. Mr. Richardson
put this theory in practice, and even asked for a patent for the
transformation and amelioration of guano. Now, as not the
whole quantity of phosphoric acid contained in guano is found
in a state insoluble, under the fonn of tri-phosphate of lime,
I have deemed it necessary in the analysation which I have
made to make known likewise the proportion of soluble phos-
phoric acid which the guano of Guanape contains, as will be
seen by the table giving the result of the analysis."

>

^ B
- 1

3 P3 crq

'^

-rr O

M v> .—•:-■:-: o

" B.

3 0-" 5 JTa

ci

2,^

11

o p-

^3 5.

^1

S3 ►^

^ rt

s.

O S5

O 1

H

5'

1-^, o

ws

5

h- '

B :

»

o

??

o

m ■ ■ r-

o

*>• to lO

Ci

o

lo h-j _ *' ^ »7'

^

CD

<} ii 1^ 03 CO lO

I-'

CO

o

Ci Oi 1— ' t-i O Oi

o

o

O O OO o o

1— '

o

CO tf^ (-■

H- '

o

h-j CO ^ ti- c to

CS

o

CO h^ Ht- C5 O CJ»

l-o

OO

o

cjt o oi oi oi o

O

o

o o o o o o

,_.

o

lO lf» to

G5

o

h-j o» . i-r'^ ^

bb

<6

CO -i cji cjt ra do

CO

r^

^ -<I |J»- 1— ' Cn Oi

C5

o

CTt Oi o o o o

5

,_

o

CO CO to

g

CO

o

l-J *■ , Hf^ 00 O

ob

o

CO *.-i-i i^y^

*•

-^1

o

O Oi en O tn Or

C5

o

oooooo

CO

o

o
ob

to t*- to

h-J--} _ Cri W to

OJ CJl lO to hi' CO

CT

o

o

o

O 0^5 iO O O

H

y^

lo

o

O O Ci CI o o

1-H

,_,

s

t-j

o

to hf^ to

2

o

o

op ox _ *. CT> p

C^

d>

CO cji a> 1-^ to lo

05

ci

O

o

O O O O Oi Oi

u

!2!

o

o

oooooo

,_,

t>

h-l

^

to kt^ to

►tI

p

o

h-i to . *■ CO h^

w

.-i

o

CJI to Or O lb >^

•<!

CO

o

<} iO Oi en O O

o

OI

o

Oi OT O O O o

cj

>

^

o

lo kf- CO

!z!

1 — '

o

CJ1 to _ C> H^ C'

p

*-

CD

-^ cs *. 1-^ C5 cb

00

^a

o

Or O or O O Ol

^

o

oooooo

,_l

I— '

o

OS to op 03 ^ o

p

o

^

o

hji.- O O ►— ' Oi tn

CO

o

oooooo

o

o

oooooo

>_,

o

to >f^ hJ

1*-

p

l-J-Q . 03 tlO CO

t— 1

lJ

o

t-b O (i^ CD -i CJr

o

en

o

C51 O en en en O

*-

o

oooooo

,_,

o

(4^ (JDh-i

-Q

p

to to en CO en

CO

o

lb oi CO CO CO -i

^-^

OO

o

O O O O en en

lo

o

OOOOOO

w
o

H

o

CO CO to

w

op

o

h^ to _ CO OS 1^

o

o

-q OS CO *. CO CO

to

l-H

o

o

en O CKi OO o O

p

o

o

O O en en O O

,_,

o

^T to

C/j

o

_ ^ _ t-' ioq>

CO

o

o

lb CO 1-^ ci) en CO

o

o

en O en CJT O en

"=>

o

OOOOOO

THE FABMER'S MAaAZINE.

223

THE BREEDING AND FEEDING OF LAMBS.

At the first montlily meeting of the Lavenham Farmers'
Club for the present year, Mr. Greene, M.P., was announced
to read a paper on this subject.

Mr. Hitchcock, tlie Chairman, said there were not less
than thirty million of sheep in this country, and at 30s. each
they represented a capital of £45,000,000. But it was not
merely their money value whicli was of importance, for sheep
formed an important element in the food of the nation, and
their object should be to increase the number. The high
price of mutton, occasioned partly by the cattle-plague and
partly by the drought of 1868, had given dissatisfaction to
many people, and they were now turning their attention to the
importation of carcases from Australia and South America.
Whether or not that would answer remained to be proved, but
he hoped they would not be overwhelmed with an avalanche
of mutton of Professor Gamgee's curing. They were now
suffering from a plethora of wheat, and if they were to be
overwhelmed with a supply of meat also they might soon be
in the position of the Irishman who, when complaining of the
price of potatoes in England, and saying that he could buy as
many in Ireland for sixpence as he could here for a shilling,
was asked why he did not stay in Ireland, and he replied,
" There were no sixpences there."

Mr. Greene said : First and foremost is the selection of
your ewe. We have arrived at a time when, in this country,
we have lost our distinctive breed of sheep. Many here must
remember when on most farms there was a flock of South-
down ewes ; but as the price of wool and meat advanced,
farmers turned their attention to getting a sheep that would
clip more wool and breed a larger lamb ; hence they crossed
their Downs with a long-wool tup aud were handsomely repaid
in their first cross. But as their Down ewes wore out they
commenced breeding from the half-bred ewe, and I am inclined
to think if they had continued judiciously to tup with half-
bred tups, whicli half-bred having either Sussex Down, or
Hampshire Down on one side, they would have been more
successful . I was favoured by that well-known breeder of sheep
Mr. Lugar, of Ingham, with a sight of his flock of ewes, bred as
I have described, and very even well-formed ewes they are,
combining both mutton and wool. His foundation was South-
down ewes. I am of opinion that although the black-faced
ewe is a valuable animal for one cross, yet it is not desirable
to breed from her produce, she not being a pure-bred animal
herself— hence it is we see so many long-legged, slow-grazing
lambs. I myself have bred from several different classes of
ewes, and h?ve found no animal gives me so good a lamb as a
well-bred Hampshire ewe crossed with a Lincoln or one of
Aylmer's tups ; but from the necessity of frequently purchas-
ing the ewes at a high price, I am about to test the merits of
the Shropshire sheep, and for that purpose have selected some
of the best bred ewes and tups I could find, combining the
aptitude of the fattening of the Down with more size,
and I expect to be able to carry, on the same food,
more sheep than of the half-bred kind. Should this be
the case, I shall be able to keep up my own flock without
going to market. In my remarks on sheep it must
be borne in mind that my experience applies chiefly
to light land suitable to sheep. I believe the dry seasons we
have had for two or three years previous to this has led many
heavy land farmers to attempt breeding sheep, and unless they
have a fair acreage of pasture saved u]i after the hay is cut to
winter upon, they cannot breed to a profit on a large scale,
they being unable to keep their sheep on the land in winter.
I have observed that ewes on cold land require much more ex-
pensive feeding than on light— on heavy land I should graze
in smnmer. Having judiciously selected the ewe and tup, I
am in favour of putting the tups with the ewes in the third
week in August, or first week in September, so as to have most
of your lambs born in February. My reason is, tliat an
early lamb is always a suporior animal to those that come later,
and I am about to state that which at first sight will, I know,
be questioned, and that is — you are better off for food at that
season than when you lamb in March ; as every gentleman in

this room will allow that in February and the early part of
March his white turnips are better than later on, and, more-
over, they ought to be fed off, and the barley sown early in
March. , You will, very properly, think — well, what is now to
be done ? I will tell you. No man is worthy to be called a
flockiiiaster whose thoughts are not always looking forward
for months as to how his sheep are to be fed. I will, there-
lore, harJ< back to my ewes at tupping time. Having fixed
the third week in August or first week in September, and
having previously got my ewes into good condition, which I
think very impoitaot, as I find a ewe in high condition in the
autumn is wintered very much cheaper and with less loss than
a poor one, I then, if possible, divide them into lots of from
fifty to eighty, and prefer having only one tup with them at a
time. I tup on early sown turnips, or coleseed and young
layers, according to the seasons. My ewes having been tupped,
I have a bit of must;ard and a run on some old grass, and as
soon as my mangold is off I fold the land, having two rows of
swedes and one row of cabbages to every ten tows put in with
my mangold, and this with a run out for an hour or two on
grass and a little chaff carries me on until lambing time. One
thing I have found very important is to avoid allowing them to
eat food with the frost upon it. I believe food of that kind is
very injurious to ewes in lamb. I may say, in passing, I am
against stufling ewes with a lot of straw chaff. My twelve
score ewes have four bags, of eight bushels each, daily of cut
pea straw this year ; and when that is done I shall mix one-
third hay with straw. I put a bushel of bran into each bag ;
and my ewes are looking well. The mangold land will be
finished about a fortnight before the ewes lamb, as I like to
put them on white turnips for a short time, it helps their milk.
I always now plant a few acres of cabbages in June ready for
lambing, as they are invaluable to put in the pens when ewes
first lamb, and to strew about under hedgerows for the ewes
until the lambs are strong enough to go to turnips. I give
my ewes artificial food — either cake, malt dust, or oats — for
the first few weeks after lambing, at a cost of 3d. or 4d. per
head. When my ewes leave the turnips, I have provided after
harvest on a wheat stubble a mixture of rye, wheat, tares, cole-
seed, and green round turnips ; from that I go to rye, and thea
on to a bit of rye-grass sown in the wheat ; and this, with a
very few acres of layer, say 10 — as I mow all I can — carries
my sheep on until after the feed is ready. Now, having bred
your lambs right, comes the point, how are they to be managed
in the most profitable manner ? I believe by never allowing
tliem to go back so as to lose their lamb fat. My shepherd
teaches my lambs to feed as soon as possible, with a little bran,
crushed oats, and linseed cake for a few weeks ; then cotton
and linseed ; and I spend about 1.^. to 3d. per head a week
upon them until September or October, when I increase it to
3d. until the end of December, and then for a few weeks up to
6d. per head for artificial food, seldom exceeding that sum.
The lambs, of course, run forward through lamb hurdles, and
I do not cut them young, but sear them in May or the first
week in June, when I clip tlie ewes and take off the lambs. I
have also tried the experiment of clipping lambs in June, and if
you wish to force your lambs to an early market in January,
I believe it will thoroughly answer. I find the clipped ones
grow faster on the same food. 1 tried a few lambs, and when
I sold my lambs to a gentleman I now see in the room, I think
he will bear me out that they were certainly not the worst
among them. The lambs being off, the ewes are then folded
on the layers, aud I generally grow a bit of coleseed as a
change of food, which is very essential. I need not remark
I am very careful not to put the lambs on layers that have been
mucked or folded, as that will suiely kill or injure them. Great
care is required that the lambs have always water by them in
the summer. If you depend upon driving them to water, they
may miss drinking one day, and the next will take more than is
good for them. They should also have rock salt. It is im-
portant when the sun is hot that the lambs should be put into
the shade in the middle of the day. Besides the advantage to
your land, and to your lambs generally of giving them artificial

224

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

food, you make a good price of your refuse. I sold three score I
of ray refuse, not leaving- ouc behind, this last September, at
34s. each, and I am sure, had they had no assistance, they
would not have fetched more than lUs., so that iu that lot
aloue 1 had £Ci for cake. Layers, mustards, Ike, being done,
I begin with a few acres of white turnips, and then, about the
1st December, get on to swedes, having them clamped on the
land : they are cut by Gardner's cutter, and I never give swedes
whole. Judgment is required, on every change of food, not
to overdo your lambs. I ahi ays have a double fold and double
set of troughs, so that the lambs are shut back and all the food
put in tiie troughs first, which gives every lamb a fair chance,
and prevents the strong ones pushing the weaker ones aside.
I think ten score is the outside number tiiat ought to be in one
fold. In the middle of February I sell my hoggets, many of
them fat ; some one buys them to finish, and, as " the proof of
the pudding is in the eating," I shall probably sell them to a
gentleman I see in this room, and you will most likely see
them in Bury market and judge for yourselves. I do not see
how a farmer is to pay his rent and expenses off a light land
farm unless the gross price of his lambs come up to the
rent. I believe the advantage both in corn, meat and
money is in favour of keeping your lambs and sheep well.
I never sell my crones and old ewes at less than from 35s.
to 42s. — fresh, not fat — and take lambs, treated as I have
described, on 1st August to be worth 32s. each. Spend 3d.
per head per week for artificial food up to 21st December (20
weeks), 5s. per liead ; from 31st December to 21st Tebruary
is 9 weeks at 6d., 4s. 6d., which brings the cost price up to
41s. Gd., and you may reckon on the average of years they
will be worth 50s., leaving £8 10s. per score for turnips, &c.,
the breeder having been well paid on the value of his lambs
on the 1st August. If I was going to clip my hoggets, and
feed them off in summer, 1 should treat them as'described, but
at less expense for artificial food ; but always bear in mind
with every animal for meat, never to lose its young lat.
Every pound of meat lost, costs money to replace — a loss of
lib. at 9d., costs 8d. to put on, which makes Is. 5d. I must
say on riding about the country I have observed iu many in-
stances a great want of management in sheep ; but by keep-
ing a strict eye to their well-doing, they must pay. Mind, I
am against extravagance in feeding animals. I Ijelieve much
money is wasted in giving too much artificial food to both
sheep and bullocks. They require a diversity of food, and can
only assimilate jjrofitably a certain quantity ; but the more you
mix cake with other descriptions of grain, in my opinion, the
better ; and though you may say I am recommending my own
wares, a few grains will be found to assist lambs very much.
Times are now not very cheery for farmers. The dry summer
of 1808 and the light crop and low price of wheat in ISG'J
will prove trying to many ; but put on a good heart, look well
to your stock and land — both arc grateful for good treatment.
1 have bad 40 years' experience in business, and have wit-
nessed frequent changes of depression and prosperity ; but
have generally found the persevering succeed. In conclusion,
I can only say plough and sow, tend well your stock, and look
witii hu-nble faith to Him who always blesses honest labour.
If 1 have only caused by these remarks further thought on
the subject amongst yon, my brother farmers, if I may call
myself one, I shall feel amply repaid. There was one little
remark he had forgotten. He had a double set of troughs,
and he did not put turnips in tlie same trougli with the
cake. His sheep of course always had a little cake and
chaff the first thing in the morning and the last thing at
night, as it was very important they should have some-
thiDK of a dry nature before going to the cold food. He
was particularly careful, if his sheep were on turnips, not
to let them eat turnips till the frost was off them iu tlie
morning, as he had found frosted food very injurious.

The Chairman next called upon Mr. Badham, and invited
him to make some remarks upou Mr. Gicene's paper.

Mr. Badham said that he had not paid so much attention
to sheep as he had to some other animals, and he thought it
was very likely he had been a loser by it— he had no doubt of
it. He was foolish cnougli to stick to the little Southdowns.
He did not know that much advantage was gained by it except
that he kept good animals, and always got good mutton. He
cordially agreed with wliat Mr. Greene had said about clean
troughs, and also as to guarding against frost, which did great
mischief, especially to sheep.

Mr. BiuuELL said his experience was very much like Mr.
Badham's — in favour of tlie Southdown ewes. Some years
back he had the misfortune to have his stock atHicted with
the cattle-plague, and by necessity he was compelled to turn
liib attention to sheep. He enlarged his flock so that he kept a
little more than an ewe to the acre, viz., 20 score on 380 acres
of land. He was highly gratified at the result, and some
persons went so far as to say that his sheep more than made
up what he had suffered from the cattle-plague, but he was
not at all sure they were right in that. It, however, led him
to think what he could do with keeping ewes on heavy land.
He had the advantage of a good deal of pasture,
nearly all of which he used to mow, but he thought
it was quite possible to keep sheep with profit on heavy land.
Ever since what he might call the discovery of beetroot (for
it had been introduced within the memory of the present
generation) they liad been placed in a ranch more favourable
position in reference to keeping sheep than formerly. Till
then they had nothing to give their sheep in April and May,
for turnips would not keep so long, and if they had had to
depend upon hay he was sure the balance would have been
" over the left," for he did not think they could find a more
expensive thing to feed sheep upon. But since they had had
beetroot they could dispense with hay.

Mr. GuEENE ; How do you keep sheep on heavy land in
wet weather ?

Mr. BiDUELL said when he could not keep them on the
land he took them olf and put them iu the yard. He sug-
gested that if they could grow some rows if turnips or cab-
bages with their beet, and so get some sheep feed on the land,
the land would be greatly improved. With regard to the time
of tupping, if the object was to sell the lambs, no doubt the
sooner they were dropped the better ; but if they intended
keeping them, he doubted whether it was advisable to tup so
early as Mr. Greene had stated. Though they came early
they would be found to have very large appetites when food
began to run short.

Mr. Greene : You ought not to be short of food in April.

Mr. BiDUELL said sometimes May was a very backward
month.

Mr. Greene said there was the rye, and he had never known
the May in which he had not had a good bite for sheep on the
rye-grass.

Mr. BiDDELL said he remembered when there was none,
but at the same time he admitted that that was an exceptional
year. With regard to artificial food, he quite agreed with Mr.
Greene that while mutton sold as it had done the last {e\v
years, they must not grudge 5s. a score per week for food of
that description, and he believed they would be amply repaid ;
at the same time he had found a very nice balance-sheet with-
out such assistance when food had been plentiful. "\A'ith re-
spect to layers, he considered that on heavy laud they were tlie
most expensive food they had. His practice had been to have
very little layer, but to get a piece of rye-grass early, and then
he could put them on to a meadow ; or if he put in coleworts
iu May he got a very good crop in July and August ; and he
was persuaded that with attention they might be got by that
time on heavy land. Some people got two crops of colewort,
and if they could not do that they might get mustard, wliich
was a good preparation for wheat, and between the two he
thought they would have much better feed than by feeding on
layers. AVith regard to clipping lambs, his experience was
very limited. He never clipped but two, one of which died,
and the other was as near death as possible. After they were
shorn there came some scalding hot weatlicr, and the sun took
such an eifect upon their skins as to make them peel. At the
same time, he had fancied that some of his long-woolled sheep
were greatly incommoded by having to carry their wool till
March. As to cutting turnips, he was an advocate for allow-
ing the sheep to cut their own food, provided they were white
turnips. Swedes required cutting, and he thought all turnips
should be cut after the animals' teeth began to loosen. He
quite endorsed Mr. Greene's opinion that the sheep ought to
pay the rent on a light land farm, and he was of opinion that,
even in that locality, they might do more towards making the
sheep paj the rent than they now did, and he strongly recom-
mended the members of the Club to try.

Mr. BiDDELL observed that Mr. Catchpole kept a good
many sheep on heavy land, and asked for his experience.

Mr. Catchpole said it was true he kept several on heavy

TEIE FARxMER'S MAGAZINE.

225

land, but lie got tliem off it as soou ui he could. He (liouglit,
however, they might be kept with good mauageracnt.

Mr. Edgar thought they might keep more sliecp on
heavy land than they had hitherto done. Mr. Biddell said
he remembered one year when rye-grass did not come in May ;
but he (Mr. Edgar) never knew the year wlien there was not
a good feed on rye-grass on heavy land in the third week in
April, and, he thought there was a little more " fire" wanted
under the grass Mr. Biddell referred to.

Mr. Talbot said if they were sheep breeders (as they must
be upon light land) he thought it was of the greatest im-
portance to have the true-bred animals on both sides ; and
with regard to those for grazing purposes he should certainly
say take the first cross. He was induced some few years ago
by the representations of a few of those whom he considered
his friends, to go in for true-bred animals, and lie purchased
some of the blackfaced iniiiroved Suffolks. He purchased
them of a well-known breeder, Mr. Dohito, and if he had
stuck to those sheep he should soon have been ruined ; he
never in his life saw sheep with such appetites. He was very
glad to get rid of them, and lie certainly did not think they
were the sort for the farmer to live by. Tlie mutton might
suit the epicure, but it was a little too rich for the farmer.
As to keeping sheep on heavy land, where could they have
been put during such weather as had been experienced during
tlie last two or three months ? They could not have sheds to
keep them in the dry, and if they had been put on pastures,
tliey would be ruined. The Suffolk pastures were not par-
ticlilarly good, nor particularly well farmed ; but if ever so
well farmed, the grass would be materially injured in an un-
kindly spring by sheep being put upon thera. The only farm
he knew in that neighbourhood on which the pastures did
, not appear to be injured by keeping sheep uj)on them was
Mr. Hustler's, at Cockfield ; but there it was well known
Mere extremely good pastures, and that was quite quite an iso-
lated ease. Witli regard to the supply of food in the spring,
if they were to carry out what liad been said by Mr. Greene,
% and save up all their pasture in the autumn, ready for the

spring, he w'as afraid they would not keep so much stock.
Ihey must provide certain food to keep their sheep in the
winter and spring, but every practical farmer would agree with
him that it was impossible to spare all their pastures for that
particular purpose ; if so they must very materially reduce the
number of animals kept on the farm, and that he did not think
was altogether the thing in the present day. As Mr. Biddell
had observed, if there was anything of a paying nature con-
nected witli I'arming, it was sheep, and to these tliey must turn
their attention. As far as corn was concerned, and especially
wheat, they must never expect a very high average for it
again ; they had the whole world to go to, and even at the
present price, lis. a quarter, large quantities were constantly
arriving. Therefore it behoved every tenant farmer to keep
the greatest number of sheep he could, and that could only be
done by using a certain amount of artificial food with the pro-
ducts of the farm, for there was a vast proportion of heavy
land that would not graze sheep without food of some other
kind. Grains might be very good, though lie did njt recom-
mend them, and it he used theni he should not buy them at
Mr. Greene's, as he did not believe in the grains of A.K.

Mr. Hustler could not agree with Jlr. Biddell as to the
feeding on layers, and was inclined to look upon this as one
of tiieir best pieces of fanning upon heavy land. If the land
was good they got a capital crop ; and where did animals do
better than on a good layer P On a poor heavy land farm they
did not get enough to mow ; and what could they do better
than feed it with sheep ? He thought they might safely cal-
culate on a g3od crop of wheat if they fed off their layers,
more especially if they gave tlie sheep artificial food as well.
He quite agreed that they miglit keep more sheep than they
now did on heavy land by laying a little forward, and pre-
paring for the spring ; and as soon as he got his layer he felt
that he could carry l\is sheep on through the year.

Mr. VixcE said he had been a heavy-land farmer all his
life, but he was quite an amateur in sheep-breeding. He,
however, had no doubt that if all light-land farmers took a
lesson from Mr. Greene's paper tiiey would not go mucli amiss.
He believed they might keej) more sheep than they now did
by looking forward, and growing a little bit of rye grass and a
bit of turnips and so on. He had always found sheep more
profitable than many parts of farming, and should certainly

endeavour in future to keep more than he had hitherto done.
If they kept only a small stock of breeding sheep they might
buy in some hoggets early in the spring, and he believed they
might improve their land as well as make the sheep pay.

Mr. Hawkins said : Being a heavy land district, that
locality was not much adapted for breeding sheep ; but he was
very fond of them, and was satisfied that if he dispensed with
sheep he should have to shut up, for were it not for his sheep
he did not believe he should have any profit on his stock. He
generally set seven score of ewes, and bred fat lambs ; he got
his ewes in as good condition as he could, and kept the lambs
as high as possible. To show them that he w as not far wrong,
he might state that his lambs generally brought him 35s. to
37s. each in the month of July. He felt quite sure that heavy
land farms might be improved by keeping an increased number
of sheep, and when they looked at the price mutton had made
of late, he felt sure it paid them better than any other stock
they could graze. His being a heavy land farm, he could not
fold upon the land ; but lie found no difficulty in keeping his
ewes and rearing and fatting his lambs. The only difficulty
was to get the money to buy the food, but he grew everything
except cake. He had foutid that the lambs obtained more
benefit from giving the ewes cake than from giving it to the
lambs themselves. He always used Mr. Aylmer's sheep,
which produced most beautiful lambs. Sheep, he was con-
vinced, were the mainstay of a light land occupation, and half
the mainstay of a heavy laud farm.

Mr. Biddell said Mr. Hustler had asked what he was to
do with his layer if he did not feed it ; but he might reply
that there was no necessity to have one at all. He was sure
if Mr. Hustler would keep an account of how many sheep he
could keep on a layer, he w ould find that it would not pay
him. He preferred himself coleworts, with mustard after.
He might say when he experimented in clipping lambs it was
in August, but Mr. Greene clipped in June. His were tup
lambs, and they were ill because the sun got on their backs.
Perhaps if they had been in the shade they might have got on
better.

Mr. GREENE.in replying, said there were two tilings he liked
— a good horse and a good sheep ; very opposite animals, per-
haps. To have given them au addrets upou the breeding of
horses — well-bred hunters — would have been speaking Greek
to them, so he had chosen his present subject. He did not
want to dictate to them — to say that he was all right, and they
were all wrong — he simply told them his own experience with
sheep, which at any rate had brought him, if not profit, at
least credit ; for he thought he might say without egotism he
had never had a bad lot yet. He only took up the subject
some ten or tvvelve years ago, and then it was for his own
amusement ; and he thought when a man did that he must be
able to alford it, for the profits would never blind him. He
quite agreed with Mr. Biddell about the Southdowus, and he
was inclined to think farmers deserted them too soon. Mr.
Kersey Cooper, who would have been there that evening if he
had been able, had often laughed at him because he had tried
almost every descriiition of sheep. He had now bought sonic
Shropshires, and he had got his nearly like the Downs, but
with more size. He thought if the Doivns had the same
chance as the half-breds, and they let them have the best food,
farmers would be able to carry more sheep per acre. This,
however, was speculation, for he had not tried it. On heavy
land he was sure sheep would pay if they could only keep them
about on the pastures, and in the yards at night, and have
mangolds to give them. But that was a matter he must leave
to heavy land farmers. With regard to clipping lambs, he was
there only to tell them what he had done liimself. He clipped
only a few, neither the best nor the worst, and when he sold
the lot he believed the clipped lambs were worth 7s. 6d. each
more than the others in the lot. He would not recommend
them to clip those they were going to keep, as at clipping time
they would lose some wool — he did not know what amount.
The lambs clipped about olbs. in May, and he should think on
the average they would clip about 31bs. The wool made about
9d. a pound ; that would be 2s. j\Ir. Biddell's experience was
with two; his was with three score, and he Jiad not lost one.
Last June, aflcr clipping, there was some extraordinarily
cold weather, and he lost three ewes, although they had
cake, but the lambs did not appear to suffer, and he never lost
one. He had not led the clipped ones differently to the un-

226

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

clipped. He selected five of the largest and sent tliem to
market, just to see what they were worth, and although he
contended that they did not fetch within 4s. of what they
were worth, they made 53s. 6d. each ; they might judge they
were pretty fair hoggets to fetch that, and yet they had not
half-a-pound of cake a-day. He thought he should force his
clipped lamhs more than the otliers, and he believed they would
bear it, and he should get them to market when mutton was
dear. He wanted to impress upon them the importance of
early tupping. He was speaking now of a light farm, because,
as he had said before, he had never farmed heavy land, and he
hoped he never should. He liked laud over which he could
ride without dirtying his horse or splashing his boots. He
must recommend early lambing, and one failure was no proof
against it. They failed in one thing, but in how many did

they succeed. If he farmed heavy land he should be inclined
to follow Mr. Hawkins's plan, and" fat both ewe and lamb every
year. If they forced a ewe well they could do it, but they
must put their hand in their pocket for without that they could
do nothing. He believed February or March was the best
time for lambing, and it suited the land best, too. He once
passed a piece of land belonging to a man who did not spend
much on his ewes, and he believed through not putting his
hand in his pocket for some cake, that man lost three coombs
an acre of barley on twenty acres of land. Although he
never let his lambs be without cake or bran, yet depend upon
it, the cake to the ewe was the secret of making the lamb look
well, and then, besides, if one of their ewes did not please
them, they could sell her at a very good price. Still they
must not be extravagant, for they would also lose by that.

THE SMITHFIELD CLUB,

At a meeting of the Council held Feb. 1, 1870, present:
the Earl of Powis, President, in the chair ; Lord Tredegar,
Messrs. J. D. Allen, H. Aylmer, J. N. Beasley, C. S. Bigge,
W. B. Canning, John Clayden, Samuel Druee, Thos. Duck-
ham, J. Druce, J. H. Downing, W. Farthing, C. Howard, Jas.
Howard, M.P., R. Leeds, H. Overman, Jno. Painter, AVm.
Iligden, Wm. Torr, J. S. Turner, Thos. TwitcheU, Brandretli
Gibbs (Hon. Secretary). — the minutes of the last Council
meeting were read and confirmed.

The Stewards reported on the cases referred to them as to
the qualification of certain animals at the last show. The Hon.
Secretary was reqiiested to communicate with one of the ex-
hibitors in reference thereto, and the reply to be laid before a
Special Council, which the President was requested to order to
be summoned in May.

Mr. R. J. Newton, of Campsfield, Woodstock, and Mr. Wm.
Sanday, of Radcliffe-on-Trent, were elected Stewards of live
stock for the ensuing three years.

Mr. Joseph Druce and Mr. Robert Leeds were re-appointed
stewards of implements for this year.

The Council proceeded to revise the Prize Sheet for this
year's show.

For Scotch horned classes it was determined to substitute the
words " West Highland breed" and to establish distinct classes
for " Other Scotch horned breed," viz. : Steers or oxen of any
age, the prize of £10 and silver medal to the breeder ; heifers
and cows of any age, the prize of £10 and silver medal to the
breeder.

It was resolved to establish a new class in each of the fol-
lowing divisions of sheep, viz. : Leicesters, Cotswolds, Lin-
colns, Southdovvns, Hampshire, or Wiltshire, Shropshire, and
Oxfordshire, for pens of 3 ewes above 3 years old, and that
must have had a lamb ; the prize of £10 and silver medal to
the breeder.

It was resolved that the prizes two-year-old Southdowns be
first prize £15, second £10 ; also, that the two-year-old class
for Hampshire or Wiltshire Downs be discontinued ; also,
that in the two-year-old Oxfordshire class there be only one
prize of £10; also, that the Ryeland, Cheviot, and Dorset
divisions stand before the Mountain in the prize sheet.

The Champion Prize Plate of £100 for the best Beast in the
Show.

The Champion Prize Plate of £50, for the best pen of Sheep
in the Show, be again offered ; but tliat the Champion Plate
for the best single Sheep be discontinued.

In the condition of the silver cups, in the division for Shrop-
shire, Oxfordshire, cross-bred, or any other breed not before
specified, the words 1 year old be inserted so as to limit the
competition to one year old Sheep, as already in the Southdown
divisions.

That the Prizes in Extra Stock, Steers, or Oxen and Cows,
or Heifers, be increased from £5 to £10.

That all the Silver Medals for single Sheep in Extra Stock
be abolished ; and, in lieu thereof, a Silver Cup, not exceeding

£5 in value, be given for the best wether in the following
divisions :

1st. Leicesters, Cotswolds, Lincoln', and Kentish or other

long wools.
2nd. Southdowns, Hampshire, or AViltshire Downs.
3rd. Shropshire, Oxfordshire, cross-bred, or any other breed

of Sheep not specified above.
Also, that a Silver Cup as above be given for the best single

Pig in Extra Stock.
The wording of Rule 17 was amended.

It was resolved. That it be an instruction to the Judges Se-
lection Committee not to appoint as judges any persons who
wiU act as judges at the Birmingham Cattle Show the same
year.

It was resolved :

1. That more stringent means be taken to prevent exhibi-
tors and others entering the Hall previous to the day
of judging, and that the attention of the directors of the
Agricultural Hall Company be specially called to this
point.

3. Tiiat the Club shall engage an official of its own in order
to check any persons who may have got past the ordi-
nary door-keeper hitherto appointed.

3. That the exhibitors and attendants in the implement

galleries shall not have access to the ground floor, and
that they shall have a distinct ticket, and be admitted
by a doorway, so arranged as to allow of their going
direct to the galleries.

4. That the stewards be empowered to incur such expense as

may be found necessary to carry out the above.

It was resolved, That the stewards be requested to revise the
classification of breeds to be adjudicated upon by each set of
judges.

The report of the Show-yard Committee as to proposed al-
terations was read, and referred to the same Committee to go
into further detail to confer witji the Directors of the Agricul-
tural Hall Company, and to report to the Council to be held
in May.

The Implement Committee was re-appointed for the present
year, with the same powers as heretofore.

Letters were read and referred to the Lnplement Committee.

Also a memorial respecting the charges and arrangements
for cattle conveyances was referred to the stewards.

The honorary secretary was requested to communicate with
the Privy Council and the Metropolitan Board of Works, to
see if the advertisement relative to the licence for holding the
Club's Show could not be curtailed by omitting apparently un-
necessary details.

The following were elected members of the Club : — Wm.
Webb Turner, of Chyngton, Seaford, Sussex ; Mrs. Gerard
Cresswcll, of Appleton Hall, Sandringham, Lynn, Norfolk.

A vote of thanks was passed to the Earl of Powis for his
conduct in the chair.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

227

THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SMITHFIELD CLUB SHOW.

It is seldom that any desire to reform abuses or correct
mistakes has been, set about with more vigorous de-
termination than there has just been displayed by the
management of the great Smithfield show. The tone of
the whole sitting is eminently healthy and encouraging,
as there is not a weak place but through which a
new rail has been laid or a bit of fresh quick planted.
On the opening day of the last show we protested
against the same judges coming on from Birmingham
to Islington, as we spoke to "the murmurs growing
louder and louder as the awards still went the same way;"
while we added that "Mr. Parrington at the best managed
meeting we have, makes it an indispensable condition
that any judge who accepts office at the Yorkshire in
August should not have acted at the Royal Society's
Show in July ; and the Smithfield Club must do the same
by the Birmingham." And the Smithfield Club has done
so, for at the last Meeting it was resolved — the motion
standing in the name of Lord Bridport — " that it be
an instruction to the Judges' Selection Committee not
to appoint as judges any persons who will act as judges
at the Birmingham Cattle Show in the same year."
Then, during the week we dwelt on the very unsatisfac-
tory ruling in the Scotch-Horn breed or breeds,
suggesting that the West Highlanders should be
^ honoured with a class of their own. One of the
late stewards, we believe, opposed this proposal, but
the meeting adopted it, and " for Scotch Horned
it was determined to substitute West Highland breed;"
while distinct classes are to be established
for "other Scotch horned breeds," which, save by
crosses, we have not the slightest idea of ever seeing
filled. Some alterations were made in the arrangement
of the sheep classes, but no notice was taken of one of the
judges' suggestion to do away with the light-weight
Southdowns, nor of that from another as to " one of the
judges in each class being a butcher;" about the very
worst notion offered for many a long day. The complaint
at the recent show was that the judges went a deal too
often like butchers as it was ; take, for instance, that
very Highlander class, where they went clear away from
character and style. A good heavy cross would generally
promise to be the most valuable beast to the butcher ; but,
then, what are crosses without breeds? Horse-dealers,
veterinary surgeons, butchers and salesmen should never
be asked to act as judges at our great national meetings ;
for, like Mr. Weller, their " wision is limited."

But in the week after the Show, on the ^Monday, as this
closed on the Friday, we were bold enough to go still
further, and in the face of its "great success" and the
" more money than ever taken at the doors," to declare
that " nothing could be more unsatisfactory, not to say
discreditable, than the condition into which the manage-
ment of the Smithfield Club Cattle Show was gradually
drifting." Of course we were quite prepared to hear, as
we did hear, that this was finding fault merely for the sake
of fault-finding, and so forth ; although, nevertheless, we
went on to demonstrate how very lax the system was be-
coming ; how some exhibitors were let in and others were
kept out ; how the Hall Company was feeding up its own
prize reporter; and how other " gentlemen of the Press"
were quite content to pass for implement makers' assistants.

And at the February Meeting the following resolutions
were put and carried, on the motion of Mr. Henry
Overman, and with the hearty concurrence of the director
of the show : "1. That more stringent means be taken
to prevent exhibitors and others entering the Hall
previous to the day of judging, and that the attention of
the directors of the Agricultural Hall Company be
specially called to this point. 2. That the Club shall
engage an official of its own in order to check any persons
who may have got past the ordinary door-keeper hitherto
appointed. 3. That the exhibitors and attendants in the
implement galleries shall not have access to the ground
floor, and that they shall have a distinct ticket, and be
admitted by a doorway, so arranged as to allow of their
going direct to the galleries. 4. That the stewards be
empowered to incur such expense as may be found
necessary to carry out the above." The point of these
resolutions, as we take it, centres on the Club providing
an official check of Us own and on the stewards having
full power, or rather sole power. The Agricultural Hall
Company has, or should have, no more share in the
management at Islington than Mr. Boulnois had in
Baker-street ; as, in fact, the Club and the Company
cannot be kept too distinct from each other. And
yet on the very title-page of the Club cata-
logue we see officially paraded the names in
full of the chairman and the secretary — not of
the Club, but of the Company ! where they have
about as much right to be as on the cover of the cata-
logue of the Royal Academy. Again, running across
every page of the Smithfield Club catalogue, we have in
large lettering the announcement of the Islington Horse
Show, just as if it were one and the same concern ! Let
the Islington Hall Horse Show be advertised, and let the
chairman and secretary of the Islington Hall Company
advertise themselves by all manner of means in the
proper place, which we imagine to be the general ad-
vertising sheet ; but unless the Smithfield Club is to be
handed over bodily to the Ilall Company, it certainly
does seem that the names of the president and honorary
secretary of the Club should, if any, grace the title page,
as that for all sorts of reasons it is very desirable that
the national cattle show should not be in any way asso-
ciated with the Christmas circus, the summer Horse
Show, or any other mountebank performances which may
take place at other times within the Hall. As little
" liberties " of this kind commonly lead on to more
serious encroachments they cannot too soon be corrected.

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL BENEVOLENT IN-
STITUTION.—At the montlily meeting of the Council on
Tuesday, February Ist, present, Messrs. C. S. Cantrell (in the
chair) T. Beddall, J. Collins, II. Corbet, A. Garrett, A. H.
Johnson, J. Naish, and J. Scott, it was resolved, that, at the
forthcoming election, 40 names shoidd be added to the present
list of pensioners, viz., 10 male, 20 female, and 10 married
candidates, thus raising the total number of pensioners to
170, not including the orphan children boarded and educated
by the Society. The annual dinner was fixed for Wednesday,
the 8th of June.

228

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE SEWAGE OF TOWNS.

At the January lueetiug of the Hexham Farmer's C'hih,
Mr. R. WAi.Lisli the Chairman, read a paper on tliis
suhject, in which he said: I liave nothing of my own, or,
indeed notliing new, to bring before you on tliis important
subject; but, by drawing your attention to the matter I
may induce some one better qualified llian I am to in-
vestigate tlie subject. It is a subject which must before long
be not only investigated, but action must be taken to remedy
the existing evils of the present mode of sewage of towns.
It is a subject which is exciting great interest in this town at
the present time ; but I may be allowed to say it is not on tliat
account I have chosen to bring the matter before this club,
though I must say there is no town which I am acquainted
with that presents more advantages for efficient and profitable
sewage operations. As the subject is skIj jitdice, I will not
allude to it any further. The chief reason for me presuming
to bring the subject before yo>i is the fact that agriculturists
are really the persons most interested. To quote from the
celebrated Mr. Mechi, who has done good service in this cause,
both by his pen and by practical application — he says : " If
the money value of the contents of the sewers could be shown
to the British farmer in bright and glittering heaps of sove-
reigns, he would grasp at the enormous wealth, and make great
efforts to attain it. Our sewage, although a less perceptible
treasure, is not the less a real one. I am bound in truth to
say that I have not seen any practical desire or effort on the
part of the British agriculturist to obtain this treasure. If it
is worth having it is worth asking for; but it lias not been
asked lor ; and the apathy and miscalculation on the subject
must amaze every unprejudiced man of calculation. Is human
cxecrement less valuable than that of animals P " The subject
is, at the present time, receiving that attention it is entitled to
from the various scientific bodies. A committee, appointed
by the British Association, is now collecting evidence on this
subject ; it has been discussed at a meeting of the Social
Science Association, and several articles have appeared in the
leading scientific journals ; and the Government have been in-
duced to pass a Bill "For Facilitating the More Useful Appli-
cation of Sewage;" but I am not aware the agricultural
community have shown themselves to be at all alive in the
matter. Ivhether we regard the question of the sewage of
towns in relation to the health and comfort of the people, or
the utilization of the sewage matters in relation to agriculture,
it assumes an immense national importance. It is the difllculty
of reconciling these two points which invest the subject with
so much interest. Hygiene is undoubtedly the first considera-
tion, but it has hitherto engrossed almost the entire attention
of the different authorities constituted to carry out the ques-
tion. Had the modes employed been successful for the purpose
they were intended for, there might have been some excuse
for the reckless and immense waste of the manurial products.
But such is not the case. No one denies the desirability of
cleansing our towns from the excreta of men and animals
which are so prejudicial to health and comfort ; nor does
any one deny the value of the town sewage applied to agri-
culture ; but no one is satisfied that either one or the other
of these desiderata has been accomplished. Enormous sums
of money have been spent in almost every town in England
on sewage operations, and in very few instances indeed have
tlicy proved successful. In very few towns, even where
favourably situated, has the utilisation of the sewage been
taken into consideration. The object has always been to
lind an outlet for the sewage matter, at the least possible cx-
jicnse, into the nearest stream or navigable river. This has
turned out to be a great mistake. The concentrated accu-
mulation of sewage filtli along the banks of the streams has
been the cause of febrile diseases and premature death ; it has
)ioisoued and driven away the fishes; and in some instances
1 lie mud has given ri.se to serious obstruction to navigation.
London is a notable example of tliis, and every town where
the sewage is poured into the streams is the same in a minor
degree. A few years ago, when the sewers of London opened
into the upper part of the river Thames, the deposit of sewage

mud on the banks was perfectly intolerable ; the exhalatious
were most noxious and deadly, and the whole system demanded
an immediate remedy. Under tiie engineering skill of Mr.
Bazelgette, an elaborate system of intercepting sewers was
devised and carried out, to convey the sewage to a point
several miles down the river, beyond the densely populated
portion of London (to Barking and Crossness), at the cost of
£4,CoO,000. And what has been the result ? Tlie result of
a survey last year shows that, near the northern outfall, a
space of more than 40 acres, and near the southern outfall,
of about 120 acres of the bed of the river has been covered
by a deposit varying in depth down to 7 fee". Dr. Letheby
reports that " The deposit consists of sewage matter. It is
evident from what I know of the u.sual couposition of mud
of rivers, that this is a very large proportion of organic matier ;
and that, by undergoing putrifactive decomposition, the mud
may be a cause of consideralile alarm, especially as it there
meets with sea water, the sulphates of which may, by the
chemical decomposition of the putrifying mud, occasion the
escape of much sulphureted hydrogen, and set up that remark-
ably offensive change, which is the characteristic of the ac-
tion of sea water upon sewage." This is the result of his
great scheme, and in proportion of every town in England
where the sewage has the outfall into the river. This great
scheme was carried out purely as a matter of hygiene, regard-
less of the valuable manurial elements ; though it must be
borne in mind tliat the removal of the sewage from the
Thames altogether was contemplated. The Metropolis Sewage
and Essex lleclamation Company intended to carry the great
outfalls of the sewers further down to the Maplin Sands, ^>
which were to be irrigated by the sewage, and turned into a
vast plain of market gardens. But the Board of Works
wished to drive too hard a bargain, and the company was
nipped in the bud. The Sewage and lleclamation Company
stuck fast at their experimental farm at Barking, of which I
will speak hereafter. The irrigation of the Maplin Sands
must either be carried out by the Board of Works, or by some
company who ought to be guaranteed 3 or 4< per cent. It
would be a great experiment, and, if successful, would be
imitated in different parts of the country. But if this be
successful, there still remain in the sewers the pestiferous
gases. Several modes have been tried to get rid of these
gases : — 1st, by the use of ventilating charcoal grates ; 2nd,
Ijy ventilating through chimney shafts ; 3rd, by ventilating
through pipes to the tops of buildings ; and 4th, by diluting
the sewage with water. None of these modes have been satis-
factory, and Mr. Bazalgette states, in a report on this subject,
that it would cost for plant £400,000, and £301,480 an-
nually, thoroughly to ventilate the London sewers. These
sewer gases, being compounds of sulphuretted and carbonated
hydrogen, are lighter than common air, therefore have a ten-
dency to escape, and hardly any gully or water closet, how-
ever well trapped, is free from them ; but when a strong wind
blows into the outlets of the sewers, the back rush of the
deadly gases is intolerable. The water closet system, how-
evee well they may be trapped, is open to great objection, and
in small and tenemented houses, where the people neither
will nor can understand the mechanism, they are an intoler-
able nuisance. The whole system of sewage is wretchedly
bad, and recklessly extravagant. It carries the liquid and
solid excreta down to our neighbours to rot at their doors, and
it leaves us a legacy of deadly gases to remind us that our
endeavours to cheat nature has signally failed. To remedy
the defects of the present system, a return has been made in
many towns, particularly in Manchester, to improved privies
and ashpits, catcli pits, hermetically sealed boxes, and earth
closets. Earth closets may do very well for small agricultural
towns and villages, but I fear they are impracticable for large
towns. The eartli requires to lie kept very dry ; and three
and a half times more than the quantity of ilie excreta is
required. Burnt clay and charcoal are the best deodorizers
for the purpose. They absorb tlie moisture and gases of the
excreta, and prevent any obnoxious smell ; when earth closets

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

229

iiie well kept they are very effectual. For a town of
100,000 inhabitants, 3,500,000 cubic feet of dry earth would
be required to be brought in, and 4,500,000 cubic feet flould
have to be carted out agaiu, an amount of carriage which
would be almost impossible without iuterferiug very seriously
with the regular traffic of the town. But the greatest
novelty of invention for remedying the defects of the present
system of sewage is that by pneumatic force. In a " Work
on the Sewage Question by F. C. Krepp," the whole subject
of sewage by different countries is most ably treated ; and
Mr. Krepp, in that work, gives a most detailed account of a
system by Captain Liernur, "for the daily inoffensive removal
of f;ecal solids, fluids and gases by pneumatic force, combined
with an improved method of sewage utilization." The work
was very ably reviewed in the Neivcaslle Bally Journal of the
22nd July. The plan seems to be a most feasible one. It
seems perfect in theory, if it can only be carried into practice.
If it can, wealth and honour will be the sure reward of the
fortunate discoverer. This system of Captain Liernuv's realises
the motto, " Rainfall to the River, and Sewage to the Soil."
No system of sewage is worthy of consideration which does not
give back to the soil that which in our food we have taken
from it ; and I consider the mere ridding ourselves of a
valuable fertiliser, simply on account of the dilliculty of dealing
with it, quite beneath the enlightened spirit of the age. The
subject is of such great national importance that we should not
rest until some plan is devised to render sewage matter inno-
cuous to public health and profitable to agriculture. It has
been decided by those who have giveu their attention to the
subject. 1st. That town sewage cannot be profitably utilised
by deposition, filtration, or precipitation, and that none of the
methods hitherto adopted under this system have efTcetually
accomplished the dis-poUution of the streams into which the
effluent waters are discharged. 2ud. That town sewage when
applied in irrigating land, Ijy natural gravitation, has invari-
ably realised profitable results ; and that the waters discharged
a, from such land, after irrigation, are so far deprived of their
manurial constituents as to be rendered practically innocuous.
3rd. That when judiciously applied, liquid sewage does not
give off offensive emanations, but is immediately deodorised.
4th. That the soils best fitted for sewage operations are sand
and light loam, and well drained clay. 5th. That the crops
jnost benefited by sewage irrigation are Italian and other
grasses and root crops. 6th. Tiiat the fertilising properties of
sewage matters depend entirely upon the hquid portion, the
precipitation being almost useless. In liquid and solid excre-
ments, before entering tlie sewer, the fertilising properties are
7^ fluid to the 2.^ of the solid. Now to get some idea of the
value of the sewage, we will take our town population at
25,000,000, and we will assume that the excrements passed
by every individual is equal in value to 10s,, which i> a mo-
derate calculation (it has been differently stated from Ss. 4d.
to 14s.), this will give us the enormous sum of £12,500,000
per annum. There is no doubt about the facts. This is a
fair approximation of the sum we are wasting every year, in
polluting our streams, and destroying our health, simply for
not having the means of profitably applying it. But Boards of
Health and Corporations must learu to know that the success-
ful application of sewage matter to the land does not necessarily
mean an immediate profitable mercantile speculation, but as
adding to the wealth of the nation in the increased value of the
land, and enlarging its capability of producing food for the
people. We hear of many failures in the application of sewage
to the land, but these may safely be attributed to improper ap-
plication. One positive fact is worth a hundred negatives ;
indeed, sewage cannot be otherwise than beneficial to the land
if properly applied ; it contains all the salts and minerals
which have been taken from the soil, and must be returned
to it again for successive crops. The irrigation of the Craigen-
tinny Meadows is the oldest and best known example of sewage
irrigation. Wiiat was once a barren sand, is now w-orth a
rental of £30 an acre, from which five and six crops of grass
are cut every season. The Lodge Farm at Barking is another
notable example. I have not been able to get the recent infor-
mation I expected about this farm. But there, on a stiff clay,
they get five crops of Italian rye grass every season ; their root
crops are something so enormous that I dare not venture to
mention the weight without having my memory refreshed ;
strawberries and cabbages also produced very heavy crops at
the Lodge Farm, In a paper read by the Earl of Essex, four

years ago, at the meeting of the British Association, he says,
" There seems to be no limit to the quantity of sewage for grass
land, jnovided the soil be porous and well draiued, I cut my
grass five times in a season, aud my root crops arc the largest I
ever saw. One year I lost almost all my wurzel by the fly and
drought. I transplanted five acres of wurzel, aud turned the
sewage npon it, that yielded 45 tons per acre ; and kept 34
bullocks all the summer, w ith as much as they could eat, from
seven acres. The liquid sewage sinks into the soil at once, and
often becomes imperceptible in about half an hour, always
within a day." About the year 1700, with a population ap-
proaching to 7,000,000, we annually exported 100,000 quarters
of corn. Now, we import from 30 millions to 40 millions
annually, and our population approaches 30 millions. We also
im])ort fertilizers to the amount of two millions sterling, which
is equivalent to a tax upon corn. But we !uust recollect that
the supply of these fertilizers is not inexhaustible. The supply
of bones from Denmark, Russia, and South America, and of
fossil excrements, aud guano from Pern will cease, and then
what will be the condition of the fields of England if we con-
tinue in our reckless course ? In an old country, like this,
you cannot have food without manure ; therefore, with an in-
creasing population, and a diminution of home grown products,
you sap the very foundation of your country's greatness, and
bring her to the verge of misery aud destitution.

Mr. Catchesiue said that besides this question of sewage
affecting their town it was one which ought to demand their
atteution both in a commercial and in a scientific point of view.
As was observed by their chairman, the first question that they
should have effectually settled respecting the sewage of towns
was the fulfilment of hygiene strictly as a scientific principle.
The proper drainage of towns and the thorough removal of
sewage and all noxious gases of every kind should be first at-
tended to. The great difficulties appeared to be, firstly, in the
great waste of water necessary to flush the sewei s, in order to
carry away the sewage into the river ; and, secondly, the pol-
lution of the streams provided by nature for their good. He
referred to the sediment left by sewage in the river at London,
which was seven feet in depth, and if he might draw a com-
parison between our town and London he might venture to say
that they would have no such depth in the river Tyne, because
tiiere was nothing near the same quantity of sewage going into
the river. For those who advocated the dry earth system —
the mixing of excrement with soil — this comparison might
prove an important fact. In London they found the water
system fail, with all the immense quantify of water with which
the sewers were daily flushed to carry the sewage into the
Thames. Taking this into consideration, and the mere nothing
in the way of waste of water at Hexham, how could they
apply to London the dry earth system, on account of the im-
mense quantity of dry earth and ashes that would be required
to be mixed with the sewage of London, when they found
water the most plentiful in that w.^.y fail to effect the object,
for it carried the sewage into the river and left it there, and
did not thoroughly carry it away ? Even supposing it were
possible to adopt the dry earth closets, and farirers would buy
it, where could they store up such an immense quantity of
sewage which left seven feet thickness in the bed of the river ?
The dry earth system would prove itself impracticable in
another sense — they would find that hygiene was not strictly
carried out. Mr. Catcheside gave, as an illustration, Belling-
ham, which, he said, was in an abominable state, the air
being impregnated with various noxious gases emanating from
ash-pits, &c., the dry earth closets being in use at that place.
It would never do to sacrifice the health of the townspeople to
satisfy the wants of fanners in providing manure for them to
buy. In Hexham he knew, for a positive fact, that all the
sewage could not be sold if ntilised ; farmers did not want
manure all the year round. Sewage naturally would have to
be prepared all the year round, and he wanted to know where
they would store it ? Some of it must go to waste ; it could not
be used at certain times of the year ; they had not land to put
the sewage npon by irrigation. Certain individuals had re-
fused to have it put npon their land, as it would come in the
way of their agricultural programme. With respect to putting
sewage upon land by irrigation near a town, or where people
dwelt, they would find that various gases emanated from those
fields which were irrigated with it, and in certain winds they
would get the benefit of those gases in quite as great a degree,
it not greater, than when blown up the sewers. Water-closets

230

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

were acknowletlged to be a great nuisance, but they must put
up with them if they could not get a better system. Tlie
question was wlietker the water-closet was not more healthy
than the dry-closet system ? The latter might be applicable
to small villages, where there was a sufficient demand to buy
up the manure thus formed. As to the ciiemical constituents
of sewage, by precipitation the liquid portion, by far tlie most
valuable, was allowed to run to waste. In conclusion, he said
this question had not seemingly acquired that importance
which it deserved and ought to receive at the hands of scien-
tific men, though no doubt some day they would get a solution
of this very important problem. It was not only a problem
which concerned the sanitary condition of towns, but was one
which involved deliberate waste on the part of a great and
enlightened nation.

Mr. Smith said they would be well aware that there was
considerable discussion going on in this town respecting the
sewage question. He might say that the Hexham Local
Board were carefully considering it, and no Board could be
more anxious to carry out all the improvements they possibly
could than they were. He was one of the members of the
Board, and he was in favour of irrigating land with sewage by
means of gravitation, and if they could get land at a reason-
able rate in the neighbourhood they would find the sewage to
ne very profitable. The population of the town might be
taken at 5,000, and if an income of £2,500 a-year could be
derived from it, it would more than pay all their rates. Mr.
Smith had no doubt but that the time would come when the
utilization of the sewage of towns would become exceedingly
valuable, and instanced the case of Edinburgh, where pure
sand when irrigated with sewage yielded large crops. At
Aldershot the application of sewage to poor clay laud had

also been attended with the most successful results, and he
had personally seen its astonishing effects in the ueighbour-
hood of London. Mr. Smith concluded by proposing a vote of
thanks to the chairman for his excellent paper.

Mr. H. Stefiienson seconded the vote of thanks, and
said he had no doubt when they had the paper printed,
and time to think over it, they would see the utility of it. It
was the business of the farmer to get his manures as easy as
possible, and to produce the greatest crops.

The Chairmajm, iu response, said he was glad to bear that
Mr. Catcheside coincided with his views that the earth-closet
system would not do for large towns, and seemed to doubt
even whether it would do for small villages. He wished to
know what system vras adopted at BeUingham, to which Jlr.
Catcheside had referred. ^Vas it merely tlie common
privy ?

Mr. Catcheside : Just the common ash-pit privy.

The C^AIKMAJ^f said there was an improved one, and it was
that to which he had referred in his paper. The simple ash-
pit privy was abominable. Mr. Catcheside asked what they
would do with sewage, as they could not irrigate land with it all
the year round. He replied that undoubtedly they could ; and
he found that at one place where it had answered the purpose
best, that from 50,000 to 60,000 gallons per acre were put
upou the land every time a crop was taken off. No smell
arose from it, and he supposed Mr. Catcheside spoke from book
and not from fact. The earth was the only effectual deodoriser,
and they were distinctly told that within half-an-hour the
smell disappeared, and always within a day. He felt much
gratified to have a vote of thanks proposed to him, and he re-
turned tliera his cordial thanks for the honour they had done
him.

MR. HALL MAXWELL,

No one was more jealous of his own or his Society's dig-
nity, and his eye would flash and the colour would mount to
his cheek at a word. He delighted most iu marshalling sta-
tistics aud annexing districts at his desk, but still he was su-
premely happy in the show-yard. Everything was done there
with great dignity and order, and the Scottish bench would
sometimes chaff their coadjutors from England overnight, and
teO them that Hall Maxwell never admitted a judge into the
show-yard unless he presented himself in full court-dress.
On the opening morning he might be found in the pay-box
for a few minutes, helping to gather the crowns, and ex-
changing a word or a nod with each member as lie came iu ;
but he soon retired, and for the rest of the week the saddle
was his throne. He would be galloping here, there, aud
everywhere, as field-marshal, on his bay cob, setting lords,
baronets, and lairds to work as " attending members" to the
different sets of judges ; and he was a plainish speaker, some-
times, if things did not go just to his mind. In short, both
there and at Albyn Place, he was quite the autocrat of the
Society ; but, although they somewhat felt the bondage, they
were very proud of him, and quite content to set off the mar-
vels he had wrought for them against what many thought,
and some termed " dictation." If any of the latter were un-
duly captious, he caught them without more ado and made
directors of them, and they soon ceased from troubling. This
mode of blaud absorption was very transparent, but was never
known to fail. Public Inisiness often took him to London,
and no one could take charge of a Parliamentary bill better.
If he appeared in a Coramitte-room to support or oppose on
behalf of the Society, it was with such a well-marshalled and
serried mass of facts and witnesses that it was always odds on
him. At Battersea and Paris he w-as quite in his element,
looking after Scottish interests. When in '61 he led the
liundred-and-tweiity herdsmen and shepherds to Battersea-
fields, he lodged them in Edgington tents, and furnished them
with beds borrowed expressly from the Tower. They had
regular night-watches like soldiers ; certain detachments of
them made holiday at the Exhibition or the Crystal Palace,
and on Sunday they were marched to Westminster Abbey.
This was the only time that we ever saw him in complete
sympathy with the stock classes. He seemed to care nothing
about the very finest show of animals or their points, and to
merely regard them as necessary links iu his system, Neither

BelviUe, nor old Charlotte, nor Colly Hill, nor Loudon Tam,
" that very Blair Atliole among Clydesdales," had made any
impression on liiin. He only wished to see the classes wor-
thily filled; the cracks he left to his friend, Mr. Gourlay
Steell, " to be translated." As a private companion none
could exceed him, and to us his stories were all the more
salient, when they turned on his recollections of his own
Society. He loved to recount the Parisian speculations and
observations of " Boghall, who did him such yeoman service
as cattle manager on that famous international trip ; and he
unconsciously gave us a delightful specimen of his best official
manner in his recital of " Duncan's Arrest at Perth." It
seems that the late Duke of Athole, who was then president
of the Society, went to Mr. Duncan tlie night before the show
opened at Perth and demanded a stock catalogue. With un-
swerving fidelity to his cliief, who had given express orders to
tlie contrary, Mr. Duncan expressly declined to hand over, and
the Duke (whose Highland blood was very easily roused) or-
dered him forthwitli into a cab, and taking his seat beside
him, drove straight off to Mr. Maxwell's inn. The latter was
summoned from dinner, and ou going into the lobby, heard
the indictment which the Duke delivered with immense em-
phasis, holding the accused by the collar. Then Mr. Maxwell
struck in, appealing to the Duke as one who had been in the
array, and knew the value of rigid discipline, and showing his
Grace that " my orders are only your orders — even a president
cannot break his own rules ;" and so the upshot of it was that
the Duke doffed his bonnet, and made a most gracious bow —
" Mr. Duncan, I hiimhly leg your pardon." Such was Hall
Maxwell ; and Scotland did not let one who had served her so
well and so long retire without a substantial reward. On
January 17, 1866, he was presented with 1,000 gs. and a
handsome service of plate, and was also requested by the
directors of the Society to sit to Mr. Gourlay Steell, for his
portrait. They little thought how soon that portrait (which
is hung, among the few that have attained such honour, in
their council chamber) vrould be aU they could look upon.
He was still in the very prime of his mental vigour ; and, if
health had been granted to him, he might have reasonably look-
ed forward to another twenty years of usefulness in his county.^
From The Druid's new woik. Saddle and Sirloin. [Can any of
our readers favour us with a copy of " Investigator's"
pamphlet, the point of which >vas an attack on Mr, Maxwell ?j

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE,

231

THE WELSH MODEL AGREEMENT,

TO THE EDITOR 0¥ THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In your impression of the 17th Jan. you publish
a form of agreement or lease adopted by Lord Lisburne,
drawn, as his agent states, for the protection of the "' im-
proving tenant" ! It is a very lengthy and peculiar do-
cument. On reading it I thought of the nursery rhyme,
"Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a ***," if all this
be needed to keep a Welsh tenant honest and improving !
I read it twice, but, I fear, missed tlic improving
part. The third time pays for all, I said, and I read it the
third time ; but my bucolic mind became somewhat ob-
fuscated with the interminable lessee, lessor, executors,
administrators, assigns, &c., &c. ; and if the Welsh "bu-
colic mind" be anything like the English, I fancy it will
not be improved in this fashion. There are some things no
fellow can understand as improving any one but the land-
lord. Fancy a landlord reserving the right to make plan-
tations anywhere on a farm, "the tenant not being allowed
to destroy game, wild-fowl, or raJjbits, but to use his utmost
cud favour to preserve them ; tenant cd own, cost to paint
with two good coats of oil paint, every three years, all
wood and iron work ;" tenant at his own cost to insure and
keep insured all buildings, &c. ; to crop according to rute ;
not to sell oft' any roots, hay, straw, &c. ; to repair all
gates, fences, roads, bridges, &c. ! Not a word about
materials, found ; not a word about allowance for cake or
corn consumed, nor for artificial manures used. If the
tenant absent himself for two months, though it may be
for the improvement oi his health, he is to be improved off
the farm ! Lastly, he is to pay all the costs and expenses
of these presents (and a pretty present too), and of the
counter or duplicate. Why not say at once, " Dance as I
bid you, and pay the piper" ? In order that our Welsh
friends may have some idea of a liberal agreement I en-
close a copy of Lord Harrowby's, read by hUn at a
meeting of the Staftbrdshire Chamber of Agricidture,
which you will perhaps publish.

Yours truly,

HlfordPark, Jan. 26. Geo. A. May.

The buildings, gates, and premises shall be kept in repair
by the said tenant (damage by fire or tempest excepted, for re-
pairs consequent upon which all carting shall be done by the
said tenant) being allowed for that purpose the necessary tim-
ber in the rough, bricks, stone, and tiles or slate ; and if the
said tenant shall neglect to do any such repairs for the space of
twenty days after having received notice in writing from the
said landlord or his agent of tlie need thereof, the said landlord
shall be at liberty to cause such repairs to be done, and may
recover the teuant's shaie of the cost thereof from the said
tenant as and for rent in arrear. The woodwork of the inside
of tlie house shall be painted once in every ten years, and the
outside of the house and such parts of the buildings as have
usually before been painted once in every five years with two
coats of good oil paint ; the other outside woodwork of the
farm buildings not painted shall be gas-tarred once in every
ten years, the cost of such painting and gas-tarring to be borne
equally by the said landlord and tenant. Any draining re-
quired, and sanctioned by the landlord, will be done by the said
landlord, the said tenant carting the pipes necessary for that
purpose, and paying an additional rent of 5 per cent, pgr
annum on the cost thereof. All hedges, fences, watercourses,
ditches, and drains shall be kept in good order, and all thistles,
docks, and other noxious weeds on the lands, hedgerows, and
adjoining roads cut so as to prevent their seeding by the said
tenant, or may be done by the said landlord, and the cost re-
covered as above stipulated for repairs. All rates, parliamen-
tary, parochial, or otherwise, chargeable upon the said farm

shall be paid by the said tenant, tithes, land tax, landlord's pro-
perty tax, and insurance upon buildings excepted. All hay , straw,
potatoes, roots, cabbages, and other food for cattle grown upon
the said farm shall be consuraedthereon,orif sold, one-half of the
proceeds of such sales shall, within six months after any such
sales, be expended in manure approved by the landlord or his
agent, to be applied either to green crops or to the pasture
land, the other half in oilcake or linseed to be given to cattle
or sheep ; all manures, whether made from tlie produce of the
farm or purchased in exchange for such produce sold, shall
be used upon tlie said farm, or in the last year of the tenancy
left for the benefit of the succeeding tenant. Notice shall be
given by the said tenant to the said landlord or his agent pre-
vious to any such sale of hay, straw, or other produce, and
vouchers shall be produced for the manure or oilcake brought
instead thereof. If any hay or straw be destroyed or damaged
by fire, tlie value thereof shall be expended in the purchase of
other hay and straw, or in manures aud oilcake in the same
manner as if such hay and straw had been sold. The meadow
and pasture laud shall be manured after every alternate mow-
ing, with not less than ten loads per acre of rotten dung, or
fifteen of long manure or good compost, or an equivalent in
grouud bones or other manure approved by the said landlord
or his agent. The arable laud shall be kept during the tenancy
under this agreement in a clean and good stnte and condition,
and so cropped that at the expiration thereof the arable laud
shall be in the following condition, or the said tenant shall pay
to or be paid liy tlie said landlord for auy deviation therefrom
such sum as the arbitrators appointed as hereinafter mentioned
shall determine. One-half of the arable land shall, on sucli
expiration of tenancy, be clean and in good condition aud fit to
plant with wJiite straw crops ; of such half part, one moiety
shall have been fallowed (with green crops) during the previous
summer, the other moiety thereof shall have been wholly under
clover or mixed grass seeds, or part in clover and the rest beans
or peas after being manured, none of the clover or other
grasses having being allowed to stand for seed. One-fourth of
the arable land shall have been sown in the spring of the year
preceding the termination of the tenancy with clover or otlier
proper mixed grass seeds upon land fallowed the previous year
and clean, the seeds, sowing, and harrowing to be paid for by
the said landlord or his in-coming tenant, provided they have
not been grazed after harvest. Not more than one-fourth of
the arable laud shall require to be fallowed in the year after
the termination of tlie tenancy, nor require an outlay of more
than fifty shillings per acre to clean it ; if it require less tlian
that sum the said landlord or his in-comiug tenant shall pay
the difference, if more than that sum the said tenant shall pay it.
And it is hereby agreed that not later than one month before
the termination of the tenancy under this agreement the said
tenant and the said lordlord or his incoming tenant shall each
appoint an arbitrator ; these arbitrators shall meet not later
than ten days before the expiration of the tenancy, and having
appointed an umpire, shall proceed to consider the claims
made by either party ; in case either party refuse or neglect to
appoint an arbitrator, the other may nominate an umpire, who
shall have the same powers as if he had been appointed by the
arbitrators jointly, and any award made in pursuance of this
agreement shall be final and binding upon both parties, and
may be made a rule of any superior court of law ; the terms
" clean and in good condition" and the construction of all
covenants and stipulations herein used shall be understood in
a reasonable and practical sense, and the claims contingent
thereupon treated accordingly. The arbitrators shall first
consider how far the state of the farm difi'ers, if at all, from
that herein stipulated, and they shall decide whether the said
tenant or the said landlord or his in-coming tenant is entitled
to any and what compensation on account of such variation ;
they shall then settle the other claims between the parties
upon the following basis : The said landlord or his in-coming
tenant sliaO pay after the rate of fifty shillings per acre for all
land in excess of one-half which, under the above conditions,
is fit to be planted with white straw crops, or shall be paid by

232

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the said tenant at the same rate for all short of oue-half of
the arable laud so fit. Not less thau oue-fourth of the clover
or mixed grass seeds shall be mown for liay during the last
year for the use of, and to be paid for by, tiieiu-comiug tenant ;
for the remainder of the laud whereon clover or other grasses
have been grazed the whole summer by sliecp the in-coming
tenant shall pay after the rate of forty shillings per acre,
provided such land be clean, and that only one crop of corn
has been taken since the previous fallow. The said tenant
shall be entitled to the sum of fifty shihngs per acre for all
clean fallows. If not clean and ready to plant with corn, the
cost of making them so must be deduc*ed. If the said tenant
has not sold hay, straw, or roots, and has purchased manure
within the last two years of the tenancy, or if he has purchased
manures in excess of the quaufitv required to replace the hay
and other produce so sold, he sliall be paid one-half the cost
of all such purchased manures in excess of the quantity so
required which shall have been applied to green crops or grass
land in the last year of the tenancy, and one-fourth of the cost
of that in the last year but one, such cost not having exceeded
forty shillings per acre. All unprepared bones and lime used
upon any part of the farm during the last four years of the
tenancy shall be paid for, deducting oue-fourth for every year's
use, and on pasture land during the last six years, deducting
one-sixth for every year's use, provided such pasture land has
not been mown in that time, and for every other fertilizer of a
permanent nature, such allowance as the arbitrators may
determine, and also one-half of the cost of all oilcake or
linseed consumed during the last year, and one-fourth of that
in the last year but one, provided such oilcake or linseed has
been given to cattle and sheep, not horses. The said tenant
shall not retain any part of the buildings or land after the
termination of his tenancy (except the use of the barns for
thrashing and winnowing only), but shall be paid the valne of
all growing green crops, and of all hay or straw remaining on
the premises. The arbitrators shall fix the times for thrashing
and delivering such straw to the in-coming tenant. The said
tenant shall be paid such sum as the arbitrators may determine
for all permanent improvements made with the sanction in
writing of the said lanlord or his agent. In case this tenancy
shall determine by bankruptcy or assignment, or deed of
arrangement, or composition with, or for tiie benefit of
creditors, the arbitration clause shall apply, and the time for
nomination of arbitrators shall be one month after such deter-
mination, and the arbitrators or arbitrator shall have full
power to adjudicate on all questions of compensation, having
regard to the time when the tenancy so detej-mined, and the
assignees or trustees shall stand in the place of the tenant.

IHE WELSH LIBERAL AGREEMENT.

Siii, — I can picture to myself the astonishtneiit and in-
dignation of Lord Lisbunie and his agent at the unex-
pected treatment which their liberal agreement has received
at the hands of " plain practical" Luirolii, and also iu
your editorial criticisms. Their ill-advised attempt to
teach the landed proprietors and land agents of England
in general, and of Wales in particular, how to construct a
" liberal" yearly agreement, has exposed them to well-
merited ridicule, and shows that they have yet to learn the
rudiments of agricultural politics. For my part, I look
upon it as an endeavour to foist upon the public as
original, what looks very much like a patched, and slightly
altered form of a Scotch lease, as I can lay my hands on
one constructed more than half a century ago which bears
a very striking resemblance to Lord Lisburne's " new
lease."

1 have always thought that yearly agreements, and even
leases for a term of years, should be as simple and con-
densed as possible, hut it would appear that Lord Lis-
burne and his agent think that in a multitude of words
there is wisdom. The lengthy preamble, in the first in-
stance, has a strong savour of the legal gentleman pervading
it, than which nothing is more obnoxious to the feelings,
or more pernicious to the welfare of the tenant-farmer.
The difl'erent clauses of the lease are also over-burdened

with words, while they lack common sense and discrimina-
tion. The tillage clauses, for instance, ini])ly that " the
practice of good husbandry" forbids the disposal of hay,
straw, aud roots, otherwise than by consumption on the
farm where they arc grown. But this does not neces-
sarily follow, as the most of the hay, straw, and roots are
sold on some of the best farms which have come under my
observation, and the fertility of the land is increasing in-
stead of decreasing. This may be a puzzle to our would-
be instructors. Lord Lisburne and his agent, but 1 will
enlighten them as to the process should they he sceptical.
It seems to me to be the very opposite of liberality that a
tenant may not have the liberty to sell hay, straw, or roots,
to the amount of £50 or £100, if he invest a similar sum
iu the purchase of artificial feediug-stull's, or fertilizers.

But liberality to the tenant culminates in clause 8. I
should like to know how the (irst part of that clause can
be reconciled to the following reservation contained in
the indenture. I will quote the sentence entire :" Except
and reserved out of this demise, unto the said Earl and
his assigns, all such parts of the said farm on which any
timber or underwood is growing, with power at any time
to plant trees, and to enclose or make plantations on any
part of the said farm." And yet in clause 8 the tenant
is bound to preserve " all trees hereafter to be planted,
from all injury by cattle, or sheep, or otherwise." Would
Lord Lisburne throw the burden of keeping up the plan-
tation fences on the shoulders of the farmer? If not,
what does clause 8 mean ? The concluding part of
clause 8, in a cool aud summary manner, makes the
tenant, in eflcct, the landlord's game-keeper. Notwith-
standing all that has been said lately about the policy aud
justice of allowing farmers to destroy rabbits as vermin,
Lord Lisburne takes a i-etrograde step, and deliberately
orders his tenants by not merely asking them, but
binding them to preserve rabbits, to destroy the fruits of
their legitimate toil !

" Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils
Shrunk to this little measure ?"

One more poiut I am desirous of being enlightened
on, aud that is the difference between " the spending
price" and the selling price of hay, straw, and roots. If
Lord Lisburne's agent would kindly state a fixed rule for
the purpose of determining this question, he would lay
the public under an obligation to him.

liord Lisburne's " new lease" — his agent's nostrum for
the cure of bad farming in the Principality — turned out
to public view, and inspected on every side, is a
lamentable exhibition. I trust that it will be con-
temptuously rejected and condemned by the farmers of
Wales. I am, your obedient servant.

Jail. 21. A Welsh Earmer.

ANOTHER MODEL AGREEMENT.

Sir, — Tiijiro Daiiaos rf dona ferrntes, which being
translated bucolically may be rendered, " I fear the land-
lord's agent even when offering an agreement professedly
in the interest of the tenant."

Surely, sir, jNIr. Gardener cannot expect anybody to
accept his agreement as one which will secure to the
tenant all that he is entitled to. or preserve him from the
influence of the landlord. IMany of your agricultural
readers I have no doubt will remark to you upon various
points connected with the farming clauses of this agree-
ment ; hut I should like to call attention particularly to
the fact that, although the tenant is nominally entitled to
compensation, yet the protection is but small, consider-
ing that he can be turned out at the end of any year, at
six month's notice, and that even if fully paid for all im-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZI'NE.

253

proveinents, it will be a heavy loss, and great Jiscoiuagc-
ment to liini to remove — for, say, voting against his
landlord's wish. This agreement appears to be drawn with
view to preserve the landlord's territorial influence.
With respect to the schedule of allowances, and the
clauses in the agreement relating thereto, I conceive that
they are "a mockery, a delusion, and a snare," inasmuch
as everything except the liming and seeds is so hampered
by the agent's certificate, as, in case of offence given by
the tenant, to put him at a tremendous disadvantage. It
is very common with railway and other companies when
entering into contracts for the making of lines, &c., to
insert a clause that everything is to be certified by their
engineer, and the effect of this is well-known : unless the
contractor keeps well in with the engineer, he may be
entirely refused his certificate — and he has practically no
remedy. So it may be in this case. A tenant would be
entirely at the mercy of the agent, who, of course, would
only act as the landlord wished him.

I am, sir, yours obediently,
A Tenant-Farjier and an Attorney.
Manchester, Jan. 32.

ANOTHER AGREEMENT.

Dear Sir, — Circumstances have arisen that make it
necessary there should be a fresh agreement between the
owner of my farm and myself; and though the farm in
question is very near Wales, we think the " Welsh
Agreement" hardly suited to our case. We have, there-
fore, drawn up the following agreement, but before we
sign it I shall be glad to have the opinion of your corre-
spondents upon it.

As I am liable to be turned out at two years' notice, it
has not been thought necessary to put in stringent clauses
as to the mode of farming ; as, of course, the owner can
get rid of me if I farm badly, and is protected after I
have notice to quit. Yours faithfully.

Borderer.

By this agreement, made on the
A.D. 1870, between A. B., of

of ■,

-, and C. D., of

-, A. B. agrees to let, and C. D. agrees to take,

the farm called , now in his occupation, with

the house, buildings, garden, and cottages thereon, and the
shooting of the woods, for two years, from the 25th of
March next, and thence until two years' notice to quit at
Lady Day shall have been given by A. B. to C. D., or six
months' notice shall have been given by C. D. to A. B.,
at the annual rent of £ , payable quarterly, and a fur-
ther sum of £10 for every acre of old pasture converted
into tillage by C. D., and at the same rate for smaller
quantities. And it is further agreed that after notice to
quit, as above mentioned, shall have been given by either
party, all the hay, straw, and green crops, and all the
roots grown on the fai-m, except three acres of potatoes in
a year, shall be consumed thereon ; and not more than
half the tillage sown with white corn crop in a year, and
that no timber or fruit trees shall be cut down or injured
by C. D., and that on quitting he shall have all the out-
going crop of wheat, not exceeding one-fourth of the till-
age, and may take away all buildings hereafter erected by
him, and iron fencing erected by him. A. B. undertakes
to keep in repair the house and buildings ; and C. D.
undertakes to keep in repair all gates, stiles, and fences,
on being found timber in the rough.

A. B. undertakes to pay C. D. when he leaves the farm
for all purchased manures used for green crops during the
last year of his tenancy, and half the cost of all oilcake
consumed on the farm, and the cost of all clover and grass
seeds sown the last year.

THE " WELSH AGREEMENT."

Sir, — Now that so much has been said about the " Welsh
Agreement," I have to crave your permission to say a few
words in reply to some of the criticisms thereon, whicli have
lately appeared in your columns. There is always a suflicioncy
of the currency called " abuse" in circulation, and to any
amount of such 1 offer no objection, but I will take the liberty
of drawing your attention to one or two of your observations,
wliicii savour of " unfairness," and are altogether aside from
your usual impartiality ; m referring to the agreement, you
say it is " a document in writing, of which the agent of the
property proudly (?) says, ' I shall be very glad if I have
suggested anything that may lead to a more liberal construc-
tion of agreements in general.' " Whereas in my letter to the
editor of The- Welshiiuni, from which you quote, I say, " I
shall be very glad, if in venturing on these few observations
ou a very important subject, I have suggested anything that
may lead, &c.," evidently referring to tlie observations in ray
letter, and not the Agreement, as the sentence in the mutilated
form you give it would imply. Again, you say, " He is evi-
dently proud of his handiwork, and openly offers it as an
example to the Principality and the criticism of others
further a-field." Tlie remarks of the editor of The
Welshman will satisfactorily dispose of that imputation, and,
along with my letter to him, show that what alone induced
the consent to publish the agreement was the wish to have
discussed various clauses which had been introduced into it,
containing a guarantee on the part of the landlord to repay to
the tenant, at the termination of his tenancy, the amount of
his outlay (or a proportion of it) on improvements of a per-
manent iiature ; such clauses being quite unusual in yearly
agreements in the Principality, and they will, notwithstanding
all that has been said against the agreement, be found impor-
tant to the tenants for whom they are intended. A " Welsh
Farmer" seems to have been mightily afraid that an attempt
was being made to " teach landlords and land agents." It
may perhaps tend to soothe his rufHed dignity when I assure
hiin such an idea was never entertained. I am none the less
glad, however, to ftud their honour as zealously guarded by a
" Farmer," although I admit he makes a " muddle of the
thing" when a little further on he talks I ' our would-be
instructors."

After all, I doubt, it will generally be founa that agreements
must be constructed to meet the state of matters in the dif-
ferent districts to which they apply. You can hardly ignore
what actually exists, and deal altogether speculatively,
with an "advanced state of things," which, however desirable,
has yet no foundation in fact. An agreement, for instance,
may be well adapted to the advanced state of agriculture in
Lincoln, Stafford, and other counties, but at the same time
totally inapplicable to the greater part of Cardiganshire ; and
it is perfectly easy, perhaps quite natural, for gentlemen living
in these favoured localities to sit down and stigmatise as need-
lessly stringent the clausesof an agreement which deals with an
entirely different state of things from those with which they
are surrounded, and of the actual nature of which, it would
appear from their remarks, they have but a faint conception —
equally easy is it to denounce as " antiquated" and " uncalled
for at the present time" clauses which have to deal, somewhat
minutely it might be, with evils which cannot be reached in
any other way. It is admitted that the " beginner should try
to cultivate his land on some established principle of good hus-
bandry," and it must tie equally desirable that those at a later
stage should do so. What, then, has the agreement in question
to deal with ? With an advanced state of agriculture ?
With scientific farmers ? men of capital and skill,
cultivating their lands in the best manner ? who
manure and clean them thoroughly, and sow them
down in good condition, with clean seeds ? cut their weeds,
and keep their fences and premises in fair order ? with men, in
fact, who have learned to manage their farms " according to
some recognized principle of good husbandry," and who
expend large sums annually in the purchase of supplemental
manures and feeding stuffs ? In the majority of cases, most
distinctly /lo. Doubtless wo have some worthy exceptions,
where the best management prevails ; but, strange as it may
appear, the neighbour on the other side of the hedge to such
will be found twenty years behind ; and all in a great measure
owing to that absurd jealousy of what is considered an " at-

R

234

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

tempt to teacli" (fairly exemplified iu a " Welsh Farmer's"
letter), which makes them stick like barnacles to their old
customs.

Stripped of all fictitious covering, what are the actual facts
with which we are confronted and forced to deal ? Tenants with,
in too many cases, an insufficiency of capital, and a disposition
to remain in sititu quo ; over-cropping a prevailing sin ; green
crops and fallows generally "half-manured" and worse cleaned,
followed by two and not unfrequently three white straw
crops, with the last of which is sown, not well cleaned seeds,
but more generally stuff collected from the barns and hay lofts,
and the condition of the land thus laid to grass may be
imagined, though that and the consequent evils to the tenant
cannot be so easily described ; add to all this a neglect to cut
weeds, repair fences or gates, or clean ditches, and you have a
picture not very flattering, certainly, or indicative of the " ad-
vanced state of the times"— but none the less true. How then
can such evils be dealt with, unless they are adverted to in the
agreement ? and if the clauses should be thought too minute
by those unacquainted with the circumstances which render
them necessary, they cannot, unless proved to be at variance
with the requirements of good cultivation, act as a hindrance to
the efforts of a good tenant, while they may be a check on the
reprehensible habits of a bad one. Now, many of the evils of
the system I have mentioned, prevail en estates where there
have been very few changes with occupation of the land during
the last twenty or thirty years, to unsettle the minds of
tenants, and " nip in the bud" any desire they might
have to improve and keep pace with the " times."
On the contrary, any tenant who kept within the limits of
decency, and paid his rent, might feel comparatively safe
from being disturbed. Some may say the time has gone by
when men who will not manage their farms properly can be
allowed to hold them ; let the land to men of intelligence,
skill, and capital ; give them sufficient security, and hamper
them by no unnecessary restrictions as to cropping, &c. Well,
■when such is done, by aU means let it be so ; but, on the other
hand, few wiU question the humanity, if not the policy, of
giving the present occupiers a chance of gradually making up
lost ground, even though it should necessitate the retention in
the agreement of a few clauses which might otherwise be con-
sidered " antiquated."

As to the clause providing for the consumption on the pre-
mises of aU hay, stravf, and roots grown on the farm, if it is
seen that a tenant is managing his farm liberally, the
permission to sell is never withheld, should a fair re-
turn in some shape be made to the farm ; but it is quite
imperative to have this clause to prevent an " unprincipled"
tenant who contemplates leaving, or gets " notice "
frop impoverishing the farm ; and this remark applies equally
to the clause limiting the extent of grass lands to be cut or
mown, when, as is sometimes the case, an outgoing tenant
will sell off as much of his stock as he can, and cut the grass
lands with a view to mulct the incoming tenant.

You seem to object to a tenant being required to have the
sanction of his landlord before executing any drainage, fencing,
or other works of permanent improvement, the cost, whereof,

or a proportion, the landlord becomes liable to repay the tenant
in the event of quitting. This, I think, no reasonable tenant
will object to. It cannot be expected that a landlord will put
himself without restriction into the hands of his tenant, who
may, by a very injudicious expenditure on works of that de-
scription (which may or may not be actually requisite) , in-
volve him to a very serious extent. If a landlord is to be liable
to pay, he ought certainly to be a consenting party to the ex-
pense. A landlord requires the tenant's consent before draining
a field for him, and charging him 5 per cent, on the outlay.
Why should the rule not work both ways ? As to Liming and
the general management. of the farm, there is no provision for
the landlord's consent being first required, or, indeed, required
at all. Mr. May cannot see why a landlord reserves the right
to "plant any part of the farm." When I say that this refers
generally to high exposed land where planting would in all
cases be a " blessing," and when the poorest and most exposed
parts are selected and compensation given, the clause will not
appear very formidable ; whUe " painting " is in all cases first
done by the proprietor ; the cost of the agreement is restricted
to the price of the stamp, in most cases only a few shillings.
To another of Mr. May's objections of " cropping according to
rule," 1 win merely say that if the course of cropping to
which his agreement has reference was suited to the locality,
there could be no earthly objection on the landlord's part to
adopt his tillage clause ; but if the tenant under a yearly agree-
ment with such a clause did not adhere pretty closely to
" rule," he must make up his mind to "pay the piper" rather
sharply in quitting. Allowances for artificial manures, feeding
stuffs, &c., when rendered necessary by the tenant's manage-
ment, can be introduced into an agreement without any stretch
of liberality on the landlord's part.

One word to a " Welsh Farmer." He is puzzled vrith Clause
8, yet it is very simple : " the landlord puts up and keeps in
repair aU plantation fences ;" yet the tenant is bound to protect
trees, &e., from aU damage, with his cognizance, either by the
trespass of stock, or the cutting or destroying by servants
or others. The " spending" price of any article of fodder is
just the " consuming" price, or the value which a farmer
considers a quantity of hay, straw, or roots to be to him when
used on his farm, and which can be easily arrived at by any
practical arbitrator.

Altliough game, including rabbits, are " reserved," it is not
by any means intended that tenants should suffer by their
depredations ; and, where found advisable or necessary, per-
mission to destroy will be given by special agreement. The
permission to farmers to kill rabbits on their farms will do
them little good, unless they are well kept down in the coverts.

Apologizing for the length of my remarks, I have the
honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Wenallt House, Feb. 10. RoBT. Gakdiner.

[We certainly understood that Mr. Gardiner's letter to The
Welshman was intended as a kind of running commentary on
the agreement, as published in the same number ; but we are
glad now to gather that it is not intended to very minutely
observe or enforce some of the very curious clauses of that
very carious documeEt. — Ed. M.L.E.]

THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

A meeting of the council of the Central Cliamher of Agri-
culture was held on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Salisbury Hotel,
Colonel Tomline, M.P., in the chair.

A recommendation from the auditors that a Finance Com-
mittee should be appointed was acted on, and Mr. Smythies,
Mr. Willson, and Mr. Neild were chosen to form such com-
mittee.

The twenty-six members of the council were appointed the
Business Committee, with power to add to their number.

Sir Massey Lopes, as chairman of the Local Taxation
Committee, presented its report. It said

The Local Taxation Committee report that at their last

meeting, held December 7th, they appointed Sir Massey

Lopes, Bart., M.P., Mr. Albert Pell, M.P., Mr. Arthur

t}^^' /°^, ■'^'■- '^' ^- Masfen, adjudicators of the prize

01 «50 lor the best essay " On the Injustice, Inequalities,

and Anomalies of the present Poor Rate Assessment, and
of the Incidence of other Local Burdens of England and
Wales." The essays, sixteen in number, having been placed
iu their hands, these gentlemen unanimously awarded the
prize to the essay bearing the following motto : " This is
not the cause of faction, or of party, or of any individual,
but the common interest of every man in Britain" [Junius],
which proved to have been written by Mr. C. F. Gardner,
B.A., of 10, St. Michael's Terrace, Stoke Damerel, Devon-
port. The adjudicators have ventured to express their
satisfaction with the very great merit and ability displayed
in several of the remaining essays. The committee are
making arrangements for the immediate publication of the
successful essay. The essay will be published at the lowest
possible wholesale price by Messrs. Bentley, of Fleet-
street, price 15s. per hundred. It is proposed to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

235

present a copy to every member of the Legislature.
The committee recommend that the provincial Chambers of
Agriculture should circulate copies in every parish within their
respective counties. All those who feel interested in this most
important question could greatly aid the efforts of the com-
mittee by purchasing and distributing copies of the essay
amongst the ratepayers in their immediate neighbourhood.
The committee recommend that Mr. H. Masfen, Mr. Arthur
Startin, and Captain Craigie be added to the executive com-
mittee. They also strongly urge that the Chambers of Agri-
culture which have not already appointed any gentleman to
represent them on the Local Taxation Committee should do
so at the earliest opportunity. The committee have prepared
a form of petition, whiiih they propose to forward to every
provincial Chamber of Agriculture, trusting that the members
of those chambers will use their utmost exertions to obtain as
great a number of signatures as possible. They further re-
commend that the petitions should be forwarded by each
chamber to its local members of Parliament for presentation.
The following are the clauses of the petition :

That the direct tax of over eleven millions per annum under
the name of "poor-rate" bears exclusively and unjust on
income arising from real ijroperty.
That the exemption from the poor-rate assessment of in-
come arising from personal property is not only unjust,
but also impolitic, and prejudicial to the public in-
terest, and therefore requires the serious consideration of
Parliament.
That the poor-rate and its mode of assessment, by costly
and freciuently incorrect valuations, discourages invest-
ments of capital in improvements, and thereby impedes
industry and enterprise.
That the tax has an injurious bearing on house property
in every city, town, and village, presses heavily on in-
vesting in buildings, especially on investments in unproved
dwellings for the working-classes, and Umits the de-
mand for the labour of skiUed and unskilled artisans
employed in the planning, ornamenting, and building of
houses.
That indirectly this tax increases pauperism, lessens the
employment of labour in the production of food, and
thus inflicts a two-fold injury on the poor, who are especi-
ally interested in the increase of food and the increase of
employment.
That investments of capital in improvements, tending to in-
crease of food, to increase of dwellings for the poor, to in-
crease of employment in skUled and unskilled laboiu',
should not be discom-aged by a special tax (averaging over
11 per cent.) on income arising from such investments.
That the general tendency of recent legislation having placed
the management of poor and county rates under boards
and auditors, controlled by a central power, has removed
the objection that the maintenance of the poor and high-
ways is a local duty, and therefore should be paid by a
local tax.
Tliat the majority of county and borough voters are rate-
payers, but not generally large money orders, and are
therefore deeply intererested in the removal of the present
exemption from poor-rate of income arising from money
however invested or employed.
That the re-adjustment of local taxation is a question en-
tirely removed from the domain of party politics, and is
strenuously advocated by persons of any shade of political
opinion.
The Committee will, it was added, be prepared at their next
monthly meeting in March (having then been in existence
twelve months) to present a statement of their accounts ; but
as they will have exhausted their funds at their disposal by
the payment of the prize essay, with tlie publication and dis-
tribution of the prize essay, they feel that a large increase of
their funds is absolutely necessary for carrying on their work
with vigour and success.
A donation of £50 was voted on account of the prize essay.
Some new members having been elected.
The CuAiRMAN said there seemed to be great difference of
opinion as to whether farmers' horses employed in drawing a
load of shingle, or any other material for the repair of roads,
were or were not chargeable with licence duty. The decision
rested with the surveyors of taxes, who, as they all knew, were
almost certain to decide against the farmers; and at the
meeting of the Business Committee on the previous
evening it was proposed that eitlier a deputation should wait
upon tlie Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject, or a
question should be put to him in the House of Commons. He
believed that in some cases where a farmer had fifteen or
twenty horses, the whole were charged with duty unless it were

shown that one of thera was specially used in drawing materials
for repairing the roads. It was clear that that could not have
been intended by the Legislature,

The Chairman was requested to put a question on the sub*
ject in the House of Commons.

The Chairman said : The next thing on the agenda was
a proposal that a deputation should be sent to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, to ask him whether free trade was to
be applied to the Englishman as regarded the malt-tax P

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said : He would move that a depu-
tation wait upon the Right Hon. gentleman, if possible, directly
after the Council meeting in March, adding, that unless it
went before the budget was proposed, there could be little
chance of success.

Sir G. Jenkinson, M.P:, seconded the motion.

Mr. HoDSOLL thought, that unless there were a large sur.
plus this year, there was but small hope of their being more
fortunate than they were on previous occasions.

Mr. Neild trusted that there would be no faint-hearted-
ness in the matter. The time had come when agricul-
ture must be unshackled, and set free at liome, and
the malt-tax, like many other imposts, showed the injustice
inflicted on farmers in their race with the rest of the agricul-
tural world. Mr. Cobden once said, that if the county
members were united in urging the necessity of the abolitioa
of the malt-duty it would soon be abolished.

It was then resolved, that a deputation be organised at the
meeting in March, to wait upon the Minister.

The meeting next proceeded to consider the subject spe-
cially appointed for discussion, viz., " The best mode of pro-
vidmg for the future maintenance of turnpike trusts and high-
ways."

Mr. Jabez Turner (Peterborough Chamber) introduced
the following resolutions: 1. "That as hardship and injustice
have been inflicted upon many parishes by the partial abolition of
turnpike trusts, and as the policy of continuing some trusts by
annual legislation is temporising and unsatisfactory, this coun-
cil is of opinion that all turnpike trusts should be abolished
simultaneously, and that the maintenance of all public roads
should be settled on a permanent and equitable system."
2. " That, as the interests of the whole community have been,
promoted by the existence of the improved means of trafifio
and intercommunication, and as much of the expenditure in
the formation of turnpike roads was incurred to facilitate the
mail service, to provide for the transport of troops and military
stores, and for other imperial purposes, it would be unjust to
charge the remaining debts upon rateable property only ; and
that these debts ought to be hquidated by the national exche-
quer." 3. " That, as it would be unjust to transfer the burden
of future maintenance of the turnpike or trunk roads of the
kingdom from the present users of these roads to the owners
and occupiers of rateable property, this council considers indis-
pensable either a revision of the rating system, so as to bring
under contribution tlie general wealth of the districts
through which the roads pass, or the alternative of part pay-
ment of the road expenditure out of the imperial revenue."
After remarking that these resolutions were abnost identical
with some which had been passed by this Chilmber, he cited a
resolution of the Norman- Cross Highway Board in his own
district, passed in reply to a circular from the Secretary of
State, asking for the opinion of such bodies, to the effect that
the new system had given great dissatisfaction to the rate-
payers generally on account of the additional cost, which bad
not been counterbalanced by the advantages ; the board also,
recommending a return to the system established by the Act
of 1835. He added that lie would then confine himself to
moving the first of his three resolutions.

Mr. Caldecott (Rugby) seconded the resolution.
Colonel Wilson (Suffolk) said a board in the western di-
vision of his county had after six and a-half years' trial sent
a reply to the Government circular, expressing its unanimous
approval of the Highway Act. When that Act was first in-
troduced the ratepayers in that district were by no means
satisfied, fearing that it would lead to great additional expen-
diture, but it was now generally approved. He believed that
nearly all turnpike trusts would come to a natural death unless
they were kept alive by the Turnpike Continuance Act ; and
if he were right in assuming that the money was lent for so
many years with the expectation that it would be repaid at the
end of that time, the people who lent it had no more claim

R 2

236

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

upon auy oue in case of failure than a person would have
upon tlie Stock Exchange if he made what turned out to he
a bad investment. As regarded the maintenance of roads iu
future, it was suggested that the cost should be borne partly
by the Government. They all knew that the incidence of
taxation was now unjust ; but he would caution the Chamber
against anything which would increase the present array of
Government inspectors. There were inspectors already
for almost everything, except highways, and let them
keep clear of them if possible in that case. In his opinion
the best arrangement would be for each parish to maintain its
own roads.

Mr. Jancey (Herefordshire) doubted whether an increase
of area would conduce to good management ; but uutil there
was a readjustment of local taxation they had a right to ask
the Government and the public to pay something towards the
maintenance of roads.

Mr. Genge Andrews hoped the Council would never assent
to the principle that it would be fair and just to repudiate
turnpike debts. No doubt the lenders of the money thought
at the time that it would be as secure as money in the Funds,
and he deprecated that repudiation which had disgraced other
countries.

Col. Wilson said he should be the last person to suggest
repudiation, but he wished to know what was the legal status
of the holders of the debts.

Sir G. Jenkinson, M.P., said he had drawn up an amend
ment, which he believed embraced the pith of all the resolu-
tions submitted to the meeting. His view iu proposing it
was not to weaken any recommendation of the Couucil, but
rather to induce it to look the facts in the face, and not to ask
for anything which was sure not to be granted, and the asking
for which would tend to stamp them as not being men of busi-
ness. Any attempt to reimpose turnpikes where they had been
abolished must be perfectly futile ; they might as well attempt
to reimpose protection. The amendment which he had to
propose was as follows :

" That in the opinion of this Central Chamber of Agricul-
ture the question of the future maintenance of turnpike roads
and highways is mixed up with, and dependent upon the
larger question of the re-adjustment of local taxation. But
subject to this proviso : This Chamber considers that tlie in-
justice and hardship inflicted on various parishes by the
system now in force of the partial abolition of trusts, and by
the expense of the maintenance of the turnpike-roads of the
trusts so abolished, being borne by tlie parishes only through
which such turnpike-roads pass should be put an end to with-
out delay. To effect this it is expedient that the Ijegislature
should enact : 1, That the abolition of all remaining trusts
should be immediate and simultaneous. 2, That the High-
way Act should be made general and compulsory. 3, That
the area of liability for the expenses of maintaing turnpike-
roads and highways should be spread over all the parislies in-
cluded within each higliway district as a common charge,
according to the rateable value of each parish."
As regarded his proposal, that the llighway Act should bo
made general and compulsory, he believed that the evils which
were complained of arose chiefly from the permissive character
of the Act, and that what he proposed pointed to the hard-
ships of the existing system, and would supply a remedy.

Mr. Gexoe Andrews had great pleasure in seconding the
amendment, because in providing for the maintenance of roads
it expanded the area of rating, lie thouglit that unless they
could insure that the area of rating should be extended to per-
sonal as well as real property they would make a great mistake
if they consented to the abolition of toUs.

Mr. Westover (Banbury) objected to the Highway Act
being made compulsory.

Mr. 11. N. Greville, M.P., believed tliere was great difl'er-
ence of opinion with regard to the working of the Higliway
Act. He lived in the middle of a county which was one of
the first to adopt it, and there the roads were now generally
better and almost invariably more expensive.

Mr. Knatciibull-IIugessen, M.P., must say that,
occupying as he did a very subordinate position in the Govern-
ment, it must not be supposed that he was able greatly to in-
fluence or affect its policy. He appeared there, not as a
representative of the Government, but rather as one who,
being a landowner and a land occupier to a considerable extent
himself, was desirous of obtaining rather than giving informa-

tion on a subject wliich was interesting to them all. He
would frankly state that one of the reasons why he was
present was, that a mistake had crept into the newspapers
wliich he was anxious to correct — namely, that that question
was to be brought before the House of Commons during the
present session. A promise was, indeed, given to that
elTect ; but unfortunately the present Government had, like
previous ones, promised to do more than could he accom-
plished; and although lie had urged strongly upon the Govern-
ment the importance of that question, he found that it was
necessary to postpone a measure which he had hoped to pro-
pose at once. There was to be an announcement in the
Queen's Speech that day — he hoped he should not be charged
with betraying secrets because he referred to it — which bore
upon the solution of that and other questions affecting the
agricultural community. It would he announced that day that
the question of rating was to be considered, and a measure
proposed relating thereto ; and he need not remind those who
had studied the matter so long, so anxiously, and so zealously,
as many gentlemen present had done, that the question of
rating was, like one or two other questions, inseparably mixed
up with that before the meeting. Now, upon the question
under discussion he wished to speak with the utmost frankness.
He hoped it would he clearly understood that in anything he
might say as to the best solution, he was expressing only his
individual opinion, and that if the result should not precisely
correspond with what he sketched out, neither he nor
his colleagues would be afterwards accused of having
given a "pledge that was not borne out by the event.
The first resolution before the meeting declared " that all
turnpike trusts should be abolished simultaneously." He
must say that he was a little staggered at that proposition.
No doubt the simultaneous abilation of all turnpike trusts
would in some respects be advantageous ; but, con-
sidering the different positions of those trusts — that
some were heavily in debt and others almost out
of debt ; that some were steadily paying, and others had no
hope of paying — it was evident that any measure whicli
simultaneously abolished all trusts, or dealt with all on the
same footing, would inflict even greater hardships than it
would remove. As regarded what had been said in that
discussion about the bondholders, no doubt the speaker
was logically right. Logically, it was evident that if a person
put his money on a terminable security he liad no right to expect
that when the time arrived for payment of the principal he
would be placed in so favourable a position as if he were
entitled to a renewal of the term. That principle was
part of the common law of the land. As a simple, dry
matter of fact the bondholder in the case in question had no
legal claim wliatevcr. What constituted the peculiarity of the
case was that Parliament had from time to time renewed the
Acts, and that such renewal for periods of 10, 20, or 30 years,
had created a species of confidence that could not otherwise
have existed. It would, therefore, lie thought, be rather hard
to deal with the parties concerned as though no expectations
of renewal had been excited. Some persons might contend
that the deficiency in this case should be met out of imperial
resources. He did not think any Government or Chancellor
of the Exche(|uer could propose sucli a measure with any hope
of success. In the first place, it might be said, and said truly,
tliat considerable hardship would thus be inflicted on that large
body of bondliolders who liad, from one cause or another,
already consented to receive a much smaller amouut than they
were entitled to — that it would be very hard upon them for
Government to step in and pay the debts of others after they
had lost so much. Take his own case. He had been a bond-
holder. In one case he had regularly received the interest,
and a portion of the principal had been paid off; in another
he had been obliged to abandon his claim, and had
got nothing ; and in another, again, he received thirty
per cent, in full satisfaction of the debt, and was glad
to get it. He should have thought it rather hard if,
for tlie benefit of other persons who lield no better security,
his own Parliament had stepped in and settled tlie debts
— debts tliat remained. Therefore he thought tliat in any
settlement which might be proposed relating to that matter
the allocation of the debts would he found exceedingly difficult.
Without pledging himself as regarded any future action, he
wished to show how exceedingly difficult it would be to work
out a question of that kind, especially liow difficult it would

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

237

be to apply imperial taiatiou iu the settlement of it. If the
experience of those who had dealt with such subjects militated
against the idea that any Government would propose what he
had mentioned, surely it would be wise for them to dismiss
such an idea from their minds, and not clog the discussion, as
he perceived some chambers had done, with a resolution de-
claring it to be necessary that the Government should deal
with this matter by means of imperial taxation. Now,
with regard to turnpike trusts, there had been one mis-
take made that morning, which should, he thought, be cor-
rected. A gentleman remarked that all the trusts were kept
on by the Continuance Bills. Tliat was by no means the case.
About half the turnpike trusts had already been removed, and
others were being removed from time to time, as circumstances
seemed to require. He quite admitted that hardships were
being inflicted. A great many of the remaining trusts
were going, however, year from to year, tlieir term not
having expired, and it was diflicult to deal with some of them,
except by putting a financial pressure upon them, which would
be hardly fair- All this showed how complicated the subject
was, and that it would not be so easy to abolish all turnpike
trusts simultaneously, as some gentlemem apjjcared to sup-
pose. He now came to tlie highways. Many gentlemen pre-
sent might be aware that he had for years dealt with that sub-
ject as an independent member of Parliament, and had intro-
duced two bills relating to it. He did not now tie himself, as it
were to those bills; but he thought he might congratulate him-
self that they had awakened the country to a sense of the im-
portance of the question. The country had now become alive
to the fact that the question must be settled, and it was for
them to bring their influence to bear upon it in such a wise
and discreet manner that it would be settled satisfactorily
to the agricultural community. His object had been
to labour until he had obtained a uniform system of road
management throughout the kingdom. It was absurd
to have a number of miles of road over which there
rode two surveyors amenable to different authorities, and two
systems running side by side which inflicted a considerable bur-
den on the country. Tlien came this difficulty, in the
solution of which, however, would be found the ultimate solu-
tion of the whole question, namely, that turnpike roads did not
stand iu relation to the general traffic of the country as they
used to do, that was to say, as being the main arteries of traffic,
but that, partly from the interruption of railways and partly from
other causes, turnpike roads and highways had become so inter-
mixed that many highways were more used than turnpikes ;
whilst with regard to turnpikes there were many that were
now no more than an inferioi description of highways. The
resolution justly said that these roads were made for the
interest of the whole community. But a distinction must,
nevertheless, be drawn between those roads which were great
arteries and those which were not, because there were through-
out England a vast number of ^turnpikes which might become
highways to-morrow, and it was quite possible and probable
that there were some turnpikes, the maintenance of which
ought not to be home by the parish. What was wanted, then,
was to decide the difference between the two, and some power
to authorise, if necessary, a different payment for the support
of the one from that which was made for the support of
the other. The best solution was this : that as a general
rule all highway districts should support all the roads within
those districts, and that all the charges of a highway district,
such district being well considered and defined, should be borne
by a common and not a parochial fund. Then there should
be a power to take out of the category of roads to be main-
tained by the district such roads as from circumstances
ought fairly to be chargeable upon a wider area. By
this he meant roads which were the main roads of the county —
say, roads from one town to another, which it was evident
the county ratepayers should be called upon to maintain ; and
another class of roads which lay near mineral dis-
tricts, the heavy traffic of which cut up and made
the roads very expensive, whilst the owners of the
mines contributed a very small proportion towards their re-
pair, although they were the means of doing the greater part
of the mischief. His idea was, moreover, that the person
who should determine what roads were to be taken out of the
category of roads to be supported by the district should not
be a stranger or Government inspector, but a person in some
sort connected with the county (Hear, hear). This naturally

brought him to the question of county financial boards, and
he believed that the Bill he introduced last session on this
subject contained the germs of the settlement of that ques-
tion ; and that if they had, in those who managed the finances
of the county, a board which commanded the confidence of
the ratepayers, not composed of one class alone, but partly of
rx-officio members and partly of practical men of all classes
in the community, they would have formed a board as a
superior referee, who would be able to decide satisfactorily
what roads in the county ought to be thrown on the district
and what on the larger area. They might also vest a con-
trolling power in the Secretary of State to determine whether
the roads named by the board should be supported out of the
county rate ; whether they were so national in their character
as to constitute a fair demand upon the national purse for some
portion of their maintenance ; or whether there might not be
some exceptional instances where, the roads being situated iu
a mineral country, it would not be necessary to keep up the
old turnpikes and secure their maintenance by the persons who
used them. But the broad principle was to divide the roads
in some such way as he had indicated, taking those which
were not really other than highways and supporting them by
the districts; and taking the others which were proved to be
out of that category and charging them upon a wider
area. With regard to highway districts, that was a
questionupon which he was able to speak with some authority.
The circular issued last autumn which had been referred to the
himself had drawn up and was responsible for, although it had
the sanction of the Home Secretary. It had been sent
to the clerks of all highway boards, and the an-
swers he had received to its inquiries enabled him
to form an opinion as to the working of the Highway Act.
Speaking of that Act, he had always entertained the opinion
that permissive legislation was not likely to be satisfactory ;
that it was the duty of the Legislature, as the representatives oi
the people, to ascertain and decide what subjects required to
be legislated upon, what the character of the legislation should
be ; -and when the two Houses of Parliament had passed a law,
and it had received the Queen's assent, it should be obeyed by
the community. And his experience of the Highway Act had
only confirmed his opinion, that permissive legislation was
open to the gravest objections. Wlien he sent out the circular
referred to, he certainly expected to find that a preponderance
of complaints would have come from the highway boards ; but
it turned out to be no such thing, for out of the 340 liighway
boards constituted, 17S, or more than one-half of the whole,
returned answers to the eflPect that the Act had worked satis-
factorily to the ratepayers ; that the roads were improved ; that
in some places there had been a diminution in the charge ; and
where it had increased, that increase had been far more than
counterbalanced by the advantages of having good roads. With
respect to the minority, about one-third of them had not re-
turned any answers to the circular. Some of the remainder
had replied to the effect that their boards had not been formed
long enough to enable them to give an opinion ; whilst only
eighty had returned unfavourable answers. Out of that eighty,
however, a very large proportion, mure than one-half, had con-
siderably qualified their answers. Some admitted that the
roads were greatly improved, though they thought the expense
too heavy ; but they hoped that it was in course of diminution.
Others, again, found fault with the surveyor of the district ;
but, after all, a good deal of the disapproval expressed might
be traced fo file fact that the Highway Act was a permissive
not a compulsory measure. These figures proved, he thought,
that the Act could be worked well, that it was a good and use-
ful "Let, and that, however unpopular it might be in certain
districts, the matter would nejer be set right until, having
rendered it more palatable +o the minority who dissented from
it, it was made compulsory over the whole country. The
answers of many of the highway boards had contained
very valuable information, and he should be glad if any gen-
tlemen connected with those boards would convey to them his
thanks and those of the deputation with which he was con-
nected. The resolutions suggested many other observations,
but he had given the Chamber his general ideas on the subject,
and he could assure them that upon all the points on which
he had touched it would bo the desire of the Government to
consult the wishes of the agricultural community, which must
obviously be the class who knew more about the practical
working of the matter than any one else (Hear, hear). He

238

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

could not tlieu go into the question of rating, or pronounce
au opinion respecting it in liis present position. In fact, he
spoke Willi his hands tied. StLU he would deal with them with
the utmost frankness ; and if they would keep out of view
those plans and projects which were not likely to he taken up
hy the Government, and confined themselves to that which
was practical and sensible, he had no doubt a solution might
he obtained which would be generally satisfactory. As to the
debt, it liad been reduced to a little over £3,000,000 at the
close of the year 1868, and there was no doubt it was still
slowly being further reduced. A great deal of it, however, it
was liopeless to expect to reduce ; but tliat question of the
debt must be fairly tackled before they could deal with the
whole question. If hy getting rid of all turnpike roads they
could reduce the expense to the ratepayers, although appa-
rently increased by the charge for the reduced debt and repairs,
they would do great good. That, however, would depend very
much upon the identity of toUpayers and ratepayers, and it
had been proved to demonstration before the Committees of
the House of Commons that in many instances toUpayers and
ratepayers were much the same people. In conclusion, the
right hon. gentleman reiterated his desire and that of the
Government to settle the question in a manner as satisfactory
as possible to the farmers ; for if satisfactory to them it must
he so to the Government.

Mr. CoRK.vjN'CE, M.P., was sure he was only expressing the
feelings of all present when he said they were deeply indebted
to the right hon. gentleman for his frank and unreserved expo-
sition of his views on that subject.

Sir George Jenkinson, M.P., must confess that the argu-
ments of the right hon. gentleman did not appear to him to
support all his conclusions. He had spoken of the debts as
the great obstacle to a settlement of the question, but he (Sir
G. Jenkinson) did not see what those debts had to do with the
question of the future maintainance of roads. The right
hon. gentleman said they should aim at establishing
a uniform system. He accepted his proposition. But what
was the uniform system under their notice ? It was that of
the highway districts, which he heUeved stood condemned ("No,
no," and " Yes"). The riglit hon. gentleman had obtained
from the Boards satisfactory testimony to their own efficiency,
hut it appeared Irom the returns that the expense, instead
of having diminished as wass expected, had increased ;
while in 18 counties from which he had seen the returns,
there was only one — Northumberland — in which the cost of
maintenance was not larger in the third year than in the
second.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said that after the full, cordial, and
he must say most satisfactory explanation of the right hon.
gentleman, he would appeal to Sir George Jenkinson to with-
draw his amendment, in order that the Council might pass a
resolution to the etfect that, until they had seen the Govern-
ment Bill with regard to rating, the subject had better be
postponed.

Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., thought they would he unani-
mous in thanking Mr. KnatchbuU-Hugessen for attending the
meeting, and so ably explaining his views. He should
also have risen at once to move an amendment like
that just suggested, but that he thought it might be considered
desirable that the deputed members of Chambers should have
an opportunity of representing their opinions on the question.
He was very much gratified by the announcement the Govern-
ment were going to deal with the subject of local taxation,
and he agreed with tlie right hon. gentleman that the question
before the meeting was part and parcel of that much larger
question. He would now move, " It is the opinion
of this Chamber the present system of turnpike tolls,
it would be inexpedient and impolitic at present to adopt or
recommend in lieu tliereof any proposal which may in any
degree tend to increase the expenses of our so-called local
burdens, until the Government have announced their promised
scheme for dealing more comprehensively with the whole in-
cidence of this important subject."

Sir G. Jenkinson, M.P., said, that in anticipation of what
had just been said, he liad been prepared to withdraw his
amendment, and to substitute for it the following : " That
after the statement made by Mr. KnatchbuU-Hugessen, tliis
Chamber considers it expedient to wait for the re-adjustment
of local taxation before passing any measure having refer-
ence to the future maintenance of turnpike roads and high-

ways." He thought that would exactly meet the view ex-
pressed by Mr. Read.

The Hon. Baronet then withdrew his amendment, and that
of Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., which took its place, was seconded
hy Mr. Neild.

Mr. Jabez Turner said, as the proposer of the original
resolutions, he thought he should best promote the object which
he had in view by withdrawing them.

The original resolutions were accordingly withdrawn.

Mr. Genge Andrews contended that as aU persons were
benefited by good road communications, the whole community
ought to contribute towards their maintenance.

Mr. WiiiTAKiR (Worcestershire) spoke of the dissatisfac-
tion with the working of the Highway Act in that county.

Mr. Smyth (Hertfordshire) said the effect of the Act in his
district had been to double the rate and create great animosity.
Among the ex-officio members of the highway board were the
landlord, the brewer, the banker, and even tlie coal merchant.
If the question of local taxation were satisfactorily settled,
aU the difficulties with regard to roads would vanish.

Mr. G. F. MuNTZ (Birmingham) supported the amendment.

The amendment of Sir M. Lopes was then passed unani-
mously.

Sir M. Lopes observed that he thought it would be desirable
to discuss the question again after they had learnt what was
the Government measure with regard to local taxation.

Mr. Genge Andrews said though he was glad to hear the
right hon. gentleman's announcement, he could not join in
the clapping of hands which foUowed it. He should like to
see what the Government measure was before he clapped his
hands.

Mr. Knatciibull-Hugessen said in order that there might
be no mistake, he wished to repeat that he spoke as a private
individual and not as a member of the Government. What
he said was that he had heard that the question of rating was
about to be dealt with by the Government and that a measure
was prepared, but that, not being a Cabinet minister, he had
not seen the detaUs, and therefore gentlemen must not be
disappointed if it feU short of what they hoped for.

The following resolution was proposed by the business
committee : " That agricultural returns, as at present col-
lected, are unreliable and unsatisfactory ; that it is desirable for
such returns to be made once in ten years ; and that they
should then be compulsory."

Mr. Charlton (North of England Chamber) read a reso-
lution of that Chamber, declaring that agricultural statistics
would be very valuable for agricultural and national purposes,
provided they were fair and reliable ; but that as at present
collected they were useless, and were employed for individual
injury.

Mr. D. Long said he was inclined to move as an amend-
ment " That the only advantage of the coUection of agricul-
tural statistics would he to keep down the price of agricultural
produce by importations from abroad when there is a deficiency
at home, and such collection consequently would be not only
most inquisitorial, but unjust and prejudicial to the interesits
of agriculturists." Statistics collected every ten years would
not be open to the objection thus described, because farmers
would not be continually interfered with, and they might be of
advantage without the drawback of their being used for im-
proper purposes.

Mr. Neild thought the day was come when England must
keep pace with other countries, and have true and regular ac-
counts of its agricultural products. It was not agricultural
statistics, but the mismanagement of them that had led the
merchants of this country to import double the quantity of
corn this year that they should have done. As to the proposal
to collect statistics every ten years, that was simply a polite
way of burking the whole question. He had intended
to propose the substitution of ten for three years ;
but in deference to Mr. Read, whom he was always happy to
follow, he would propose that tlie period should be five years.

Capt. Craigie seconded the amendment.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said it appeared to him utterly
senseless to suppose that the simple publication of the fact
that a few thousand acres more or less were under cultivation,
would affect importations to any extent, or regulate the trans-
actions of their merchants. It was the yield, and not the
number of acres sown, that showed what was grown. He did

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

239

not think agricultural statistics did either the harm or the
good that many persons iu that Chamber seemed to think.

Mr. A. Pell, M.P., observed that the returns which many
persons had been so anxious to obtain were not placed in the
hands of the merchants until their orders had been given, and
the corn svas on its way to this country. Imperfect and use-
less as they were, however, they cost £16,000 a-year, and
therefore, even in the economical point of view, a quinquen-
nial, and still more a decennial, collection would involve a
great saving of the public money. Wliat was wanted was in-
formation which would show whether or not England was
changing the character of its cultivation ; whether it were
becoming more of a grass-growing or a corn-growing country,
and whether as regarded the production of meal it was able
to rely upon its internal, and was less dependent on foreign
resources. Such statistics the nation might fairly demand at
their hands.

Mr. Webb thought five years preferable to ten.

Mr. Jabez Turner remarked that the nselesness of the
present system was evident, from the fact that 14,000,000
quarters of wheat were imported last year when only 8,000,000
were required.

Mr. E,. Woodward ridiculed the idea that statistics, col-
lected only once in ten years, could be of any use, adding that
no one could expect to see them more than five or sis times in
his life.'

Mr. Smytiiies thought the real ground of complaint was

the permissive character of the present system, and remarked
that if statistics were collected only every 10 years, iarmers
would have forgotten what they had learnt (laughter).

On the question being put, the amendment substituting
" 5" for " 10" years was rejected, and the latter figure was
then adopted by a large majority.

Mr. Smythies proposed another amendment to the effect
that the collection be annual and compulsory.

Mr. YoUJMGJLVN seconded the amendment.

Mr. NiELD expressed a wish to have it declared, that
agricultural returns as at present collected, are unreliable and
unsatisfactory, and that they should be made annual and
compulsory.

The CnAiRMiN said he desired to understand what Was
the question to be submitted. Was it meant to declare that
agricultural returns, as at present collected, are unreliable
and unsatisfactory ; and that, therefore, they should be made
compulsory ?

After some conversation, the amendment was put from the
chair in the following form : " That agricultural returns be
annual and compulsory P" Seven hands were held up for this
amendment, and 11 against it. The original resolution was
then put, and, to the no httle surprise of many persons in the
meeting, negatived by a majority of one !

A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman, and the meet-
ing then separated.

THE PROGRESS OF THE SESSION.

Speaking last week to the opening business of the Agri-
cultural Session, we said " the more important of these
nieetings would seem to have been already held, as nothing
very particular would promise to come of the discussion
at the Farmers' Club, and as nothing very particular does
ever come of the deliberations of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture." It must be admitted, however, that any
such anticipations have not been altogether realized. The
question of breaking up grass land had so often already
been under the consideration of the Farmers' Club, that
it was doubtful whether the same subject would be found
to command much further attention. The result was
certainly something of an agreeable surprise. Those who
have the opportunity of referring to the occasions on
which this matter had previously been discussed by the Club
will find that it was never so well handled. Mr. Cadle's
hurried delivery was rather against him, and no doubt his
address will tell better to the eye than it did to the ear ;
for it is a carefully prepared, well-balanced, and emi-
nently practical paper, while the debate which followed
was one of the best, iu the way of close and sound cri-
ticism, that has happened here for some time. It em-
braced in a very felicitous degree all the advantages of a
comparison, as each succeeding speaker might be said to
represent a certain district or system of his own ; and we
would only repeat that the report which we give in full
may be -studied with equal benefit by those who were
absent as by those who " assisted" at the proceedings.
According to our contemporary The Gardener's Chroni-
cle, " Mr. Cadle read a capital paper, which was lis-
tened to throughout with the greatest attention by a
large agricultural audience, aud an interesting discussion
ensued." We might, perhaps, be inclined to put more
value, on the discussion than is here quite inferred,
for with the exception of one speaker, who told the Club
to " turn over a new leaf" in the selection of its subjects,
and who was very happily corrected by the Chairman,
there was not a member but who spoke with effect.

But we must hold more strongly to our line when
declaring that " nothing very particular does ever come
of the deliberations of the Central Chamber of Agricul-

ture," for, as it really seems, scarcely anything came of
the meeting on Tuesday. There were two especial questions
under discussion, the one turning on turnpikes and high-
ways and the other on the collection of agricultural statis-
tics, and on neither was any conclusion whatever arrived at 1
This sounds strangely, too, for the local Chambers have
been passing their opinions on the highways until they
have fairly tired of passing any more ; as, if there be
anything on which the Central Chamber particularly
prides itself, it must be its resolutions, and even here
resolutions were as plentiful as blackberries. Thus Mr.
Jabez Turner moved the following formidable series, that
we give more as a curiosity than anything else : " That
as hardship and injustice have been inflicted upon many
parishes by the partial abolition of turnpike trusts, and as
the policy of continuing some trusts by annual legislation
is temporising and unsatisfactory, this council is of
opinion that all turnpike trusts should be abolished
simultaneously, and that the maintenance of all public
roads should be settled on a permanent and equitable
system." 2. " That, as the interests of the whole com-
munity have been promoted by the existence of the
improved means of traffic and intercommunication, and
as much of the expenditure in the formation of turnpike
,roads was incurred to facilitate the mail service, to
provide for the transport of troops aud military stores,
and for other imperial purposes, it would he unjust to
charge the remaining debts upon rateable property only ;
and that these debts ought to be liquidated by
the national exchequer." 3. "That, as it would
be unjust to transfer the burden of future main-
tenance of the turnpike or trunk roads of the kingdom
from the present users of these roads to the owners and
occupiers of rateable property, this council considers indis-
pensable either a revision of the rating system, so as to
bring under contribution the general wealth of the dis-
tricts through which the roads pass, or the alternative of
part payment of the road expenditure out of the imperial
revenue." And, next, of course. Sir George Jenkinson
moved as au amendment another neat little thing in this
way : " That in the opinion of this Central Chamber of

240

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

Agriculture the question of the future maintenance of
turnpike roads and highways is mixed up with, and de-
pendent upon the larger question of the re-adjustment of
local taxation. But subject to this proviso : This Cham-
ber considers that the injustice and hardship inflicted on
various parishes by the system now in force of the partial
abolition of trusts, and by the expense of the mainten-
ance of the turnpike-roads of the trusts so abolished
being borne by the parishes only through which such
turnpike-roads pass, should beputau end to without delay.
To effect this it is expedient that the Legislature should
enact : 1, That the abolition of all remaining trusts should
be immediate and simultaneous. 2, That the Highway Act
should be made general and compulsory. 3, That the area
of liability for the expenses of maintaining turnpike-roads
and highways should be spread over all the parishes in-
cluded within each highway district as a common charge,
according to the rateable value of each parish." And, then
the meeting, after weighty deliberation, resolved to reject
alike the original series and the second series of motions,
and to express no opinion whatever ! This energetic deter-
mination was said to be due to the presence of Mr. Knatch-
buU Hugessen, who was very careful to have it understood
that he did not come there as a representative of the Go-
vernment, and that he did not mean to say what the Govern-
ment was going to do. Personally, he objected, moreover,
to the point of the Council's own series of resolutions ;
and so he was loudly cheered, " the meeting was deeply
indebted to him for his unreserved exposition, his full and
cordial explanation," and so forth ; although it certainly
does seem to us, as it struck Mr. Genge Andrews, that be-
fore they begin to holloa they should have some notion of
what they are holloaing about.

Thus having so satisfactorily disposed of one subject,
having brought all the influence of the Central and local
chambers to bear upon the Government in the arrange-
ment of its measures by doing and proposing to do
nothing whatever, the meeting proceeded to deal as de-
terminedly with the second question before it. The
Business Committee, taking its cue from Mr. Sewell
Read, declared " That agricultural returns, as at present
collected, are unreliable and unsatisfactory ; that it is de-
sirable for such returns to be made once in ten years ;
and that they should then be compulsory." Whereupon,
Mr. D. Long moved as an amendment " That the only
advantage of the collection of agricultural statistics would
be to keep down the price of agricultural produce by im-
portations from abroad when there is a deficiency at home,
and such collection consequently would be not only most
inquisitorial, but unjust and prejudicial to the interests of
agriculturists." Mr. Smythies moved for five instead of
ten years in the original motion, and then that " Agri-
cultural returns be annual and compulsory." The first,
or Mr. Long's amendment, would appear never to have
been put, although duly seconded ; the proposition of five
for ten years was rejected by a large majority ; that for
annual and compulsory returns was lost by 11 to 7 ; and
the original motion was also lost by one vote ! The conse-
quence of this, as our reporter explains in a note, is that
nothing whatever was carried, " to the no little surprise
of many persons in the room." When the Government
becomes naturally anxious to know what that influential
body the Central Chamber of Agriculture would recom-
mend as to the Amendmant of the Highway Acts the
answer is, "We would rather leave it with you for the
present ;" or, as Sir George Jenkinson said at Gloucester,
Mr. Hugessen looking to the stand made by the Central
Chamber may report that "not a single suggestion has been
ottered." And when the Government, again, would wish
to ascertain whether the experiment of collecting agricul-
tural stitistics should be continued the Central Chamber

has really nothing to say about such a matter one way fef
the other. Mr. Sewell Read may say elsewhere as much
as he likes about his ten years' plan, of course but another
notion of " this day six months,'' but he must always
bear in mind when doing so that this proposal has been
condemned by the Central Chamber.

Was there ever such a shilly-shally, timid, trim-
ming, much-ado-about-nothing business as this?
Let any man read through the report of the pro-
ceedings and see how much he can make for
himself out of it. The Queen's Speech says :
" Bills have been prepared for extending the incidence of
rating, and for placing the collection of the large sums
locally raised for various purposes on a simple and uniform
footing; for the amendment of the laws which regulate
the grant of licences for the sale of fermented and spirit-
uous liquors; and for facilitating the transfer of land ;"
while two or three Game Bills have already been intro-
duced. And what is the Chamber of Agriculture going to
do ? The Chairman is to put a question as to the duty on
cart horses, that he most probably never will put ; a
deputation is to put a question as to the repeal of
the Malt Tax, and a petition for the re-adjustment of
local taxation is actually to be presented, as well as a
prize essay to be published. An admirable production,
no doubt, this is, although the point of the report would
goto sending round the hat again, "the Committee has
exhausted its fuuds," and more money is "absolutely
necessary." Here, in touting for more money, we are
quite ready to allow the immense energy displayed by the
executive of the Central Chamber.

And in all this we fail to see, as we have failed to see,
any especial advantage arising from the offices of the
Central Chamber of Agriculture. It may tend to serve
the purposes of some few people, and make the world more
familiar with the powers of honourable gentlemen of the cali-
bre of Sir George Jenkinson, Mr. Pell, and Mr. Corrauce.
But to what end is the thing working ? What good is it
doing? What action is it taking? Are we to turn to
the report of last Tuesday's proceedings as the answer?
On the day following there was a dinner of the Peter-
borough Chamber, at which Mr. Attenborough was called
on to propose the Central Chamber, and he did so after
this fashion : " We had heard a good deal about the
Central Chamber, but he did not think much about their
doings on the previous day." Precisely so. We have
heard a great deal about the Central Chamber, as every-
body must have heard, but we do not think much of its
doings. Mr. Attenborough is evidently a gentleman of a
very nice observation.— iJ/«!;"^ Lane Express,

MR. WYKEHAM MARTIN'S GAME LAWS AMEND-
MENT BILL.— The following are tlie chief clauses of this
Bill : From and after the twenty-fifth day of September one
thousand eight hundred and seventy it shall be lawful for any
tenant, or any person employed by him, and having his autho-
rity or permission, to kill rabbits on the lands occupied by him,
any agreement or covenant to the contrary notwithstanding ;
and any agreement reserving the sole or exclusive light to kiU
rabbits shall be null and void. Any person who shall kill any
rabbits in pursuance of this Act shall not thereby become liable
to pay any assessed taxes, nor shall he be ))onnd to take out any
licence under the Act passed in the twenty-tliird and twenty-
fourth years of the reign of Her most Excellent Majesty,
chapter ninety. Tlie provisions of tliis Act shall not apply to
any lands held under any lease which was originally granted
for a term of years not less than five, during the term or cur-
rency of such lease.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

241

The central farmers' club

GRASS LAND.

The first monthly meeting of the Tarmers' Club in the present
year took place on Monday evening, Teb. 7, at the Club Rooms
in the Salisbury Hotel, the Chairman of the year, Mr. J.
Howard, M.P., presiding, the attendance being a full average.
The question fixed for consideration was " Grass land — when
to be profitably broken up, and when more profitably kept in pas-
ture," the introducer being Mr. Clement Cable, of Gloucester.

The CiiAiiiMAN said: Gentlemen,— I think I may very fairly
congratutate the Club upon the importance of the subjects
which have been selected for discussion during the coming
year. Not only are the subjects important in themselves, but
the names appended to them are those of men who are well
known and who will, the Club may rest assured, handle the
topics entrusted to them in a masterly manner. The subject
to be introduced this evening is " Grass land — when to be
profitably broken up, and when more profitably kept in
pasture." Most of the gentlemen present are aware that
Mr. Cadle has already won his spurs on this question, having
received the first prize for the best essay on the management
of grass lands from the Royal Agricultural Society of England
(cheers). I am quite sure that if he can tell the members of
this Club, and the farmers of England, how, with wheat at os.
a bushel, they can turn any portion of their farms, or the land-
lords of England can turn any portion of their estates, to
better purpose in increasing the supply of meat for the
millions of our population, he will confer very great benefit
upon the community at large (Hear, hear). You will have
observed, gentlemen, that the month of May has been left
vacant in the card. That is not because subjects for May have
not been proffered for discussion. Several have been proffered,
and I may state that no less important a man than Professor
Voelcker has very kindly offered to read a paper ; but, seeing
that a very important question is to be introduced in another
place which deeply affects the interests of agriculture — namely,
the question of the education of the rural population, com-
bined with that of the education of the whole country, it has
been thought desirable that we should leave a month open
for the discussion of any measure of that kind which may
be brought before Parliament ; and hence it is that you see a
blank space in the cards for the month of May (Hear, hear).
Without making any further remarks, I will call on jMr. Cadle
to introduce his paper (cheers).

Mr. Cable said : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — At a dis-
cussion in this room some twelve or fourteen months ago, re-
sulting from Mr. Mechi's paper on the undeveloped power of
British agriculture, I beard some rather conflicting opinions
expressed by members of this club as to the desirability of con-
verting grass land into tillage, and as in the present day every
thing that tends to the increase of farm produce is entitled to
consideration, I thought a discussion on the subject would be
very desirable, especially as the subject has not been brought
before the Club for fifteen years, when Mr. J. Wood, of Ockley,
Sussex, introduced " The cxpefl'iency of converting grass land
into iiltdge." The result of that meeting was that the follow-
ing resolution was adopted, viz., " That this Clulj is of opinion
that grass land affair qvality loitl he found most profit aide in
that state, hid that inferior pastures would yietd more profit to
the occupier, a greater rent to the landowner, and more food to
the community, if converted into tillageP Mr, Wood, by very

elaborate figures, showed the profits in arable over those of
grass to be £1 18s. 9d. an acre per annum, and said that
cattle may be profitably kept under cover ; and in the course
of the discussion Mr. Paine drew the line at 25s. per acre rent,
under which value land might be profitably converted to til-
lage. In 18^7 the subject was also before your Club, when it
was introduced by Mr. Shaw, jun. ; and the chairman, the late
Mr. Fisher Hobbs, in opening the meeting, amongst other
remarks, said, " Amongst practical men there can, I think, be
but one opinion of the importance of the subject. Those
gentlemen who live in arable districts will agree with me that
in travelling throughout the country we cannot but feel sur-
prised at the vast extent of grass lands we see, in comparison
with the arable land. The greater portion of the grass land
of this kingdom is moreover very badly managed. One-third
of those grass lands are of decidedly inferior quality, and might
be advantageously broken up and converted into arable land,
thereby employing more than double the number of labourers
producing more stock — that is to say, more beef and mutton
— and at the same time go through its rotation in growing
green crops." Mr. Shaw brought forward some very con-
clusive arguments in his paper, followed by a good discussion,
in which the late Mr. Hudson stated that he had a good deal
of experience, and that such land broken up would produce
more beef and mutton in two years than it tcould as pasture in
four. Mr. Turner also stated that he had broken up land that
had produced more of ike necessaries of life in three years than
it had previously in twenty as pasture land. The following
resolution was arrived at : " That it is the opinion of this
meeting that a large portion of the inferior grass land of this
country might be broken up and brought into cultivation to the
advantage of the landlords, the cultivators, and the labourers
of England, by greatly increasing the employment, food, anil
wealth of the kingdom^'' In ISiG the subject was also before
the Club, introduced by the late Mr. R. Baker, of Writtle, when
it was decided " that many descriptions of grass land would be
best brought into cultivation by the system of pmring and
burning, provided root crops he first taken ; but upon
the richer soils it is doubtful whether the object may not be
effected by the ordinary method of cultivation P As will be
gathered from the resolution, the paper and the discussion
turned principally upon the best way of breaking the land up
but during the discussion Mr. Hobbs said he had a field for
which he could afford to pay the landlord double rent, if
allowed to break it up. I will now endeavour to give you my
views, and it is with the desire and expectation of hearing
your more experienced and practical opinions that I venture
to address you this evening. Long before I became a member
of your Club I took great interest in your transactions, and
was greatly struck with the practical nature of your papers
and discussions. In treating the subject on the paper, " On
grass land : when it can be profitably broken up, or when
more profitably kept in grass," I will take the last part first,
and show the class of meadow or pasture land that I consider
may be most profitably kept in grass, and then show that
which may be more profitably converted to tillage, and then
give a medium course of treatment. As you will see, I only
give general rules, for, as you are aware, in dealing with such
a diflicult subject, it is impossible to lay down any rule that

242

THE FARMER'S MAQAZINfi.

sliall not have uiuuy exceptions, in conset^uence of the varying
circumstances, tlierefore circumstances must he the guiding-
star in deciding the question. For example, arahle land in one
part will grow forty, and even fifty hushels of wheat to the
acre, whilst in another it will not grow twenty-five ; or it
may grow forty tons of mangolds, while other land with diffi-
culty grows fifteen. Tlie class of land that may be most pro-
fitably kept in grass is — first, the feeding or fattening lands,
where cattle or sheep will become fat during the summer
months without the aid of artificial food ; secondly, wliere the
grass land is not more than one-fourth the area of the farm ;
thirdly, stiff heavy soils tliat -srill not carry sheep to consume
the roots on the land if converted to arable ; fourthly, some
of the shallow pasture land having only a few inches of
soil ; and, fifthly, those hilly fields that would be so expensive
to work as tillage. "Fikst : The feeding and fatting lands,
where cattle and sheep wiU become fat during the summer
months, without tlie aid of corn or artificial food. This class
of land is no doubt the most profitable that a farmer can have,
as it yields him a greater return, with less trouble and ex-
pense. It is more sought after, and commands a higher rent
than any other class of land similarly situated, and tlierefore
I would not propose breaking it up ; but a good deal may be
done in the way of its improvement. Perhaps the greatest
evil this class of land (taking all districts) has to contend with
is floods ; and, although much lias been done by the passing
of the Land Drainage Act (1861), which enables landowners
to combine together to remove water-wheels and other ob-
structions to the free passage of the water, and the land on
streams and rivers has been improved thereby, still we want
more facilities to be given, so that it may become more general.
Drainage is also a means of great improvement, although
much care must often be exercised not to over-drain it — it is
sufiicient to remove the stagnant water. It is not requisite to
dry it quickly, as in the case of arable land ; therefore tlie
deeper the drains, and the wider apart they are — provided the
stagnant water is removed — the better. Many thousands of
acres of this class of land have not been drained for want of
an ontfaU ; but this can now be generally provided, as far as
adjoining proprietors are concerned ; and where sufficient fall
is not supposed to exist, on careful examination more is often
obtainable than was thought possible to be got. Where the
expense is too great to remove mills, the land above might
often be under-drained, and arrangements made for a portion
of the water-power to be used in pumping such under-drained
land. Irrigation may also sometimes be adopted for improv-
ing this class of land, and many other modes, which would
extend my paper to too great a length, if entered into, such
as renovating with fresh grass seeds, manuring, &c. Se-
condly : Where the grass land is not more than one-fourth
the area of the farm. Here a good deal of caution is requisite
before coming to the conclusion that any may be profitably
broken up, although in some cases it may. I should prefer
in this case to try and improve it in its present state by
manuring, renovating with fresh grass seeds, consuming roots
upon it, irrigation, and other modes of treatment ; but in
some places the land is so light, and has such a tendency to
grow couch grass, that even this small portion of grass may
be reduced witli profit. One of the best ways of improving
meadow land is to haul the roots and fold the sheep upon tlie
meadows, in the same way as the arable land farmer would
upon his tillage, giving them a fresh pen every day. By this
means the meadow will be regularly dressed, iustead of the
sheep lying on those portions of the field that least require
dressing, or in a road or some old hedge-row. This, with the
consumption of plenty of corn or oilcake, is a certain way of
improving meadow land. If straw is plentiful, it may be cut
into short litter, and strewed about tlie pen each day, when it
will be trodden into the land by the sheep ; and if by this
means the arable land is robbed of some of its manure, the
increase in the hay crop vnW more than counterbalance it.
Thirdly : Stiff heavy soils that will not carry sheep to con-
sume the roots on tlie land if converted to arable. It is not
desirable to break up and convert to arable this class of land,
except under particular circumstances ; and sometimes it may
be more profitably managed by a medium course of Ireatment,
sucli as I will notice presently. Of course tlie great draw-
back to stiff, heavy soils is that you are so dependent on sea-
sons for working the land to the best advantage ; and if you
grow much of that improving crop — roots, you have such
difficulty and expense iu hauling off the roots, that it makes a

material difi'erence — so much so, that I should vecommcud
trying to improve it as meadow land. Some fields of this
class can be profitably broken up (if very well adapted) for
wheat and beans, and also growing good mangolds. The con-
sumption of roots as before mentioned, renovating with fresh
grass seeds, boning, and other manuring may be adopted to
improve it. Another mode is planting apple and pear trees ;
for, if the farmer could manufacture the materials he produces
without restriction (sugar and spirits, for instance), a new era
would dawn upon this class of pasture land. It appears to
rae that sugar can in no way be so cheaply produced in this
country as upon the apple or pear tree. No seeding, hoeing,
ploughing, manuring, &c., is required as iu growing beet ; the
only expense is to plant the trees and pick the fruit. The
principal drawback is that you cannot insure a crop every
year ; but ten or twelve tons of apples to the acre are no un-
common crop, and the value of these fruits is continually in-
creasing, in consequence of the demand in the manufacturing
districts. FouRTiiLY : Some of the shallow soils that are only
a few inches in depth. A good deal of the Down land comes
under tliis head, and of this class of land I cannot say I
have had much experience ; but of course, if only three or
four inches of soil is available, it is useless to attempt
to make good tillage, although some of these light soils
make very fair turnip and barley land, as on the Oolite
(Cotswold Hills, for instance) ; and here the preferable
system seems to be to lay it down to sainfoin for a
term of years, and the quantity of sainfoin hay sometimes
produced per acre is astonishing. Fifthly : Those hilly fields
that would be so expensive to work as tillage. I have had a
good deal of experience as to the expense of working hiUy
arable land, and my belief is, that the difference in the ex-
pense is never estimated high enough, for besides the extra
labour to the horses you cannot get anything like the quantity
of work of any kind done as you can where the land is level,
especially in ploughing, hauling on manure, couching, and
cleaning the laud ; but circumstances often do arise where this
liiUy land is so poor and bad that something must be done,
and I will not take upon myself to say it may not sometimes
be profitably broken up, especially where the larger proportion
of the farm is pasture, but in aU probability the medium course
is preferable. I will now give the class of laud that I con-
sider may be profitably converted to tillage, but in dealing
with this part of the subject I would remark that there are
two great causes operating against the conversion of pasture
land to tillage ; first, that which I may almost call a prejudice
on the part of landlords, who, having seen the abuse in days
gone by from the farmer running the land out after breaking
it up, and losing sight of the improved farming of the present
day, forbid it altogether ; and next from the increased capital
required to manage it as tillage. In the former case I would
call the landlord's attention to the great improvement made in
arable laud farming within the last 30 years to what has been
made in pasture, and numbers of arable farmers that I know
of spend a sum more than equal to their rent in artificial foods
and manures, and some even double, so there is little fear of
this class of men running their land out, especially if they
are allowed at leaving for auy unexhausted manures, improve-
ments, &c., which a landlord can well afford to do for the sake
of the incoming tenant, for he may be sure it will be to his
own advantage in more ways than one. With regard to the
latter, it is of no use for any man now a-days to attempt to
farm without sufficient capital, and it no doubt requires more
capital to farm tillage to the best advantage than pasture.
There is perhaps one other cause operating with landlords and
agents in this matter and that is, the clause in almost all agree-
ments of a penalty of in some cases £50 an acre rent for any old
grass land that may be broken up without the landlord's con-
sent. This IS a very necessary clause to prevent an outgoing
tenant doing a spiteful act, by ploughing up any old grass
land, but to men who do not understand the nature of it, it
appears, and in many cases is, so interpreted that it is put in
agreements, because the grass land is so much more valuable,
and it has no doubt misled many. A practical farmer writing
in the Mfir/c-Lnie Express of June 24th, 1867, after showing
(he value of the turnip crop says : " If then the turnip, or
rather the root crop is so valuable, why are farmers to be so
closely restricted to certain courses or rotations of cropping ?
and why are such large breadths of moderate, not to say in-
jperior grass lands to remain under pasturage P If modern
ulture and modern applications of manures and feeding stuffs

THE PAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

243

are worth anything beyond the old order of management — and
no one disputes their worth — they would tell surprisingly upon
the conversion of such lands iuto'arable culture. They would
thus be made to produce immense crops of roots, artiiicial
grasses, and corn. Vast breadths of these soils would yield
capital crops : first, of potatoes, then of wheat, next turuips,
or other roots and esculents, /. e., mangolds, swedes, carrots,
and cabbages for stock ; again potatoes, again wheat, audtlien
clovers or seeds, followed by a corn crop, to be further sup-
plemented by roots again, and so ou continuously. This
little island of ours ought to be the standing ground for fat-
ting stock as food for the nation, and the importation and
manufacture of feeding stuffs must be boundless. It must bo
made to grow more roots, more grasses, and more animal food.
Ireland, too, is still better adapted for this order of manage-
ment. Scotland grows splendid root crops. Who can teU to
what amount our home supplies of animal food might come,
or be made to extend ?" Most other speakers and writers on
this subject have gone into figures to prove the state of culti-
vation that is most profitable, but figures are so falacious that
I will not attempt to do anything of the sort, for an extra
ploughing and cleaning, or an extra 5 bushels of corn would
make a great difference in the estimate, and also because in a
paper like the present it is impossible for listeners to follow
figures ; I will therefore take it as a fact beyond dispute, and
to be admitted by every member of your club, that there are
many fields of Ught pasture land to be found that would be
far more profitable as arable. The point where disagreement
would arise would be as that border line was reached, where it
may be as valuable for one as for the other. I believe I
should not have tlie least difficulty, if asked whether a field
could be profitably broken up, in deciding whether it would be
advantageous or not ; but I confess to some little difficulty in
explaining, or rather drawing the hue of distinction for other
people to comprehend it. There are so many points to be con-
sidered, many of them of such a slight and trivial nature, aU
to be taken into account before a decision for or against caii
be arrived at, that I hardly know how to enumerate them.
However, some of them would be: adaptability to homestead and
buildings — if the field is situate a long way off from this
great desideratum for arable land, it would be a great draw-
back ; then as to its growing corn — some land will uot grow
more than 20 or 25 bushels under any circumstances ; then it
may be very wet and difficult to drain, or it may be shaded
by trees, or adjoining covers abounding with game. The tem-
perature and rainfall has also an important influence as to the
decision of converting grass into arable. Ireland, and some
of the western counties get too much rainfall for growing
wheat to the best advantage, while in many of the eastern
counties they do not get enough to grow good roots. A rain-
fall of about 30 inches appears to be the quantity to enable
both roots and wheat to be grown to best advantage. Tem-
perature again is, I believe, an importaut feature ; it appears
to be necessary to bring wheat fully to perfection to have a
portion of the summer equal to a mean temperature of 60
degrees of heat, and situated not higher than 600 feet above
the level of the sea ; still, for our purpose many of the lands
I would propose dealing with are under all the disadvantages
mentioned capable of growing splendid roots and oats, and
especially potatoes. The following may be enumerated as
the most important sorts of land that may be profitably broken
up — First : The high and dry laud that will carry sheep
well, especially where the pasture land is more than
half the area of the farm. Secomd : Where tlie pasture
exceeds one-third or one-fourth the area of the
farm. Third : The alluvial deposits or loamy soils by
the river and brook sides, where the stream runs so rapidly
that in the formation of the land only the coarser sand and
gravel is deposited, and consequently the finer particles of clay
so necessary to make up a good fatting soil are taken on by
the floods to a more level space. Fourth : Some of the
loamy soils that will not carry sheep, where the laud is conve-
nient for buildings and the pasture exceeds half or one-third
the area of the farm. Fifth : The clay lands that will not
carry sheep, but, wlien drained, grow the best of roots and
plentiful crops of corn, and where the pasture exceeds half tlie
farm. The First on the list of pasture lands tliat may be profit-
ably broken up is the high and dry inferior pasture land that
will carry sheep well, especially where the pasture land exceeds
half tlie area of the farm. Here much of the class of pasture
is poor and dry, and principally grazed with sheep, which bite

the few tine grasses so closely that they are gradually lost, and
from its tendency to grow couch grass the grazing with sheep
increases this tendency and thus retards improvement, as they
do not like to eat it unless it is kept veiy closely grazed, con-
sequently it gradually kills the finer grasses. This is the class
of land that may be most profitably converted to tillage, for
roots can be gro^ii and consumed on the land, and one acre of
roots and one acre of clover or seeds, with the wheat and bar-
ley straw, supposing it to be farmed ou the four course system,
will keep a good deal more stock than four acres of the original
pasture, and surely the acre of wheat and the acre of barley
will pay for extra labour and capital. If the pasture laud is
one half the area of the farm, there can be no question as to
the desirabiUty of breaking up, especially as the roots can be
consumed on the land by sheep. Under some circumstances
the better class of lands may also be broken up with advantage.
I have, myself, offered £95 an acre for a field of eight acres
and £80 an acre for four other fields in the neighbourhood of
my own farm, entirely as a speculation to break up ; but of
course tliis is an exceptional case, as it makes extraordinary
good arable land. In the neighbourhood of Evesham and
Pershore also, much very valuable pasture laud is converted to
tillage, combined with the growth of plums, &c. Seco^'d :
Where the pasture laud exceeds one-third or one-fourth only
of the area of the farm. Here a little more consideration is
necessary, for I consider one-third pasture to two-thirds tillage
the most advantageous proportions to make the most of a farm.
StiU there are many cases that have come under my notice
where even if only one quarter of the farm is pasture, some of
that quarter may very profitably be converted, if the land is
very good for growing roots and corn and bad for grass. Where
sheep are the principal stock kept, there is not the necessity
for so much pasture, as they can be kept in the summer on the
clover and artificial grasses eked out as their keep now is by
mangolds, corn, and cabbage during the summer months.
Third : The alluvial deposits or loamy soils of the river and
brook sides, where the stream runs so rapidly that in the
formation of tlie land only the coarser sand and gravel is de-
posited, and consequently the finer particles of clay so neces-
sary to make up a good fatting soil are taken on by the floods
to a more level place. I have had some experience of this
class of land, and where it is not very liable to floods, it makes
some of the best tillage obtainable. On the banks of the river
Wye, which is very rapid river, there is a good deal of this
class of land, especially between Hereford and Ross, com-
bining all the requirements for growing corn and keeping sheep,
but which will not fat cattle, and would be doubled in value
by being converted into arable land. Since writing the above,
I am informed that a large landed proprietor, below Here-
ford, is extensively breaking up exactly the class of land to
which I am alluding, but, I believe, more with the view
of laying down again than as making tillage. Fot'KTH :
Some of the loamy soils that will not carry sheep, where
the land is conveniently situated near buildings, and the
pasture exceeds one-half or one-third the area of the farm.
This is a little different from the last class of land, inasmch as
the farmer has the expense of carting off the roots; still, under,
the circumstances mentioned above as to buildings and with a
sufficiency left, some of the pasture may be profitably broken
up to tUlage, but more care is requisite than in the former
cases. Fifth : The clay lands that will not carry sheep, but
when drained grow tlie best of roots and plentiful crops of
corn, and where the pasture exceeds one-half the farm. This
is the most diflicult class to define, as to converting it into
tillage for a permanency or not ; still, if the pasture exceeds
one-half the farm, it may often be profitably done where it is
well adapted for stock and convenient to the homestead, and a
furtlier advantage may be gained by breaking some up and
growing roots, these roots to be taken and consumed by sheep
on the other pasture land, as already explained. Having now
disposed of the land that may not be broken up, as also that
which may be profitably converted into tillage, I come to a
very large class of laud tliat has been to some extent passed
over — viz , tlie poor heavy clay pasture, down lands, hilly and
mountainous tracts of land, and numerous other lands that
will suggest itself to your minds that is uot first-class for
growing corn, and still may be made (o produce greatly in-
creased crops of grass by the medium course already alluded
to, which is its being simply broken up to tillage for two or
three years and relaid to grass. The great drawback to this not
being more successfully carried out than it is at present is

^u

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

hat sufficient attention is not paid to the selection of those
grass seeds suitable for the locality, and other circumstances
attendant on tlie case, and also to the fact that grass seed is
not put on in sufficient quantity, for we not only want to get a
plant for stock, but a very thick one, if you want to get the
full benefit the land is capable of producing, and I have never
yet seen a fresh land pasture field too thick. Instances have
come under my notice of land, laid down to grass in April,
cutting more than a ton of hay per acre in September. I also
extract tte following from a Book on Grasses, by Messrs.
"\Vheeler and Son, of Gloucester as confirmatory of what may
)jc doue in this way. " The largest crop of hay that we ever
remember to have heard of, was the produce of some seeds
sujiplied by us to Mr. Hurcombe, of IJley. The clover and
grass seeds were sown on 6^ acres ; it was mown in June, 1865,
producing a splendid crop. Immediately after it was made
and put in a rick rain came, the aftermath grew most luxu-
riantly, and in due time was made into hay. The two ricks
were sold by auction in March last by Mr. Organ, and were
purchased by Messrs. Holmes and Co., of Stroud. Our at-
tention was called to the following paragraph, which appeared
in the Gloncesler Journal, March lOUi, 1866: 'The high
price of fodder may be estimated by the sale of some clover
hay, which took place at the King's Head, Uley, on Thursday
last, when the produce of 6| acres of land was knocked down
at the sum of £104. The seed was purchased of Messrs.
Wheeler and Son, of Gloucester.' On inquiry of Messrs.
Holmes and Co., we received the following reply : ' Gentlemen
— In reply to your inquiry respecting clover hay we purchased
of Mr. Hurcombe, of Uley, we beg to enclose copy of the
weighbridge tickets, by which you will see there was 24 tons
7 cwt. 3 qrs. of first-class hay, in addition to which there was
about 7 cwt. of tops and bottoms, which we did not think
worth the trouble of weighing.'" I give this in full, as it
is authenticated, and shows a return of £16 per acre, being
nearly 4 tons of hay to the acre. I consider it a mistake to
])laut the seeds amongst corn if laying down for 4 years or for
permanent pasture, for if you get a good crop it kills the young
seeds, and if a poor crop it (with the expense) is no better
than the extra grass is worth. I would suggest the following:
double plough, or breast plough and burn (if the laud is very
loose and spongy), and then take a crop of oats ; then wheat ;
and next turnips, and after eating off the turnips prepare the
ground as for barley, and not put the barley, but seeds, for 3
or 4 years' ley, consisting of —

4 lbs. Pacey's perennial.

3 lbs. Italian rye grass.

3 lbs. Cocksfoot.

3 lbs. Timothy.

3 lbs. Meadow fescue.

3 lbs. lied clover.

3 lbs. Cow grass.

3 lbs. White honeysuckle.
1 lb. Alsyke.

4 lbs. Trefoil.

This of the best quality should not cost more than 2:2s. per acre.
These should on no account be grazed the first year, but mown
in September, and again early in the following summer, before
any seeds are formed in the plant, for as the roots of plants
of this class increase in proportion to the top, you get a
stronger plant than by grazing and keeping it short ; it may
then be grazed for two or three years, and then ploughed for
wheat ; then barley, and cleaned and planted with turnips,
and laid again for three or four years ; by this means I am
sure greatly increased crops may be grown even on the colder
heavy land that would not pay in permanent tillage ; and
on the other hand, as you are aware, the heavier class of
soil, if laid to permanent pasture after the first three or four
years, produces (even if well manured) a very small return for
some years. This is due to tlie consolidated state the land gets
into, and prevents the circulation of the air in the soil : it is
especially noticeable in fruit trees, where the land is laid to
grass. After the trees are full grown it does not seem to affect
them for some few years, and then the trees stop growing, and
become covered with moss, and scarcely bear any crops at all.
I know of some land that has been laid to grass for 20 years,
and is still very poor bad land. If you take a spade and dig
up the soil in a field laid for four or five years, and compare
this with old turf, it will illustrate what I mean, and it will be
found that you can scarcely get the spade into the newly-laid

land, from its firm compact state, and yoU cannot fail to come
to the conclusion that the land in such a state is not fit to
grow anything. I am convinced that it is to this cause that the
deterioration of newly-laid land proceeds. Ihave specially no-
ticed a good many fields, when out valuing, and having a spade
with me ; but as in the course of years the land gradually re-
verts back to a looser and more healthy state, for the percola-
tion of the air and water, it gradually improves. There is
little doubt that it is to this difficulty in relaying land to
grass that makes landlords so unwilling to allow old turf to be
broken up. The only writer liiat I have met with upon grass
land that liears me out in this view, as to the cause of not get-
ting turf land, is Mr. H. S. Thompson, who in vol. xix., p. 259,
of the "Royal Agricultural Society's Journal," says, " All
tlie gramin;e that are of value for grazing or mowing, require
a fine tilth or mould, as a condition of their successful cultiva-
tion. For the first year or two after strong land has been
laid down, it retains, to some extent, the porous texture in-
duced by the thorough disintegration which it receives in
course of preparation for sowing. The second winter, how-
ever, generally obliterates all traces of previous cultivation,
and the close and sodden state of the land, which then super-
venes, is higlily unfavourable to the growth of grass. The
land may contain a sufficient supply of all the elements of plant
nutrition, but they are in a crude state, and a constant supply
of oxygen is required to promote the decomposition of the
mineral and vegetable matters, and their recombinations in
forms available as plant food ; so that if air and water cannot
easily and quickly pass through the soil in repeated succes-
sion, a check is given to nature's uuderground cookery as com-
pletely as if the flues were stopped in the farmer's own kit-
chen, and the dinner had to be prepared without any possibi-
lity of lighting a fire. Hence, the sudden falling off in the
produce of newly-laid grass on strong land, and hence the ne-
cessity, at this critical period, for an abundant supply of plant
food on the surface to compensate for the falling off below."
Tiiere is, I think, little doubt, that it is to this cause that^the
difficulty arises in getting fresh jiermanent pasture, at all
events, whatever the cause of it may be, the fact is patent to
everyone, and, therefore, I have every confidence in recom-
mending the medium course under the circumstances I have
mentioned. Before concluding my paper, I will refer to one
subject that you will, no doubt, have observed that I have
scarcely touched upon, and that is, how the land should be
treated in breaking up. A few years ago I should have had no
hesitation in giving my opinion on the course to be pursued ;
but having been since engaged in making a detailed valua-
tion of the Cluii Union, in Shropshire, consisting of some
85,000 acres, 15,000 to 20,000 acres of which has probably
been enclosed within the last 20 years, I had special opportu-
nities of witnessing a great variety of tvays in wjiicli this land
was treated in being broken up to tillage, and when I saw
that the owners of, perhaps, three adjoining fields would each
adopt a different course, I came to the conclusion that no
one system could be much better than another as to be
indiscriminately recommended. There are three common
modes of treatment, and it must be left to the farmer him-
self to decide which he considers best for his particular case.
1st. To breast plough and pare and burn. 2nd. To pare
and store the turf up in heaps to rot. 3rd. To double plough.
AYliere the land is very spongy, and infested with insects, per-
haps the first is preferable, especially if there is any difficulty
in getting it firm enough to grow wheat ; but as by this means
you lose vegetable matters, if you can do without tlie burning
it is better, while if stored in heaps you always have a reserve
of manure eitiier for that field or any other ; but at the same
time there is the expense in both these systems which is con-
siderable. The first seems to be preferable on the oohte and
lias formations ; on the latter, especially, is burning to be
recommended. Mr. llandell, of Chadbury, near Evesham, has
done wonders with his arable land by burning it, but on the
sandy and lighter soils burning would no doubt be wrong.
Whatever system is adopted it will almost always be necessary
to lime lieavily witli fresh quick- lime, for old turf appears to
get in a kind of acid state, and these acids sometimes require
neutralizing before the land will grow corn well. Mustard
and rape, seeded on newly broken up land, I have seen recom-
mended, but as I have had no experience in this, perhaps some
gentleman who has will give us the result. 1 will now conclude
as I have given you the class of land that ought not to be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

245

broken up, tliat which may be, and also a medium course,
which I believe might lie very often profitably adopted on each
class of laud, and be the means of doubliug the increase of
food now obtained from much of tlie inferior pasture even on
hill and mouutain land, and which I have every confidence in
recommending to your notice from what has come immediately
under my own observation ; and if from our discussion to-uight
we can show that even one-half the :J-3,000,000 acres of grass
land in Great Britain and Ireland can be improved to the extent
of 10s. per acre per annum, we prove that a saving would be
eft'ected to the country equal to £5,500,000 every year ; and
therefore I tliink our labours will not have been in vain.

Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., said he thought that in treating that
subject it was necessary for them as practical farmers to arrive
at a principle. They were constantly lectured on their duty
to the public. They were constantly told that in these days
it was the duty of the larmer to grow more ; but he believed
that that was a secondary duty, and that the main duty of the
farmer was, if possible, to make his farm pay (Hear, hear).
He, for one, knew perfectly well that pasture land might be
broken up and might produce more meat, and yet what was
done might be an utterly losing game. Coming as he did from
a district where there was not rain enough to grow roots pro-
fitably, and where, therefore, they never attempted to get a
large quantity of grass, it might seem presumptuous in him to
say a single word on that occasion, but he recollected having
in the midland counties broken up grass land at considerable
expense. It was an ordinary cow pasture, as ugly and
beggardly a piece of land as anybody ever saw, but did some-
how or other make a large quantity of butter. They drained
it, they subsoiled it, and tliey spent an immense deal of money
upon it for artificial manures and labour, and the result was
that, although they were no doubt very good citizens, the
pecuniary benefit to themselves was //// (Hear, hear). There-
fore, when practical farmers were talking about breaking up
pasture lands his advice to them was to look at the expense
^ before tliey thought of extensively turning up even inferior
lauds.

Mr. G. S.MYTiiiES (Marlow Lodge, Leintwardine) said one
great benefit of their meeting there was that they lieard the
opinions of men from different parts of the kingdom (Hear,
hear). They had just lieard the opinion of a gentleman who
came Irom the east, where the climate was very dilTerent from
that of the west ; and as he (Mr. Smytliies) came from the
west, perhaps the meeting would bear with him while he said
a few words in favour of grass lands. He wished it to be
distinctly understood that he came from a district where there
was a great deal of rain, and wliere, therefore, grass might be
more vahiaiile than it was in other districts. He did not for
a moment pretend t<) say tliat what was good for the grass
land there would be good for other land ; but, speaking of a
county where there was a good deal of moisture, he must say
he did hesitate before ploughing uii a piece of grass land ; at
all events he should first of all give the grass land in such a
district a chance, which he feared liad not in all cases been
done. He had no wish to find fault with anything in Mr.
Cadle's paper, to which he had listened with great pleasure,
but he could hardly agree with what was said there about over-
draining. Mr. Cadle seemed rather to think that they could
over-drain, whereas he (Mr. Smytliies) considered it scarcely
possible to do so. What he meant was that they could not
over-drain, there being a certain amount of moisture wliicli it
was impossilile to remove from the land. No doubt there were
some pastures which were so hard that the air could not
readily find its way into tbcni ; but if such land was manured
and the worms were encouraged to work it, it would so become
aerated. His own rule was to have grass in every field where
he could get water. But he had not left the grass in its
original state ; he had done a great deal to improve it, and on
wet land that was no easy matter. Having tried various kinds
of manure he had found that farmyard manure always paid
best. Wherever they had light land they could afford to
apply farmyard manure for roots and artificial manure for
turnips. In the case of heavy land artificial manure did not
do so well, and, therefore, it should be used sparingly ; but
with moderately light lands where they put sheep on the
tillage there was no difficulty whatever. His advice was that
liefore breaking up grass lands they should give them a fair
chance by manuring them and by eating the roots off them as
circumstances might suggest (Hear, hear). Practically on

tillage land they required to sow in March or April with corn
crops. There was a diSiculty in keeping sheep there, but
there was no difficulty in keeping them on grass land, and the
laud was at the same time very much improved. He did not
say anything about grass land in dry climates, having had no
experience in the matter. One word with regard to grass
land almost forcing farmers to keep stock. If land were all in
tillage they could keep stock or not as tliey pleased ; in otlier
words, if a man did not farm well for want either of skill or
of capital he might scourge the land and obtain good corn
crops, and he thought that was a matter well worthy of the
attention of gentlemen who had to do with the preparation of
farm agreements.

Mr. II. TiiETHEWY (Silsoe, Ampthill) said they had had the
experience of a gentleman from the eastern counties, and also
that of a gentleman from the western counties, and he cordially
endorsed the sentiments which they had expressed. The first
thing to be considered in the treatment of land was climate.
They knew very well that in the eastern counties, where the
climate was so dry, grass land was quite out of the question ;
they knew very well, too, that in the western counties, where
the climate was moist, and v here the rainfall was so great, the
land was best adapted for the growth of grasses : and he be-
lieved that in a moist climate a man could not make a greater
mistake than by converting grass land into arable, just as in
the eastern counties no one could make a greater mistake than
by converting arable land into grass. He had had a great deal
to do with the management of laud in different counties of
England. He knew Gloucestershire, from which Mr. Cadle
came, very well ; and he knew that a large portion of the land
there consisted of grass land of good quality, while some of the
grass land was very thin. As he had remarked before, the first
thing to be considered was climate ; but even in the case of
the midland counties, it was in his opinion a great question
whether it was desirable to plough up what was called indif-
ferent grass land. It had been the practice for many years iu
different counties to fold off the grass land for the benefit of
the arable land. In fact, he had frequently observed in
Leicestershire that farmers sacrificed their arable to their
grass land, while in Bedfordshire farmers sacrificed their
grass land to their arable. In Leicestershire farmers petted
tiieir grasses while in Bedfordshire they folded off sheep on
the grass land during the day and kept them on the arable,
though the practice had decreased lately duriug the night.
TUat had been the case for a long time ; but both systems
were, in his opinion, wrong. The arable land should have a
fair chance, and so also should the grass land. In the midland
counties there was some of indifferent grass land. .Still that
district he took to be the medium. The east and the west
represented respectively corn and grass, while the midland
counties produced both. He thought it was very questionable,
taking into consideration the proportions of arable and grass,
whether in the majority of cases it could be desirable to break
up much grass land. Of course, if there was a very large pro-
portion of grass the c^ise was altogether different. lie would
now make a few observations in reference to the treatment of
grass land. He believed that if grass land were more gene-
rously treated than it usually was it would not be found so
nnremunerative. He could point to several pieces of land
which had been drained and manured, and brought into first-
class condition ; and he could point to other pieces of land,
which liad been broken up and manured, and been converted
into good arable laud. But the first thing to be determined
was, how far it was desirable to make such changes ; and that
was a question which must depend upon circumstances. With
regard to draining, he rather differed from Mr. Smythies. He
(Mr. Tretliewy) did not hold with the draining of grass as much
as arable land ; for this simple reason, that whereas in the
case of arable land they wanted to get rid of the moisture in
order to secure the ripening of the crop, in the case of grass
land they did not want the grasses to ripen, but what they de-
sired was a continual vtrdure (Hear, hear). He would give an
illustration. He would suppose that they had a piece of laud
which was very wet. Eor example, he had that very day
noticed a good deal of land that was covered with water. Some
persons might have said that that land wanted draining, but
he would not drain it on any account. On another piece of
laud he saw carnation or ribbed grasses, and various other in-
dications of moisture. He did not care how soundly that land
might ride ; he said it was a description of land which required

246

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

draining. He would be guided by the herbage which was
produced on the land rather than by its actual condition,
whatever that might be ; and lie would not drain the land as
much as he would if it were required for arable purposes.
With regard to laying down land, he was very much inclined
to go with Mr. Cadle. He tliought that a great mistake was
often made in laying down land for pasture ; that was to say,
on the after treatment of it. Where land was properly pre-
pared, and a fair amount of seed was sown in the first spring,
in his opinion nothing could be more destructive than to graze
it with sheep (Hear, hear). The sheep, of course, picked out
the young and tender grasses, and nibbled them all up. He
held that in the first year such land should alwa3's be mown,
and he would not have a sheep on it for two or three years.
He did not attach as much importance as many people did to
the condition the land was in when it was first laid down. Of
course, the cleaner it was the better, but he did not care much
about it being a little foul (expressions of dissent). That
might appear a strong declaration (Hear, hear), but he would
tell them the reason why he took that view. He had seen
the very best grasses sown, and after they had died away the
natural grasses of the country would come up and take their
place. He knew a field which had been a piece of wheat
stubble, as full of twitch as it would hold. Nothing was done
to it beyond manuring it, and the result was that the twitch
gradually died away and the grasses came up, and now that
was as fine a piece of pasture as could be seen.

The Chairman : 'Wliere was that ?

Mr. Trethewy said it was in Cornwall ; and he was not
afraid to say that the result would be similar in Bedfordshire.
The grand thing in the case of grass-land was to put plenty of
powder in it, and it would theu produce a good herbage.

Mr. CoussiiAKER (Westwood, Guildford) said he wished
it to be understood that the observations he had to make,
related to poor clay-land. The breaking up of grasses
appeared to him a very delicate subject, and he did not think
there were many cases in which good tenants, especially if
they had a long lease, would desire that to be done. As
regarded the finest pastures iu the midland counties, would
any landlord in his senses consent to their being broken up ?

The Chairman said Mr. Coussmaker must excuse his
remarking that Mr. Cadle had not proposed anything of the
kind; he did not advocate the breaking up of fattening lands,
but only that of the inferior lands (Hear, hear).

Mr. CoussMAEaiR, continued : There were various kinds of
grass lands. Some were best adapted for the making of
cheese or dairy purposes ; and he held that these ought to be
retained in pasture. Again, some inferior lands were chiefly
adapted for the rearing of stock, and if lands of that descrip-
tion were to be broken up, it would be impossiljle to obtain
animals for feeding, as he did not want to see foreigners intro-
ducing more of their inferior stock ; there had been too
much of that already. Having had a good deal of experience
in the laying do\\Ti of grass land, he must say that he doubted
very much whether, after the first year or two, it would be
found as profitable to break up grass-land and relay it as many
persons supposed. If he wished to lay down with corn, of
course he would sow it in the spring. He would, however,
take very good care to sow liis spring corn very thin lest the
growth should be too strong ; the young grasses only required
to be sufficiently protected from the heat of the sun. It was
in July that he had been iu the habit of sowing his grasses
without corn. Taking one year with another, that month
was generally showery, and it was a grand point to
get the young grasses strong enough to stand against
the winter frosts. He agreed witli a preceding speaker
that they might over-drain grass lands, and supposing
the pastures were very wet or aquatic in their nature,
the result of over-draining would be that they would die
olf, and an immediate loss would follow. He did not mean
to deny that they might eventually get better grasses, but they
would have some years to wait for them. When laying down
grasses he had generally got his seeds from Messrs. Sutton of
Reading, he describing to them the soil, they sending him
the grasses which were most suitable to it. In the first two
or three years he obtained abundant crops, but after a time
the grasses sown died off, and the natural grasses took their
place. As regarded manuring, he had dunged, and dressed with
lime, earth, and mixed composts, and so on ; but what he
hked best was bones, preferring half-inch bones to bone-dust,

because with the former he knew what he was buying. He
mixed the bones with earth, and left them till they were
almost entirely decomposed, and he applied the bone-dressing
to his pastures in the spring. In Cheshire, which was so
notorious for its cheese, the application of bones was like
drainage, treated as a permanent improvement, and he believed
that in many instances the landlord made tlie outlay and
charged interest to the tenant. The question of the breaking
up of grass lands on particular farms, or of the proper propor-
tion of arable and pasture, depended, he conceived, on what
the farmer wanted to do, as for example, whether he wanted to
produce corn or stock, and that system would of course be best
for him which he considered was most likely to be profitable.

Mr. J. Smyth, jun. (Wallington Bury,Baldock) said he per-
fectly concurred in the opinion that It was possible to over-
drain pasture land. He did not agree with Mr. Trethewy
that they might lay down arable laud iu an unclean state aud
it \iould afterwards become clean. As a practical farmer he
considered it necessary to cleanse the laud before laying it
down, and they niiglit then expect a good result. He did not
think they could smother twitch and other weeds in the man-
ner that was suggested.

The Chairman observed that Mr. Trethe\»7 spoke only of
Cornwall.

Mr. Smyth said whatever might be the case in Cornwall, it
would not do in Hertfordshire (Hear, hear).

Mr. Neild (Worsley) thought they were greatly indebted
to the gentleman who introduced the subject, especially for
drawing the line in that case so carefully and with such judg-
ment that they who ran might understand. He lelt that it was
generally most undesirable to break up grass land which was
paying its way as grass land. He came from the district of
Lancashire and Cheshire, and had had a good deal of expe-
rience connected with the cattle plague there, and he knew
some persons who had had cause to mourn and lament over
land which they were compelled to break up because they were w,

afraid to keep cattle, their experience having been worse, per- ^ *■
haps, than thai of Mr. Head, in the case of the cow pasture.
He could entirely confirm what vras said by a previous speaker
about the use of bones in Cheshire. Some very stubborn clay
lands there had, through the use of bones, produced an abun-
dance of excellent white clover. He (Mr. Neild) did not think
any portion of farming required so much attention as the
management of grass lands. As regarded the prizes at agri-
cultural shows for roots, they all knew that roots were nursed,
and the thing was not in reality what it appeared to the
public generally ; but he was sure that grass lands required
in the present day the special attention of farmers' clubs.
They knew very well that grain could be brought from the ends
of the earth almost at less cost than a farmer in the midland
counties could send it to the London market ; and, therefore,
it well became them to consider what would pay best. As to
the philanthropic view of the matter, and farmers doing this
and that for the benefit of the public, they had found the
public very grateful to them (laughter) ; but, nevertheless, they
must endeavour to farm each for themselves, as well as lor
the public (cheers). He was very glad to hear some of the
leading farmers taking part in those discussions ; but he
should be stiU more glad if the discussion took a rather more
practical shape. If he might presume to say so, he would re-
mark that the discussion seemed to have been almost confined
to sheep and grain, tie knew that those things were essen-
tial ; but, considering the vast quantities of bacon, cheese, and
butter which were brought to this country from abroad, he
could not help feeling that the grass-lands had not engaged
sufficient attention. He did not think the grass-lands of Eng-
land produced a quarter of what they ought to produce. He
perceived that sewage formed the subject of the next discus-
sion in that Club ; and he was glad that that was the case, for
sewage had an important bearing on the question now under
consideration. The use of the refuse of their great towns was
now, as they all knew, one of the great questions of the day ;
and he hoped they would all go away from this discussion
with a desire for the improved cultivation of grass lands. His
own experience with regard to the liming of grass-lands was
very valuable. Three years ago he put ou seventy acres of
meadow-land sis tons of gas-lime per acre. The corporation of
Manchester having a great deal too much of that article, lie
agreed to - remove all that there was ; and the result showed
that he was right. He had the liming put on the land in a

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

247

peculiar way. He did not believe in the necessity of making a
compost. He had it all screened through an ordinary gravel
screen, and afterwards loaded into one-horse carts, a man
standing on the top with his back to the horse spreading the
lime broadcast from a spade, the land afterwards being well
brush-harrowed. That was done about the month of Decem-
ber, 1867. By the end of February the effect on the field was
strikingly manifested, aud the result to the hay crop in 1868
was such a swathe of improved sweet herbage as had uot
probably been obtained for many years before. He made a
similar contract last April ; but consented to the parties from
whom he purchased supplying some of their old customers
as well as himself, when, on his sending to remove it, there were
five-and-twenty teams waiting in advance of his own, and out
of about a thousand tons he only got about 300. The truth
was that others had become aware of the benefit to be de-
rived, and knew how useful the article was in grass
equally with arable cultivation.

Mr. T. B. Dein& (Claxby, Spilsby) observed that the real
question was whether it would prove profitable to break up
grass land. It was natural for them to wish to do it when the
price of wheat was high ; but pasture land could not be
broken up one day and re-converted into pasture again the
next. II would not do to break it up merely because wheat
happened to be high, and mutton a low price. They all knew
from experience that there were years of prosperity for corn
growing, and years of prosperity for producing beef and mutton.
The question arose what description of grass land it would
ordinarily be found most profitable to convert into arable
land ; for if grass land were broken up when corn was dear,
that might be proved to have been a great mistake when it
became cheap. He thought that in the western counties it
would in most cases be dangerous to break up grass land ;
while in some of the counties more especially adapted for the
growth of corn, such counties as Lincolnshire and Cambridge-
shire, where a large proportion of the farms consisted of grass
land, it might be profitable to break some of it. In cases in
which land was naturally poor, by growing corn crops and
root crops, and consumiug the roots on the land, they might
be enabled to feed a great deal more stock than they could
while retaining such land as pasture, and thus turn it to more
profitable account. On the other hand there were some
descriptions of land wliich it would be very wrong to break up.
He thought that farmers generally were more ignorant with
regard to the improvement of pasture tban with regard to
that of arable land, especially in districts where " corn" was
the farmer's motto. He was of opinion that in the case of
some pasture laud, if farmers paid more attention to the feed-
ing of stock, fattening them with cake and other sub-
stances, they could greatly increase the value of the
land, and find pasture more profitable. The description of
soil which Mr. Cadle meaut was, he believed, heavy
clay soil, where it was not practicable to grow and
consume root crops on the land. He (Mr. Dring)
thought that that was a kind of land which, if it were
of tolerably good character, it would be better to keep
for grass than to break up. He did uot beheve in the carting
of roots for arable land to any great extent. If they grew
roots on arable land and carted them off the result was im-
poverishment, and there was a great deal of labour and expense.
There were one or two remarks of Mr. Cadle that seemed to
be a great recommendation of the breaking up of grass lands.
He spoke of 6 J acres yielding in the locality to which he al-
luded 24 tons of clover hay at only two mowings, and of the
proceeds amounting to £104;. That spoke volumes for the
breaking up of poor grass-land. As regards the statement,
however, that there was a ton and a half of tops and bottoms in
addition, he must say he did not tliink that showed good ma-
nagement.

Mr. Cadlk : There were over seven tons.

Mr. Dkinc+ said he admitted that the balance sheet was a
good one, but he could not see why the ton and a half of tops
and bottoms should not have been made as valuable as the
rest, if attention had been paid to the steddle and thatch-
ing. Mr. Trethewy recommended that when grass land was
laid down with seeds, it should be mown for two or three
seasons aud not stocked with sheep. He (Mr. Dring) differed
from Mr. Trethewy in lofo. He thought that when land was
laid down as a foundation for corn crops it ought to be grazed
with sheep.

Mr. Trethewy remarked that he spoke of permanent pas-

ture.

Mr. DuiJiGr added that in the breaking up of pasture
land farmers generally ought to be guided by soil and
climate.

Mr. T. CoNGEEVE (Peter Hall, Brinklow, Coventry) said he
was very glad that the discussion had taken the turn that it
had, differing as it did from some discussions to which
he had hstened. They had been told under that roof
about the importance of British farmers breaking up every
acre of land that they could, i)\asmuch as every acre kept in
permanent grass was farmed at a loss, while every acre of
arable laud was sure to prove profitable (laughter). As re-
garded Mr. Cadle's remarks, so far as the good descriptions of
grass land in the midland counties were concerned, he (Mr. Con-
greve) denied that there were many thousands of acres in
Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and other counties which
could be profitably converted into arable. It would take a
considerable amount of capital to effect such an alteration ; and
if the views of a well-known member of that Club, and a
former alderman of the City of London, were carried out, in
the months of June, July, August, and September, London
would find itself very short of beef and mutton (A Voice :
" We have heard of a bullock and a sheep to the acre"). He
had known land that would bear that. Such laud as he al-
luded to could not be stocked with the same amount
of capital as arable land. He thought that discussion was
Hkely to do good.. His advice to all intending breakers-
up was that they should calculate the cost before they did it,
have due regard to climate, and see whether they could not
keep a greater amount of stock, and by using cake, &c., improve
the land. They all knew that with the present price of corn
they were farming at a loss. Unfortunately there were seasons
vphen it was impossible to rely on peas and beans. The
grass lands were in a better position in some respects than
arable lands, and therefore it behoved them to consider well
before breaking them up (Hear, hear).

Mr. J. Br.vdshaw (Knole, Guildford) said he felt sure that
what had fallen from the different speakers that evening would
produce a very beneficial effect throughout the country. He
was satisfied that the poor pastures of his own county had
been neglected. He had been for many years a member of
that Club, and until that evening he never heard an opinion
expressed there as to the effect of using bones upon land in
the south of England (cries of "Oh! oh!). He knew the
effect of bones in Cheshire and Lancashire had been stated.
Forty years ago he saw that effect on a neighbouring farm to
that with which he was connected, and boiled bones were
then applied in the district to which he alluded at the rate of
a ton per acre, the cost of bones being at that time £5,
while it was now £7 10s. He had imported bones at £3 10s.
per ton, and applied them to his land.

Mr. CoussMAKEK observed that he had applied bones at
the rate of half-a-ton per acre, in order to see what the effect
would be.

Mr. Bradsiiaw added that the effect of applying bones to
land was just the opposite of what some persons supposed ;
the use of them deteriorated the (luality of the cheese in
Cheshire.

The ChairMxUs: said before he called upon Mr. Cadle to
reply he would remark upon the advantages which they as a
national , club possessed over a mere local one. They had not
only " wise men from the east," but they had wise men from
the north, the south, and the west (laughter) ; and if the
introducer of a paper failed to recognize the great importance
of climate, soil, and other circumstances, they were sure to
find gentlemen from other parts of the country ready to put
him right and direct attention to those very important consi-
derations (Hear, hear). Mr. Head, with his usual penetration,
took a pounds, shiUiugs, and pence view of the subject, and
no system that would not bear that economic test was
worthy of the consideration of that or of any other club
(Hear, hear). Mr. Cadle mentioned in his paper that the
breaking up of inferior grass lands led to an increase in the
number of labourers, an increase in the beef aud mutton to be
supplied to the millions of this country ; and, therefore he
advocated an increase in the growth of roots and grasses, and,
indirectly, of animals. He (the Chairman) believed that Mr.
Cadle was right, and that it was good policy to break up the
inferior grass land of this country ; but, on the other hand, he

248

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

held that it would be sheer maduess to brenk up the best grass
lands (Hear, hear). Corn could, as Mr. Neild reminded them,
be imported from the ends of the earth ; but the area from
which the nation could draw its supplies of beef and mutton
was, comparatively speaking, a very limited one. The preva-
lent opinion in his own county was that with two-thirds or
three-fourths of arable land, and one-third or one-fourtli
of "rass, they made a larger return and greater profit
than could be obtained when a larger proportion of the
land was arable. Mr. Cadle remarked upon the different
methods to be pursued in the breaking up of grass-land.
He (the chairman) had had some little experience in that mat-
ter, aud before he determined to break up some inferior grass
lands in his possession, he consulted a man who was a great au-
thority in Bedfordshire, and also in other parts of the kingdom,
he alluded to Mr. Thomas Bennett, who was for many
vears agent of the Duke of Bedford. I\Ir. Bennett said, " If
you had a lease for a great number of years, I would not re-
commend you to pare and burn, because what you would gain
in the first three or four years you would lose in succeeding
vears. Paring and burning," he added, " are simply me-
chanical operations, and by resorting to them you destroy much
fertilizing matter that would otherwise remain in the soil ; but,'
he went on to say, " if I were a tenant from year to year, and
had the option of breaking up land, I would pare ana
burn." He followed Mr. Bennett's advice, and had had no
cause to regret it, for he had seen no sensible diminution in
the fertility of the fields which had been thus treated. In one
field he had tried the storing of turf, and he had seen cause
to regret that ; injury had been inflicted on the land, which
was a strong clay, by carting it off". Tv'othing, or scarcely
anything, grew along the headlands for years, and the labour
of taking the turf back to the land was so great that he could
not recommend other men to adopt the .practice. Ue be-
lieved that the most profitable plan was one not mentwned
by Mr. Cadle. A great deal of inferior grass land had been
broken up in Bedfordshire during the last 30 or 40 years on
the clay lands. The most successful men have been those who
made a summer fallow, and followed that with a crop of oats
or of wheat. They cropped two or three years in succession
with white straw, and, by means of a summer fallow the first
year, they got rid of the wire-worm, whicli was one of the
main objects of paring and burning. He quite coincided in
tlie opinion expressed by Mr. Trethewy, as to the pobcy of
keeping sheep otfland recently laid down as permanent pas-
ture. He had found the most injurious results to arise from
the practice of putting sheep on young seeds of grass which
had just been broken up. In such cases the slieep picked out
all the finer grasses, and there was no more elfectual mode of
destroying the prospect of a good turf than stocking newly laid-
down grass too soon with slieep. Mr. Neild seemed to have
forgotten what the Club had done in years past. So far from
its attention having been confined to sheep and grain, those
were really exceptions in the list of subjects discussed. In
turning casually over the record of the questions considered, he
found the following : In April, 1861, there was a discussion on
" Sheep and Bullocks as :\Ianufacturers of Manure ;" in May
of tlie same year the question, " By what Means can the Feed-
ing of Stock on Pasture Land in Spring, Summer, and Au-
tumn be so increased as to supply the Demand of an Increas-
ing Population ?" was introduced by Mr. Owen A^ allis ; on
the 7th of April, 1863, "Dairy Msnagement" was introduced
by Mr. Dumbrell ; on the following 8th of December the
question of " Stock re/siis Corn" was brought forward by Mr.
Robert Smith ; in December of the next year Mr. Coleman
introduced " The Breeding, Rearing, and Patteuiug of Stock
upon Arable Farms, and the Capability of such Farms to
produce Meat ;" on the 3rd of April, 1865, Professor Coleman
read a paper on " The Management of Grass Land," and in
the following December Mr. Duckham one on " The Breeding
and Management of Cattle;" in May, 1806, Mr. Robert
Smith raised the question of " Increasing the Supply of Ani-
mal Food ;" on March 2,1868, Mr. Jackson, of Tattenhall
Hall, Chester, introduced the following, "Would not the
Making of English Cheese be Generally Improved by the In-
troduction of Cheese Factories ?" and on the 7th of December
iu the same year Mr. J. K. Fowler, of Aylesbury, read a paper
on " The Influence of Railways upon Agriculture." He re-
peated therefore that sheep and grain seemed almost to have
been exceptions, instead of having engaged exclusive attention

(Hear, hear). He must also observe that he was surprised
to hear Mr. Bradshaw, who was an old member, say that that
was the first time he had ever heard bones recommended in
that Club for application to grass land.

Mr. Bradshaw : I said in the south (Hear, hear).

The Chairman continued : Since he became a member of
that Club he had heard bones recommended about fifty times
for almost universal application. Mr. Cadle referred to the
important question of the evils which river mills inflicted on a
large brcadtli of land in this country. He thought that in
days when steam power was so much cheapened, and when the
prices of beef and mutton were so high, it might fairly be said
that the time had arrived when the Legislature should deal
witli that question. Thousands and thousands of acres in this
country were water-logged through miserable bits of mills
which barely yielded a living to the occupiers, and if he con-
tinned of the same mind as he was at present, he would call the
attention of the House of Commons to that subject in the
approaching session. .

Mr. Cadle having briefly replied, on the motion ot Mr.
Marsh a vote of thanks was accorded to him for his paper.

On the motion of Mr. H. Trethevv7, seconded by Mr. T.
Horley, junior, a vote of thanks was given to the Chairman,
and this terminated the proceedings.

At a meeting of the Committee on Monday, February 7,
a Sub-Committee, consisting of the Chairman, Mr. James
Howard, M.P., Mr. Cuthbert W. Johnson, and Mr. Sewell
Read, M.P., was appointed to look to any Educational measure
brought forward by the Government, and to report thereon to
the Committee.

The Secretary reported that a complete set of Ike Devon
Herd Book had been presented to the Club, by the Editor,
Captain Tanner Davy, of Rose Ash, South Molton ; and a
complete set of The Sussex Herd Book, by Mr. Alfred
Ileasmau, of Church Farm, Angmering, one of the Editors ;
and the thanks of the Committee were ordered to these two
gentlemen.

NEW :M E M B E R S .
Elected January 3.
W. II. Brown, Liddington, Rutland.
J. T. BurneU, Bronsburg Villa, Kilburn.

D. W. Hill, Pinner.

F. J. Sedgwick, Watford.

W. Shaft, Arundel.

J. S. Surridge, Coggeshall.

February 7.

W. Glutton, Penge.

J. W. Ellis, 18, Old Broad Street, E.G.

W. Fairs, Aston, Great Budworth, Northwick.

E. Fox, Jun., Rosemount, Finchley.
A. R. Greenfell, Shalford, Guildford.
H. M. Jenkins, Royal Agricultural Society,

Hanover Square.
T. Mace, Shirburn, Northleach.
T. Rigby, Over, Winsford, Cheshire.
M. Roker, Snowdenham, Bramley, Guildford.
J. Scott, Iffley House, Horsey.
J. Taylor, Southill, Biggleswade.
A. Waterer, Nap Hill Nursery, Woking.

THE FISHER HOBBS TESTIMONIAL.— At a meet-
ing of the committee held at the Salisbury Hotel, on Monday,
February 7th, Mr. Henry Trethewy, who was in tlie chair,
stated, as surviving executor, that it was Mr. Fisher Hobbs
desire' tliat the testimonial portrait be presented to the
Farmers' Club. It was, therefore, resolved that Mr. Knight,
R A the artist, be directed to deliverthepictureat theSalisbury
Hotel for that purpose. Mr. Trethewy was appointed
treasurer, and the honorary secretaries were requested to pay
into his account at Barnett, Hoare, and Co., the balances in
their hands respectively. Tlie treasurer was then instructed
to pay the balance of £8!) 5s. due to Mr. Knight. It was
determined to hold another meeting to decide as to what
should be done with the small balance still remaining, after the
payment of his account.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

249

THE NEW FARM.

What glorious, bright.a parkling, frosty weather it was !
It put everyone in such spirits. The bailiff merry ;
the labourers pitch with a will, as the empty dung-carts
return rapidly over the hard fallow. We are putting a
good coating on the autumn-planted potatoes, because
what rich soil there was a-top when the stubble was
ploughed for planting lies now nine inches deep, and
their over-covering mould may be raw and insipid, as it
is a field that we have not long had in possession, and the
last owner did his farm but niggardly.

The river has sunk so much — probably from the bind-
ing-up of the mountain-springs — that I have been able
to make a thorough inspection of the effect of the jetties,
the strong mid-day sunlight showing minutely not only
the material and make-up of the river-bed, but the very
motes, too, floating in the air under the wall. I tind that
gravel has been scooped up somewhere above, and de-
posited in a fine sloping bed behind each pier, while.be-
tween them the water rests so still, that, although there
is a strong current outside, the dry broken twigs thrown
iu don't move on in the least. I long for March to come,
that we may complete our work by sloping down the
steep places of the bank, filling up what holes remain
with pared rough turf from a neighbouring meadow,
which has been only recently drained, and is covered
with a coarse mat of sour tussock grass that no stock
will touch. I shall so kill two birds. I shall defend my
bank against the river by a tough packing of the hollows,
that it will get disheartened in attempting to pick out,
and I shall encourage a fresh sweet springing of the
pasture. The fine new mould which was filled-in during
October the angry flood made short work of when it
managed to overleap the jetties. A subsequent inun-
dation, however, was completely batfled by such packing
as we did, by way of experiment, of the gaps before
emptied. Once get the slope smoothed, and a fair sward
upon it, aud we shall have no further fear of any wash.
We shall only hope that the waters will descend as thick
as can be with a loamy solution from the upper country.
It is very surprising to see how rapidly grass blades
manage to disengage the earthy particles from the turbid
sheet as it advances upon the plain. I watched it rush
angi'ily — a very mud soup — up a narrow hollow in the
field, where a fence had once stood ; but before it had
travelled two hundred yards, the element was returning
fast to its normal limpid condition, and became clear as
crystal when it with difficulty had mounted some higher
portion of the meadow.

The purchase of the mare and horse in Wales has made
us very forward to our work. It is grand to have had
the stubbles all deeply ploughed a month since, so that
the rocky soil is getting as friable as can be. For man-
gold-wurtzel I shall only work the ground now with a
scarifier until it is opened with a double mould-board
plough, for the reception of good soapy muck from our
deepest foldyard, which is hollowed out of the rock. I saw
the juice running out of the carts just now, as mellow and
deep-tinted as October ale. We have so much stock in
the folds and boxes, that in a month's time it will be
full-stuffed again. A couple of acres of cabbage having
been planted during my absence in the autumn without
the land having, as it should have done, a dressing of ma-
niire, the bajlift" considering the bed strong enough, I

shall try the effect of sewage, and give each plant a cup
of strong drink when the spring comes in, for our liquid-
manure tank has long been brimful.

What a pleasant occupation it is getting the lambing-
yard ready ! We shall this year make it occupy the half
of a new stackyard we have established near the bailiff's
bedroom window. Having hollowed a long strip about
four yards' wide to the depth of 18 inches, and filled the
trench with sifted dry wood aud coal-ashes, we shall build
a roof of straw to it and a back of wattled hurdles, along
which, on the inside, deep rain-spouts will be fixed by way
of mangers. We so manage to make a great quantity of
"artificial" to drill in with the swedes. I have some
dozen porkers similarly bedded. The hen and duck
houses are all laid with sawdust, with which, too, the
fattening cattle are bedded. It does not give half the
trouble that straw does in the cleaning out, and goes
much further ; while we have ample use for the sheaves,
there being a good part of them cut-up with hay and
pulped swedes ; much, too, being strewn under the
terribly high-bred pets of the establishment. There is a
special virtue in the smell of the pine-wood sawdust :
it keeps off insect plagues, I think. Talking of pine-
wood reminds one of larch. At one corner of the farm
there rises at the base of a sloping arable field a conical
hillock rounded on three sides, upon the fourth attaching
to and embedded in the field. What it ever can have
been quite puzzles us. It might, from its shape, have
been a tumulus. The surrounding ground is high, and a
hundred feet above the level of a brook, which runs at
the bottom a meadow's width below. Rather a dis-
tinguished geologist holds that over this elevated table-
laud (it was not elevated then, but is supposed to owe its
rise to volcanic action) once a river ran, disemboguing
at the point where the conical mound rises, and which,
therefore, may be simply an accumulated deposit of drift.
Some party, in old time, perchance, had a jetty there.
Anyhow, this hillock is so steep that we cannot plough
its sides ; and to plant it would be to throw an undue
shade on the adjacent corn-field. In our despair, cer-
tainly, last year we did plant it, and in greater despair
the plantation died ; so this year, as the steep sides look
to the east, south, and west, the frigid north wind being
well shielded off by the rising back-ground, so that it is
a hot quarter rather than otherwise, I propose to begin
at the bottom, and dig or break it up with picks to a
considerable depth, after a terrace-fashion (as we see the
hill-sides treated along the Rhine). The outside edge of
the step shall be higher, or, in other words, the steps
shall slope back from the outside edge at an angle of 20
deg. downwards, so that, when rain falls, it shall soak
into the sastly rock and soil at the hollows of the stair-
case, instead of washing off the lips of the steps. Once
deeply worked, I expect and hope that we may make a
plot, now useless except as a rabbit-lair, of garden-value,
for the raising of cabbage plants, &c. At least, it is
worth the experiment ; while our occupation will be as
interesting as healthful.

Having occasion to open a quarry for the purpose of
making the river jetties, I observed, four feet under the
surface soil — the hole having been worked into a slope —
a regular incrustation of lime, which seemed to have fil-
tered through, aud had gathered in cakes about the lajers

S

260

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of stone. There is a certain element of lime in the sand-
stone itself, which tizzies on the application of spirit of
salt, but the stuff which attracted my attention is clearly
an infiltrated incrustation from the surface, which I
understand was dressed thickly with a compost of earth
and lime some fifteen years ago. I know that lime will
bury itself in time, but I had no idea that it was so per-
severing a borer as this.

What an easy thing it is to do good ! Would that we
were always so inclined ! Having been shown by the en-
terprising agent of some ducal estates in Suffolk a com-
fortable labourers' reading-room erected at different points
of this property, I borrowed the idea, and by the expen-
diture of a few shillings boarded off half a garden-house,
which has temporarily been wainscotted with matting,
and is warmed with an old laundry stove. A table is
erected at one corner, with a book-shelf above, and a
paraffin lamp gives light. When I first broached

the idea all the villagers held off; but any night you
may turn in now, between seven and half-past nine,
you will find the place crowded. Each subscriber
pays a penny a week. The room is managed by
a chairman (elected weekly by themselves) and a
committee. They are supplied with excellent coffee, at a
halfpenny per large cup. The profit on the sale of coffee
buys them a weekly paper ; beside which, between us
neighbours, we put in oui' own half-dozen various prints
every week, and they have a small select library on the
shelf. They are allowed to smoke. I am delighted at
the success of the plan. Whenever you may turn in you
will find a number occupied with the books, and who
don't care to talk. I mention thes particulars, as it is so
cheap a mode of doing positive good. The plan, as I
have said, I borrowed from what I saw in Suffolk. My
sands are run, and so good-by. Vigil.

THE HERDS OF GREAT BRITAIN.
Chapter LIX.

MR. LENEY'S.
A trip to Wateringbury before the " South Eastern"
Railway came into being, was a weary thing, by com-
parison. Now you take train at Cannon Street, slip
down one side of a Sussex and Kentish triangle, instead
of going round two, and reach Tonbridge in an hour. A
change at Paddock Wood, and then a few miles down the
Maidstone branch, brings you to Wateringbury station,
which was in a state of blockade. The hopping season
was just over, and a strange motley troop of Celts and
Saxons with dishevelled hair, squalling babies, potato -
kettles tied up in handkerchiefs, and bunches of faded
hop-bines as a token of their autumn outing, struggled
up to the barriers, within which the station-
master was entrenched. Black eyes were rather
the rule, than the exception, with the women, as
they fight severely before parting; but the men don't
seem " to malice each other" so much. In the midst of
an apparently severe tourney we have seen them suddenly
relent, perform a sort of wild Pyrrhic dance, and give the
kiss of peace.

Mr. Leney, who lives at The Orpines, a pretty spot
which Shorthorn men know well, about half a mile from
the station, has sometimes a thousand of them at work on
his 140 acres of hop yards, which are principally planted
with Geldings. The poles are creosoted at the bottom,
which generally is in better preservation than the top
when their natural term of fourteen or fifteen years is
completed. The Goldings, which are grown here and at
Yalding, require poles of 16 to 18 feet. The bines just
reach the top of the pole, and if they were to lean over
much they would lose quality or become " housey,"
as it is called. The Grapes require an intermediate pole
of from 13 to 14 feet ; and the Jones's, which don't
climb, one of 2 or 3 feet less. These latter do not pro-
duce the same quantity, and are grown more in the Weald
of Kent and Sussex. The withered bines have their uses,
and not only furnish litter and thatch, but serve to put
over the mangold " clamp." The whole of the 340 acres
which Mr. Leney has in hand are upon the hazel mould,
with Kentish ragstone as the subsoil, and 80 acres of
it are in permanent grass. Swedes succeed trifolium,
and are used with cut straw and malt- dust for cattle in
the winter; and the mangolds we Suttoa's Globe and

Long Red and Yellow, following rye, which is cut some-
times at a five-foot growth on May 1st.

We have our first view of the herd in a meadow by
the side of the Medway, where four lots from Mr.
Fowler's sale are undergoing quarantine. The white
nine-year-old Seraph, of the Sweetheart tribe, retains ~i
much of the massiveness which enabled her to win three
cups in her day. Near her are the two roans Nymphalin
and Pipalee, own sisters, by Bull's Run, from Sylphide ;
and the big, deep-fleshed heifer Knightley's Grand Duchess,
by Fourth Grand Duke, from Nymphalin, still nineteen
days short of two years, and a proof of what " Bates upon
Fawsley" can effect. She was a 21 0-guinea purchase,
and Mr. Leney and Mr. Sheldon fought in their best
style. The wind nipped so shrewdly that an adjournment
was made to a long shed, and the biddings gained spirit
by the move.

A few years ago Mr. Leney merely bought calves to
make into steers, with which he won tlu-ee silver
cups at the Ashford Fat Show and two at the
Maidstone. In 1862 he desired something better,
and bought sixteen of Mr. Golding's, of Hunton. in
a lot. Clifford by Fourth Duke of Thorndale, from a
cow of Mr. Fawkes's blood, bought at Mr. Hales' sale
was used for three seasons, and was then replaced by Mr.
Harrison's Waterloo Duke. With him came May Queen,
and Lady Blanche of the Anna by Pilot and Blanchette
of the Sockburn Sail tribe ; and, at Mr. Langston's sale,
he could not resist Columbine of the Chaff tribe and two
or three others. At Mr. Tanqueray's, he stiU followed
the Fom-th Duke of Thorndale blood, and bought Second
Kentish Gwynne, Charming by Mameluke, and her four
daughters by Fourth Duke of Thorndale, her grand
daughter and old Sweetbriar, also of the Charmer tribe.
The May Morning of '67, in Kent, did not lack some of
his cheerful, sonorous bids ; and. Second Lord Oxford
200 gs. ("the lame buU" of the Willis's Rooms day),
and Ninth Grand Duchess, a doubtful breeder, were added
to his store. The cow was condemned to salts and star-
vation at Starve Crow, and Second Lord Oxford caught
her at last, and she cafved Grand Duke of Kent. Maiden-
hair of the Rosy tribe (80 gs.), was another Betts' purchase,
and on the following day Mr. Leney returned from Mr.
M'Intosh's with Fawsley Third (190 gs.), a daughter of

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

2S1

Coquelicot ; wMch, although only four years old, has
already bred three calves. Columbia of the Walnut tribe,
at the Marquis of Exeter's, and Knightley (lOOgs.), a
Charmer bull, followed. The Columbia purchase turned
out so well, that her dam and sister recently came to bear
her company from Mr. Sheldon's. Princess Alice of
the Cold Cream sort (120 gs.) fell to Mr. Leney's lot
after some very decisive biddings at the Royal Home
Farm sale in '67, and then the party adjourned
to a Windsor hotel, to discuss the lots of " Sheldon
of Geneva, Illinois." It was here that the
" short, sharp, and decisive" style came out in its highest
force, and Seventh Duchess of Geneva (700 gs.) ; Fourth
Maid of Oxford (300 gs.), a doubtful breeder; and
Seventh Maid of Oxford (260 gs.) — all departed to
Orpines. Well might Mr. Leney's opponents say :
" Yo?c travel so fast, ice could hardly look i-oiind."
Two Sweethearts at Lord Dartmouth's, Garland at Mr.
Gilbert Wood's, Wild Duchess (105 gs.) at Lord Penrhyn's,
Euby (60 gs).and Rarity (71 gs.) of the Charmer sort, at
Mr. Claydon's ; Maryland (90 gs.) of the Rosy tribe (a
pure Knightley), and Spangle (160 gs.), of the Sweetheart
tribe, &c., have been added since then. At present the
herd contains six Duchesses, five Oxfords, fourteen
Charmers, eight Sweethearts, seven Rosys, three Walnuts,
two Gwynnes, two Wild Eyes, two Lilies, three Chaffs,
four Lucy Longs^ two Surmises, one Cold Cream, and
six Garlands.

In May last the herd was 120 strong, and Mr. Leney
tried the experiment of a draft sale. The stock sold did
not average more than eleven months, and the 19 males
(including the 500-guinea bull) averaged £56 9s., and the
23 females £70 5s. 2d. There were no Duchess or Oxford
females in the sale, and Messrs. Foster and Moore took the
three Charmers to Cumberland at 200 guineas, 285 guineas,
and 175 guineas. The 500-guinea Grand Duke of Kent,
by Lord Oxford 2nd, from Ninth Grand Duchess, was not
delivered, owing to illness, and Lady Oxford (100 guineas),
from Columbia, departed for America. Bates and
Knightley are the tribes on which Mr. Leney takes his
stand, with a strong feeling for the Jennies. His plan is
to breed from them early, and let them suckle their own
calves. He never prepares them for Shows ; but he has
taken Smithfield Club honours with his steers, to wit, a
second with one not of his own breeding, in 1865, and a
first the next year with one of his own Cliffords.

The sale-meadow is a very pretty one, close to the
house, and half-flanked by shrubberies. You look right
up the vale of the Medway, and within a mile or two are
the woods of Mereworth Castle, where Lord Falmouth
has his residence for the greater part of the year. His
lordship's breeding paddocks are there, with Queen Bertha,
Hun-icane, and Flax as their leading matrons ; and
Kingscraft, Atalantis, Gertrude, and Guy Dayrell have
been no unworthy scions of the '67 foal-crop.

Most of Mr. Leney's large fields are furnished with
sheds facing the south, for the sake of isolation in case
of any disease. They are all built of wood, and roofed
with felt, so as to keep up an equable temperature in
summer and winter. Those in the park, near Watering-
bury Place, shelter a large number of hoppers during the
season ; they witness strange gambols by day, and stranger
when the wild revellers " dance by the light of the moon."
The Park is one of the principal cow meadows, and we
found there quite a parliament of ladies, headed by
Chorus 1st by Fom-th Duke of Thorndale, of the
Charmer sort, a thick roan. There is a good deal
of gaiety about the American Maid, or Fourth Maid
of Oxford by Imperial Oxford, and her loin is worthy
of note, while 7th Maid of Oxford is remarkably nice
jn her under line, but a little slack behind, Jenny 8th

by Clift'ord has much of the look of old Moss Rose, and a
very nice roan, if she was a little more filled up behind
the shoulder. There is no more promising milker in the
herd than the sweet-headed Jenny 12th, but she made a
faux j)as, and had a calf at 21 months. There, too, are
Columbine, a fine red, of the Chaff sort, Columbia, and
Miss Knightley, own sisters, by Sir Charles, May Queen,
with the old fashioned head, and dating back through
Anna by Pilot and Fawsley 5th to Fawsley by Little
John. Grand Duchess 9th, a 210-guinea purchase at
Mr. Betts' is all hillocks now, and one horn curls round
almost into her eye ; and old white Maryland, one of the
last that Sir Charles Knightley bred, is also among
the has-beens.

Miss Thornton, an old white, by Welcome Guest
(15497), from the Clifton pastures, is the only " bit of
Booth" on the ground. The two-year Rarity 2nd, a heifer
of great substance and gaiety, and Garland 5th, from old
Sabrina, a red, with a very neat breast, are near her,
and so is Twin Duchess 4th, with a head to model from.
The massive Seventh Duchess of Geneva, a grand massive
white with that remarkably prominent Bates nostril, is
the gi'and centre-piece of all, and Mr. Leney tells how,
although sorely tempted, he refused 1,500 gs. for her and
her heifer-calf by Fifteenth Grand Duke on his return
from Mr. Bowly's sale. Oxford Fawsley is small, and
with a very nice head ; but Svveetbriar has got a game
leg in the tenth year of her age, and has sadly failed in
consequence. Lord Oxford 2nd knocked her over, but
she bore him a good bull-calf notwithstanding.

Duchess of Oxford, from Maid of Oxford 7th, is a gay
little occupant of one of the calf partitions in the shed,
and her dam is one of the seven selected as an illustration
for the last volume of the Herd Book. At the other end
we found Grand Duke of Kent growing into a lusty well-
fleshed buU, and quite recovered, except in his sprawly
mode of walking, from his recent illness. The shed is
rather rich in calves, a good white heifer by Fifteenth
Grand Duke from Seventh Duchess of Geneva, and his
half-sister from Spangle ; two bull-calves, one a Sir Charles
Knightley from Dew of the Valley, with most beautiful
bone ; and the other by Lord Oxford 2nd from Maiden-
hair. Mr. Leney draws attention to Seventh Maid of
Oxford's calf by Fifteenth Grand Duke, which has fallen
a white, while its predecessor by the same bull was a red.

Princess Alice, a fine rich-haired calf, going back to
Cold Cream, is an appropriate pretace to Lord Oxford
2nd, a big white bull, with a grand head and forehand,
but gouty in one leg. He is by Fourth Duke of Thorn-
dale out of Oxford 18th, and had a reserve on him of
200 gs. at Mr. Betts'. It was thought that he would
never get up after Mr. Leney paid for him ; but still he
is quite able to bull the young heifers. His length is very
good, and his hair remarkably silky, and there are several
good roans among his heifers. Knightley by Barleycorn
from Columbine is a pure Charmer bull of a peculiar
stamp, such as we never met with before. He is thick,
level, and deep-fleshed, with a peculiar crest and short,
shaggy head, which, with rather tucked-up horns, some-
what detracts from his gaiety. His son — the two-year-old
Sir Charles Knightley — has a much nicer head, and just
one cross of Fourth Duke of Thorndale in his Charmer
escutcheon ; but he has not got his growth yet, although
he has a lusty promise. Fifteenth Grand Duke by Fourth
Grand Duke out of Twelfth Grand Duchess by Imperial
Oxford has no trace left of his lameness ; but he is rather
small, with capital thick thighs, and a nice eye and crest.
He was bred by Mr. Bolden ; then Mr. Tanqueray bought
him ; and he came into Mr. Leney's hands with some
Charmers and Gwynnes in cattle-plague time. He is a
deep -fleshed one, and likely to get them with good steaks

S 2

252

. THE FAEMBR'S MAGAZINE.

and boiled beef as well— that delight of " La Belle
France." Mr. Leney has thus Oxford, Charmer, and
Duchess blood at hand for a cross ; and so far this year
he has had eight heifer and three bull calves.

Third Countess of Wateringbury by Lord Oxford 2nd
from Chorus 2ad and 2nd Countess of Wetherby by
Lord Oxford greeted us as we left the yard for the
park, which lies about half a mile away. "We found there
Jenny 9th and 12th, both by Clifford ; the long, low,
and thick Sultana, which goes back like the Jennies to
Matilda by Highflyer; Sharpe's Pauline; Ninth Grand
Duchess, in-calf from July ; Columbine, with fine depth
of rib, bred by Sir Charles Knightley, and one of liis
last; and Chorus 2nd, big and broad across the back.
Something brings back the conversation to Fourth Maid
of Oxford, and we learn that she was a perfect martyr.
Still 300 gs. worth of American stock was not to become
mere butcher's meat without a struggle. She sometimes
walked fifteen miles a day, and finally worked six hours
a day in a pugmill, preparing clay for bricks, which com-
bined processes took nearly 30 stone off her.

We adjourn to the meadow near the oast houses, where
many of the older cows are grazing. One of them.
Second Kentish Gwynne, a thick, white, and rather

cushioned behind, once shared the honours of penal
servitude with the Fourth Maid. There, too, is the
shadow of old Sabrina, and with her that deep good cow
Sultana 2nd. So are Ruby, the dam of Rarity, Maiden-
hair, and Chorus 2nd, which figures with her calf
Countess of Wateringbury in the last volume of the
Herd Book, Spangle, of the Sweetheart tribe, and
Columbine, a low thick cow of the Chaff ; and
Fawsley 3rd (190 gs.) soon, makes you ask her name
and belongings. The eleven -year-old Jenny has a true
Yorkshire milking character about her, and we are not
surprised to hear that she is good for six to seveu gallons
per day iu the height of the grass. "The grand tour"
ends iu a yard hard by Mr. Leney's own brewery, where
we find Princess Alice, a gay and pretty heifer with Cold
Cream and British Prince iu her veins. Old red Charming
is there too, with that length and quality which first
charmed the ring when she was sold at Mr. Adkins' sale
in '50, and induced Mr. Leney to buy her in a lot of
eight from Mr. Tanqueray's ; and with Seventh Maid of
Oxford, another picture elect, we closed our note-book in
Kent, and bid good-bye to the most spirited Shorthorn
buyer that it ever possessed. HI H ©

THE YIELD IN 18«9.

These advices were presented to the 3Iark Lane Ki-2)>rss-
The analysis, or condensed statement of the results, will
be found in the annexed table, which, so far as the returns
wiU admit, gives an exact view in a few lines of the
average yield of the different cereal crops. We say, so
far as the returns will admit, for we still have to com-
plain that so many of our correspondents continue to
comprise the classification of a large portion of their re-
turns under the indefinite term " under average," which
may mean a trifling or a large deficiency. We believe, in
fact, that in numerous cases those words do represent a
much larger per-centage than their use would imply ; but
which it would not become us to act upon. We have
placed this matter in the foreground of our table in the
hope that our corresponding friends may take it into con-
sideration before another season comes round for sending
us their reports. The following is a summary of the re-
sults of the late harvest of cereals :

Classification.

td
"3

0

so

0

3

Failure and three-fourths under average

Two-thirds under average

Half „ „

1

"3

27

35

3

5

231

10
31
16

20

1

199

3

"7

18

4

"s

210

209

22

"9
1

32
10
30
19
11
1

158

167

18

"2
4

452

42

^46

65

9.r^

One-fifth „ „

1

190

183 185

9S

27

"3
"3

27

9

One-sixth over average

One-filth „ „

1

One-third „ „

One-half „ „

Two-thirds „ „

Totals

5U

4,89

i21

408

The season of 1868-9 has been a very different one
from that of 1867-8 in mmj jniportivut rospcots, The

autumnal sowing was effected under favourable circum-
stances, but the spring was unpropitious, and a wet
March was against the wheat crop, as well as every
other cereal. The summer, too, was ungenial, and two or
three frosty nights at the latter end of June, when the
wheat was on the bloom, inflicted considerable injury on
that crop. The atmospheric changes continued unfavour-
able until July, when the weather cleared, and we had
several weeks of ripening weather, which lasted until a
large proportion of the grain crops were matured and
housed in excellent condition. But the mischief was
past cure, and the different cereal crops came light to
hand, promising a very dift'erent result, for the wheat
especially, from that of the previous harvest. It is true
the wheat crop of 1868 was an exceptional one in the
extraordinary yield, both in weight and measure and the
unusually early period of its ripeuing. So low, too, were
the stocks reduced, as well on the Continent as in the
United Kingdom, that, early as the new crop came upon
the market, it was at once made available for consump-
tion, which was from a month to six weeks earlier than
usual. This extended the period for which it was required
to supply the wants of the country to an equal extent, and
when the recent harvest commenced there certainly was
not more than an average stock of old wheat, if so much,
in the hands of the growers.

The farmers generally were disappointed in the result
of the wheat crop. There was no deficiency in the
number of plants, the ground being well covered. But
as soon as the harvest commenced the weight of the
sheaves, in a large majority of cases, told too plainly of a
deficiency in the yield ; and our analysis of the returns
sent us explains the average result. As compared with
the crop of 1868 the difterence is enormous. On a re-
ference to the tables of last year, we find that out of 528
returns there are only 13 under average, whilst of the
remaining 515, 381 were above it. On the contrary,
this year the proportions are 295 under and 316 an
average and above it, the numbei' of these latter being
only 33,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

253

With such a deficiency as these figures indicate the
growers had reason to expect a corresponding price for
their grain, and here is the most serious disappointment
they have had to meet. If we compare the state of the
markets in those two seasons we shall find a most ex-
traordinary discrepancy. With the largest crop ever har-
vested, that of 1868, the year closed with a six weeks'
average of 50s. 7d. With a crop deficient to the extent
of at least one-fifth, and probably one-fourth, the average
struck at the same period of the year is only 44s. 7d.,
and prices have ever since suffered a further decline.
This state of things is owing to the large arrivals during
the last three months of the year and up to the present
time, with a knowledge that a fleet comprising several
hundreds of grain-laden vessels are afloat, destined for
the United Kingdom, as the only market open to them
at present.

The barley crop is rather less unfavourable than
that of 1868, but is still far from being a good one.
We show 277 returns under, and 212 an average and
above it. Last year there were 332 under, and only 171
an average and over. In both seasons there has been a
large proportion of the produce thin and of a dark colour
unfit for malting purposes. The deficiency has been sup-
plied by importations to a certain extent, but still more
by the use of sugar, which is now largely employed by
the public brewers, to enable them to meet the increased
and increasing demand for malt liquors. But for the
large importations of foreign barley, a considerable pro-
portion of which was fit for malting, the price of this
grain would have ruled very high. As it is, with a foreign
supply last year of about seven milliou hundred-weights,
the last six weeks' average is only 35s. lid. per qr.,
against 48s. lOd. at the same period of last year — the
highest price being 39s. per qr. We think the crop can-
not be taken at more than three-fourths of an average —
probably three-fifths, the quality being much inferior to
that of last year, owing to the sudden setting in of the

dry weather when the plant was not forward enough to
withstand it.

The result of the oat crop has much surprised us,
having previously from many quarters had favourable
accounts. There are 250 under, and 241 averages, or
above, against 387 under and 103 average and over.
Some of the returns speak of a very thin quality, but
generally both quality and condition good. The price,
however, of this grain is quite out of proportion with the
deficient crop. The imports are large, and have driven
the quotations for the six weeks' average at the end of
January down to 20s. lOd. per qr., against 27s. 7d. at the
same period last year, the highest price for potato oats being
quoted at 233. The yield of this grain cannot be estimated
at more than three-fifths of an average ; and we fear some
of our correspondents will thinkeven this estimate too high.

With respect to the bean crop, we remark that in
numerous cases the returns include two results, one
for winter the other for spring sown. The former are
invariably good, and the latter as invariably bad, and
these of course being taken separately, increase the num-
ber of entries in our summary. As they appear, there
are 261 under average, and 191 average and over it; but
amongst the former there are 32 entire failures, and 71
ranging from one-fifth to two-thirds deficiency, and we
fear we shall estimate the crop too high at three-fifths of
an average.

The pea crop is, if anything, worse than the bean,
there being 300 under average, and 108 averages and
over. Amongst the former there are 42 cases of failure,
46 from one-half to two-thirds, 65 one-third, and 26
one-fourth deficiency. This crop, chiefly the late-sown,
was greatly injured by the fly ; the early-sown, like the
beans, being generally good. Taking all into account, we
cannot estimate the crop at more than half an average
one. Owing to the large importations, the price of both
beans and peas is low, considering the smallness of the
returns.

THE REPEAL OF THE MALT TAX AND THE USE OF SEMI-MALTED GRAIN.

After the reading of Mr. A^"DREW Johnston's paper at
the Essex Chamber of Agriculture, the fol jwing discussion
took place :

Mr. Seam.vn said so long as the farmer was prohibited
using the produce of his own farm as he pleased, so long there
would be adulteration of manure and cake. It must be clear
to any one that there would be a great demand for manures
and feeding stuffs when the food of animals was really dearer
than the food of man, the best hnseed cake being £13 10s.
per ton, and wheat and barley only £8 per ton. And he be-
lieved the greatest culprits in this matter were the Houses of
Parliament, who prevented the farmer using his own produce
as he liked. They had been told by Mr. Lawes, who under-
took to conduct experiments for the Board of Trade in 1805,
that malted grain was superior to the grain from which it was
produced for feeding animals upon, and it might be recollected
during the discussions in Parliament, in which Mr. Du Cane,
late member for North Essex, took a prominent part, tliat he
(M;. Seanion) threw out a challenge of £500 that he could
produce more mutton in a given time by using malt as he
sJiould direct (semi-malted grain) than Mr. Lawes could pro-
duce from double the quantity of raw material with double
the number of sheep. Mr. Du Cane asked the Government
to accept this challenge, but it did not suit their purpose. Mr.
Lawes, however, used the grain as for making beer, instead of
using it before it went to the kiln, which was the proper stage
at which it ought to be used for feeding animals. He had a
sample (which lie forwarded to the chairman) at the stage at
which it should be used, but unfortunately the excise were

just as strict in regard to it at that stage as at the full stage of
malting. He was in a position to prove that l^lbs. of that
grain per week, with half a peck of turnips daily, and straw
chaff, would produce 3lbs. of mutton, at a cost of Is. per stone
(and he would leave them to guess wliat was the value of 3lbs.
of mutton), wliile the best linseed cake, which cost £13 10s.
per ton, for 12 weeks, would not produce more than 2lbs. of
mutton per week, so that actually they could get more mutton
by using a sbillingsworth of this semi-malted grain than they
could by using eighteenpennyworth of liuseed cake. He also
spoke of this semi-malted grain as a very healthy article of
diet (and being a veterinary surgeon he should be an au-
thority).

Colonel Bkise (the Chairman) : Excuse me, but how many
hours has this grain been steeped ?

Mr. Seaman replied that it had been steeped 48 hours, but
it took 10 days to arrive at that stage. He urged also that
this prohibition by the excise caused adulteration of manures,
for if farmers were allowed to use grown maize, bailey, or
wheat, it was well known they would have most excellent ma-
nure. He saw a gentleman in that room who in 1865, when
legs of mutton were worth Is. per pound, was producing 31bs.
of mutton upon each sheep per week with nothing but grown
wheat and barley, and he would undertake that cattle, however
poor, if they were healthy, could be fed up in eight weeks
upon his principle of using semi-malted graiu, if they could
have enough to eat, and there was not the fear in using this
that there was in using other articles. It was both exceed-

2U

THE FARMEE'g MAGAZINE.

ingly nutritious and perfectly harmless, and that was what
they wanted.

Mr. Johnston : It is illegal in the present state of the law
to make use of this article ?

Mr. Seaman : Yes, the exciseman would prevent you making
use of it.

Mr. Johnston : Are you sure there is not an exciseman
present ? If there is he will he down upon us.

Mr. Clayden said that Mr. Cornell was feeding 500 sheep
upon this article during the recent great scarcity of food, but
when it became known he was prevented using it further. Ifc
the law could be altered in this respect it would greatly pre-
vent the adulteration of feeding stuffs.

It was here mentioned that Sir. Seaman had written to the
Board of Inland Revenue asking for permission for farmers to
prepare this grain, but they replied that they were of opinion
that a compliance would involve a risk to the revenue which
would be greater than they would be justified in incurring.

Mr. W^vDE suggested that if Chambers of Agriculture
would direct their attention to securing such an alteration of
the law as would enable farmers to make and use this semi-
malted grain they would be likely to succeed, if they would
stop there, but when the effort was associated with the repeal
of the malt-tax they would agitate at great disadvantage ; and
it was impolitic to defer such a wholesome result until it could
be effected by the repeal of the malt-tax. If the for-
mer case was put before parliament it would obviously so just
that permission would be giveu. The malt-tax was based
upon financial considerations with reference to the manufac-
ture of spirits and beer, but had no reference whatever to the
feeding of animals.

The Chairman : A farmer is permitted to use this if he
mixes it with cake, is he not ?

Mr. Clayden said the chairman was doubtless alluding to
" Gladstone's mixture."

Mr. Charles Spencer said there was never a better time
than the present to agitate for the repeal of the malt-tax, but
as to Mr. AVade's suggestion of getting permission to use this
sprouted grain, if they got that farmers would soon find their
barrels filled with beer (No, no, and laughter). He spoke both
as a maltster and a farmer, and they would find this an insuper-
able objection. But it was very easily got rid of if they would
not tax malt at aU, and tax the beer instead.

Mr. Barnard said they must all feel greatly indebted for
the able and practical paper which Mr. Johnston had read,
and they ought to come to some practical resolution upon the
subject. He proposed a resolution, which he said was on the
suggestion of Mr. Johnston, asking the meeting to recommend
that there should be an official person appointed to make
analyses of food and manures for the members of this chamber.

Mr. Johnston said he was a little taken by surprise by Mr.
Barnard's resolution, because it was not the one he suggested.
What he suggested was that a branch or committee of the
Essex Agricultural Society should be asked to give their atten-
tion to this subject.

Mr. Barnard said his only desire was that something
should he done, either by this Chamber or the Essex Agricul-
tural Society, to protect their members against adulteration in
cattle food and manures.

Mr. Johnston : The resolution suggested was something
after this form — " That in the opinion of this meeting the for-
mation of county associations, or committees of the existing
county agricultural societies, for the purpose of testing by
analysis tlie manures and cake purchased by their members, is
the best method of preventing adulteration."

Mr. Barnard said he was prepared to move this resolution.

Mr. Johnston: I will second it for the purpose of dis-
cussion.

Mr. Clayden pointed out the advantage to farmers of be-
coming members of the Royal Agricultural Society. Those
who joined would be well repaid, because Professor Voelcker
analysed for that society, and always did his work fearlessly
and well. The greatest guarantee farmers in that neighbour-
hood had always felt was in purchasing their cake and manure
from good and respectable man. Mr. Johnston had said that
was not at all times a guarantee, but they had found it so. He
believed all the manures sold by substantial men in this lo-
cality were thoroughly honest. Professor Voelcker, indeed,
had returned some of it as being worth £1 10s. more than it
was sold at. They could not.'go into any agricultural market,

however, without seeing a large number of vendors of ma-
nure, a good deal of which was not what it should be. If
gentlemen joined the Royal Agricultural Society they had at
once the opportunity of having it tested. Mr. Seaman had
alluded to the germination of their own grain. That would be
a most practical and good thing, for there was no article
which would be of greater use in making beef. The farmer
could prepare this kind of food without expense upon his own
premises, and he (Mr. Clayden) had obseiTed that the alteration
made in cattle after taking it for only two or three weeks was
most extraordinary. It was good alike for horses and sheep.
It had been used on farms in this neighbourhood to a very
great extent.

Mr. Seaman : As much as twenty sacks a week has been
used on many farms.

Mr. Clayden : Wlien corn is cheap, of course it is an
exceedingly valuable adjunct. I only trust some means will
be devised by which farmers may he enabled to use this kind of
food. Nothing could more effectually obviate the adulteration
of feeding stuffs.

The Chairman said it seemed to him that the whole pith
of the resolution was, after all, that the remedy was in their
own hands. Men of experience had very little to fear in mak-
ing their purchases of cake and manure, while those who were
not sufficiently experienced, if they were members of the Royal
Agricultural Society, had their remedy in being able to submit
articles for analysis to Professor Voelcker. Por the benefit of
those gentlemen who were not members of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society it was suggested generally, by tliis resolution,
that some steps should be taken by county associations to
form a committee, which should protect them in like manner.
He did not think Mr. Johnston recommended any further
legislation on this question, and he quite agreed with him on
that point. They had a great deal of interesting discussion
in the House of Commons last session on the Adulteration of
Seeds' Bill. When that bill first came into the House, he
thought very little of it. He thought then, as he did now,
that the remedy was in the hands of the farmers. However,
he altered his opinion after hearing the evidence of the com-
mittee. He believed that evidence was of great advantage to
the agricultural community generally, and he was not at all
sure if a committee of the House of Commons should be ap-
pointed to inquire into the subject of manures but that they
would hear many things to astonish them, and that would
very likely be of great benefit to them. But what surprised
him most was the source from which the Adulteration of
Seeds' Bill was promoted. The promoters of the bill turned
out to be seedsmen themselves, and he (Colonel Brise) cer-
tainly had this opinion, that if the manure manufacturers
were as conscience-stricken as the seedsmen showed them-
selves to be, and if they thought it was high time to open
their hearts and tell the agriculturists all the tricks and frauds
they had been practising upon them, and wished to have any
legislation upon the subject, the House of Commons would be
happy to get through any bill they desired to pass ; otherwise,
he confessed he thought legislation had no business to in-
terfere.

The resolution was then submitted to the meeting, and
carried.

Mr. Clayden said he felt he was in order in moving
another resolution — namely, " That in the opinion of this
meeting it is very important farmers should be allowed to ger-
minate their grain for feeding their own animals, as they feel
it would in a great degree obviate the adulteration of feeding
stuffs, and at the same time produce meat at a less cost to the
consumer ; and that efforts should be made by the Chamber of
Agriculture to get an alteration of the law in that respect."
It was perhaps not generally known throughout the kingdom,
or even throughout the county of Essex, as it was in that
neighbourhood, that germinated grain was an exceedingly
valuable and healthy article of food for animals. The article
was at their own doors, and while, unlike some feeding stuffs,
it was not dangerous to animal life, it would be much cheaper
and produce more meat.

Mr. Portway said he v^ould be happy to second the resolu-
tion wliich Mr. Clayden had moved. It was a most important
thing that farmers should be allowed to use germinated grain.
He agreed with the previous speaker that it did not affect the
animal in any injurious way, whereas if they gave a little over-
dose of oilcake or a few beans too many great harm was fre-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

255

quently produced. As an illustration of tlie valuo of germinated
grain he might mention that on one occasion he had a horse
which was said to be rotten and good for nothing, and which
was wasting away very rapidly. The animal was attended by
two or three veterinary surgeons, and at last, after they had
given the case up, he (Mr. Portway) said: "Now I'll try ray
remedy ;" which was to give the horse steeped barley, like that
shown to the meeting by Mr. Seaman, and that horse within
three months was as fat and as well as a mole, and within five
months he was offered £100 for it.

Mr. WjU)e wished to susjgest a means which he thought
would tend to carry out the object which IMr. Clayden and other
gentlemen had in view. If Mr. Clayden would only agitate
this question with half the energy that he advocated the repeal
of the malt-tax, and only let that question alone for a little time,
his efforts would doubtless soon be crowned with success.

Mr. Baenakd said legislation was wanted which would
permit the farmer to use barley in the condition referred to with
impunity.

Mr. JoHjNSTON : In practice the difficulties either are, or
are said to be,'insuparable. I think Government officials are very
apt to make insuperable ditiiculties when there are no insuper-
able difficulties at all ; but the difficulty in this case is said to be
that of drawing a distinction between steeping barley and
making malt. If it were not for that I think no Government
and no member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords,
or anybody else, could for a moment resist such an obviously
just demand on the part of the agriculturist as that he should be
allowed to use the product of his own farm in his own way, and
it is the very ease and facility with which such a demand, on the
first blush of the thing, ought to be granted that makes me
think there must be serious difficulties in the way of granting it
without in some measure laying the Excise open to fraud in the
matter of malt. I am ratherdisposed to think that instead of draw-
ing back, as Mr. Wade suggests, from agitating for the repeal of
the malt tax, the desirability of having this germinated barley
ought to unite us in a more earnest endeavour to get rid of
that law. But some things are necessary before we should
have any chance of this. In the first place we must be able
to point out to Government some way out of the difficulty

which is always thrown in onr teeth about that unfortunate
six millions of money whicli the malt tax brings in. We must
make up our minds tolerably clearly how we are to supply that.
I believe that reductions of the malt tax short of total aboli-
tion will be of very little use, but I think we ought to demand
that a portion of every surplus— and the Government seems to
be producing surpluses as fast as a hen can lay eggs — should
be devoted to reducing that duty, not as an end of the matter,
but with the view ultimately of getting rid of it altogether.
And then I would observe we must have more unanimity and
strength in the agitation. I have been struck with tiie fact
that although I am a malt tax repealer, and although I made
the subject a prominent point in my address to the electors of
South Essex, I have not had a single word said to me by any
farmer or anybody else commending me for the side I take, or
showing any interest in the matter whatever. I don t mean
to say they do not feel it, but, apparently, they don't feel it
sufficiently to make it worth their while to communicate with
their representative. I have had objections raised by people
to my putting the malt tax in ray address, and I was told by
one of ray own party that it would lose me a great many votes,
but I have never had any commendation or credit for putting
it in. Then another important matter is, by aU means not to
make this a party question. I was very much afraid that it
was so regarded in some quarters, when the chairman of an
anti-malt tax meeting in my district, speaking in reply to a
vote of thanks, said he was always glad to take part in that or
any other good tory movement. Nothing could be worse than
to treat tlie question in that way, because if you shake the
malt tax in the face of one side and declare that it is rather a
good move on the other, it is ratlier like shaking a red flag in
the face of a bull, and they don't like it. I should like to see
tliis question kept wholly free from party politics, and there-
fore I made it a prominent point in my address, because I
suppose the supporters of the abolition of the malt tax are
rather more on the other side of the house. I am glad to
think no party considerations have weighed with me, and I
hope they will weigh with nobody else when the time comes
for making a strong pull, a long pull, and a puU altogether.
The resolution was carried unanimously.

THE MIDLAND FARMERS' CLUB.

The sixth annual general meeting of the members was held
at Nock's Hotel, Birmingham, the president, Mr. G. A. May,
in the chair.

In the absence of Mr. J. B. Lythall, through illness, the
report was read by iiis brother, Mr. A. Lithall. It stated
that, owing to the diminished source of income and accumu-
lated deficiencies in past years, the accounts showed an ad-
verse balance of £48 3s. 9d. Nine new members had joined
during the year, and the Club had lost by death and resigna-
tions 22, leaving the number now on the books 214'. The
committee regretted to state that the subscriptions now in
arrear amounted to the large sum of £71 Is.

Mr. T. B. Wright, in moving the adoption of the report,
regretted that the financial statement was not more satisfac-
tory ; but he hoped the arrears of subscriptious would soon
be paid up. When the Club was commenced, he anticipated
that it would number many more members than it now did.
The proposal for its establishment was made by Mr. Alderman
Wiggin (a gentleman who took much interest in agricultural
matters), and was supported by Mr. R. C. Chawner and
others, the impression being that the commerciiil gentlemen
of the town would join in large numbers, since many of them
were interested, from early association, in farming pursuits,
whilst all were concerned in them from a common ground of
interest ; but he was sorry to say that this had not been the
case to the extent which was expected. The promoters of the
Club thought — and the result had shown the impression to
be correct — that a farmers' club, the members of mIucIi did
not come exclusively from any one locality, would stand in a
very independent and useful position. He was sure that all
who had joined the Club had received money's worth for their
subscriptions in the valuable papers which had been read, and

the discussions which had taken place on various important
subjects.

Mr. J. H. Lees seconded the motion, which was passed.

The President said he quite agreed with what Mr. Wright
had said in regard to the club being made the vehicle for con-
veying much valuable information, not only to farmers, but to
all classes. Although it had been said by many that they
conducted their business in an ultra fashion, and that things
were sometimes said which ought not to be said, he did not
coincide in that opinion. It might be that there had on one
or two occasions been some free expressions, as for instance on
the subject of the game laws ; but, a man bitten by game was
like a man bitten by a dog — he was rather apt to go mad.
But he was bound to say that, in regard to the general tenor of
their discussions, every question wiiich he had heard intro-
duced before the club had been treated in a manner at once
both intelligent and proper. His own term of office having
expired, be begged to thank the members of the club for the
kindness which had been shown to him, and to nominate Mr.
WiUiam Brewster as his successor.

Mr. R. B. Masfen seconded the motion, and said he felt
grateful to those gentlemen who first promoted the club, but
his gratitude would be much increased if he saw a renewal of
their exertions and a repetition of their attendance. He did
not like a man to put his hand to the plough and then to look
back ; and he thought those gentlemen who had allowed their
names to be placed upon the list of committees should at any
rate occasionally put in an appearance. It was the commercial
men who founded the club, and he hoped they would attend its
meetings in augmented numbers.

Mr. J, BowEN Jones, of Shrewsbury, read a paper "On
the Relative Merits of the Eour Course and other Systems of

256

l-HE FAEMER'S magazine.

Cropping." He said, tlie object 'of a system of cropping, as
they were all aware, was to prevent that exhaustion of the
soil which would arise from the elimination of its particular
elements of nutrition by the growth of plants ; and therefore
in considering the best rotation of cropping to pursue on any
sort of land, the point to arrive at was how to get the largest
amount of remuneration in return, and at the same time to
prevent the soil declining in its productive power. Another
object must also be to increase the fertility of the soil by the
judicious use of manures, and by good cultivation, &c., through
which means they would insure the growth of larger crops.
The nature of the soil, the climate, and situation principally,
with a variety of minor circumstances, must guide them in the
attempt to carry out these considerations ; and although in a
review of the subject it would be seen that the progress of
modern times had in some degree abolished their original im-
potence when opposed to nature, they would still find that the
quality of the soil and climate would continue to give a dis-
tinctive character to crops grown on different soils and in
different districts. He proposed to divide soils into three
different sections, and to consider their exigencies, as far as
possible, in separate order: l.st. Heavy ; 2nd, Medium, 3rd,
Light Soils. The first section would include clays and very
strong loams ; the second, loams of a mixed character ; and
the third sandy loams to light sands. First, heavy soils. The
strong soils were originally farmed on the principle of taking
all out by continuous cropping of white and leguminous crops,
and then resuscitating by means of the bare iallow. Expe-
rience showed that this description of land possessed the
power of growing wheat and beans ; and practice proved
that, when it was foul and exhausted, fallowing, in addition
to cleaning the land, increased its fertility also. Both
practice and the researches of science showed that cultiva-
tion of a thorough character would develope the stores of
nutritious elementary substances (contained in them in
forms of combination before valueless) into active fertilisers,
as well as render them accessible to the crop from the im-
proved mechanical condition of the land. Taking these truths
into consideration, how far could they improve on the old
system, and in what way ? The quality of the soil was such
that it did not require the rest of an alternate green crop, as
provided by the four-course system ; the too frequent repeti-
tion of the root crop proved too expensive, from the difficulty
of preparing such soil for its successful growth ; and there
was a practical difficulty in removing the crop sufficiently
early to prevent damage to the land ; while its consumption
upon the land by sheep would, in its mechanical action, be an
obstacle to the preparation of a good seed bed for the suc-
ceeding crop. Neither did the soil itself require chemically
recouping in this way for the growth of au extra crop ; so
that the four-course system was not one which must always
be strictly adhered to, or which must necessarily be regularly
carried out on this class of soils, especially where only the
ordinary appliances used in agriculture a few years back have
not been improved upon. A very important consideration for
the British husbandman was the production of beef and
mutton as a profitable method of farming, and it remained
therefore a question as to what extent the growth of root crops
should be pursued in the cultivation of this description of
land. This question forced itself on their minds more espe-
cially at the present time, from the relatively high price of
meat and low price of cereals. Foreign supplies of grain
would always prevent high prices remaining of long duration
in this country, and we should have no chance against regions
blessed with sunny climates, and fertile land, with, in some
instances, a low rate of wages, and nominal rents, together
with extending facilities for delivering their produce, except
by increasing our own yield by improved culture. There
could be no doubt that the manufacture of beef and mutton,
combined with the production of better grain crops, was
the object which must be steadily kept in view lor the
successful cultivation of land in this country. In the
general system of cropping clay lands, although the
nature of the crops was varied to suit the circumstances
of different localities, the bare fallow was the key
to the rotation. After considering the relative merits
of the various modifications of the four-course system, Mr.
Jones went on to say that difficult as clay soils were to contend
with, the fallows might be thrown in more frequently, and
used very advantageously in the growth of mangolds and

swedes for winter consumption, or vetches, rape, or cabbage
for summer and autumn food, which would enable them to
form a medium for the production of meat, through the feed-
ing of which the straw would be again returned to the land in
an enriched state, and the necessity for heavy outlay in arti-
ficial manures obviated. If, however, they could get rid of
the bare fallow, with the year's loss of rent and charges, and
heavy working expenses, they must take care to remember the
principles on which its action had proved of so much value,
and introduce them in any other rotation that might be
adopted to its exclusion. Thus, by wide sow ing of green crops,
considerable cultivation could be effected as well as during the
growth of roots. Good horse and hand hoeing, frequently
carried out, would also make up in some degree for its loss.
It was not easy to lay down on this, of all other classes of
land, a fixed rotation as the best to pursue. On such land the
success of operations of preparation depended, more than on
any other soils, on the weather, and despatch might often make
the difference of a crop. His argument was intended to en-
courage the growth of roots, and by shortening very long
rotations, and introducing other green crops, enable the land
to carry more stock. Such a course as the following would
fulfil these conditions, and would be a step in the direction we
must ultimately arrive at when our appliances were more
generally perfect :

Il.VLF. HALF.

Mangolds and turnips. Fallow, vetches, rape, and

Oats and wheat. other green crops.

Beans. Wheat.

Wheat. Barley.

Seeds. Seeds.

Wheat. Seeds.
Wheat.

They here got a proportion of green crops and cereals (in-
cluding beans) of five to seven, and although the larger por-
tion of them would be summer feed, there was a certain
provision from the root crops and clover hay to carry the same
quantity of stock in the winter as in the summer. Among the
soils comprised in the second division of his subject would be
found our most fertile arable land, the capabilities of which
were, as a rule, sufficiently great to grow more than an alter-
nate green and straw crop, or two corn crops in four years, as
adopted in the four-course system. An extension to the five-
course would offer several points worthy of consideration. A
longer interval would take place between the repetition of red
clover, which, although thriving on such soils, was apt to fail
if too frequently grown, except on the very richest land. The
acquisition of a good root of red clover ensured a succeeding
heavy crop of wheat. An extra corn crop might be taken
without overtasking the natural powers of the soil by a rota-
tion running thus : Boots, wheat, barley, clover, wheat. The
root crop should consist of a portain of mangolds and the rest
swedes. The mangolds might be followed by autumn wheat,
the remainder of the root ground being sown in the spring, and
a portion with Talavera, which would be well adapted to such
a soil. Barley would next be most .suitably grown, and laid
down with seeds, which the following year would form a good
preparation for wheat, the last crop of the rotation. The
continuation of the clover root a second year, and turning
this into a six-course rotation, was a system often adopted^ and
had the advantage of being the means of increasing the stock-
keeping powers of such land. This, however, was done at the
expense of the extra grain crop that the land could well bear,
and did not materially add to the winter stock of food. At
times like the present, or should the land show signs of want
of rest, it might be readily substituted without altering the ro-
tation. He thought they would all agree that on the stronger
loams they ought to endeavour, if possible, to precede barley
with wheat ; in doing which, and adhering to the four-course
system strictly, they were compelled to carry out tiie rotation
as follows: turnips, wheat, barley, clover. They lost the bene-
fit of the clover preparation for wheat by following this ar-
rangement, and got two green and two white crops together.
He saw no particular advantage to be derived from following
clover with roots, as (altl- )ugh there was no reason why man-
golds or swedes should not thrive well if taken at this period)
the clovers could not be used much later in the season than if
they had been succeeded with antumn wheat, as it would be
necessary to plough them early in order to decay the turf, so

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

257

as to provide a good seed-bed for tlie turnips in time for sow-
ing ill the spring. If this order was observed (with high
farming), he saw no objection to a portion of the ley ground
being occupied with early winter oats, followed by a green crop,
after being harvested, the consumption of which would permit
the subsequent sowing of wheat, and keep the course intact.
With regard to the light soils, they were by nature more un-
fitted for tlie growth of crops from the absence of those ingre-
dients of which the structure of plants was partially formed. The
prosperous cultivation of this land was more dependent upon
the production of beef and mutton than was that of any other
description ; and if they had found it incumbent upon them to
keep this object in view to meet the demands of an increasing
population in farming stronger soils, they would find it was ab-
solutely requisite on the lighter ones. This class of laud pos-
sessed the advantage of having soil the mechanical texture of
which admitted of easy cultivation, which, by its porosity, was
always dry and workable, and which, together with its warmth
of temperature, admitted of the rapid growth of plants and
their early maturity. Its drawbacks were its sterility, its
tendency to grow weeds quickly, and its capacity for disposing
of manure, which, when not received by the growing plant,
was soon dissipated in the subsoil. What, then, were the
essentials necessary to develope its natural advantages and
combat its defects ; and how far did the four-course rotation
of cropping accomplish them ? By providing an alternate
green crop, fed on, with a white one, any considarable diminu-
tion in tlie condition of the land was prevented, although the
two olT-going crops of grain would not be fully returned by
the consumption of the straw and green crops. One of the
most complete courses of cropping which had come under
his (Mr. Jones's) personal "observation was pursued on a
farm of a variable but moderately light nature in part, in
Hampshire, and consisted of tlie following modification of
the four-course system : wheat, followed by trifolium
incarnatum, sown in the autumn on one-fourth of the

stubbles, vetches sown about the same time on another
fourth, and the other half left for mangolds, early
swedes, or early roots. The trifolium was followed in June
by swedes on the portions first cleared, and by common tur-
nips, rape, or transplanted cabbages on the later removed por-
tions. The whole of the fallow crops were succeeded by bar-
ley, one-half of which was seeded by red clover ; the other
part being laid down with a mixture of white Dutch and tre-
foil, with a small proportion of rye grass. The results were
very satisfactory, the crops all being exceedingly heavy. It
was difficult to determine by an array of figures how far
one method of cultivation exceeded another in cost. Per-
haps it would be equally unsatisfactory ; for he must con-
fess he agreed to some extent with the late Sir Robert
Peel, that " nothing is more fallacious than figures." The
value of the return of produce must be the standard by which
the merits of any system must be measured ; and, provided
the cost of raising a crop did not equal its value, it
mattered not adding to the expenses of cultivation to effect
this purpose. He looked forward in good hopes and with
faith to the more regular eraployment of steam power as one
of the great means for improving the general cultivation of
the country, both from the greater despatch as well as from
the superiority of culture that would be attained by its appli-
cation. His conviction was that the basis of good farming in
the ordinary run of arable land must be to alternate, as far as
it was practicable, restorative green crops with cereals (which
exhaust more particularly the nitrogenous substauces of the
soil), which was the principle of the four-course system ; but
he thought the time had come when the strict adherence to a
hard and fast rule should be forgotten as a thing of the past, and
it was in many an instance a cause of loss to the occupier, with-
out being a gain to the owner, and consequently it was an act
of folly under these circumstances to pursue it.

After a brief discussion a vote of thanks was given to Mr.
Jones for his paper.

THE FORMULA— FORAGE, CATTLE, CEREALS.

[translated from the journal d'agriculture pratique.]

It may be said that the doctrine of chemical manures, as i
presented by M. Georges Ville, involves two perfectly distinct !
operations: first, a work of destruction seeking to show the
present insufficiency of farming by farm dung ; and secondly,
a work of instruction, which consists of raising upon the ruins
of the ancient system of husbandry, the new one of chemical
manures. " This is," they say, in speaking of the doctrine
propounded, " the agricultural system that ought to pre-
vail; for according to M. Ville, it is necessary to aid intensive
culture by a permanent importation of manure to regulate the
share performed by cattle in the advantages procured by it,
and to do away with the necessity of producing duug at what-
ever price ; in other words, according to the formula, pastures,
cattle, cereals, the doctrine of chemical manures is opposed to
the new formula — the employment of manures, cereals, cattle.
On this principle the cattle is no longer the starting point for
agriculture; it is its apex. If it yields a profit they develop
it ; if it involves a loss they reduce it, and even suppress it to
the extent that they have, in an extreme case, only the teams
and a few animals to consume the products of a sale, more or
less, impossible.

Evidently M. Georges Ville is no longer so peremptory
as in the first period of his enlightenment ; but it is enough
that in his first attempts he had opened up high questions of
rural economy without having previously reflected upon the
bearing of his formulas ; that for a very long time, if not for
ever, his opponents will make no account of his recent conces-
sions. Is he, on the other hand, sincerely converted ? That is,
at least, doubtful. A chemist above all things, the Professor of
the Museum has studied rural economy only when it was too
late, after having extolled a system, after being placed in that
state of mind in which, in spite of themselves, men possessed
of a predominant, imperious, and absolute idea, regard as
secondary and inopportune all that opposes their principle con-

ception. When, therefore, M. Ville says forages, cattle, and
dung, even, in a good sense, we are on our guard and deem it a
purely oratorical artifice, an insinuation, a means of engaging
the attention, in order to lead it back presently to a ground on
which chemical manure will shine alone with the greatest
brilliancy.

To the extreme M. Ville has neglected nothing in order
to disparage agriculture with dung, that is, by pasturage
and cattle. As a chemist, he has demonstrated that duug is
a compound mass, of which four-fifths of its weight are inert
matter. An improvised economist, an accountable inspector
of figures, a reader of agricultural works, led by temperament
and occupation to mount the pedestal of reformers, disdaining,
as such, half measures and middle situations, he has striven to
demonstrate that dung is dearer than is generally supposed,
and even so dear that the farmer marches to his ruin by
engaging to the utmost in the production of cattle.

This part of the work of M. Ville is what I call his work
of demolition, and it is what I propose to take part by part.
It is perhaps known that I look upon the promoter of the
doctrine of chemical manures as a man who has originated a
grand and useful agricultural agitation. In presence of this
service rendered, and knowing besides how much a cause gaius
by being presented without passion or party feeling, I shall
endeavour not to forget that, at this moment, I am addressing
at once very devoted partisans and as determined opponents of
the doctrine of M. Ville, and that, consequently, I must not
reckon on the favourable attention of either except on the
essential condition of not stumbling for a single instant before
the impartial truth.

I insist upon this fundamental point, that it is going too
far to advise placing a head of cattle or its equivalent upon
every hectare (or 2 a. 1 r. 35 p.) of cultivated land. But on
the other hand, one excess does not authorise another, and at

258

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the same time we may charge the ardent Professor of the
Museum with acting against that advice, to the extent of re-
commending the cultivation of cereals as a means of arriving
at the production of forage crops. There is in this an
eccentricity which, in spite of all the concessions of the last
hour, places its author in a very false position. It is true that
this manner of astonishing the mind is often employed in our
days. We ought even to admit that it sometimes succeeds.
At the end of the account reflecting men, if they have allowed
themselves to he surprised, finish by coming back to reality.
The charm is dispelled, and they repeat with the ancient
masters : pastures, cattle, and cereals.

Undoubtedly, farming by forage crops and dung has not
always yielded profits ; and it was not without very well
grounded motives that, in order to demonstrate its limited
power, M. Ville has cited the example of many celebrated
undertakings, especially those of Roville, Griguon, Bechell-
broun, Ssc. EoviUe was worked with a capital insufficient
for extensive culture, and produced only average returns.
Grignon had a large capital, but the want of information
prevented him from employing remunerating cattle, and his
demonstration of the gross profits arising from large capitals
were not so conclusive as we might wish. Bechellbronn was
an experimental, rather than a productive, farm. Like Roville,
the capital was below the requirements of an agriculture of
great returns.

An important fact overrules all the citations of this kind
that can be urged against forage agriculture; that, generally,
in the first half of tliis century we launched into alternate
culture with stalutation, the prototype of the period, without
fulfilling the principal conditions which might have secured
its success. The more we operate upon poor land the more
we are convinced that it is necessary to improve them very
([uickly by a distribution of crops with a preponderance of
roots and large crops of mowing grasses. Thus have been
accumulated enormous capitals on lands, which too often have
been resold or farmed out without any regard to the improve-
ments of which they have been the subject. A fatal fall, if it
was one ; for, without going back to the true cause. Science is
condemned for it : and this is how, in the countries where it
occurs, agricultural progress proceeds so slowly. It ought to be
known that there are forages and forages ; and that if roots and
pastures of large returns are one of the essential supports of a
rich intensive cultivation, there are situations where it is
better to have recourse to the bare fallow and pasturage — at
least upon a part of the land not provided with sufficient dung
for a maximum crop. M. Ville, to my knowledge, has never
taken into consideration the utility, more or less provisionary,
of pastures and fallows. Habituated to high aims, he loves
and extols only intensive culture. He is in this sense, but with
some reservations, a man of the future more than of the present.

One of our professors of rural economy, the more remark-
able for his aptitude for embracing agricultural questions in
their largest generality, lluyer, had characterised the several
periods of the fertility of the soil by the crops that ought to
predominate in each of the periods. At the bottom of this
productive scale he placed the foresting period, thus designated
because that then the lands can be only estimated by the
growth of the timber. Then came the pasturage period, in
which the lands, possessing a degree of herbiferous aptituted,
lend themselves to the adoption of a pastural or mixed pastural
cultivation. The third period was termed the forage period,
and corresponded with that state of fertility of the soil, in which
the cultivator, in order to produce grain profitably, ought to
appropriate a large part to roots and hay. The cerial period
came at that moment in which, without danger of exhausting
the soil, the production of grain may have the ascendant over
the production of forage. The commercial period marked a
fresh progress : it represented fertile lands in which the crops
for exportation, or commercial crops may, occupy large extents
of land. Lastly, the gardening period, or the kitchen garden-
ing crowned the edifice ; we are then at the summum of
fertility, before a numerous population who contend for the soil
in order to subdivide it and cover it with crops by hand labour.

It 18 not necessary to adhere too closely to the letter of
this ingenious classification of Ruyer, for it is certain that the
succession of the systems of cultivation is not alway and every-
where in this methodical order. There is, for instance, poor
land which under the influence of a rapid increase of openings
are brought almost suddenly under very extensive culture ; and,

reciprocally, there are rich lands which from want of capital,
hands, local commerce, &c., remain under pastoral culture when
even the nature of the soil itself is suited to arable culture.
Still, it is that in taking a general view of the laud intended
for the plough, pasturage, fallows, and forage crops are the
first resources of a commencing agriculture which seeks the
improvement of the soil. Such is the predominant law ; the
cereals come afterwards.

Is there in this a fact to be regretted ; one of those facts
that authorise us to regard cattle as a necessary evil ?

According to M. Ville v\'e should be tempted to believe so ;
but to look at things less systematically, and knowing that the
public consumption requires at once bread and meat, and other
animal food, we are compelled to acknowledge the wise
arrangement of a system of cultivation which in the distri-
bution of crops devotes it conjointly to forage crops, cattle, and
cereals. It is thus that agricultural production, in organising
itself for consumption, secures reproduction of crops by the
manure ; and thus it is that agriculture works at once for the
present and the future.

And at what moment have they chosen to organise a crusade
against cattle, regarded as a manure machine ?

It comes at the very time at which the consumption of
animal food is increasing to a very large extent ; when the
country places themselves, now provided with roads, demand
every day more butcher-meat, more butter, more cheese, more
milk for their own wants.

Agriculture feels this fortunate translormation in the habits
of the public consumers. It formerly practised the triennial
course in the north, and the biennial in the south, and thus
exhausted the soil by the too-exclusive culture of cereals. It
now supports itself on forage crops, and it is clearly seen that
it harvests by that system alone more grain than formerly.
Whatever M. VUle may have said in the Official Journal of
the Empire, our agriculture is not the most backward in the
world, and everything leads us to believe that it will increase
its productive power iu proportion with the increase of the
demand for animal food. This species of demand has raised
the prosperity of English agriculture, by leading to the pro-
duction of hread through Meat. The same causes will produce
the same eifests iu France, and if, until now, our rural
economy has not felt itself benefited by the increased con-
sumption of butcher-meat in the cities, it has the greater cause
to congratulate itself for the tendency of the rural population
to consume better food. Comfort in the village, as I have often
said, is the great maxim of our future husbandry ; it does not
exclude, but rather the contrary, that of the cities. I say
simply that in a country essentially composed of rural popula-
tions, everything of a nature to increase the general well-being
of the villages will, by the same rule, also stimulate,
more than all other encouragements, the progress of agricul-
ture. And I add, that unfortunately we have lost much time
in what relates to this species of improvements.

Must we still further insist on the merits of forage crops in
the work of the fertilization of the soil ? Is it necessary to
speak of their^aptitude to draw largely from the atmosphere, to
eradicate weeds, to facilitate the cleansing of dirty lands, of the
assistance they afi'ord in the feeding of cattle in all seasons ?
Must we repeat that the variety^of crops is one of the means of
better arranging agricultural labour, of guarding against com-
mercial and atmospheric vicissitudes, and of better employment
of the income ? Is it necessary to enumerate the advantages
of this admirable law of alternate husbandry — that natural
law which advises us not always to impose the same crop on
the same land, but to change the plants according to a certain
order ? Must I show the myriads of insects, the vegetable
diseases, which become the scourges of a too-exclusive cultiva-
tion, of crops too often repeated P

No ! it is not without study or without numerous motives
that European agriculture has been brought to seek its fulcrum
iu the production of forage crops and cattle. By this fulcrum
it has .obtained abundance, variety, and security of its crops.
By it, its expenses have been reduced — it has given satisfaction
to the varied interests of consumption ; and in short, has sys-
teraatised the labours of the rural populations whom the ex-
clusive culture of corn crops condemned frequently to idleness
and small wages. These are titles that range themselves
under the protection of the best principles of political eco-
nomy, because the prosperity of agriculture and of the public
are thereby made to depend on each other.

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE,

M. Ville has done well to make concessioas in certain
points, but there is in his formula chemical manures, cereals,
cattle — a manifest contradiction. In it the professor of rural
economy places the plough before the osen. I shall not
occupy myself for one moment with his formula of manures. I
maintain only that there is a want of clearness in his instruc-
tions when, after having written on the frontispiece of his
ediiice, " chemical manures, cereals, cattle," he declares that the
cultivator according to his requiremcuts will go by the side of
cattle or cereals. Evidently, if cliemical manure is applied to
the production of cattle first, the former formula is set aside.
Why then have proposed it ? Why, taking the reverse of the
agricultural doctrines hitherto respected, has he sought to
make a breach in agriculture at the base of forage, cattle, and
manure ? Should this, by chance, have been a sensational
formula, which, having affirmed, he quits, after it has produced
its effect, to fall back upon concessions of detail ?

The doctrine of chemical manures, as it appears to me, does
not imply an obhgatory reform of the systems of agriculture.
It had comprised the knowledge limited to the use of chemical
manures adapted to the soil and plants, and which, satisfied
with rendering this great service, would leave agriculture free
to produce cattle, cereals, or manufacturing plants in the pro-
portion demanded by circumstances. But M. Ville is am-
bitious to play another part, and believes he can free agricul-
ture from the obligation of cattle ; and in this state of mind
he has written and rewritten " Chemical Manure, Cereals, and
Cattle."

In an economic point of view, this is the weak side of the
doctrine ; and certainly there is nothing attached to our efforts

or those of our collaborateurs that could not lead the readers
of this Journal to a more hearty appreciation of the utility of
chemical manures. At every instant it has repeated that by
these manures wc can make at will either forage or cereal
crops. Therefore, in our opinion, and in regard to the pre-
sent at least, the agricultural revolution announced by M.
Ville has not the capacity he attributes to it. From the large
quantities of manure the mineral kingdom can furnish, it by
no means follows that cattle are no longer one of the most va-
luable auxiliaries of production of cereals. Agriculture dis-
poses of more fertilising matters tlian formerly, which is the
result of the alternate culture. As to the system itself, it de-
pends, as always, on circumstances of soil, climate, markets,
and population.

I conclude, therefore, with the conviction that the old doc-
trine of forage husbandry wiU continue to subsist, in spite of
the doctrine of chemical manures as presented to us by the
learned Professor of the Museum. The more forage crops we
grow, the more corn we shall harvest. In other words, it is
not sufficiently proved that, reversing the terms of the propo-
sition, it can be generally economic, even with tlie help of
chemical manures, to prepare for forage crops by extensive
cultivation of grain from the beginning of the operation. The
agricultural pyramid remains on its ancient basis, with this
difference, however — that, in order to reduce the net cost and
increase the gross produce of forage crops, contemporary agri-
culture employs abundantly manures, supplementary with
dung. It can thereby make quicker progress, and that is
much. E. Lecouteux.

FAEM HOESB DUTIES.

The following correspondence has been published :

" Easton, near Grantham, Jan. 27, 1870.
" Sir, — Observing in the newspapers a letter from the Ex-
chequer stating that horses kept solely for the purposes of
husbandry would be liable to duty if employed in carting
stones for the repairs of parish roads, will you allow me to ask
information on the following case, viz., the tenants on the
estate under my management are bound by their agreements
to ' furnish a waggon, with a team of horses and a driver, one
day in each year for ^75 of rent, for any purpose the landlord
may think fit, without charging any satisfaction for such team.'
" Tlie occupiers of farms on the property have for many
years discharged this obligation by carting coals to the man-
sion on the estate occupied by the landlord, and I beg respect-
fully to inquire if I am correct in assuming that the horses so
employed are still exempt from duty, on the ground that the
service thus given by the tenants is, in fact, an equivalent for
rent, and must therefore be held to be a purpose of husbandry ?
" I have the honour to be, sir,

" Your most obedient, humble servant,

" John T. Rutherfuri*.
"The Right Hon. Robert Lowe, M.P.,
" Chancellor of the Exchequer."

" Inland Revenue, Somerset House, London, W.C,
" Peb. 3, 1870.
" Sir, — The Chancellor of the Excliequer having forwarded
to this department your letter to him of the 27th ultimo, I am
desired by the commissioners to acquaint you that they will
not insist upon payment of duty for a horse kept solely for
agricultural purposes, which may occasionally only be em-
ployed in drawing coals, bricks, &c., to its owner's house, or to
the house of the farmer's landlord, in conformity with any
provision in that behalf contained in the lease under which the
farm is held, " I am, sir, your obedient servant,

" W. M. RossETTi, Assistant Secretary.
" John T. Rutherfurd, Esq."

FARM-HORSE LICENCES.— The foUowing explanation
has been been given : 11, Downing-street, Whitehall, Jan. 29.

Sir, — In yom- letter to the Cliancellor of the Exchequer dated
the 27th iust., you inquire whether farmers will be charged
licence duty for their farm-horses when used — 1. To draw
coals, which is done in some instances vnth the sole object of
relieving the labourers in the farmer's employment, or other
poor persons from the cost of carriage. 2. To draw material
for repairing the parish roads. In reply Mr. Lowe desires me
to inform you that in law farmers would be liable to duty for
any of these acts, but in practice — 1. The Board of Inland
Revenue will charge the duty if the horses are " let out for
hire " for the purpose of drawing coals ; but if the drawing of
the coals is only done occasionally and as an act of charity,
without any profit, the liability wiU not be enforced. 2. Farm-
horses used for drawing materials for the repair of the parish
roads will be charged if (as is mostly the case) the farmer re-
ceives any remuneration, whether in money or in abatement of
his rates. I am, sir, your obedient servant, C. Rivers Wilson,
Mr. W. E. Welby, M.P.

THE SUPPLY OF BEEF AND MUTTON.— The Food
Journal — a new monthly periodical devoted to social and
sanitary economy — should take a good place in serial litera-
ture. There is plenty of room for the new venture. Adul-
teration, it would seem, has become the rule rather than the
exception ; and we heartily welcome the Food Journal as a
periodical intended to expose the deliberate frauds that are
daily being perpetrated on the public. But there is a vast dif-
ference between good advice and sensational statements.
Throughout the Jouriuil there is an evident tone of Gamgeeisru
that goes a great way to defeat the ends the new monthly has
in view. Professor Gamgee we know to be a clever man.
But it requires something more tlian mere cleverness to solve
what is doubtless the most important problem of the day — the
best method of producing nutritious and cheap food supplies.
" The beef and mutton," says Professor Gamgee, " of the Rus-
sian steppes, of the South American pampas, of our Cape
farms and Australian runs, must repair the injury inflicted on
us by thirty years' disease amongst British live stock." But
it is a fact that cannot be denied even by Mr. Gamgee
that the beef and mutton of the United Kingdom, from
which we have been receiving so much "injury" for

260

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

thirty years, is infinitely superior to the beef and
mutton of the Russian steppes, the South American
pampas, and the Australian runs. There is no blinking this
fact. It is about as patent before the foreign animal is shipped
as it is when his stringy carcase is seen hanging in a second-
rate butcher's stall. Then Mr. Gamgee goes on : "Medical
men have, it is true, failed to discern any great connection be-
tween human and cattle diseases." But Mr, Gamgee knows

better than all the medical men of the age; He know?. " that
human beings occasionally suffer from foot and mouth disease."
Will he give us the details of one case? The pen and mouth
disease — known as caco'ethes scribendi and cacoethes Io(itient/i
— is unfortunately too common among human beings. Until
greater moderaiion is exercised, uutil sweeping generalisations
are abandoned, the food question, even in the Food Jovrnul,
will remain where it is. — The Sjjoiismmi.

FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL GOSSIP.

The lumber trade of Michigan for 1869 reached a total
value of about 34,000,000 dollars. The lumber cut amounted
to 2,029,372,255 feet, valued at 30,293,325 dollars, to which
must be added 3,500,000 dollars worth of shingles, lath, and
staves. It is estimated that up to the close of 1809 there had
been manufactured in Michigan 7,200,000,000 feet of lumber,
and that to obtain this quantity 1,920,000 acres of land had
been stripped. It is calculated that 4,000,000 acres of land
still remain unstripped, which will yield 15,000,000,000 feet
of lumber more. The total value of the future products of the
State in lumber, shingles, lath, &c., ia estimated at 300,000,000
dollars ; and it is thought that 15 or 20 years will be required
to cut and send to market the trees now standing. In 18G9
Chicago received for consumption and shipment 27,000,000
bushels of wheat, 23,000,000 bushels Indian corn, and
12,000,000 bushels of other grain. The quantity of flour
manufactured at Chicago during the year was 600,000 barrels.
In the course of 1869, 1,872,000 hogs and 400,000 head of
cattle were marketed in the same great western centre of Ame-
rican commerce and enterprise. The expenses of the agricul-
tural bureau at Washington are 1,000,000 dollars per annum,
and a New York paper thinks it too much. Kentucky is
anxious to encourage immigration. The olive has been
cultivated in Florida and on the coast islands of
Georgia for nearly half a century. The oil produced
from it is represented as fully equal to the best quality of
French oil. The report of the American official Commissioner
of Agriculture presents among other interesting facts some
encouraging statistics as to the Southern States of the Great
llepublic. Thus the commissioner returns as follows the value
of the live stock in the several States named on February 1,
1868, and February 1, 1869 :

1868. 1869.

State. Dollars. Dollars.

Viiginia 35,148,572 37,705,568

North Carolina ... 26,032,156 24,434,747

South Carolina ... 10,693,117 15,361,888

Georgia 26,563,675 31,692,001

Florida 4,190,184 5,097,999

Alabama 21,126,833 27,255,962

Mississippi 16,815,802 28,515,453

Louisiana 8,492,468 15,162,289

Texas 33,608,563 32,651,895

Arkansas 15,309,989 20,366,380

Tennessee 38,708,762 53,136,553

Kentucky 40,491,619 49,189,403

Missouri 50,728,285 64,490,717

Total 327,808,626 408,000,854

I'rom these figures it appears that all the Southern States, with
the exception of North Carolina and Texas, have very ma-
terially increased the quantity of their live stock within a year.
A lot of Californian beetroot sugar has been made, and the
business is regarded as established, with every prospect of a
speedy and large development. On the lOtli of December,
1869, the question of satisfactory and successful production
was set at rest by the making of 150 lbs. of crystallized
sugar from white Silesian beet grown on the borders
of the American river, and leaving an unexpectedly small
proportion of molasses. The experiment was conducted by
Mr. W. Wadsworth, who had studied in European sugar
works, and who is well versed in the various processes in vogue
ip France and Germany. It is expected that a number of

beet-sngar mills will be erected under the present encouraging
circumstances, and that in a few years California will be inde-
pendent of foreign sugar supplies. The per centage of Cali-
fornian beet will be shortly made known. The receipts of
grain at Buffalo in 1869 were 37,407,121 bushels. — A sale of
Durhams will take place at the l>eneh Imperial establishment
at Corbon on Saturday, Feb. 26. The sale will comprise
eight bulls of from 12 to 23 months old, and eighteen cows
and heifers of all ages. — The Agricultural Society of Cher-
bourg, on being called upon to pronounce its opinion as to the
effects of treaties of commerce and other matters affecting
French agriculture, decided by a majority of 53 to 2 to ask
for a continuance of the Anglo-French treaty of commerce of
Jan. 23, 1860, and of the treaties concluded subsequently on
similar bases between France and other nations. The Society
unanimously called for a reduction of railway taritfs, and it
also called for a diminution in the military contingent which
French rural populations have to furnish annually. — Tiie
Society of Agriculturists of France is now holding its second
annual meeting at Paris under the presidency of M. Drouyn
de Lhuys. The president, in opening the proceedings, glanced
especially at the agricultural congresses which had marked
the course of 1869. M. Drouyn de Lhuys recalled the facts
that during 1869 the Society had been invited (through its
delegates) by England to Manchester, and by Germany to
Treves. He also stated that during the past year the Society
had been enabled to inscribe upon its list of members the
names of His Majesty King George of Hanover, His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, Ilis Highness the Khedive and
his minister Nubar Pacha, His Highness the reigning Prince
of Roumania, and His ExceUeucy General Buenaventura Baez,
president of the Dominican Republic.

We learn from Chili that the occupation of parts of the
Araucaniau territory is about to be undertaken at once. The
Chilian Congress has placed an extra item of 250,000 dollars
for this purpose on the estimates. It will be remembered that
some time since Mr. Josiah Harris was deputed to get samples
of the Guanope Island guano, for the purpose of analyzation.
These samples, thirteen in number, were duly inspcctedreceutly
in the finance department, in the presence of many influential
gentlemen who had been asked to come, and among others her
Britannic Majesty's Minister at Lima. On that occasion the
samples were divided, Mr. Harris taking one to the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, while the other half of each
sample was entrusted to Professor Raymondi, an Italian gen-
tleman and an analytical chemist of some repute. The Pro-
fessor's report has just been published; it will doubtless be
read with some interest in Europe and the United States, as it
sets forth the quality of the Guanope article, which is the one
which will be supplied for some time to come. The Peruvian
Government, while thus frankly giving to the world the
analysis of Professor Raymondi, appears to maintain a policy
of reserve with respect to particulars of guano deposits upon
the main land. Of these, nothing defmite as to quality or
quantity can be ascertained, beyond the vague rumour
of there being some valuable deposits in various locali-
ties, affording a supply for years to come. — We have en-
couraging intelligence as to the settlement of the English
colony of Frayle Muerto, in South America. The crops last
year were very good, and the English settlers, having turned
all their labour and attention to agriculture, were likely to
realise splendid returns, especially in their wheat crops. A
Mr. Melrose has about 800 acres under grain, which he expects
will yield him over £4,000 sterling, clear of all expenses. The

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

261

other Englishmen are equally sanguine; they number in all
about 150, and the total extent of land under tillage exceeds
4,000 acres. The farms lie within a radius of five or six
square leagues of the town of Frayle Muerto, the largest pro-
prietor being Mr. Melrose, who bouglit last year the laud on
which tlie town is built and all around, to the extent of 40,000
acres, for £3,600 sterling, whik' the property is now said to he
worth three times that sura. Mr. Melrose sells small farms,
unfenced, at 5s. to £1 per acre, equal to £1,600 to £6,500 per
square league ; and he stipulates that the buyer must fence in
his land within twelve mouths. There are about 150 Englisli
and American ploughs worked by the settlers, who use both
horses and oxen for ploughing; there are also 80 reaping ma-
chines and 10 thrashing machines at work. The ploughs
most in favour are those made by Messrs. Ransome and Sims
or Messrs. Howard, while the favourite thrashing and reaping
machines are those made by Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth
and Messrs. Ransome and Sims. Mr. Melrose had engaged
200 Basque labourers for harvest work at 3s. 4d. per
day besides board. Tlie farmers will sell their grain
at tlie Frayle Muerto station, whence it will be sent
by rail to Rosario. If the harvest realizes the favourable
anticipations formed respecting it, there will be a great inllux
of English settlers next year. — At present each steamer from
England brings out half-a-dozen, some with capital, some with-
out, but all tine active young fellows. — The corn crop in New
England (United States) ripened slowly in many localities last
autumn, and the general average for the year is about 18 per
cent, less than for 1868. On the margins of streams much
damage was done by lieavy rains in the early part of Ootober.
Severe drought along the Atlantic coast in July and August
affected grain injuriously ; but the favourable weather of the
autumn gave fresh vigour to the growth, although in the val-
leys of Maryland and New Jersey violent October rains created
floods which swept away stacks of corn : still, tlie loss
from this cause was not so great as to exert a marked influence
^ upon the general average. In Virginia and North Carolina

the drought was severe last year, making the corn crop light.
The crop of Alabama and Mississippi, altliough better than
that of some of the other Southern States, is not an average
one. An increase on the crop of the previous year is reported
from Texas, while in Kentucky the corn was damaged to a
certain extent by October frosts. In Missouri a good crop
was gathered in. In Illinois there was a reduction of 17 per
cent., as compared with 1868. In Oiiio, Indiana, and Illinois
the ripening of the maize was delayed by the wet spring, fol-
lowed by a cool summer. In Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and Iowa a reduction in quality as well as quantity per acre is
reported. — Messrs. Parks, proprietors of the Glen Flora Stud
Farm, near Chicago, Illinois, have gone into the breeding of
Shorthorns on a limited scale. Messrs. Parks have purchased
five of the best heifers of W. R. Duncan, and they hope in a
few years to have as good a Shorthorn herd as any in the
United States. Glen Flora would seem to be growing into a
large breeding estate. Alderney cattle are being introduced
into Virginia, Mr. Arnold Graef, a newiy-adopted citizen of
the State, having imported a famous Alderney bull (Governor)
bred by Messrs. Seiger and Grabner, of Flox Pond Hill Farm,
Long Island. — An American paper says : " A barrel of corn is
five bushels shelled in most States, but in New Orleans a flour
barrel filled with ears is a barrel of corn, and in some parts
of the west one hundred ears represent a bushel." — California
is legislating to prevent the adulteration of milk. — An Illinois
farmer having 1,400 acres of land derives his whole income
from pasturing cattle for his neighbours, receiving for the
service two dollars per beast per month. — As a specimen of
American progress, it is stated that the greatest farmer in
Minnesota began life on a capital of ten cents, pre-empting
his first ttact of land. — In one of the Cincinnati pork-packing
houses 750 hogs perish daily. The carcases are cut-up with
the utmost celerity. One portion goes out in hams and
another is transformed into sausages — over ten tons per day.
All the lard is extracted by steam, and from it a large quantity
of oil is obtained.

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE.

Sow spring wheat in places where that crop is approved,
as iu the northern and uorth-westera counties, where it
answers a good purpose, on some strong green crop lands,
and on the later fallows of autumn. Throughout the
montli sow oats, and also barley in the latter part, on the
best lands that are dry and early. To cover oats on leys,
three double tines of harrowing may be required : one
lengthwise behind the sower ; the second straight across
the furrows, which completely demolishes the comb
or slice of soil, and pulls it into the cavities over the seed ;
the third tine, lengthwise, finishes the process, which
must exhibit a level platform of fine alluvium, without a
mark or ripple of any kind. The footprints of the horse
must be filled up, or the laud is not in a sowiug condition.
Barley is well covered by two double tines lengthwise.

Sow beans broadcast on stubble lands, or in narrow
drills made by a ribbing plough across the well-harrowed
surface of ground, and covered by a double tine along the
drilling ; or with a machine with long coulters, that make
ruts iu the land to hold the seed, and cover by a harrow-
ing. Sow peas thickly, iu not less thau four bushels on
an acre, in order that the plants may cover the surface of
the ground by intertwining and locking the tendrils to re-
tain moisture and exclude drought. A thin, straggling
crop of legumes is a most pernicious inhabitant of culti-
vation, in which weeds of all sorts find a vacant room to
grow, and mature seeds unmolested, as they cannot be
reached by hand or hoe.

Sow vetches for green food early in the month, as soil
and climate will permit, being the first sowing in most
places, and the second in the earliest districts. Make
another sowing in the last end of the mouth to procure a
jiiccession of herbage fgv snramei' vm of the most yaluable

plant for that purpose. Seed the ground of leys or
stubble thickly, with not less thau four bushels to an acre,
with a portion of oats or barley, of which the stems will
correct the extreme juiciness of the succulent vetch. A
large attention is due to this plant to maintain the greeu
food of the farm. At least one acre must be allowed for
each work horse ou the farm ; pigs, calves, and milch
cows will require some portion.

Sow lucerne on well-prepared grounds, by trenching,
deep ploughing, and the manuring of previous crops, in
10 or 12 lbs. to an acre, well harrowed and covered by a
heavy rolling. A plot of ground near the homestead will
afford a change of green food iu several cuttings of a
young age of herbage. The use of the plant does not ex-
tend into a comparison with clover in mixture, being very
harsh and woody iu the matured growth.

Sow flax on good lands, after a greeu crop, well cleaned
and manured. The management of the crop is very
troublesome, is only adapted for cattle-farming, and ever
disappears before improved agriculture.

Sow parsnips and carrots on good lands, and sandy and
earthy loams, rich by previous cropping, and without the
application of fresh dung plant the crop in rows 18 inches
distant on the flat ground. Steep the seeds in lees of
urine, and encrust with hot lime. Sow sainfoin, which
may be dressed with gypsum. Apply auxiliary and arti-
ficial manures, as top-dressings on young wheats and
clovers as salt, rape-dust, gypsum, malt-coombs, and
nitrate of soda, the last at one to two cwt. on an acre,
and also pigeons dung, which is probably the most
powerful manure that is known.

Sow oabbage seeds on rich plots, for plants to be used
in May aiicl Juwe, Finish the dviuging of gra.s8 knda,

262

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Set traps, aud spread mole hills ; bush-harrow the sur-
face, in order to tear and scatter any substances gathered
into lumps, and roll with a heavy weight, to smooth the
surface for the scythe, and gather any stones.

Plant hops on deep dry lands well prepared by pre-
vious cultivation ; place the hiUs six feet distant each
way, which best admits the scarifier ; put four sets in
each pit, one in each corner ; use weU-rotted dung, and
cover lightly with earth, lowering the upper end of the
set just in the light of day. The hop being a nettle
plant, requires the best qualities of lime, with frequent
and ample applications of strong manures in highly con-
centrated and oleaginous bodies to supply with nutri-
ment the large number of widely-spreading fibrous roots,
like to the cabbages, but more widely spreading.

Continue the planting of trees and of young hedges ;
but cease if dry weather sets in. The cutting of under-
woods, and the felling of timber will now be finished.

The earliest water-meadows will now aflford a green
food, chiefiy used for ewes and lambs in grazings by light
stock. In cases of extensive floodings, a part of the
herbage may be cut, and carried to the homestead, being
the finest green food of the year, which to procure the
rivers of any country may be pumped into reservoirs
on the highest grounds, and thence irrigate the lower
grounds. An early green food admits not any value
being fixed to its use.

Set traps for vermin, and spread mole hills in all ne-
cessary places.

Remove all turnips from the fields ; better done in last
month. Begin to cross-plough the stubble lands for the
early-root crops, as potatoes and mangold wurzel ; also
the clay lands for bare fallows, when the season of time
permits. An early stirring of ground is very beneficial.

In wet weather that prevents sowing thrash aud de-
liver grains, which will be mostly ended in this month,
except a portion left for summer straws. Carry the dung
from the cattle yards to the heaps in the fields, and strew
the yard with straws, cut short, to be made into manure
during summer by the constant use of green food, when
the quality of the article will equal the winter-made
dung, and the quantity will be very considerable. Carry
brush-wood and timber, with di'aining materials, where
wanted.

In most districts this month will he the busiest with
the ewes dropping lambs. Feed largely with juicy, suc-
culent food — as beet, cabbages, and turnips, and provide
the necessary shelter, which in many cases is as beneficial
as the food itself. Remove the ewes and lambs to the
pasture fields, regularly, as the young progeny get
strong.

The fattening of hogs for bacon will be finished this
month, which ends the season of curing meat — the
young pigs will go into summer stores, and become the
earliest for next winter's fattening. The last sales of
stall-fed cattle will empty the stalls for the season, and aU
animals not ripened must become the earliest beeves of
the grass field, if not pushed forward feeding from this
month.

Set poultry on eggs for hatching, and exchange eggs
with any neighbour, the breeds being near akin. Feed
amply with boiled roots mixed with meals and light
grains, with clear running water. Provide a warm, clean
accommodation for the young broods, with a separate
apartment for each kind of animal. It is both pleasant
and pi-ofitable to see a numerous and healthy stock of
poultry on any farm.

CALENDAR OF GARDENING.

This month is the time of business, and every favourable
moment must be used, because the varied character of the
weather is not only likely to perplex, but it frequently
happens that drought sets in for the spring about the
third week, and then it will be too late to hope for the
success of many of the lighter seeds. Begin, therefore,
early to dig plots for the reception of the main crops, on
lands manured in awtumn, or fi"om bearmg previous crops
in the first part of the month. Sow peas in the early
varieties that have been mentioned, and the taller kinds
ot the same catalogue after the middle of the month to
the end. During the same time sow beans, the broad and
the early long pod, in rows, a foot to two feet apart ;
carrots in rows, one foot apart, on sandy loams, rich from
former treatment, without any fresh manure, which en-
courages the growth of fibres, stems, and leaves, more
than roots. Sow beet and parsnips on stronger grounds,
in rows, a foot apart, over trenches of fresh dung half-
rotted at a depth in the ground.

Plant cabbages, Brussels sprouts, brocoli, cauliflowers,
and kales, all on the best grounds that are deep and rich ;
cauliflowers should go into the richest lands, much of the
manure lying in the bottoms of the trenches under the
roots. Guano water is an excellent liquid application to
the young plants. The dwarf and Walcheren varieties of
the last plant — dwarf green curled and cottager's kale.
Cabbages : the Early York and Enfield market. Brocoli :
the early white and Walcheren. Brussels sprouts ; Tall
best to be imported, unless local selections can be depended
upon ; the Roseberry dwarf variety with larger sprouts.
Carrots ; the French Horn, and James' scarlet for shallow
soils. These names are the most modern designations.

Transplant and sow for summer hearting cabbage ; sow
a little Dutch red cabbage seed, and greeu curled savoy
for Michaelmas.

Sow the best French lettuce seeds, the Paris white cos ;
also round spinach, and repeat these sowings every three
weeks ; in the meanwhile the winter prickly spinach will
continue to yield freely for some months, if the weather
prove showery.

Sow onions on good encouragement with strong
manures, as the contents of privies mixed with fine earth.
The true white Spanish variety for large bulbs, the Stras-
burg, or brown globe, for the common kitchen use. The
sowings should be early on rich deep lands. Sow London
leeks to be transplanted.

Sow on light rich lands Wood's early radishes, of which
a good crop demands an early sowing on lands that are
rich aud light, with moisture and warmth suflicient to push
the plants rapidly forwards. For these reasons, a frame
and glass may be advantageously used ; the expense is
small and the trouble very slight, to procure an early
vegetable of the most favoured relish. Sow a sprinkling
of Dutch or early store turnips, a little celery for succes-
sion, small salading, nasturtiums for pickle, parsley, basil,
and pot herbs — namely, fennel, dill, borage, burnet,
sorrel, all at dift'erent times during the month.

Plant mint, thyme, sage, marjoram, lavender, rose-
mary, and rue in rows of borders, or in separate beds of
grounds.

Plant potatoes in rows, a foot apart, the cut tubers
placed on the breast of the trench, over a spit of rather
dry well rotted dung, the sets being six inches apart and
covered by the earth of the next digging. The early

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

263

ash-leaved kidney is yet the foremost variety ; and the
second early, as the champion and the prolific that ripen
in August, should be ready, avoiding manure and choosing
or preparing peaty or sandy ground if possible.

Peas and potatoes are the chief vegetables of the garden
in general estimation. At least two sowings of peas must
be done during the month in the early climates, about
the 10th and 25th in the Early and Second Early varieties ;
in medium climates, the first sowing may be early in the
month, and in the second, in the end of it ; or, one large
sowing in the middle of the month in later localities,
deferring the second sowing into next month ; which in
every case requires lands moderately rich by previous
dressings and without any frest dung, which promotes
the growth of leaves and stems rather than of fruit.
Potatoes require the same condition of ground and may
be richer, as the plant is stronger than a legume ; but still
without fresh dung. A very careful attention must pro-
vide for the early and abundant produce of these two
vegetables in the early planting on the proper grounds to
ensure success, or without them the garden loses its name,
and the kitchen its reputation.

FRUIT DEPARTMENT.

If any trees or shrubs be planted, be suix to finish the
work by the middle of the month — puddle in the roots,
and cover with abundance of mulch ; for if drought set
in, the trees will be fatally checked.

Begin to graft apples and pears ; cherries and plums do
better by budding in summer.

Lightly fork the soil between the rows of currant-
bushes, gooseberries, and raspberries ; then cover the
ground with earthy compost manure. The covering of
^ the intervals between the rows of any vegetable growth
^ with any substance whatever, increases the quantity of

produce ; a treading of the ground by the foot answers
the same purpose, and is very beneficial to early crops
of peas on light lands in dry seasons. This application is
very cheap, and easily done.

Dig shallow the ground around rhubarb plants, and
cover with moist manure of good quality, and thickly
placed, as the plant is very strong and succulent, and re-
quires a powerful support.

Plant strawberry sets in rows two feet apart, on beds,
and the plants six inches asunder. Single rows in borders
should be a foot away from the edging, and as far from
any vegetable or shrub. The plants may be permitted to
thicken by off-sets in any amount, but not to fill the
ground with runners, unless with the object to obtain a
new supply. Strawberries require good lands, highly
fertilized, or in a wholly fresh condition. The best sorts
are the Keen for an early and large crop, the Old Pine
for flavour, the British Queen for size and middle bearing,
and Knight's Elton for a late, rather tart, but more beau-
tiful fruit.

Flower Garden.

Sow hardy annuals after the middle of the month, as
the pink, larkspur, and mignionette ; the half-hardy-
are raised in frames. Herbaceous plants may be set or
divided, or placed in new situations.

Prune roses to well-placed low beds ; mulch round the
roots with compost, and fork it in. The moss, maiden's
blush, and many old varieties can be made standards,
with good figure on their own foundation.

Cut box, plant edgings, turn gravel or put down fresh,
sweep lawns, roll walk, remove all litter, and keep every
place in neat order.

Never discontinue to convey to the dug pit that is
bricked or cemented all litter and vegetable refuse, also
straws and animal droppings, and frequently baled over
with much liquid matter and soap suds from the house.
A rich moist manure is thus provided for the strongest
crops ; for the lighter purposes the dry compost heap is
formed with earths and mild limes, and similar sub-
stances, for flower beds and the pots of seeds.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
JANUARY.

Although the wheat trade has been very inanimate during
the past month, owdng to the continuance of heavy imports,
the downward movement in prices has not been considerable.
Towards the close of the month the condition of the samples
sent forwards to market showed a great falUng-oflf, being
generally damp ; whUe a decline took place in the value of
such produce, which, however, was more apparent than real,
as the quality of the wheat was greatly depreciated. AH iine
samples have commanded full prices ; and, being scarce, have
sold somewhat freely. Stocks in warehouse have been on the
increase ; but it may be observed that really good wheat is
still scarce, as a large proportion of the recent arrivals have
consisted of American and Russian descriptions, the receipts
from New York having been particularly heavy. On the
other liand, the shipments from the Baltic and from Denmark
have been comparatively small, the harvests having proved
partial failures in those quarters. We give below a statement
of our imports since September 1st, which will show their
extent as compared with the previous year :
Imports of Grain, &c., into the United Kingdom.
For the week ending January 22 :

1869-70. 1868-69.

Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.

Wheat ... 1,338,774- 2,034- ... 636,829 —

Barley ... 270,229 11 ... 283,982 1,095

Oats ... 357,441 240 ... 133,510 717

Peas ... 84,383 213 ... 26,157 225

Beans ... 57,583 — ... 72,884 48

Ind. Com 409,072 — ... 267,986 —

Flour ... 227,434 807 ... 98,561 306

Since September

1:

1869-70.

1868-69.

Cwt. Cwt.

Cwt.

Cwt,

Wheat ...

20,788,446 110,230 ...

11,838,123

132,538

Barley ..,

3,354,853 6,170 ...

4,468,377

55,312

Oats ...

5,074,129 24,884 ...

2,916,594

38,483

Peas . . .

681,557 6,583 ...

673,194

5,395

Beans ...

861,278 942 ...

1,323,997

2,594

Ind. Corn

9,076,076 5,656 ...

5,378,270

178

Flour ...

3,061,154 7,844 ...

1,585,331

17,634

While therefore it was calculated that an import of eight
millions of quarters spread over the year would have been
sufficient to meet the requirements of consumption, our
receipts have been at the rate of fourteen millions of quarters
annually. Hence the rapid fall whicli has taken place in
prices during the past six months.

There appears to be no immediate prospect of returning
animation in the wheat trade. With large stocks on hand
and a further considerable supply afloat there is reason to
apprehend great caution on the part of millers in operating.
Stocks on the Continent are heavy, while the accumulation on
the canals aud at the lake ports iu the United States is very
large. So far, too, the winter has been a mild one, and the
navigation appears not to have been completely suspended at
any of the more important ports of shipment. Exports have
therefore been kept up until a late period, and there is now a
probable total of 1,500,000 quarters of wheat afloat for the
United Kingdom. In the face of these heavy supplies, there-
fore, it is hopeless to look for any improvement in the quota-
tions.

The young wheats have made considerable progress. The
plants are well above ground, and are looking healthy and

26t

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

strong. A continuance of frost is desirable, however, in order
to check too forward growth.

Spring corn generally has ruled dull. Oats were much de-
pressed at the opening of the month, but a firmer tone has
prevailed towards the close. Maize has continued in request,
and has maintained full currencies. Beans and peas have
given way 3s. to is. per quarter, and at the reduction it has
been difficult to effect sales.

The Metiopolitan markets have been liberally supplied with
potatoes, which have been forced to market through the fear
of their not being in a proper condition for keeping. The
trade has consequently ruled very dull, and prices have been
unusually depressed. English Regents are not quoted above
S5s. to 100s. per ton.

The hop trade has been particularly inactive. Home
growths of choice quality have become scarce, and have com-
manded extreme prices. American descriptions have met
with some inquiry ; but foreign hops generally have been neg-
lected, until within the last week, when there appeared more
disposition to purchase.

The transactions in wool were above the average at the
opering of the month, owing to the cheerful feeling which
existed in the yarn trade. Now, however, that the supply of
cotton promises to be more abundant, and the demand for
woollen goods less extensive, there is less activity in the de-
mand for the raw material. Prices, however, have ruled firm,
and rather higher on the average. It is now proposed to hold
five series of Colonial wool sales in London in the year, in-
stead of four as formerly.

REVIEW OE THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
MONTH OF JANUARY.

The year has opened very satisfactorily so far as the Cattle
Trade is concerned. The beasts now coming to hand are
generally in excellent condition, being weighty and full of
meat. The Norfolk season has commenced very well, and
there is reason to believe that we shall receive a large supply
of beasts from that quarter for some time to come. The past
year has proved a favourable one to graziers, as they were
enabled to keep their stock out for a much later period than
usual, owing to the abundance of feed in the pastures. In
this way much expense was avoided, on account of their being
able to dispense with artificial food to a very considerable ex-
tent, and the large supply of meat that has been raised has
been produced at a minimum of cost. Prices liave, therefore
tended downwards ; but it must be observed that there is no
disposition on the part of graziers to force sales, as the herds
are still below the normal point as regards numbers, owing to
the great depletion which was rendered necessary at the close
of 1868 by the long continued drought. Those sanguine per-
sons who hope, therefore, for any further considerable decline,
will probably be disappointed.

Among the foreign animals recently exhibited at the Metro-
politan cattle market have been some remarkably good French
and Spanish beasts. The former are daily gaining favour
with London butchers, who state that they " cut up" well ;
but they will not bear comparison with prime English beasts.
Nevertheless, regarded from a monetary point of view, they are
likely to continue to be well received, owing to their useful
character.

We continue to hear reports from various quarters as to the
foot and mouth disease, which does not yet appear to have
been stamped out. It is satisfactory to find, however, that a
very great diminution has taken place in the number of ani-
mals afl'ected.

An early consignment of Soutli American cattle may be
looked for, as a line of steamship has been completed to open
up the tiades between London and Monte Video. It is not
probable, however, even should the experiment succeed, that
the beasts will arrive in sufficient numbers to influence the
market here.

The arrivals of sheep have been on a fair average scale, and
the quality and condition of the animals have been good.
Prices, however, have continued to rule high, though with a
tendency towards a lower range. Best Down sheep have sold
at 5s. 6d. to 5s. 8d. on the average ; but as much as 5s. lOd.
has been realised.

Calves and pigs have not come to hand very freely, nor has
the trade shown any great activity. Nevertheless the quota-
tions have been without raaterial variation for pork and yeal,

There is a large stock of feeding stuff now in the country.
Roots generally are plentiful, and are obtainable at compara-
tively low prices ; while there is an abundance of hay and
clover on offer for the time of year. Meadow liay is quoted at
75s. to 84s., red clover at 90s. to 130s. per load. Cakes have
ruled dull, and prices generally show a reduction of 5s. to 10s.
per ton.

The total supplies of stock exhibited in the Metropolitan
Market have been as follows : Head.

Beasts 19,251

Sheep 91,760

Calves 1,127

Pigs 965

Total 113,103

Comparison or Supplies.
Jan. Beasts. Sheep. Calves. Piga.

1869 19,880 94.,830 654, 1,201

1868 17,620 86,220 520 1,610

1867 18,150 82,400 756 1,508

1866 24,62C 89,390 1,754 2,225

1865 20,669 73,714 1,095 2,370

1864 19,442 80,230 1,019 2,567

1863 20,455 83,422 1,637 2,456

1862 20,680 82,160 853 2,850

1861 17,612 75,240 677 2,000

1860 20,500 92,425 1,067 2,045

1859 19,805 90,620 921 2,400

1858 20,312 80,742 1,108 1,759

The total imports of foreign stock into London during the
past month have been as under :

Head.

Beasts 4,139

Sheep 15,033

Calves 1,039

Pigs 1,516

Total ... ... 21,727

Imports at corresponding periods :

Total in 1869 12,214

1868 20,000

1867 24,084

„ 1866 25,838

1865 16,952

1864 9,907

1863 11,893

1862 8,783

1861 2,708

1860 6,706

1859 9,264

1858 2,342

From our own grazing districts, as well as from Scotland
and Ireland, the arrivals thus compare with the three previous
years: Jan., Jan., Jan., Jan.,
From— 1870. 1869. 1868. 1867.
Norfolk, Suffolk,
Essex, and Cam-
bridgeshire 6,350 5,184 7,000 6,900

Lincolnshire 1,750 1,850 800 1,500

Other parts of England 2,950 2,140 4,580 5,000

Scotland 1,120 2,376 1,804 1,292

Ireland 1,730 903 700 258

Comparison op Prices.

Jan., 1870. Jan., 1869.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4to5 6 3 4to5 6

Mutton 3 4 to 5 10 3 4 to 5 8

Veal 3 6 to 5 6 4 4 to 5 10

Pork 3 10 to 6 0 3 6 to 5 0

Jan., 1868. Jan., 1867.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 2 to 4 10 4 2 to 5 10

Mutton 3 4 to 5 0 5 0 to 6 6

Veal 4 4 to 5 6 4 4 to 6 0

Pork 3 4 to 4 2 3 8 co 4 8

The dead-meat markets have been moderately supplied with
meat. The trade, on the whole, has been quiet, at our quo-
tations : Beef from 3s. to Ss., mutton 3s, 2d. to 5s, 2d., veal
5s, to 5s, 6d,, apd pork 4s, 2(1, to 5s, 8d. per 81bs,, by the
carcase.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

265

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR

FEBRUARY.

We have experienced somewhat severe weather since the
opening of the month. Navigation has been much impeded,
and this fact, coupled with the bad state of the roads, has
prevented the supplies of wheat reaching market, except in
limited quantities. The trade, however, has ruled very dull,
and at the opening of the month a decided tendency towards
lower rates was noticeable. Rather more firmness \vas
apparent on the return of frost towards the middle of the
month, and a sHght reaction took place in the quotations.
Since then, however, a relapse has occurred, and the mouth
closes with an extremely heavy tone, and a general indisposi-
tion among millers to operate. Nevertheless, there are some
features in the trade which must sooner or later exert a
beneficial influence upon prices. Stocks of foreign wheat are
on the decrease ; and this diminution will make further pro-
gress, as our imports in the immediate future are likely to lie
much less extensive than during the past few months, the
quantity of English wheat afloat for the United Kingdom
having undergone considerable diminution. We give below
the stocks of grain of all kinds iu granary in London — so far
as can be ascertained — on Januray 31st, which shows that the
withdrawals from warehouse during the firsi, month of the
year were something considerable :

Flour

Wheat

Barley

Oats

R,ye

Beans

Peas

Maize

Buckwheat

Lentils

Tares

Dari

Milletseed

Linseed ...

Eapeseed ...

Cottoned, (tons)

Total bidk-

Stock of Grain, &c.,
Jan. 31,
1870.
. cwts. 326,000
qrs. 462,000
57,000
3i3,000
330
10,000
11,000
47,700
10
5
4,800
67
448
39,000
43,000
700

IN London.

Jan. 31,

1869.

318,000

485,954

64,350

397,339

358

13,134

7,523

51,146

5,514
1,000
375
38,594
38,695
400

1,018,360 1,120,869
*Except flour and cottonseed.

Nov. 30,

1869.

180,000

342,104

52,710

240,990

117

9,560

2,844

59,681

3,995
1,884
1,508
24,155
31,091
2,745

770,639

Consumption will now have to be met by further withdrawals
from the granaries, as the arrivals will probably not be
sufficiently lieavy to meet current wants. Nevertheless, our
imports during the month have been large, and the receipts of
foreign produce show a formidable total as compared with last
year. Since the 1st of September to the present date, they
have been as follows :

IjirORT.

Export.

Import.

Export.

1869-70.

1869-70.

1868-69.

1868-69.

Wheat..

22,824,236 .

. 126,710 ..

. 13,637,534 .

.. 134,490

Barley..

3,853,481 .

. 11,510 .

. 5,635,728 .

.. 60,288

Oats ...

5,429,862 .

. 42,576 ..

. 3.139,226 .

.. 51,613

Peas . .

722,055 .

. 7,119 ..

. 707,908 .

. 5,767

Beans ..

952,571 .

. 1,167 .

. 1,463,420 .

.. 3,065

I. Corn

10,072,275 .

. 7,874 .

. 6,348,824 .

522

Flour ..

3,460,009 .

. 8,437 .

. 1,874,484 .

.. 19,509

It may be remarked that the stocks of English wheat in the
hands of farmers are large for the time of year — a singular
circumstance when the undoubted deficiency of our last
harvest is taken into consideration ; but this is owing to the
fact that farmers have held back their wheat as long as
possible, and have disposed of their barley aud other produce
as being the more paying articles. Seeing that the return on
last year's crop was under the average, farmers naturally ex-
pected prices high in proportion ; but iu this hope they have
been grievously disappointed, owing to the excessive importa-
tions, We have iittie hesitation in saying that the past

season has been a very unfavourable one to English farmers,
and we doubt whether speculators in floating produce have
covered the severe losses they sustained a mouth or two back.
It is as yet too early to pass any opinion upon the growing
wheats. The young plants look strong and healthy, and the
frost has had a beneficial effect in checking too rapid vegeta-
tion.

Spring corn has ruled dull throughout the month, and prices
of all descriptions of feeding stuffs have been on the decline,
though rather more firmness prevailed, owing to cold weather.

Tiie potato markets were much glutted at the opening of
the month, and prices were very low. Supplies, however, were
much curtailed on the setting in of frost, and more activity
prevailed, accompanied by a decided rise in values. The
quality of the arrivals has not been good, all being more or
less frosted.

There has been no feature of importance in the hop market.
Choice qualities of English have ruled very scarce, and prices
have been supported ; but yearlings and foreign sorts have
been altogether neglected. The continental and American
markets have remained dull and nominally unchanged.

Hay and straw have come to hand pretty freely, and prices,
after having suffered a relapse, have closed at about the same
point as last month : Prime meadow hay £3 15s. to £4 23. 6d.,
inferior £3 to £3 10s., Rowen £2 10s. to £3 5s., prime clover
£5 15s. to £6, inferior £5 to £5 10s., prime second cut clover
£5 to £5 10s., inferior £4 to £4 10s., straw £1 6s. to £1 10s.
per load.

Wool has ruled quiet but firm. Some demand has been
experienced for English lustres and demi-lustres, but staplers
have refused to make any concession on any quality. The
first series of public sales of colonial wool are now going on.
The attendance of buyers, both home and foreign, has been
good, aud prices fully equal to the closing rates of last series
have been paid.

REVIEW OF THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

There has been an absence of any important feature iu the
cattle trade during the month. The receipts of stock from
our own grazing districts have been about an average, aud
there has been a decided improvement in the quali5|f of the
stock. From abroad, liowever, owing to the tempestuous
weather, the arrivals have been on a less liberal scale. As
regards beasts, the condition of the Norfolk arrivals continues
to bear out an assertion that the season would be a favourable
one, a considerable increase in the weight of meat being
noticed. From Scotland, also, the receipts still give satis-
faction. In the trade a want of animation lias been observable.
Even for the choicest stock the demand has been restricted,
and the value of the best Scots and crosses has fallen to 5s.
2d. ; in fact, this quotation has been quite the extreme, many
really good beasts having been disposed of at 5s. per 8 lbs.

AVith sheep the market has been fairly supplied, aud some
prime breeds have been forwarded. We regret to notice that,
notwithstanding the severity of the weather, some shorn sheep
have made their appearance. It is to be hoped that the
attention of the proper authorities will be drawn to this
matter, and that an eff'ectual stop may be put to the practice of
shearing sheep during inclement weather. In reference to the
state of the trade, more firmness h«s been apparent, and the
value of the best Downs and half-breds has been steady at
5s. lOd. to 6s. per 8 lbs.

A few lambs have come to hand, and have found buyers at
about 7s. 6d. to 8s. perSlbs.

The supply of calves has been limited. The trade has been
firm, and the quotations have had an upward tendency.

There has been a moderate supply of pigs on offer, for
which the demand has been quiet, at about late rates.

Tne demand for feeding stuff's has improved, the supply of
grass being much less extensive. However, there being still a
large quantity of hay and roots uuconsumed, values have not
advanced to an^' niatcrisl extent,

^66

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

The total imports of foreign stock into London during the
jnonth have been as under :

Head,

Beasts 3,34-9

Sheep 16,097

Calves 878

Pigs 1,060

Total

•II ■.. 11.

... 21,384

Imports at

corresponding periods:

Total

in

1869

... 27,988

„

1868

... 4,877

9?

1867

... 26,206

»

1866

... 29,241

»

1865

... 22,904

»

1864

... 12,228

»

1863

... 10,500

The annexed figures show the total supplies of stock ex-
hibited at tlie Metropolitan Market : Head.

Beasts 16,322

Sheep 104,185

Calves 868

Pigs 350

Total 121,725

Comparison of Supplies.

J'eb. Beasts. Sheep. Calves. Pigs.

1869 22,066 111,600 1,331 1,200

1868 16,840 83,480 593 1,670

1867 17,140 79,710 1,081 1,979

1866 21,24C 85,070 1,125 1,215

1865 21,158 66,590 1,196 2,714

Tlie arrivals of beasts from our own grazing districts, as

well as from Scotland and Ireland, thus compare with the two

previous years : Feb., Feb., Feb.,

From— 1870. 1869. 1868.

Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and

Cambridgeshire 6,200 5,555 6,700

Other parts of England ... 2,970 3,160 2,000

Scotland 875 1,848 1,793

Iveland 1,240 851 830

Beasts have sold at from 3s. 2d. to 5s. 4d., sheep 3s. 4d.

to 6s., calves 43. 2d. to 6s. 4d., and pigs 4s. 6d. to 5s. lOd.
per 81bs., to sink the offal.

Comparison or Prices.

Feb., 1869. Feb., 1868.

s. d, s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4 to 5 8 3 2 to 4 10

Mutton 3 6 to 6 8 3 4 to 5 0

Veal 4 6 to 6 0 4 4 to 5 6

Pork 3 6 to 5 0 3 4 to 4 2

Feb., 1867. Feb., 1866.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4 to 5 4 3 8 to 5 2

Mutton 3 6 to 6 3 3 8 to 6 0

Veal 4 8 to 6 4 4 0 to 5 8

Pork 3 0 to 4 2 3 6 to 4 6

The dead-meat markets have been fairly supplied with meat.
The trade, generally, has been quiet, at our quotations :
Beef has sold at from 3s. to 4j. lOd., mutton 3s. 2d. to 5s. 2d.,
veal 5s. to 5s. 8d,, and pork 8s. 8d, to 5s. 8d. per 81bs., by
the carcase.

SOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE.

We have not much of any agricultural value to report.
The weather lias been unusually changeable and severe. Sun-
day (the 13th instant) was a day long to be remembered from
its boisterous and stormy character and intensity of cold —
perhaps the coldest day we have had since Christmas 1860.
Sheep, as usual, suffered considerably. Cold, however intense,
does not affect our Lonfrwools much unless accompanied with
stormy winds and drifting snow. This was the case on
Sunday (the 13th instant) and part of the following Monday.
The number of storm-struck sheep is considerable ; but as the
■weather " has taken up" we hope they will soon recover.
Upon our own farm we have only had to slaughter one, The

others are coming round. The turnips have deteriorated in
quality from the biting frost, and were so hard that the
sheep could not eat them, and had to be sustained from the
mangold graves or other resources, as chaff, pea-haulm, and
hay. In other respects the flocks have thus far wintered
favourably. Our markets are already supplied with store stock,
particularly sheep, which are readily sold at high prices rela-
tively, when tiiken into accoimt with the low price of corn.
The fear of the liolders appears to be in the great probability
of a reduction of prices, both from the low price of corn, and
the abundance of sheep. The high price yet received for mut-
ton will keep up the value of all forward animals, but those in
low condition must give way. The number of fatted cattle in
this district is limited, and the prices are well sustained.
Pork is a little cheaper, but store pigs are stiU very dear. lis
is interesting to know the cause of tlie high price pigs have so
long made in the market. The statistical returns give a
falling off in the number of pigs last year to near 600,000 ; but
as pigs are almost as prolific as rabbits, the stock will soon be
replenished. It is but a short time since they were scarcely
worth breeding. Piglings sold readily at 2s. 6d. each. The
lambing season is just commencing. Tlie ewe flocks appear to
be in a favourable condition. Great caution should be taken
that no unusual disturbance takes place amongst them. They
cannot be kept too quiet nor have their food too regular. We
have not been able to do anything upon our arable landsfor
some time, but as the ploughing is forward no great anxiety
is felt. The seeding of peas will be proceeded with as soon as
the laud is in a good state to receive them. The wheat-plant
has been sadly cut by the late keen winds, but^not de-
stroyed. No winter-proud wheats tliis year. We never
saw them " backwarder," but there is a fair plant
throughout. The grass lauds don't exhibit a blade of
green, and bear ample testimony to the severity of the
frost and wind. Our stack-yards look thinly stocked
and the thrashings have been very unsatisfactory. A scanty
yield, a light weight, and low price; a bad farmers' year.
Potatoes have kept pretty well; the yield of good ware is
hght, and the price not remunerative. The culture of potatoes
grows more unpopular daily, and the probability is that we
shall plant a much smaller area than heretofore in this district.
The expenses are very great, and if we cannot realise from
fifteen to twenty pounds per acre, they are unremunerative,
and must give way to mangolds and Swedes, to be grown for
stock food. True, we consume through our stock large
quantities of diseased potatoes, and thus aid the returns of
the potato crop, but the weight per acre is so greatly inferior
to mangolds and Swedes that we cannot profitably grow them
for stock food,. Winter grazing, or the fatting of farm stock
in the winter, is gradually on the increase, and the culture of
mangolds keeps pace with it. This is quite right, and farmers
will ere long find it tlieir best practice. The production of
meat rather than grain will become more and more their aim,
and no doubt will ultimately yield them the best returns.—
Feb. 19.

BEDFORDSHIRE.
For the past three months we have had various weather,
sometimes frost, at othe.-s very mild, but on the whole a
dry winter. During the past week, or for the last ten
days, the cold has been very severe, with the wind either
north or north-east, with occasional flights of snow. The
frost we have no doubt will be very beneficial for the
land intended for spring cropping ; but at the same
time it is to be feared it may injure the youug and back-
ward \^-lieat crops. The price of this grain at the present
date can scarcely pay a farmer for his expenses of tillage, &c.,
for the crop, especially as the last year's growth was so defi-
cient in yield ; we have in several cases known where there
has not been more than 2 to 2| qrs. per acre on good land.
There are a few pieces of peas and beans sown, but they will
not be much earlier than those that are sown later, on account
of the sharp weather. We shall commence on barley as soon
as we get a favourable change in the weather ; this corn has
also deteriorated in value. It is not worth so much by some
6s. or 7s. per quarter as it was some two mouths back. Farm-
ers, in general, who have thrashed their corn out immediately
after harvest have been much more successful for several
years past in their price for all kinds of grain. This will be

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

267

a bad year for a farmer who is wholly (or nearly so) depen-
dent on his stack-yard, as all kind of grain yields very badly.
Beans and peas in very many cases are not worth the expense
of thrashing, so the stock are being foddered with them in
the stravv. Mutton has been making good prices, and sheep
appear to thrive better on the roots than in some previous
winters, on account of the dry weather. There are a few
hoggets now being clipped for the butcher, but the weather
has been very cold for the poor animals. All kinds of feeding
stuff for cattle have been cheap, so we doubt not there wiU be
a great deal of meat in the country. — i'eb. 18.

WEST SUSSEX.
Wmter seems to be come at last. We had very heavy rains
at the beginning of the week, causing heavy floods on the low
lands ; but the temperature was mild, and many men begin-
ning to think that spring was commencing to exert its kind in-
fluence. But on Wednesday afternoon came a frost, " a chil-
ling frost," very suddenly, and since that time we have had
nothing but very sharp frost, lots of snow, and a nipping east
and north-east wind. What effect these sudden changes may
have on vegetation is yet to be seen, but they must be trying.
The wheat plant in this district is small and backward. Much
wheat was sown rather late, and it came up slowly, and on
some of the ley ground appeared to suffer from slug and
wireworm. There is no such thing to be seen 'as a
piece of " winter proud" wheat. The young seeds
and artificial grasses are generally well set on the ground,
and give promise of a good crop. Eat stock has been selling
well all the winter, thougli it appeared to be a little falling oft'
in value, but this weather must check any downward move-
ment. Lean stock has commanded very high rates. All cat-
tle must now have great care and attention, both as regards
food and shelter, or they will rapidly lose condition. This late
frost may have a bad etfect on the turnips and sv/edes in the
ground, and feed will, perhaps, be scarce in the spring. The
hay stacks will also soon look smaller, from the constant calls
on them ; fortunately the last proved a good crop of hay. The
farmers of the present day appear to turn their attention a
little more to politics, and even the Government begins to talk
of the imperfect manner in which tlie corn returns are made.
I thought every man with a head on his shoulders had known
this for years, but ^farmers are not men to make any general
movement. At the time I write there is no sign of any abate-
ment in the severity of the weather ; every appearance of more
Bnow.— Eeb. 13.

COEK COUNTY.

The winter has been, on the whole, exceedingly favour-
able, rain not having fallen up to this time in excessive quan-
tity ; nor yet has there been continuous frosts of any intensity.
Twice the thermometer fell to 19 degrees below the freezing
point ; but in each instance fresh and open weather succeede-
immediately. Now, however, the weather seems to have bed
come thoroughly broken, and very little work can be attempted
on the field. Spring preparatory operations are well forward,
in consequence of the open character of the past season ; and
potato planting, on friable soils and dry situations, has been
pretty extensively carried on. There has been little diificulty in
bringing stock thus far through the winter, and food is plenti-
ful all over the county. Turnips and hay are, inconsequence,
very reasonable in price, and have been sold at prices which
do little more than cover the cost of production. Eor the past
three months turnips have averaged from 13s. to 16s. a ton
delivered. And excellent hay from 48s. to 52s. a ton, the very
best rye-grass seldom exceeding £3. Straw, from the light-
ness of the crop, is dearer in proportion, being from 40s. to
60s. a ton, according to condition and quality. In every case
the buyer has the best of the bargain, the unfortunate pro-
ducer having no alternative but to accept his offer, being com-
pelled by dire necessity to turn every available article on his
farm into cash so as to meet his liabilities. The purely arable
farmer (nearly all poor and needy ones are such) feels the
present state of affairs very acutely, as his crops were not only
extremely light, but the quality was inferior, and the market
value as low as it could well be — so low, in fact, as to make
the year an indifferent one, even had the crop been good.
Wheat and barley were not quite so much effected by the dry

weather, and those who had a fair proportion of each have not
suffered so much, barley having carried a very good price ia
the beginning of the season for malting qualities. Oats,
which are the principal dependence of the small farmer, turned
out miserably, many fields not returning the seed; and to make
up the money required for rent, rates, and other pressing ex-
penses, they are compelled to sacrifice a portion of their fod-
der, which can be very badly spared, the few turnips grown
having also to be turned into cash. Oats, good enough for
seed, can scarcely be had in some parts of the country, samples
for that purpose begin now to be looked for, and are worth 2s.
a cwt. over the shipping rates. We never recollect to have
seen distillers purchase such poor qualities of oats as they
have done this season, some lots, although dry and well-har-
vested, being httle else than husk. Of course, could they have
got better, these would not have been bought ; but heavy oats
were not to be had. The very low price of corn has been a
great inducement to use it extensively in cattle-feeding, as it
is decidedly more economical than cake, there being nearly
two tons for one in the case of linseed ; and rape having been
hard to get of good quality, feeders were shy of using it, pre-
ferring corn instead. Rapecake of inferior quality is fit for
nothing but manure, as cattle will not touch it ; and to per-
sist in placing it before them is a mere waste of time and
money, as they will pick out every slice of the turnip, and
leave the cake after them in the troughs. Tlie markets have
up to this time been very well supplied witli beef, and prices
have, in consequence, remained at a moderate standard ; nor
is there much appearance of anything like scarcity till at least
a very late period of the season. So quiet is the tone of trade
in fat cattle ; and so easy is it for butcliers to supply tliem-
selves, that many lots ol store stock, laid in three months ago
at long prices,would, if sold now, make but little over first cost.
Sheep begin to get scarce, and weddersof good quality bring readily
from S^d. to 9d. per lb. At this advanced period of the season
the offal is worth a good deal, and enables the buyers to give
an extra IJd. per lb. on the dead weight. Holders of sheep
stock are unanimous in the expectation of good prices for lamb
and mutton during the ensuing season, and to all appearance
there is but little likelihood of their hopes being disappointed.
At all the public sales competition for breeding sheep has been
wonderfully keen, and in every instance where the flock had a
name for the purity of blood, from 50s. to 60s. was freely
given for ewes in lamb, regardless almost of condition. The
low price of corn has given a great impetus to stock breeding,
and the general tone of conversation amongst agriculturists at
present would lead one to the conclusion that Lord Carlisle's
idea of Ireland was on the eve of being verified, and that she
was in reality about to become "A land of flocks and herds."
Although the foot-and-mouth disease visited this'county, it was
not of a fatal or even very troublesome type, the animals get-
ting over it in a few days with scarcely any attention, neither
tiieir condition or produce being perceptibly affected. Beiug
so much in the open air, as the cattle are so far south as this,
seems to impart a hardiness of constitution which enables
them to resist the attacks of disease, the thick coat of hair
which nature provides under these conditions enabUng them to
pass through the most severe and sudden changes of weather
with impunity. The extraordinary excitement which prevailed
a couple of months ago on the subject of "Tenant right" and
" Fixity of tenure" has in a great measure subsided, the most
zealous promoters of these measures seeming to await, with
whatever amount of patience thye can command, to see what
will be the result of their agitation at the coming sitting of
Parliament, It would be hard to conceive of a legislative
body conferring the rights of property without purchase, and
thus preventing capitalists, the very men who are badly wanting
(a poor landlord being a continual source of misery), from
investing their money in landed property. It is only reason-
able to suppose that there are few wealthy men to be found
who would be willing to assume, as partner, a man who con-
tributed nothing to the common stock, and yet whom it was
impossible to get rid of without purchasing the share or shares
to which he was legally enittled, but for which no money was
ever paid. Compensation for improvement on a broad and
liberal basis, which should undoubtedly cave been the law of
the land long ago, is now however cofidently expected, and if
the present governing party intend to preserve the support of
the tenant farmers of Ireland, they will take good care that
their hopes on this very important point are not disappointed.

T 2

S68

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

THE COEN TEADE.

BIRMINGHAM, 2nd Month, 3rd.— Owing to tlie very
large arrivals of foreign grain, particularly of wheat, the past
year lias heen one of loss and disappointment to the trade.
Our prices are douhtless now lower than they would have been
if we had had a good crop at home. Foreign shippers appear
to think that England can absorb an unlimited quantity of
wheat, and to disregard the fact that our total consumption is
only about one-half that of France. When it became clear
that our harvest was likely to be deficient, so much grain was
sent forward that the extra imports into the United Kingdom
during the last five months of 1869 have exceeded the propor-
tion of ditference between a good and bad crop. As we think
that after making the usual deduction for seed the yield of
the last season cannot exceed 11,000,000 quarters, the quan-
tity to be supplied by imports is fully as great as it was after
the harvest of 1867, when prices were 20s. to 30s. per quarter
liigher. The excessive supplies are probably attributable to a
great production in America and Southern Russia, combined
with an absence of demand in the other corn consuming
countries. We have received more wheat from the United
States and Canada than in any previous year ; hut the export
thence is now temporarily checked, not only by the frost, but
also by the heavy losses which have been sustained by con-
signers. The low price of bread is a great advantage to the
working classes, and must, as heretofore, be the forerunner of
an improvement in the general trade of the country ; as the
less people require to spend on food, the more they have left
for other purposes. Meat is relatively very dear, and seems
likely to continue so, negativing the old saying that, " horn
follows corn."

The number of wheat-laden vessels on the way to the United
Kingdom is stated at 256, but it is reported tiiat many of
these have already been directed to continental ports, on ac-
count ol the reduced prices in England ; this reduction
amounts to 8s. to 12s. per quarter, and Frencli prices are now
rather higher than ours. The crop in that country is officially
reported to be 7,000,000 quarters less than the previous one,
and increased imports will probably be required. The stocks
in our leading ports are more than double what they were at
the end of 1868. Those in the American and Black Seaports
are stated to amount to 1,500,000 quarters, against about
1,000,000 quarters a year ago. It is also probable that our
farmers hold more wheat than usual after a deficient crop
A large quantity of wheat is on the way from California, but
not of such fine quality as heretofore. Unless shippers are
checked by our very low rates, there are al:iO likely to be con-
siderable shipments from Chili, if not from Australia. Our
imports of wheat and flour in the year 1869 have amounted
to 10,216,975 quarters, against 8,628,987 quarters in 1868.
So far, Scotland and Ireland have not taken the usual propor-
tion of the arrivals.

Barley has fallen about 10s. per quarter in'the twelve months,
or nearly as much as wheat. There are far fewer cargoes on
passage than at this time last year, and stocks, unlike those of
wheat, are moderate ; so that with a backward cold spring we
look for some improvement in value.

Throughout the year our chief supplies of oats have again
been from Ireland. Only a few cargoes have arrived in Glou-
cester from France and Holland. Prices have, however, been
forced down by the very large sale of Swedish and Russian
oats from London and the East coast ports.

Beans and peas have only gone down about 5s. per quarter,
and in some of the country markets both sell for as much per
bushel as wheat.

Maize continues the favourite article for feeding horses,
cattle, sheep, and pigs, although it is not now cheaper than
grinding barley and the lower descriptions of oats, and is
dearer than Dan and millet. The imports of this article into
Gloucester have consequently been very large.

Joseph and Ch.arles Sturge,

Red Cloverseed.— This season's red cloverseed, it must
be borne in mind, is saved from seed sown in the spring of
1868 ; and as, owing to the excessive drought of the following
summer a large proportion of this 1 ailed, the acreage left was
very small, and the plants being unusually poor and thin, the
yield of 1869 has consequently been very deficient, ilus
failure in the clovers was the cause of the unprecedented de-
mand for Trifolium Incarnatum, &c., which prevailed during
the autumn of 1868, which was needed to fill up the deficiency
of plant. The English growth of red has accordingly been
exceedingly sliort, and the quality for the most part very in-
different. These remarks may also be apphed to Germany and
the North of France. The quantity of seed imported from
the former country during last spring was something extra-
ordinary—the reverse is the case this season— the Germans
having actually been competing with us in the French markets
for their own home consumption. America has shown she has
but little old stock on hand, and a very sraaU crop of new, by the
large orders which have been transmitted to this country for
seed of American growth ; such seed to the extent of several
thousand bags, although two or three years old, has been
recently re-shipped to New York ; no other descnpaon except
the produce of the States, being admissible without the pay-
ment of a heavy import duly. The only parts where any
supply of red clover seed may be expected from are Brittany
and the South of France ; and the English and continental
demand lias now nearly exhausted the growth of these dis-
tricts, and occasioned an advance there to prices relativefy
higher than those ruling here. . , , - ., ■

Alsyke and White Cloverseed.— The yield in this
country is small, for the reasons given above, but the quahty is
satisfactory. We are largely dependent upon Germany for
our sui.ply of these sorts, but the quantity oflenng thence is
limited. Prices are high, and from the scarcity will, it is
thought, go still higher. , „ . , a

Trefoil.- This is a very deficient crop, both at florae and
abroad. Fine new seed is exceedingly scarce, and readily com-
mands high rates. There is, however, a considerable stock
of old seed, which can at present be bought on moderate
terms. ,

Frencii-Italia?^ Ryegrass.- The growth is moderate,
and stocks are light. Its great superiority over English,
Scotch, and Irish seed causes its use yearly to increase. Prices
are advancing both here and in France.

Scotch and Irish Grasses are this year very cheap and
plentiful. ,

During the last two years autumn and early purchases have
proved disappointing, and, as a consequence, but few country
buyers have as yet gone into stocks. This year, however,
taking into consideration the limited stocks on hand, and the
certainly deficient growths, we anticipate a speedy enhance-
ment in values.

Zotufoii, Fehnwy, 1870. JoHN Shaw AND SONS.

THE SEED TEADE.

At the opening of the seed season, we beg respectfully to
submit the result of our information as to the grovpth in this
..•ountry, and also on the continent ajid in America, of the
jnost generally used, descriptions of agricultural seeds,

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE,
FAIRS, &c.

ASHBORNE FAIR.- There was a very small show of
cattle, iu consequence of the very bad weather. Good barren
beasts realised high prices; inferior stock moving oft very
slowly. A few sheep were shown, which made about 9d.
per lb. , J

BANBURY FORTNIGHTLY FA.IR.— There was a good
supply of sheep, and the demand was good. The best, in the
wool, brought about 6s. per stone. There were a good many
cattle in the market. Better prices were asked and ob-
tained.

BLAIRGOWRIE MARKET.— The market opened and
closed dull in every department, except for fat cattle, which
were considered dear ; but all were nearly sold— three-
year-old stots ranging from £21, £23, and upwards ; two-year-
olds, £12 to £15 10s. per head ; yearlings, £8 to £9 10s. At
the auction mart, fat beef gave from 10s. to 10s. 6d. for first-
class, and 8s. 6d. to 9s. for secondary qualities, per Dutch
stone. Fat sheep gave 7d. to 8d. per lb., and pigs from 6s. 9d.
to 7s. per stone.

BOSTON FAT SHEEP MARKET.— Only a very ^m'Ml
supply, which sold readily at from 8d, to S^d. per lb,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

26d

Carlisle fair is generally looked upon as the
most important one for horses held in the Border city ; but
this year there was a great falling off in the show. During
the week some heavy sales have been effected, principally in
dray horses, for which dealers were willing to pay higli rates.
Consequently the ,bulk of the business was done before the
market commenced, and this deteriorated from the business
character of the market. The agricultural liorses exhibited in-
cluded some nice specimens of the equine tribe, but these were
bought up at once, and afterwards the inferior horses sold
slowly, and at comparatively low figures. Of hacks there was
a poor show, and the snme remark will apply to ponies. The
two latter classes, however, were seldom inquired for, buyers
evidently wanting heavy horses, and these of the very best
class. For dray horses the figures paid in the market and on
the morning of the market ranged from £35 to £40, £45, and
even £50 ; agricultural horses, £20 to £25 ; ponies, £0 to
£12 10s. each.

DORCHESTER FAIR was pretty well supplied, sheep
excepted, and the few of these on sale were of an indifferent
quality. Cows and calves realised from i'14 to £32 ; barren-
ers from £11 to £16 ; fat bullocks from lis. to 12s. per
score ; mutton from 7d. to 8d. per lb. In the horse fair the
collection of animals was small, and from 30 to 50 guineas was
asked for cart horses, from 45 to 55 guineas was wanted for
van horses ; some capital colts were on sale.

DUMFRIES FAIR, from time immemorial, has been the
most important for the sale of horses that is held in the com-
mencement of the spring on the north side of the Tweed and
Sark. There was an excellent show of draught horses ; on
some previous occasions there have been a large number of
animals brought forward, but the quality has seldom been sur-
passed. Nearly the whole of the stock was iu dealers' hands,
the local dealers having, as the custom now is, been scouring
the district for weeks, purchasing tlie best horses that farmers
had to sell. The business commenced early and with great
\, briskness, the best young, fresh, and powerful draught horses

being quickly bought up. Tlie transactions were chiefly be-
tween dealers, not many farmers buying horses. After midday
the demand grew slacker, and sales were slower of being
efl'ected ; still, a large number of animals changed owners.
Few saddle or harness horses were shown, and these were
mostly inferior. Ponies were scarce, and there were few
draught colts and fillies shown to breeders. Prices were at
least 10 to 12 per cent, up from the Rood fair in September.
First class draught horses were selling from £50 to £70, and
in a few instances to £80, and in one ease to £90. Good use-
ful young horses for farm work from £35 to ^48 ; ordinary
animals from £20 to £30. The following are a few of the
sales reported : Mr. M. Teenan sold upwards of forty animals,
at prices from £30 to £80. He bought from Mr. Gibson,
Summerfield, a three years old colt, at £75, and another of the
same age at £70 — both prize takers. He sold a pair of young
horses at £80 each. Messrs. A. and R. Johnstone sold a horse
at i'58, and a pair at £115 ; a horse at £55 ; and a large
number to other buyers, at prices from £30 to £52. Mr.
Thomas Currie sold three mares at £60 each — altogether, he
sold forty animals from that figure down to £35. He bought
a two years old colt at £45, and resold him at a profit to Mr.
M'Call. Mr. James Clark sold a strong horse at £70, a jiair
of grey horses at £105, and a mare at £60. Mr. Carslaw,
Mearns, sold twenty-six horses at prices from £40 to £00.
Mr. Hugh Crawford sold a powerful draught horse at the high
figure of £00. This animal was the best in the market. He
sold a numljer of others at prices from £40 to £65. Mr. John
Brown, Biggar, sold four three years old fillies at £50 each,
and two years old colts and fillies from ±'26 to £35. Mr. J.
Smith, Bonshawside, sold twenty-five horses .at prices from £40
to £68. Mr. Dunlop sold about thirty animals from £30 to
i;'65. Mr. M'Kenzie bought a horse at £63, and he sold a
mare at £60, and a horse at £59. Mr. Yuil, Glasgow, sold a
horse at £65, and one at £60 to Mr. Dunlop ; he sold a pair at
£110. The latter dealer bought and sold horses from £40
to £60.

DUNFERMLINE MONTHLY MARKET.— The stock
brought forward was mostly of an inferior kind, very small,
and a large proportion of it consisted ot stirks from Ireland.
A number of cows were also iu the market, and a very few fat
cattle. Fat cattle brought from da. to 10s. per Dutch stone ;
cows sold at from £9 to £16, and for this olass there was a

brisk demand. Irish cattle brought from £3 10s. to £5, but a
good nuniber remained unsold. There was a numerous attend-
ance in the horse market, and many animals changed hands at
high prices.

FORRES MONTHLY MARKET.— Business was generally
very dull, especially in the fore part of the day ; but as the
dealers began to leave the markets, sellers had to submit to
rather low prices. A pretty general clearance was effected in
the afternoon. The following are a few of the most important
sales : Mr. Mackay, Burgie, sold nine three-year-old crosses
at £21, and six Highland two-year-old stots at £54 ; twenty
two-year-old (polled) were sold at £19 10s. ; thirteen stots at
£23 10s., and a heifer at £20 ; three two year old crosses at
£20 ; a Shorthorn bull at £17 ; a fat cow at £15 28. 6d. ; a
cow at £14 15s. ; a cross slot and a cow for £32 the pair ; a
pair of cross queys for £30 ; five two-year old cows at £17 5s. ;
nine two-year-old crosses at 20 guineas each ; a cow a
£14 OS. ; &e.

GRANTHAM FAT STOCK MARKET.— A very sniaU
quantity of stock ; plenty of buyers were present, and a brisk
competition ensued. Beef sold at 8s. tj 9s. per stone, pork
same price, and mutton 8d. to 9d. per lb.

LINCOLN FAT STOCK MARKET. — A short supply.
Wethers 9d. per lb., beef 9s., [and pigs from 8s. 3d. to 9s.
per stone.

MEIGLE MONTHLY MARKET.— There was an excellent
display of very superior fat cattle ; and, with the exception of
a few lots, ail were sold at what dealers declared to be very
high prices. The market was consequently stiff from the be-
ginning to the close. The best beef gave 10s. 6d., and second-
ary 8s. to 9s. per Dutch stone. Tlie best three-year-old bul
locks, in prime condition, sold from £22, £23 10s., £25, up to
£29 per head ; secondary, from £18 10s. to £20 and £22.
Two-year-olds in good order, from £16, £18, and £20. Lean
cattle of the same age, £13 to £13. Yearlings ranged about
an average of £8 ; but of the latter two classes there was but
a small supply, and no special demand, owing to the scarceness
of fodder and the inferior quality of turnips, arising from the
effects of frost.

MILNAi'HORT MARKET.— The stock was not up to the
average, and there were no prime fat animals in the market.
Best quality sold at from 8s. to 9s. per imperial stone sinking
offal. Several transactions in lean stock were speedily effected,
vviiile others left the market without changing owners. Milch
cows generally met with a ready sale at prices varying from
£9 to £18. The following are a few of the sales : a lot of
stots at £18 10s. ; a lot at £18; a lot at £16; alotat£15,
and a milch cow at £18 ; three two-year-old stots at £13. In
the sheep market, Mr. Hamilton, Tarhill, sold a lot of tvi'o-
year-old crosses at £1 18s. ; a lot of Cheviot ewes at £1 12s. ;
a lot of cross lioggs at £1 3s. Several milch cows lelt the
market without changing owners, from the high prices

MODBURY GREAT MARKET was slackly attended,
owing to the severe cold. Supply of cattle was also small, but
business generally brisk. Fat cattle 65s., inferior 60s. per
cwt., sheep 7d. to 8id. per lb., cows and calves £14 to £30
per pair.

MORETON GREAT MARKET.— Owing to the extreme
cold, and small suppply of cattle, high piices were asked, but
no particular change from late markets. Sheep pens not all
filled, with dull sales.

NORTHALLERTON FAIR.— Hunters were scarce, as a
number had been sold in the country. A good show of
draught horses had ready sale, at £42 to 50 gs. each. Har-
ness and also carriage horses were eagerly purchased at £50
to £85 each. We had a good supply of fat cattle, which sold
at 8s. 6d. per stone, plenty of buyers atteudinfj the fair. Lean
stock was not in much demand, and much remained on hand.
In-calving cows had fair sale.

RUGBY FAIR.— The prices made were, for beef, of which
there was a short supply, from 7d. to 7^. per lb. Mutton
was very scarce, at from Sjd. to 9^d. per lb. Milch cows
were rather lower in price, and a short supply. Store beasts
were iu greater demand, a few useful barren beasts ciianging
hands at higher prices.

SHREWSBURY FAIR.— There was a good show of stock, ,
both cattle and sheep, but the business was heavy, and prices '
hardly so good as at the last fair. Beef realized from 7d. to
8d. per lb., and JMutton from 8d. to 8Jd. High prices were

270

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

asked for pigs, of which a good many were shown, hut a large
number were sent home unsold.

SLEAFORD EAT STOCK MARKET. — Small show of
sheep, which met with a brisk trade. Eair show of beef, which
was readily sold. Good show of pigs. Mutton from 8^d. to
9^d. per lb., best beef from 9s. to 9s. 6d., second quality from
8s 6d. to 8s. 9d., and pork from 8s. 6d per stone.

SWINDON MONTHLY MARKET.— Fat sheep sold at
from 5s. 6d. to 6s. the stone, and beef at 12s. to 12^. 6d.
per score. Beef met with a slow sale at slightly lower rates.

IRISH FAIRS.— Macroom : Strippers sold at from £8 to
£12 ; springers from £8 to £14 ; year and a-half heifers £6
to £9 ; calves from £1 10s. to £4 10s. ; bacon pigs rated at
56s. per cwt. ; store pigs, which were generally high, from
£1 to £2 10s. There was very little demand for store sheep ;
mutton sold at 7d. per pound. — Nay an : Prime beef might be
quoted at from 63s. to 67s. 6d. per cwt. ; second and inferior
o4s. to 56s. 6d. per cwt. Owing to the severe frost there were
not many far advanced springers exhibited for sale, but those
that were fetched very high figures, some realising as much as
£26 5s. each. Strippers were not in great demand. Three-
year-old buUocks rated at from £16 to £25 each ; two-year-
olds, £8 15s. to £11 10s.; yearlings, £3 10s. to £5 15s.
There was a very good supply of mutton, which may be quoted
at 7d. per lb. ; ewes, fat, £2 16s. to £3 10s. each.— Dund.vikJ;
Top quality of prime beef averaged from about Gd.to 6|d.per
lb. ; inferior, 5d. to 9d. Three-year-old stores rated
from £10 to £12 ; two-year-olds from £8 to £11 ;
yearlings from £4 to i'6 ; strippers from £7 to
£11, and in good demand. Dairy cows in limited supply,
Hospital : Strippers brought £12 to £17 each. In-calf
heifers were not considered good enough for our desires, but
what were sold brought from £13 to £18 ; two-year-old heifers,
£9 to £11 ; yearlings, £5 to £7. Several large lots of hoggets
brought from £2 10s. to £3 los. Store pigs sold freely at
advanced prices according to size. The business of the day
seemed so satisfactory to all that the success of these important
fairs may be looked on as certain. The pig fair on Friday last
was also well attended. Heavy bacon went slowly at 54s. to
56s. ; Berwicks were in good demand at 58s. per cwt.

STOCK SALES.— Edinburgh : The best class of bullocks
sold from £23 to £27 10s. a-head, a great number at £17 to
£20; small heifers down to £12; cows, £11 to £21 10s.
The sheep consisted mostly of hoggs and black-faced wethers.
The best class of hoggs sold from 40s. to 48s. a-head, smaller
sorts 34s. to 38s., crosses 30s. to 38s., small black-faced
wethers 25s. to 38s., black-faced ewes 24s. to 30s., half-bred
ditto 44s. to 49s. Fat calves from £3 10s. up to £7 2s. 6d-
Pigs from 35s. to £5 a-head. — Haddington : Sheep sold from
39s. 9d. to 50s. 9d., hoggs 41s. to 49s., smaller sorts 28s. to
34s. 6d., Cheviot ewes 43s. 6d. to 47s. 3d., rams 42s. 6d. to
71s. ; cattle from £20 10s. to £28 7s. 6d., smaller sorts £12
5s. to £19 5s., queys £12 5s. to £20 7s. 6d. ; calves from 17s.
to 66s. ; pigs from 58s. to 120s. — HawicK: Half-bred wethers
sold from 42s. to 54s. 9d., Cheviot wethers 31s. to 46s., half-
bred ewes 44s. to 66s. 9d., Cheviot ewes 27s. 6d. to 47s., half-
bred hoggs 35s. to 48s. 9d. ; fat cattle £13 to £27 5s., milch
cows £11 7s. 6d. to £22. Mutton may be quoted at 7d. to 9d.
per lb. : beef, 8s. 6d. to 8s. 9d. per stone. — Jedburgh : Small
heifers sold from £12 15s. to £15, West Highland bullocks
£12 5s. to £12 7s, 6d., bull £27 6s., cow and suckler £26,
milch cows £15, calves 26s. to 52s. 6d. A number of lots of
small hoggs 41s. 3d. to 45s., young sheep 30s. to 60s., half-
bred ewes 26s. to 46s. 6d., tups 53s. 6d. to 76s. ; fat pigs £3
3s. to £11 7s. 6d., shotts 30s. to 46s., young pags 18s. to 28s.
— Dalkeith : Cheviot and half-bred wethers, 46s., 47s., 53s.
3d., 57s. ; best hoggs, 52s., 53s. 3d., 55s. 3d., 59s. 6d. ; smaller
kinds, 46s., 43s. 9d., 44s. 3d., 45s. 3d. ; Cheviot ewes, 32s. 6d.,
36s., 38s. ; black-faced ewes, 25s. 9d., 26s. 3d., 27s. 3d. ;
tups, 52s., 62s. 6d., 72s. Best cattle sold from £22, £22 10s.,
£24 7s. 6d., £24 15s. ; other sorts ranged from £13 7s. 6d. to
£18, and up to £20 17s. 6d. One pig, 106s.— E.vrlston :
Best bullocks made from £24 to £30 each, or 9s.; secondary,
£17 to £20, or 8s. 3d. per stone ; best heifers, from £17 to
£22; buUs, from £16 to £26 each. Half-bred Dinmonts,
from 44s. to 55s. ; Cheviots and crosses, from 36s. to 48s. ;
ewes, 32s. to 36s. ; hoggets, 34s. to 49s. Top price of mutton,
9d. ; current, S^d. per lb. Pigs made from £2 5s. to £5 10s. ;
skiBs, from 3s. to 7s. 3d. each. — Axn : 3 Ayrshire calving

cows, from £7 to £8 10s. ; 9 Ayrshire fat cows, from £13 7s. 6d.
to £16 10s. ; 6 Ayrshire fat cows, from £11 10s. to £13 10s. ;
12 Ayrshire fat cows, from £9 10s. to £11 5s.; 7 Ayrshire
heifers, from £14 to £16 ; 6 GaHoway bullocks, from £15 to
£23 12s. 6d. ; 4 Galloway heifers, from £14 2s. 6d. to
£19 lOs. ; 4 Galloway cows, from £15 5s. to £17 ; 1 Gallo-
way bull (stock), at £10 10s.; 6 Ayrshire bullocks, from
£17 7s. 6d. to £20 15s. : 3 polled bullocks, from £16 2s. 6d. to
£20 15s.; 3 polled bullocks (store), from £11 10s. to
£12 10s. ; 5 cross bullocks (store), from £11 10s. to £13 15s. ;
7 Ayrshire bulls, from £12 to £19 2s. 6d. Sheep, cross hoggs,
from 35s. 3d. to 44s. 6d. ; Cheviot wethers, from 37s. to
41s. 6d. : Cheviot ewes, from 23s. to 45s. 6d. ; blackfaced
wethers, from 44s. 6d. to 50s. ; blackfaced ewes, from 17s. 6d.
to 35s. 3d. ; Leicester ewes, 48s. to 54s, 1 pig at £9.

SALE OF SHORTHORNS.— The spring sales in Aber-
deenshire of Shorthorn bull calves began by public offer of
bulls belonging to and bred by Mr. Marr, Cairnbrogie, and Mr.
Campbell, Blairton. '^Prices were fair, and the result of sale was
as under : — Mr. Marr's stock : Livingstone, calved 1st June

1868, Mr. Leask, Swanford, 26 guineas. Forerunner, red,
calved 12th January 1869, Mr. Marr, Hatton, Cruden, 23
guineas. Alexander, red, calved 19th Januai-y 1869, Mr.
Mackie, Mains of Elrick, Ellon, 23 guineas. Mechi, red,
calved 16th February 1869, Captain Volume, Longside, 26
guineas, Horatio, red, calved 8th March 1869, Mr. Strath,
Coldhome, 30 guineas. Formartine, red, calved 10th March

1869, Mr. Gibson, Braehead, Cruden, 19 guineas. Buchan
King, red, calved 12th March 1869, Mr. George Walker,
Birkenhill, Turriff, 33 guineas. Buchan Prince, roan, calved
23rd March 1869, IMr. Cock, Crichic, 21 guineas. Briton,
red, calved 23rd March 1869, Mr. Kilgour, Ardlin, ENon, 17
guineas. Charley O'Malley, red, calved 24th March 1869,
Mr. Middler, Tillybrex, 17 guineas. Fortune, red, calved 31st
March 1869, Mr. Alexarder Simpson, Little Elrick, Old Deer,
29 guineas. Lord Lovel, red, calved 7th April 1869, Mr.
Brand, Auchentain, Cruden, 23 guineas. — Mr. Campbell's
Stock: Gladstone, red and white, calved December 1868, Mr,
Slessor, Strichen, 30 guineas. Captain Barclay, roan, calved
20th January 1869, Mr. Lind,Laverockbrae,Taves, 22 guineas.
The Pope, roan, calved 27th January 1869, Mr. Clark, Orkney,
34 guineas. The Cardinal, roan, calved 25th January 1869,
Mr. Meikle, Crosstone, 28 guineas. The Bishop, red, calved
29th January 1869, Mr. Penny, Shannes, Old Deer, 20 guineas.
The Priest, red, calved 6th February 1869, Mr. William Gray,
CultercuUen, Foveran, 20 guineas. Nonpariel, red and white,
calved 27th March 1869, Mr. William Hay, Haddo, Crimond,
17 guineas. Buchan Hero, white, calved 6th April 1869, Mr,
Kiloh, Inverveddie, Longside, 16 guineas. Blucher, red,
calved 28th February 1869, Mr. Burnett, Mains of Philorth,
Eraserburgli, 12 guineas.

SCOTCH SHORTHORNS.— The second annnal sale of
Shorthorns at Mr. Cochrane's farm. Little Haddow, Aber-
deenshire, was fairly attended last month. Ten yearling
bulls averaged over £30 a-head; the highest brought 40 gs.,
and the lowest 17 gs. An old bull realised 35 gs. Seven
heifers averaged £20 a head ; the highest 26 gs., and the
lowest 17. The highest priced bulls were those after Marma-
duke, the winner of two second Highland Society's prizes and
Aberdeenshire Challenge Cup,

SALE OF SHORTHORNS.— The small herd of Short-
horns at Lune Bank, late the property of Mr. Houseman, were
sold by auction, by Mr. Vince. The 10 animals realised on
an average only £28 each. ^Vhite Strawberry, 21 gs. ; Wild
Rose, 29 gs. ; Hartforth Strawberry, 34 gs. ; Pride of the
Harem, 30 gs. ; Knight of the Harem, 34 gs. ; Hartington,
40 gs. (the highest price obtained) ; Blencow 22 gs.. Cloth
of Gold 12i gs.

MR. DUCKHAM'S SECOND PERIODICAL SALE OF
HEREFORDS was held on the Hereford Candlemas Fair day ;
but the prices obtained have not been published, and we hear
that very few of the lots put up were really sold.

THE BANBURY HORSE SHOW took place the
first day of the fair. For the best cart horse, above four
years old, £10, Z. Stilgoe, Adderbury ; commended, T. E. Ber-
ridge, Pimlico Farm, Tusmore ; 10 entries. For the best cart
mare, above four years old, £5, J. Bury, Hook-Norton ; com-
mended, J, Bhss, Wardingten ; 9 entries. For the best cart

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

271

colt, under four years oU, £5, W. Fairbrother, Burton Dassett ;
commended, 11. G. Coldicott, Lower Heyford, and W. Dench-
field, Easingtou ; 16 entries. For the best cart filly, under
four years old, £5, H. Checkley, Wykliam ; commended, R.
Nicholls, Goddiugton, Bicester, and Golding, Hook-Norton ;
9 entries. For the .best cart colt or filly, under two years old,
£5, N. Stilgoe ; commended, Hiorns, sen., Chacombe ; 13
entries. For the best hunter, over five years old, £10, W.
Golby, Uadway, Kiueton ; commended, T. Sargeant, Clmrchill,
Chipping-Norton ; 11 entries. For the best hunter, under five
years old, £10, E. Bliss, Slaidford, Daventry ; commended,
Newitt, Westbury, Buckingliam ; 9 entries. For the best
hackney, not exceeding fifteen hands one inch and a half high,
£5, J. E. Parsons. Charwelton, Daventry ; commended, J.
Johnson, Fawsley, Daventry ; 11 entries. For the best cob,
not exceeding fifteen hands high, £5, J. Robbins, Tachbrook,
Warwick ; 13 entries. The judges were Messrs. Elhott,
Heathencote, Towcester ; Perceval, Wansford, Peterborough ;
Potior, Witton, Birmingham ; and E. Stanley, Birmingham.

THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
(ANIMALS) ACT.

A FARMER FINED £25.
It will be remembered that some time ago a case came
before the Norwich magistrates, in which Charles Huggins,
a farmer and cattle-dealer, residing at Baaham, in this county,
was summoned, on the information of Mr. Smith, veterinary-
inspector, for exposing on Norwich Hill a number of cattle
affected with the foot-and-mouth disease. The magistrates
being of opinion that they had no jurisdiction in the case,
declined to hear it, and the Court of Queen's Bench was
afterwards applied to for a mandamus. The matter was
brought under the notice of the House of Commons on
\ Tuesday night by Mr. Clare Sewell Read, who asked the
Vice-President of the Council if he was aware that such
doubt existed as to the power of summary jurisdiction of
justices under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act that
the Norwich and other magistrates had declined to hear
any summonses under the Act, and if he would take steps
to remove the uncertainty which now existed ; and if, when
the local authorities asked information from the Veterinary
Department of the Privy Council, an answer, stating " that
it is not within the province of this department to interpret
an Act of Parliament," was all the aid local authorities were
to receive from the Privy Council in carrying out the Act
and orders for suppressing contagious diseases among cattle.
Mr. W. E. Forster replied that the Privy Council officers
were aware that some doubts had been expressed as to
whether a summary jurisdiction was enacted by the Act of
last Session, though he could not suppose that there was any
doubt at all as to whether it was intended to do so. They
had consuhed the law officers of the Crown, and were advised
that such summary jurisdiction did exist. They were aware
that the magistrates of Norwich, among others, had refused,
for a time, to issue summonses ; but an appeal against such a
decision had been heard in the Court of Queen's Bench,
which Court had made a rule absolute directing the issue of
such summonses. Under these circumstances there would be
no necessity for taking any steps to remove imcertainty. As
to the second question, it liad never been the intention nor
the practice of the Privy Council to refuse assistance in
carrying out this difficult Act of Parliament. As to the reply
to a letter which was referred to in the question, he had
looked and found that there was one letter that by pure acci-
dent merely contained the statement tliat had been mentioned ;
but generally speaking, when no interpretation of an Act had
been given, it was the practice at the Privy Council Office not
to attempt to give an interpretation, as to pursue such a course
would only mislead, because it was not an interpretation that
could have any force in a court of law. But the officers of
the Pri\7 Council were directed to give all the assistance in
their power ; where there was any question as to facts, they
were to answer it, but they were simply to decline to answer
as to interpretations of the law when such interpretations
would be misleading.

The case accordingly came on for hearing at the Guildhall
on Thursday, before Mr. W. J. Utten Browne, and Mr.
J. M. VEN>aN&. Mr. Huggins was summoned at the

instance of Mr. W, Smith, veterinavy-inspeclor, under the
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1869, for unlawfully ex-
posing for sale in the Norwich Cattle Market, ou the 30th of
November last, a certain number of animals, viz.,
16 oxen affected with the foot-and-mouth disease, contrary to
the provisions of the said Act, whereby he had incurred a
penalty not exceeding £80.

After hearing the evidence,

Mr. Browue said : We consider this case has been clearly
proved, and we shall inflict a penalty of £25, with the costs,
£3 16s.

MARTINGALE.— None loved the Town Moor better than
poor James White, or " Martingale." Thirty years ago he
was in his zenith, with his book on " Country Scenes," and as
a contributor to Bentley ; and his powers knew no decay.
He was quite the Prose Poet of Nature, and no man that we
ever met with was so keenly alive to her beauties, and could
word-paint them so well. Edlington Wood, wliich seldom
fails to produce a fox when the Fitzwilliam call, was one of
his special haunts when he was well and vigorous. He
seemed to know the haunt of every badger, the name and the
note of every bird, and the (7e;;«* of every wild flower that
grew on its banks and glades. He liked to wander away
from Doncaster " when the mavis and merle were singing,"
and regardless of the prosaic days in which his lot was cast,
take his dinner with him, and " have a word vrith the woods."
AVeaving an old legend into shape pleased him best. The
deserted hut, where a poacher had lived and died, a very lord
of the soil to the last, seemed to conjure up in his mind a
network of dark romance ; and Sherwood Forest and Merrie
Barnsdale were themes which never palled. His racing
writings were very numerous ; but as he rarely left Doncaster,
he was too often compelled to take his description second-
hand. In deahng with current racing topics he was far too
discursive, and pitched his key-note so high, that matter of
fact readers grumbled, that after wandering through such a
labyrinth of fine words, they could hardly find one grain of
fact. His strength as a turf-writer lay in his " Turf
Characters," and his recollections of the Doncaster past. If
he was not in the Oazeffe office hard at work at his beautiful
small manuscript, with his voluminous velvet cap on his
head, or in a chancel-seat in the old church, or in Edlington,
or Wheatley, or Sprotborough Woods, Doncaster Moor was a
sure find for him, and he was pretty certain to be talking to
himself. Seeing those races, and the gallops as well, was his
delight, and he generally stationed himself, from old usage,
on the St. Leger day somewhere between the Red House and
the Hill, to catch the first symptoms of the " pace complaint."
St. Leger after St. Leger was to him a scene he could unfold
with a master's hand. Every httle incident from the Duke of
Hamilton's day had been treasured and invested with signifi-
cance ; and as John Jackson, the celebrated jockey, lodged
with him for a series of years, he had an opportunity of
" posting himself up" during the week, whicli he took care to
use to the full. — SarhUe and Sirloin, by The Druid.

THE AGRICULTURAL HALL COMPANY (LI-
MITED), — At the general meeting called for March 1st,
the Directors' report will declare a dividend of 8 per cent.
The receipts by the Cattle Show of 1869 are put at £4',717
lis. 2d.

DEATH OF MR. ADCOCK.— This very popular North-
ampton shire character, died on St. Valentine's day, at his resi-
dence, Farndish, near Wellingborough, in his 67tli year. He
accumulated a fortune in an extensive business in Lou-
don when a young man, and retired some twenty years ago to
Farndish, where he farmed extensively, as well as at WoUas-
ton. During the last seven years he had collected and bred
some first-class Shorthorns, and was a frequent and well-
known attendant at most of the great sales. His favourite
hobby was to feed six Hereford and six Shorthorn bullocks, at
Christmas, which were considered one of the sights at the
Northampton Fat Cattle show. Paralysis struck him down
some twelve months ago, and though he got out he never re-
covered. No man was ever more popular both at home and
abroad, and his death will be felt by a large circle of friends.
We believe his Shorthorn herd will in due time come to the
hammer.

^n

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

A TERRIBLE TITLE.

TO THE EDirOK OF THE MAKK LANE EXPRESS.

Sill, — Your agricultural contemporary of the 24th January,
speaking of the herd of Mr. Oliver, of Sholebroke, communi-
cates the following intelligence :

" A red yearling bull, Satan (27,430), lately left the Shole-
hrolie Lodge herd for joint service in the herds of Mr. Levi
B. Bagshaw, of Newton, Kettering, and ]\Ir. Charles Bayes,
also of Kettering. Got by Cherry Grand Duke (33,554), the
son of Grand Duke 7th (19,877) and Cherry Duchess 9th by
Third Grand Duke, the grandam and great-grandam being
respectively by Second Grand Duke and Grand Duke ; he is
from Satanella l)y Seventh Grand Duke. He is likely to make
his mark in Mr. Bagshaw's herd."

I need not say that this startling intelligence has created a
great sensation in the States, and I send you the sentiments of
the nation upon it, as transfused into verse by one of our
greatest poets — a Representative man, of exalted mind and
unaiFected piety.

I trust that your readers " Love straightforward verse.
And will take it, like marriage, for better for worse."

Buffalo, U.S.A.

I am, sir, yours respectfully.

Lot BotsFiELD.

" At length — vide last ' Baal's Messenger ' — ends
All hope for Bates cattle, their breeders and friends ;
Por Satan wlio, twelvemonths ago, from his hold broke
To visit his snug little farmstead at Sholebroke ;
Now, leaving the lands he has lately encamp'd on.
To seek ' pastures new ' in his shire of Northampton,
Turns Bates, with a view his position of bettering,
And makes a descent, in disguise, upon Kettering.
He came, we are told, like a serpent of old.
But practice has made the deceiver more bold ;
Tor in these later days of iniquity full.
He comes, like great Jove, in the shape of a bull.
To do all the evil he can is his creed.
So he comes as a bull of Kirklevingtou breed !
Not iiicuy., but beneath an avowed transformation.
Arch-enemy he of the bovine creation.

Not thus liis confederates came to the States,
But as Sliorthorus earth-born, of the breed y'clepl ' Bates,'
Bulls, heifers, aud kine of the blood genu-/«r,
Calculated the best of all strains to combine ;
And with titles to which, whatsoever the race is,
John Bull still ascribes all perfections and graces.
And though we soon found tliat the breed wouldn't do.
In spite of grand names, and long i)edigrees too ;
And ever and aye, grimy nose or horu sooty
Suggested uncanny connexions with Cloutie.
We dream'd not what cost us a whole Californy
Of gold, were indeed but /jcUs iioires from Auld Hornie.

This brood of Old Nick's, when roaming from Styx,
No longer on Yankee locations shall fix.
But may go with the herds of Van Diemen to mix.
Hibernia, Australia, refuse all admission
To buUs which would doom the best herds to perdition ;
And for Jove-aping Satan we thus prophesy of him
Europa, disgusted, will shortly fight shy of liini.

Vainly that Evil Intelligence, ' Bel,'
Would throw round these bovine iulernals tlie spell
Of his own fertile fancy, until they expand
Into Shorthorns commanding, majestic and grand,
With pedigrees noble that none can impeach :
What though his use of all figures of speech.
All tools by which thought is to elegance wrought,
Trom critics impartial the tribute extort
That he ivkil tctiyil quod non omavU,
His waud-jV/c/^romancing, howe'er, he may wave it.
Though potent to call up presentments unreal,
Can ne'er rule the issue of show-yard ordeal.
The prize-rings expose the consummate delusion,
And whelm the Bates' heroes with constant confusion.

Then let uoble lords who implicitly follow
The oracular grunt of the Euston Apollo,
Still, throw, as they may, their loose thousands away
On these imps of the De'il broken loose for a day :

In vain will be all their endeavours to palm

These brutes on the world as the things for the farm—

We fiud knowing breeders invoking a plague on

Such bulls as, in double sense, cattle of Dagon,

Wliich, till there's a change in Old Harry's stock radical,

Ne'er can he more than toys aristocratical.

De'il-spnwn's a pill they will not have at nil.

But go in for the blood of old Warlaby still.

Unfortunate Bagshaw ! unfortunate Bayes !
Who've both undertaken the Devil to raise ;
I fear that ye'll both have the Devil to pay —
The foul fiend is more easy to raise than to lay.
And calves infidi'ro ' his mark' will betray.
And Sholebroke, beware ! for sages declare
Of hira, whom to name polite circles forbear,
That he will, when accounts he is ready to square,
Not alone have his due, but will render it, too.
To subjects who pay him allegiance true.
And, whatever the debt he may seem to forget.
He has somewhere (of this heavy odds we may bet)
A Roland in store for his Oliver yet.
With a stroke of his claw, he will settle the score,
So as not to have ' Oliver asking for more.' "

THE "ACTION" OF THE CENTRAL
CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

Whetlier we look to the effort or the result, there never was
a better justification of the sarcasm " How not to do it" than
was aflbrded by last week's meeting of the Council of the
Central Chamber of Agriculture. And the example was all
the more remarkable for the contrast offered by another agri-
cultural meeting on the previous day. The Farmers' Club, a
company of practical farmers and land agents, with one or two
landowners, liad assembled on Monday to discuss an important
department of farm practice, and they proved their competency
throughout — both lecture and discussion being full of ser-
viceable information and trustworthy guidance. On the
Tuesday a monthly meeting of the Central Chamber of Agri-
culture, including nearly a score of members of Parliament,
and gentlemen deputed by two dozen provincial charabeis,
assembled to consider resolutions which had been properly
arranged for discussion by a previous " business committee,"
after a sort of previous digestion, which, as we understand the
somewhat complicated procedure, tiie various topics undergo
in the country before they come up for final decision in town.
The two principal subjects vihich were thus arranged for dis-
cussion at the latter meeting were Road Maintenance and
Agricultural Statistics. On the first of them, resolutions were
offered affirming the policy of the simultaneous abolition of
turnpike trusts, their debts being liquidated by the national
exchequer, and the future maiuteuauce of the roads being
made to fall upon " the general wealth of the districts througli
which they pass." These resolutions and an amendment to
them having been submitted to the meeting, Mr. KnatchbuU-
Hugesseu, M.P., made a speeeh, in which the intentions of
the Government on the subject were to some extent an-
nounced ; and it was thereupon immediately proposed by Sir
Massey Lopes, Bart., M.P., that as " Government are going
to take up local taxation, to he followed by the road question,"
it was inexpedient for the Chamber to adopt or recommend
any proposal until the Cabinet had announced tlieir promised
scheme. So " Sir G. Jenkinsou withdrew his resolution, and
Mr. Jabez Turner withdrew his resolution ;" and, altliough
Captain Craigie urged that they had met that day to give an
opinion, and Mr. Hugessen had stated he was anxious to know
what were the opinions of the delegates on the subject, the
whole plan arranged by the " business committee" fell through
and disappeared, and the great organisation for urging the
views of agriculturists upon Government obviously lailed of
its intended purpose.

What, tlien, vvas done in connection with agricultural sta-
tistics P This, too, had been everywhere discussed and redis-
cussed for years, and must, we should think, at length be ripe
for a definite and conclusive utterance. The first amendment
was rejected by a considerable majority ; the second was lost
by 11 to 7, and finally the original motion was lost by a ma-
jority of one ! Here, again, we submit, is a remarkable ex-

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

273

ample of the failure of the elaborate organisation which was
to have urged the opinions of agriculturists upon the attention
of the Government.

But reall}', the kind of reasoning and ar^uraeut which ap-
peared to command attention at this meeting is even more
significant than the result to which it led. If tlie leading
men of the Central Chamber of Agricnlture, members of Par-
liament included, are afraid of knowing the facts of the case —
or afraid of letting tliem to be known — if they must be sure
beforehand of whitt the facts will teach before they will con-
sent to any attempt at their collection' — if they think with
Mr. Arkell that " the purpose" for whicli information regard-
ing facts is sought has any bearing whatever upon the policy
of letting truth be known — if the idea that knowledge is power
is to be considered, as Mr. Albert Pell, M.P., appears to think

it, " a senseless theory" — then we may congratulate the Cen-
tral Chamber on their discussion of the agricultural statistics
question. It has lauded them in just tlie sort of weak and
helpless muddle in wliich those who hold such notions must
feel themselves at home. To an outsider, however, who be-
lieves, upon the contrary, that all attempts to make men know
their actual circumstances are to be encouraged — that the
truth thould be sought for, utterly regardless of what it may
turn out to be — and made known, never minding what it is —
and that the love of ignorance is a great mistake — it appears
as if the Chamber of Agriculture was discovering the agricul-
tural mind to Government in a very unfortunate way indeed.
However, let us hope for the best. They are to discuss the
policy of Agricultural Education at their next meeting ! — T/ic
Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette.

REVIEW or THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

February fill-ditch has not Icept up its usual character,
but brought us a little winter of unusual severity, so that
the navigation of the Thames was stopped for a week ;
but the frost now seems to have left, and we wait to see
its effects. It certaiuly has been more of a check than
vegetation seemed to require, but may leave benefits be-
hind it. The plough was stopped, aud the work of other
implements, but the soil has been penetrated deeply, and
we may have a finer tilth than the harrow could have
effected, and a good b?ginniug for the planting of spring
corn. The wheat has indeed been unprotected, and some
fears are expressed as the consequence ; but it is one of
the hardiest of plants, aud may yet yield abundantly. In
ordinary times the sudden arrival of sucli a frost would
have sent prices up ; aud we have, indeed, fluctuated as
regards wheat, but the balance has been against the trade
fully 2s. — the large stocks here as well as in some foreign
ports making millers very leisurely iu their purchases
from not anticipating any immediate advance, let it
was reasonable for farmers to expect some compeusation
for a decidedly short crop, as shown by the recent par-
ticulars published by the Mark Lane E.vjjress ; from which
we infer that our home produce, out of 3,688,357 acres,
has ouly yielded II million quarters, or thereabouts, for
no perfect plan lias yet beeu adopted to give us a fully
reliable account. The worst features of the case is that
every corn crop was a bad one, and we all kuow that
all kinds of grain but malting barley has beeu bringing
very bad prices. If this state of things is to continue,
farmers will have to look more closely to their rents,
especially if overrun with game ; or cultivate more stock,
as meat has beeu fetching such high rates, which still
seem likely to rule. We grant that, as regards wheat, for
several years England iu her yield has stood about first.
Hence the foreign imports, if wanted, could not have been
so liberally sent, but now America and Russia have had a
good yield, aud other places about their usual growth ; so
we have for the time been fairly overdone. Aud though
we calculate, notwithstanding present heavy stocks, we
shall want about 5 million quarters by the end of August,
there seems little doubt but that it will come, unless
foreign houses are dissatisfied with present prices aud
prospects. Nevertheless, we have, in the course of a
large experience, found so many things in favour of un-
seasonably low prices, that we should much prefer waiting
to a ceptain sacrifice. The new crop is in its infancy ; it
has many trials to pass through : and who is certain of
a favoarable gathering ? The following rates were recently
quoted at the places named : White wheat at Paris 49s.,

red 46s., white at Bordeaux 47s., average rates of the
best quality in Belgium 45s. to 46s. 6d., red at Hambro'
39s. to 42s., white 43s., red at Stettin 39s., at Cologne
395., at Rostock 40s., at Romanshorn in Switzerland 49s.,
at Berlin 4Is., at Vienna 42s., red at Pesth in Hungary
33s. to 37s. 6d., fine new white at Dantzic 49s., cost
freight and insurance, old to 55s. ditto, at Alexandria 33s.
Od. free on board, San Francisco 44s. to 46s. cost freight
aud insurance, No. I spring wheat at New York 36s. 9d.
per 4801bs., No. 2 36s., No. 3 34s., white Michigan 45s.,
winter wheat at Montreal 33s. per 4801bs., spring
33s. 6d.

The uecessities of the press obliging us to omit the
the last Monday in .January, we commence our review on
that day and close it ou the 2Ist February.

The first Monday of this second month of the year
began ou moderate arrivals of wheat, both English and
foreign. The morning's show on the Essex and" Kentish
stands was improved, both as to quantity and condition,
in consequence of the frost of the previous week ; but a
thaw- having then set iu, the market became dull, and
sales could only be made at Is. per qr. decline. For the
same reason great heaviness prevailed in every description
of foreign, holders being generally disposed to accept a
like reduction from the previous Monday's rates. With
but a moderate quantity of floating cargoes on sale, the
demand was slack, holders asking the previous terms.
The heaviness of the London trade was fully responded
to in the country, the entire week having been wet.
Some reports, indeed, quoted no change, but it seemed,
from the want of business, several noted a decline of Is.,
aud about an equal number were down Is. to 2s. ; Liver-
pool declining 2d. to 4d. percental for the week, or lOd.
to Is. 8d. per qr. Neither Edinburgh or Glasgow were
able to sell at the previous rates, both noting a decline of
Is. per qr., with very little passing. Though a decided
fall ou the best wheat was not reported in the Irish mar-
kets, secondary qualities gave way both at Dublin and
Cork.

Ou the second Monday there was more English as
well as foreign wheat reported. The show of fresh
samples from Kent aud Essex was fair as to quantity, but
very bad as to condition, from the damp weather in which
it was thrashed. This, coupled with the idea of the per-
manent departure of the frost, had a most depressing effect
on the market, and for a long time millers seemed indis-
posed to bid at all ; but ou finding factors anxious to
make way, and ready to submit to large concessions,
business was finally transacted pretty freely at a decline

274

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of 2s. to 3s. per qr. The sale of foreign was almost sus-
pended till holders were willing to accept Is. to 2s. per
qr. lower rates than on the previous INIonday, more espe-
cially for the low qualities of American and Russian.
Floating cargoes also declined Is. per qr. The country
followed London this week, but not to the same extent,
for on Wednesday thei'e were indications of I'euewed frost,
which came with great suddenness and severity. Melton
Mowbray, however, and Sheffield were 2s. depressed, and
a decline of Is. to 2s. was noted at Hull, Ipswich, Slea-
ford, Nottingham, Market Rasen, Gainsboro', Thirsk, and
Salisbury; and several yielded Is., but three or four re-
covered again on Saturday, and noted Is. advance ; and
Liverpool on Friday was 2d. per cental dearer. Glasgow
was 6d. to Is. down, and Leith also Is. low jr. Dublin
was dull, and prices little more than nominal for the best
qualities.

On the third Monday there was about the same quan-
tity of English as previously, but less foreign ; with the
Thames so full of ice in the space of the five days' frost
that navigation was completely stopped, excepting iu very
few instances. Kentish and Essex factors were little dis-
posed to offer the few fresh samples sent up, especially as
the previous week's sales could not be delivered ; but all
that was accessible by land recovered value to the extent
of Is. per qr. ; and a similar improvement was occasionally
realised in the lower sorts of foreign red, but on the whole
very little business could be done. Floating cargoes,
which began to give way heavily, suddenly recovered to
the extent of about Is. 6d. per qr. on fine parcels. The
doubtful rise noted in Loudon was differently viewed iu
the country ; many places, looking upon it as temporary,
only noted more firmness ; others were Is. per qr. higher,
as Boston, Rotherham, Alford, Rugby, Gainsboro', Lynn,
Ipswich, Manchester, Bristol, and Gloucester. Others
varied prices Is. to 2s., as Spalding, Louth, aud Stockton ;
and a few were even more. Liverpool gained 2d. per
cental on Tuesday, and lost half of it on Friday.
Glasgow was rather dearer, as well as Edinburgh. At
Dublin there was only a better demand for foreign
qualities.

On the foui-th Monday the English supply was small,
and the foreign limited to two small cargoes — viz., one
from Bremen and the other from Trieste. On this day
the navigation of the river was resumed, the ice having
sunk, and the temperature being only ordinarily cold.
Very few fresh samples appeared on the Essex and Kentish
stand, and these were mostly in such poor condition that
they met with no attention from millers, though anything
really fine was worth the prices paid on the previous
Monday. The attendance was but moderate from the
country, and buyers seemed to expect to satisfy them-
selves on lower terms ; but these were generally resisted,
in consequence of the short supply. Floating cargoes
were dull, and lost something of the late advance. The
arrivals for four weeks in London were 22,296 qrs.
country qualities, 49,185 qrs. foreign, against 18,982 qrs.
English, 38,302 qrs. foreign in 1869. The imports into
the Kingdom for four weeks endinsr 12th Feb., were,
3,374,569 cwt. Wheat, 626,280 cwt. Flour, against
2,436,240 cwt. Wheat, 387,723 cwt. Flour for the same
period last year. The London exports were 1,185 qrs.
Wheat, 350 cwts. Flour. The London averages com-
menced at 45s. 9d. and closed at 44s. The general ave-
rages began at 43s. 6d., and ended at 41s. 9d.

The Flour trade has been very dragging and unsatisfac-
tory for the four weeks, Norfolks having lost value about
2s. per sack, foreign about Is. 6d. per sack and Is. per
brl. ; the demand for the latter being little more than
retail ; but town prices have kept the top price to 4:3s.,
millers alleging they have to pay such high prices for the

best old Danzic and other foreign Wheat to keep up their
quality.

With fair supplies of Maize through the month, prices
have somewhat fluctuated, leaving the balance against
values about Is., fair quali.y being procurable at 27s., and
excellent at 28s. These low rates have for some time
been undermining the value of Beans and Peas ; but as
in New York rates are dearer there than here, and the
only place whence large supplies can for some time come
is the jMediterranean, we should not be surprised to find
a rally from the present depression. Our receipts in four
weeks have been 49,399 qrs., against 43,884 qrs. 1869.

Barley has come to hand very scantily, both as respects
home supplies and foreign : yet the general dulness of
trade appears so to have reduced the demand for Malt,
that the best malting sorts have found little inquiry, and
have gone back in value Is. to 2s., and all qualities of
foreign have receded about Is. per qr. ; fair grinding sorts
may now be had at about 23s. per qr., or even less. The
imports for four weeks in London have been 12,450 qrs.
British, 28,388 qrs. foreign, against 15,103 qrs. British,
192,503 qrs. foreign at the same period in 1869.

There has been a great falling-off iu foreign Oats during
tlie month ; but after a few fluctuations, prices remain
much as they previously were : good fresh Swedes are
procurable at 19s. per qr., and fair Russian at 18s. to
18s. 6d. With such low rates it was not to be expected
any would come from Scotland, and there have been but
few of home-growth and from Ireland. The four weeks'
supplies were thus: native 2,747 qrs., Irish 1,940 qrs.,
foreign 79,017 qrs., against 2,181 qrs. English, 1,252 qrs.
Scotch, 7,653 qrs. Irish, 88,403 qrs. foreign in 1869.

The supply ot home-grown Beans has been moderate,
while scarcely any foreign have arrived. The want of
these latter has lately sent up the price of old about 2s.
per qr. suddenly, fi'om the scarcity ; but the English sent
up by farmers, being nearly all new and rather soft and
unfit for splitting, have not advanced, though not so diffi-
cult of sale as lately, and the price has become so low —
say 34s. for Mazagans. With a short crop we do not
seem likely to see a further I'eduction, not many being
expected from Egypt. This sort, lately worth only about
34s., would now bring 37s. per qr. The imports for
London in fom* weeks were 3,136 qrs. English, 70 qrs.
foreign, aarainst 1,904 qrs, English, 11,960 qrs. foreign
in 1869. "

The supply of Peas has been limited ; aud though we
had a severe frost for a week, it did not last long enough
to bring a good demand for boilers, but only hardened
values — say to 34s. or 35s. per qr., duns remaining dull.
The English arrivals in London for four weeks were
1,969 qrs., the foreign 529 qrs., against 812 qrs. English,
110 qrs. foreign last year.

"Linseed has been very firm through the month, the
receipts being light, and Cakes have gone oft' well, from
the sharpness of the weather. The frost occurring at the
beginning of the Seed season has quite put it back, though
Cloverseed, both red and white fine, have been high-priced,
and rates have lately been advancing in France. The sale
of spring Tares has also been stopped, but must soon re-
commence, good small spring being 37s. to 38s. per qr.

AVERAGES

Fob the last Six
Weeks :

Jan. 8, 1870

Jan. 15, 1870

Jan. 22, 1870

.Tan. 29, 1870

Feb. 5, 1870 ,

Feb. 12, 1870 ,

Aggregate of the above .,
The eameweek in 1869

Wheat.

Barley.

8. d.

s. d.

44: 5

35 11

44, 1

36 4

43 6

36 2

42 8

35 7

42 2

35 3

41 9

34 6

43 1

35 7

eo 9

47 9

Oats.

B. d.
20

21 4

20 10

20 4

20 8

19 10

20 6
28 1

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

275

CURRENT PRICES OP BRITISH GRAIN AND FLOUR
IN MARK LANE.

SbllUngri per Quarter.
WHEAT, Essex and Kent, white... old 45 48 new 38 to 47

„ „ red old 44 46 new 36 43

Norfolk, Lincolnsh., and Yorksh. old 45 47 new 36 43

BARLEY 27 to 31 Chevalier new 34 33

Grinding 25 28 Distilling 31 34

MALT (nominal), Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk 61 69

Kingston, Ware, and town-made 61

Brown 48

RYE.

OATS, English, feed 18 to 19 Potato.,

Scotch, feed 00

Irish, feed, white 16

Ditto, black 15

BEANS, Mazagan ...32

Harrow 85

PEAS, white, boiler8.33

00 Potato,

17 Pine....

17 Potato.

34 Ticks..

37 Pi?eon 39

36 Maple 38 to 39Grey,new 31

FLOUR, per sack of 2801b8., Town, Households 37

Co'intry, on shore 28 to 30 „ 32

Norfolk and Suffolk, on shore 27

FOREIGN GRAIN.

Shillings per Quarter.

WHEAT, Dantzic, mixed 44 to 45 extra 49to51

Konigsberg 43 44 extra 45 47

Rostock 42 44 fine 45 46

Silesian, red 39 40 white.... 42 43

Pomera., Meckberg., and Uckermrk. ...red 41 42

Russian, hard, 35 to 36. ..St. Petersburg and Riga 37 38

Danish and Holstein, red 38 40 American 38 41

French, none Rhine and Belgium 00 00

Chilian, white 48... Califomian 48 ... Australian 49 50

BARLEY, grinding 22 to 23.... distilling and malting 29 30

OATS, Dutch, brewing and Rolands 19 to 22 feed 16 17

Danish and Swedish, feed 17 to 19.... Stralsund... 17 19

Canada 15 to 16, Riga 16 to 18, Arch. 17 to 18, P'sbg. 18 19

TARES, Spring, per qr small 31 37 large— —

BEANS, Priesland and Holstein 36 38

Konigsberg 32 to 35. ..Egyptian 34 37

PEAS, feeding and maple.. .33 35. ..fine boilers 32 34

INDIAN CORN, white 26 29.. .yellow 26 28

FLOUR, per sack, French..32 33.. .Spanish, p. sack 00 00

American, per brl 19 20...extraandd'ble. 21 23

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

For the week ended Feb. 13, 1870.

Wheat 64,260| qrs. 413. 9d.

Barley 49,1151 „ 34s. 6d.

Oats 4,646f „ 19s. lOd.

COMPARATIVE AVERAGES.

WHEAT.

Years. Qrs.
1866... 61,055f
1867... 42,427i
1868... 45,6261
1869... 64,319J
1870... 64,2601

s. d.
45 0
69 10
73 0
60 9
41 9

Qrs.
63,364 ,
42,045i ,
68,6711 ,
41,0891 ,
49,115| ,

::y.

d.

33

9

43

9

42

6

47

9

34

6

OATS.

Qrs.

9,844i ,
8,718f .
11,642 .
6,284 .
4,5461 .

d.

.23 0
,23 6
,25 9
,28 1
, 19 10

FLUCTUATIONS in the AVERAGE PRICE of WHEAT.

Peiob.

Jan. 8.

Jan. 16.

Jan. 22.

Jan. 29.

Feb. 5.

Feb. 12.

44s. 5d.
44s. Id.
43s. 6d.
4?s. 8d.
42s. 2d.
41s. 9d.

"... 1

■".71.

—..r's.

...

... s.

— L'J

BRITISH SEEDS.
MusTAKB, perbush., brown lis. to 13s., white

CANABY,per qr

CLOVEBSBED,red

CoBiANSEB, per cwt

Tabes, winter, new, per bushel

Tbbfoil

Rtegeass, per qr

LiifSEBD, per qr., sowing 70s. to 72s. .crushing

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 10s.

Rapesees, per qr

Rape Cake, per ton £^ Os.

FOREIGN SEEDS.

CoBiAKDEE, per cwt

Caeeaway ,,

CtovEESBED, red 52s. to 68s white...

Hempseed, small 443. to 45s. per qr.... Dutch

Tbepoil

Rtegeass, per qr

Linseed, per qr., Baltic 57s. to 598.. .Bombay

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 Os.

Rafesged, Dutch

Rapb OAKB.per ten ..=;.:. ^6 Os,

10s.tol3s.

52a.

64s.

66s.

76s.

218.

22s.

8s.

9s.

30s.

34s.

26s.

30h.

69s.

60a.

to £11 Os.

64s.

74s.

to £8 10s.

21s.to22s.

48s.

50s.

74s.

90a.

46s.

483.

208.

22s.

243.

25s.

69s.

60s.

to £11 Os.

66s.

70a.

to £6 10b.

HOP MARKET.
BOROUGH, Feb. 21.— Our market is inactive for all de-
scriptions, new English alone, by reason of exhaustion, main-
taining full values, but all other sorts are drooping under the
continued dulness of trade. New Americans, even of first
quality, arc difficult of sale, but their comparative scarcity
keeps them tolerably firm ; inferior grades, however, and year-
lings of all kinds, are totally neglected. European markets
are unaltered, Bavarian Hops continuing firm. French and
Belgians quiet. New York advices (5th instant) report a
quiet market at late rates :

Mid and East Kents

£7 0 ...

... £9 15 ..

...£13 0

Wealds

6 0 ...

... 7 10 ..
... 6 10 ..

... 8 5

Sussex

5 15 .„

... 7 0

Bavarians

6 10 ..

... 8 8..

... 10 10

French

5 5 ...

,.. 6 0..

... 7 0

Americans

4 10 ...

... 5 15 ..

... 6 0

Yearlings

1 15 ..

... 2 15 ..

... 3 10

CANTERBURY HOP MARKET.— The inquiry for East
Kents increases as the stock decreases. Choice samples not
to be had ; second qualities make advanced prices, and tlie
stock low ; 1868's are more in request at £3 to £5 5s.

WORCESTER HOP MARKJET, (Saturday last.) -At our
market the business done was confined to one or two small
sales. For yearlings there is some inquiry, but buyers are un-
willing to give prices asked by holders. At a reduction a good
trade might be done.

POTATO MARKETS.
SOUTHWARK WATERSIDE.
LONDON, Monday, Feb. 21.— During the past week the
arrivals coastwise have been very hmited, owing to contrary
winds. The few that were at this market went off at better
prices, but there is a large fleet on the passage, which have
beguu to arrive the last two days. The following are this
day's quotations :

Yorkshire Regents 70s. to 100s.

Ditto Flukes 90s. to 100s.

Lincolnshire Regents 70s. to 85s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 80s. to 100s.

Perth, Forfar, and Fife do 70s. to 90s.

Do. do. do. Rocks 65s. to 70s.

French and Belgian whites 60s. to 65s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.

LONDON, Monday, Feb. 21.— These markets are fairly
supplied with Potatoes. There has been a moderate demand
lor most descriptions, at full prices. The import into London
ast week consisted of 720 bags from Antwerp, and 121 sacks
from Dunkirk.

English Shaws 70s. to 95s. per tou.

„ Regents 100s. to 120s. „

„ Rocks 60s. to 75s. „

Scotch Regents 90s. to 110s. „

French 50s. to 70s. „

KING'S CROSS.
LONDON, Monday, Feb. 21.— The supplies of potatoes
have been large, and the trade has remained without change of
importance :

York and Lincoln Flukes 90s. to 1203.

„ „ Regents 80s. to 110s.

„ „ Rocks 75s. to 85s.

Kent and Essex Regents 80s. to 100s.

„ „ Rocks 70s. to 80s.

Scotch Regents 75s. to 90s.

,, Rocks 65s. to 75s.

COUNTRY POTATO MARKET.— Doncaster, (Satur-
day last) : This market was well supplied with Potatoes this
morning ; and an active business was done for some hours at
late currencies — viz., Regents 8s. 6d. to 9s. 6d., Rocks 6s.
6d. to 7s. 6d. per load. — Malton, (Saturday last) : There has
been an improved inquiry for seed sorts of Potatoes. Table
sorts are sold wholesale to dealers at 7s. to 7s. 6d. per tub,
and retailed at 6d. to 8d. per stone. Seed Earlies are quoted,
Royals and Myatt's at Is. to Is. 6d., Ashtops Is. 6d. to 2s.,
Victorias 9d. to Is. per stone. — Manchester, (Saturday
lastl ; Potatoes, Yoi-kshire 10s. to 13s., Scotch 7s, to 10s.,

•276

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Cheshire 5s. to 9s. per 2o21bs.— York, (Saturday last) : The
supplies were short ; but the wholesale price was only a trifle
in advance of that of the previous week — namely, 7s. per tub
of 2801bs. The retail price was 5d. per stone.

PRICES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &c.

BUTTER, per cwt. : s,
Dorset 156 to 160

Friosland 140

Jersey 116

Feesh, per doz. ... 16
BACON, per cwt :
Wiltshire, green... 72
Irish, f.o.b 69

138
18

CHEESE, per cwt. : s.

Cheshire 62 to 80

Dble. Gloucester... 70 78

Cheddar 70 94

American 68 76

HAMS : York, old... 91 104

Cumberland 94 104

Irish, new 84 112

GLASGOW, (Wednesday last.) — There has again been
large arrivals, upwards of 2,000 cheese being laid down. Sales
very slow, but prices unaltered. Cheddars 58s. to 70s., Dun-
lop 56s. to 65s.

CORDEROY AND CO.'S CHEE.SE CIRCULAU,
(Thursday last.) — The provision trade in general has been
dull and awkward during the week. Fine butter, however,
has been wanted, owing to the small arrivals (in consequence
of the severe weather), and high rates for this article have
prevailed. The extensive lack of employment is still to be
deplored. We can only hope that as spring advances this
evil will be in some degree mitigated. Supplies of most de-
scriptions of cheese from various quarters are fully equal to
the demand. Cheap cheese are inquired for, and good useful
Cheshire lumps at 62s. to 68s. are saleable. A.nything tender
in condition or damaged cannot readily be sold. American
cheese are in moderate supply ; prices for the very best are
firm, ranging from 70s. to 75s. ; common qualities are en-
tirely neglectea. The arrivals reported since our last are
7,234 boxes.

COllK BUTTER MARKET, (Friday last).— Ordinary
first quality, export 135s., country li52s., second, export 130s.
country 127s. , third, export 106s., country 103s. ; lourth, ex-
port 82s., country 7'Js. Mild-cured : first quality, exjioit 135s.
country 132s. ; second, export 130s., country, 127s. ; third,
export 112, country 109s. Curreucy : Ordinary Butter 10s.
per cwt. less ; mild cured, 10s. ditto ; sponged, 2s. ditto ;
thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths of kegs, 4s. less.

POULTRY, &c., MARKETS.— Turkeys, cocks 5s. 6d. to
12s., hens 4s. to Gs. 6d. ; Geese, 6s. to 7s. ; ditto Irish, 4s. to
6s. 6d. ; Goslings. 6s. 6d. to 8s. 6d. ; Ducks, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. ;
ditto wild, 2s. to 3s.; Ducklings, 4s. to 6s. ; Surrey Fowls, 4s.
to 6s. ; Sussex ditto, os. to 4s. ; Boston and Essex, 2s. 6d. to
3s. 6d. ; Irish, Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. ; tame Rabbits, Is. 6d. to 2s.;
ditto wild, 2s. to Is. 3d. ; Pigeons, 6d. to lid. ; Hares, 3s. 6d.
to 4s. ; Widgeon, Is. 9d. to 2s. ; Teal, Is. 6d. ; Woodcocks,
3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. ; Snipes, Is. 6d. ; Gold Plover, Is. 6d. ;
Black ditto. Is. each ; Larks, 2s. 3d. per dozen. Eggs, 10s.,
seconds 7s. 9d. per 120.

COVENT GARDEN MARKET.

We have but little change to notice in respect either of sup-
ply or price. Hothouse Pines are in somewhat better request,
and some good fruit from the Azores have been offered this
week, chiefly of the Cayenne varieties, for which fair prices
have been obtained. Grapes are quite sufficient, comprising
Muscats, Alicante, Barbarossa, and Lady Downe's. Conti-
nental imports include the usual varieties of salading, Arti-
chokes, Carrots, &c. The Potato market continues dull ; and
in consequence of the severe weather plants in flower are
rather scarce.

FRUIT,
8. d. B. d B. d. 8. d.

Apples,^ J sieve 3 0 to 5 0 Melons, each 1 6 to 3 0

Cobs, 13 ft 0 9 10 Neotarines.'^doz. ... 0 0 0 0

Chestnuts, "48 bush.... 8 0 U 0 Oranges, '^ 100 6 0 Vi 0

i'liberts, ^ft 06 09 Peaches, ^ dozen ... 00 00

•irapes, ^Ib 6 0 12 0 Pears.^dozen 3 0 6 0

Lemons, ^ loo 5 0 10 0 Pine Apples, per lb. 8 0 10 0

VEGETABLES.

Artichokes, per dozen 3 0 to 6 0. Leeks, per bunch 0 3 to 0 4

Asparagus, per bund. 3 6 15 0 [Lettuces, per score ... 1 0 i! 0

Beet, per dozen 2 0 3 0 Mint, per bunch 10 16

Broccoli, "it^ doz 10 2 6 Mushrooms, ^ pottle 10 16

Brus. Sprouts, ^ 4 sve. 2 0 3 0 | Onions, green, ^ bun. 0 4 0 9

Ciibbages, per dozen... 10 1 6 , Parsley, per bunch ... 0 2 0 4

Capsicums, ^hund.... 0 0 0 OiPotatoes, York Re-

Ciirrots, per bunch ... 0 4 0 8 gents, per ton 75 0 100 0

Cauliflowers, per doz. 16 3 0 Flukes, per ton 75 0 120 0

Celery, per bundle ... 1 0 1 6^ new, per lt> 0 4 0 «

Cucumbers, each 16 3 0 Radishes, per dozen... 10 16

Endive, per doz 16 2 0 I Salsafy, ".(t! bundle 10 13

French Beans, ^hund 0 0 0 0 iScorzonera. '^ bundle. 10 13

aarlic&Shallots,^lb. 0 8 0 0 ! Sea Kale, ^ punnet.... 2 0 2 6

Herbs, per bunch 0 2 0 4 Spinach, per bushel ... 2 0 SO

PpreeraJiBh.'^bundle 1 (i r, 0 Turnips, p. hup ,, . 0 J 0 C

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.
LONDON, Monday, Feb. 21.— The English wool trade has
ruled quiet but firm. Some demand continues to be experienced
for choice qualities, including lustres and demi-lustres, so the
quotations are firmly maintained. The attention of manufac-
turers is now chiefly directed to the public sales of colonial
wool which opened on Thursday last. The attendance at this
series has been good, and both home .and foreign buyers have
operated with freedom. Prices have consequently had an up-
ward tendency, though no quotable advance has taken place.

CUSEENT PbICKS OP ENGLISH WoOL. S. d. S. d.

Fleeces— Southdown hogs per lb. 1 01 to 1 1

Half-bred ditto „ 1 4' 1 5

Kent fleeces „ 13 1 3i

Southdown ewes and wethers ... ,, 10 1 14
Leicester ditto ,, 1 2J 1 34

SoHTS — Clothing, picklock ,, 14 1 4i

Prime „ 1 24 1 3

Choice „ 11 12

Super 10 1 Oi

Combing, wether mat ,, 14 1 44

Picklock ,, 11 12

Common ,, 0 11 10

Hog matching ,, 14 1 44

Picklock matching „ 1 14 1 24

Super ditto 0 11 10

BRADFORD WOOL MARKET, (Thursday last.)— The
tone of the market is again quiet, but not more depressed than
of late. Buyers of wool operate to a small extent in various
classes, but only for the supply of their current requirements.
The trade is looking forward with some interest to Mr. Firth's
public sale this afternoon, and this induces buyers to adopt a
waiting policy as far as possible, until they see whether prices
are fully maintained. The opening of the London Wool Sales
to-day (at which, from the short supply, an advance is looked
for), and the near approach of Bristol Wool Fair have a similar
infiueuce, and at the same time cause holders — of down wools,
at any rate — to be firm. Staplers generally are not willing to
take less, although buyers usually try to buy on rather easier
terms ; and, in some cases, where dealers are wishful to quit
their stocks, a slight reduction has, no doubt, to be allowed.
The infiueuce of these repeated quiet market days is unques-
tionably in favour of easier rates, but hitherto quotations have
been, as a rule, very fairly maintained. — Bradford Observer.

LEEDS (English and Foueign), Friday last. — There is
on the whole a quiet state in the English wool trade, but not
much alteration in prices, nor does it seem likely that there
will be any material change for some time. Colonial wool is
in moderate demand, and prices are firm. As buyers are nu-
merous in London, and the arrivals small, there will be a
rather brisk competition for the qualities most in demand.'
The consumption in this district is rather below an average.

BRESLAU WOOL REPORT, Feb. 17.— We had again a
moderate attendance of home and foreign manufacturers, who
chiefly purchased the inferior and middle fine descriptions of
Volhynian, Polish, Posen, and Silesian Wools at from 50 to
65 thalers per cwt. Some large transactions have been in the
mean time eft'ected iu Charkow scoured wools at about 65
thalers, as well as in slipes, from 35 to 45 thalers per cwt.
Fine qualities continued comparatively neglected, and met a
very slow sale. Prices in general were very much the same as
hitherto, yet owners were, in many iuilances, obhged to yield
to the pretentions of purchasers. The whole amount of sales
arises to about 3,500 cwts., whereas fresh imports were about
2,000 cwts. The resul of the current London sales is looked
for with great interest, as they will have a very decisive infiu-
ence ou the further march of business on the continent. —

GUNSBURG BrOTIIER-S.

THE OILCAKE TRADE.
LONDON, Monday, Feb. 21. — There is no improvement
to notice in the Oilcake trade, so the general tendency of prices
has been in a downward direction.

Per Ton. Per Ton.

Linseed cakes, English £11 5 0 to £11 10 0

Do. best American, bags and biis. 1015 0 to 1111 0

Do. Western 9 9 0 to 10 0 0

Do. Marseilles 9 5 0 to 9 10 0

Rapecake 6 0 0 to 6 10 0

Cotton cakes, English 5 10 0 to 6 15 0

Printed by liogprson ;ipd 'J'uxford, 2f)5, Strjind, London, W.C,

IMPORTANT TO FLOCKMASTERS.

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Veterinary
Chemist, liy Appomtment to His late Royal Highness
The Prince Consort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dovei-
Street, Borough, London, begs t? call the attention of
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
'DIPPING COMPOSITION, which reqmres no Boilmg, and
may be used with Warm or Cold Water, for effectually
destroying the Tick, Lice, and all other insects mjm-ious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Ply and Shab,
and cleansing and purifying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quahty, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal.

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Mann-
factory as above, and sold as follows, although any other
quantity may be had, if required :—

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2

61b.
81b.
101b.
201b.
301b.
401b.
601b.
601b.
801b.
100 lb.

30
40
60
100
160
200
260
300
400
500

(cask and measui'e
included)

0 3
0 4
0 5
0 10

0 15

1 0
1 3
1 7

1 17

2 5

Should any Flockmaster prefer boiling the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFICATE.
From Mr. Hebepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol Laboratory, Old Park, January 18th, 1861.
Sir .-I have submitted your Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the inixt^e neutral. If it is used according to the du-ections
eiven. I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys yermm,
it will not injure the hair roots (or " yolk ") in the skm, the
fleece, or the carcase. I think it deserves the numerous
testimonials pubUshed. I am, Sk, yours respectfully,

William Hebapath, Sen., F.O.S., &c., xc.
To Mr. Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry.

Leicester House, Great Dover-street, Borough, London.

He would also especially call attention to his SPECIFIC,
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which wiU be found
a certain remedy for eradicating that loathsome and ruinous
disorder in Sheep, and which may be safely used m all
climates, and at all seasons of the year, and t? all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price FIVE SHILLINGS per
gaUon— sufficient on an average for thirty Sheep (according
to the virulence of the disease) ; also in wine quart bottles,
iq ^i\ pach.

■ IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL.

" Scoulton, near Hingham, Norfolk, Apiil 16th, 1855.
"Dear Sir,— In answer to yours ot the 4th mst., whicn
would have been replied to before this had I been at home, I
have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the efficacy ot
your invaluable ' Specific for the cure of Scab m Sheep. The
600 sheep were all dressed in August last with 84 gallons ot
the 'NoN-poisoNoiTS Specific,' that was so highly recom-
mended at the Lmcoln Show, and by their own dresser, the
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd after
dressing according to instructions left ; but notwithstandmg
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to have
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply ot your
Specific, which I received the following day; andalthougU
the weather was most severe in February during the dressmg,
your Specific proved itself an invahiable remedy, for in
three weeks the Sheep were quite cured ; and I am happy to
sav the young lambs are doing remarkably weU at present.
In conclusion, I beUeve it to be the safest and best remedy
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

now m use. „ ^^^ .j^^^ tINGEY, Esq.,

" To Mr. Thomas Bigg." " R- RENNET.

i^- Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre-
parations as "Non-poisonous Compositions:" it is only
necessary to appeal to theii- good common sense and judg-
ment to be thoroughly convinced that no "Non-poisonous"
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, particularly such
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites-creatures so tenacious
of life. Such advertised preparations must be wholly useless,
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS Jei4, £5, £4, & £3.

THE CHEAPEST AND BEST

HAND LOCK-STITCH SEWING (SHUTTLE)

SENT

MACHINE IN THE WORLD.

DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTORY.
NO INSTRUCTION REQUIRED.

THE LITTLE STRANGER, £3 3s.

INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURRISHED GOLD, £4 4s.

WHEELER & WILSON PRINCIPLE.
SELF-ACTING BREAK. SILENT FEED. INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURNISHED GOLD.

SEI¥P iFO» riRliCE 1. 1 ST.

MANUFACTURED BY NUSSEY & PILLING, PARK WORKS PARK LANE, LEEDS-

LONDON AGENTS : S. W. SILVER & CO,, 3 and 4, Bisliopgate Withm, and 66 and 67,

Cornhill (Wholesale and Retail). Agents supplied.

*^* Carriage paid to any Railway Station, on receipt of Post-office Order.

PRICE'S BENZODYNE.— Cough ; Consumptive Chronic Cough— Bronchitis, &c., immedi-
ately reUeved and permanently cured by Price's Benzodyne, au etherial extract of Benzoin, the heaHng
properties of whicli are time-lionom-ed. Price's Benzodyne possesses a pecuUar mechanical power ot putting a
sudden stop to aU wasting diseases as Cholera and Dysentery, and should be in every Hospital, Surge^ and
Rectory throughout the world. Prepared only by Mr. Price, Analytical Chemist, 2, Lower Seymour btreet,
Portman Square, London, W.

HALF A MILLION

HAS BEEN PAID BY THE

il

)

AS

COMPENSATION" FOB

AdDENTS OF AU KINDS

(EIDING, DRIVING, WALKING, HUNTING. &c.)

An Annnal Payment of m to m 5s. Insures f 1,000 at death, and an
allowance at the rate of f 6 per week for lijnry.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS ALONE

MAY BE PROVIDED AGAINST BY

rNSURANCE TICKETS FOR SINGLE OR DOUBLE JOURNIES,

For particulars, apply to the Clerks at the Railway Stations, to the
Local Agents, or at the Offices,

64, CORNHILL, and 10, REGENT STREET, LONDON

' f

WILLIAM J. VIAN, Secretary.

No. 4, vo.. XXXVII.] APRIL, 1870. Tho» Skmk..

THE

FARMER'S MAGAZINE

AND

MONTHLY JOURNAL

or

TEE AdRICULTUEAL INTEREST.

TO THE

FARMERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BYROaEKSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.

IMPORTANT TO

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Veterinary
Chemist, by Appointment to His late Royal Highness
The Prince Oonsort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dover
Street, Borough, London, begs to call the attention of
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
DIPPING COMPOSITION, which requires no Boiling, and
may be used vrith Warm or Cold Water, for effectually
destroying the Tick, Lice, and all other insects injurious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Fly and Shab,
and cleansing and purifying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quality, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal.

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Manu-
factory as above, and sold as tollows, although any other
quantity may be had, if required: —

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2 0

61b. 30 „ „ „ 0 3 0

81b. 40 „ „ „ 0 4 0

101b. 60 „ „ „ 0 6 0

20 lb. 100 „ „ (cask and measure 0 10 0

80 lb. 150 „ „ included) 0 15 0

401b. 200 „ „ „ 1 0 0

601b. 250 „ „ ;, 1 3 6

601b. 300 „ „ „ 1 7 6

801b. 400 ,. „ „' 1 17 6

1001b. 600 „ „ „ 2 6 0

Should any Flockmaster prefer boiling the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFICATE.
From Mr. Heeepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol fjaboratory, Old Park, January 18th, 1861.
Sir,— I have submitted your Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the mixture neutral. If it is used according to the directions
given, I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys vermin,
it will not injure the hair roots (or "yolk ") in the skin, the
fleece, or the carcase. I think it deserves the numerous
testimonials published. I am. Sir, yours respectfully,

William Heeapath, Sen., F.C.S., &c., &c..
To Mr. Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry.

Leicester House, Great Dover-street, Borough, London.

FLOCKMASTERS.

He would also especially call attention to his SPECIFIO.
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which will be found
a certain remedy for eradicating that loathsome and ruinous
disorder in Sheep, and which may be safely used in all
climates, and at all seasons of the year, and to all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price FIVE SHILLINGS per
gallon— sufacient on an average for thirty Sheep (according
to the virulence of the disease) j also in wine quart bottles.
Is 3cl Gich

IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL,
" Scoulton, near Hingham, Norfolk, April 16th, 1855.

"Dear Sir,- In answer to yours ot the 4th last., which
would have been replied to before this had I been at home, I
have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the eflQcacy of
your invaluable ' Specific for the cure of Scab in Sheep.' The
600 sheep were all dressed in August last with 84 gallons of
the 'Non-poisonous Specific,' that was so highly recom-
mended at the Lincoln Show, and by their own dresser, the
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd after
dressing according to instructions left ; but notvrithstanding
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to have
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply of your
Specific, which I received the following day ; and although
the weather was most severe in February during the dressing,
your Specific proved itself an invaluable remedy, for in
three weeks the Sheep were quite cured ; and I am happy to
say the young lambs are doing remarkably well at present.
In conclusion, I believe it to be thd safest and best remedy
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

" For JOHN TINGET, Esq.,

" To Mr. Thomas Bigg." "R. RENNET.

1^" Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre-
parations as " Non-poisonous Compositions :" it is only
necessary to appeal to then- good common sense and judg-
ment to be thoroughly convinced that no "Non-poisonous"
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, particularly such
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites— creatures so tenacious
of life. Such advertised preparations must be whoUy useless,
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS £14, £5, M, & £3.

4

THE CHEAPEST AND BEST

HAND LOCK-STITCH SEWING (SHUTTLE)

MACHINE IN THE WORLD.

SENT DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTORY.
NO INSTRUCTION REQUIRED.

THE LITTLE STRANGER, £3 3s-

INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURKISHED GOLD, £4 4s. ~

WHEELER & WILSON PRINCIPLE.
SELF-ACTING BREAK. SILENT FEED. INLAID WITH PEARL AND BURNISHED GOLD.

SE]¥I> Fo» PRICE XIST.

MANUFACTURED BY NUSSEY & PILLING, PARK WORKS PARK LANE, LEEDS

LONDON AG-ENTS : S. W. SILVER & CO., 3 and 4, Bishopgate WitW and 66 and 67,

Cornliill (Wholesale and Retail). Agents supplied.

■*** Carriage paid to any Railway Station, on receipt of Post-office Order.

P 5Hi I ? 9^^^^-~~^°"S^ ; Consumptive Chronic Cough— Bronchitis, &c., immedi-

DroDertipJ nf 'Ji,'''' permanently cured by Price's Benzodyne, an etlaerial extract of Benzoin, the healing
eSn ston to^l J'^r V "°'"'''^- rl'}""''' Bemodyne possesses a pecuHar mechanical power of putting a
Ko^ tlSir . "^ 'H'f '"' ^' ^^.°^^^^ ^^'^ Dysentery, and should he in every Hospital, Surgery, aid
PortSl^Sto^^^^^^ ^''^^''^ ""'^ ^y '''' ^'"^^'^--lytical Chemist, 2; Lower SeymolvSreet,

CARTER'S M4H0TH PRIZE LONG RED MANGE.

THE FINEST
YARIETY IN
CULTIVATION.

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

A. HUTLEY, Esq.,

Tirlifig, writes — ■
" Oct. 7th, 1869.

"Your Mam-
moth Long Bed
Mangel is first-
rate, so true that
I could not find
one that did not
match with the
rest."

W. ffOLBY, Jun..
Esq.

" TJie Laweh,
" Radv-ay,

" Oct.\\th,\%m.

"Allow me to
inform you the
Mangel seed you
sent was first-rate.
I gained the Fu-d
Prize fm' the best
Two Acren, awarded
iy N. W. Bucks.
Agricultu7-al Asso-
ciation."

T. TAPLEY, Esq.

" Langley Farm,
" Get. 27th, 1869.

" I grew a very
fine crop of Mangel
from your seed ;
the shape and
quality is all that
can be desired."

The finest Long
Bed Mangel in cul-
tivation.

Price Is. 6d. per lb.

(Cheaper per cwt.)

237 &, 238, HIGH HOtBORW, Z-ONDON, W.C.

THE FINEST
VARIETY IN
CULTIVATION.

EYIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

W. (JAPPER, Esq.

" Duddlestone,
" Nov. \st, 1869.

"You will be
pleased to hear
that I have agaia
won the Cup for
Red Mangels,

grown from your
seed. This is the
fifth, year in suc-
cession that I have
taken this prize."

Mr. E. BEECHER.

' ' Kilmalooda,
" Oct. 25th, 1869.

"Mr. Beamish
took First Prize
at our show with
Carter's Warden
Mangel, and Car-
ter's Imperial
Swede."

A. A. MEARNS,
Esq.,

writes —

" Miljord Brewery,^

''Oct. 26th, \Qm.

" There is no-
thing like the
Warden Mangbl
in the County of
Pembroke. They
are most hand-
somely shaped."

Tie finest Long
Red Mangel in cul-
tivation.

Price Is. 6d. per lb.

{Cheaper per cwt.}

r.j'''

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR HEAVY SOILS (Page 4).

"Successful rarming' is

Dependent on G-ood Seeds."

CARTER'S PRIZE SWEDE AND TURNIP.

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

Prom Mr. R. BEECHEB.

^^ Kilinalooda, Oct. '25fh.

'"Mr. Beamish took Firai Prize at
Bandon Show with Carter's Im-
perial Hardy Swede, and Carter's
Warden Wurzel."

From W. SISMAN, Esq.

" Kimbolfou, Oct. 27th.

" I took the Fh-st Prize at the
Huntingdonshire Agricultuj-al

Show with Carter's Devonshire
Grey Stone Turnip."

EVIDENCE OF
QUALITY.

CARTER'S

^v

~^?i. ~~

^&L

Carter's Imperial Swede is
remarkable for a combina-
tion of fine quality and ex- H A R D >'
treme hardiness of consti-
tution.

EDE.

From G. S. AUSTIN, Esq.

" Misnenden, Nov, \st.

"Carter's Imperial Purple-top
Swede is very line. I certainly
have the finest crop I have had
since I have been here." ■

From A. LAURIE, Esq.

" Boghead.

■' Your Imperial Swedish Turnip
is the best that has been seen in
this locality."

Carter's Imperial Swede isy-
remarkable for a combina-.
tion of fine quality and ex-
treme hardiness of consti-
tution.

The Hardiest and Best in Cultivation.

Carter's Imperial Hardy Swede

Carter's London Swede (the largest variety)

Carter's Improved Hartley's Swede

Carter's Champion Green-top Yellow Hybrid Turnip
Carter's Champion Purple-top Yellow Hybrid Turnip
Carter's Devonshire Grey Stone Turnip
Other leading varieties— choice stocks

0|9

per lb. >,

0/9

0|9

Price

0/10

per Bushel or

0|10

Cwt.

IjO

on application.

0/8 to 0/10

„ J

FOR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., The Royal Seedsmen,^

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR LAWNS (Page 4).

/

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR MEDIUM SOILS (Page 4).

" Successful rarming is

Dependent on Grood Seeds.'

'jgg?*^'-

CARTER'S PRIZE MANGEL WURZEL,

IMPROVED

EYIDENCE
OF QUALITY.

E. B. Annandale,
Esq.,

,^tcii:arcl to the
Jlost Noble the
Marquis of
West mi n uter,
Fontldll.

" I consider, taking
the weight of the
Mangel crop grown
from your seed on the
'ground, thty are the
best I have yet liud.
One thing I may •»
mention, which was
nmch ill- tlieir favour,
tliey came up \eij I
regularly, and con- j'^
scquently made CNtn |
and regular growtli
The Swedes were i
most capital cr jp
All your seeds gx\c
me great satisfaction
for fanii and garden." \

FEOif

T. W. SWANN,
Esq.

"Ashjield,
..,"iVw. :ij, 1S69. - -

■' The Alangel grown
from your seed were
the • most splendid
level crop I ever saw,

much "admbrd ''hy CARTER'S NEW CHAMPION
iS in¥Sid.'' " INTERMEDIATE MANGEL.

Carter's "Warden Orang-e Globe Mangel (.v<t illustiatiou) .,. .;-,i(5m.)-ii!-v»>1.I bnAi. 1/- per lb. |

Carter's New Champion Intermediate Mangel, au immense cropper' 0<rVT intii=ftffttiOTij 1/- ,, [

Carter's Mammoth Prize Long Red Mangel (.sec page 1) 1/6 „ i

Carter's Elvetham Long Yellow Mangel, ... .; 1/- „ |

Carter's Improved Red Globe Mangel - 1/- ,, J

Ordinarij Stochs Cheaper — Price on applieution..

Cheaper
per cwt.

FOR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, ,Bfi|: _

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., The Royal Seedsmen,

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR LIGHT SOILS (Page 4).

CARTER'S MAMMOTH PRIZE MANGEL (Page 1).

'• Successful Farming is dependent on Good Seeds."

JAMES CARTEB, & Co.,

THE ROYAL SEEDSMEN,

2B7 & 238, HIGH HO LB OH N, laONDON, W.G.

EAST HOUSE FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX. JUPES HILL FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX.

THE SEED FARM, ST. OSYTH, ESSEX. GOD'S HOUSE FARM, ARDLETGH, ESSEX.

^'^MIliM^ e mm

m S

ilDi

Special Low Quotations

for quantities

of

more than 10 acres

of
Carter's G-rass Seeds.

As supplied to H.M.G.M. THE QUEEN ; H.E.H. THE PEIITCE OF.;WALES, Sec.

Second Quality

at
Cheaper Eates.

Carter's Grass Seeds for Light Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Heavy Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Medium Soils

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS

FOR ALTERNATE HUSBANDRY,
Including the greatest Food and Hay-producing Grasses
and Clorers, in such proportions as the particular rotation
may require.

For One Year's Lay, best quality 13/6 per acre.

For Two Years' Lay 17/6

For Three or Four Years' Lay 22/- ,',

CARTER'S SUPERFINE ITALIAN RYE GRASS.

7s. per bushel ; cheaper samples from 5s. to 6«. per bshl.

PACEY'S PERENNIAL RYE GRASS.

6.V. 6^/. per bushel ; cheaper samples, 4«. to 6«. per bushel.

FOR PERMANENT PASTURES.

Special Low Quotations

for quantities

of

more than 10 acres

of
Carter's Grrass Seeds.

Second Quality <

at
Cheaper Rates.

Best quality,
28/- to 32/-

per acre.

CARTER'S "ROYAL MIXTURE'^

OF FINE GRASS SEEDS FOR LAWNS, &c.
20s. per bushel ; second quality, 18*.

CARTER'S FINE CLOVERS,
Free from weeds and dirt.

Broad-leaved Red 7id. to lid. per lb.

Perennial Red or Cow Grass lOid. to Is. Id, ,,

White Dutch lid. to Is. 4d. ,,

Alsike Hybrid Is. to Is. 4d. „

Yellow Trefoil or Hop 4id. to 7d. „

Lowest price on application.

CARTER'S "LORD'S MIXTURE"

Of rine Grass Seeds for Cricket Grounds.

18*. per bushel. (3 bushels per acre.)

•A C. cV Co. have receivrd their stoch^ of Gms-i rind Clover Seeds in splendid condition, and are prepared to receive orders

to he supplied immediately.

TOR THE FULLEST INFORMATION ON SEEDING DOWN LAND TO GRASS,: SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, ed. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CA^TER~~& T:o:, The Royal Seedsmen/

237& 23g, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S MAMMOTH PRIZE MANGEL (Page 1).

^

i-

kK '!''^'

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1870.

PLATE I.

THE PEINCESS OF TETHOLM,

A PRIZE SHORTHORX COW.
THE PROPERTV OF SIR WALTER C'ALVERLEY TREVELYAN, BART., OF WALLIXGTON, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.

The Princess of Yetbolm, a red aud white cow, bred
by Sir Walter Trevelyan, and calved August 10, 1864,
was by Gipsy Prince (17965), out of Young Honeysuckle,
by Daisy Bull 2nd (14364), her dam Honeysuckle 2nd by
Ravensworth (10681)— Hepalica by Lonsdale (9305) —
Fuchsia by Wizard (6688)— by Wiseton (2848)— by
Walter (2811)— by Mercury (2301)— by Star (1479)—
by Wesllesley (1571)— by Western Comet (689)— by
Phenomenon (491) — by Chieftain (135).

Gipsy Prince (17965), a red roan bull, bred by Mr. W.
H. Kipley, of Lightcliife, and calved January, 14, 1860,
was by Prince Tallyrand (16765), out of Gipsy by
Grand Turk (12969), her dam Ursula by Captain Edwards
(8929)— Fair Rosamond, by Senator (S548)—Emily, by
Sir Philip (8588)— by Premier (2448)— by Alfred (2985).
Gipsy Prince was purchased by Sir Walter Trevelyan, in
whose herd he has been chiefly used. Gipsy Prince has also
distinguished himself on the show ground, as at the Leeds
meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England he
took the third prize in the class of yearling bulls, and
first prizes during the same season at the Durham, the
Northumberland, and the Tyneside meetings; while in the
following year he was " the reserve" in the class of two-
year-old Shorthorn bulls at the Great Battersea Exhibi-
tion of the Royal Agricultural Society.

Young Honeysuckle, a roan cow, bred by Mr. Thorn-
ton, of Stapleton, and calved on September 23, 1859, also
went early into Sir Walter Trevelyan's herd, in which
there are five very promising heifers out of her. One
that has gone wrong in her breeding is now in training
for the Christmas shows at York and Leeds in December
1870; while another is at present at Captain Gunter's
at Wetherby, to be served by 3rd Duke of VVharfdale.

The following is a list of the prizes taken by The
Princess of Yetholm : — Prize of &8 as the best Shorthorn
cow, at the Northumberland Agricultural Society's meet-
ing at Cornhill, in August, 1868 ; first premium of £10,
as the best Shorthorn cow, and the Corporation Cup,
value £20, as the best female in the Shorthorn classes, at
the York Chrismast fat show, in December 1868 ; first

OiD Series.]

prize of £20, as the best Shorthorn cow, and the Pres-
sident's Cup, value £25, as the best animal in the .show-
yard, at the Leeds Christmas fat show, in December,
1868; first prize of £15, as the best Shorthorn cow of
her class, aud the extra prize of £20, as the best animal
in the female cattle classes at the Birmingham Pat (yattle
Show, in November 1869 ; first premium of £25, as the
best Shorthorn cow in her class, and the silver cup, value
£40, as the best animal in the female cattle classes, at the
Smithfield Club Show, December 1869. We remember
seeing the Princess of Yetholm exhibited as a breeding
cow at the Wetherby Meeting of the Yorkshire Society,
in 1868, when she commanded no notice from the Judges ;
and she was also once beaten as a calf by Miss Beverley
17th.

In our report of the Birmingham Show, we said, " There
travelled up from Newcastle-upon-Tyne a certain Princess
of Yetholm, bringing with her a very high i-epute, which
she has quite maintained in the Midlands. She is a very
neat, not large cow, nicely fed, fashionable in her
appearance, and kindly in her touch, so that she looked
to place herself readily enough as the best Shorthorn cow.
Some, indeed, went further, and, as ' bred and fed' by
by Sir Walter Trevelyan, would have made her the best
on this condition also, and so of course the best of all the
Shorthorns, while this would have led on to her being
not merely the best of all the females, but the best in
the yard. Not but that some of her company kept
her in countenance."

That anonymous authority, known as " one of the
Judges," thus speaks of the best of all the cows in the
Smithfield Club's own report : " She was a deep-framed
short-legged cow, of almost perfect form, and fed as
level as possible, her fault being that she was a little too
low before."

The Princess of Yetholm, had only just " qualified"
with one calf, a heifer called Queen of Yetholm by 2nd
Earl of Oxford (23843), that has also gone on a visit to
3rd Duke of Wharfdale, at Wetherby.

U [Vol. LXVII.— No. 4,

278

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

PLATE II.

PERO GOMEZ.

THE PROPERTY OF SIR JOSEPH HAWLEY, BART,

Pero Gomez, bred by his present owner, Sir Joseph
Hawley, in 1866, is by Beadsman out of Salamanca, by
Student (son of Chatham), her dam Bravery, by Game-
boy — Ennui, by Bay MiddJeton — Blue Devils, by Veloci-
pede.

Beadsman, bred by Sir Joseph Hawley in 1853, is by
Weatherbit, out of Mendicant by Touchstone. He won
the Derby ; but his career on the turf was not a very long
one, and his stock came out in 1863, when he was credited
with one winner in Mulberry, followed by Merry Wife in
1864, Caryophyllus in 1865, Arapeile, The Palmer, and
Red Shoes in 1866, Belphegor, Blue Gown, Green Sleeve,
and Rosicrucian in 1867, and Pero Gomez, Morna, and
Acorn in 1868. It is noticeable that nearly aU these
winners are the property of Sir Joseph Hawley, Beads-
man having had very few mares, until latterly, beyond
those of his owner. He stood last season at Hurstbourne
Park at a subscription of 35 mares at 100 gs. each.

Salamanca, bred by Mr. W. Blake in 1859, came out
in Sir Joseph Hawley's colours, but she was no great
performer, nor, with the exception of Pero Gomez, has
the mare been very successful at the stud. Her first foal
ia 1864 was Arapeile, by Beadsman; iu 1365, Adosinda,

by Beadsman; in 1866, Pero Gomez, by Beadsman ; in
1867, Salamis, by Asteroid ; in 1868, a filly, by Fitz-
Rolaud; and in 1869, a colt, by Beadsman.

Pero Gomez is a rich brown horse, without white,
standing fifteen hands three inches high. He has a plain
head, with a not very nice expression, a good neck, and
well-laid shoulders, although his forehand is by no means
elegant or blood-like. He has good depth of girth, with
strong muscular quarters, and a great big-jointed set of
limbs. He has, however, a certain slackness of rib, and
stands very upright before. Indeed, Pero Gomez is not
a taking horse, as he shows a coarseness throughout, al-
though at the same time something of a plain likeness to
his sire, but standing nearer to the ground. He can
scarcely even when winning the St. Leger be said to have
fulfilled all his early promise ; and with his legs at one
time during the past season as round as soda-water
bottles, his career seemed about closed at Ascot, although
since, what with fine nursing, he has been quite set up
again. Pero Gomez is still about the best of his year, as
after being disappointed in the race, he ran Pretender to
a head for the Derby, and over a longer distance of ground
he beat Pretender far enough for the Leger.

SEWERAGE DIFFICULTIES.

BY CUTHBERT W. JOHNSON, P.E.S.

The improvement of the public health is a question be-
coming more and more interesting to my readers.
Sanitary improvements are no longer viewed as matters
of indifference. These facts are not now confined to
those places where large masses of people are congregated.
It has been shown that the health of even our rural vil-
lages is capable of great improvement, and perhaps on no
occasion more clearly than in a recent valuable paper by
Mr. Bailey Denton, to which I shall presently have
occasion to refer {Jour. Roy. Ay. Soc, N.S., vol. vi., p.
208). As then it will be necessary to attend to the
sanitary improvement of many at present neglected rural
districts, it may be useful if we avail ourselves of a little
practical experience, and endeavour to understand the
task required of those who undertake to improve the
health and comfort of a country town or village.

In taking a survey of the town, we shall commonly
find that the houses are supplied with water from wells ;
that the house-drains lead to cesspools, which are con-
structed of porous materials, so as to allow the sewage to
leak into the surrounding soil, and that very commonly
the same stratum, from which the well derives its water.

The task which we have to fulfil is therefore evident ;
for omitting to notice other minor nuisances, we have to
find, first, a copious supplj of good water, and, second,
to provide a drain for every house, and, third, arrange for
the purification of the large amount of liquid manure re-
ceived by the sewers,

Tliese three great public objects must all be accomp -
lished. It is idle to conclude that either of these may be
neglected, and the others usefully rendered avaUable, It
is, however, satisfactory, and most encouraging to find
that ia ordinary cases the reyeiiue derived from the water

rate and the disposal of the sewerage goes very far
towards the payment of the interest and repayment of the
money borrowed to carry out these great improvements.
But to proceed with our object of clearing away difficul-
ties, and avoiding erroneous conclusions, let us examine
the best sources of obtaining a water supply, and next
examine into what the sewage of a town really consists.

Before we do this, let us pause to consider for our en-
couragement the great saving of life that is in our power
to accomplish, and on this point we may with advantage
hear Mr. Denton, who remarks at the commencement of
his paper on " Village Sanitary Economy" :

" It is true that the annual reports of the Registrar-
General maintain the views commonly held, that the degree
of mortality amongst our rural population is much less
than amongst that of our towns, for by comparing the
death-rates of the 10 years ending 1866, it is found that
the mean annual death-rate per 1,000 persons in the chief
towns of the kingdom amounts to 24'. 5 9, while that of an
equal population living in small towns, villages, and scat-
tered dwellings in the country reaches only 20.10, show-
a difference of 4.49 per 1,000 persons in favour of rural
life. This comparison extended to 9,000,000 of peoide of
each description. It appears by the same authority that
over like periods, though of earlier dates, the average
annual death-rate of 30 large town sub-districts was 28.01
per 1,000 persons, while that of 63 selected healthy country
sub-districts was as low as 17-53 per 1,000 showing a maxi-
mum difterence between large towns and rural districts of
IO2 per 1,000 persons in favour of the latter. If we
acknowledge this latter rate (17^^ per 1,000 persons) to
be a fair standard of healthfulness under favourable natm'al
circumstances, without resting to show that it might be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

279

fui'ther reduced by the aid of sanitary works, we have a
means of testing the sanitary condition of all rural places,
and may take it as a rule — subject, of course, to excep-
tions, in which local and special causes counteract human
provisions — that those districts in which the rate of
mortality is above 17i per 1,000 are susceptible of sani-
tary improvements, and a reduction of mortality. To
satisfy those who are disposed to regard with sympathetic
interest the condition of our rural poor, that the mean of
17^ per 1,000 persons is not an extremely low death-rate,
it wUl be presently sho\vn that many rural districts have
a much lower rate. In the Faruboi'ough district in Surrey,
for instance, the death-rate is as low as 16 per 1,000 ;
Bromley, in Kent, 16 ; Cranbrook, 17 ; considerable
parts of Sussex and Hants, 17 ; while Ah'csford, in the
latter county, reaches only 16 per 1,000, and Easthamp-
stead in Berkshire has the same rate. In Northumber-
land and Cumberland the rates of mortality are as low as
those of the southern counties, the BeUingham sub-district
being 14 per 1,000; Glendale and Rothbmy, 15; and
Bootle 16 per 1,000. To appreciate fully the natural
advantages possessed by the rural over the m-ban popula-
tion, and the agricultural over the manufacturing classes,
in a sanitary point of view, it should be understood that
the number of deaths varies veiy considerably in diiferent
towns, increasing in number as the towns partake of a
manufacturing character, whereby the risk to life is
increased. In London, for instance, where the proportion
of the manufactm-ing class is comparative small, the annual
mortality averages 24 per 1,000, while that of Manchester
is 32 per 1,000 ; so that, compared with the average
death-rate of the most healthy rm"al districts, the morta-
lity of iManchester, our largest manufacturing town, is
greater by 14^ per 1,000 persons, and, compared with the
average death-rate of the chief towns of the kingdom, is
higher by 71 per 1,000 persons.

" Again, although our i-ural poor suifer much from the
cold and wet of the two winter quarters ending December,
and March respectively, the rate of mortality in towns
indicates much greater suffering in the same periods of the
year. In the three months ending December, the average
death-rate in our chief towns is 24.78 per 1,000, and in
the March quarter 27.38 per 1,000 ; while the average
mortality of the country districts in the same periods was
19.15 and 23.26 respectively.

" But, satisfactory and encouraging to the rural classes
as these comparisons may be, there is little to be said in
favour of human providence to maintain the advantage,
for it is a fact to be demonstrated by special local statistics
that many of our villages are little better than nests of
disease, showing even greater mortality than many of our
large and crowded cities. The thatched roof, the low
dormer window the cob walls — graced as they frequently are
by the ivy, the rose, and the jasmine — the filthy ash-heap,
the leaky cesspool, the excrement-sodden soil, the saturated
subsoil, and the polluted well, are all conducive to fever,
diarrhoea, diphtheria, and phthisis, and explain with
irresistible force to the sanitary reformer, who has more
regard to the statistics of the Registrar-General than the
charms of the picturesque, why it iS that in so many of
our villages

' Childhood's cheek no longer glows,
And village maidens lose the rose.'

" It is, indeed, impossible to over-estimate the evils
incident to and tacitly permitted in villages, because they
are small in size, and the constituent dwellings are low in
value, when it is certain that if those evQs existed in large
town they would be summarily dealt with as nuisances of
the worst character."

The water-supply will first demand the attention of
the sanitary improver, This, be it ever remembered, is the

foundation stone on which the other portions of his task
rest. It is idle to construct sewers (which require to be
regularly flushed), and attempt to inti'oduce water-closets,
without a copious supply of water. In seeking for that
supply, the nature of the locality will influence its selec-
tion ; if a pure spring can be obtained that will supply
the town by its own gravity, of course that is the best ;
but failing this, then most commonly, if a supply from
a public well can be obtained, it is to be preferred be-
fore that from a river, or from gathering grounds, the
water obtained from which widely varies in purity in
different seasons. The daily quantity of water needed
for a town is veiy considerable, in some cases 25 gallons
per head suffices, whilst in other places 50, and even
100 gallons per head are consumed or wasted. The cost
of the water-works in small towns {cmd the water-70orks
should always helony to the public, and never to a public
conipanij) is commonly small (two or three economical
plans are given by Mr. Denton) ; that of large towns has
been furnished by Mr. Baldwin Latham, the engineer to
the Croydon Board of Health, in his valuable report on
the permanent sanitary works of that town. He ob-
serves—

" The cost of water-works is generally compared by
stating the full cost of the works, and dividing it by the
number of million gallons of water supplied per day.
The Croydon Water-works, when complete, will have
cost £70,000, and will furnish a supply of 3,000,000
gallons per day ; so that the cost per million gallons
supplied daily wlU be £23,333. The following will show
the cost of some other water-works in comparison with
Ci'oydon :

Croydon

Glasgow

Manchester

Liverpool

New River

West Middlesex

£23.333

59,260

60,000

115,115

100,000

77,000

At Croydon, the town is supplied from two wells, sunk
in the chalk formation, and these yield a daily supply of
more than 3,000,000 gallons of water. This is raised by
three Cornish engines into a covered reservoir, which is
constructed on a rising ground 142 feet above the town,
from whence (aided for the supply of some elevated por-
tions of the paristi by a water-tower) the water is supplied
to the consumers by its gravity. The composition per
gallon of this water will be seen by the following recent
analysis by Dr. Odling of that obtained from two weUs.

Old Well.
Grains.

New Well.
Grains.

21.609

21.364

.245

9.625

.195

.250

1.168

1.064

.658

.988

7.390

.028

.023

.206

.004

15.2°

3.0

1.00031

21 .945

Mineral matter

21.455

Volatile matter

.490

Lime

9.765

Magnesia

187

Potash

Soda

Silica

.959

Suphuric Acid

.606

Chlorine

.777

Carbonic Acid

7.865

Ammonia

:035

.029

.280

„ Organic matter ...
Hardness before boiling

15.2°

„ after boiling

3.4«

Specific gravity

1.00031

u 2

280

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The house drainage is the second great branch of our
inquiry, and here our great difficulties commence. It is
far too commouly believed that iu the drainage of a town
it is the produce' of the water-closets that is to be chiefly
regarded. From this erroneous conclusion all kinds of
schemes have been propounded — patents taken out, and
strong arguments adduced ; deodorizers of several kinds ;
mechanical contrivances for working pumps ; carrying
away the sewage in carts, cither in its liquid state or
mixed with earth ; evaporating the mixed earth and ex-
creta to dryness, then using it again ; drying the mixture
over and over again, then carting it away ; receiving the
sewage into settling, or what may be well described as
stink-producing tanks, and allowing the clearer portion to
escape into the adjoining streams, either before or after it
has had precipitants added, such as lime or certain salts.
These plans, as they have all proved, or will in all reason-
able certainly prove to be failures when attempted on a
considerable scale, have mainly originated from their con-
coctors not remembering that for the sewage of a town
we have' to provide for not only the water-closets, but
(1) the sinks, (2) the wash-houses, (3) the rainfall on the
roofs of the houses, (4) the rainfall in the streets, and (5)
the waste water of certain manufactories.

Now, sewers must he provided for all these ; and the
nature of four of these is so impure that, without previous
purification, they are not admissible into a river. The
water of a road even, if that road is paved or formed with
broken granite, contains far too large an amount of im-
purity to be allowed to drain into a stream. Professor
Way some time since analyzed the surface-vrater obtained
from the granite-paved and macadamized portions of
Oxford-street, in London {Jour. Ro)/. Ay. Soc, Vol. 15,
p. 149). He found in an imperial gallon of that : —

Soluble

Matters.

Grains.

From the paved 276.23

From the macadamized... 194.63

The soluble matters of these consisted of: —

Insoluble.

Total.

Grains.

Grains.

537.10

813.33

390.30

584.93

Water of combination, and some
soluble organic matter

Silica

Carbonic acid

Sulphuric acid

Lime

Magnesia

Oxide of irou and alumina, with
a little pliosphale of lime

Chloride of potassiiim

Common salt

Potash

Paved. Macadamized.

77.50

29.07

0.51

2.81

15.84

12.23

36.49

38.23

G.G5

13.38

—

23.51

2.58

1.25

—

10.99

53.84

44.88

82.76

18.27

276.23

194.63

It will be seen, added the Professor, that the soluble
matters of these samples of street water consist of salts of
potash, magnesia, lime, and soda. The suljjhuric acid (in
the states of sulphates of lime, potash, &c.) owes its
origin most probably to the large quantities of sulphur
daily thrown into the air from the coal burnt in the
metropolis. This sulphur, in whatever form it might
originally exist in the air, would rapidly be oxidized, and
brought down by rain. The large quantities of potash
iu these waters — amounting in one instance to SO grains
in the gallon — arc due to the disintegration of the granite
by the united action of mechanical friction and the
sulphureous and the carbonic acid of the London air. In
country towns, where the number of the inhabitants and
the amount of traffic in the streets are iu relation to the
area occupied mueh smaller than iu London, it may be a
t|nestioii whether the adraissiou gf the rainfall and the

land-drainage waters into the sewers is advisable or not.
But so far as London is concerned, and considering only
the composition of the liquid which reaches the sewers in
the time of rain from the streets, it seems pretty certain
that it would be as valuable in a manuring point of view
as the ordinary contents of the sewers. There would
seem therefore no reason to exclude such waters on the
ground of the dilution and deterioration of the sewage, to
which they might be supposed to lead.

The third important object is the purification of the
sewage before it is allowed to escape into the adjoining
stream. Now, on this gi-eat question, her Majesty's
Commissioners, appointed to inquire into the pollution
of rivers, have recently made a report, in which they
arrive at the conclusion that by no known contrivance
can that purification be accomplished nearly so well as
by the irrigation of gx-ass land. It is the vegetable world
only that can profitahly extract from sewage its soluhle,
and that its most fertilizing portion. And how well the
grasses thus purify the sewage of Croydon may be seen
by the result of some examinations by Dr. Odling of the
thus purified drainage matters of the town. In this
case the samples analysed were taken every quarter of an
hour by the Doctor's assistants on the 23rd and 24th of
November, 1867. The account I take from the report
of Mr. B. Latham, to which I have already referred, who
observes :

" The sewage at the time was flowing over 30 acres of
land, on which it had heen continuously flowing for ahout
two days ; the volume of sewage passed on to the area in
the twenty-four hours was 3,274,300 gallons, and the
effluent water, flowing off after purification, was
2,245,200 ; so that 3H per cent, of the whole volume
was lost by evaporation and absorption. As the land was
completely saturated prior to the experiments, it may
fairly be taken that 15.75 per cent., or one-half the en-
tire loss, is due to evaporation through the plant and
from the water surface. This would tend to condense
any impurities that remain in the effluent water in the
proportion of the reduction of volume. Iu the analysis
given, the result that would be obtained by condensing
the water supply, is shown in the second column :

Sewage of Croy-
don after pu-
rification by
irrigtionNov.
34th, 1867.
Grains per
GaUon.

Water supply of
Croydon, con-
densed to same
extent as sew-
age. Grains
per Gallon.

Total solid residue

26-180

25.025

1.155

3.400

.042

.032

.419

.144

25.233
24.807

Volatile matter

.426

Chloride of sodium

1.684

.037

.030

.281

Nitrogen as organic matter...

.0023

" A comparison between the two columns will show
how nearly the sewage has returned to the state of the
pure water as supplied to the town. It may be observed,
that the total amount of organic and volatile matter con-
tained in the effluent water after passing over the land, is
less than the average amount contained in the water sup-
plied by any one of the existing Loudon water com-
panies ; and, therefore, it may safely be laid down that
sewage after such purification is fit to be turned into any
fresh water course. It may be remarked, that the analysis
of the sewage was made at a period of the year very un-
favourable to the system. We must all have seen that,
as the process of applying sewage to land has become
successful in etle'-ting the purification, doubts have arisen

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

281

as to the probable eft'ect of spreading large volumes of it
over areas in the immediate vicinity of populous places.
The result of the applicatiou of sewage to land, iii a
sanitary poiot of view, is equally assuring ; for we find,
upon examination, that Norwood, with its irrigation area
close to the inhabited district, during the three years the
system has been applied to the land, has had a mortality
of 18.17 per thousand in 1865, 15.13 in 1866, and 14.21
in 1867 ; whOe the same area, but inclusive of more dis-
tant localities, has had, during the same period, the re-
spective mortalities of 21.26, 20.04, and 16.60 ; so it
appears that, in the rapid growth of the plant, the assi-
milation of nitrogenous and carbonaceous matter, and the
elimination of large volumes of oxygen by the plant, we
have the antidote for what might have been thought to
prove baneful in its effects."

One great, yet common public delusion as to the
superior value of the insoluble or mechanically suspended
matter of sewage, has led to many expensive failures.
Its value is far inferior to the chemically combined or
soluble portion. At Croydon, we can only with difficulty
dispose of these matters, though we offer them at only
two shillings a ton — that of the Leicester sewage works
is offered at one shilling per ton — the dried night-soil of
Kochdalc only commands the same price. If we con-
trast these prices with the value of the grass annually
produced on the sewage ii-rigated fields of Beddington
and Norwood (30 to 32 tons per acre), we hardly need a
chemical analysis to show which is the most valuable por-
tion of town sewage.

It will be instructive if we inquire as to the value of
the night-soil when it is collected under favourable cir-
cumstances, such as in large towns by well organised
collectors.

In a recently published report of the commissioners
appointed to inquire into the pollution of rivers they
have given the following table. This contains the re-
turns from certain large towns, and includes, I, the popu-
lation, deducting the estimated number using water-
closets ; 2, the tons of manure removed from privies,
more than three-fourths of which must be ash and cinder
waste ; 3, the value annually received for it at the depot

from the cultivator ; and, 4, the amount thus annually
received per head of the population {AyricuUural
Gaxeitc).

Town.

Population

Using

Privies.

Tons of

Manure

Annually.

Money Re-
ceived.

Value per
Head.

£.

s. d.

Liverpool...

350,000

138,777

8,000

5 5

Wednes ...

13.000

1.800

150

3 0

Salford ...

120,000

38,600

4,000

8 0

Manchester

300,000

73,594

6,740

5 4

Bolton

75,000

23,465

1,567

5 0

Bury

29,000

7,000

100

0 8

Olilham ...

77,000

50,000

2 000

6 3

Aslifon ...

37,000

6,637

95

3 3

Southport ..

15,000

9,000

740

8 8

1,015,000

347,573

23,393

5 5

Upon these facts the Commissioners remark : " The sum
of £23,392, which is here quoted as representing the
money-value of all the house waste of about 1,000,000
people, is indeed all that is received from 1,236,000, that
number being the whole population of the towns named,
and that sum being <ill that is received for what the
scavenger collects, so that the annual value individually of
man as farm stock in Lancashire may be put down as less
that 4id., and this supposes the ash and cinder waste
with which the excrement is mixed to have no share in
the valuation."

The fair conclusion, then, to which we must ari'ive,
I take it, is this — that all attempts to collect night-
soil, by manual labour, except on a small scale, will only
end in failure. The city of Paris has, after a lengthened,
well-conducted, trial, abandoned the disagreeable system.
When, indeed, we reflect that, if we adopt the water-
closet system, and provide a town with a good supply
of water, we moreover have to provide sewers for
the various impure waters to which I have alluded, then
we must be led to conclude with her Majesty River
Commissioners, that no system hitherto suggested for the
utilization of the collected sewage approaches in useful-
ness the irrigation of grass.

JUDGES AND JUDGING,

It has been a very pleasing duty of late to speak to
the marked improvement in the conduct of the Journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. The
numbers now come well timed to the period at which
they are issued, and, in place of a series of heavy papers
of no particular point, there are many subjects of passing
interest to command attention. Dr. Voelcker and the
Editor go to Belgium ; ^I. Le Cornu writes well on the
Potato in Jersey. The systems of cheese producing in
Cheshire and America are put in comparison one
with the other ; while we hear of steam cultivation from
the North, and of straw-chaff from the East. AA'^e are
told how reclaimed land should be cultivated, and
sanitary economy in villages enforced. These, and
similar topics, come fitted to the hour, and, as Mr.
Jenkins has already proved that he can do something
more than merely revise or compile, the Society may
be honestly congratulated on an appointment that in the
outset was condemned even before it was ratified.

Nevertheless, it is sufficiently evident that this Journal
can never be anything more than a matter of secondary
consideration. The fortunes of the Royal Agricultural

Society must still mainly depend, as they have from the
first depended, on the success of the great summer show.
Regarded on the whole, the result here has been something
more than satisfactory. The meetings have continued,
almost year by year, to increase in attraction and im-
portance. In fact, at this moment the question is only one
of good management. If the direction do its duty, the ex-
hibitors and the public will give their support. Not, how-
ever, but that these gatherings have been occasionally in
danger. The leading implement-makers, for instance, re-
belled, as the Council at one time threatened to give way
and adopt a course that so far as any eflective entry
of machinery could be concerned would have been simply
suicidal. Another attack is now being made from another
quarter. It would seem that the judges of stock do not
possess sufficient knowledge of that they are about, and
the Council will accordingly endeavour to have these
gentlemen better informed. At the next monthly meet-
ing in Hanover Square, on Wednesday, April 6th, Mr.
William Torr will move that "the judges of live stock
be provided with catalogues in the same manner as judges
of implements now are." Should this resolution be ac-

282

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

cepted, we believe that it will be attended with the most
damaging consequences, as we cannot, so far, see one suf-
ficient reason for its adoption. The judges themselves
would in llieir actions be laid more and more
open to suspicion and adverse criticism, while the
standard would promise to be lowered rather than raised.
Many an incompetent man who now very prudently
declines to accept the appointment would hardly hesitate
to do so on the understanding that he should be provided
with full pai'ticulars. He would almost inevitably go for
name rather than form, and if only quite sure that he had
put Booth first and Towneley second, he would have no
further fear, however little such an award might be
otherwise justified. Moreover, any such alteration as that
proposed would be grossly unfair to younger or less
known exhibitors. Let us imagine that, if only out
of compliment to the founder of the tribe, Captain
Gunter were induced to send one of his Bates' heifers
to the coming show at Oxford ; her atteudant would be
probably unknown, and without the catalogue she would
take her chance on her actual merits with the remainder
of the class. Whereas, with the catalogue in his hand a
judge would, of course, at once rest his eye on her, and
that first sight has a deal to do with it. It may be
argued that judges of much practice will soon come to
recognize particular animals as they do the servants. The
men like " Cuddy" or long Ward they can, of course,
identify ; but they are not always so certain about the
stock, and there are no few cases on record where judges
of character have awarded the prize to one beast
under the impression that it was another. If
possible, we should of course prefer to have these
cowmen, shepherds, and grooms excluded while the
awards were being made, but this with bulls and stallions
would not be practicable, although otherwise there would
seem to be no reason why the men should not be
" barred out," as they are at the fat cattle shows. A
short-wool breeder can scarcely help greeting the old
shepherd from Babraham, and at the last Newcastle
Royal meeting the joke of the week was that the worst
heifer from Scotland took the first prize because the
Warlaby herdsman led her into the ring. A really good,
straightforward judge would say, " the less I know
about any of the animals the better I like it ;" while
a weak, a bad, or a "trimming " judge can hardly know
too much. At the meeting of the Dorchester Farmers'
Club last week, Mr. Spooner, of Eling, who has
repeatedly acted as a judge at the meetings of the
Royal Society, said he " must refer to a proposed alteration
in the judging at the Royal Agricultural Society's shows.
It was proposed, he said, that the judges should be fur-
nished with catalogues showing the pedigree of the animals
and the names of the various owners. Now he thought
. nothing could be so detrimental as that ; he should be very
sorry to act under any such conditions. At the Chelms-
ford meeting he overheard a conversation as to what a
terrible thing the judges had done — they had absolutely
given the first prize to Prince Albert's horse ; every one
would say they had awarded him the prize because he was
the Prince. But the judges had not the slightest idea as
lo whether the animal belonged to a prince or a peasant."
There is another story, touching on the Prince Consort's
entries, which the late Mr. Fisher Hobbs was wont to tell
with great glee. At one of the Smithfield Club shows a
judge, who was known to have something of a weakness
for great people, held out very determinedly for a certain
bullock, the impression with the stewards being that he
thought this had come from one of the Windsor farms.
His fellows eventually gave way, and then, alas ! it was
discovered that the beast put first enjoyed no such Royal
recommendation, although one of the discarded did.
With catalogues in their hands, the judges at Chelmsford

would most assuredly have been unfairly treated, as very
probably on the same conditions the beasts would have
been at the Smithfield Club.

At a recent meeting of the Council of the Royal
Agricultural Society it was determined, at the
instance of a judge, who is also a member of the Council,
to pay the expenses of members of Council who act as
judges at the Society's meetings. Let the members of
Council be next duly furnished with catalogues, and let
them then appoint each other as fast as they can, and
make sure of their expenses accordingly. Nothing could
be nicer, and nothing but the coupling and carrying of
these two companion resolutions would promise to so
thoroughly damage the character of the Royal shows.
At a committee meeting of the Suff'olk Agricultural
Association, on Wednesday last. Major Wilson said they
had received a request from the Royal Agricultural
Society to recommend gentlemen as judges ; and Mr
Manfred Biddell said, "they had had that request for many
years, but he never knew one chosen from those gentle-
men recommended." Precisely so ; and if things go on
as they have been going a man to stand any chance of
being made a judge should first of all be made a mem-
ber of CouncU. "And what shall Imak'you?" said
the Prime Minister not very well pleased, and in a strong
Northern accent, to a place-seeker, who had saved the
life of oue of our Georges. " What shall I mak' you,
mon ?" " Well," answered the other, coolly, " I think
in the first place you had better make me a Scotchman."
At the great Horse and Hound show at Middlesborough,at
which we were present, Mr. Parrington placed the catalogue
complete in the hands of his judges, but he has never done so
since ; and Mr. Parrington's arrangements are infinitely
superior to those of the national Society. He will not
even sufi"er a fussy steward to show himself off in the
ring, but these officials are placed at the entrance to pass
in the classes. Whereas at the Islington Horse show
any great man or any very particular friend of any body
else is bowed in, and the judges go to work duly
armed with the catalogue. And nowhere, as a
rule, is the judging so false or so bad as at
Islington. At the last exhibition there was scarcely a
first prize properly awarded. The best weight carrier,
the best of the other hunters, the best thorough-bred
stallion were none of them the best, as the decisions in
their favour were continually corrected during the summer,
and some of these during the very next week. Of
late the Council has been tampering with the Royal show.
Putting its head in the mouth of a local committee was a
mistake, malang a precedent of the payment of Messrs.
Sanday and Bowley's expenses was a mistake, but a far
graver error will be furnishing judges with the stock
catalogue. The actual responsibility of a judge, who is
really worthy of his office, cannot be too great, but we go
far to destroy such authority in its entirety by a list of
names and particulars, the interference of stewards, and
the loquacity of Veterinarians.

A CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY.—
We have in the agricultural world the very type of an actively
useful central society, having no political bias, but practically
wielding an immense influence in the affairs of tlie farming
community. Farmers' Clubs are even more plentiful than
Veterinary Medical Associations, but they are all represented
in a great measure by the Central Fanners' Club, which, in its
place, is the kmd of Society we desire to see established in the
veterinary profession. The first step in the development of
this scheme is to obtain a competent and energetic Secretary,
who at the beginning must work " for fame, not fortune."
The Society once fairly established should, however, be pre-
pared to remunerate their Secretary, as this is just the kind of
work wliich demands fair payment.— 27«e Veterinarian.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

683

OUR IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.

The publication of the revised Board of Trade returns
for 1869 enables us to take a comparative retrospect of
the fluctuations in our foreign food suppKes, and the
sources from whence they are drawn, in the last year or
two. This is a subject which requires some consideration
from the farmer, who is equally, if not more, interested
in it than the merchant or importer. Although our agri-
culturists have not been idle of late years, but are develop-
ing to the full the resources of the soil, we are yet
dependent, and are likely to continue so, on foreign coun-
tries to meet many urgent food wants. We do not speak,
of course, of tropical and other special productions, for
which our climate is totally unfitted, although these are
articles of necessity we cannot do without, but of cereals,
and dairy produce, and animal food in general.

First, let us take our grain supplies from abroad : Of
wheat we received in 1869 37,695,000 cwts., or 5,000,000
more than in the previous year, and 3,000,000 more than
in 1867. But the sources of supply are somewhat
changed, as we draw more largely from Trans-
atlantic countries, and less from Egypt, the Turkish
provinces, and Europe generally. The foreign im-
ports of barley, oats, and pulse have not varied very
materially in the past three years. Barley alone shows
an increase as compared with the entries in 1867.
There is a remarkable increase in the imports of
maize, which amounted to 17,500 cwt., or double the
quantity received in 1867. This, probably, is chiefly
used for feeding stock, as the consumption in meal, or
Indian corn flour, cannot have led to this great advance.
Rice shows also a large and steady increase, amounting to
5,827,000 cwt. in 1869, or double the imports in 1867.
This may be partly accounted for by the larger use now
made of this grain for lauudi-y starch and other manu-
facturing purposes, owing to its abundance and cheapness
as compared with wheat. The continental manufacturers
of starch, in France, Belgium, Holland, &c., are now
beginning to follow the example set them in this respect
by British starch makers. Our foreign supplies of wheat
flour last year reached 5,402,000 cwts., or nearly
2,000,000 more than in 1867. France and the United
States sent us the chief supplies, and Canada is also able
to furnish largely. The imports of Indian corn meal
keep comparatively steady, the changes in the
figures of the last three years being but slight. The
quantity of foreign hops received last year from the con-
tinent was larger than usual, being 322,500 cwts. against
231,700 in 1868. The exports of beer and ale to foreign
countries were, however, not larger — indeed, they were
about 23,000 barrels below 1867 ; so that the home de-
mand must have been greater for ale and stout. A cui-ious
item in our foreign indebtedness is dried yeast, amounting
last year to nearly 1 21 ,000 cwts. from Holland.

Turning to dietetic articles, we still pay about £100,000
a-year in duty alone for foreign-grown chicory, although
our home supplies are about 14,000 cwts., so that the
taste for this adulterant does not diminish. There is
little variation in the consumption of cofl'ee, although it
is rather on the decline than otherwise, at the rate of
about a million pounds a-year. Cocoa, on the contrary,
which has hitherto not been largely used, seems to be in-
creasing at the same rate — namely, a million pounds a-
year. There was a large decline in the quantity of tea
used last year, about 15 million pounds. Is this to be
accounted for by the rubbish which has recently been
sliot on the market, of which we have heard so much in
the public prints lately ? consisting of warehouse sweep-
ings and re-dried leaves sold to the poor. The quantity

of foreign raw sugar used in the last three years has
been remarkably stationary, scarcely varying at all from
11,200,000 cwts. per annum ; in refined there was, how-
ever, an increased consumption last year of 227,000 cwts.
A new item in the returns is the home-grown sugar made
from beetroot, a manufacture commenced here in the
close of 1867, and which last year amounted to 29,234
cwts. Dried fruits stiU keep steady at 1,156,000 cwts.,
and a miscellaneous lot of spices, gradually increasing,
make up the total of our foreign vegetable supplies.
There remains one large item which chemists class as
food, but which enthusiastic opponents tell us is poison,
and that is tobacco, of which we used 41,720,000 lbs.
last year, being a gradual annual increase of about a
quarter of a million pounds a-year. This article, coupled
with wines and spirits, tea and sugar, coflee and cocoa,
bring into the revenue ahout 22 millions sterling.

Having dealt with the substances derived from the
vegetable kingdom, let us now glance at the foreign ani-
mals and animal products we purchase. In the live stock
imported from abroad there has been a steady increase in
the past three years in sheep and horaed stock. In dairy
produce butter shows a steady increase, and reached
1,259,000 cwt. last year ; but how much of this is tallow-
manufactured Dutch butter the returns do not specify
— our readers must guess for themselves. Foreign
cheese is also on the increase, reaching now nearly
1,000,000 cwts. Eggs also show the enormous demand
prevalent here, the only surprise is where the poultry
are found which supply us annually with 442 millions of
eggs. Our demands for American lard keep steady at
about 250,000 cwts. Salted meats are in demand, jn-in-
cipally, we suppose, for the royal and merchant navy and
emigrant ships, as our imports last year were 1,157,000
cwts. A novel item in the returns is " meat not other-
wise described," to the extent of 90,000 or 100,000 cwts.
This, we presume, must be the tinned and other Austra-
lian meats, for which a market has lately been created,
and public monthly sales commenced in London.

If we take the other side, and see what agricultural
food we send away of home production, we find the figures
are by no means contemptible, and evidence a busy in-
dustry on our farms, and a steady foreign demand. We
sent away last year about 100,000 cwts. of home-cured
bacon and hams, and 20,000 cwts. of beef and pork. This
is somewhat below the usual average. The butter exports
keep steady at 270,000 cwts., and British cheese is
shipped to about 110,000 cwts. We only sent away to
foreign parts 2,217 British horses last year, against 4,100
in each of the previous years. Pickles and sauce making
must be a prosperous business, when the declared value of
those articles exported last year is returned at £406,451.

There is a little item of strong drinks and beverages,
home and foreign made, which enters into the considera-
tion of our food supplies, and forms no inconsiderable
figure in the returns before us. We used up 47,705,000
bushels of malt for beer last year, of which about
1,290,000 bushels are estimated to have been used in the
beer exported. We consumed in the United Kingdom
last year 21,621,590 gallons of home-made spirits, besides
more than 8,000,000 gallons of foreign spirits; and we
also added to this about 15 mUlion gallons of strong wines.

There are many items of small articles of foreign pro-
duce which are not of sufficient importance to enter into
the monthly Board of Trade Returns, such as potatoes,
fruit, dead meat, and poultry, &c., which only come into
notice in the more elaborate blue book forming the annual
abstract of the trade and commerce of the United Kingdom.

284

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

CROPPING.

At llio last quarterly meeting of the Carmarthenshire
Farmers' Club, Mr. Morgan, of Llwyu, read the following
paper : —

Tiie subject which I have chosen for this day's discussion is
" Crojiping," a subject upon which great varieties of opinion
are eutertained by the theorist, and one of vast importance to
llie practical farmer, for it is upon the skill and energy which
lie displays therein that the quantity and quality of his produce
will depend, and its good effect be seen in stock, flock, or stud.
I, however, propose limiting my remarks to the growth and
respective values of cereal and green crops, which are generally
grown in this country: I shall also adopt as the basis of my
remarks the four course system, which is in my opinion (for at
least a certain number of years) the most economical and
efficient system of cropping. I say " for a certain number
of years," for my own experience has satisfied me that after
about twelve years' cultivation under that system, it will be
necessary to give such land rest, by laying it down in grass.
And this is what we would naturally expect, for by no other
means — not even by a thorough knowledge of chemistry — can
we hope to restore to the exhausted earth those qualities which
have been continually drawn from her by constant cropping.
Now, I will suppose myself entering upon a farm (which has
already been treated on the four course system) at Michaelmas,
and wiU consider what I had best grow in the " clover ley."
I have no hesitation in saying, that if I purpose growing wheat
at all, I would plough it up and set the old red Lamas wheat
in it — taking care that it should be in the middle of October
— as I am pretty sure that, taking the average of seasons for
the last fifteen years, moderately early sown crops have been
by far the best. If the clover crop had been a good average,
and had been grazed on the land, perhaps the field would re-
quire no autumn dressing with manure ; but if in the spring
you find your crop does not look as thick and luxuriant as you
could wish, I should strongly recommend a top-dressing of
nitrale of soda. It has been tried with excellent results by
some of the best farmers in our neighbourhood — amongst
others, by Mr. Gwynne Vaughan, of Cynghordy, and Mr.
Davies, of Glanrynis. I think the best time for the top-dress-
ing is about the middle of March, which having been attended
to, I think we must then let it take its chance, with the excep-
tion of a rolling or two and a run through it, to take care of
any of Mr. Brodie's friends that may show themselves — I mean
iveech. I must here remark that in nine cases out often the
wheat is permitted to become sadly over ripe before it is reaped.
The effect is seen not only in the shrivelled, crimped appear-
ance of the grain, and in the scant yield of flour, but common
sense and scientific testimony point to an enormous deteriora-
tion in the value of the straw. Now, gentlemen, I have in-
timated a doubt as to the wisdom of growing wheat at all in
this neighbourhood, hut especially ;in ihc upper part of the
county. Having fairly given the matter my best consideration,
I have arrived at the conclusion that an oat crop in clover ley
is the more remunerative of the two. Thus I take the average
amount of wheat grown per acre upon laud of 20s. rental to be
35 bushels, which at 6s. 5:^d. per bushel— the average for the
last seven years— will make £8 Os. l^d. per acre. Now let
us see what oats, set on the same land and under similar cir-
cumstances, will make. We can safely calculate upon a yield
of 50 bushels per acre, which, taking the seven years' average
at 2s. lid., will make £7 5s. lOd. per acre. But in favour of
the oat crop you have four whole months' grazing of the land,
which cannot be put at less than 5s. per acre ; then the diffe-
rence in the cost of seed will amount to 7s. 3|d., leaving an
apparent balance in favour of the wheat crop of 2s. 5^d. per
acre. If these figures are correct, I would ask you, which
would you prefer, a field of wheat or a field of oats, when you
take into consideration the extra risk which attends the har-
vestry of wheat ? We have not hitherto spoken of the relative
value to the farmer of wheat and oat straw. And here I shall
most likely run counter to the opinions of many, if not all the
gentlemen present, for I am going to claim a decided superi-
ority for the oat straw. I was born and bred iu the possession

of quite a different idea; nor should I have been convinced
now were it not for the observations and arguments of a very
intelligent neighbour of mine (Mr. Davies of Penlan), backed
up as he was by an analysis made by Professor Voelcker (one of
the best chemists of the day). Oat straw heads the list for
all flesh and fat-forming properties. Barley straw comes
next, and wheat straw, which is the highest priced in the
market, is the least valuable of all. Such being the result, I
think I am justified in submitting it to you for discussion. I
should add that in my opinion the weight of straw per acre
would be in favour of the oats, while no one can doubt which
is the more hardy and most to be relied on, taking the average
of soils. We must now proceed to treat the land preparatory
to the next crop, and I shall practically confine myself to the
swedes and mangolds as being the most valuable roots grown
for the maintenance of stock. As soon then as the pigs, poul-
try, &c., have picked up what ears and corn may have remained
after hauling, I send in the scarifier with the broad
spuds (or tines) on, and scarify it thoroughly two or two-and-
a half inches deep, and, if necessary, to secure a thorough par-
ing, I would recommend a cross-scarifying — then harrow it
with a light harrow, say once a week till the middle of
October — by that time the grass, roots, weeds, and stubble,
will have been reduced into a compost of considerable manu-
rial value. I then spread over it what I consider to be a half-
coating of fiirm-yard manure, plough it in as soon as possible,
not deeper than about four inches. I then shut up the field,
leaving it to the mercy of wind, rain, frost, and snow, until
the beginning of April, when you will find it reduced to a
powder. This time plough as deep as you can — harrow it
well — then send the cultivator through it — repeat the harrow-
ing, and unless the land is very stubborn, you will find it fit
and ready to be cobbed into ridges. Previous, however, to
the ridging process, we must remember that it has had only
half the allowance of manure ; I therefore, to act honestly
by the land (for there is nothing that will carry tales sooner),
purpose giving the other half now in the shape of artificial
manure. I have found two cwt. of superphosphate, and one
cwt. of guano per acre, sufficient to produce an excellent crop
of mangolds and swedes. Mangolds should always be set
before the end of April. I only set as much as is necessary
to keep my cattle on from the time that the swedes are done,
i.e., about the latter end of March, until they are turned out
to grass. I have found them of very great use for young
calves ; which I have sometimes housed during the summer
months, but there can be no doubt that, in such cases,
vetches or cut clover are as good and more economical than
mangolds and hay. I have frequently kept them in good
order till July, and on one occasion I had some quite healthy
in the early part of August. Still, I only grow them sparingly
as I have not grown anything like such a weight per acre of
mangolds as of swedes. I should like swedes to be set during
the first fortnight in May. I, last year, set a considerable
portion iu the last week in April, and a better crop I have
never seen. In favour of early setting there is the obvious
advantage that then the land is more moist and better calcu-
lated to make the seed vegetate than under the broiling sun
of June, when the land, after repeated ploughings and harrow-
ing*, is as dry as a bone, and so long as the drought lasts the
seed might as well, or perhaps better, have been in the seede-
min's warehouse. I am well aware that some object to such
early sowing of swedes, on the ground of their being the more
liable to mildew. I can only say that I have not found that
to be the case, and have sometimes suspected that the objection
has been made merely to cover the farmer's remissness in not
setting his crop in good time. I like the ridges raised about
twenty-seven inches apart, for then you will be able freely to
send between them the horse-hoe, that most important imple-
ment in the successful cultivation of green crops. Whatever
sins, gentlemen, are pardonable in the farmer (and I confess
there are a select few to which I plead guilty), I can admit no
excuse for the man, who having incurred very great labour
and expense in setting a field of turnips, permits the plants to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

285

be choked and the laud overruu by foul aud poisouous weeds.
A light roller sent over the ridges prepares the way for the
drill, which should have its coulter so as to form a groove for
the seed to lull into. There should he no rolling after the
seed is put in ; for unless the laud is perfectly dry it
compresses the earth, which, when dried, becomes a hard
crust, through which it is useless to expect the young plant to
force its way. If we have a plentiful supply of plants I would,
as soon as they have got into the rough leaf, send t he hand
hoes through tiicm, striking off the unnecessary plants, and
only leaving small buuches of four or six at the distances at
which you intend growing your permanent crop, and until tlie
plant that is to remain can well dispense with the other's com-
pany, which will be when it is about two inches above the
ground. I like to see swedes thinued about ten inches apart,
much preferring two moderate sized to one very large turnip.
They are generally firmer and keep better. I store my swedes
about the end of November, being satisfied that if sown at the
time I suggested, they will have reached their full maturity. I
have them topped and tailed in tlie field, chargiug the men not
to cut the leaves too close, for by so doing a considerable
quantity of winter food is lost, and the tubers have not so
good a chance of standing tlie frost. I then tilt Ihera about
three or four feet higli by as many feet wide, against the high
bank of a hedge, running nearly north and south, which,
with the assistance of a good covering of refuse of straw, the
plasterings of hedges, and such stuff, effectually protects them
from frost. I have adopted this simple plan for years, and have
found them keep perfectly sound and healthy to the end of
March. Mangolds require much greater care. I store mine
in a house built for the purpose, placiug between the mangolds,
at thicknesses of about two feet, layers of small branches,
which act as ventila'ors, and prevent fermentation setting in.
I should remark that mangolds require to be thinned at
greater distances than swedes. I should say about fourteen
inches, and when drawn the tops should on no account be cut
close ; for once the crown is cut, the keeping properties of the
mangolds are materially injured. Now, gentlemen, for our
last white crop, I would, as a rule, recommend my favourite —
oats : because it is more hardy and better adapted to the
% generality of soils than wheat or barley. Still, if you have
a field suitable for the growth of barley, it is a crop witii which
the farmer can hardly dispense. Its feeding properties, and
its superiority over even oats in many respects, are too well
known to require enumerating. But it is only when that
oppressive aud unjust impost, "The Malt Tax," shall have
been repealed that the full value of barley to the farmer will
be realized. Successive governments have turned a deaf ear
to the demand of this measure of justice, chiefly because they
know the agricultural interest to be a loyal and much endurina
class. But there is a limit of endurance, and to secure the
repeal of this tax, I think the exertions of every member of
agriculture and of every farmer's club should be directed.
Well, gentlemen, it ouly remains for me to advise you to sow,
with the barley or oats, the very best clover grass seeds you
can get, although, after the important disclosures made by Mr.
Brodie as to the enormous adulteration of seeds at our last
mdeting, the warning may hardly be necessary. And now I
have done. I must, however, thank you for the very kind
attention which you have given to what I have so imperfectly
said, and I trust that no member present will refuse to give us
the benefit of his opinion upon the subject before us, for I
maintain that full and free discussion is the very soul of
societies such as this.

Mr. Joj^ES (Penycoed) said : It would bejust to say that the
consideration of the system of cropping would be putting the
cart before the horse, unless they considered how to put the
land in proper order for sowing seed. Any farmer before he
adopted a system of sowing or cropping would first ascertain
the qualities of the land he was about to plough. Personally,
he was not an advocate for ploughing old land before it had
been manured. Parm-yard manure, if it could be got, was
very good. Lime and earth he often thought good. As to
the four course system he had tried it many years ago, and
followed that system for seven years. During the first round
he found it answer very well, but when he came to the second
round he found the land was too light to bear a heavy crop.
That crop was generally wheat. When the land had been one
year in grass he put in wheat which looked very well indeed
until it came to the ear ; but when the wheat crop came to the

ear he found the stem was withering at the root, and the land
was too light to hold it. In fact the land would not hold it.
It was tlien he discovered that the four course system would
not do. He would tell them what he had been doing since.
He afterwards followed the six course system. First, he had
two years in grass, then he put in wheat, then he limed it as
well as he could after the turnips, and then had a crop of
barley or oats according to the nature of the soil. Then he
had turnips, and thou barley or oats again according to the
seed, then two years in grass. He had found that system to
answer well, and he was still carrying it on. He believed Mr.
Morgan's land was somewhat similar to his own. It might be
that Mr. Morgan found a four course system to ansvver very
well. But whatever system any farmer should adopt he would
advise him to lay down his land in good heart, to clear all the
weeds, and then there would be no bar to an abundance of
grass, and also there would be plenty of room for any other
roots as desired.

Mr. Brodie (Tyrdail) said he had expected Mr. Morgan
would have launched out a little more ; however, he was much
obliged to him for his information as to what he was doing up
above. It appeared to him that there was no general rule
that could be laid down for cropping. The climate, the
quality of the soil, and other things varied so much that a
general rule was rendered impossible. For example, look at
the rain-fall in South Wales. There was one thing which ap-
peared to him certain, viz., that no two crops of any sort
should succeed each other. He did not think that was pro-
perly acted up to m Wales, and the day seemed to have gone
by for having any stringent conditions in leases. He fancied
uow that if a farmer had got anything in his head, or anything
in his pocket, he should never suffer himself to be bound too
tightly by a lease. He should go with the times and his own
inclination. Of the four course system he did not approve.
He never adopted it himself except upon one small farm, and
that had a clay soil. It went on well for a time, but it told
upon the laud eventually. The laud required after some of the
crops a good deal of getting up again, as it was exhausted.
Mr. Morgan had spoken very much in favour of nitrate of soda.
Hecouldnot himself say that he had found it very satisfactory.
It might do for a hay crop, but nothing else. It was like a •
man who wanted to get a good bit of work outof himself and so
took a few glasses of beer ; but on the next morning he would
be found very seedy. If they would only notice the land after
nitrate of soda had been used, they would find it was not a very
profitable thing for the farmer. He might be wrong on the
point, but anyhow such w'as his experience. He did not ex-
actly comprehend what Mr. Morgan meant in his reference to
the malt tax. He did not think that the malt tax had anything
todo with cropping.

Mr. JIoKGAN : It has to do with barley.

Mr. Bkodie agreed that if the duty were taken off a cor-
responding favour would undoubtedly follow in favour of the
foreigner. He did not see what the country could gain by
beer being reduced in price.

Mr. Lewis (Llwynfedwen) said that he thought it would
have been more practical if Mr. Morgan had attempted to
show what system of cropping was best for Carmarthenshire.
But on the contrary, Mr. Morgan had never alluded to any
system of cropping ; he had been talking only of the rotation
of cropping. He must say that he himself perfectly agreed
with many of the remarks which Mr. Morgan had made, but
there were others from which he dissented. His own opinion
was, whether right or wrong, that when land was worth 25s.
per acre, it would not answer for any rotation of crop-
ping. It would be better then to keep it in permanent grass.
Besides there was very li'tle land in Carmarthenshire that
would produce wheat to the extent Mr. Morgan had men-
tioned, viz., five and twenty bushels per acre. On the average
he did not think the best land would produce that quantity.
He could speak from experience because he occupied some
very good land himself. He had inferior land, of which it
would be nearer the mark to say that it produced the half of
25 bushels per acre. And as to the comparative value of oat
straw and wheat straw he ventured to say that wheat straw
was the more valuable. It afforded more nourishment to the
cattle. It had been said that the land also required rest. He
quite agreed with the remark tiiat unless the land had rest
there would not be a good succession of crops afterwards, be
the rotation whatever it may. And it would be wrong to say

286

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tliat during a period of rest the land was idle, because there
would be a better production in future. As to the malt-tax,
although it was hardly the subject for discussion, yet he quite
agreed that the Carmarthenshire farmers ought to agitate for
its repeal.

Mr. Harris (Abersannau) contended that in discussing the
question of cropping they must ascertain what mode would
best help them to pay their rates and taxes. As to the four-
course system he believed it was quite practicable if they had
a summer fallow. Tlie first thing he would do after liaving a
summer fallow would be to put in a crop of oats. If after
that he could put ia a crop of turnips he generally did so.
He believed that was the old system, and they must adopt
that until they could gain the opportunity to drain their farms;
then they might regularly resort to the four-course system. It
was easy enough for gentlemen to talk in theory about what
was suitable for Towy-side and what was not suitable, but he
M'auted to hear something practical ; he wanted to hear
speakers relate what they had tried to do themselves, and how
it answered. And he would repeat also that when speakers
talked about the expense to which they had gone they should
also answer if that enabled them to pay their rent. If that
were done if they looked at farming as a thing that was prac-
tical and that must be made to pay the rent, it would often be
found that certain systems would cause them to come far short
on the rent day. And as to manuring, they ought to be very
careful. They ought not to use such manure that in winter
the essence which should sustain the crop would be washed
away. Old manure was best for the purpose.

Mr. D.vviES, the vice-chairman, said that when he heard of
the subject for discussion, viz., cropping, he took it for granted
tliat every man would be considered to have proper manures,
or the means to supply himself with such manures. Then
there would be some room for discussion on the subject of
cropping. Some of the speakers had advocated the four-course
system. He did not advocate that entirely. He agreed with
Mr, Morgan that there should be a rest occasionaUy. They
all knew what the four-course system meant, and that when
one course had been carried out it might be followed for an-
other four years with proper manuring. But he took it that
a man should never pursue a system so that he must feel he
could never pay his rent and taxes. He should take care as
far as possible by his mode of cultivation and his manuring
that he obtained a sufficient crop. After the four-course system
had been pursued twice, he maintained that the land in Wales
was not capable of producing another crop without having a
rest of 3 years. In that he held a firm belief.

Mr. Footman (Havodwen), alluding to the capability of
land in Carmarthenshire, said that it could carry 35 bushels
per acre and a little more.

Mr. Prosser (Tygwyn) remarked that he could not speak
on the subject of cropping, unless he spoke against it. He
was quite tired of cropping. Ten years ago he used to cul-
tivate on the average about 40 acres under different crops, but
now ke had reduced that quantity down to 16. And he saved
a good deal by it : he saved a pair of horses and a man, and
lie repeated that he reckoned that a good deal. Upon the
24 acres formerly under crops he could keep about 30 head of
cattle, in fact, he could keep 3 crows with the grass formerly
required for the two horses. Now, if the farmers present
would pause for a moment to reckon up the difference be-
tween his former and present situation they would find he was
making a better profit now than formerly by cropping. Be-
sides, look at the anxiety when a man had 40 acres of land
under corn, and when he saw the thunder clouds gathering
and showering down day after day. The anxiety of that man
was tremendous. On the other hand the cattle would thrive
nicely during the stormy weatlier. A man's mind was ren-
dered a good deal easier if only owing to that. Then last
year the yield of corn had been very indifferent, and they now
also found the price down very much. Therefore it was he
could not speak at all in favour of cropping. The reason he
kept 16 acres under crops was, that he wanted straw. He
could not do without that or something of the kind. He
kept four acres of land in wheat, and it always depended on
the size of the field whether he put in wheat or oats or barley.
He also had four acres of green crops, and sometimes more
than four acres.

The Chairman : But there must be a difference between your
yield now upon sixteen acres and your former yield upon forty

Mr. Prosser : Yes, but I make more profit on my money,
and I also do it much easier.

Dr. Hopkins after promising to reduce his remarks to a
small compass said he compared farming to gardening on a
rough scale. Farmers should endeavour to keep their land in
heart as much as possible. Whenever a certain crop had been
taken out of the land it was always a bad plan to follow it
with another crop of a similar kind, that is, it was a bad plan
to have too many cereal crops or corn crops. They could not
do better than to have a fallow crop after a heavy crop, es-
pecially in high land which was generally poor. It would be
a great deal better to do that than to plough the land and
have nothing at all. Crops that had a great surlace absorbed
more from the atmosphere than from the soil. Therefore
when they were turned back into the soil there was a great
deal to be gamed from it. Ever since he had held a conver-
sation with the agent of Mr. Dillwyn, M.P., he had been of
opinion that corn crops could not be grown in this part of the
country with advantage, especially wheat. He quite agreed
with the introducer of the subject, that as a rule, taking into
consideration the different kinds of land, the best crops to be
grown were oats and barley. If the lai^d was light a barley
crop was very nice. Oats could be grown upon land that
would not so well grow barley. Some lands would not [even
grow turnips or mangles because it was so poor, so clayey, or
so indifferent. The different fields on their farms must there-
fore be farmed according to their capabilities. Every farmer,
he was sure, would be fully aware of that. He was strongly
of opinion with one or two of the speakers that the more they
grew of grass crops in Wales the better it would be both for
the contentment of the farmer's mind, and the increase of his
pocket, for there would not then be so much fuss made about
farming, and money would be accumulated with much greater
ease. His opinion was that they should dress as much as
possible the surface ; that was the most important thing,
generally speaking, for cropping. It would be absurd, how-
ever, for farmers to call or consider themselves the inheritors
of the old independent farmers of the country if they did not
grow as much wheat as was wanted, and as much corn crops
for feeding their cattle and so on, but not to make it too
strongly a point of income. He would repeat, however, that
the best plan was to adopt the plan of cropping to the nature
of the soil to be cultivated. The soil varied a great deal in
Carmarthenshire. One of the speakers had praised highly the
farm he occupied. He must bs better off than those who lived
on the higher banks. Besides, undoubtedly, he was a good
farmer, and a thoroughly practical farmer. Nor would he
himself deny tliat considering the price at which corn was
brought over here from foreign countries, that they might
crop the land in Wales generally to great advantage. Before
sitting down he would observe that as a rule farmers in this
part of the country could not do better than keep as many
cattle as they possibly could, and fatten them as much as
possible.

Mr. Thomas (DerUys) differed from Mr. Morgan on a few
points. Mr. Morgan commenced with clover laying. If it
was nice clover it would undoubtedly pay better for a few years.
When he commenced the cultivation of a field he considered he
had finished with that field when he had set it out for four
years. With regard to cropping, no one had made mention of
hay crops. Mr. Prosser had talked of reducing his corn crops
to a very small quantity, but not his hay crops. Now, with
the little experience he had himself had he found that hay
crops, if not so exhaustive as corn crops, were very nearly so.
If a farmer growed corn crops he might continue them for a
great number of years. But with hay the land required ma-
nure every two or three years. The best farming they could
have, in his judgment, was to grow as little hay as possible,
keeping as large a quantity of stock as possible on a given
acreage of arable land. There was no doubt that a greater
quantity of stock could be kept on arable than on pasture farm.
But as a great many speakers had expressed their opinion that
land that was wet would raise turnips, but not so large a
quantity of straw as required, thefore he should say they ought
to grow more turnips. By that they would retain a better and
larger quantity of stock than otherwise.

Mr. .T. P. Jones (Llanllwh) formerly had a farm in Pem-
brokeshire loftily situated, on which he found the best system
of farming was that he could not grow too many turnips. It
was essentially necessary that a farmer should have a good

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

287

stock of manure. One geutleraan had said that nitrate of soda
was the only thing that would pay. He diifered from him on
that point. Some had spoken strongly about growing turnips
and mangles. He would not mention the latter, but when
they got a good crop of turnips, it was only a qmd i^ro quo
that a good cereal crop should afterwards be realised.

Mr. W. E. B. GwTN, the chairman, was happy to say that
he agreed with a great deal that Mr. Morgan had said in his
able paper, although there were several points on which he
disagreed with him. For the sake of discussion he would
mention the points on which they disagreed. And first of all
with regard to the four-course system of cropping. He did
not think, as had been said by Mr. Jones, of 'Penycoed, and
other speakers, that the soil of this part of the countiy was fit
for a four-course shift. Another reason was this, he always
looked forward to having very good grazing upon the second
year's laying. He had adopted the system of sowing a good
mixture of seeds after a green crop, and he invariably obtained a
most excellent year's grazing after a second year's laying. Tliat
was a most important consideration, and ought to be borne in
mind. He always sowed a good mixture, and what he meant
was he put down seven or eight different sorts of seeds. Some
bloomed and ripened early, and some would not grow so well
in autumn, and when the former became dormant the latter
were coming up to take their place. That also w;is a material
point. Great stress had been laid upon the mischief of grow-
ing corn. But if they kept a large stock of cattle they were
bound to have a large supply of corn, if only to obtain a large
supply of straw for fodder. He knew from experience that
unless they gave bedding to the old and young stock to lie
upon, they might feed them as much as they liked, but they
would not thrive so well as they would upon a good bed. But
speaking of the land of this country he maintained that it
would be better for to till it with corn than to let it be in
grass. There were thousands of acres in the country that
would grow grass weU enough, but the difliculty was how to
make it grow corn. On the very poorest land, if a certain
quantity of artificial manure were used, corn might be grown
very well ; indeed, it might be made to grow corn better than
anything else. On the low land corn would grow very well ;
it was on the high and dry land where the difiiculty was felt.
Let a farmer use three or four hundred weights per acre of
bones or dissolved bones or phosphate, and his land might be
made to produce something better than those miserable crops
of ferns which could now be seen where the laud was in a
state of nature. Oats could easily be grown on such laud. It
liad been well said that it was a great advantage for a farmer
to have a good supply of oats in his haggard. He did not
agree with Mr. Lewis respecting the value he had got upon
oat straw. But there was a peculiar crop he grew himself,
which was a mixture of barley and oats, and was called shipris.
He had about twenty-five acres under that crop, and had al-
ways found it to pay. When the barley was inferior the oats
were good, aud (vre versa. He had grown that crop for the
last five-and-twenty years, and could safely say that during
that long period the crop had not missed three times. Well,
it might be asked — What are you going to do with it ? He
would answer that it was better than barley and better than
oats. He did not mean to say that it was more feeding than
barley, but the cattle would eat it better. He did not like to
give oats to any cattle except horses. With those who kept
a large quantity of stock it was becoming very general to give
young cattle corn, because it saved liay. They had been cram-
ming it down the throats of the poor beasts, whereas if they
had been fed with some good harvested straw it would have

been much better for them. He would recommend to those
who reared and kept stock to try the mixture he had named.
He could assure them that the crops he realised were exceed-
ingly large. Some of them might think he was wandering
from the subject. Another crop that had been spoken of was
furze. He had been thinking of growing furze himself ; but
until this year had not been able to find a suitable place.
Nobody knew the value of a crop of furze except those who
used them. He had seen cattle on the mountain side in win-
ter when he had been hunting looking well, and when he saw
a good round-looking cow he always asked what she was fed
upon. Now, upon inquiry, he had learned that those cows on
the mountain were fed upon furze. Perhaps Mr. Brodie
would laugh at him, but he was convinced that the growth of
the furze was deserving their attention. In North Wales it
was a very common thing for a crop of furze to be sold for
£10 to £15 per acre.

Mr. Lewis (Llwynfedwen) remarked that in the growth of
furze there would be no danger or anxiety about the harvest.

The CiiAiKMiVN endorsed Mr. Lewis's remark. Then there
was another great consideration — viz., their rain-faU. The
rain-fall in the nortli of England was mucli greater than in
South AVales. It was not tlie number of very wet days they
got in South Wales which broke their hearts. They had
many days when the rain-fall was next to nothing ; but it was
the drizzling rain which ruined the harvest, and wliich proved
so very harassing. Turning to the question of manure he re-
commended that the poor land should have a good supply of
artificial manure. The cost would not be enormous — say,
from £1 to £1 3s. per acre. And every sovereign a man in-
vested in artificial manure he would get back in the crop of
corn realised, and as a rule he would get more than the worth
of his money.

Mr. Jones (Penycoed) inquired how the Chairman used his
manure ?

The CiiAiEMAJNf said he applied it to corn. When he first
used artificial manure, he went to one of our most able men,
and asked his opinion, and in consequence he tried two crops
of barley as an experiment, the one with artificial manure, tlie
other without. He could assure them that the field that had
the manure applied to it ripened a week before tlie other. It
got the start from the commencement, and kept it all through.
Ever since then he had used manure to the corn. His system
of cropping was a six years' course. He begun with break-
ing up the clay, either for barley or oats. He did not grow
wheat except for home use. First came a crop of either wheat
or barley or oats. Then followed auother crop of corn with
either 3 or 3 cwts. per acre of artificial manure. Then he had
a grass root crop. Then he had barley with seeds for the
mixture of which he had spoken. Then he mowed his first crop
of hay, taking care never to let the hay get ripe. It did quite
as much injury to let the hay crop get ripe as to take a crop
ofcoru out of it. Then he had a second year's crop of hay,

Mr. JoiJES inquired whether the Chairman laid his manure
for two years for his grass crop.

The Chairman answered in the affirmative. The first
year's grass would be of artificial growth, the second year's
grass a natural growth. The third year's grass would hardly
be worth reaping.

Mr. Jones further inquired whether in a crop of shipris the
barley and oats ripened together.

The CuAiRJiAN answered in the affirmative.
Mr. Morgan criticised the various observations passed upon
his paper, contending that it was sound in its theories, and
justified by experience.

THE OVER.PRESEEVATION OF GROUND GAME.

One of the best attended meetings that the members of the
Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture have had since the Society
was inaugurated, was held in Shrewsbury, on March 15, when
the question of the over-preservation of ground game was
discussed. The meeting was presided over by Mr. D. F.
Atcherley, the vice-president of the Association.

The subjoined letters were then read by the Secretary ;

House of Commons, March 11th,

Dear Sir,— I am sorry that my parliamentary duties here

wiU prevent me from attending at the Shropshire Chamber on
Tuesday next. I have a particular objection to the over-pre-
servation of ground game, and should be glad if any remedy
could be devised which would be acceptable to the tenant and
the landlord. I consider that rabbits are the worst of all
vermin to the farmer, and most destructive to all crops in the
open field, as well as to young plantations. Hares are not so
bad, unless they are extremely numerous ; and I should be sorry
to destroy them entirely, as I have some consideration for those

288

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

who are foiiil of coursiug, which I am not. The only way
that I thiuk we could obviate the evil would be to make
grouud game property, aud thus render it liable for damage
done to the holder of the soil. I should he very glad to know
the decision of the Chamber on the subject, which is very im-
portant. I went from the Central Chamber, a few days ago,
to the Chaucellor of the Exchetjuer, on the subject of the malt
lax, aud from tiie expressions that fell from him I think it not
improbable that he will transfer the duty from malt to beer. I
also attended on the subject of the savings banks, hut we could
do nothing with him as to preserving the present rate of inte-
rest to depositors. Yours faithfully,

J. 11. OiiMSBY Gore.

London, March 13, 1S70.
Dear Sir, — I regret very much that the day for the dis-
cussion of the subject of ground game should unfortunately
have been fixed just at the time wlicu. the state of I'arlia-
mentary business quite prevents ray coming down, but, as you
request my opinion on the subject, 1 have great pleas>ire iu
giving it. In considering this subject, our attention must not
be confined to it as it relates only to landlord and tenant. In-
deed, if that were the only aspect of it, I question whether it
were not the best thing to leave it to contract and good feeling ;
but of late years the question has been much complicated by
the system of renting shootings, which is now done to a very
great extent by people who, being strangers to the neighbour-
hood, and, for the most part, ignorant of country pursuits, are
liable to do injury both for want of knowledge and from self-
interest. These lessees having no interest in the land, and too
often no sympathy for the farmer, it often happens that they
care nothing about the injury done to the occupier of the land,
caring only to cover their own expenses of rent, keepers'
wages, &c., by the sale of the game, and especially the rabbits,
and, iu the present state of the law, they are able to do this
with impunity, unless very stringently tied down by agree-
ment. It appears to me that the most simple way of get-
ting over this difficulty would be to do away with the " fic-
tion " that game is the property of no one until it is dead,
aud to make it subject to the same laws as other property,
both for its protection, and for the liability on the part of
the owner to pay for any damage done by it. By this means
the saddle would be on the right horse, and he who derived
the benefit of the game, would be responsible for the loss
which it occasioned to others. I know that it is often ob-
jected that you cannot tell to whom the game belongs, but
this can occur but in very few instances. There is very
seldom any real doubt about the ownership. It must in
reason be the property of him who has the beneficial use of
it. I send you a bill on the subject of the game laws in
Scotland, not that I approve of it generally, and some parts
I consider very objectionable, but the main difficulty, that
of simplyfying the recovery of damage done, is met by the
clauses G and 12, and 1 am disposed to think that if those
two clauses alone were to become law, we should hear very
little more of the game difficulty. When the owner knows
that he will have to pay for the injury done by it, he will
give up excessive preservation. Hoping that these hastily
sketched ideas may be of some use in eliciting something
more useful from others, Faithfully yours,

Edward Corbet.

Catsley, Bewdley, March 15th, 1870.
" Sir, — la consequence of ill - health, I much regret not
being able to attend your meeting to-day on that important
question — the over-preservation of ground game — and I will
ask you to convey nay views through the presiding chairman,
which are — That nothing less than the placing of ground game
entirely in the hands of the tenant farmer will meet the neces-
sity of the case. I trust if the ovrer-game-preserviug landlords
could once be made aware of the enormous injury done, not
only to crops, but personal feelings, they would no longer
resist ; and to those who are satisfied with such a moderate
quantity of game as would afford healthful recreation in pur-
suit ;of, the alteration in the law would make little or no
difference, but once in operation would add just as much more
good feeling between landlord and tenant as the present system
tends to prevent. The gamekeeper could no longer be re-
quired, dictating to both master and man upon the farm,
and his nocturnal visits across the homestead with his dog,
to entice the domestic cats to some trap laid a distance off

to snare them, would be dispensed with. Then the esquire
would not be so often detained to hear reports from his con-
fidential keeper as to this or that tenant having committed
himself by some breach or other of their local game laws,
but would have more time to ride over his estates and view
the great improvements that would be sure to result from
the alteration ; and in meeting his tenants he may see a
smiling cheerful countenance instead of a grim, care-worn
face, with empty pockets, which a few years' occupation of a
game farm is sure to produce. I speak from eighteen years'
experience, and feci sure that during that period I am a loser
of eighteen hundred bags of corn, through the destruction by
hares alone, not saying a word about loss of mutton, beef, &c.,
to the public as well as to myself. Yours truly,

Benj. Dcdfield.

The Chairman said he had been told the other day by
a gentleman, who, he thought, was a little overdoing the
matter, that in Shropshire one-half the farmers had the shoot-
ing themselves (No, no ; and a voice, " Not one-tenth.")
Well, many farmers liad farms of their own, which, of course,
altered the matter. At any rate he thought it ought not to be
treated as a class question.

Mr. 11. Jasi'er More, who was very warmly received, said
he was aware strong views were enterteined for and against the
game-laws in Shropshire ; he felt it his duty, in the interests of
the Chamber, to counsel that whilst all facts which tended to
illustrate any views should be freely stated, the sensativeness
of many persons on that subject should be borne iu mind by
those who take part iu the discussion. He noticed that the
noble president of that Chamber stated in the winter that he
would have voted in favour of another subject being discussed
at that meeting, but he did not gather from his remarks, as re-
ported, that he was averse to the discussion of the subject at
all, for he hiraelf set the example of discussing it at the annual
dinner of the Chamber, though the county members present,
as Lord Granville remarked last year, did not venture within a
hundred miles of it (laughter). If the rabbits were really
given on all estates to the tenants, as he believed Lord Brad-
ford said he gave them on his property, or if they were system-
atically kept down, he believed that sensative persons would
have no reason to fear agitation on the game-laws. He would,
however, ask that meeting to bear in mind that the over-pre-
vation of game was one question, and the game-laws, to a great
extent, another. The game-laws embraced fiscal questions of
licences for killing and dealing in game as a means of taxation
and revenue, as well as the varied questions of the preservation of
birds in this country not here indigenous, the law of trespass
iu pursuit of game, the judication before which poachers are
brought, the punishments they are to receive, the power en-
trusted to the constabulary in bringlug them there, and, lastly,
the payment of the expenses of their prosecution and the
maintenance of their families, which is the consideration
which most of all jeopardised the existence of the game-laws.
For this latter Mr. Head aud he proposed a remedy in the
rating of woods and game, for which they introduced a bill,
the principle of v^hich he found would in part, at all events, be
adopted this year by the Government. Now it was clear that
the Chamber might pass a resolution against the over-preser-
vation of game without proposing the abolition of a single
game-law. It was against the over-preservation, not the preser-
vation of game, that the resolution was dirscted ; in the abuse
of sport that is distasteful, not its legitimate use. That was a
question on which public opinion might be more likely to be
efficacious than law, as well as more productive of immediate
results. A committee sat to inquire into the game-laws in
18-16, and that committee, contrary to general usuge, reported
in a different sense to what the chairman, Mr. Bright, desired
and expected. No legislation that he was aware of followed
from the recommendation or the inquiries of that committee.
But when Lord Granville came there and made a speech, which
not only all who heard it would always remember as one of the
best speeches agriculturists ever had the privilege of hearing,
but farmers in all counties felt obliged to him for it — (cheers)
the results of his condemnation of the rabbit where so imme-
diate that in one neighbouring county only he heard that seven
landlords gave their tenants the right to destroy rabbits on
their farms (applause). He should now content himself with
stating that he believed the exact point of the farmer's grievance
was, where it existed, against which that resolution
was framed, aud to meet which a bill was to be proposed

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

289

in the House of Commons on Wednesday, and at the same
time invited tlieir particular attention to the circumstances
out of 'vhicli it hail ariscu. 'i'he common law, which was
founded on the wisdom of their ancestors, gave the game to
the occupier. Tiie occupier in niue cases out of ten signed
away his right to the landlord, who was then able, by statute
law, to appoint any one else to kill it for him. Pheasants
and partridges, together with ground game, were equally the
occupier's by common law ; and this poiut an excellent
relative of his, who was President of the Wenlock Farmers'
Club at the time when the game law committee was ap-
pointed, and they sent a witness to be examined on their
behalf, told him he found farmers did not seem to uuderstand
then, but he hoped all in that room were aware of the fact
now. Perhaps in the majority of cases farmers did not care
for shooting at all, and were perfectly ready to preserve game
for their landlords. The extent of their grievance, he be-
lieved, was, that when they had signed away their right, they
found hares and rabbits often increase to an extent that inter-
fered with agriculture (applause). The object of a resolution
passed against the over-preservation of ground game by a
Chamber of Agriculture was, he took it, to draw attention to
the fact that hares and rabbits did that injury to agriculture
which rendered it obligatory on the landlord, when he had
received the right of shooting from the tenants, to keep
ground-game down. lie would quote, in proof of the great
damage done by game, not from a farmer, or from a game-
agitator, but from the President of the lloyal Agricultural
Society, an extract given by Mr. Corbet, secretary of the
Central Parmers' Club, in his essay, which was probably the
best that had ever appeared on game-preserving. Mr. Pusey
says, " With respect to trials of the relative amount of food
consumed by hares and sheep which used to go on at the time
of the game-law committee, that though two, three, or four
hares may not eat more than a sheep, you cannot keep them
in one place like a sheep ; that he should like to decide for
himself, if he were a farmer, whether hares should eat his
green crops or not ; it is an interference with the farmers'
crops ; and where a man has been taking pains with his land,
and spending a good deal upon artificial manure, and en-
^ deavouring to grow good green crops, it must try his temper
very much ;" and Mr. Corbet adds, " And his pocket too"
(applause). The bill which Mr. Wykeham Martin would
introduce on Wednesday, contained the following important
clauses, but directed only against rabbits, to which Mr. Beau-
mont, a leading county member, added " hares" (Cheers) :
" From and after the twenty-fifth day of September, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy, it shall be lawful for any
tenant, or any person employed by hira, and having his au-
thority or permission, to kill rabbits on the lands occupied by
hira, any agreement or covenant to the contrary notwithstand-
ing ; and any agreement reserving the sole or exclusive right to
kill rabbits shall be null and void." Amendment of Mr. Beau-
mont : Leave out after first " the" and insert " passing of this
act hares and rabbits shall not be deemed game within the
meaning of the game laws, nor shall any of the provisions of
those laws apply to the taking, killing, or destroying of hares
or rabbits" (cheers, and cries of " Beaumont for ever"). The
question they may exjiect to be argued in Parliament was
whether it is desirable that the state should intervene between
landlord and tenant. Of course now that both sides of the
House of Commons had agreed that the state should so step
in, in part of the empire, the doctrine of state interference
could not be repudiated as formerly. The question that would
be asked was, was game-preserving a case in which on grounds
of public policy landlord and tenant should not be left entirely
the agents in England, as it had been settled they shall not be
in other respects in Ireland ? Already in EuglauJ the State
did interfere in contracting, as, e.rj., the truck act prevented
employers to contract to supply food to the employed. But it
might not be argued on Wednesday at all ; for if the Govern-
ment brought in a bill for Scotland, tiiey may allow the mover
of the bill to apply it to England, which he would do iC the
Scotch bill is satisfactory. Having thus stated the question
he was desired to do, he would express his hope that this dis-
cussion would, in fresh eases, relieve the tenant, without caus-
ing ill-feeling between him and his landlord (applause). He
would repeat that in Shropshire, as far as he knew it from the
Southern Division, game was not especially over -preserved.
it was % county of which it was difficult to affirm any generfil

proposition, because it may be felt there were cases of great
individual hardship, but on the whole it was not considered a
game-preserving county, as Mr. Corbet, in his essay, testified ;
for he ranks the ganre-preserving counties in the following
order: Norfolk, Suffolk, Nottingham, Lancashire, Yorkshire,
Cambridgeshire, and Essex, but he did not mention Shrop-
shire. He would end by stating that it was not the preserva-
tion, but the over-preservation of game that was objected to.
He was glad to make this as clear as possible, for the preser-
vation of game, as the game-laws were seldom spoken of at a
farmers' meeting without some one making what, as a humble
member of them, he felt was a disgraceful imputation on coun-
try gentlemen, that they would not reside on their estates if
it were not for the game, as if game was the only tie between
them and their responsibilities (applause). But that argu-
ment, which was extensively used, more frequently became
what he may term the " paterfamilias" argument, that, unless
game were preserved up to battue point, fathers of families
were afraid eligible young men would not visit their houses,
as if the charms of their daughters ought not to be superior to
shooting, as lie found young ladies' charms generally were
(laughter) ; or as if men, who visited only on sucji terms,
should not be made to kuow that in this day, if they are to
maintain their position, it was necessary for gentlemen's sons
to be something more than mere leaders of the sports of the
people (applause). He concluded by moving "That, in the
opinion of tjiat Chamber, the over-preservation of ground-
game should be discountenanced."

Mr. John Bridgjian seconded the motion. In that neigh-
bourhood, or in Shropshire generally, a much better feeling
had sprung up in reference to game during the last few years,
for many landlords were now giving the game to their tenants,
especially ground game (appleause). If he could see this
generally done with respect to ground game it would be nearly
all he could desire, and he believed theie were many more of
his fellow-farmers who were of a similar opinion (applause).
He thought they had more to look forward to from themselves
and their landlords than from anything tiie state may do
(applause).

Mr. Evan Davies thought that was one of the most im-
portant questions that that Chamber had yet undertaken. He
btlieved he was echoing the sentiments of everyone there pre-
sent, as well as of every farmer in England, when he said that
he should deeply deprecate any remedy for the over-preserva-
tion of game that would have the etfect of debarring the no-
bility and gentry of the country from a fair amount of field
sport ; but, at the same time, he could not help thinking that
the present system of sporting was un-English, and unwise, and
unaccompanied by that healtliy exercise that ought to accom-
pany it. It could not be kept up and pursued without repeated
and murderous affrays between poachers and keepers, and
without engendering in the hearts of the tenant-farmers of the
country an unmitigated evil. He well remembered the time
when the gentlemen of England were content when they went
out shooting if they could kill a sufficient quantity of game for
their own tables ; but since that foreign system had been in-
troduced they were not content unless they could turn out in
the middle of the day, and, in the course of two or three
hours, shoot down a load of game (Hear, hear, and applause).
He did hope and trust that their landlords would sec the evil
ol this system ere it was too late. Mr. Gladstone, in intro-
ducing the Irish Land Bill, made a remark which might
equally well be applied to the question they had then under
discussion. It was, that if the wants of the people had been
attended to thirty years ago, they would have been satisfied
with a much less sweeping measure than they would be at pre-
sent. He repeated that he hoped the gentry of England would
see the evil of their ways, and would no longer permit the over-
preservation of game on their estates. He most sincerely
wished that Mr. Mechi, who had raised his voice against the
destruction of the small birds, would raise his voice against the
destruction of the birds of prey, which was carried on to a very
great extent by the preservers of game. Mr. More had justly
pointed out tluit the game was the property of the tenant; but, he
would ask, how could the tenant avail himself of that while he
subjected himself to a six months' notice to quit? (applause).
When a man's capital was invested in tlie soil he was tied to his
farm, and could not leave even when he was overrun by game.
Let them, then, give the tenant an Act enabling him to claim com-
pensation for his unexhausted improvementsj and jt would be

290

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

a step in the right direction. He believed that by continued
agitation they would get what they needed — indeed tliere were
many landlords who were already beginning to see the ill effects
of the over-preservation of game, lie had read that day in
Bell's Messenger an instance of a landlord who had given his
tenants notice that they could destroy all the hares and rabbits
upon their farms (applause). He repeated that if they continued
to agitate, and put the matter fairly oefore their landlords that
they would not be unmindful of the wants of their tenantry
(applause).

Tlie Rev. G. Botfield would just tell them what his own
practice in reference to game was, and if it did not meet wdth
their approval, he did not wish them to say that it did. His
practice was this — rabbits, his tenants may kill as many as
they pleased (Hear, hear). He did not let them shoot them,
however ; for, in the first place, they could not keep them
down merely by shooting ; in the next place it caused diflicul-
ties with the keeper, and lie thouglit also that the farmers'
young sons got into the habit (the remainder of the sentence
was unheard, in consequence of the general expressions of dis-
approval). As to hares, tenants could course them whenever
they asked permission. If he thought tliat tiiose regulations
were pressing heavily upon his tenants, he would rather by
the half give up the game altogether than be on ill terms with
anyone. There were one or two words he would like to add,
and that ought to be borne in mind in reference to the damage
done to the farmer's crops by game. It had been said that
that damage could be settled by arbitration ; but he did not
think himself that that would be satisfactory (No, no). He
believed it would be the cause of perpetual dispute between
landlord and tenant, for there might be a lot of the crops
destroyed, and they could not say how it was done, whether
by the game or what (No, no, and other expressions of dis-
sent). Well, he would just make this other remark: When
• he gave his tenants the right to kill rabbits, he found that
they increased to a considerable extent, and if the tenant was
to be protected by having the game in his own hands instead
of the landlord, the landlord should be protected in some way
also. If they did the landlord damage, he should be allowed
to kill them, for they destroyed the landlord's plantation, and
would do him as much harm as the tenant (A voice : " Well
done," and laughter) . It liad been said that tlie game was
the property of the tenant. So it was ; and it was because
the tenant gave up liis right to it tiiat the difficulty arose.
Let fanners all say they would make their own reservations
as to the game, and they would gain their point at once ;
otherwise, they must have legislation to help them, which he
for one should be sorry to see, for he thought it would not be
at all satisfactory. If a man came to him whom he knew to
be a good farmer, he should not like to refuse him a farm
merely over a question of the game, and but few landlords, he
hoped, would do so. He would repeat, in conclusion, that if
farmers as a body would say what they believed to be the pro-
per mode of procedure, that, as public opinion was brought
to bear upon the question, they would get what tliey desired —
freedom from the excessive preservation of game — and for
himself, he would add, that he would rather see game
abolished altogether than that any ill-feeling should exist be-
tween tenant and landlord.

Mr. Legk (Foxall) said as to an agreement it was true, as
Mr. Davies had remarked, that with a six months' tenancy it
would not have the desired clfect ; for, however good a land-
lord may be, a new landlord may step in and alter the agree-
ment entirely. He thought himself that if the ground game
were done away with the matter would be settled at once.

Mr. Fowler would relate to them some of the sufferings he
had undergone in consequence of ground game. Some twenty-
five years ago, when a young man, he took a farm under a
gentleman he had every confidence in. For some years they
met on the most friendly terms. When he entered on the
larm he used to produce 18 bushels to the acre. He laid out
his entire capital upon the farm, and brought it up to forty
bushels to the acre (applause). He repeated that his entire
capital was laid out on the farm, and at the end of some years
his landlord was laid up in consequence of ill-health. He
suffered for some time, and the management of the estate and
the game came into the hands of another party. That person
went over different parts of the estate, and the result was that
he said " Oh, Mr. So-and-so has a well-cultivated farm ; see
what crops he has got j his farm is too cheap ; what is to

be done ? We must have more rent from him, or we must
stop him having the game." He must " cry back" liere, aud
state that when he took the farm it was 'understood that he
(the speaker) was to have the game. He had the right to
destroy every rabbit, but the person in charge of the estate
had made up his mind to take possession of the game even to
the rabbits. He (the speaker) said, " No, it was my under-
standing that I should have the game, including the rabbits,
which I have systematically destroyed." Well, the agent
came to him one day with two documents in his hand and
said, "Will you give me the entire right of the game?" He
said " No, I will do nothing of the sort" (applause). He
refused to sign an agreement to that effect, and upon that the
agent produced the other document, and said " Then you
must take this." It was a notice to quit (cries of " Shame,
shame"). " Wliich will you take," the agent repeated, " That
or this" (" shameful") ? He (the speaker) was a young man
at that time, and, very naturally, he was rather taken by sur-
prise. He begged for a ^limited time, till the next day, to
consider the matter, but, said the agent, " It must be done
now" (renewed expressions of disapproval). "Well," said he,
" Will you give me two hours ? I will ride as fast as I can to
my father, who is in Birmingham, and ask his advice."
The agent repeated, "One or other, whichever you like"
(cries of "Who was the landlord?"). He would not
name the landlord, but if they wished it he would. Well,
he signed the agreement aud gave up the right of destroying
the game, and from that time forward he was smothered with
them to an extent that completely destroyed his crops. He
would give them an instance of it. During the last harvest
that he gathered off the farm himself, the keeper — that gentle-
manly man the keeper — (laughter) said, in a very patronising
manner, " Oh, will you please to sell me a load of barley." He
said, in reply, " There are fourteen acres of barley there which
ought to have produced forty bushels to the acre, and instead
of a load I will measure four acres out of the middle of the
field, providing you will be at the expense of clearing it away"
(laughter). That was one field only. He had another field
of wheat, of seven or eight acres, the manure for which he
had bought at the rate of 7s. per ton, and had carted it from
Birmingham, and for which he had two years' rent and other
payments to make. That field had been well attended to, and
kept as clean as possible, and when he went there at harvest-
time, what did they imagine the produe to be, off that eight
acres of land ? Why, he never put a scythe or sickle into it,
because, after a careful calculation of tlie expenses, he found
it to be to his entire advantage to give up the field and the
crop upon it together (Shame), His successor tried to get the
crop in, but he went on only a very short time. He thought
they were very short of statistics to show the quantity of
game in the country, and the damage it did. That it was a
difficult thing to get at he readily admitted, but urged that
something may be done by observing the quantity of hares
and rabbits sold in the markets, which would, he thought
bring tliem somewhere near it (hearty applause).

Mr Poole (Bicton) suggested that by fencing off a por-
tion of a field, so as to keep out the game, and comparing it
with the produce on the other part, they might come to some
conclusion as to the damage done.

Mr. Matthew Williams would ask them, in the first
place, whether the tenant farmers present had at any time
suffered, or been distutbed in their tenancy, by the over-pre-
servation of game, or by the undue interference of keepers ?
(Loud cries of " Yes, yes"). That being so, he thought he
might proceed with what he had to say, for it could not be
said, as it had been said of a former discussion, that they had
not been able to make out " a case" — a fact, however, which
he denied, for he thought they had on that occasion, as on the
present, a very good case. The question of game was a very
vexatious one, and had caused more unkindly feelings in the
mind of the tenant than anything he knew ; indeed, it had, in
many ways, a most injurious and prejudicial effect upon the
tenant. That being so, he thought it would be admitted that
there must be something radically wrong in the over-preser-
vation of game, and he felt pleased at being the humble in-
strument by wliich that question had been brought forward for
discussion. He had liad a discussion with some of his Iriends
on that subject, and they said " What do you want troubling
yourself with this matter ? You Uve under a landlord that
never interferes with his tenants,"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

291

A Member : Who is it ?

Mr. W1LLI.UIS replied that his landlord was the Duke of
Cleveland, and lie was proud to add that there were some
others inthe county who also gave to their tenants the great privi-
lege of killing the ground game. These were the good land-
lords, and he hoped it would he home in mind that the laws of
the land were never made, or intended for the good man.
But all were not good either among laudlords or tenants, or
any other class. If every landlord was a good, honourable, and
well-intentioned man, there would be no need to talk about
the game laws, but it was a fact, that he hardly knew a year to
elapse without seeing the tenancy of some good and worthy man
sacrificed to tlie vexatious question of game, either — as had
been remarked by the veteran chairman of the Wenlock
Farmers' Club — by the interference of the keeper or the agent
(applause). Much as he admired their worthy friend at the
otherend of the table (Mr. Botfield) more especially on the
occasion of jiis very able speech on the Education question,
yet he thought Mr. Botfield's suggestion in that case would be
at best but a very slow process of arriving at the object they
had in view (Hear, hear, and applause). There must be a
blow struck, firmly and empliatically. Let them depend upon
it they must have a legislative enactment to help the farmer
before any real good could be effected (applause). He, for
one, had been a farmer all his life and he believed he should
end so, for it was but few of them who could look forward to
anything but being men of toil, all their lives, yet he for one
should be sorry, and hoped the time would never arrive when
the tenant farmers of England would wish to debar landlords
and their friends from the legitimate right of coming to sport
over their farms (Hear, hear, and applause). All this he be-
lieved farmers generally were ready to admit, and he thought a
line may be drawn which would settle the question satis-
factorily. If all men were honest, he repeated that there
would be no necessity for law, but as such was not the case he
could not help thinking that the law must step in. If tenants
had the undisputed right of killing the ground game — he
meant the hares and rabbits — he had that confidence in
the tenants of England that they would never debar the land-
lords from shooting on the farms, but that they allow
it quite as wilHngly, at least, as they did under existing
circumstances (applause). What had been lately said
by a Shropshire worthy in another county did not, if it
were true, redown very much to the credit of Shropshire.
What he meant was some remarks that had been made in
reference to game preserving in the county ; but he did not think,
he must say, that the observations he was referring to would
bear the light of day, and he would not refer to them fur-
ther. He contended that every landlord ought to be anxious
to be honoured and respected, not only by his tenantry, but
by in all the neighbourhood, and what could be more likely to
foster in the mind of the tenant an iU-feeling than to see a
landlord let out the game to a parson who often had no in-
terest in it except as a mere article of merchandize (applause).
The capital of the agriculturist was sunk very largely in the
land, and they relied upon " mother earth" for a reasonable re-
turn for that capital, and he thought it was a fact that would
he borne out by everyone that anything that tended to promote
the laying oat of capital must be to the interest of the land-
lord, for a man laying out his capital with judgment was im-
proving his landlord's property. But what could deter a man
more from laying out his money than to know that those night
marauders and plunderers — the hares and rabbits — were con-
tinually on the alert ; and when things should look pleasant,
and when he should be in expectation of a pleasant and pro-
fitable harvest, instead of getting it, he would only see more
plainly how far the rabbits and hares had gone, for although
some said hares were harmless — (a laugh) — anyone could, by
going a little way into a field of barley, gather the crop up in
armfuls (applause) . By looking at the outskirts of the cover
they may think that very little harm was done by those animals,
but what was done by the rabbits, hut that was not so. He
could not see what there was in the shape of a " national sport"
in the shooting of hares and rabbits. One set of men went
in and drove the animals out, and it was, to him, only like
shooting down so many dogs. Yet it was, it seemed, a bit of
amusement they liked, and he supposed there was a bit of
profit attached to it, for those hares and rabits, fed by the
tenant, by-and-by found their way to the market, and enriched

the pockets of the landlords ("Hear, "bear," and applause).

He hoped he should not hurt the feelings of any one present
if he said he did not believe that those who killed their game
and sent it to a market town for sale could in any way be con-
sidered benefactors of their country (applause). He thought
it helped to fill their workhouses and to swell cheir county
rates, and he could not help thinking, while he and others like
him were rated pretty highly, the landed proprietors were not
very highly rated (Hear, hear). Tenant farmers felt the op-
pressiveness of the present state of things in a good many
ways, directly and indirectly. If landlords would stand up
and say they would do what was right between man and man,
and if they would do it, they would get over the difficulty very
easily, but unless they did so, the difficulty would be got over
in no other way than by bringing the attention of the country
and of Parliament to bear upon it (applause). Mr. More Jiad
old them that game was, legitimately, the property of the
enant. No doubt it was so, as also that the right of destroy-
ing it had been handed down to the tenant by law, but " might"
had been brought to bear, to the great injury of the tenant
farmers of England, and had taken the place of " right ;" and
so the full improvement of the soil had been prevented, to the
great injury, not only of the tenant, but of the country at large.
In his boyhood days it was a pleasure to him to see men out
for a legitimate day's sport. There was something invigorating
in it, something that tended to create a good feeling between
landlord and tenant. He had no doubt tenants generally felt
a pleasure at seeing their landlords have plenty of sport (Hear,
hear), but no true lover of sport coukl call what was at present
in vogue " sport." He had even heard of a gentleman who
bagged a lot of birds, which he let out upon a field before they
were wanted, and said to his friends, " Tliere, go and shoot
them" (laughter). Was that sport? (renewed laughter).
If it was, the sooner the better they abolished such sport alto-
gether. The question was one that ought to have been dis-
posed of many years ago (applause).

The Chairman : Here is a proposition, and until that is
disposed of we can discuss nothing else.

Mr. Williams : I have suggested one remedy, which is to
give the ground game to the tenant.

Several Voices : Make them vermin (applause.)

Mr. Williams ; Aye, anything you like to call them. I do
think landlords ought not to prevent us kiUing hares and
raljbits.

Mr. J. Bather said no one could deprecate the over-pre-
servation af game more than he did. He had no game himself,
and there was nothing he disliked to see more than good crops
spoiled by game. But the question was, how was the evil to
be prevented, and lie must say he had heard nothing that day
that led him to suppose they were in the right way to get the
question settled. They had heard from Mr. IMore, and he had
no reason to doubt that that gentleman was wrong in his law,
that when a man took a farm without any stipulations to the
contrary, the game would belong to him and no one had a
right to put his foot upon that land but the tenant himself, or
those he may give permission to. But wliat did they do ?
Why, the first thing they did was to sign away all their rights
(a laugh). Of course they said tliey could not help it, that
they would get no land if they did not do so. But, he would
say, let them go to their landlord, and let them show him (ex-
pressions of dissent). His sympathy, he assured them, was
with the tenant, there was no doubt about that ; but if a
tenant took a large tract of land — say, at 30s. per acre, and
signed an agreement that the landlord should have the game,
he could scarcely look upon it as fair for the tenant to go to
the landlord and say, " Let me have the land, with
the game, at 30s." If tenants wished to have the
game they must show the landlords that they were
willing to pay such an amount in extra rent as the game
was worth (applause). It was a commercial transaction, and
should be put upon tliat footing (Cries of " Nonsense"). Mr.
More brought to them an Act of Parliament, and he said it
should enact that the ground game should belong to the ten-
ant, but his (the speaker's) experience was that no sooner did
it belong to them than they would sign it away again. And
what was to prevent them ? No Act of Parliament could.
The law may say that no tenant shall sign away his rights,
but he knew something of lawyers, and he knew they would
soon find a way for him (the tenant) to do so, and the land-
lords would very soon have the hares and rabbits the same as
before (Hear, hear), Farmers had their rights akeady as re-

292

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

garJptl tlio Ramp, and if they gave him up, wliat had they to
complain ofP (Hear, hear). And if they did do so now, who
could tell tlial they would not do it af;aiu ? But there was a
remedy, aud it was what lie had bet'ore suggested, iu discuss-
ing another suhject — to make a good agreement with a good
landlord (Hear, hear). If they took a farm from year to year
they were liable to he turned out at six month's notice, and he
said it was a contemptible and miserable state of things that
land should be let in that way without any security to the
tenant. He repeated that the only remedy, iu his opinion,
was a good, well-considered, agreement between the landlord
and the tenant (applause).

Mr. M. Williams asked Mr. Bather what he proposed to
do with all the existing agreements, as what that gentleman
suggested would only affect those that may be entered into in
future. Nor did he agree with Mr. Bather's remarks, for there
could be no doubt that if a man who applied for a farm had
any crotchets about the game, he was refused the farm in con-
sequence, and there were always plenty more ready to take it.
He would ask Mr. Bather how he proposed to deal with exist-
ing covenants ?

Mr. Bather thought if the C[uestion were put at all it
should be put through the Chairman.

The Chairman called attention to the resolution before the
meeting, and inquired if any gentleman had any further re-
marks to make upon it.

Mr. Evan Davies would also like to ask Mr. Bather a
question, or at any rate to make a few remarks upon what that
gentleman had said. Mr. Bather had told them that all the
evil lay in the mode of taking and letting the farms, and that
it was a simple commercial transaction between landlord and
tenant. But were the landlords and the tenants in the same
position for making a contract ? Were not the landlord's in-
terests bolstered up in every way^ while the tenant's interests
were not ? (applause) .

The Chairman must say he disliked the use of the phrase
" a commercial transaction" as used by Mr. Bather, for he
should be sorry to see what ought to be pure good feeling be-
tween landlord aud tenant become a mere transaction of that
sort. He would remind them that tliere was a proposition be-
fore the meeting, and as Mr. More claimed the right of reply
he would put that gentleman in the possession of the meeting
if no one else wished to speak.

Mr. More said he wanted the sense of the meeting to be
taken on his resolution, and then anyone who wished it would
be able to propose a rider, so that gentlemen would have another
opportunity of saying what they wished upon the subject. All
that he wished to say upon the resolution, before it was put,
was to make a remark or two in reply to Mr. Bather's observa-
tions. Of course he did not measure his experience against
that of Mr. Bather, and he could only say that he was ex-
tremely obliged to that gentleman for what he had said, as it
was what he (Mr. More) would have said if he had only had
the moral courage to have done it (Hear, hear, and laughter).
He (the speaker) had told them what the outside world said
about farmers when they took a farm and signed away their
rights. Tiie speaker then proceeded to show that it might be
concluded from Mr. Bather's arguments that that gentleman
should be iu favour of the Irish Land Bill being extended to
England, for the remedies he suggested were substantially the
same as were proposed in that measure.

Mr. Bather : No, no; nothing can be more 1o the con-
trary.

Mr. More said it was, then, an undesigned coincidence.
He (Mr. More) urged the desirability of farmers keeping
together to support their own rights, and remarked, inci-
dentally, that an instance had occurred in the county of 3,000
acres being thrown upon the hands of a landlord, the farmers
declaring they would have nothing to do with the land until
the rabbits were destroyed, Mr. Moore also suggested that
iarmers should, if necessary, pay for the game at the rate, say
of one shilling an acre, although it was, in some cases, valued
as low as sixpence. Surely it would be worth while for farmers
to make some such offer as this. Mr. Botfield had told tliem
that the landlords' interests iiad to be considered as well as
the tenants', and that if the latter had the game they would
preserve more than was preserved now (A voice : "No danger").
Well, hear what Mr. Corbet, the farmers' friend, and secretary
of the Central Farmers' Club, who had given the best descrip-
tion of the farmers' grievance that had ever been published,

says. That gentleman gave an instance of a landlord who
gave his tenant notice because he (the tenant) preserved s"
much game. He (Mr. INIore) assured them, he had been in
some parts of Norfolk where he had seen a iioljleinau's estate
on which every tenant had the right to shoot, aud he never
saw more ground game than he saw on those farms. On one
occasion he had the pleasure of dining with a Norfolk farmer,
and, being late, he excused himself by saying, as was the fact,
that he had to drive very slowly up to the house for fear of
being upset by the numbers of hares and rabbits that were iu
the way (laughter and applause).

The Chairman then put Mr. More's resolution to the meet-
ing, and it was carried with acclamation.

Mr. M. Williams proposed as a rider that hares aud rab-
bits should be the property of the tenant, subject to the land-
lords' right of shooting.

The Chairman : They do belong to him at present until he
signs them away.

Mr. Williams : Then I will put it in this form, " That
the words ' hares and rabbits' should be struck out of tiie
Game Laws."

Mr. Pinckney (Cressage) seconded this.

Mr. Evan Davies maintained that tenant-farmers were
not in a position at present to make an agreement with their
landlords as to the destruction of the game; for instance, in
the taking of farms men of small capital were put iu competi-
tion with men of large capital. This being so, men of small
capital were compelled to take farms on almost any terms, or
go without them altogether. Tenants could get no compen-
sation for the money they laid out from the landlords, and
there was the evil. The tenant should be put in the position
of making a good bargain with his landlord, and then he could
make one, and it would he his own fault if he did not. At
present he was not in that position (applause).

Mr. Bather objected to Mr. Williams' proposition, urging
that it was out of order, as they had not come there to discuss
the Game Laws. He would ask the Chairman for his opinion
upon the subject.

The Chairman said he agreed with Mr. Bather that,
strictly speaking, it was not in order, but at the same time he
(the Chairman) was very unwilling to offer any technical
opposition to what may be the wishes of the meeting (ap-
plause.)

After some discussion, Mr. Bowen Jones pointed out that
while the Chairman was very anxious to have a full discussion
of the question of game, he was of opinion that strictly speak-
ing Mr. Williams was not quite in order. It was their duty
to support the Chairman (applause) ; and he (Mr. Jones)
would suggest that, if it were thought necessary, they should
have a meeting to discuss the whole question of the Game Laws
(applause). He hoped they would allow Mr. Atcherly to do
what he believed to be correct (Hear, hear, and applause).

Mr. Evan Davies thought they should allow the Chairman
to exercise his own judgment.

The Chairman thought it would be better to have a dis-
cussion upon the Game Laws generally than to introduce them
into that discussion.

After some other observations from dilTerent members of the
Chamber, Mr. Williams withdrew his former resolution and
proposed, " i'hat in the opinion of this meeting all tenants
ought to have the right of destroying the hares and rabbits
upon their farms."

Mr. Pinckney seconded this, and it was carried.

AN UPRIGHT JUDGE.— Evans r. Hughes.— Peter
Evans, farm servant, sued police-constable Hughes for the
value of a coat of which he alleged that the officer had de-
spoiled him. The fact of the policeman having possession of
the coat was admitted, and he accounted for it in this way :
that, passing a field iu which the plaintiff was at work plough-
ing, he saw him with a gun in his hand ; a partridge got up
on the wing, aud he saw the plaintiff shoot it and take it up,
and he halloaed at him. At tjiis stage the judge interposed,
aud asked the defendant what possible business he had to
interfere in a poaching case ? (Applause). The judge cau-
tioned him, and all other police-officers, remarking that it was
quite enough for the ratepayers of the county to pay police-
men for doing the duties required of them ; and if people
wanted gamekeepers, they must pay for them out of their oym
pockets. — Carnarvon HeraJd,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

m

A BELGIAN FARM OF TEN ACRES

(From rrofessor Voolckor and Mr. H. M. Jenkins' R.-port in the new munl^er of tl.e R. A. S. Jo,>,;,,n

The question has frequently been asked whetlier a farm of
ten acres is suflicient to enable a man to keep his wife and
lamily in comfort, and to occupy profitably and completely liis
own time, without having recourse to other means of earning
money, or filling up leisure liours. We propose, therefore
both with a view of giving an example of />r peiUe ciillin-e on
rather strong laud, and for the purpose of showing what can
be done with ten acres, to give a detailed account of a larm
having, excluding buildings and fences, as nearly as possible
that area, i'lns little farm is situated in the 'commune of
Haeltert, near Most, and to a student of la peiile n<Uirre it is
almost worth making the journey to see.* The farm belono-s
to the occupier, IMadame Van Weyenberghe, a widow who has
three grown-up sons. Until recently this was the working
stall, but now that one of the sons has gone into the world
his place is supplied by a liired man. The grass land is rather
more than two acres iu extent; about an acre is cultivated as
a garden, and the remainder, about seven acres, is farmed on a
seven-course system, dillerent from that in vogue in the light-
land district. The sJiift is (1) potatoes or flax, (2) wheat witli
clover, (3) clover, (4) mixture, (5) colza, foUowed by turnips,
(b) mixture, (7) rye. In the garden about a quarter of an acre
ot tobacco IS grown every year, besides green vegetables of
every description ; and the spare time of the two sons
IS profitably employed in budding roses, grafting fruit-trees,
and other similar operations, all of which briug iu their
modest profit.

The land for potatoes is manured with farmyard and liquid
manure, and also wit!i guano. TCo manure is given for w heat,
which is sown in October ; and the clover (cow-grass) is sown
on It in January or February. After the wheat is harvested,
a iittle clover is sometimes got the same year, but not usually.
1 he next year it is cut the first time in March, and immediately
afterwards receives a dressing of either liquid manure or Dutch
ashes but the former is preferred. Two other cuttings are
got the same year before September ; but in that month there
IS a great prejudice against using it, as people say it has
' spiders' webs," and hurts the cows. The succeeding crop
(mixture of rye and wheat) receives no manure, but soou after
liarvest the stnbble is well manured and prepared to receive
the colza-plants for the next year's crop. The seed havino-
oeen sown in the previous August, the seedlings are ready to
be planted out iu October and November. If the season is
mild, each plant gets a dose of liquid manure ; but if hard
frosts are expected, this stimulant is carefully withheld, for
tear that the water should freeze and kill the plants. The
colza harvest is got in June, when the land is immediately
manured, ploughed, and sown with turnips. This catch-crop
is got in October, the turnips being pulled and housed ; and
during the winter the land is sown with mixture. After that
has been harvested the stubble gets a heavy dressing of ma-
nure, and is sown with rye, which is followed after harvest by
stubble turnips. We thus return again to the potato course,
m the preparation of the land for which the spade is used as
already described. One-tenth part of this course is sown with
flax and carrots, the land being prepared for it with extreme
care, so as to obtain a perfectly fine and even tilth. The flax
(Riga) and carrot seeds are sowu together, from the beginning
of March until the end of April, according to the weather, but
the sooner they are got iu the better. A few mangolds are
also sown in this course.

The stock kept consists of three milch cows.f and two pigs
fattened for home use. In summer the cows are fed on clover
and grass, mostly given cut in the stable ; they also have a

* The commune h.as the advantaKe ofbeing under the .sway
01 a most excellent burgomaster, M. van Meldert, to whom
we are extremely indebted for much valuable information
ana kind assistance.

fav'*'th«^ r°f?°''"°" •'^'■.^ '■'' °°^ cow to 3i acres; but «o/oof?
{nVcl?K?onKvm." '"'-''■■ '''■^' ^'" entirely fed on^the

drink, which consists of nearly a qmrt of linseed, 4. or 5 lbs of
r3_e-meal, and 20 quarts of water boiled with n certain qiiantitv
ot mangold tops. This is enough for two drinks for three
cows, so that each cow gets something less than a gallon each
time, ihe first drink is given at seven o'clock in the morn-
ing, and the other at four or five o'clock iu the evening
V\ hen the cows are at work they get, iu addition, tliree meals
of rye bread per day, the quantity given being 2lbs. per head
each time. In the winter they each get a daily allowance of
nearly 4 bushels of turnips and lib. of meal.' One-half the
turnips are boiled, the meal is mixed with water, and the
whole, including the uncooked remainder of the turnips is
inixed together and given to the cows in two equal portions one
in the morning and one at night. If a cow has been an un-
satisfactory milker during the summer, or when one gets be-
yond the most profitable limit of age, carrots are given instead
of turmps in the autumn and winter, and with this simple
alteration in the diet the cow is fattened for the butcher Pi-s
are usually liought at four weeks old, or thereabouts at prices
varying from 4s. to ICs. They are fed with boiled potatoes,
rye or wheat meal, and buttermilk mixed together, and they
are given as much as they can eat. They are killed at ten or
twelve months old, weighing from 20 to 24 score, and the
meat is kept for household use, butcher's meat not forming- an
item in the dietary of the family.

The grass land is manured every March with either liquid
manure or guano ; it is mown in July, and a great pirt of the
altermath is grazed, the remainder being soiled. Nearly a ton
and a half ot guano is bought yearly for this little farm. Of
the garden culture we shall say nothing, except that it was
remarkably well done. Every inch of ground was occupied •
and from the number of successfully budded roses and fresh-
grafted fruit trees (all destined for sale), as well as from the
abundance of healthy vegetables of such species as find a readv
sale in the large towns, we inferred that this piece of ground
cultivated during " hours of repose" from the more arduous'
labours of the farm, added no inconsiderable sum to the family
income. In this garden, and on a patch of ground in the farm
we found some of the finest tobacco plants which we saw iii
Belgium. The young plants are bought at 1 franc per thou-
sand ; they are carefully planted in well-manured land by the
two brothers.assoonasall danger fromfrost hasceased.and each
plant IS attentively watered with liquid manure from time to
time. The produce will sell at the rate of £T60 to £200 per
hectare (4,000 to 5,000 kilos, at I franc.), so that our modest
area of a quarter of an acre (one-tenth of a hectare) will fetch
the respectable sum of £16 at the lowest estimate.

The yield of other crops was very large compared with that
on the average run of small farms— namely, iu 1808 : Wheat
3o bushels per acre ; mixture, 40 bushels ; rye, 45 bushels •
colza, 1 ton per acre ; potatoes, 8 tons. This little farm, re-
markable lu many respects,* was in none more noteworthy
than for two implements beyond the ordinary plough, harrow
and roller. One of these was a turnip-cutter— of primitive con-
struction certainly ; but it was the only one we saw throughout
Belgium on so small a farm. Its essential parts were— (1) an
inclined grating, forming the lower side of the hopper which
received the turnips; (2) a wooden roller beneath, fitted with
a spiral ot hoop-iron knives ; and (3) the fly-wheel, which had
wooden spokes and a hoop-iron rim. There was no handle ;
but the machine was put into action by turning round the fly-
wheel by means of the rim in a " hand-over-hand" sort of way.
Including the wooden frame on which it was set, it cost thirty
shillings, and was made by the village blacksmith.

The other " implement" was a waggon. Ordinarily, on
even large farms as well as small, one sees a heavy three-
wheeled cart (tumbril) of the clumsiest description. The Bel-
gian waggons are immensely long in the body, about one and

Ihe manure was kept in a water-tight middeu, o«< of
doors, under the shade of some trees ; and it absorbed there,
fore, the g-i-eater portion of the li([Utd.

294

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

a half times the leugth of au ordinary English waggon, and
very narrow ; the fore-wheels are often placed ?« advance ot
the head of the waggon, and the hind-^^ heels at the very ex-
tremity of the tail, just noi projecting beyond i . Ihe waggon
on the little farm was designed by one of the brothers, and
was built in the village under his direction. Ihe general
contour of tlie body was a modification of that usually seen in
Flanders but it was scarcely more than half the usual length,
and was very much wider in proportion ; then the wheels, in-
stead of being placed as far apart as possible, were, tout an
contraire, as near together as could well be. Throughout our
tour it maintained its place in our minds as the best designed
waggon we had seen in Belgium.

The question has been asked more than once, " What is
really the annual income of a holder of 10 acres, one year with
another ? Does he get, as labourer, the same wages which he
pays for assistance ; and does he get, in addition, any profit
per acre in his character of a farmer?" These questions are
difficult to answer even approximately ; but we venture to offer
the following reply as regards the small farm which we have
described. It must be borne in mind, however, that so favour-
able a statement could liardly be given for many small farms
in Belgium.

Our calculations will be simplified by the following facts :
The cattle, the pigs, and three persons are fed by the produce
of the farm ; therefore, as our small farmer cannot eat his corn
and sell it too, we shall not include either rye, " mixture,"
carrots, turnips, potatoes, or clover in his money receipts. We
shall also assume that the pigs are invariably killed for home
consumption. On the other hand, we shall include no pxr-
chases in the expenditure, except guano and young pigs ;^^and
we shall also consider that when a cow is " fattened" off
during the winter she will realise just enough to buy a milch
cow in her stead. We also think we are justified in consider-
ing that the wheat is sold ; that is, indeed, the almost invari-
able practice. Seven acres cultivated on a seven-course system
give exactly one acre per course ; but we have only the crops
off two complete courses to sell— viz., wheat and colza. In
addition, we have one-quarter of an acre of tobacco and one-
tenth of an acre of flax (excluding the seed), which are pre-
pared at home, and therefore yield the utmost possible amouut.
The crop of flax with a good farmer weighs about 725 kilos.
per hectare when prepared ; this will give about 30 kilos, for
one-tenth of an acre, and in the following balance-sheet we
have taken about the mean price paid in December, 1868,

according to the return issued by the Courtrai Chamber of
Commerce. The price of wheat after the harvest of 1868 is
taken from the same source, and the amounts given for colza
and tobacco were actually realised. The butter finds a very
ready sale in the neighbouring towns, and the price given is
about the mark. The wages, rates and taxes, and the price of
guano, are at the current rates. The garden produce will
probably not be thought too highly rated at £10.
Estimated Receipts (1868).

£ s. d.
1 acre wheat, 35 bushels at 7s 12 5 0

1 acre colza, 1 ton at £21 10s 2110 0

1-10 acre flax, 30 kils. at 4 fr. say 5 0 0

i acre tobacco, 400 kils. at Is 16 0 0

Butter from 3 cows, say —

240 lbs. each = 720 lbs.* at Is 36 0 0

3 calves at 15s '^ \ ^a

Garden produce 10 0 0

103 0 0
Estimated Expenditure.

Wages of 1 man, at 1 fr. per day, £ s. d.

taking the average of the year ... 14 10 0

U ton guano at £12 18 0 0

Rates and taxes 3s. 3d. per acre ... 1 12 6

2 pigs 4 weeks old at 7s. 6d 0 15 0

— — — ^— 34 17 6

Gross profit 68 2 6

Against this return we must put the wages of two men, on
the same scale as if they were hired ; but we think that
nothing need be allowed for the wages of the proprietress, who
is very old. A man gets 75 centimes per day and his food in
summer, and 45 centimes in winter with nourishment. Taking
the larger sum all the year round, on account of the addi-
tional labour, which they perform in the garden, &c., the
amount will be £22 16s. The rent is another item which
should be deducted ; and computing this at 45s. per acre, it
would amount to £22 10s. We therefore have a remaining
sum of £22 16s. 6d., or 45s. 6d. per acre as the farmer's pro-
fit ; while the actual income of such a peasant proprietor, if
unencumbered, would be £56 14s. 6d., after paying for his
food. That a considerable sum of money is really saved is
shown by the fact that the existing farm buildings were
erected only a few years ago at a cost of more than £200.

EXTENSION OF THE HALF-TIME SYSTEM TO AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.

At a meeting held in Leicester, a paper upon this subject
was read by Lieutenant-Colonel Akroyd, M.P., who said :
Hitherto the only plan of compulsory attendance at pri-
mary day schools, which has received the sanction of
the Legislature, is that under the half-time system em-
bodied in the Factory and W'orkshops Act — that is, half-day
attendance at work, and half-days at school. Where the
conditions of labour permit of this arrangement, the system
works admirably. I can speak with the authority of a long
experience, having for upwards of twenty years taken an active
part as manager of my own factory schools, where there is
now a daily average attendance of 900 half-timers, 230 day
scholars, and 300 infants, a total of 1,430. Under this system,
the enforcement of the attendance of children at school is im-
posed on the employer, as a condition of admittance to work ;
and he must obtain from the schoolmaster a voucher proving
the attendance of the eliild at school during the previous week.
These provisions are enforced by penalties, to which both the
employer and the parent are liable. No child is permitted to
work under eight years of age ; and the period of half-time
attendance at school continues from eight to thirteen. Under
the cumbrous system in America, there is the greatest possible
difficulty in enforcing school attendance ; and, although spe-
cial officers — called " truant officers" — are appointed for this
purpose, yet the number of truants, compared with the number
of cliildreu at school, is exceedingly large. Tliere is no such
ditficulty in enforcing school attendance under the indirect
compulsion of the Factory Act. In the year 1868, there were
about 81,000 half-timers, and out of tips number there wei;e

only 20 convictions against persons employing children with-
out school vouchers, and 27 informations ; and this, notwith-
standing a very strict inspection. Thus, with a simple
machinery, at a very slight cost, strict and regular attendance
at school is enforced. Respecting this principle of indirect
compulsion, I am happy to adduce the evidence of Mr
Tremenheere, one of the commissioners on the employment of
children, young persons, and women in agriculture. In
clauses 76, 77, 78, and 79, of the Second Report, he says :
" The only principle approaching the nature of compulsion, in
regard to the education of the young of the labouring class
above the grade of paupers, that has, up to this time been
admitted into the legislation of this country, is that of con-
necting the obligation of school attendance with wages-earning
employment. This principle rests on a just view of the ex-
tent to which parental obligation may oe enforced, and
permits the Legislature to say that if a parent
benefits by the labour of his child, he shall be com-
pelled to apply a portion of the child's earnings in the
fulfilment of his duty to his child, and for his child s
advantage— viz., in procuring for it a certain amount ot
education. Public opinion in this country justly sanctions
the enforcement of such an obligation upon the parent by hue
or imprisonment. The Workshops Regulation Act winch
embraces all kinds of handicrafts, not included in the lactory
Acts, in defining ' employment' to mean _occupatiou in any
* We should have placed this item somewhat higher, but
for the fact that the cows are vised for tillage and draught
pt\rpose9.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

295

handicraft, wlietlier for wages or uot, under a master, or un-
der a parent, thus describes the liability of the parent in case
of a child being employed in contravention of the Act." (Sec.
7.) " The parent of, or the person derivinff any benefit from,
the labour of, or havius the control over the child . . .
shall be liable to a penalty of not more than' 20s., unless it ap-
pears to the court before whom the complaint is heard that
the offence has been committed without the consent, conni-
vance, or wilful default of the parent or person so benefited,
or haviug such control." " And by sec. 12, this penalty is
recoverable summarily in the manner directed by the Act 11
and 12 Vic, c. 43, which gives the power of imprisonment if
the penalty is not paid." The questiou remains to be consi-
dered, how tlie principle is to be applied to the children em-
ployed in agriculture, and how it is to be adapted to the al-
tered conditions of labour in the lural districts. It must be
remembered that all children, save and except those engaged
in agriculture, are now subject to this condition of compulsory
attendance at school, as a certificate to half-time work. We
may best estimate the amount of educational work still to be
done by an approximate calculation of the total number of
children of school age — say between five and twelve or thir-
teen— engaged in outdoor labour in the agricultural dislricts
of England and Wales. Mr. Tremeuheere, in clause 83 of the
report before alluded to, resting his calculations on the census
returns of 18G1, arrives as a total of 41,090 ; that is, about
one-half of the number of those already in attendance at school
under the factory half-time system. The figures are not for-
midable. Already a large proportion attend the national or
other schools, and hitherto school accommodation has been in
excess of school attendance. But the universal complaint on
the part of school managers and masters is, that children
leave the day school for work at the age of ten or eleven, and
drop their attendance after that period. This complaint is
confirmed by the table issued by the Committee of Council on
Education, showing the comparative age of scholars in
schools inspected by the inspectors of schools in Great Bri
tain. In 1868 no less than 72.28 were under ten years of
age, and 9.91 were between ten and eleven, 7.85 between
eleven and twelve, and 5.52 between twelve and thirteen ;
that is a total of 23.28 between the age of ten and thirteen,
or together 95.56 under thirteen, leaving only 4.44 above the
age of thirteen. For the most part the great proportion
of the education of the agricultural children ceases at
ten years of age, and can be of little avail in after life. No
primary instructions worthv of the name, which shall form the
habits and ripen the intelligence of the pupil, can be given
unless regular attendance be secured at day schools to the age
of thirteen years. Evening classes are worse than useless for
children of tender years, who are more ready to fall asleep
than to learn lessons, which it is cruelty to enforce. Hence
the conclusion is forced upon us that some limitation of chil-
dren's working hours is absolutely necessary to make room for
school attendance. But, first, the age at which work shall
commence ought to be fixed. On this point there is a difference
of opinion between the two commissioners, Mr. Tremenheere
and Mr. Trnfnell. Tbe latter inclines to believe that ten
ought to be the age below which no child ought to work, and
that ultimately it might be raised to eleven or twelve ; whilst
the former considers that no minimum age should be required,
under which children should not be employed ; except in the
case of those who look after horses, when he would fix ten as
the minimum. He further states that in many counties — as
Yorkshire, to wit — children go out to work at eight or nine
years. From this conflicting evidence, I draw tbe conclusion
that there is no valid reason why there should be any devia-
tian froni the minimum age of eight fixed by the Factory Acts.
Moreover, under this limit, there is abundant opportunity for
attendance at infant schools, and the acquisition of the art of
reading before entering in the half-time schools. A satis-
factory examination in reading at or after the age of eight
might be insisted upon before the child goes to work at all.
This preliminary examination has been tried with beneficial
results by Mr. Paget, of Ruddingtou, formerly M.P. for Not-
tingham. We proceed to consider the adaptation of half-time
system to agricultural labour. Clearly, half-day attendance is
out of the question. Half the day would be lost in going
backwards and forwards from work to school. Alternate days'
schooling has been tried by Mr. Paget ; but as farming opera-
tions depend much oa the weather, the system cowld uot be

strictly applied. During harvest all school attendance must of
necessity be suspended. Of all the plans proposed that of the
Hon. Edward Stanhope, her Majesty's Assistant Commis-
sioner, seems to me the most feasible. Fortunately he is him-
self present at the conference to explain his own proposition ;
and the value and importance of the meeting will be consider-
ably enhanced by his presence. I may add that his inquiry ex-
tendedoverthe county of Leicester. Briefly stated, Mr. Stanhope's
propo.sition is to requirelOOdays' school attendance in eacli year,
from eight to thirteen, vphich would hardly interfere a single
day with the exigencies of the farmer, and put the parent to
no expense beyond the payment of small school fees. These
100 days' attendance might be given almost exclusively during
the winter months, so as to interfere to the slightest possible
degree with farm labour. That feature of the plan which
most commends itself to my approval is its complete harmony
with the principles of the Factory Acts, and with all past
legislation. One further condition might be necessary to in-
sure a sufiicient amount of instruction, namely, that no child
who should have attained the age of thirteen, after the passing
of the promised Education Bill, should be allowed to w^ork
full time without a certificate of competency under the 5th
standard of the Revised Code. An outcry may be raised
should these provisions for compulsory attendance he enacted,
that there is a deficiency of schools. This would be a refresh-
ing change from the present state of thina's, where the com-
plaint is that there is a lack of scholars to fill existing schools.
But what are the facts as to existing school accommodation ?
In the report of the National Society for 1869 it is stated
that, " as far as the Church of England alone is concerned,
the Society's census of schools reveals the fact of the 14,709
parishes, chapelries, and other ecclesiastical districts in Eng-
land and Wales, only 338 are destitute of week-day schools,
and at the same time so far removed from schools in ad-
joining parishes that children cannot attend them. '^lost of
the places unprovided with schools are thinly inhabited, thirty-
five per cent, having a population of less than 300. From this
statement it appears that there are few parishes destitute of
schools, or beyond reach of school attendance. Where new
schools are required, I cannot doubt their being built by
voluntary efl'ort, aided by Government grants, bestowed more
liberally than is usual in poor districts ; indeed, voluntary
agency is more certain and less fluctuatinir than Government
aid. Periodically the Cliancellor of the Exchequer uses the
pruning-knife, and cuts down the education estimates, as in
1864 and 1865. Wherever the Factory Act has been in-
troduced, rendering it to the interest of employers to provide
school accommodation, there has never been any lack of schools.
In the smaller hamlets, where schools do not exist, a con-
venient cottage-house might often answer every purpose of a
school. I have tried the experiment, with satisfactory results,
in a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where I spend
the autumn. An ordinary room in a cottage, with a brick
floor and a fire-place, comfortably accommodates a group of
about 20 children in a day school under a mistress. Tlie same
place is used as a club room in the evening, where the farmers'
lads and young men can sit and smoke and read the news-
papers. During two evenings in the week an adult class is
taught by a schoolmaster from a neighbouring' village. Upon
the whole, I believe that a habitable room of this kind is pre-
ferred by the pupils, children or adults, to a more handsome
and pretentious fabric, built strictly in accordance with the
regulations of the Committee of Council on Education. Of
the success of this proposed extension of the half-time system,
to the agricultural districts, if fairly tried, I have not the
slightest doubt. Small farmers may at first take alarm at the
condition of a school attendance, and tbe interference with
the children's work ; but this alarm will vanish after a slijrht
experience, as it has done with employers brought successively
under the operation of the Factory Acts. All trouble of
making out the certificates of school attendance rests with the
schoolmaster, and the farmer has only to send the children to
school for the requisite number of days. Intelligpnt labour is
in the long run cheaper than ignorant hibonr, and the intro-
duction of scientific firming has necessitated the training of a
superior class of labourers to that of the old clodhopper. Any
pecuniary loss of work by school attendance will be more than
compensated to the employer by the improved character of the
farm servants. Let us hope that the social condition and mo-
rality of agnciUtural labourers will be thus gradually improved.

X 2

296

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE FACTORY SYSTEM OF CHEESE-MAKING IN DERBYSHIRE.

A meeting of the members of tlie Derbyshire Agricultural
Society has been just held to receive the report of the com-
mittee appointed at the annual general meeting of the society
on tlie 24th of December. The chair was taken by the Duke
of Devonshire. The secretary read the following report of the
committee : —

At the annual general meeting of this society, held on the
2'lth December last, a committee, consisting of Lord Vernon,
the Hon. E. K. W. Coke, Lieut.-Col. Wilmot, V.C, M.P. ; the
Mayor of Derby (T. AV. Evans, Esq.), J. G. Croraptou, Esq. ;
Mr. Murray, ]\Ir. Nuttall, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Greatorex, Mr.
Sims, Mr. C. Canner, Mr. Eaulkner, Mr. T. Travis, Mr. M.
Walker, Mr. Jacob Smith, and Mr. C. Finney, was appointed
to take into consideration the question of manufacturing cheese
by tlie factory system as adopted in the United States of /Ame-
rica and Canada, and the desirability of its introduction into
this county. Dr. Hitchman and Mr. Alderman Roe were sub-
sequently added to the committee. Tlie committee have met
frequently and gone into the subject fully. They have invited
opinions against the system, and in favour of it, and the result
of their deliberations is, they consider tliat there are satisfac-
tory grounds for expecting, should the system have a fair
trial, the following advantages : 1st, Greater uniformity
in the quality of English cheese than at present exist-
ing. 2ud, Enhancement of tiie quality and value of the
product of milk in dairies which from poor plant
and absence of good accommodation, is now producing
an inferior quality of cheese. 3rd. The removal of an
arduous occupation, frequently deterring men of capital, from
domestic considerations, from entering upon fainis in which
cheese-making forms a prominent feature. 4th. Improvement
in the value of land, from improvement in the value of pro-
duet. 5th. Generally, the iiitroduction of uniformity of
system, best plant, liest skill and supervision, into a manufac-
ture hitherto subject to great uncertainty and vicissitude.
Tliey have decided that one factory shall be established in
Derby, and another in a dairying district in the country. Mr.
Alderman lloe has placed at the disposel of the committee a
most suitable building situate in Siddal's-lanc, Derby, rent free
for the first year. It is considered well adapted for the pur-
pose, and the thanks of the committee have been accorded to
him for his generous assisti.nce. The situation of the country
factory has been a matter of grave consideration with the
committee. It was thought at the outset that it would be ne-
cessary to erect a building specially for the purpose, whatever
quarter might be selected ; and, as the committee concluded it
would be out of their power to build a factory, and that it
would be unfair to expect any gentleman to do so at his own
cost, without some guarantee that in case of the failure of the
system he would be recouped in part the cost he had incurred,
it was suggested by the committee that it would be
desirable, under tlie circumstances to establish a gua-
rantee fund to induce offers to erect such factory. It
has been accordingly arranged that a fair rent should
be paid for the building after the first year, and that in case
the system failed in the course of three years time, 40 per
cent, of the cost of the building should be refunded to the
proprietor. The committee have great pleasure in being able
to state that the necessity of erecting a building for the sole
purpose, has been obviated by the liberal offer ol the Hon. Mr.
Coke, one of the members of this committee. Several dis-
tricts were selected as suitable for the situation of the country
factory, and local meetings have been held in each to ascertain
the facihties that could be offered for establishing a factory,
and the quantity of milk that could be supplied to it. The
result is ot the most satisfactory character, and has far ex-
ceeded the most sanguine expectations of the committee. The
districts whose claims have been tested by tlie committee are
Sudbury, Shardlow, Longford, Etwall, and Weston-nnder-
Wood, but several other localities were named to the com-
mittee where the farmers were anxious to have the system at
work, and almost equal facilities as to the building and sufll-
cient supply of milk were offered. After careful cousiderfttion,

the committee unanimously selected Longford as the most de-
sirable situation, the Hon. Mr. Coke being prepared to find a
house and buildings that could be converted into a factory,
and in case it should be ultimately deemed insufficient for the
requirements of the case, he would erect a suitable building at
bis own cost, subject to the conditions guaranteed, and would
make satisfactory arrangements for the carriage of the pro-
duce from and haulage to the factory. There are absolute
promises from farmers iu that district to supply the milk of
more than 500 covvs. The committee cannot omit to mention the
liberal proposal of Mr. C. E. Newton, who also ofi'ered to erect a
factory at his own cost (subject to the guarantee) on hisland near
Etwall. The Committee think it would be unfair to those
farmers who have, in order to test the system, agreed to
supply their milk to the factories, not to place them in such a
position that in case of failure they would be secured against
loss; and they have, after mature calculation, determined to
guarantee 6kl. per gallon for the milk, and divide the profits to
bederived from the disposal of the whey, together with auyother
that maybe obtained, after paying working expenses, ^^/o raia,
among those who supply the milk. This Committee have been
greatly assisted by the advice and information volunteered by a
member ot an cmineut firm in London who are now the
largest exporters of factory-made cheese from America. It is
through this firm that they have been enabled to secure a
person thoroughly conversant with the manufacture of clieese
by this system from America, and who is now on his way to
this country. He is engaged for one year, and to superintend
both factories. It is with gratification this Committee alludes
to those noblemen and gentlemen who have with such public
spirit come forw.ard to form a guarantee fund for the
purpose of establishing experimental cheese factories in
this county, and providing for the additional expenses
to whicli a new undertaking of this description must
of necessity be liable. The fund now raised exceeds
£3,000, but the Committee think that this trial is of so
much importance to the dairy interest of the county, aud the
landowners in general, that they hope to see this amount
largely aud widely increased, so that the call ou each guarantor
may be as light as possible. The Committee have expressed
their thanks to their Chairman, Lord Vernon, the Hon. E. K.
W. Coke, Mr. Crompton, and to Mr; Nuttall, Mr. IMurray,
Mr. Coleman, Mr. Canner, Mr. Jacob Smith, aud Mr. Fin-
ney, for the trouble aud time they have given to this move-
ment iu attending as deputations to the several districts. The
Committee find that the method of making cheese iu America
differs so widely from that pursued iu this country that they
think it prudent to proceed no further in alteration, or ar-
rangements iu buildings, until the arrival of the manager from
America. They however fully expect to see the system iu
work about the beginning of April.
This report was unanmously adopted.

THE SALE OF CORN.— At a meeting of the Essex
Chamber of Agriculture at Chelmsford, Col. Brise, M.P.,
in the chair, the follovving resolutions were proposed by
Mr. J. Youngman, and adopted : " 1. That the deductions
made by corn buyers, on payment to farmers for their corn,
are inconsistent with modern methods of transacting business ;
aud the prices returned to Government, by which the tithe-rent
charge and corn-rents are regulated being more than the
farmer receives, the payments he has afterwards to make are
inequitably increased; therefore such deductions ought no
longer to be made. 3. That this Chamber hereby requests
tiie discontinuance of such deductions, and that the Council do
endeavour to obtain the concurrence therein of the buyers iu
he Essex markets ; also, if necessary, that farmers be ^invited
to uuite iu refusing to sell their corn to any but those buyers
who will agree to pay them in full." Mr. J. S. Gardiuer
moved: " That iu the opinion of this Chamber the present
mode of ijettiog returns for the tithe averages is fallacious _; and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that returns sliould be made from every corn market in dupli-
cate from tlie producer and one from tlie first purchaser." The
resolution was adopted, as was another, also moved by Mr.
Gardiner, to the effect " That it is desirable that all kinds of
grain should be by law sold by weight instead of by measure."

A discussion arose on the Education Bill, Ur. Round, M.P.,
giving a general outline of the measure. Mr. Jostling pro-
posed, that the Chamber should express its general approval
of tlie Bill; but the suggestiou met with some opposition,
and ultimately tlie discussion was adjourned.

AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL AUTHORITIES IN THE EAST.

At the last meeting of the Lavenliam Parmers' Club Mr.
Fish read a long roundabout paper on " Tlie AVaste of Force
m the Economy of Agricultural Production," for which we
have not room. The following discussion ensued : —

Mr. Hitchcock said it was (iuite evident from the paper
tliey had heard tiiat Mr. Fish had sat at the feet of his
Gamaliel, Mr. Mechi, to some purpose, for he adopted his
views; wliether they would agree with them was another
matter. First, as to the £i per acre produced by each
English and Irish acre of land annually, Mr. Mechi's remedy
for this was to break up the twenty-two millions of pastures
existing in the country ; but if this plan were adopted, what,
he should like to know, would become of the 1,500 Irish
bullocks which came weekly to St. Ive's market? Where
would they get the raw material to feed them upon ? As to
the philosophical parts of the lecture as to the waste of
forces, he did not understand them, but as to the loss of force,
Mr.^ Fish would have them believe that there was a great loss
of force in having the horses at length, and that two horses
abreast would do as much work as three at length ; Mr. Fish
did not say so, but that was what it came to.
Mr. Fisii : I believe they would.

Mr. lliTcucocic said this argument did not apply to the
spindle from an eugiue ; it did not matter whether it was
seventy or sixty feet long, or quite close, the driving power was
the same, aud in thrashing machines the work was done
better with the engine at a little distance than when (juitc
close. If the horses were steady pullers and well trained, he
did not think there was much waste of force. As to the
unnecessary weight of tlieir implements, he quite agreed with
Mr. Fish tliat it would be much better and less expensive if
they could do the same work with a waggon weighing 15 cwt.
as they did with one weighing 25 cwt. Then again, about
leases, they were very good things, but the thing that Mr.
Fish and gentlemen of his school, who were talking about
leases, wanted, was fixity of tenure.
Mr. Fish : Not I, Sir.

Mr. Hitchcock said this idea meant tliat those who had
once got possession of land were to keep it. Mr. Mechi once
referred to a farm where they cultivated by steam three feet
deep, aud where a walking-stick might be run down to that
depth. He (Mr. Hitchcock) was at that farm on the previous
day, and found that the gentleman who was farming it
cultivated 320 acres of sugar beet last year as an experiment,
and this year he had 1,850 acres ready for sugar beet, while
next year he intended to grow 2,000 acres.

Mr. Hawkins said he wished to allude to the waste of force
in labourers going some distance to their work. One of the
evils of the existing system of tenure was the great dilliculty
there was in providing cottages for the labourers near the
farm, and it was a difficulty which the tenant could not over-
come unless the landlord would step in to help liim. In the
neighbouriag county of Norfolk Lord Leicester had built good
substantial cottages upon the farms, the tenant paying him
five per cent, interest upon his outlay. He 'himself as a
tenant should be pleased to guarantee his landlord five per
cent, on his outlay if he would provide good cottage accom-
modation. He believed there was a great deal of truth in
what Mr. Fish had said, but he hoped that no labourers iu
their neighbourhood had to come four miles to their work,
although it might be so near Bury, because there the farm.s'
were larger. He believed himself that there was no tenant
who would not gladly guarantee his landlord five per cent, for
good cottage accommodation near or on his farm.

Mr. Talbot said he did not know where Mr. Fish got his
statement from that the land in the kingdom only produced on
the average £4 per acre.

Mr. Fisu : I quote from Mr. Mechi.
Mr. Talbot said Mr. Mechi might be an authority, but li6
iiad heard that his farm grew eight or nine sacks of wheat
before he took it.

Mr. Hawkos: We have been told that he has never
grown so much on it as the previous tenant.

Mr. Talbot said he must have used his capital very badly,
then. He thought, to say that the land of the country did
not produce more than £i per acre, was a very great absurdity.
As far as his experience — wliich extended over twenty or
tliirty years— had gone, he must say that he never lieard the
estimate put at so low a figure. He quite agreed with what
had been said about improving the land, while believing that
many farms were so well cultivated at the present time that
they grew all the corn possible, lie believed by an unlimited
application of manure, land might be made to produce a great
quantity of mangolds and turnips, but then where was tlie
quality ?

The Chaiujian, Mr. Biddell, thought a six months' notice
much too short, and that oneof twice that length would conduce
to better farming. He agreed with some of Blr. Fish's points ;
their implements were much too heavy, but in advocating a
light steam-engine for the land he was two years behind the
manufacturers, for it had been tried aud given up, more power
beiug required in drawing the engine across the land than in
drawing a certain quantity of rope. As to Mr. Mechi, although
one of the pleasantest men he ever met, he thought him a
bad authority, and an argument should not be backed up by
his statements. lie would rather take Mr. Fish's authority
than his. He challenged Mr. Fish to sliow a body of men
who cared more for their men than the farmers. The manu-
facturers only looked upon their men as so many hands. He
should be glad to see the labourers better off, but they could
not expect a man with capital to join a man who had none.
If he did, he should think one had brains and the other had
not. There were many things in Mr. Fish's paper which
would afford them matter to think over before their next
meeting.

Mr. Fish said he did not hold himself responsible for the
views of Mr. Mechi, or any other person. He should be sorry
even to hold himself responsible for what some of the Liberal
party might have said about laud or the relatioa between
lancllord and tenant, or on Tenant-right. He only held i

self responsible for his own words, and what he had said was
that in order to draw more capital into the land it was neces-
sary that the tenant should have the protection of a lease.
He had no sympathy with fixity of tenure ; he did not believe
it was practicable to give two persons a fixed right in the
same land for an indefinite period. But if they wanted to
draw out the productive powers of the land, they must give
those who invested capital security that they might recover it.
The system of leases had worked well in Scotland, and he
believed with a good system of leases the tenantry would be
contented, and that the prosperity of Ireland would date from
the extinction of tenancy-at-will. As to the labourers they
overlooked the important part of his argument. He did not
say out of the goodness and charity of their dispositions they
were to feed and clothe their labourers well, but that simply as
a commercial transaction it was a good thing for them to do.
They made a great mistake to suppose that the less they paid
for their labour the cheaper it would be ; on the contrary, the
more they gave for it the better it was, for if a man had not
the power in him lie could not put it on the land. The subject
on which he had addressed them that evening was at present
very incomplete, and therefore he might meet them on some
future occasion lo discuss its other brauches.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE EDUCATION QUESTION.

BY THE CROTCHETY FARMER.

Here at least I am on my own ground ; for of all the ques-
tions which are coming up for discussion in this restless dis-
cursory agitating country of ours, there is none in connection
with which tliere is so much that is crotchety as that of edu-
cation. Take them as they come up before us, as discussed
at our public meetings, or promulgated through our public
press, we find their name is " legion." And seeing wliat is
broached in them, does it not seem to be quite an impossible
thing for a common platform to be made upon which we all
can meet ? so thoroughly antagonistic do they seem. Am I
crotchety in sayiug timt the position of the education question
reminds me of tlie story of the nigger sailor who was taken
up to be flogged, and to whom a neat sermon was delivered by
the Captaiu the while the nigger was standing with bare back
waiting lor the operation ? Tired at last with the harangue,
nigger remonstrated in fashion thus: " If you talkee, talkee —
if you floggee, floggee ; but not talkee and floggee both."
Now we have beeu for many years talking much more than
djing ; and talk, " tall talk," as the Yankees phrase it, seems
to be more the order of the day than ever. We have an Edu-
cation " League" and an Education " Union ;" but how much
" union" is there amougst us? how much of a league together
to do is there ? Echo answers where, which is all that echo
generally appears to be able to answer, and which will typify
what we as a nation are doiiif/'m this same matter of education.
Is it very crotchety to say, I wonder, that if each party who
has a crotchet would attempt to work it out in some practical
fashion or other in place of merely talking about it, more
good would result than has resulted. Hence it is that
while in no way connected with either one party or ano-
ther, with " league" or " union," while in fact being crotch-
ety enough to desire to do sometliing rather than to talk
about doing, I am inclined to go in, on the mere practical view
of tlie question, with those who have, albeit mayhap in a some-
what feeble way, done their best to give their crotchets, it may
be, a practical place in the world's doings, and to say to those
who are very busy at present telling us what they think ought
to be doue, " why do ?/oi' not go and do what your neighbours
have done ? Your plan may be better than other plans which
have been tried : but, then, my friends, the difference is this,
you have not tried your plan they have tried theirs." And
assuredly it cannot be said of their plan that it has not re-
sulted in something practical. No doubt all that could
have been doue and that ought to have been doue has not
heeu done, but still it is something to say that a good deal has
been done. It is no small thing to be able to poiut out the
schools which have been built, and the scholars which have
been taught in them, as evidence that if all this had not been
done so much the more would have been the mass of ignor-
ance amongst us. A grain of practice in such a question as
education is worth a ton of theory. This brings me at once,
as naturally it brings me face to face with the two leading
bodies by which the " education theory" so to call it, for
lack of a better name, although better might be found, is re-
pre.^ented. I have already alluded to them wjien I used the
words " league" and " union" ; and at the outset I have hereby
to declare tliat I am quite independent of either body. I look
upon the question as far removed from the narrow circle of
opinions wluch any one or both of the bodies alluded to may
have ; and I shall be very thankful indeed if either one or
the other of the two bodies named be able to carry out a
scheme of education which shall be general and effective. I
am only so anxious to see education general, as to be quite
mdiflerent to the fact that any one body may have more in-
nueuce than another, the question with me being which is the
speediest way of bringing about a system of education which
shall brmg within the reach of all who need it a sound useful
eclucation To which end I confess that I am so crotchety as
to wish tliat I could honestly believe that all the " tall talk"
inat IS now going on was something quite apart from party
politics, and only influenced by a real desire to have the ques-

tion practically settled amongst us. I cannot honestly think
so, and there are many who are of my opinion in this. It
may not suit the position of every one to say so, but I can say
so freely and fully; for, as I said before, I am an educa-
tionist, not a leaguist or a unionist. But how can I
come to any other conclusion than that I have come to, that
the present phase of the question is, to say the least of it — to
put it in the mildest term possible, tinged with party politics,
when I know that I can, with unerring certainty, teU to
which body any one belongs as soon as I know of what colour
his party politics are. Knowing this quantity, to put the mat-
ter into algebraical form, and 1 can soon tell you the other :
given a mau's politics, found the side he takes, the " League" or
the "Union." And if so, and so it is, I am in the position,
belonging to neither the one body or the other, to say to both
that things being so, things are wrong ; and just by so much
the more that you advocate your views from your side of the
question oiil^ ; just so much the more do you retard the chances
of a satisfactory system of general education being adopted.
" Compromise " is to some an ugly word, but what in reality
is our practical daily life but a life of compromise ? The
" give and take " principle is your true panacea for many of
the awkward evils of life. As a business man, I appeal with all
confidence to business men, when I ask, Am I not right in say-
ing that we never could get through life comfortably if we aU
stood always upon our own dignity, and stuck to our own
opiuions without considering those of others ? It will not do,
does not do, to stand on our own little " mole-hills " aud say
to our neighbours "come." No we must mutually approach each
other. The meeting of each other half way in our disputes
is a much more easy way of settling things than calling m the
lawyer and getting, as a result, a shell, while the lavvyer gets
the oyster. I have by no means said all I wish to say on this
subject, for truly one which has given rise to so many discus-
sious, both by press and platform, and for so many years, may
afford a crotchety fellow like myself an opportunity of putting
forth one or two of my crotchets.

A HEAT RACE IN OLD DAYS.— One of the gamest
but the slowest of the four-railers was Lord Kelburne's
Purity, by Octavian, and she finished up another remarkable
Doncaster Meeting, in which Humphrey Clinker (the sire of
Melbourne), Emma (the dam of Cotherstone and Mundig),
Fleur-de-Lis, Actaeon, Belzoni (the sire of so many fine,
brown, and forge hammer-headed hunters), and Memnon, all
won, while Mulatto ran second for St. Leger and Cup. It
was the last race of the last day, and run in five two-mile
heats. Bill Scott won the first heat on Brownlock, George
Edwards running him home on Crow-catcher — so called from
his having decapitated a crow, which alighted near him in
social confidence when he was in his paddock as a two-year-
old. In the second heat Scott led away, and Harry Edwards,
on Purity, not feariug anything else, " flapped his wings a bit,"
as he expressed it, as if setting to, and ran in third. Thales
won that heat, aud Lord Kelbnrne began to be very anxious,
and could'nt understand it at all. He came down from the
grand stand for an explanation, and Croft took snuff in his
quiet way, when he was asked what he was going to do, and
replied, " I'm going to saddle the mare, my lord : the fun of
the fair's only just beginning." It was time to begin with the
third heat, in which Purity beat Brownlock by a head,
after a slashing finish. Still the mare had not worn him
down to her slow perpetual motion level, and hence it was
necessary to get something to make a pace. Accordingly, as
the chance of Thales was clearly ?»7, his owner accepted £25
to force the running. Tommy Lye worked away, and as
Purity's jockey kept tickling him up with his whip, when he
could reach him, Tommy's horse kept giving a series of

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE,

299

marvellous shoots, which were somewhat puzzling at first to
the little man. Scott tried to get up between them, but
failed; and when he did come in earnest, he made a dead-
heat with Purity. Half the people had gone home, and Lord
Kelburne, who had backed liis mare to win him £500, said
that " there will be no dinner to-day." Officials were not so
particular then ; but still it is remarkable that Bill Scott did
not remember that the fact of two horses, which had each
wou a heat, running a dead heat, disqualified even Tliales,
though he had won a heat, from starting again. Tliis over-
sight decided the fortune of the day. Away went Tommy,
and the tickling and the " shooting" began agaiu ; and
although Purity ilnished quite black in the flanks with sweat,
and could hardly be kept out of the judge's box, she got home
first, and landed the Plate for "the crimson body, white
sleeves, and cap" of R^wkhe^d.— Saddle and Sirloin, by The
Druid.

SORTING POTATOES.

The unusual and unexpected " cold snap," which occurred
last mouth, found most of the potatoes in this region in the
ground. How many of thera have been destroyed by freezing,
it is hard to tell, but in the fields where we have been there
are certainly a fourtli of them touched with frost. As is
always the case, many of the larger potatoes, that in growing
have come near the surface, are frozen either entirely or at the
end that was most exposed.

It is not alone this loss of twenty-five per cent, of the crop
that we have to regret— thougli tliat is bad enough— but the
greater damage that may result from placing these frost-bitten
potatoes in a bin in the cellar, or in a covered heap in the
field. A potato that has only a very small part of it frozen
will be sure to decay, and if it comes in contact with those that
are ever so sound, will cause them to decay also. A little
leaven is no surer to leaven a whole batch of dough, than are
a few frost-bitten potatoes to cause the destruction of the
heap in which they are placed. The fact that potatoes form
one of the best substances for making yeast should show us
that we cannot be too careful about putting potatoes that have
been frozen wholly, or in part, among those that are in good
condition.

We have worked sorting over potatoes in the winter, among
which a few frost-bitten specimens had found their way, either
through accident or carelessness, and we know whereof we
speak when we say that we M'ere never called upon to perform
a more disagreeable duty. Picking stones on a New England
stubble-field, or opening ditches on a grainfield on a low
prairie that is overflowed Ijy water, are either of them bad
enough ; but they are pleasant occupations compared witli
sorting a heap of rotten potatoes. There are many things that
are very disagreeable to one of the senses, but rotten potatoes
are disagreeable alike to the sense of sight, smell and feehng.

The only way to save ourselves from this unpleasant work,
and the only way to save sucli potatoes as are in good con-
dition now from becoming destroyed, is to take especial pains
in sorting out the frozen ones before they are put away. In
digging, care should be taken to place those that we see are
froat-touched ou the other side of the row from where the
sound ones are put ; in picking tliem up we should make our
examinations still more particular ; and a like care must be
observed in taking them from the waggon into the basket, and
from the basket into the bin. Better take every potato in the
hand three times than that even a few unsound ones should get
among those that have escaped the frost.

Most kinds of stock will eat frost-touched potatoes that are
fed to thera soon after they are taken from the ground, unless
tliey have already begun to decay ; and if we make a judicious
use of the frozen potatoes, we may turn them to considerable
account. Cattle will eat them freely, if they are not fed to
them in too large quantifies at a time, and they are put on tiie
green sward where they will not become dirty. Perhaps,
liowever,the best use that can be made of them is to feed them
to liogs. If they can be taken soon after they are dug ;
boiled, mashed, and receive the addition of a little meal, they
will help to make up for the deficiency of the corn crop in
producing pork, — Prairie Far„ier,

THE BOEDER AGREEMENT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Whilst the noted " Welsh Agreement" is ex-
cessively verbose — to say the least of it — that of A B
and C D appears to err in the other direction. C D
enters his farm on the 25th of March, and it is presumed
quits at the same season. What then is the " outgoing
crop of wheat" he is to take ? does it refer to the pre-
ceding or the following harvest ? The clause is exceed-
ingly ambiguous ; yet I am inclined to the latter as the
correct reading ; but in that case who is to pay the rent,
rates, hoeing, harvesting, thrashing, and carrying out the
above-named out-going crop of wheat ? and does the term
include the straw and chaff? if not, special mention
should be made of the fact. Again, a fourth wheat and
a fourth clover or other seeds will then leave half the
arable land for the incoming tenant to sow with spring
corn or green crops. Now, surely, C D should be either
bound to do a certain amount of tillage, being paid for
same, or to allow the in-comer to have possession of the
land not required for wheat as it became vacant, C D
should be compelled as well to sow a certain breadth of
clover or other seeds, not leaving it optional, as it now
stands. Farmers should be much more careful in signing
agreements than they usually are : too commonly resting
satisfied with a verbal promise that some objectionable
clause will not be likely to be enforced, thereby oftener
than otherwise making a rod at some future time for
their own backs : new landlords or agents naturally trust
their eyes rather than their ears. I could name a case
where a landlord refused to allow his tenant, who farmed
his laud very highly, to take an extra crop on a field the
area of which amounted to just a twentieth of his arable
land — not, mark you, because he was injuring the farm,
but because his agreement bound him to the four-course
system, I am, sir, yours respectfully,

A Suffolk Farmee.

THE GAME EVIL. — Game reservations and game pre-
servation are the main hindrances to leases, without which it
would be simply alisurd to expect that any great and general im-
provements in husbandry can take place. The landlord objects
to a lease lest lie should find a tenant " troublesome about the
game," and then might have some difficulty in turning him out
of the farm, while the tenant, with a knowledge that his land-
lord is or may be a game-preserver, is scarcely wilhng to bind
himself for twenty-one years to a farm on which a large pro-
portion of its produce is sure to be consumed by the landlord's
game. Again, nothing is more wanted on nearly all estates in
England than a number of good cottages placed about the dif-
ferent farms sufficient for the accommodation of the farmer's
principal workpeople ; yet such cottages suggest to the landlord
mind nothing but possible haunts of poachers. Not only eco-
nomically but socially would a proper number of cottages on a
farm be good, for there is no doubt tliat more kindly influences
grow up between the farmer and liis family and his workpeople
and their families when tlie cottagers dwell on the farm than
when the workmen come from a distant village, and are re-
garded by their employer as merely hired labourers. All this
is intercepted by game. Tlien again, the existence of game on
the farms does lead in a variety of ways to the demoralisation
of the labouring of tlie class in the country. The adventurers
■are tempted by the sport — illicit sport, and others are tempted
by the prices at which hares and pheasants secretly caught can
be sold, and so low moral tone is introduced amongst the agri-
cultural labourers which paves the way for absolute crime. We
say nothing now of the actual destruction of farm produce,
which has been raised by the capital the farmer has ernployed,
caused by game preservation, nor of the destitution and pau-
perism which result from the enforcement of the game-law pe-
nalties. These things too are being seriously scanned by our
thinking men alike in the country and in the towns.— y/^i? Eco-
nomisl.

300

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE O V E R - P R E S E R A^ A T 1 0 N OF GAME,

A Mioutlily meeting- of the members of the Vale of Avon
and Stour I'^armers' Club was held at Cluistchurch, when Mr.
John Waterfiekl, of Winktoii I'aini, introduced as subject for
discussion " Tlie Over-preservation of Game ; its injurious
eifects to tiic larmers and the whole Communit)-." In the
absence of tiie president, the chair was occupied by the vice-
president, Mr. Druitt.

Mr. Wateufield said he did not expect to be able to throw
any new liglit upon tlie question, but he should endeavour to
call their attention to the evils resulting from the over-preser-
vation of game, and he should then ask them to consider some
resolutions with a view to the amelioration and extensive
alteration of the game laws. lie acknowledged that he was
indebted for many of his observations to Mr. C'oi bet, the secre-
tary of the Central Farmers' Club, and he should also add a
few facts gathered from their own locality. In the outset he
declared that he was not an enemy to any manly sport or
exercise, and he did not olyeet to the preservation of game
under proper limits, the just riglit of the tenant being re-
spected, lie did, however, strongly object to battue shooting,
and to the practice of breeding game for the purpose of selling
it to the poulterer and fishmonger of the country towns. At
a public dinner in Norfolk some time ago, a large practical
farmer said, " The squires are fast degenerating into poulterers."
I3ut it might be asked, "Has not a man a right to do as he
likes with his own P and \>liat is it to us if my Lord This or
the Ilight Hon. That chooses to add to his income by breeding
rabbits and hares for sale, just as the farmer does sheep or
pigs ?" Unfortunately the tenant-farmer had a great deal to
do with the matter. If my Lord would only mark liis hares
aud rabbits on the sides the same as the shepherd did liis Hock,
so that when found straying or trespassing they might be
pounded, it would be a diiferent matter. I5ut now tlie ques-
tion is all one-sided. Many landlords— and he was happy to
say that his principal landlord did not— had all the pleasure
of shooting the game, or of letting the shooting, wiiile tlie
farmer had the simple satisfaction of keeping the game- He
pays dearly enough for the keep of it on his farm ; he pays
for the keep of the poacher in prison ; and he pays for the
keep of tiic man's family in the workhouse. When the poacher
comes out of prison, lie is looked upon as a thief, and nobody
cares to employ him. The farmers don't like to do so, for
fear of oflending the keeper who, in many cases is worse tlian
the landlord. Increased taxation follows, from the poachers
wanting employment, and thus it is not a question how much
the landlord gets by every head of game, but how much the
tenant loses. No one can deny that a large head of game —
or rather vermin, for he spoke of hares and rabits more par-
ticularly—did great injury to the surrounding lands. In fact,
the injury was incalculable, and it certainly was not creditable
to those noblemen aud genllemeu who had so long permitted
the continuance of such a plague. The late Mr. Puscy, at one
time a game preserver, and president of the lloyal Agricul-
tural Society, wrote thus : " Even if you ascertain that three
or four hares do not eat more than one sheep, you cannot
estimate the amount of injury to a farmer, because the hares
are not allowed to help themselves and go everywhere where
they ought not to go." The positive loss and annoyance to a
tanner is very great. It is an interference with his crops, and
must try his temper very much." Mr. Watertield then stated
that an eminent valuer had informed him that whenever valua-
tion and arbitration respecting game were resorted to, he had
never yet known the farmer get one-half of that to which he
was fairly entitled. He then pointed out at some length the
great evils occasioned by the over-preservation of ground
game, and observed that he was pleased to see that at a recent
meeting of the Leicester Chamber of Agriculture a strong
resolution against the prevailing system was passed. Rabbits,
lie was ashamed to say, were now included in the game laws.
Could they, he would ask, call that an enlightened age, in
which a man might be sent to prison— and be deprived of his
liber y an i his family of his support— who by chance killed or
caught .-abbit, perhaps bred and fed on his own garden,

bank, or field? If he be convicted and cannot pay the fine lie
must go to gaol, out of which he comes a poacher, and feeling
strongly the injustice which had been done to him. " Lead
us not into temptation " is our daily prayer ; but can any one
say that the over-preservation of game does not hold out temp-
tation to poor men which it requires a strong mind to resist?
He then read the following extract from a letter written by an
extensive occupier in one of the best farmed counties in Eng-
land : " I shall allude to hares in the first instance, consider-
ing them to be most objectionable ; they are in the habit of
congregating together, and there may be seen as many as from
lUO to 200 or more in fields of lO acres, feeding on the best
and sweetest herbage. Game chiefly abounds on light soils,
and dry seasons greatly favour their destructive habits. The
cereals being of kinder growth, and naturally of sweeter
quality, be they wlieat, barley, or clover, and being constantly
eaten day and night, aud all the year round by the game,
does it not become evident that they destroy and consume
wheat which should have been additional food for man and
beast ? liut hares are very destructive to crops in May or
June ; always on the move, they cut their way through the
corn and clovers, aud to a very serious extent do they clear off
roots, in some instances acres together. Independently of the
loss mentioned, which appears as it were sheer mischief, the
corn thus cut off will attempt to grow again, but will never
bo forward enough to cut with the other portion of the field
at harvest, and thus injure the sample of produce, already
diminished in yield. It may be a pretty sight to see scores
and hundreds of hares in an enclosure; but does it strike the
beholder they are eating the farmer's produce? Is it just, I
ask, that land capable of producing food for the country should
be allowed to monopolized by game ? Is it not sickening to
the farmer, after his best endeavours, to see this sad de-
struction of his hopes and management by the consumption in
excess of game ? Game, more or less, must look to the land
for its subsistence. Norfolk, Suffolk, Nottinghamshire, Lin-
colnshire, Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, and Cheshire may be
considered as special over-preserving game counties. Great
quantities of game are carried off by poachers — far more than
is conceived by the propiietors^whieh at once demonstrates
the folly of such extravagant hordes of game. Yet, I believe,
there is a growing disposition to reduce this great evil among
landowners, aud I believe that it would be carried out more
extensively were it not for neighbouring preservers vying with
each other who can kill and keep the most game. It may be
said we must be aware of the character of our occupation be-
fore accepting it. We conceive we do ; but it is only by
experience that we gain any idea of the amount of destruction
caused by an over-supply of game. Looking over the hedge
is one thing, aud walking through your infested fields is
another. It is there we become at once astonished and dis-
gusted. Hares are much attached to swedes, particularly in
severe weather, and the amount they destroy on this crop is
greater than what is consumed. They attack several bulbs,
and as soon as the opening is made, the crows, the wet, and
subsequent frosts complete the havoc. The only preventive is
to pull the swedes, and cover down ; yet here we have an extra
expense through the over-preservation of game." Mr. Water-
field, after censuring Mr. Gladstone for his new " sliding-scale
certificates" making rabbits game, alluded to the mean practice
of sending game to the poulterers or to Leadenhall market.
He then remarked that the abuses and injustice traceable to the
over-preservation of game were endless, observing that the
higher and better the farming, the greater was the damage
done. In fact, the farmer paid a terribe tithe for it ou
corn ivnd in rates and county expenses. Earmers, he
observed, could have little to urge against poachers
unless it was their maintenance out of the rates. A cor-
respondent of the Mark Lane Express writes : " We have
seen magistrates the receivers of stolen goods, egg buyers,
gentlemen the companions of keepers and watchers, tenants
with characters traduced, crops consumed, and no redress, and
labourers reduced to evil by the high premium placed upon

TEE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SOI

success iu cvime — viz., pheasants' eggs ■ bouglit at ICs. per
dozen." Poaching, continued Mr. Waterfield, is an insidious
disease ; it grows upon a man ; but it is by no means re-
garded as tlie highest order of crime, althougli Ihe lines and
penalties and costs are so ridiculously above all other od'ences,
tjiat it reflects a disgrace upon those who enact such laws and
upon those who impose sucli penalties. He next directed a
word or two to the agents and bailiU's of estates. There were
some sharp, unprincipled agents who made it a point to re-
serve the right of the rabbits. It was often difficult for the
landlord to liear tlie truth of the matter ; but he (Mr. Water-
field) strongly advised all tenants to see tlieir landlords a little
ofteuer, and not let thcra iiave their views second-hand. He
would ask whether an agent was doing his duty when lie wit-
nessed in silence a tenantry half-ruined by rabbits, and who
knew that his employer was cursed outright at every farmers'
market ordinary ? A ten-pouiid prize, or a fine speech at an
agricultural meeting, can never outweigh the abuses which
tiiey sanction and the injustice they commit. To the land-
lord, then, the farmer must look for a redress of bis injuries.
Let him be content with moderate sport instead of wholesale
slaughter ; and let him try tlie experiment of turning to the
farmers to provide this sport for him. Let him break up his
bands of watchers and keepers. Let him give, on principle,
the tenants a right to destroy the rabbits and course the
hares, stipulating that no injury shall be done to a neighbour-
ing farmer. Above all, let him not let the sliooting over the
tenant's head : if he does not care for it, let the other be con-
sulted, lie well knew that there was a certain kind of liesi-
tation in some quarters to let the tenants have the shooting
on any terms ; but they were now getting beyond the times of
serfs and slaves. He said most advisedly that some of the
worst cases of uupluasantness had occurred where a stranger
hired the shooting, after, perhaps, the occupier had been for
years in comparative quiet. To the landlords alone they must
look in order to remedy the present state of things ; and the
demand was neitiier unreasonable ner unprecedented. In fact,
an alteration must soon come, and those landlords who held
out the longest would be the most unpopular. Mr. AVaterlield
then alluded to a meeting of the AVarvvickshire Chamber of
Agriculture, held on the 28tli January, on the subject of the
game laws, and quoted largely, in support of his views, from
the speeches of Mr. Mann, Mr. Martin, M.P., Mr. Forster,
M.l'., Mr. Xcwdegate, M.P., Mr. Bromley-Devonport, M.P.,
and others. At tliat meeting tlie folio iving resolution was
unanimously adopted : " That rabbits and hares should be the
absolute property of the occupier of the laud, and that any
agreement to the contrary be null and void." Here, then,
they had the opinions of M.P.'s, large tenant farmers, and
others, not one of whom upheld the game-laws as they now
exist. Depend upon it, the more fully tlie game-laws are dis-
cussed, the more fully will be revealed the frightful evils and
injustice that arose from their operation. He sincerely hoped
that good counsels would prevail, and that such alterations
might be made as would tend to the satisfaction and good
feeling of all concerned. AVhat a farce it was for a landlord
to give a silver cup, of the value of £5 or £10, for the best
crop of mangolds or swedes, at the same time that his hares
were destroying scores of pounds' worth of roots. They need
not go far from Ciiristchurch to see the shameful destruction
whicii was caused among the swedes by the hares. He lately
saw a field where there was not one swede left above the
ground, all having been eaten off. Fancy the feelings of a
tenant under such circumstances ! But what redress for this
wrong would he get ? He would be told, " Oh, we shall shoot
by and by, and then we will send you a tough old liare or
two." However, the rabbits or vermin mostly belonged to
their sworn friend and protector, the keeper. One loathes the
very name. Tliey all knew what autliority he exercised, a
power very much beyond his position iu life, and which he
often much abused. To him the commonest act of farming
was one of suspicion and distrust. The farmer and his men
were continually under his supervision. He stands by the
mowers to see that they don't harm his nests ; he struts into
the reaping field to make sure that no one hurts his birds.
The boy with his scare-crow, the shepherd with his dog, and
the little girl and her kitten, are all olijects of iiis hatred and
tyranny. The keeper lays tiaps for the labourers, and rejoices
in the downfall of his fellow men. He whispers characters
away in the ears of his employer, and constantly makes ill-

blood between landlord and tenant, and as has been well said
by an eminent judge, " He is the great^t blot in the English
landscape." The rabbits being mostly his perquisites, these
animals which do the farmer so much harm, above all others,
he is most anxious to preserve. These vermin, which the law
declares the tenant lias a right to destroy as vermin, the laud-
lord transfers as a right to his keeper. How, he would ask,
can a man properly respect himself when he knows that be
is more or less at the mercy of a self-sufficient underling ?
He may try his best, but all his efforts will be thwarted. What
pride can he have in his occupation when hares and rabbits
rob him alike of his credit and his profit ? Over game pre-
serving lessens the production of the soil, stays the full em-
ployment of capital, and more the fair aim of industry. And
now came the question — How can such a state of things be
remedied P Does not the tenant take his farm with his eyes
open ? Is not the game iu the first instance his own property,
unless he choose to sign it away ? Has he not a right to de-
stroy liares or rabbits unless he consents to the contrary ?
What, then, in the f;\ce of all this can be done ? Abolish the
game-laws altogether. Enact that a man should never take
a farm without having the game with it. They really did
not want to trouble the Legislature at all. Lord Malracsbury
made use of a noble expression the other night in that room.
He said that when a tenant objected to anything that reason-
ably ought to be had or done, if his landlord did not consent
to it, the landlord ought not to have any property at all.
And so said all of them. In a word, let the landlords do to
their tenants as they would be done by. The farmers of Eng-
land were not enemies to sport at the right time and place ;
they liked to see gentlemen enjoy it, and they did not object
to a fair head of game. On the other hand, battue shootiug
was not fair sport ; and the rearing of large quantities of
game and then systematically selling it, was slowly but surely
undermining the character of the English gentleman. Let
the landlord and tenant rely more upon each other. Let the
landlords free themselves from the thraldom of the officious,
scandal-carrying, mischief-making keeper. Let them address
their tenantry as a Noble Duke once did—" Now, gentlemen,
I mean to make you my keepers, and I hope when I come
you will be able to show me some sport." That hope was
always realised, and no one has better sport or stands higher
with his tenantry than the Noble Duke. Mr. Waterfield then
proceeded to remark that, besides the injury to the pocket and
the ruin and misery caused by the over-preservation of game,
it was impossible not to deplore the lot of men in their own
locality, who had been obliged to leave their farms, ruined in
some cases, and broken-hearted in others ; and it vvas not all
encouraging to see the high prices that were paid for shooting
iu that neighbourhood. One thing, however, was certain, the
amount tliat game preserves were let for ought to be rated to
the poor. The next grievance to which he would allude was
that of allowing the police to be gamekeepers. What right
had the game-preservers to tlie members of this force at the
expense of the ratepayers P The persons and property of the
ratepayers ought to be protected by the police, but surely a
policeman looking after game could not be looking after their
property. He would also call upon his hearers to bear in
mind that the expense of game prosecutions, coming as it did
out of the poor-rates, was a most shameful thing. Why
should the ratepayers be called upon to pay for the prosecution
of poachers and for their maintenance when in prison P Let
the cost fall upon the right shoulders, and they would soon
see the game-laws altered. Depend upon it if the great game-
preservers had to pay for the maintenance of the poachers
they sent to prison, the present game-laws would not long
continue. Let no man be sent to prison for taking a hare or
rabbit. God never made man to he shut up in a gaol for
taking four-footed vermin like these, which ought to be de-
stroyed, because they destroy the very bread which these
people too often want. Poaching could never be prevented iu
the midst of great game preserves and woods of miles in ex-
tent, where food for the people ought to be growing, and
many a man was made a pauper for life through the opera-
tion of these laws. He (Mr. Waterfield) would have a law of
trespass, and a moderate fine recoverable in the County Court,
but he would not have these cases come before magistrates,
most of whom unfortunately were game preservers. After
several other observations, Mr. Waterfield concluded by sug-
gesting the adoption of the following resolutions ; " That the

302

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE,

keeping of ground game and over-preserving of pheasants is
unfair to the occupier, and a check to enterprise and improve-
ment in cultivation ; that the rabbits under all circumstances
should be given over to the tenant to destroy ; and that hares
also be the property of the tenant to course, as he may think
proper." " That all damages done by game shall be paid for
under the award of two practical farmers, one chosen by the
landlord and the other by the tenant ; and that in case of
l' ''• not agreeing an umpire chosen shall decide, and whose
deci5»on shall be final. Such awards ought to be deducted
from the rent, and recoverable as all otherjust claims now are. "

Mr. Ca-RFENTER had suffered from game himself, but he
believed that tiie landlords would have plenty of sport if they
allowed the ground game to be killed.

Mr. MiXTERN said that if the landlords gave the tenants the
right to kill ground game, they would liave as much sport as now.

Mr. J. DiiviTT, jun., was of opinion that the poacher was
a thief, and ought to be punished as much for stealing game
as for stealing poultry. As to Mr. Waterfield's proposed Act
of Parliament, it seemed to be an unnecessary interference
between man and man, and there was too much tendency to
legislate that way already.

Mr. Charles Reeks said that Mr. Waterfield had taken
a very one-sided view of the question, and had he (Mr. Reeks)
known that that gentleman was about to introduce the sub-
ject as he had done, he should have been prepared with a
reply. Mr. Waterfield had read portions of Mr. Corbet's
pamphlet, condemning the over-preservation of game, but he
had omitted those portions in which Mr. Corbet defended the
landlords and sportsmen. Game and rabbits, according to the
present law, belong to the tenant, and if he transfers his
right to the landlord, it is his own act and deed. The farmer
does not require a licence to kill hares and rabbits. Mr.
Reeks thought that the operation of the game laws w'as not
so bad as Mr. Waterfield had represented ; and he remarked
that even if they were abolished, a poacher would have no
right to go on land and take game. Game ought not to be
the property of anyone who could knock it down. There
were a great many farmers who liked sport as well as their
landlords, and who would not like to see the game laws
abolished.'

Mr. Carter was sorry that Mr. Waterfield had left rats
out of the question ; for they did as much damage as hares
and rabbits, and they injured the feathered game by destroy-
ing the eggs. He was glad to preserve eggs and game for his
landlord, and was always glad when he could provide him
with a good day's sport. He rented under a gentlemen who
allowed him to take the rabbits, and he was sorry he had not
more hares to give sport to a gentleman who kept a pack of
harriers for the amusement of his friends and neighbours.
He was always sorry when he could not find a hare to show
some sport.

The Chairman said they were very much obliged to Mr.
Waterfield for introducing the subject, and his paper was a
very fair one. They should bear in mind that Mr. Waterfield
did not object to a fair day's sport, or to the existence of a
reasonable amount of game. That he stated at the outset,
he was, however, mistaken in one tiling. The game laws
had not been entirely overlooked by tlie Club ; for he (the
Chairman) had himself introduced Ihe subject some time
since. The Club had discussed the subject, and some resolu-
tions were come to representing conclusions which the mem-
hers believed farmers generally had come to upon it. The
game laws were much less stringent in this country than in
almost any civilised country in tTie world. On the continent
of Europe, in America, and even in Australia, game laws had
been introduced. In Frarice, birds w^ere lost owing to want
of preservation. Salmon had been nearly lost for want of
preservation, and so had many birds and beasts which formerly
existed. Mr. Waterfield had attributed the game laws to the
feudal system. Many clever people besides their friend talked
a great deal of nonsense about feudalism. He didn't know
if many of those present read Smollett, or were acqiuiinted
with his novel of " Humphrey Clinker ;" if not, he would
advise them to procure that book, as it was both amusing
and instructive. Smollett made old Mat Bramble express his
disgust at the fashion of quoting the feudal system for every-
thing, and said that he expected tlie use of trunk hose and
buttered toast would both be accredited to the feudal system.
Their friend traced the game laws to the feudal system, but

there was no connection between the two in fact, but only in
his lively imagination. The game laws consisted of two dis-
tinct thing — one a mouey revenue on sporting, and the other
a protection of property. If sporting was a luxury lie did not
see why it should not be taxed ; he thought the tax on licence
might be largely increased, and the increase given in aid of the
poor-rate. He thought it would be a righteous appropriation.
They knew that laws for the protection of the revenue,
whetiier relating to game, spirits, or tobacco, or anything else,
were more stringent than in ordinary cases. Certain penalties
were imposed, and if the offence was proved the justices could
not mitigate beyond a certain extent. They were bound by
Act of Parliament — they might fine £20, but could not fine
less than £10. But with regard to all tliat part of the game
laws it was a fiscal matter — it was a Cliancellor of the Ex-
chequer's question rather than a farmer's. Beyond this the
game laws contained a provision against killing game out of
season — that was for the preservation of the species ; and
there was a provision against killing game on a
Sunday. But besides this, the whole game laws consisted of
enactments against trespass. Farmers would not object to
this. A man should not be allowed to trespass on another
person's land under pretence of taking game. No man would
like for the vagabonds of the country to trespass over bis land,
and be allowed to say, " We are gentlemen sportsman, and
come to take game." The only law alfecting the game was
really one to prevent trespass. Tiie grievance, in truth, com-
plained of by farmers arose not from the law but from the
bargains which one man made with another. Wiien a man
had possession of the land he had possession of tliat which
ran over it or flew above it. He wished men and boys, too,
were prevented from shooting birds other than game birds in
fields in the very gardens of the people. The simple fact was
that where there was a desirable thing to be had men would
try to have it, and if it could be sold for money men would sell
it, and after selling it they should be content with the purchase-
money and not want also the thing sold. A man desiring to
take land might say, " I see you reserve game and rabbits, but
land so burthened doesn't suit me, and I won't take it : you
have a keeper there." It might be well to recollect that a
reservation of game did not necessarily give the right of sending
keepers over tlie land, or raising an excessive stock of game on
it. If a farmer took land upon an express condition, whicii might
be even ruinous to himself, with his eyes open, it was his own
fault, and he ought not to complain. Some said that a farmer
should not be allowed to make such an agreement ; that he
should be deprived of the power of damaging himself, but
farmers generally knew how to take care of themselves. The
farmers had no right, as a body, to tie the hands of the land-
lords, and he hoped it would be a long time before the legis-
lature interfered between man and man. It was true that
there was another point of view. They had been considering
the matter chiefly from the farmer's side. Looking at what a
landlord ought to do or ought not to do — he ought not to use
his power to tlie prejudice of the tenant living on the land ;
but this was a duty which, however binding on the conscience
or right feeling of the landlord, could not be insisted on by
others, or made the subject of legislative enactment. Mr.
Druitt further observed that one inducement for a man to
invest his capital in land was lo obtain influence, power, and
pleasure ; and if they diminished the inclination to purchase
land, its value would decline, and the land of the country
would become divided, to the great injury of agriculture. He
would not advocate the preservation of game and rabbits , he
would leave it to a man's sense of propriety and prudence as to
what bargain he should make with his landlord ; and he be-
lieved that farmers, as a rule, were quite able to take care of
themselves. He would like, however, to have some altera-
tions made in the law. He would leave every landlord and
tenant to make their own bargain respecting the game, but he
would like that whenever a man kept a large stock of game or
rabbits, to the hurt of his neighbour, he should be liable for
the damage. The value of land for game should be subject to
poor rates. Every person charged with poaching should have
his option, as well as if accused of any other theft, of being
tried by a jury. It should not be left to game preservers or
their friends or neighbours, bnt the same choice should be
given to poachers as was given to other thieves. At the same
time, it was but fair to say, in vindication of the much ridi-
culed justices, that since the law by which petty thieves had

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

303

the option of being tried either hy justices or by a jury, ouly
one or two in that district had elected to be tried by a jury,
showing, ou the part of the accused, a confidence in the
justices, who, as owners of property, were not more likely to
sympathise with thieves than game preservers witli poachers.

Mr. Waterfield replied, and the following resolution was
agreed to :

" That the rabbits ought always to be the prop erty of the
occupier, and that he should be allowed to course the hares,
aud that the law should afford a remedy for injury to crops
occasioned by game or rabbits preserved by any neighbouring
owner."

A vote of thanks ha.ving been accorded to Mr. Waterfield
the meeting separated.

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE.

We have been favoured with a copy of the discourse ad-
dressed to the members of this Society at their general meeting,
on the occasion of the opening of the second annual session by
the president, M. Douyn de Lliuys. A month after their first
meelingjthecouucil organised a series of provincial congresses,
and forthwith a sort ol tour of France was commenced.

" In March last the Agricultural Club of Arras invited and
received the delegates of the society with the greatest
cordiality. Tims, in the midst of a large number of the
principal cultivators of the north, a series ot most interesting
discussions were carried on, upon artificial manures. A little
later other districts summoned them. A congress was as-
sembled at Lyons, under the auspices of the society, and during
four days' meeting Irom 500 to 800 persons attended daily.
Among these were delegates from the Ciiamljers of Commerce
of Turin aud llorence, and many representatives from the
agricultural societies of Switzerland. Among the questions
discussed were agricultural credit, irrigation, the taxes wliich
burden agricultnre and laud, manures, rt-planting woods, agri-
cultural education, the octroi duties, viticulture, and above all
the question of the silk-worm, a subject of exceptional im-
portance for the future of the south of i'rance.

" Two months were past, and in the east of Trance the mem-
bers stimulated another great meeting at Nancy, which lasted
three days. Exhaustive cultivation, the sugar industry,
forests, the employment of salt in agriculture, the utilisation
of the sewage waters, aud agricultural instruction gave rise to
serious debates and important resolutions. The proximity of
Germany inspired the thought of inviting the agricultural
associations across the Khine to take part in the congress.
The appeal was responded to by the presence of intelligent
farmers from Trussia, Austria, Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Baden,
and Saxony, and valuable information was received as to tlie
model farms of Germany. A distinguished member of this
society has established at Nancy, on this model, the first of the
kind in France, and the Departement of the Maritime Alps is
about to follow the example.

" Viticulture has also had its congress properly organised and
carried out. Not only Burgundy, but Champagne, Bordeaux,
Charente, Auvergne, the departements of the South, and es-
pecially Herault sent representatives to Beaune in the com-
mencement of November ; even an Englishman took part in
this discussion, not as a producer, but as an intelligent con-
sumer and zealous defender of the free trade in wines for his
country. The numerous questions which affected the produc-
tion of wine were discussed, particularly the octroi and customs
duties, and the new disease of tlie vine. The interesting de-
tails given by Messrs. Gaston, Bazille, Vialla, and Planchon
on the life and habits of the insect depredator to which this
calamity is attributed, were listened to with earnest attention.
These detailed labours were the result of a commission ap-
pointed by the society to study on the spot the ravages of this
scourge. Since tlien curious information has been received
from the Cape Colony and southern Prussia as to this new
disease.

" The agricultural conferences held at Angers, and the great
congresses of Aix, Beauvais, and Chartres, held under the aus-
pices ot the Society, must not be passed by in silence, and
many medals have also been granted. Notwithstanding the
present limited resources of the society, the study of the im-
portant question of fertilisers has been encouraged by the offer
of a prize to be given this session. AVhile the society lias been
thus working in France, the principal agricultural societies of
foseign countries have given warm expressions of their sym-
pathy. England invited them to the Manchester meeting of
the Royal Agricultural Society, and Germany to that at Treves.

The sovereigns and princes, seeing in the development of agri-
cultural progress a pled ge of universal prosperity and friendship,
have given in their alliance. In one year there have been in-
scribed as members of the society King George of Hanover,
the Prince of Wales, the Khedive aud his minister Nubar
Pasha, the reigning Prince of Roumauia, and General Baez,
President of the Dominican republic.

" The Agricultural Union of Rhenish Prussia is associated
with us as honorary, the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land has admitted many of our members, and the Minister of
Agriculturie of Austria has become our colleague. I should
never finish my address if I were to enumerate all the legions,
home and foreign, who, while preserving their own banners,
yet enter upon and unite with us in this peaceful crusade.
Finally, our statutes have been approved by Government and
our society legalized."

THE PARIS FAT STOCK SHOW.— Four prizes of
honour at the great French general fat stock show held
in Paris during the last few days were awarded as fol-
lows : A crossed Durham beast (white), 43 months old, and
weighing nearly 21 cwt., exhibited by M. Boutton-Levcque, of
the Pouts-de-Cu (Maine-et-Loire) ; a Durham-Cbarolaise cow
(red-and-wiiite), 4i months old, and weighing 20 cwt., exhi-
bited by M. Signoret, of Sermoise (Niuvre) ; a lot of three
Southdown sheep, 22 months old, and weighing 5 cwt., exhi-
bited by the Comte de Bouillc, of Villars (Nievre) ; and a pig
of Enghsh breed, 10 months old, and weighing 9:^ cwt.,
fattened byM. Chaminade,of Sarliac (Dordogne). The show
seems to have been highly successful.

THE EAST LOTHIAN AGRICULTURAL SO-
CIETY'S SPRING SEED SHOW. — 280 quarters in
all were exhibited, the quality of which was excellent,
particularly of barley, the samples of this grain being
very superior. The judges — Messrs. Henderson, Byres ;
Skirving, Luffness Mains; and Hogarth, Gimmers Mills —
gave the following awards: 10 quarters of best chevalier
Barley : premium, Mr. Brach, Duncanlaw ; commended, Mr.
Wyllie, Bolton. 10 quarters of best barley, of any other ap-
proved variety : premium, Mr. Wilson, SheriflTside (Potter's
barley) ; commended. Marquis of Tweeddale. 10 quarters of
best potato oais: premium, Mr. Clark, Oldhamstoch Mains;
commended, Mr. AVilsou, SherifFside. 10 quarters of best
Hopetoun oats : premium, Mr. Roughead, Myreside ; com-
mended, Mr. Howden, Boggs. 10 quarters of best sandy oats :
premium Mr. A. J. Balfour, Wbittingharae ; commended, Mr.
Brodie, Littlespot. 10 quarters ot best oats, of any other
approved variety : premium, Mr. Paterson, Ewingstone (for
early Angus) ; commended, Mr. Roughead, Myreside (for
Longfellow). 10 quarters of best Scotch field beans: pre-
mium, Mr. Hope, Fentonbarns ; commended, Mr. Inch, Tyne-
field. 10 quarters of best beans, of any other approved variety ;
premium, Mr. A. J. Balfour.

THE TREASURERSHIP OF THE TEMPLE.— Mr. HaU
Dare, late Secretary to the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, has been elected Under-Treasurer to the Hon.
Society of the Inner Temple. It is noticeable that
within the last year or so Mr. Charles Shaw, Secretary of the
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, was elected Under-
Secretary of the Middle Temple; the rule now being that
barristers shall not hold such appointments.

804

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CHEESE MAKING IN AMERICA,

At the Dairymen's Couventlon, L'tica, Mr. Webi: read the
fullowiug paper on " Dairy Products as seen from a Mercantile
point of view:" The season of 18GS-G9 wound up with stocks
of cheese more completely exhausted than was ever known,
both in this country and in Great Britain. There was a very
eager demand for new cheese, and tempting prices were offered
to induce early deliveries. The first siiipnients from this side
did not meet with much favour; many of the dairies very
badly skimmed, and none showed richness of quality. Still
the scarcity was so great that even those were sold at full
prices, but they gave neither profit nor satisfaction to those
who handled them. Your May make ot cheese was unusually
liue, and found eager buyers, but at such high prices, as to in-
volve a loss to all concerned. Your June make was not nearly
so good as that of May, its great defect being limpness or
weakness of curd and want of solidity. These cheese did
not stand the passasje across tha Atlantic at all well. Many
dairies that appeared solid and fine were inspected in New
York before shipment, showed great looseness and weakues
when they arrived at their destiuatiou. In fact, I never re-
member the cheese changing their character on the Atlantic
passage to the same e.\teut, as did the make of last June.
Perhaps this is partly to be accounted for by the fact, that
owing to the keenness of the English demand, prices were
extremes, and shippers were willing to take a great deal of
green and half-cured cheese. Dairymen, therefore, had every
inducenrent to produce an article which should soon be ripe
and ready enough to pass muster in the New Y'ork market,
without reference to its fitness to stand the test of shipment.
Your July make of cheese was also mucli complained of on
the same grounds, of looseness and want of solidity, but the
li vour of both the June and July cheese was purer and
•J eaner than it had been for the previous three years. It was
also rich and full of quality. This purity of flavour helped
in some degree to atone for the want of solidity, and altoge-
ther the quality was much to be preferred to the hot, rank
liavour of the July make of 1868, which so greatly disgusted
English consumers, and inflicted such heavy losses on shippers.
The August, September, and some of the early October cheese,
was really fine. It was pure and true in flavour, much more
solid and close than the two previous months' make, and of
finer curd and texture than any former season. Of the later
made cheese, where the milk was not skimmed, and where
proper attention wus paid to the temperature of the cheese-
room, some dairies turned out ([uality equal to tiie best of the
wliole season ; but even at its best, this sort is not very de-
sirable for shipment. It does not stand the deteriorating
influence of the English climate nearly so well as the early
make. To sura up, I should say that the whole season's
make shows a decided iinproveaient in the average quality and
a larger proportion of really choice cheese than in any former
year. I have already said that the price of American cheese
rated very high at the opening of the seasou. There was an
eager competition among English dealers for the earliest ar-
rivals. Prices were cousequently forced ^up beyond their legi-
timate level, and in the reaction that inevitably followed were
correspondingly depressed. The excellent quality of your May
makes somewhat checked the downward tendency, but vvhen
the poor June cheese reached the market, values fell rapidly,
and for two mouths the trade was most unprofitable for all
concerned in the buying and shipping of your product. At
last the price touched a point that brought on a large con-
sumption of American cheese. Tiie heavy shipments of June
and July mak«s were cleared off almost as soon as lauded,
which gave this season's hot weather cheese that quick sale
they so iiiperatively 'required, preventing the usual accumn-
lation of ill-flavoured, badly kcepiug stocks that in former
seasons has been kept lianging over the market for several
months. As soon as the English dealers had a taste of the
fancy quality of your August and September make— cheese
that could be handled, if needful held, with perfect safety —
they bought freely, and prices advanced instead of declining as
usual in September. It scarcely falls within my province to

speak of tlie home cheese trade, as there are so many here
who can do so with much greater authority than I can ; but I
think it will be generally conceded that the consumption of
cheese in this country is steadily increasing, and in the South
very largely so. Indeed the smart rise of price in October
was mainly caused by the unusually active domestic demand,
for the heavy decline in gold, at that time, put a serious check
on the operations of shippers. This activity of the home
trade slackened very considerably during tlie mouth of No-
vember, and the price of cheese has since drooped in sympathy
with the rapid fall in the premium of gold. In the English
market during the months of November and December prices
gave way slightly on medium sorts of American cheese, but
the rate for really choice quality has been steadily maintained,
the stock being light and very firmly held. Shipments during
those two months were moderate, for the reason that the de-
cline in gold was heavier than the decline in cheese, so that
the sterling cost of the latter was enhanced in spite of the
dull market on both sides of the Atlantic. We will now take
a survey of the passing English cheese seasou, for the position
occupied by your chief and indeed only competitors, the Eng-
lish dairymen, cannot be a matter of indifference to yon. An
unusually mild and wet winter was followed by an early spring.
In Somersetshire and other southern counties, the cows were
turned out a month earlier than usual; but scarcely were they
on the grass wlien the weather changed. Through April,
May, and half of June, there was a full average make in all
the cheese-producing districts of England, but the quality
was not so flue or the flavour so good as in former years.
This is attributable to a cold, damp season, very un-
favourable to the production of fine, or to the pro-
per maturing of any sort of cheese. During the
latter half of June and all through July, the weather was fine
and clear, with a full summer temperature. The heat was in
fact, at times excessive, and coining on the unprotected roots
of tlie grass, just as the hay crop was removed, combined with
an almost total absence of rain for some weeks, resulted in a
very serious failure of the after-grass, and a great scarcity of
food for the cows for the time. Asa consequence, the make
fell off about one-third in quantity, but showed a great improve-
ment in quality and flavour. Early in August came the long-
looked for rains, soon restoring the feed in the pastures, and
up to the end of October there was a fair, but not excessive,
make of average quality. In the beginning of November, a
few sharp frosts tended to put an early stop to English cheese-
making. In the districts around London, and some other
large towns, the foot-and-mouth disease has been very pre-
valent among the cows. Coiniug at the fall of the year, tliis
has necessitated the drawing of tlie daily supplies of milk for
those cities from the nearest cheese-making districts, and has
to some extent curtailed the make of late cheese. By the end
of last March, the stocks of English cheese were more closely
cleared out of dealers' hands than was ever before known at
that date. Prices for the first deliveries of new cheese were
very high, in spite of which, the demand all over the country
has been unprecedentedly large the season through, and the
best qualities have ruled much dearer in proportion than
American. The price of the very finest sorts of English
cheese has varied very little since the opening of the season,
lu the months of August and September, the arrivals of Dutch
and American cheese were very heavy, and, as we have seen,
went rapidly into consumption. But lower qualities of the
home (English) make began to accumulate, but in no part of
the country so rapidly as in Cheshire aud the adjoining county
of Shropshire, where a good deal of the so-called Cheshire
cheese is made. But makers of those secondary aud inferior
qualities held for full prices : therefore, when compelled to sell
they had quite an accumulation on hand, and where forced to
accept such lower rates than they might have obtained had they
freely met the market. At every September fair and market
in the Cheshire district there was a large pitch of medium
and low quality cheese, which was sold at from ISs. to 60s.
These sorts, being lower than even the commonest kind of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

305

American clieese, attracted the attention of dealers, and for
a month or six weeks, in October and November, engrossed a
large share of the consumption. The bulk of it has now been
disposed of, and for what remains, greatly increased prices
are asked. These facts seem to me to convey at once a warn-
injf and an encouragement to you, the cheese-makers of
America. This county of Cheshire, which for very many years
boasted, and boasted truly, of makiut;- the finest cheese in the
world, has now become notorious for the badness of theciuality
and flavour of tlie bulk of its make, and for an absolute
scarcity of really choice dairies. It is (rue the cattle plague
fell upon tliis county, with its most desolating force, but that
trouble has now been got over. The cows have all been
replaced, and I fear this deterioration in the quality of Ciie-
shire's staple productions, must be attributed, rather to the
carelessness of her cheese makers, and to tiicir want of system
and aiipiioation, than to any local or temporary cause. A most
competent authority writes me as follows : " I'or all the other
districts of England, including Somerset, Wilts, Derby, Leices-
ter, and the smaller cheese-making counties, I do not find any
one knowing anything about the business, who can sav, that
the dairy farmers are making uni/ progress toward improve-
ment." The conviction of some of the best judges of these
matters, appears to be, that the energy, intelligence, and per-
severance, which has been combined with and partly grown
out of your factory system of cheese-making, is fast putting
you in a position to completely distance the English dairyman
in the production oi fine cheese in large quantities, and unless
the cheese-makers of tlie old country speedily rouse themselves
to the emergency, applying to this business a like spirit of
inquiry, and a like determination to excel, they must very
soon surrender the foremost position on their own mar-
kets to their American competitors and content themselves if
they can with the second place. The speaker then proceeded
to sketch the position of other cheese-prodncing countries.
The cheese of Canada is improving yearly in flavour and
quality, and is coming to be much sought after by both Lan-
caster and Liverpool dealers. The season for Dutch cheese
opened, as for all other sorts, with a bare market and full
prices. The weather in Holland throughout the season was
favourable for dairy products, but producers showed a dis-
position to realize their stocks as soon as ready. The par-
ticular size and shape of Dutch cheese limits their use to certain
districts, and they can never become a formidable competitor
of our article. Scotland is said to be increasing her produc-
tion of cheese, as well as improving its quality. Sweden sends
little or no cheese to the English market. I will give the
receipts of cheese in New York city for three seasons : May
1st, 1867 to May 1st 1S08, they vvere in round numbers
1,330,000 boxes ; the following year, that is from May 1st,
1868, to jMay 1st, 1869, they oiily reached a total of 1,070,000
boxes, a falling oil of 259,000, or twenty per cent in the
number of boxes alone. Our receipts of cheese in New York
city for the current season, that is from the 1st of May
last to first day of the present year, were about 1,293,000
boxes. The receipts from now to the 1st of May next,
which completes the year, will, I think, bring the total
of 1869-70 fully up to the heavy one of 1867-08 which
so frightened some of your members. It is true that tJie cheese
do not now average so much in weight as they did that year,
but against this I offset the largely increased quantity that has
this season gone to Chicago, Cincinnati and other cities direct
from the western part of tliis State. From liieir figures we
can fairly infer a largely increased make over last season. Now
let us see how the consumption has kept pace with this large
production. Our stock of cheese in New York city Jan, 1,
1870, was liberally estimated at about 30,000 or 40,000 boxes
in excess of that held at same date last year, wjiiletlie receiiits
to that date showed an excess of about 250,000 boxes over the
previous year. This gives us since the 1st of last May an
increased consumption of 210,000 or 220,000 boxes, of wliicli
Great Britain took about 150,000 boxes. Looking at the total
shipments since Slay 1st, and taking into account the stocks in
London and Liverpool and the quantity in transit for these
markets on the 1st of January for the last three years, I arrive
at the conclusion that the consumption of American cheese in
Great Britain has for this season been 1 10,000 boxes, or 20
per cent, in excess of what it was last season to same date aud
nearly 100,000 boxes, or at 17i per cent, more than what it
was in the corresponding period of the year before that,
namely, 1867-68. Now coraes the incjuiry, what effect has

this increased make and consumption had upon the price of
cheese. The quotations in New York city for choicest dairies
on January 1st, for the past three years, are as follows: 1868,
15c. currency, with gold at ISIJ ; 1869, lOic, with gold at
\mh, and 1870, 17ic., witli gold at 120*. So that equalizing
tlie gold basis, the price this year is equal to that of last year,
and is four cents per pound, in currency, higher than it was
January 1st 1868. If these figures have any value, they are
ample warrant for my opening a statement as to the increased
make, consumption and price of American cheese. Last year
was an exceptional one. The make of cheese being cverwliere
short, prices of course ruled high, but still not so high by an
average of 2s. 6d. per cwt., or ^c. per pound in gold, as they
have this season with a heavy production in all the cheese-
making countries of the vv-orld. In fact, the higli range of
prices is a striking proof of the extent of the eonsumption, as,
witii only an ordinary one of cheese in England and this
country, the market must have completely broken down and a
very low average value prevailed. It becomes, then, a matter
of general interest for us to ascertain, if possible, the causes
of this increased eonsumption. The moderate price of bread
in the old country, leaving the working classes a much larger
surplus of their wages to spend in other articles of food, has,
no doubt, had a good deal to do witji it ; but otjier and more po-
tent causes have been, I think, 1st, the great improvement in the
average quality of American cheese ; 2nd. The sound judg-
ment you dairymen have shown in judiciously meeting the
English demands by few sales all the summer and thus retain-
ing your bold on that market. One or two little matters of
detail connected with your manufacture now claim our atten-
tion. Such of your dairies as have used NichoU's Englisli
fluid annato have produced exactly that shade of light, lively
colour which is so popular in London. I can, therefore, re-
commend the use of the article with great confidence, and the
decline in gold should reduce its cost very materially. The
boxes from some counties in tlie AVestern part of this State,
and also from Le\^is county are in many cases made from poor,
thin, brittle stuff. The sides frequently give out before they
reach their destined market, and great damage to the cheese
results. Besides the improvement in make, quality, and price,
I think you are to be congratulated on the improved oppor-
tunities you have of getting information about the state of the
market, aud therefore of forming an opinion on the probable
course of prices. Among the chief ol these are the Atlantic
cables, those delicate nerves, which connect the brain of the
old with the brain of the new world ; you can now see the
dairy quotations of the Englisli markets just as well as any
dealer or shipper ; you have another enormous advantage in
the increasing diligence and correctness with which the public
press caters for your information ; not only are the reports of
the great New York papers got up with scrupulous care so as
to represent the aggregate feeling of the market rather than
individual opinion, but your local press, particularly that
portion of it which makes a specialty of cheese reporting, has
during the past year displayed an eclectic spirit worthy of all
commendation. And now what is the conclusion of the
whole matter ? Chiefly, I think, that you need never to be
afraid of making too much fine cheese. This year, with the
largest shipments to England ever known, we have the highest
average price. A very short time ago one of the largest
dealers in the old country assured me that in the course of
forty years' experience, he has never been burdened with moie
fine cheese than he knew where to sell at good prices. Of
course, as the gold premium declines, the currency value of
your product must more or less sympathise with it, but in the
general shrinkage of values rendered inevitable by the im-
proving financial condition of the country your interest appears
to me to be one of those that will suffer least. There is every
prospect that by tli e first of May next, stocks of American cheese
will everywhere be closely used up, and we shall enter on the
new season with a good demand at remunerative prices to the
producer. I liave done my best to make clear the promising
future that lies open before you. If you would insure success
in that future you must continue to deserve it. What you
Juice gained must move you to redoubled effort aud not serve
as an excuse for relaxation ; only in this way can you main-
tain the position you have so far reached. Only in this way
can you iiopc to advance your product to the first place in the
English market ; and when tliat crowning point has at last
been nchioved, sleepless vigilance alone can insure you in its
permanent oecupatiou.

306

THE FAEMBR'S MAGAZINE.

THE FARNLEY SHORTHORN SALE.

A SeleclioH of Slock bred by Mr. L\ H. Fmvkes.

By Mr. H. Straxtord, on Thursday, February 34th.

COWS AND HEIFERS.

Magnolia, red, calved December 11, 1861, by Royal Oak
(lfi873), out of Magenta by Doa Giovanni (15893) ; Mag-
nolia has bred 6 calves, the last October 5th, 1869.— Mr.
Blackwell, 19 gs.

Valerian, white, calved October 19, 1862, by Royal Oak
(16873), out of Vanilla by Robinson Cru.soe (13610) ; has
had 4 calves, the last September 24th, 1869.— Mr. Danby,
23 gs.

Lady Wallace, white, calved July 5, 1863, by Lord Cobham
(20164), out of Wild Rose by Sir Walter Scott (13753) ;
has had 7 calves, the last March 11th, 1869.— Mr. Cadman,
35 gs.

Blue Cap, red, calved November 29, 1863, by Royal Oak
(16873), out of Blue Bonnet by Lord Clarendon (14807) ;
has had 3 calves, the last April 30th, 1869.— Mr. Black-
well, 51 gs.

Her Ladyship, roan, calved June 2, 1864, by Lord Cobham
(20164), out of Ship-a-Hoy by Sir Edmund Lyons (15284) ;
has had 3 calves, the last April 5th, 1869.— Mr. Yorke,
33 gs.

Friar's Balsam, roan, calved August 15, 1865, by Lord Cob-
ham (20164), out of Fatiraa by Iiikermann (13068) ; has
had 2 calves, the last May 19th, 1869.— Mr. Blackwell,
31 gs.

Violet, roan, calved January 10, 1866, by Bon Homme
(31300), out of Lady Viola by Lord Cobham (20164) ;
has had 1 calf, February 4th, 1869.— Mr. Marshall, 33 gs.

Lady Leoine, roan, calved January 17, 1866, by Lord Cob-
ham (20164), out of Lioness by Sir Edmund Lyons (15284) ;
has had 2 calves, the last November 33nd, 1869.— Mr.
Blackwell, 34 gs.

Lady Betty, roan, calved May 1, 1866, by Lord Cobham
(20164), out of La Bonne by General Bosquet (14591) ;
has had 1 calf. May 22nd, 1869.— Mr. Brown, 48 gs.

Lady Margery, roan, calved October 5, 1866 ; by Lord Cob-
ham (20164), out of Magnolia by Royal Oak (16873) ; has
had 1 calf, August 24th, 1869.— Mr. Lamb, 23 gs.

What Next, roan, calved May 23, 1867, by Reformer (18687),
out of Lady Wallace by Lord Cobham (20164) ; has had 1
calf, November 25th, 1869.— Mr Brown, 31 gs.

Reaction, roan, calved August 26, 1867, by Reformer (18687),
out of Valerian by Royal Oak (16873).— Mr. Swarbrick,
30 gs.

Friar's Balm, red, calved May 18, 1868, by Reformer
(18687), out of Friar's Balsam by Lord Cobham (20164).
—Mr. Danby, 16 gs.

Valentine Bacon, roan, calved May 21, 1868, by Friar Bacon
(31780). out of Lady Valentine by Lord Cobham (20164).
—Mr. Danby 28 gs.

Maggie, roan, calved September 8, 1868, by Reformer (1S687),
out of Lady Maggie by Lord Cobham (30164).— Mr. Rams-
den, 21 gs.

Reform, roan, calved September 16, 1868, by Reformer
(18687), out of Valerian by Royal Oak (16873).— Mr.
Ganett, 18 gs.

Beatric Bacon, roan, calved December 14, 1868, by Friar
Bacon (21780), out of Lady Beatrice by Lord Cobham
(20164).— Mr. Darley, 35 gs.

Wild Rose, roan, calved March 11, 1869, by Reformer
(18687), out of Lady Wallace by Lord Cobham (20164).—
Mr. Yorke, 22 gs.
Fairy Tale, roan, calved March 21, 1869, by Reformer
(18687), out of Lady Fairy by Lord Cobham (20164).—
Rev. T. Staniforth, 20 gs.

BULLS.

Lucky Boy, roan, calved March 14, 1868, by Lord Cobham
(30164), out of La Belle by Royal Oak (16873).— Mr.
Graves, 55 gs.

Lord Montjoy, roan, calved November 7, 1868, by Lord Cob-
ham (20164), out of Magnolia by Royal Oak (16873).—
Mr, Kaye, 27 gs.

Lord Lyons, roan, calved April 30, 1868, by Lord Cobham

(30164), out of Lioness by Sir Edmund Lyons (15284).—
Mr. Metcalf, 61 gs.

Leopold, white, calved November 20, 1868, by Friar Bacon
(21780), out of Lady Leoine by Lord Cobham (20164).—
Mr. Day, 25 gs.

Lord Leopold, roan, calved March 8, 1869, by Lord Cobham
(20164), out of Lioness by Sir Edmund Lyons (15284).—
Mr. Tyudali, 43 gs.

Lord Bloomfield, roan, calved April 20, 1869, by Lord Cob-
ham (20164), out of Blue Cap by Royal Oak (16873).—
SirM. Ridley, 65 gs.

Lord Bolton, roan, calved April 30, 1869, by Lord Cobham
(30164), out of La Bonne by General Bosquet (14591).—
Mr. Thompson, 30 gs.

First Lord, red, calved November 16, 1869, by Lord Darling-
ton (26633), out of La Brilliant by Reformer (18687).—
Mr. Legard, 10 gs.

Third Lord, red, calved November 25, 1869, by Lord Darling-
Ion (26633), out of What Next by Reformer (18687).— Mr.
Darley, 37 gs.

Fourth Lord, red, calved December 9, 1869, by Lord Darling,
ton (203633), out of Lady Maggie by Lord Cobham (20164).
—Mr. Yorke, 17 gs.

Summary.

Average. Total.

19 Cows £30 7 10 £577 10 0

10 Bulls 37 13 11 376 19 0

£954 9 0
29 Averaged £33 18 3

BEAUMONT GRANGE SHORTHORN
SALE.

A Selection of Stock, from Mr. TF. TV. SIi/e''s Herd.
By. Mr. H. SxRArroRD, ox Fuiday, February 35th.

COWS AND HEIFERS.
Nell Gwynne, red, calved December 30, 1859, by Rex (16833),

out of Sophy Grange by Y'oung Benedict (15641). — Mr.

Foster, 27 gs.
Strawberry, roan, calved March 21, 1834, by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883), out of Surprise by Royal Duke (16865).

—Mr. Moore, 31 gs.
Selina 5th, rich roan, calved April 10, 1864, by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883), out of Selina 3rd by Garibaldi (17933).

— Mr. Dunraore, 41 gs.
Lady Stamford, red and white, calved April 30, 1864, by Ox-
ford (20450), out of Royal Crescent by Royal Duke (16865).

— Mr. Dunmore, 28 gs.
Moss Rose 4th, rich roan, calved February 5, 1865, by Royal

Gwynne (32784), out of Moss Rose by Lord of Brawith

(10'465).— Mr. R. Jefferson, 40 gs.
Cherryripe, red, calved April 2, 1865, by Royal Gveynne

(22784), out of Surprise by Royal Duke (16865).— Mr.

Barker, 26 gs.
Lancaster Gwynne, rich ronn, calved April 11,1865, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Nell Gwynne by Rex

(16833).— Mr. Moore, 46 gs.
Hawthorn, white, calved February 25, 1866, by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883), out of Hopeful by Garibalbi (17933).—

Mr. Taylor, 50 f:S.
Royal Charmer 2nd, red roan, calved January 21, 1866, by

Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Royal Charmer by

2nd Duke of Cambridge (12743).— Mr. T. Rigby, 38 gs.
Countess 7th, red, calved April 26, 1866, by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883), out of Countess by Y^ouug Pompey

(13480).— Capt. Gauday, 31 gs.
Sweetheart 3rd, rich roan, calved October 38, 1868, by Sir

AValter Gwynne (32921), out o*" Sweetheart 2nd by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883).— Mr. Foster, 80 gs.
Fawsley Duchess, ricli roan, calved March 10, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Lady Knightley by Ox-
ford (20450).— Mr. Foster, 105 gs.
Selina 10th, red, calved June 7, 1861, by Grand Duke of Ox-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

307

ford (34070), out of Selina 5tli by Grand Duke of Lancaster

(19883).— Mr. Parker, 19 gs.
Cherry Duchess, rich roan, calved July 18, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Cherrvripe by Koyal

Gwynne (2378i).— Mr. Parker, 18 gs.
Lady Tliorndale Bates 2nd, rich roan, calved Oct. 26, 1869,

by 4th Duke of Tliorndale (17750), out of Lady Bates 3rd by

the Duke of O.xford (11387).— Mr. Dunmore, 300 gs.
BULLS.
Royal Count, red, calved April 23, 1868, Ijy Sir Walter

Gwynne (22921), out of Countess 7th by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883).— Mr. Haslara, 24 gs.
Chen-y Duke, red, calved Juue 14, 1868, by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (1PS83), out of Cherryripc by Eoyal Gwynne

(22784).— Mr. Hock, 30 gs.
larnley Duke, rich roan, calved September 14, 1868, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Moss Rose 5th by Royal

Gwynne (22784). — Mr. Parker, 45 gs.
Sir Rainald, rich roan, calved September 18, 1868, by Sir

Walter Gwvnne (22921), out of Grand Duchess of Fawsley

by Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883).— Mr. Haslam, 30 gs.
Grand Duke of Farnley, rich roan, calved November 27, 1868,

by Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Miss Rose 2nd

by Oxford (20450).— Not sold, 100 gs. reserve.
Charmer's Grand Duke, red, calved February 25, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Royal Charmer

by 2nd Duke of Cambridge (12743).— Mr. Ray, 28 gs.
Grand Duke of Cambridge 3rd, red, calved March 1, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Cambridge Moss

Rose by 2nd Duke of Cambridge (12743) — Mr. Guice 50 gs.
Lord Barrington Spencer, rich roan, calved August 3, 1869,

by Barrington C^ford (25607), out of Lady Spencer 2nd

by Grand Duke of Lancaster (19SS3).— Mr. Sanders, 30 gs.
The Cardinal, rich roan, calved August 15, 1869, by Barring-
ton O.'cford (25607), out of Sweetheart by Grand Duke of

Lancaster (19883).— Mr. Biddie, 26 gs.
Lord Burleigh 2nd, red, calved August 30, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Lady Stamford by Oxford

(20450).— Mr. Thorn, 15 gs.
^ Grand Duke of Oxford 2nd, rich roan, calved October 3, 1869,

by Grand Duke of Lancaster(19S83), outof Oxford Gwynne

by Oxford (20450).— Mr. Smith, 24 gs.
The Roan Duke, rich roan, calved OctoJDer 6, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Red Duchess 6th by

Oxford (20450),— Mr. Sayer, 15 gs.
Grand Duke of Farnley 2nd, rich roau, calved Nov. 13, 1869,

by Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883), out of Moss Rose 2nd

by Oxford (20450).— Mr. Tindal, 25 gs.
Cherry Grand Duke, rich roan, calved December 5, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Oxford (2 10701, out of Strawberry by Grand

Duke of Lancaster (19883).— Mr. Lethbridge, 36 gs.
Grand Duke of Fawsley, rich roan, calved January 24, 1870,

by Barrington Oxford (25607), out of Grand Duchess of

Fawsley by Grand Duke of Lancaster (19883),— Mr. Gib-
bon, 23 gs. Summary.

Average. Total.

15 Cows £60 18 0 £913 10 0

ISBuUs 29 6 7 439 19 0

£1353 9 0

30 Averaged £45 3 3

It will be seen that the great feature of the occasion was
the sale of Lady Thorndale Bates 2nd.

SALE OF MR. PRYCE BOWEN'S STOCK AT SHRA-
"WARDINE.- The sale of the farming stock of the late Mr.
Pryce Bowen, of Shrawardine Castle, drew together a large at-
tendance. The sale commenced with the Shropshire ewes. The
first lot consisted of five animals, in lamb, which were pur-
chased by Mr. Richards, of Llynolys, at £7 per head. The
highest bid for this class of stock was that of Mr. Wainman,
of Worksop, Notts, who gave £65 for a pen of five. The
whole of this lot were by Lord Clifden. In about two dozen
of the pens the ewes realised from £4 10s. to £7 2s. a-piece,
and the remainder averaged about £3 10s. The shearling
rams, 24 in number, were sold in pairs, and excited some very
spirited competition. The most valuable pair was bought by
Mr, AVilliams, of Leighton, for £30, who also purchased the
second best pair for £28. The lowest price given in this class

was £9 per pair. The 170 stock ewes realised £868, or, on
an average, £5 3s. each. The 70 shearling ewes brought in
£172, or £3 10s. the average. The shearling rams sold for
£364, giving an average of £6 10s., and 40 shearling wethers
brought £88 15s., or an average of £3 5s. each. Of the whole
flock, the average was £4 ids. per head. The sale of cattle
commenced at half-past three, and the first lot disposed of were
the Herefords. They comprised 62 animals of the purest
breed, but notwithstanding this fact, the prices were
by no means high. Jlr. J. Rill, Felhampton, purchased
one. Peeress, for 26 gs., and a pair of useful yearlings
for 27^ gs. Milton, a bull that has carried olf three prizes
from the Royal, and several other Societies, was bought by Mr.
A. Mansell, for 27 gs , Tiie bull Master Ilalstou, bred by Mr.
Edmund Wright, Halston, was sold to Mr. Wild for 33 gs.
Mercury became the property of Mr. Lloyd, Carreghofa, for
25 gs. Milford was purchased by Mr. Broughall for 21 gs.
There were six other bulls sold, and their prices ranged from
10| to 19 gs. Nine of the yearlings, and two year olds, sold
cheap, 25 gs. being the highest price realised. The fat stocK
consisted a score, or so, of remarkably nice animals, which
realised from 7id. to 8d. per lb. Mr. Preece, of Shrewsbury,
had the conduct of the sale.

SALE OF SCOTCH SHORTHORNS.— Mr. Milne,
of Kinaldie, Aberdeenshire, has had his annual sale of
young bulls and heifers. There was a large attendance, and the
sale, all things considered, was moderately good. The average
of the bulls was about £25 a-head. Of the fifteen heifers
oftered for sale, thirteen met with purchasers. They were
better on the whole than the Ijulls, and brought good prices.
The highest price at 40 gs. was bought by Mr. White,
Clinterty. The following is the list of animals sold: Bidls. —
Lochinvar, red, with white spots, calved 3rd Feb., 1868 — Mr.
Collie, Lairsbill, Fintray, 36 gs. Victorius, red, with white
spots, calved 31st July, 1868— Mr. Booth, Mastrich, Newhills,
20 gs. Prince Arthur, red, with white spots, calved 14tli
March, 1868— Mr. Campbell, Kinnefi', 22 gs. Royal Duke,
roan, calved 15th August, 1868 — Earl of Caithness, 30 gs.,
Victor, red, calved 12th Jan., 1869— Mr. Scott, Peterborough,
Canada, 38 gs. Forest Knight, red, calved 23rd Jan, 1869—
Mr. Napier, Burnside, Newhall, 28 gs. Hotspur, roan, calved
11th Jan., 1869— Major Gordon Duff, of Drummuir, 30 gs.
Volunteer, white, calved 16th Feb., 1869— Mr, Dingwall,
BlackmUl, Tarland, 20 gs. Knight of Don, roan, calved 1st
May, 1869— Mr. Lindsay, Whistleberry, Kinneff, 22 gs. Pilot,
red and white, calved 15tli April, 1869— Mr. Strachan, Char-
leston, Nigg, 14 gs. Red Chief, red, calved 2nd Aug., 1869 —
Mr. Siiewan Newton, of Carsindae, Midmar, 19 gs. Heifers.
— Lady Battersea, red, calved 36th Jan., 1869 — Mr. Hender-
son, Kinclure, Towie, 30 gs. Clara XXVIIl., red, calved 11th
Jan., 1869— Mr. Lumsden, Braco, Keith, 39 gs. Beauty VI.,
red, calved 18th March, 1869— Mr. M'Donald, The Farm,
Huntly, 34 gs.— Queen of May, red, calved 35th Jan., 1869—
Mr. Scott, Gleudronach, Huntly, 23 gs. Rosie HI., roan,
calved 15th March, 1869- The Earl of Caithness, 20 gs.
Spinster IV., roan, calved 30th March, 1869— Mr. Anderson,
Daugh, Coldstone, 14 gs. Sybil XXIV., roan, calved 23rd
March, 1869— Mr. Smyth, Tocher, Rayue, 14 gs. Goud-
spink III., red, calved 31st. April, 1869 — Mr. Henderson,
Kinclure, 13 gs. Camilla IV., red and white, calved 1st.
June, 1869— Mr. Patersou, Cairnhill, Keithhall, 13 gs.
Daisy XXV., roan, calved 30th May, 1869— Mr. Rainnie,
AVester Fintray, 11 gs. Magnet V., red, calved 3rd June,
1869- Mr. Longmore, Keith, 19 gs. White Spir, white,
calved 3ud August 1869 — Mr. Burness, Boghead, Kintore,
18 gs. Spicy VI., red and white, calved 15th June, 1869
—Mr. Whyte, Clinterty, 40 gs.

SALE OF SHORTHORNS IN AMERICA.— Mr. Shel-
don has lately sold to Messrs. Wolcott and Campbell, of New^
York Mills, near Utica, about half of his herd, some thirty- -
nine animals. They comprise : 3rd Ducliess of Thorndale, 9th
Duchess of Thorndale, 12th Duchess of Tliorndale, 8th
Duchess of Geneva, 6th Duchess of Geneva, 13th Duchess of
Geneva, 7th Lady of Oxford, 10th Lady of Oxford, 2nd Maid
of Oxford, Blooming Heather, Butterfly Belle, Moneta, Ma-
zurka 9th, Lady Susan and some twenty-five others, among
them the liull, Baron of Oxford, now in his fifteenth year. This
embraced an average of old and young from among the entire
herd, and then, oxen so, the figures were a trifle over an average
of 2,000 dollars per head.

308

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE NEW FARM.

This frost halh enabled lis to get through what tlie
baililY calls a "sight of work." Although authorilics
are agreed that upon the whole it is best to haul fold
manure on the leys and pasture during antunin, inasmuch
as thereby the food has time to soak down to and into
the rootlets so that they are prepared to strike out vigor-
ously with the first burst of spring, yet having our yards
full we were tempted to go on top-dressing as long as the
hard surface allowed us without trespass. Were we a
green field ourselves our argument would be that good food
could come never auiiss, so upon that hint we acted, and
can only hope that our wishes may be realised in the
gathering in of a grand hay crop.

The lambs are falling fast, and as yet we have been very
fortunate. The quiet dams look so comfortable in their
pens with an infant alongside. We were hurried in our
preparation at last, and so adopted a plan which we should
adhere to again from its simplicity. With a hay-knife we
cut into, or rather hollowed out, a recess around a straw
rick, into which we set hurdles at right angles to the
stack and about oue-and-a-half yards apart. Uuou the
portion of the hurdles that ran under the straw we laid a
tier of spare spruce boards -. then some small gorse was
pulled through the lower bars, and a long range of most
comfortable pens w'as upon a ready, and that, too, in an
astonishing short time.

We got our first crop of water-cresses last week. A
mistake I made in planting the bed I may as well recount
for the guidance of others. I laid a floor of rich mud
for them. Instead of which I should have simply strewn
gravel on sharp sand. The leaves run up too luxuriantly
and lose their brown hue. The whole crop should, I am
told, be lifted every spring and have their root points
trimmed. But I shall be glad myself to obtain further
information as to the proper cultivation of this whole-
some and delicious salad. Our pool lyiug in a hollow,
the water gets too hot by attraction of the sun
rays, and makes them too soon a giant cress.
I believe, from what 1 have seen tried, that a
bunch of water-cress docs act elTectually as an antidote
against the depressing effects of nicotine. Either the juice of
the herb or the exercise of picking it out of the fresh water
quickly removed my friend's headache. Another simple
effect let me record. We all know that dry earth, as well
as charcoal, has the power of dcoderizing. I was, not-
withstanding, I must confess, surprised at the immediate
and thorough success which attended cook's throwing
some bowlfuls of woodashes from the oven, after baking,
down the scullery sink, which, do what we would, could
never before be kept from emitting, especially in damp
weather, an unpleasant odour which pervaded the whole
house. They were careful never before to throw cabbege-
water down. Still, do what they might, the bad smells
continued. Siuce I desired her to throw down some ashes
it has been altogether removed.

I have had much entertainment during the past w'cek in
directing a woodman to cut peeps and glimpses through
the woods, which gives some exquisite little pictures of the
distant landscape framed within the surrounding boughs,
and which will be intinitely more effective when the foliage
covers the trees again. A quantity of the superabundant
young trees he has been thinning out to split into pales to
fence around a rough piece of fern and bramble where the
pheasants love to make their nests, and which at present
if. open to invasion by the pestilent curs of every passerby.

One I helped him to fall; and of course knowing better
than he did, and pulling the rope somewhat differently to
what he desired me, got well punished by seeing a pet
straight young Scotch fir snap off in two like a carrot
under the weighty head of the overthrown stick. A lesson
for your obstinate conceit, ^Ir. Vigil !

A mixture of good and bad luck has attended the cow-
sheds. One most valuable bull calf has been lost through
the stupid attendant giving his dam a feed of frosted
swedes. An obstinate diarrhwa took him off. On the
other hand our good fortune with the ewes continues,
which I attribute in a great degree to their having
been very evenly kept during the last three months.
It is the up and down feeding that plays the
mischief with dam and offspring — now starvation,
now abundance — the poor veins cannot stand such
abuse. One farmer I knew lost the great part of his
yearling sheep last year from this cause. Our best Guern-
seys have produced us fine heifer calves by a handsome
young Shorthorn sire. So we must put the one thing
against the other. Keep forging on against a head sea
is the grand rule of agricultural life. The storm aud cur-
rent are sure to relax their violence in time.

We have had in the poultry-yard a siu2;ular illustration
of the ditliculty there is in breeding away the characteris-
tics of any new cross one may adopt. Some years since
we received some beautifully -marked bantams which had
been imported from Lucknow. They themselves crossed
a little with some Seabright fowls, but died at an early
period, owing, I think, to the strange inclemency of the
weather. We saved some half-bred chickens, which have
siuce intermixed with the Seabrights, with the eft'ect only
of rendering the succeeding hatches as they grew up more
dowdy-lookiug and leg-feathered. These enlarged hens
were very useful for sitting on pheasant eggs, and had a
certain wild liking for life in the woods. Last season,
however, there got mated a pair of the first cross — that
is, own brother and sister — and their ])roduce has re-
verted to the Lucknow sort. The shape is similar, broad,
rather low and lengthy with deep feather in the legs, and
a ])eculiar colour of the plumage. White speckled with
bluish red and black represents the imported pair almost
exactly. How to go on now is the puzzle. There is,
clearly, room for instructive experiment. An eminent
Southdown breeder and Southdown judge, who some
years since sold off his famous flock aud has since been
experimenting with a cross, told me that his theory was
not the usual one of taking fresh blood through the ewes
and then serving the produce with a pure-bred sheep
again, but to pair the half-breds. I read the other day
thai he has managed to produce a beaulifully-even flock
of an improved and special sort. This history of our
bantams would seem to endorse his plan. I shall vk^atcli
and re])ort further results, when we have tried a variety
of combinations.

We have been transplanting ripstone-pippins and
filbert-bushes into every wild corner on the hill. What
a pull it is to live in a district where the elm, the
oak, the chestnut, the apple, and the walnut are really
native weeds springing up in every hedgerow and on
every biink at random, one might say, and abundantly!
I followed my young ones just now into old Melon's
fruit-rooms. How they did pocket, the old fellovv burst-
ing with delight as he looked on ! Aud then, when the
crop is on the trees, how they eat all day long between

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

309

school-Iiours, and seem never tlie worse, dinner only being
worse for it, as their appetites, to my sorrow, seem rather
whetted than a]i])eascd !

It is no wonder that the vegetarian badger loves the
district. There is such a fine fellow has his lair under a
rock adjacent to this, close to which he has a raised seat,
worn quite hollow on the top, like an ostrich's nest. The
labourers call it his " Sunday seat." It commands a
magnificent view of the surrounding country.

There has been hot work amongst the fox covers on the
further side of the county, in consequence of which Mr.
Reynard has migrated to our inaccessible strongholds.

You may hear him bark every evening about nightfall.
One fox feasted last week on a guinea-towl of ours, and
winked his eye grandly at the traps all aronnd, which I
found the angry bailift" had soothed his wrath by setting.
The red robber I love to sec so stealthily slipping through
the gorse, and am only vexed when, as I saw him the
other day, he will keep whirling around his head, then
tossing-up and catching and re-tossing an unhappy rabbit,
neutralizing by his conduct any sympathy on my part
which might have ariseu from Mr. Freeman's attacks.

ViGrt.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

Monthly Couxcir, : Wednesday, March 2.— Present :
the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., President, in the chair ;
the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl of Powis, Viscount Brid-
port. Lord Chesham, Lord Tredegar, Lord Vernon, Lord
Walsingham, Sir Massey Lopes, Bart., M.V., Sir A. K.
Macdouald, Bart., Sir H. Vane Bart., Sir Watkin Wynn,
Bart., M.P., Mr. Barthropp, Mr. Cantrell, Colonel Chal-
loner, Mr. Clive, Mr. Davies, Mr. Dent, M.P., Mr.
Druce, Mr. Edmonds, Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, Mr.
Holland, Mr. Hornsby, Mr. Wren Iloskyns, M.P.,
Colonel Kiugscote, M. P., Mr. Leeds, Mr Milward, Mr.
Pain, Mr. White Ridley, M.P., Mr. Stutter, Mr. Torr,
Mr. Wells, M.P., Mr. Whitehead, Major Wilson, Mr.
Jacob Wilson, Professor Simonds and Dr. Voelcker.

The following new members were elected : —

Arnold, James, 35 and 36, West Smithfield, E.G.

Bather, Thomas, Maesbury Hall Mill, Oswestry

Bond, A., Huntstilc, Bridgwater

Brown, Benjamin, Thursford, Thetford

Case, James, Upton, Reading

Castle, George, Sutton, Stanton Harcourt, Eyn^hara

Cole, W., Douglas, Bicester

Dickers, S. S., Colder Manor, Tetsworth

Dodd, F., Rusli Court, Wallingford

Ellershaw, Charles, Bossall, York

Garratt, R. L., Thorpe, Malsor, Kettering

Gillett, Charles, Lower Haddoii, Faringdon

Greenslade, Jolin, Bslham, Tiverton

Hale, Bernard, Holly Hill, Hartfield

Hammond, Jolm, Bale, Thetford

Harland, II. S., Malton, York

Humby, J. H., Ashley, Stockbridge

Jones, John, Pike's End, Ellesmere

King, J. Pittman, North Stoke, Wallingford

Kirk, Charles, Sleaford, Lincoln

Labalmondiere, George, 32, Craven Street, W.C.

Lloyd, Robert, OITraorc, Kidderminster

Mace, Thomas, Sherborne, Northlcach

Newton, S. C.Tlie Downs, Croxton, St. Neots

Niccolls, W. H., Newnhara, Shrewsbury

Owen, C. N., Walton House, Oxford

Paddison, Edward, Ingilby, Lincoln

Parsons, Herbert, Elslield, Oxford

Parsons, Jonn, Iffley, Oxford

Perkins, W. H., Westfield House, Amcsby, Thcdiingworth,

Rugby
Rusher, W., High Street, Banbury
Stutter, John, New Brigliton, Chester
Toder, Edward, Little Carlton, Newark
Topham, Thomas, Tlie Twemlows, Whitcluircli
Vaughan, G. L., Belmont Villa, Leicester
Walker, James, Bushy Lodge, West Eirle, Lewes
Warden, T. S., Sedbergh, Kendal
Willows, J, &., Rushton, Kettering

Ejx.iNCK. — Viscount Bridport (Chairman) presented
the report, from which it appeared that the Secretary's
receipts during the past month had been examined by the
committee, and Messrs. Quitter, Ball, and Co., the Society's
accountants, and were found correct. The balance in the
hands of the bankers on February 28 was £1,724 Os. 8d.
ft was also reported that the committee had had under
their consideration two cases of members in arrear with
theirsubscriptions, namely, Mr. S. W. Rayne, of New-
castle-on-Tyne, and Sir. Joseph Chesworth, of Longslow,
^Market Drayton, and they recommended that these cases
be referred to the Society's solicitors, with instructions to
take the necessary legal proceedings to recover the arrears
of subscriptions due to the Society. The committee re-
commended that a new valuation be made in the fixtures
and furniture of the house, in consequence of recent
changes made in the Society's property. — This report was
adopted.

Journal.— Mr. Dent, M.P., reported that an apphca-
tion had been made by the Editor of the " Geological
Magazine" for the loan of the stone from which the geo-
logical map of Belgium, in the last number of the Journal,
had been printed ; and that the committee recommended
that this application be granted on payment of the neces-
sary expenses, with the proviso that due acknowledgment
be made of the source whence the map was derived. This
report having been adopted, and the committee having an-
nounced that the February number of the Journal had
been published and delivered to members in the middle of
the month, Lord Vernon expressed his regret that the
article on cheese factories had not been published earlier,
so as to have assisted the dairy formers of Derbyshire by
the information which it contains, in their endeavour to
establish cheese factories in England.

Farm Prizes.— The committee recommended that
Mr. Keary, of Bridgnorth, Salop ; Mr. Gibbons, of Burn-
foot, Cumberland ; Mr. Torr, of Aylesby, Linconshire,
be appointed the judges to adjudicate on the prizes off'ercd
by ?;Ir. ]\Iason, late High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, and by
the Society, for the two best managed farms in the district
round Oxford, to compete for which 22 farms had been
entered. It was also recommended that the first inspec-
tion should commence as soon as possible, and that M\\
Keary be requested to viritQ the report of the Judges,
This rej[)ort was adopted.

310

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

Chemical.— Mr. Wells, M.P. (Chairman), drew
attention to the following analyses of bone manures, which
had been submitted to the committee by the consulting
chemist in his usual quarterly report : —

I. Composition of a sample of so-called bone manure, sent
by Mr. S. Bacon, jun., Ratcliffe Culey, Atherstone.

Water 30.19

*Orgamc matter 21.61

f Mono-basic phosphate of lime 74-

Free sulphuric acid , 3.78

Oxide of iron and alumina ... ... ... ... .69

Sulphate of lime (gypsum) 47.67

Magnesia and alkaline salts 78

Insoluble siUceous matter ,. 4.54

100.00

*Containiug nitrogen ... ,., ... ... 1.11

Equal to ammonia ... ... ... ... ,,, 1.34

f Equal to bone-phosphate rendered soluble ... 1.17

It wiU be noticed that this example of so-called bone manure
coutained only 1 per cent, of phosphate of lime, and 1 per cent,
of nitrogen. It contained 20 per cent, of water, and consisted
mainly of gypsum and some cheap organic refuse, impregnated
with sulphuric acid, and is not worth more 30s. to 35s. per ton
as a manure.

Mr. Bacon informs me that he bought the manure from a
Mr. Ralph Potts at £4 10s. per ton, and invoiced at £4, and
that it was guaranteed to be bone manure, prepared by Mr.
George Birch, manufacturer of all kinds of bone and special
manures for every crop, Woodcock Street Works, No. 1, He-
neage Street, Birmingham.

II. A second sample of bone-dust was sent for analysis by
Mr. J. Borlase Tibbets, Barton Seagrave, Kettering, who bought
it at £7 7s. from Messrs. Ellis and Everard, Leicester, as J inch
bones.

The following is the composition of tliis bone-dust : —

Moisture 9.94

*Organic matter ... ... ,., ... 7.7'i

Tribasic phosphate of lime 40.19

Carbonate of Ume 17.66

Oxide of iron and alumina, magnesia, &c. ... 6.35

Insoluble siliceous matter (sand) 18.23

100.00

*Contaimng nitrogen ... ,,, ,,, ,66
Equal to ammonia 80

It will be noticed tliat these bones were very poor in nitro-
genous organic matter, and contaminated witli a good deal of
carbonate of Ume and fine sand. Their real value does not
exceed £5 per ton.

III. The following is the analysis of another sample of bone-
dust sent to me by Mr. E. D. Broughton, Wislaston Hall,
Nantwich, who bought it from Messrs. Bradburn and Co., of
Wednesfield, near Wolverliampton, through Mr. Thos. Wit-
tingham, their agent at Nantwich, at £7 per ton :

Moisture 13.52

^Organic matter 22!o3

Phosphate of lime 41.49

Sulphate of lime 13.75

Carbonate of lime 2.42

Alkaline salts and magnesia 3.47

Sand 3^32

100,00

^Containing nitrogen 2.71

Equal to ammonia 3.29

Genuine bone-dust contains about 48 per cent, of phosphate
ot liiue and yields about 4| per cent, of ammonia, and no ap-
preciabk amount of sulphate of lime. Good bone-dust at
present, I believe, cannot be bought for less than £8 8s. per

■'J; 1 ^.'je^oone-dust sent to me by Mr. Broughton was mixed
with boiled bones, to which frequently sulphuric acid is added
lor the purpose oi arresting decomposition.

The committee recommended that the foregoing reports

be published in the minutes of the Council meeting. They
also recommended that the usual annual grants for expe-
riments be awarded to Dr. Voelcker. This report was
adopted.

Veterinary. — Major-General Viscount Bridport
(Chairman) reported that, in the opinion of the committee,
the portion of the grant to the Royal Veterinary College
(£50), which, by the resolutions of 1862, was to be
appropriated for researches into the diseases of cattle,
sheep, and pigs, has not hitherto been sufficiently set
apart for that purpose. They therefore recommend that
for the future the annual veterinary grant of £200 be
divided under two heads : (1) That £150 shall be paid to
the Royal Veterinary College for the general advancement
of veterinary science in reference to cattle, sheep, and
pigs, as heretofore ; and (2) That £50 be retained under
the control of the Council for the purpose of being applied
to experiments on the diseases of cattle, sheep, and pigs.
They further recommend, that in consideration of the
general grant from the Sooiety the Governors of the Royal
Veterinary College shall undertake that the Professor of
Cattle Pathology shall carry out such experiments at the
College as the Council shall require, the costnot to exceed
the above-named amount ; that the result be communi-
cated to the Council immediately on the conclusion of the
experiments ; and that a detailed account of the expendi-
ture of the £50 shall be furnished each year with the
anaual report. This report was adopted.

General Oxford. — Lord Walsingham reported the
recommendation of the Committee that advertisements
be issued inviting tenders for the supply of refreshments
to the showyard at Oxford. This report was adopted.

It was moved by Col. Challoner, seconded by Lord
Walsingham, and carried unanimously, after some cou-
versation respecting the exceptional nature of the circum-
stances wliich led to the proposition :

" That a sum of £500 be given to the Manchester Local
Committee, in aid of the extra and exceptional expense occa-
sioned by the compensation awarded to the tenant of the trial
ground."

Col. Kingscote, C.B., M.P., having called attention to
the incomplete state of the Society's library, suggested
the desirability of a grant of money for the purpose of
bringing its contents up to the present time, and of an
annual grant for the purchase of books from time to time
being placed at the disposal of the Journal Committee.
Lord Walsingham thereupon drew attention to the ab-
sence of accommodation for a large library in the So-
ciety's house, and Lord Bridport suggested the de-
sirability of building a reading-room. Ultimately, at the
instance of Mr. Torr, supported by Colonel Kingscote,
the whole question was referred to a joint committee, to
consist of the House and Journal Committees.

It was moved by Mr. Jacob Wilson, seconded by Lord
Chesham, and supported by Mr- IMilward :

" That the committee for the recommeudatiou of judges be
appointed at the March Council, that this committee shall sit
in April, and that the absolute appointment of judges shall
take place at the May Council."

This resolution having been carried unanimously, a com-
mittee was appointed for the selection of judges, consisting
of the Implement and Stock Prizes Committees.

My. Torr gave notice that at the next monthly
Council he should move " that judges of live stock be
provided with catalogues in the same manner as judges of
implements now are."

It was proposed by Mv. Milward, seconded by Mr.
Torr, and carried unanimously, that Mr. W. J. Edmonds,
of Southrop, Lechlade, be nominated as steward elect of
implements.

A letter fi-oui Messrs. Holt and Glazier, on the utili-
sation of town sewage, was referred to the Journal Com-
mittee,

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

311

THE USE AND ABUSE OF TOWN SEWAGE.

At a weekly meeting of the Society of Arts, Mr. William
Hope, V.C, read a paper on this subject. He said :

When a man reads a paper on sewage, he generally thinks
it necessary to commence with the camp regnlations issued by
Moses in the AVilderuess, just as — with equal justice — old-
fashioned books on gunpowder always began with an account of
the imaginary invention of gunnery by Roger Bacon and
Scliwartz. Moses did not invent sewage. It is quite clear
that the " Sewage Question" must have begun long before his
day, and, in fact, must have first cropped up in the Garden of
Eden itself. This is, perhaps, a somewhat prosaic view to
take of Paradise ; but the practical man is necessarily prosaic,
and a careful investigation of tliis question dispels many pre-
judices and many illusions, and forces one to admit that, as
Adam received a special permission to " eat freely" of every
fruit in the garden except one, he must, as a physiological ne-
cessity, have been perplexed by the very same question which
we are met here, some six thousand years later, to discuss.
But no candid man, who is not committed to some sewage-
precipitation or earth-closet heresy, can doubt that Adam
utilised his sewage and grew his vegetables in the Garden oi
Eden by means of the same system of irrigation that I prac
tise myself. I do not propose, therefore, to adduce anj
further proof of the antiquity of sewage irrigation, hut rather
to confine myself to the agricultural and economical desira-
bility of its practice at the present day. As, however, no man
can conveniently preach a sermon without a text, I will, if
you will allow me, read, as texts, two short extracts from the
Times newspaper. The first is taken from the Times of the
7th day of January last, and occurs in the letter of the
Special Correspondent in Egypt. It is as follows : " The
other day, at Sakhara, I saw nine camels passing down from
the mummy pits to the banks of the river, laden witli nets in
which were femora, tibia, and other bony bits of the human
form, some two hundred-weight in each net, on each side
of the camel. Among the pits were people busily engaged
in searching out, sifting, and sorting the bones which almost
crust the ground. On inquiry, I learnt that the cargoes with
which the camels were laden, would be sent down to Alexan-
dria, and thence be shipped to English manure manufacturers.
They make excellent manure, I was told, particularly for
swedes and other turnips. The trade is brisk, and has been
going on for years, and may go on for many more." The
second text is taken from the Ti?nes of Thursday, the 10th
instant, and is as follows : " According to returns furnished
by the engineers of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the
daily average quantity of sewage pumped into the river
Thames, at Crossness, was 214,973 cubic metres, and at Bark-
ing, 157,091 cubic metres, equivalent to about as many tons
by weight." Truly these two texts teach a startling lesson,
and the modern philosopher may say with Shakespeare's philo-
sophic Duke, that he

" Einds books in the running brooks."

To be ground into powder, or dissolved in sulphuric acid, as
manure, to grow turnips, with which to fatten oxen for an un-
born race of sacrilegious beefeaters, wo'ild probably have been
considered by Pharaoh and his haughty captains a far greater
indignity than to be swallowed up by the Red Sea.

" To what base uses we may return, Horatio !"

Probably no one would be found now to assert, as Liebig did,
when he wrote his celebrated letters to the Lord Mayor in
opposition to my proposals for utilising the sewage of London,
north of the Thames, that no land plant could come to matu-
rity, if grown in a medium of insoluble silica, and manured
with liquid manure only. The proofs since obtained of the
soundness of the principles I then advocated have been so
overwhelming, that not even their most obstructive opponents
any longer attempt to deny that liquid sewage, in its normal
state, has a great and a practical value. By the admission,
therefore, of even the most sceptical, the " running brooks,
or rather small rivers, described above in the second extract

from the Times, as being injected into the Thames at Barking
and Crossness daily, represent so much hard money wasted.
Add to this the interest, at 3| per cent, on the five millions
laid out in the injecting apparatus, together with the tremen-
dous annual expense of working it, and it must be confessed
that this arrangement is the most extravagantly wasteful of
which history furnishes any record. We profess to be a hard-
headed practical people, and yet, whilst we ransack every other
corner of the globe for animal refuse and remains with which
to enrich our land, we go to an enormous expense to throw
away the quotidian supply with which nature provides us at
home — and this with a constantly increasing surplus of popu-
lation and deficiency of food staring us in the face. This
flagrant defiance of those very principles of political economy
which we all profess to be guided by, is probably one of the
chief causes of that ilood of pauperism which all the machinery
of government, even when m the most earnest and energetic
hands, seems quite unable to stem. To remedy this state of
things I have now laboured actively, and, I hope, practically,
for nearly nine years. During this time I have become pain-
fully aware of tiie apathy with which this subject is regarded
by most people, but I was not aware until lately how little
the subject was understood. I had studied it so much myself
that I forgot that others had not. Many still talk as if there
were some room for doubt as to the value inherent in sewage.
But this is susceptible of exact determination, and can be de-
monstrated as conclusively as a mathematical problem. It is
a fact in chemistry that every human being, at a given age,
produces yearly a certain average amount of ammonia, phos-
plioric acid, &c. Further observations are still required to
enable us to fix the extreme limit of these produc-
tions, but existing knowledge enables us to fix a
minimum value, below which, under any ordinary conditions,
they cannot fall. There is an unknown, because a variable
quantity in the margin of soapsuds, kitchen waste, liquid
manure from stables, offal from slaughter-houses, street-wash-
ings, and many other matters which find their way into the
sewers. But this is a margin which has to be added, not de-
ducted, and therefore does not affect the minimum, hut only
the maximum, possible cost of the waste now going on in
London and most other towns. Many of the most eminent
chemists have conducted lengthened observations and experi-
ments from many difi'erent points of view, in order to deter-
mine the value of the manurial constituents of this refuse.
Anderson, Berzelius, Franklaud, Gilbert, Hofmaun, Lawes,
Letheby, Liebig, Miller, Odling, Thudichum, Voelcker, Way,
Wesarg, and Witt, are only a few of those who have investi-
gated this part of the subject ; and, not to weary you with
technical details, I may mention that, as the result of au
immense amount of work, a rough formula has been pretty
well agreed upon among chemists, that the total value of all
the constituents of sewage is about one farthing per ton of the
liquid for every grain of ammonia per gallon, because it has
been found that the value of the other constituents taken to-
gether is about one-third of that of the ammonia. Hence the
important point in practice is to determine the quantity of
ammonia, which gives the unit of value, and the engineer
must then come to the aid of the chemist, and furnish him
with the total number of tons of sewage in the year, witli
which to multiply his unit. Probably, if this unit were ascer-
tained during one month in winter, and during another in
summer, or during one month in spring or autumn, a suffi-
ciently accurate result would be ariived at for most practical
purposes ; but it is evident that complete scientific accuracy
could only be attained by analyses extending over several years.
It was, therefore, a great disappointment to many besides
myself, when a series of samplirgs and gaugings, intended to
be exhaustive, of the sewage of the high and middle level
sewers of London, which, at the suggestion of Mr. Way, I
had caused to be commenced in 1865, before the formation of
the Metropolis Sewage Company, were summarily stopped by
the company: The results obtained were nevertheless, very
instructive and reliable, Tiie samples were taken every half-

y 2

312

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

liour, night auJ day coutinuously, for a period of 203 days ;
they were mixed together at regular intervals, and repeated

1 _ .1_ v.. nt_ TV.,,- „„,1 n. f^^K.w, 'IM.o ...„„lf

was, to show an average of about 8 grains of ammouia to the
gallon of dry weather sewage, and the following tables show

analyses were made by Mr. Way and Dr. Odliug. The result the (iuantities passing the station during that period, the first

METROPOLITAN HIGH AND MIDDLE LEVEL SEWERS.
Fine Weathee Sewage Flow from 19tii March to 7tu October, 1865 (ixclu.sive). — Wick.i,a:se, Old Ford.

.Sundays

Mondays

Tuesdays . .
Wednesdays
Thursdays ..

Fridays

Saturdays . .

No. of

days.

24

24
25
20

22
24

Gallons.

Average per day,
iu gallons.

442,628,000
669,057,000
708,335,000
754,949,000
589,757,000
556,453,000
766,632,000

17,705,000
27,877,000
29,514,000
30,197,000
29,487,000
25,293,000
31,943,000

Daily average for fine

weather,

27,431,000 gallons.

Flow of Sewage from 19th March to 7th October, 1865 (i>clusive). — Wick-lane, Old Ford.

|No. of
days.

High level.

Mi'^'"«">- "rd'dfite'

Average for each
day.

Flow increased by
rain.

Sundays

gallons.
29 I 208,484,000
29 1 3,S+82fi00n

gallons.
350,032,000
569,521,000
634,942,000
675,067,000
713,244,000
739,872,000
619,204,000

gallons.

558,516,000

904,347,000

992,691,000

1,058,968,000

1,118,308,000

1,163,616,000

960,892,000

gallons.
19,259,000
31,184,000
34,230,000
36,516,000
38,562,000
40,124,000
33,134,000

Four days.
Five days.

Tuesdays

Wednesdays

Thursdays

Fridays

Saturdays

29
29
29
29
29

357,749,000
383,901,000
405,064,000
423,744,000
341,688,000

Five days.
Four days.
Nine days.
Seven days.
Five days.

Totals

203 2,455,456,000

)

4,301,882,000 6,757,538,000 !

Average flow per day during the above period, 33,288,000 gallons.

showing the dry weather only, the second showing the total.
Unfortunately, there is considerable doubt as to the population
represented by this flow, and there are also one or two dis-
turbing causes to be taken into account wliose magnitude
cannot be defined ; but this is certainly a higher per-centage
of ammonia, and, therefore, a more favourable analysis than
previous observations led one to expect, and it must be re-
membered that, when the low level sewer is completed, an
analysis of its contents may be expected to show a very per-
ceptibly higher per-centage of ammouia, owing to the denser
population, and the great throng of business men of all classes
in the lower parts of the metropolis during the day, many of
whom represent a temporary addition to even the total popula-
tion estimated for, as they reside beyond the metropolitan
boundary altogether. Now, the estimated " dry weather"
sewage of Loudon north of the Thames is 120,000,000
tons per annum, while that portion of the rainfall which
does not escape into the Thames and Lee higher up by j
the " storm overflows," but reaches Barkiug, can hardly I
be less than another sixty to eighty millions of tons. It [
appears impossible, therefore, to place the raanurial value of
the stream with which, at a cost of £100,000 or £150,000 |
a-year, the Thames is polluted at Barking at less than
£1,000,000 per annum, equal to about 8s. 8d. per head of the !
population. And this we may take as a pretty near approach j
to the unit of value in estimating the yearly worth of the j
sewage of a given population. The amount of water in wliich
this is conveyed can only affect in a very minor degree its i
value as a manure. This should therefore he reckoned per |
head of the population, irrespective of the water supply. To !
regard this chemical value as the practical value of the
manure if applied to the land, was stated in a scientific journal
the other day, by au eminent chemist, to be a great mistake,
and likely to prove a very ruinous one. In the mouth of a
chemist who, in the ordinary routine of his daily business, is
perpetually called upon to put a practical money- value, by
means of chemical analysis, upou all kinds of artificial ma-
nures, this is indeed a strauge paradox, aud I was at first
considerably puzzled by it, but the key to the paradox was in
<he reasons he gave for the statement. In considering so very
wide a question, he had been led, by the fasginating processor

deduction, to travel beyond the sphere of his own personal
knowledge, and so had fallen iuto a very natural mistake. One
distinguishing peculiarity of sewage as a manure is the ease
and convenience with which it can be applied to growing
crops. This is, of course, an enormous practical advantage.
Instead of waiting until the laud had been manured between
two crops, it may at once be ploughed up, and another crop
put in — a saving of time which will frequently pay the
farmer's rent for him. It is only natural that this peculiarity
should he widely taken advantage of; hence sewage is more
frequently applied to growing crops than to fallow land. The
chemist alluded to had probably always seen it so applied, and
regarded it solely from that point of view. Consequently, he
said that the obligation of applying water to crops at all times
of the year, whether they required it or not, would be so
onerous to the farmer, that the practical value of the manure
contained in the water would be very largely reduced. This I
at once admit ; but I altogether deny that, where sewage irri-
gation is properly carried out, there exists any such obligation.
Iu spring and summer there are always some growing crops
which will benefit instead of suSering from the application of
the water in which the manure is conveyed ; it must be at
once admitted, therefore, that during half the year the farmer
must get the full chemical value of the sewage — aud something
more, for the power of watering his land whenever he pleases
has a very practical additional value. In the other half of the
year it is quite true that the water iu which it is contained
might often do as much harm to some plants as the manure
could do good. But why suppose that a shrewd practical
farmer is to be such a fool as to apply sewage to growing
crops under such conditions ? Clearly, he would turn it over
his meadows or fallow land. The vastly greater part of the
manure of all kinds throughout the country is applied pre-
cisely at that time of the year, aud to fallow land. It would
be obvious, therefore, to the very slowest bucolic intellect in
the country that this is the ])roper course to follow with
sewage, under the conditions stated. Of course where sewage
irrigation is uot properly carried out, and where the area of
the land irrigated does not bear a proper proportion to the
population manuring it, the full chemical value will not be
obtained, because the supply of food will be in excess of the

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

313

demand of the crops ; just as a market-gardening neighbour
of mine, who, last autumn, put 40 tons of the farm-yard
manure, 10 cwt. of guano, and 10 cwt. of bones per acre
on to one of iiis fields, will be disappointed with his re-
sults ; but the accidental topographical exigencies of particular
localities, and the accidental manurial eccentricities of par-
ticuhtr market-gardeners, are disturbing causes which in no
way require to he taken into account in such calculations.
Would my friend, the chemist, say that because ray neighbour
will most assuredly not get the full value of his guano and
bones, therefore any farmer who sends to his laboratory to
ascertain the practical money value of any particular manure
from its chemical analysis will be grievously misled ?
What would the chemist say if I assumed that farm-
yard manure could only be applied to growing crops,
and then asserted tiiat the damage done to the land and
crops in carting on the manure was so great that it
couuterbalanced the benefit conferred ? Surely no test of the
practical money value of any manure can be as conclusive and
reliable as au accurate analysis of its constituents. As a mat-
ter of actual practice, I am just about to sow 10 acres of
onions, which will not receive a drop of sewage while they
are growing, the land having been manured quite sulliciently
by irrigation while fallow. But in refutation of the fallacious
conclusion deduced from a partial view of the question, and
an imperfect knowledge of a branch of it which is not strictly
within the province of the chemist, I can fortunately adduce a
very high authority, namely, Dumas, who is not only one of
the greatest, perhaps the greatest of living chemists, but is a
man eminently distinguished for practical good sense. When
he paid his visit to this country, in the early part of last sum-
mer, to deliver the inaugural I'araday lecture, he gave up a
day to the inspection of the sewage irrigation at Barking and
of the Barkisg outfall, accompanied by the President of the
Chemical Society, and several other distinguished members of
the profession. He expressed himself as being as much
gratified by what he saw of the irrigation as he was shocked
by what he saw of the outfall, and he repeated several times
over " Oui, 1' eau doit etre la charrette de I'engrais," which
may be translated freely, " water is the best dung-cart." With
such an authority to support me in the " water-carriage "
system, I am not afraid of a little adverse criticism. There is
another objection which is sometimes urged to the utilization
of sewage by irrigation, although it is, perhaps, the most
groundless of all. I have heard it asserted that it was an
utter mistake to convey manure in water, because in the course
of a very short journey all the ammouia escaped by evapora-
tion. Such a fallacy is, of course, never advanced by a chemist,
as it is chemically impossible ; but it is worth a passing notice,
because it is clung to with such fond tenacity by some dog-
matical laymen. In the first place, in fresh sewage, there is
no ammonia present in a free state ; and when chemists talk
of the amount of ammonia in a gallon of sewage, they mean
the amount that can be chemically evolved by analysis. But
supposing an artificial ammouiacal li(iuor were sul)stituted for
sewage, and distributed over the fields by irrigation, and that
this liquor were really a solution of free ammonia, these dog-
matisers would still be mistaken, for water has a greater affinity
for ammonia than the atmosphere. If some ammonia is set
free at one end of a room, and a basin of water placed at the
other end, after a time all, or very nearly all, of the ammonia
may be recovered from the water. It is chemically impossible
therefore that, even to please the most dogmatic of sewage
heretics, the process can be inverted, unless the laws of nature
are suspended. Dumas would not recommend a leaking dung-
cart, and the ammonia is very securely imprisoned in the one
that he recommends. This being so, there is still, however,
the question whether some of those processes to which I have
alluded as "sewage-precipitation and earth-closet heresies " are
not cheaper and more effecual thau irrigation. In reply to
this question, I can only say that no other process which I
have ever been able to to hear of approaches irrigation, either
in economy or efticiency. 1 am quite prepared to admit that
some of the precipitation processes may, perhaps, be sufiiciently
practical for use in places where irrigation is impossible, if,
indeed, there are any such places ; hut the annual cost of the
best of them amounts to not less than 30 or 40 per cent, of
the total yearly value of the sewage, wliereas the annual cost
of irrigation works, properly carried out, would not, on
an average, exceed 10 to 13 per cent, of such value.

While quite ready to admit the possibility of some of
these processes proving practically efficient, I wish how-
ever, to guard myself against being supposed to approve
of any of them. It is evidently an operation of maxi-
mum difficulty, on a large scale, and at a cheap rate, to
extract the ammonia and phosphoric acid from the sewage in
a form sufiiciently insoluble to remain behind when the water
is driven oil', and yet sufficiently soluble to dissolve as soon as
put on the land as manure. As a chemist well said, in the
chemical section of the British Association, at the meeting at
Exeter, it is worse than if he were asked to extract a grain of
wheat from a sack of chaff— it is as if he were asked to ex-
tract a cell of yeast from a trough of dough. And I confess
that the advocates of the various precipitation processes, with
many of whom I have had repeated and lengthened interviews,
have always failed to inspire me with much confidence in then-
systems, lor I have invariably found that they were quite un-
able to answer any of the fundamental (i[uestions I put to
them, that they displayed an entire absence of exactness iu
their knowledge of their subject, lost themselves in vague
generalities, were unable to explain the chemical action which
tbey believed was set up by their own process, and invariably
believed that their patent manures had, in some mysterious
way, a fictitious value beyond that indicated by chemical ana-
lysis. At the same meeting of the British Association, I was
asked to join the committee appointed the previous year to
inquire into the " treatment and utilisation of town sewage,"
and, though avowedly a partisan of irrigation, I agreed to
join, because I knew I could bring some practical experience
to the aid of the committee ; just as an extreme ritualist and
an extreme evangelical were considered useful members of the
ritual commission. I at once proposed to enlarge the scope
of the inquiry and to increase the committee so as to include
a representative of each branch of physical science to which
any part of the entire question belongs. In order to procure
the funds necessary for so extended an inquiry, the committee
appealed to the various towns throughout the country for sub-
scriptions, and their application has met with a favourable
response from a large number of towns. It is their desire to
inquire into every process having a semblancr. of practicability,
and in this way, if any of these processes are indeed perfected,
the fact will be authoritatively ascertained. Sliould the com-
mittee continue iu existence for several years, and suificient
funds be available, it is indeed by no means impossible that
the combined researches of so many men, assisting one
another with their special knowledge, may throw considerable
light on the origin and nature of diseases, and on the much-
vexed question of protoplasm, or the physical basis of life.
Professor TyndaU's recent instructive experiment, following
those of Mr. Crookes, go far to confirm the views of those
who have devoted most time to the study of the spread of
infectious diseases, but there is still much to learn as to their
origin, while an attentive study of the organisms generated
by the fermentation and decomposition of sewage, as weU as
of the abnormal developments induced in some plants by
excessive stimulation witji liquid sewage, cannot fail to
reveal some further secrets of nature in that mysterious
neutral territory where the animal protoplasm (if indeed
this be an admissible terra for an unknown and undefined
principle) is for ever changing into the vegetable, and the
vegetable changing back again into the animal. But to re-
turn to the more immediate subject in hand, there is still a third
principle of sewage utilisation which is advocated very warmly
by many persons — I mean the earth system. This is no doubt
perfectly efiicient within certain limits, and I have myself ad-
vised its adoption in several cases where I thought the circum-
stances admitted of its successful application. So far as a
certain portion of sewage matter is concerned, there can be no
question as to its complete efficiency, and as even a clumsy at-
tempt to prevent waste is better than no attempt at all, 1 give
Mr. Moule the greatest credit for the persistency with which
he has warred against the present reign of waste ; but his sys-
tem is only that of Moses inverted. Moses told his country-
men to carry their sewage out of the camp and bury it in the
laud. Mr. Moule tells his countrymen first to carry the land
into the town to be mixed with the sewage, and then to cany
them both out to lie finally buried. In both cases the sewage
has to he carried out, but in the last the earth has to be car-
ried out as well, in addition to being previously carried in. I
think, therefore, that Moses was flic belter sanitary engineev

314

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the two ; and irrigation is only the plan of the earlier
engineer developed by modern appliances. Dumas said that
water is the best dung-cart. It is the best spade also, for it
buries the manure instantaneously, and is automatic in its
action. The dispensation of sewage by irrigation is therefore
strictly Mosaic. I liave said, however, that I have occasionally
approved of the use of Mr. Monle's system, and I should ex-
plain tiiat I limit such approval to cases where there is a de-
ficient water-supply, or where there is a rigid discipline, as in
workhouses'or barracks. Por the service of an ordinarv private
liouse, much more of a village or a town, I consider the system
utterly impracticable. Unless the amount of earth used in each
house were enormous, it would of course be impossible that the
soapsuds, kitchen refuse, and so forth, should be got rid of in
that maimer ; yet nothing is more otfensive in its decomposi-
tion than sucli stuff as this, although I am ready to admit that
it may not be so dangerous to health as sewage matter proper.
What, then, is to be done with this liquid ? If it is allowed to
go into the nearest river, the water will be hopelessly
polluted for the purposes of drinking and cooking. Some sys-
tem of precipitation or irrigation would, therefore, appear to
be necessary, for this part of the sewage at all events, and is
admitted to be so by Mr. Moule ; but what a complication
this admission implies. Supposing for a moment, however,
that all the expense of sewers had been gone to, as in the
ordinary water-carriage system, and that we were prepared to
consent to the nuisance of long strings of carts bringing fresh
earth into our towns, and longer strings of carts carrying away
the used earth and sewage, accompanied by their own peculiar
set of harpies, disturbing our families at unseemly hours, and
"making night hideous" by their uncouth sounds and im-
perious demands for beer, would the system even then work
for a single week without a hopeless breakdown ? I think
not, and I will give a very plain reason for my opinion. On
this system all the bedroom " slops" would have to be divided
into two kinds ; one, the bath water and soapsuds, to be
emptied down the sewers ; the other to be mixed with the
earth. This would necessitate a double set of slop pails, one
with a bright crimson " E" for earth, the other with a black
" S" for sewer. But how long does Mr. Moule imagine that
the ideal British housemaid would condescend to carry about
these two different pails, containing two different liquors for
disposal in two different receptacles ? I cannot claim any special
knowledge of the natural history of the housemaid, but I
greatly fear that )ier organisation is not yet sufficiently delicate
to enable her to appreciate tliis cloacinalogical refinement.
Surface irrigation is, in my judgment, both the simplest, the
most efficient, and tlie most economical means of disposing of
the miscellaneous waste and refuse from himian habitations.
The chance of anything going seriously wrong with the ar-
rangements for getting rid of this noxious matter are reduced
to a minimum, and the system is as beneficial to agriculture as
to health. Of course, irrigation maybe bungled just as any
other kind of farming or manufacture may be bungled. But
if the proportion of population to land is not excessive, and if
the land is properly laid out at first, there is no reasonable
probability of any sewage ever escaping into the stream unpu-
rified ; because, if it did, it would represent a loss of so much
manure which the farmer has to pay for ; therefore, it is his
mterest to apply it in such a way as to extract from it the
greatest possible amount of organic impurity, and, if possible,
to prevent Dr. Frankland fromfinding any traces of " previous
sewage contamination," even in the third place of decimals.
In point of fact, the sanitary and agricultural results will
always go hand-iu-hand ; and the better the one, the better
also will be the other. I do not yet go quite so far as my
friend. Dr. Alfred Carpenter, however, who considers that
sewage irrigation, by producing an abnormally rapid and
vigorous vegetation, promotes the rapid disengagement of
oxygen, in which he states that ozone is distinctly present.
ihis is a most encouraging theory for an advocate of sewage
irrigation, and, if he had been conducting his observations on
luy own land, I should probably have accepted Dr. Carpenter's
tneory, and started a hospital for diseases of the chest in the
middle of one of my sewage fields, guaranteeing to the patients
a certain number of irrigations in the month with genuine,
unadulterated sewage, as received direct from London or Rom-
lord, as the case might be. The suggestion has a very con-
siaerabie charm for a plain farmer; and I confess that I have
given up, with no little reluctance, the idea of a copropathic

establishment on my farm, where London beauties might come
out to recruit their wasted energies at the close of the season,
and, attired in a costume de circonsiance, witli coquettish jack-
boots, would perhaps at times listen to a lecture on agriculture
from the farmer himself, while drinking his cream and luxu-
riating in the health-restoring breeze. But, as I said before,
I am a plain farmer, and I felt instinctively that this was too
pretty a picture to be realised on this earth ; and then I re-
member that, however faultless I might consider my own irri-
gation to be, yet that I did not approve of the method in
which it is carried out at Croydon, where the proportion of
population to land is so excessive that it is chemically impos-
sible for the crops to exhaust the organic matter continuously
supplied to them, and that, therefore, there must be a danger-
ous accumulation or escape of impurity somewhere. I also
reflected that at least one of the effects observed by Dr. Car-
penter, and attributed by him to the action of pure oxygen,
might just as well have been produced by ammonia or by
moisture and carbonic acid, and I resolved to postpone the
building of the hospital, so as to allow time for further obser-
vations. The first thing that the authorities of a town ought
to consider, in purchasing land on which to utilise their
sewage by irrigation, is whether their population is an
increasing or a stationary one. If the former, they
ought to secure as much as one acre for every 20 or 25 per-
sons ; and, if the latter, not less than one acre to every 40 or
45 persons, for this latter proportion represents as much
sewage as land can either utilise or purify over a term of
years. The land chosen should, if possible, be a light loam,
because this is more easily cultivated, and better suited to the
rapid growth of market-garden vegetables, not from its che-
mical composition— for with plenty of sewage this may be dis-
regarded altogether — but from its physical condition, which
admits of the delicate roots of young plants striking out more
rapidly. The laud chosen should, if possible, either be flat,
or should consist of wide gentle slopes. Frequent and rapid
slopes should, where practicable, be avoided. I have, on a
former occasion, pointed out that the utilisation of sewage by
irrigation, to be properly understood, must be divided into
three parts, each of which must be considered separately ; and
it is useful to keep these distinctly in view. They are : — 1st.
Conveyance from the town to the country. 2nd. Distribu-
tion among the different farms or fields in the district to be ir-
rigated. 3rd. Application to the soil or crops. The first is
the province of the engineer, the second of the surveyor, and
third of the chemist and farmer. With regard to the first, I
will only say that I greatly prefer concrete, as now used so much
in France, to either brickwork or earthenware pipes. Well
made, it is absolutely water-tight and practically imperishable,
two advantages which cannot be overrated. However, on
this point I will not further enlarge, as I am already regarded
by the engineers as a heretic, my doxy being different from
their do.xy. The second division of the question, or distribu-
tion, is one which presents very considerable difficulty. The
expense of iron pipes is prohibitory, earthenware pipes are
always going wrong, while earth ditches raised any height on
embankment are very wasteful of ground, as their bases spread
out to such a width. Wooden troughs have been used in
some places where the sewage is required to be raised some
height above the ground, but their perishable character
renders them inadmissible. The only thing left to try was
sheet iron troughs, and these are perfectly successful, and very
convenient and cheap. The best form for strength and capa-
city, combined with convenience of working with sluices and
openings, is what you see here. It has straight sides, which
act as girders to carry the weight of the liquid, with flanges
at the top to give lateral stiffness, and the bottom may either
be semicircular, or flat, with rounded corners. Each form
presents some advantages. Sheet-iron trcmghs of this size can
be erected on legs of, say four feet from the ground, painted
and finished for 6s. 8d. per yard forward, or fitted with these
very ingenious openings, the invention of Mr. Edwin Maw, at
every 10 yards, for 7s. 2d. per yard forward, completed in all
respects. For efficiency, durability, and economy, nothing
can approach troughs of this description, and they will distri-
bute sewage over land reasonably well adapted for it, but
where the levels will not admit of the use of earth ditches, at
a cost of from £5 to £10 per acre. Yet I was recently
shown a letter from a disconsolate mayor of a town not far
from London, addressed to the president of the Institution of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

315

Surveyors, in which he told the following piteous tale : Un-
der the strong pressure of the Court of Chancery, his town
had been compelled to cease poisoning their neighbours,
had purchased 50 acres of land, had conveyed their sewage to
the land, which he said was well situated for its reception,
and in an evil hour they applied to a certain eminent engineer,
who fancied himself a great agriculturist, to lay out their little
bit of land for them. This gentleman positively sent them in
an estimate for this little job amounting to the astounding
figure of £5,000. Now, this is a fact ; I saw the letter in the
mayor's own handwriting. The third division, or the appli-
cation of the sewage to the soil and crops, is a very simple
process. The farm to be laid out having been carefully sur-
veyed, the levels accurately taken, and the general scheme of
the distribution settled upon by the surveyor, the lines of the
main distributing channels should be marked on the map, being
taken as much at right angles to each other as possible. Then
the intervening spaces should be divided into " beds " or
" lands " about 30 feet wide, and from 100 to 300 or 400
yards in length, according to the fall of the land, and handed
over to the farmer. Then he should obiterate the marks of
the old cultivation by a little shallow plouglring and cross-
harrowing, when one deep ploughing will often suffice to throw
up the land into ridges, as marked on the map by the sur-
veyor. The irrigating channels are then taken out by plough
or hand along the ridges. As I am not addressing agricul-
turists, I do not propose to trouble you with the details of the
cropping ; I wiU merely say that, with the allowance of sewage
per acre I have indicated, the farmer or market-gardener wiU
get far liner crops than with any other kind of manure, because,
being already in solution, the manure can be more rapidly
assimilated by the plants, and in larger quantities. As to the
price that should be paid for the sewage, I have indicated what
is its bond fide value, but it is evident that the actual price
obtained by the town must, like every similar transaction, be a
matter of bargain, into which many local circumstances may
enter slightly to increase or diminish the figure agreed upon,
and it must also depend of course on whether the town has
paid for the conveyance of the sewage, or whether the pur-
chasers have done this. Surely this little occurrence men-
tioned above, of the £5,000 estimate is, however, a bitter
satire upon the relations at present subsisting between the
central government and the local authorities. In the pro-
vincial papers there are perpetually to be seen eloquent and
heartrending cries for help from perplexed vestrymen, who see
Scylla, in the form of the Court of Chancery, on one side of
them, and Charybdis, in the shape of the engineer, with his
hundred pounds' worth an acre of gimcracks, on the other.
What are the poor people to do ? They have duly polluted
their river according to one Act of Parliament, and in many
cases under considerable pressure from the Home Office ; and
now the Court of Chancery steps in and says that they must
take their sewage out again, in accordance with another Act
of Parliament, and they get neither pity nor assistance from
the Home Office. This state of things had become so intoler-
able and anomalous that, a year ago, with a great flourish of
trumpets, a " Royal Sanatary Commission " was appointed
specially to devise a remedy. Many a despondent member of
a local board has looked forward with the eye of expectant
faith to the way of escape, to be indicated by the report of that
august body, from the terrors of the Court of Chancery. To
publish such glad tidings to trembling vestrymen was the final
cause which brought the commission into existence, yet the
president stated in the House of Commons, on the evening of
Tuesday, the 15th instant, according to the Times report,
" that scientific inquiry as to the best modes of carrying out
various sanitary works they (the commission) postpone for the
present, and entertain doubts whether public opinion is yet ripe
for legislative prescription in such detail." That is to say they
doubt the necessity for their own existence. But nevertheless
we were informed on the same occasion that they were about
to recommend a " plan of complete sanitary administra-
tion for all England and Wales, except the metropolis."
The metropohs is no man's land, and therefore is left out, as
a matter of course ; but, in the present instance, the inhabi-
tants of the metropolis may have reason to congratulate
themselves on this strange exception, for what a terrible fate
it will he for the other towns to be included in a " plan of
complete sanitary administration," confessedly framed in au
entire and absolute ignorance of all " sanitary works," This

is tentative legislation with a vengeance. What would be
thought of a doctor who physicked his patient first and in-
quired into his symptoms afterwards ? The Royal Sanitary
Commission consider that public opinion is not yet ripe for
inquiry, but that it is ripe for legislation. How a body of men,
who are so sane individually, can be so insane collectively, is a
psychological paradox that I will leave to the metaphysician ;
but it is quite clear that nothing but a vigorous expression of
public opinion in an opposite sense can drive such a delusion
out of their minds. Now it has occurred to me that, as the
present Home Secretary was such an active member of the
Committee of this Society on Eood, the Society might usefully
draw his attention — first, to the delusion under which the
Sanitary Commission are suffering ; secondary, to the great
hardship of the position of these poor little country towns,
floundering along in the dark ; and, thirdly, to the enormous
waste going on at present throughout the country of a manure
which ought to be turned into food, and which represents, on
the very lowest possible computation, four hundred millions of
quartern loaves of bread, or their equivalent, in some other
kind of food, lost to the country every year. To utilize this
manure would provide work for very many hands now idle, and
would provide food for more than five times the total number
of paupers in the three kingdoms. As a case in point, the
Romford sewage farm, which is now in my occupation, for-
merly provided work, so I have been informed, for three horses,
two men, and a boy, with a little extra labour once a-year.
But the increased production obtained from land under sewage
necessitates increased labour, and I have already got thirteen
horses upon it, a dozen men, and shall very shortly have to
increase the number of horses, and to more than
double the number of hands, while the production
of food will be augmented in a still greater ratio.
The utilization of sewage is, then, the true statesman-
like remedy for the evil of pauperism. It would, so
far as it is acted, be a radical cure, whereas emigration, so
far as it acts, is only a Malthusian palliative. The one is
creative — the other destructive. The one reproductive — the
other exhaustive. The one increases the national wealth, di-
rectly and with certainty ; the other decreases the national
wealth, directly and with certainty, while it only offers a con-
tingent prospect of an indirect benefit through possible future
trade. Surely, this is a question which is even more impera-
tively urgent than the Irish land question, yet Government
neglects it, or it is relegated to subordinate officials who have
no power of initiation, and session after session passes, and
nothing is done. Things drift on from bad to worse, the waste
increases, the pollution of rivers increases, and pauperism in-
creases, but the subject is dull, unattractive, by no means sen-
sational, not altogether quite " proper," cannot be made a
" cry" of, and so is voted a bore and shelved, and is not
allowed by our politicians to come " betwixt the wind and their ,
nobility." But there are some things which cannot and will
not be shelved, because they are " irrepressible" — the negro
was one, the pauper is another, and the sewage is a third.
There is a Nemesis for the punishment of all waste and all
reckless extravagance ; and even if we ship off all our present
crop of paupers, yet, if we continue to waste our sewage, in
another 25 years, when all the guano islands and mummy pits
are exhausted, another crop of paupers will have sprung up,
and there will be less to feed them with than ever. If Mr.
Gladstone will spend a day on my farm, as Dumas did, he will
find that the waste of sewage is the reason why — in the words
of his great speech on the Irish Land Bill — " we have not yet
solved the problem, or got to the heart of the secret of how to
relieve the destitution which is so rife among us." If his
attention can only be attracted to this subject, the waste
will be stopped ; and if tliis Society can attract his attention
to it, they vsdll confer on the nation a great and a lasting
benefit.

Mr. Baldwin Latham said he fully agreed with many of
the views put forward by Mr. Hope, though he differed with
him ou some points. With regard to the general question
of the utilisation of sewage, there could be no doubt of its
being oue of the most important of the present day, particu-
larly when looked at in reference to the general condition of
the water-courses of this country, and to the enormous waste
of fertilising matter which was going on in every direction
under the present sewage system, and, therefore, any sugges-
tions made by Mr, Hope, and gentlemen of his class, would

316

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

be eagerly welcomed, he believed, by members of the engineer-
ing profession. He differed with Mr. Hope, however, not
as to the Vcalue of sewage matter, but as to the mode iu which
it should be applied to laud, for he believed that by the system
advocated in the paper it was quite possible to apply sewage to
land, and yet to speedily exhaust the most fertile fields. It
was quite clear that if uo manure were applied, the land would
sooner or later become impoverished, and it was e([ually clear
that even if sufficieutly manured it would equally become
exhausted, although the process would take longer ; and he was
convinced that by applying only the limited quantity re-
comnicnded by Mr. Hope sooner or later tiiere would be
a failure. Taking an analysis of the llugby sewage, which
had been well ascertained, he found that its component parts
represented for every 100 parts of nitrogen 37 of phosphoric
acid and 4:2 of potash. It was, therefore, luanifest that sew-
age was a manure poor iu phosphoric acid and in potash, and
conseijueutly if sufficient were supplied to grow a good crop,
it would be necessary to apply such a quantity as afforded the
requisite supply of the poorest element. It was, therefore,
impossible to get the full value out of the sewage without ex-
hausting tlie fields, unless a sufficient volume were supplied.
Very careful experiments had been made for the purpose ot
determining the proper quantity, and lie believed that an acre
of laud ought to receive the sewage from 100 persons. And
it must be borne in mind that, although particular crops would
not require the whole of this, yet no loss would occur, because
the affinity of soils for fertilising matter was such that nature
would not allow the surplus to be wasted, but woidd store it
up for future requirements. From an experiment of Liebig in
a field near Munich, not of very great power of assimilating
fertilising matter, it appeared that a stratum of soil, only four
iuches in depth, would absorb 2,076 lbs. of ammonia, 1,110
of potash, and 1,888 of phosphoric acid per acre ; and if a
crop of Italian rye grass were grown upon such laud — that
being the largest crop wiiich could be grown — there would
still remain behind much fertilising matter, which would re-
main stored up there for nine years before it passed away.
But, in addition to that, Italian rye grass was a plant which
died out iu a limited number of years, and, therefore, it be-
came necessary to substitute other crops, which would utilise
the remaining valuai)le constituents, and thus no waste would
occur. Mr. Hope also said that sewage contained matter in
solution ; but there could be uo greater mistake. In dry
weather sewers frequently brought down a large quantity of
fwcal matter in a solid state, and if that were put on the land,
it would not only be destructive to vegetation, but would
create an intolerable nuisance. It was therefore necessary
that these solid matters, which were held iu suspension, not iu
solution, should be removed before the sewage was applied in
irrigation. Ilel'ereuce had been made to Croydon, and fault
had been found with the quantity of sewage matter which
was there applied to the land per acre ; but it must not be
forgotten that, Croydon being almost the first town to adopt
(his system, and that not with a view to realise a profit, but
really to get out of the clutches of the Vice-Chancellor, it
could not be expected that the most perfect arrangements
would be adopted all at once ; and as soon as the present eon-
tract was terminated, a different course would be pursued, for
he had already been instructed by the Local Board to procure
a much larger area of land upon which the sewage might be
deposited ; in fact, it would be about four times the area at
present in use for that purpose. Croydon had borne the
burden aud heat of the day in this matter ; and therefore he
did not think reflections should be thrown out at her expense,
without knowing what her present intentions were, for she
was just as ready to go forward now as she was eight or nine
years ago. He was sorry to say that much discredit had been
thrown upon this system of sewage irrigation by the analyses
put forward by Dr. Voelcker, to show how utterly impossible
it was to purify a chemical solution when presented in a di-
luted form to the land. These results had been published in
one of the agricultuial journals; aud he was sure that when
the error which must have occurred in the experiments was
5Soitttcd out, he would repeat them. As he was possibly the
tmgiueer pointed at in the paper, knowing pretty well what
works were alluded to, he might say that the estimate of
£;),000 included not only laying out aud enclosing 70 acres
of land, but the cost of construction of the whole outfall
iTorks, the filtering works, and all the apparatus for inter-

cepting the solid matter. In the whole of the irrigation
works which he had in hand, and he was now laying out
upwards of 400,000 acres in England and on the Continent,
the cost would not exceed £10 per acre for all purposes.

Mr. II. Rawlinson, C.B., said he knew Mr. Hope would
not wish an erroneous statement to go forth, and therefore he
might correct one observation in the paper by saying that the
Sanitary Commission was not appointed for any executive
purposes, as would be evident upon looking to the members
composing it. It was simply a Commission appointed to
inquire into aud consolidate the present sanitary laws, one Act
having been passed after another until confusion had become
worse confounded. The chairman was Sir Charles Adderly,
aud he tiiought that fact was sufficieut to justify his remark
that the Commission did not intend to touch on the scientific
part of the subject, and he hoped that as long as he lived, no
Commission m this country would undertake to deal with
such matters, so as to make teachiug a Government depart-
ment, as was the case on the Continent. Indeed, he feared
they were already going a little too far in the appointment of
inspectors ; but he hoped they would not at any rate begin to
teach English eugkieers how to lay out a sewage farm so as to
make the most of it. With regard to the practical part of the
question, there were other differences than those mentioned
by Mr. Hope. There were diflerences of position in many
cases, and he differed with him as to the kind of land most
appropriate for tlie application of sewage, being of opinion
(having had some experience in the matter) that the most
diOBcult land to irrigate would be a large area of comparatively
flat land. He believed the most favourable was that having a
limited contour elevation, and he should not even object to
rather steep gradients in some instances, provided that the
sewage at the coramenceuient was suflicieut for gravity, even
if they had to go to some expense for pumping. His reason
was this, that iu irrigating land haviug a considerable fall,
the engineer could pass his sewage by contour grips and lines
over the upper areas, could then get it over the intervening
portions into a second line of carriers, and as it was
almost impossible to take out all the fertilizing qualities of
sewage by once passing it over and through any table-land
area, he could pass it over twice, thrice, or even four times
beneficially, and he could then discharge the water from the
last carriers as pure as ordiuary spring water. He did not
say they would ever arrive at that pitch of perfection when it
would be safe to recommend the clarified witer from subsoil
drains for culinary and drinking purposes, although he knew
at that moment of an instance iu which the strongest sewage
he ever heard or knew of was used by the adjoining residents
in this way as it flowed from the subsoil drains, and that was
at the farm at Aldershot, and as this was the most perfect
system of sewage irrigation that had come under his observa-
tion, a word or two in description of it might be allowed. It
was perfect in every respect, not only because the difficulties
overcome were the greatest, and the sewage by far the
strongest, but because the results were by far the best. The
Aldershot Camp Sewage Farm consisted of about ninety-eight
acres of land, which was, as an old north country farmer once
said, worth " nowt" an acre. It was absolutely worthless, con-
sisting of 90 per cent, of sand, with a mixture of peroxide of
iron, which was absolutely poisonous. Mr. Blackburn, the
engineer who had charge of the works, and who fortunately,
had had some experience in agriculture, broke up the subsoil,
washed out the peroxide of iron, drained it, and laid it under a
sewage irrigation of from 200,000 to 4i 10,000 gallons per day,
the sewage coming from the camp, and containing 20 grains of
ammonia in the gallon ; aud an analysis showed that, while it
had 20 grains of strong phos|)horic acid to the gallon as it flowed
on the land, the water from the subsoil drains only had half a
grain. Mr. Blackburn said it was no use to irrigate land with
sewage on the surface, or to plough it in the ordiuary
way ; he iuvented a plough for the special purpose, aud
broke up the subsoil to a depth of 20 inches, aud having irri-
gated that well with sewage, he goc a crop of Italian rye-grass
of from 70 to 80 tons to the acre. After tvvo years, he laid
down a breadth in potatoes, which he sold on the ground at
£25 per acre, the purchaser being at the cost of digging and
taking them away, and leaving the tops behind as a solid dress-
ing for the land of considerable value. In the same autumn
the land was broken up, prepared and sown with Italian rye
grass, which he himself saw sliowing two inches above th^

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

317

sul-face. If, however, a good profit was to be made out of land
irrio;ated with sewage in the vicinity of a town, it shoukl be
made to produce every kind of ganleu produce used in the
community, all kinds of grain crops being avoided, as entailing
only waste of labour, laud, and money. Italian rye grass, man-
golds, potatoes, cabbages, Trench beans, and lettuces, could all
be grown with advantage, but they reijuired special knowledge
and special care ; for some must not be irrigated at all while
tile crop vvas in the ground, whilst others ret^uired quite a dilTe-
rent treatment. In this way as much as from £100 to £200
per acre of gross receipts migiit be obtained, for he had seen a
return made by persons on whom he could place implicit con-
lidence, showing with a crop of cabbages and cabbage plants a
gross return equal to £200 per acre. Between this and the
ordinary produce of £5 to £10 per acre \;as a wide margin,
quite sulUcient to induce efforts in this direction. Tliey were
on the threshold of this question, and only just beginning to
understand it ; and as tlierc Imd been so much joint-stock
enterprise of late, lie would suggest to any gentleman wlio
wislied to make tiieir fortunes that tliey could not do l.ietter
ilvAii form an honest company and go to some of the distressed
towns which had been described as in the clutches of the Vice-
Chaucellor, and treat with them for their sewage and tiie land
necessary to utilise it. lie knew many towns which would
receive them witli open arms, and let them liave the land at
a fair agricultural price, and let them have the sewage in for
nothing, and if there was any truth in chemistry, this
could hardly bo a bad bargain. 13ut at the same
time, it must be conducted with knowledge and care,
for he himself was concerned in a speculation of
tiiat kind wliere bolii the sewage and the land was as good as
any in Enghind, and the climate propitious, but, owing to de-
fective management in some way, they only got a dividend of
l}^ per cent., whereas, by letting it in the ordinary way, having
houglit it on good terms, they could have realized o per cent.
There were, therefore, two sides to the sewage shield, as to
most others, but he believed, nevertheless, that in the proper
application of this system there was a mine of wealth, by
hringing common sense to bear, and avoiding blunders which
had already been committed. On the other hand, in many
places it had become a sheer necessity to do something of this
sort, in order to avoid poisoning the rivers, and would be more
and more so every day. Before sitting down, he would say
that the man who could solidify sewage and make it a portable
manure, could invent perpetual motion and square the circle.
The most perfect chemical researches had yet failed to do more
than takeout one-seventh of the valuable properties of sewage
in solid form ; and taking a ton of sevi'age as being worth 17s.
(3d., and treating it in any possible way — and he spoke from
l\aving been associated on the commission with some of the
first chemists of the day — the result would be to take out solid
matter to the value of 2s. 2d., and leave los. 4d. worth to go
away with the elllucnt water, which might nevertheless appear
perfectly pure and bright. On the other hand, when liquid
sewage was passed through twenty inches of soil, it had but
the barest trace of these valuable salts left in it. This, there-
fore, was the only true and profitable chemistry.

Dr. YoELCKEii s-.iid Mr. Hope was such a zealous advocate
for sewage irrigation that he could but regret his liaving put his
pet child into such douhtful company as that of the negro and
the pauper. Perhaps he had done so from a feeling that sewage
was a nuisance which must be got rid of; but though this had
heen the prevalent idea for many years, he was convinced that
the time was coming when it would no longer he looked upon
in that light. It appeared to him that they had not sufficiently
considered the diiKcutties in the way of the successful applica-
tion of sewage to land, and had taken too one-sided a view of
if, as if it were only useful for particular crops, such as Italian
rye-grass. Few experiments, if any, had lieen made as to the
effect of applying it to fallow land, and he should like it tried in
tliat way on an extensive scale, applying, say, 10,000 tons per
acre, which he believed would much increase its fertility for a
succession of years, during which a regular rotation of crops
might bo obtained ; and he fearei that if it were the fact that
the sewage of not more than from 35 to 10 persons could be
applied to an acre, there would be a very serious impediment
thrown in tlie way of its adoption. lie should rather agree
with Mr. Latham, thaf an acre would take, at least, the sew-
age from 100 persons, and if it were applied to fallow land no
doubt that quantity might be much increased. Mr, Latham's

criticisms on his experiments had only been brought to his
attention that evening, and he was hardly aware to what he
referred. Probably that gentleman was of opinion that land
was capable of absorbing every particle of ammonia, phos-
phoric acid, and potash, but if so he was in error. "With re-
gard to any special exception he had made as to the power of
absorption and retention of ammonia and other fertilising
matters, he had been corroborated by other chemists, who had
gone very carefully into the matter, and who had found that
altliough soils of every description had the power of fixing and
retaining for a length of time immense stores of these bodies,
yet tliey did not retain them in a very diluted, watery solution;
and it was fortunate they did not, or how would the plants
receive it? In tliese results he had been corroborated by Dr.
Wollf, Dr. Knops, Professor Sonnschein, AVarg, Stolimann, and
other chemists, who had laboured in the same direction. In
conclusion, he could not Imt agree with the general principles
laid down by Mr. Hope, and trusted that before long they
would be generally carried out in practice.

Mr. Mecui said he felt much indebted to Mr. Hope for his
interesting paper, in the main points of which he fully con-
curred. London had a population of about 3i millions,
which consumed daily the average annual availaljle produce of
20,000 acres of English land, in addition to innumerable car-
goes of wine, sugar, coffee, and many other things, which must
be added to the total ; and every farmer would agree that the
results of that consumption must be highly valuable when re-
stored to the soil. The only question was the application of
it. He had applied sewage for the last 20 years, both in a
solid and liquid state, the details of which he would not go
into further than to say that, so far from spending £100 per
acre, even with the use of iron pipes aud gutta percha tubing,
the cost had not exceeded £2 an acre. The great difficulty
appeared to be this — everyone was anxious to get rid of sew-
age, but there did not seem a corresponding demand on the
part of farmers to make use of it. One would have thought
that the farmers and landowners would have taken a deep in-
terest in this question, and, after all, there was no real difficulty
in applying it ; it was only a question of pipes and pumping ;
and two of the most eminent hydraulic engineers had stated in
evidence before the House of Commons that 1,000 tons of
sewage, as it came from the sewer, could be raised 300 feet at a
cost of from I3s. to I4s., and then with a fall of 5 feet per
mile, it would flow 60 miles. AVater was, in fact, brought to
Glasgow from Loch Katrine, a distance of 40 miles, with only
a fall of 200 feet on the whole distance. To go hack to his
first illustration, he might say that the only difference in the
consumption of 3,500,000 of human beings and the same
number of sheep, considered in reference to the value of the
proceeds for manure, was, that the sheep consumed the bone earth
in the food which they ate, whilst human beings did not ; there-
fore town sewage was deficient in that most valuable consti-
tuent, which, however, Liebig had shown could be supplied at
a very small cost indeed. To throw away therefore the daily
produce of 20,000 acres was a sinful neglect, and was as bad as
throwing gold into the Thames. The great point was to get
landowners to feel an interest in the question, and to appre-
ciate tlie value of what was being now wasted.

Sir AViLLi.vM Deniso:n said tliat, as chairman of the Rivers
Commission, he had listened with a great deal of attention and
interest to what had been said. The Commission had just
sent in their report upon the application of sewage to the
Mersey and Irwell. The difference of opinion seemed to be
not at all as to the fact of sewage beim; higlily valuable as
manure, but as to the quantity and mode of applying it, the
character and amount of its action on difl'erent soils, and a
variety of other minor matters. The truth was, what was
really wanted was a series of experiments, on a large scale,
whicii would set many of these questions at rest. The busi-
ness of the Rivers Commission was not to enter into the ques-
tion of the application of sewage, but to see to the cleausing
of the water of rivers, and it became a question, therefore, of
practical importance over what amount of surface town sewage
must pass before it was in such a state that it might be allowed
to flow into the rivers without injury, and experiments had
been conducted with that end in view. These were carried on
at Woking, because there the sewage from the prison was at
their disposal, and there was also convict laliour which could
be made use of; but the soil was not of such a character that
any general deductions could safely be drawn from the results

318

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

obtained. He hoped, therefore, that next year a more ex-
tensive series of experiments of this character would be carried
on, and the results made known as speedily as possible. As
far as his experience went, he agreed with IMr. Latham that
tlie sewage from 100 people might be distributed over an acre
of land ; but he thought that after passing over this acre of
land, though it would be sufficiently pure to be allowed to flow
into a river, yet it would still contain matter which would be
useful as manure. He believed, therefore, that the sewage
from 100 people would irrigate profitably nearly six acres, and
therefore the expense of pumping, which in many cases would
be enormous if applied to one acre only, would be so dis-
tributed as not to be excessive. All these questions, however,
were matters to be decided by experience alone, and would de-
pend in a great degree on the character of the soil.

Mr Takget said he had a plan to brmg forward, by which
he claimed to be able to tlioroughly deodorise human excreta
in an easy and simple manner, which he would describe. In
the first place, he begged leave to hand to the Chairman a
bottle containing the result, which was perfectly inodorous
and innocuous. His plan was to deodorise the excreta when
first evacuated, by means of elements which were at hand in
every household. Moule's system had failed, not because it
was a bad system, but because of the inconvenience of having
to introduce a constant supply of earth ; but he mixed simply
the contents of the dust-bin, ashes, rags, dry refuse of all kinds
which accumulated in every house, which had to be removed
by the scavenger, and which lie proposed should still be re-
moved by the same agency, plus the sewage matter. This sys-
tem was now in successfiil work in Salford, one of the most
populous towns in the north, and also in Oldham, Rochdale,
and other places. The plan consisted simply in lining a tub
with zinc, into which the ashes, refuse, &c., were put, and
mixed with a small quantity of sulphate of iron. Tlie whole
being mixed up, a mould was put into the tub, leaving a space
of about three inches all round, into which the mixture was
rammed, and the mould being removed, a cavity remained into
which the dejections were received, when it was found that the
urine was immediately absorbed, and the solid foeces were left
almost dry and totally inodorous. These tubs could be removed
periodically, say once a week, and there would be no more
pollution of rivers from this excrementitious matter finding its
way down the sewers, and the Sanitary Commissioners and
Acts of Parliament would be no longer feared. There was
only one difficulty — viz., that no water must be admitted to
the closet ; but that had been got over by a shght modification
of the apparatus, by which the water used in cleansing the pan
of a water-closet was sent away to the sewers, whUst the de-
jections, and even the urine, were received into the tub below.
They had thus got rid of the only difficulty in the way of the
full success of what was called the " Gould absorption system."
The patentees were so thoroughly convinced of the entire
success of this adaptation, that they offered to carry out the
system in any town, large or small, free of expense,
relying for their remuneration simply on the sale of the
manure, and this showed some confidence in the value of
the invention. The cost of the materials was nothing,
and therefore there was no expense in \^orking it out.

Dr. Wyld said he could not agree with Dumas, that water
was the best dung cart. By using it as the vehicle of sewage,
there were exhalations constantly rising up into the streets
and creating diseases. He had recently had a case of typhoid
fever in his own house. A very bad smell had been expe-
rienced, the cause of which was found to have been rats eating
a hole into the sewer, and had every reason to believe that this
was the cause of the fever. Turning excrement into the
sewers was, he believed, the cause of a great deal of disease.
The great merit of Mr. Target's system was that all tlie ma-
terials necessary were at hand in every house. He could speak
from experience as to its perfect success ; aud, in fact, a friend
of Mr. Target kept one of them in his bedroom and never ex-
perienced the slightest ill odour or bad effect, and he thought
it might be carried out practically without much difficulty.
In Salford a speculator had purchased from the corporation
the privilege of removing the sewage, which liad hitherto cost
the town £3,000 a year. This gentleman had come forward,
and given the corporation £3,000 a year to be allowed to do
it, so that the thing was practically demonstrative, and not
only was tins the case, but the ratepayers were now up in
arms, and asserting that the corporation had sold it too cheaply.

Sir Wm. Denison said he had seen the operation of this
system in Lancashire, and he beheved it to be efficient in getting
rid of a portion of the excrement, but tliat did not get rid of sew-
age. All the slops from the kitchen of every variety had still
to go down the sewers, and the portion removed in this way
was but trifling compared with the whole of that which pol-
luted the rivers.

Mr. Rawlinson said that when he referred to solidifying
the sewage he had only intended his remarks to apply to deal-
ing with the liquid sewage at the outfall of drains, and to con-
verting that into portable manure, but stOl he perfectly agreed
with Sir Wilham Denison, tiiat removing human excreta was
but a small part of the work required to be done in cleansing
a town. There were the washings from the surface of the
roads, which must be taken away by the sewers, and many
other varieties of liquid refuse, which no such system as that
referred to could get rid of. With regard to the effluvia
which had been spoken of by Dr. Wyld, he would say that
was simply the consequence of bad drainage. No drains
should ever ramify beneath the basement of any house or any
building, however large. They should end at the outside wall.
In dealing with separate manipidative processes there would
always be difficulties. He had three closets iu his house, and
some persons had a great many more, and he did not think
they would ever get servants to pack these things and carry
them backwards and forwards.

Dr. Burn said he had spent the greater part of his life
in India, and there the system of dry manipulation of sewage
matter was universally practised, and appeared to him quite
successful.

Captain Selwyn, R.N., desired to call the attention of the
meeting to the two tables showing the constant flow of sewage
at Stratford, which really had nothing whatever to do with the
question of human excreta, and therefore it was abundantly
evident that any system of dry deodorisatiou, such as had been
described, would be totally inefficacious for dealing with town
sewage. It was a misapprehension of the whole question.
They had to deal with sewers as they were.

Dr. Paul suggested that the discussion of systems of dry
deodorisatiou of solid sewage matter was one foreign to the
subject of the paper. It was well worthy of consideration of
itself, but he did not think it was desirable to mix the two
things together. There were some cases in which it would
be useful, and others where it would be quite onto f the ques-
tion ; as, for instance, in London aud other large towns,
where water systems had been already adopted. In all these
cases, the point to consider was, how to dispose of the liquid
sewage, but in other parts, and particularly in some of the
populous towns in the north, he wa« aware there was a strong
feeling against the use of water as a means of carrying off the
town refuse. If, however, the subject were brought forward
separately, it would be likely to receive more attention and
more justice.

Mr. Hoi'E, in replying to the observations which had been
made, said he had been slightly misunderstood in some re-
spects, in consequence of having omitted several points in his
paper, in order to keep it within reasonalile length. For in-
stance, IMr. Latham had misunderstood him with regard to
the number of persons per acre which he had mentioned. He
did not mean to say that he would never, under any circum-
stances, apply sewage from more than 40 or 45 persons to one
acre in a year, but that was about the amount which, on an
average of a number of years, could be profitably applied.
Latham said that there would be no loss in putting an extra
quantity of sewage on the land, because what was not ex-
hausted would be stored up in the soil, but if they continued
this year after year it must come to an end some time ; and
where the land had stored up as much as it could hold, it was
a necessary consequence that pollution would follow. With
regard to irrigating vidtli solid matter, that was another
point which he had not enlarged upon^ but he certainly
should never propose to float down matter of that sort in its
crude state over the surlace of the land. It would be worse
than useless from an agricultural point of view, and would, no
doubt, create a great nuisance. All tliis solid matter must
therefore be got rid of, either by mixing, which he believed
was the best system, or by some process of intercepting it,
which was not so effective, because it had then to be carried
over the land instead of carrying itself. He did not agree
with Mr, Rawlinson that land with steep slopes was the best

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

?19

for irrigation purposes. No doubt Mr. Rawlinson was right
as an engineer, but he was wrong as a farmer, because it was
impossible to cultivate such land properly and comfortably, so
to say, if the sewage were applied by contour lines. Every time
that land was ploughed it was moved either upwards or down-
wards, which would interfere with its contour lines, unless you
used nothing but a turn-wrest plough, which formed the furrow
the same both ways, and these were both more expensive and
less durable than those of the ordinary construction. He had
had experience on both Hat and steep lands, and his opinion
was that the convenience of the farmer was the great point to
be looked at, and this was too often neglected by engineers,
who were rather disposed to force their systems upon larraeis,
instead of ascertaining how they could meet their require-
ments. Mr, Target's plan had, he believed, all the defects of
Mr. Moule's, and one more, because he did not see how these
things were to be arranged in villages and small towns where
there were no scavengers. He should be very loth to ask his
housemaid to operate on one of these affairs, and if he did, he
did not think she would remain in his service after that day
month.

Professor John M.vrsiiall, F.R.S., the chairman, in pro-
posing a vote of thanks to Mr. Hope, said the result of
the discussion showed that tliis was a very fit subject to be
brought forward by the Society of Arts, and he hoped they
would press it forward in every possib'e way. There was, first,
that admixture of scientific and practical work to be done
which required the ventilation which all such questions re-
ceived at their meetings, and he had no doubt that good results
would follow from that evening's consideration of it. Mr.
Hope was evidently armed at all points on this question.
There might here and there be a weak place in his armour,
through which an adversary might thrust a lance, but he
was, in the first place, thoroughly acquainted with the
subject, and, in the second place, he had had prac-
tical experience upon the very point now at issue. The
time was now passed when it was doubted whether
sewage was offensive and noxious, and they had also
passed the time when it was necessary to inquire whether
they could substitute any other mode of treating town sewage
in a great number of instances, for out of ninety-six towns
which were thoroughly sewered, there were only fifteen where
the sewage was made use of upon the land. This, therefore,
was a question vitally affecting all these towns, and also the
metropolis, and it ought to be argued to the full. He was
therefore of opinion that the introduction of the question of
earth closets and other systems of dry dcodorization was rather
out of place, but he had not thought it right to put a stop
to the discussion, because he felt it was a question which,
in many cases, had great practical value. The great defect
of any such system must always be that it left behind
a vast amount of fluid matter of a noxious character undis-
posed of. Nor was it at all certain that typhoid fever resulted
from the decomposition of human excreta ; on the other hand,
there seemed rather reason to believe that it might be the re-
sult of the decomposition of vegetable matter ; and a great
quantity of this must always be passed dov/n the sewer with
the kitchen slops, whilst fungi would also vegetate in the drains
themselves, so that typhoid fever might still occur, even if all
solid human excreta were prevented from entering. The meet-
ing seemed all of one mind as to the value of sewage matter, but
the point on which difficulty arose was the appUcation. The
engineering difficulties were admitted not to be great, but
still they required experimental inquiries into the best mode
of delivering the sewage upon the land, and utilizing it when
it was there, and also as to the best kind of land, the propor-
tion of land to a certain number of persons whose sewage was
to be applied, the character of the irrigation, the crops which
might best be treated with it, and the proper seasons for its
apphcation. All these were points of detail, and as the object
of the paper had been to raise a discussion upon them, no one
could have brought it forward vfith better effect than Mr.
Hope, who had had such favourable opportunities for forming
an opinion, he having arranged for the exclusive use of the
sewage from the small town of Romford, where he knew the
number of inhabitants, and number of water-closets, and could
easily gauge the quantity of sewage that flowed from day to
day and hour to hour ; analyse it as often as was desired, and
distribute it in a certain order and on certain principles. In
conclusion, he would say that Mr. Hope deserved the most

hearty thanks of the meeting tor having brought this subject
forward, and lie hoped he would continue his experiments and
make known the results. If he might say so without being
considered fanciful, he would suggest thht they might all take
as their motto the name of the author of the paper, and miglit
hope that in a short time sewage would be utilised instead of
being wasted, and used instead of being abused.

The vote of thanks was carried unanimously.

Mr. Hyde ClakivE writes : " The valuation of sewage ma-
nure is to be taken in food and not in money. The sewage of
London, valued at £1,000,000 would grow corn for at least
2,000,000 people, and this food-prOducing substance is now
thrown into the Thames. It is worthy of inquiry, what is the
quantity of corn imported into Belgium, which has a popula-
tion of nearly 5,000,000 on a very limited surface. The pro-
duction of food in Belgium is chiefly dependent on the
economical application of manure, and particularly of human
manure, and that to inferior land, the soil of Flanders being a
sand^ with a thin layer of humus. The increase of the popu-
lation in Belgium actually contributes to the increase of food,
while here these resources are annihilated by the novel legisla-
tion of the last few years. It is most desirable to have the
experience of Belgium made known, a country within sight of
us and in the same climate, where town manure is applied to
a variety of crops — grain, cabbages, roots, potatoes, flax,
tobacco, &c., and where the rent on light land is very high."

EXEMPTION OF DUTY ON FARM CARTS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE WEST BKITON.

SiK, — I send you a communication I have received from the
Board of Inland Revenue, who have, with great kindness, an-
swered three letters I wrote them on the subject.

I do think that if the Legislature would omit the word
" farm," and also the words " in the course of trade," that it
would be a great improvement in the Act ; and as it is a ridi-
culous pieces of law-making to subject the owner of a cart or
of a waggon to a fine of twenty pounds besides the amount of
the duty on the same as a carriage, because on it the name,
&c., is not duly inscribed, I think it would be a further im-
provement if the clause requiring the christian and surname,
&c., of the owner were struck out.

And if, in addition to these suggested improvements, in tha
exemptions to licence for horses, in the clause No. 3, for the
words " and not used for riding," was inserted " or not used
for riding," I think that the Chancellorof the Exchequer would
give us something that we could not much grumble at as a tax
on carriages and horses.

Tregoiiy, Feb. 23. J. P. Peters.

The following is the communication above referred to : —

Inland Revenue, Somerset House, London, W.C,

22nd February, 1870.

Sir, — With reference to your letter of the 11th instant, I
am desired by the Board of Inland Revenue to acquaint you
that, upon further consideration of the general subject, they
have now decided that the use of a duly -inscribed farm cart
for the conveyance of goods or burdens in the course of the
trade of any person, whether the owner or the hirer of such
cart, shall not be treated as rendering a licence necessary for
the cart.

On your putting yourself into communication with the col-
lector of this revenue at Truro, steps will be taken to repay
you, in due course, the duty which has been charged for your
cart, if properly exempt, under the present order.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,

W. M. RossETTi, Assistant Secretary.

Mr. J. P. Peters.

DORCHESTER FARMERS' CLUB.— Mr. Homer in the
chair. The vice-president, Mr. Genge, read a paper on " Irri-
gation," showing that a great loss accrues to farmers through
proper attention not being paid to this important subject. In
the discussion which followed several leading farmers of Dorset
took part, all agreeing that the watering of meadows is not at
present sufficiently attended to, and the water mills should be
abolished, steam mills taking their place. The days of water
mills were, it was thought, numbered.

820

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

THE BIRMINGHAM SHOW AND SALE OF SHORTHORNS.

Tlieeutries at Uiis exhibition, held on Thursday, March !
3, dropped from 137 of last year to 102 ; aud the j
quality was as inferior as the number was re-
duced. Breeders were put upon their honour not to
buy an animal iu over the twenty guineas reserve ; but
as the seller was in nowise protected from the collusion
of buyers, it could hardly be thought that lirst-class
animals would be sent. Good animals will never be ,
exhibited for show wlicn compulsory sale is enforced ; for,
as a rule, the owner or breeder of a fine animal generally \
values him considerably higher than the public does, and
the chances may possibly happen that he obtains his
price — but more often he does not. The nine-
teen animals consequently entered for the £50
prize were a very inferior class, one of them
was not sent, and three were passed away without a bid ;
indeed the show was only redeemed from mediocrity by
the entries of JNIr. Willoughby "Wood and Mr. AVakefield. '
A finer lot of animals may often be seen at Penrith great
fair, or at Darlington on the first Monday in ISIarch. The
£50 prize was awarded to ^Mr. Willoughby Wood's Duke
of Lancaster, a young fat bull of Bates' blood, possessing a
few good but no extraordinary points, and lacking hair ;
had "he been exhibited in a lean state there is no
doubt that he would have come out a very inferior
animal. The competition for him when he entered
the ring was far from keen, aud he was all but sold for
80 gs. ; still he lingered on, and went to Messrs. Perry,
of Acton Pigott, for 96 gs. The second prize went to
an uneven red bull, of Mr. J?ayes', and he was sold to
;Mr. Wodehouse for 51 gs. A red bull, of Bates' blood,
highly commended, bred by :Mr. Willoughby AVood aud
exhibited by ^Ir. Wakefield, was considered by many su-
perior to this animal; and his price seemed to bear this
out, for he was sold to Mr. Smith, of Wick, for 81 gs.
The third prize fell to a lean white bull, of ^Ir. Swingler's,
which went for 46 gs. Mr. Curlier, of Bevere, had a few
entries, one of which was unsold. In this class, his
blood-red hairy Worcester Knight was remarkably low
on the leg aud very thick, quite of the Scotch bullock
stamp, for which no doubt Mr. Kowland Wood fancied
him at 45 gs.

The calf class between six and twelve months old went
up to 37 entries, and one of the best, a young roan bull
bred by Mr. J. C. Adkins was unnoticed; he had, how-
ever, the satisfaction of breeding the grandamof the first-
prize bull, a thick hairless calf exhibited by Mr. Ambrose
Robotham, that was fancied by a gentleman from Corn-
wall, and sold for 50 gs. A commended bull of Mr.
Wakefield's made the best price, and was well sold to Mr.
llobbins for 60 gs. ; whilst the second-prize calf, also
exhibited by Mr. Wakefield, made 47 gs. iMr. Crispin
gave 44 gs. for a fiat-sided roan, the third prize, sent by
jMessrs. Game. A nice calf of jNFr. Bowly's was highly
commended, and sold for 46 gs. ; but the other from
Siddington was passed without a bid. Earl Beauchamp
and Mr. Thos. Harris were also exiiibitors of
some useful calves. A very lean one of Mr. Curtlcr's,
with two crosses of Captain Gunter's Duchess bulls, from
one of ^Ir. Bowly's cows, only nuidc ;?2 gs. — 3 guineas
less than the fee at which his sire and grandsire stand !

Mr. Wakefield sent nine heifers out of tlic fifteen cows
and heifers exhibited, aud a very creditable bit i.f animals
they were. T;ord Heanehamp, however, took (lie £10
prize and had the reserve number with the two he ex-

hibited—the former selling at47gs. to iNIr. N. Catchpole,
aud the latter at 43 gs. Mr. Wakefield's lot were generally
conmiended ; 46 gs. was however the highest prices that
could l)e got, and this was given by Mr. Bcale for Lady
Geneva, a fine roan heifer; the nine averaging just 31 gs.
The nine aged bulls had IMouk (21,616), the first-prize
bull at the Bath and West of England fleeting last year,
at their head ; but the beef trade was useful here, and
scarcely one went over butcher's value. The extra stock
comprised three of ]\lr. Thos. llobinson's bulls, and five
of Mr. Woodward's, some of which were passed unsold.
The judges, Messrs. Sanday and Savidgc, had no very
diliicult work, and their labours were soon over; out of
the bull calves seventeen went at a first draft, and six fol-
lowed them soon after. Taken as a whole the show was
about as good as could be expected under the conditions.
One feature however distinguished the meeting this year
— there appeared no complaint about any lots being
bought in, and a general impression prevailed that they
were all sold, but how sofd r' — frequently under butcher's
price, and after the expenses of railway carriage, entrance
fee, man fare, and time had been expended. Not a few
grumbled sorely at the one shilling admission fee and
sixpenny charge for the catalogue, but so strict were the
council rules, that one of the greatest exhibitors could
only get one catalogue gratis, and the rest at sixpence
a-picec, to circulate among his probable customers. Mr.
Lythall's delicate health was sorely tried in the
rostrum, aud Mr. Thornton being present was re-
quested to sell the cows and heifers. The Short-
horn business seems to open very flatly this year, but
considering the general depression of trade, and the price
of corn, this is not to be at all wondered at. The only sur-
prise seemed to be at Birmingham, how so many inferior
animals were sold ; pedigree was of no value, anything of
a blood-red colour with a little hair went up at once, but
plain colours and white animals were passed time after
time without a bid. The company was much smaller than
last year, and consisted principally of fanners who had
ordinary stock, dairymen, and the exhibitors, with very
few of what may be termed Shorthorn notorieties ; but they
evidently most of them came for business, and there was
no lack of customers, and if this sale may be taken as a
fair sample there will be no difficulty in disposing of stock
of a similar character.

JucGES. — Mr. W. Sanday, Ralcliffe-on-Trent ; Mr.
R. Savidgc, Chipping Norton.

Ci>ASS 1. — Bulls exceeding twelve and not exceeding twenty
months old. — First prize, £50, Willoughby Wood, Holly Bank,
Burton-on-Trent (Duke of Lancaster) ; second prize £15, Clias.
Bayes, Kettering (Vulcan) ; third prize £5, T. Swingler, Laug-
liaiu, Oakliam (White Satin) ; reserve and highly coiiiinended,
W. T. Wakefield, Fletchanipstead IlaU, Coventry (Lord Ox-
ford Wild Eyes) ; corauiended, Robert EmiuersoQ, jun., Over
Dinsdale, Darlington (Royal Charlie) ; and Earl Beauchamp,
Madreslield Court (Young Mouarcii).

Class 2. — Bull calves exceeding six and not exceeding
twelve mouths old. — First prize, £20, Ambrose Robotliani,
i Drayton Bassett (Bruce) ; second prize, £10, W. T. Wakefield,
Fletchampstead Hall (iMarquis) ; third prize £5, Thomas Game
aud Son, Broadmoor, Northleacli (Blondiu) ; reserve and com-
mended, Edward Bowly, Cirencester (Fourth Lord Waterloo) ;
commended, W. T. \\'akefield, Fletrliampstead (iMartyr) ; and
T. iMorris, Madismore Court, (ilnueester (Socrates).

Cr.xss 3. — Best cow, lieifer, or heifer calf. — Prize £10,
Earl Beauchamp (Coronet) ; reserve and liiglily commended,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

321

Eiiil Bcaucluimp (Emblem) ; liiglily commeuded, W. 'I\
Wakefield, Fietchampstead (Lady Geneva) ; commeuded,
W. T. Wakefield (Queen of the Ocean), and W. T. Wakefield
(Factory Girl).

Class 4. — Best bull exceeding twenty montlis old. — Prize,
£10, T. Game and Son, Broadmoor (Monk) ; reserve and
highly commended, Colonel Loyd-Lindsay, M.P., Lockinge
Park, Wantage, Berks (Governor Eyre).

The following is a list of the animals sold, the names of the
purchasers, and the prices realised :

BULLS exceeding 12 and not exceeding HO months old.

Duke of Lancaster. — Messrs. Perry, Acton Pigot, Salop, 96 gs.

Young Waterloo.— Mr. H. Harding, Gilliugham, Bath, 33 gs.

Vulcan. — Mr. Wodehouse, Woolmer's Park, Hertford, 54 gs.

Patrician. — Mr. Cowley, Kilsby Grange, Rugbv, 27 gs.

Lord Oxford Wild Eyes.— Mr. J. B. Smith, AVick, 81 gs.

Royal Cliarlie.— Mr. Wilson, Wroxall, Warwick, 46 gs.

Young Monarch. — Mr. Ashlin, Firsby, Spilsby, 45 gs.

Gay Laddie. — Mr. J. Newbould, Bagingtou, 25 gs.

White Satin. — Mr. Bradburue, Wedgefield, Wolverhampton,
4G gs.

Cherry Prince. — Mr. Auslovv, Eyton, Salop, 35 gs.

The Worcester Knight. — Mr. R. Wood, Clapton, Northamp-
tonshire, 45 gs.

Monarch. — Mr. Hamilton, Priucetliorpe, Rugby, 30 gs.

Worcester Archduke. — Mr. Lockhart, Culmingtou, Salop,
40 gs.

INIaster of Arts. — Mr. Tomlinson, Ashbourne, Derby, ~7 S,'s.

Prince Regent. — Mr.C. S. Lindsell, Holme, Biggleswade, 30 gs.

BULL CALVES, above 6 and not exceeding 12 mouths old.

Matadore. — Mr. Simon, Fernliill, Market Drayton, 25 gs.

Donald. — Mr. Betty, Madresfield Court Farm, Malvern, 20 gs.

Marquis. — Mr. Attvvater, Britford, Salisbury, 47 ps.

Sultan. — Mr. MuUins, East Penward, Sliepton Mallet, 23 gs.

Red Duke. — Mr. Allen, Blabey, Leicester, 25 gs.

Bloudin. — Mr. P. Crispin, Barnstaple, 44 gs.

Miracle. — Mr. Palmer, Hampton-in-Ardeu, 36 gs.

Champion. — Mr. Watson, Whitacre, 33 gs.

Martyr. — Mr. R. Robins, Stoneleigh, 60 gs.

King Cole.— Mr. Martin, Madeley, Salop, 39 gs.

Barrister.- Mr. Dodds, Wakefield, 28 gs.

Newton. — INIr. Hazelwood, Accleton, Northamptonshire, 36 gs.

Progress. — Mr. Ogle, Kinnersley, Salop, 21 gs.

The Colonel. — Mr. King, Rowington, 24 gs.

Baron Hastforth. — Mr. Tomlinson, Ashbourne, 20 gs.

The Polar Bear. — Mr. Robothara, Dr.iyton Bassett, 28 gs.

Bruce. — Mr. T. M. Cardel, Coswarth, 50 gs.

2nd Achievement. — Mr. Thompson, Appleby, Atlierstone,

39 gs.
The Colonel. — Mr. Swinnerton, Thorpe, Tamworth, 31 gs.
Red Rover. — Mr. Clare, Twycross, 80 gs.

Solitude.— Mr. Lane, Stratford-on-Avou, 42 gs.

Carlo's Grand Duke. — Mr. Tuuuicliffe, Eccleshall, 22 gs.

Star of Hope. — ]Mr. Davis, Kidderminster, 21 gs.

Fourth Lord Waterloo. — Ludy Emily Foley, Stoke Edith Park,

46 gs.
Rustic Chief.— Mr. Heatley, Patshull, 24 gs.
Socrates. — Mr. Kinghorn, Tliorpe, Tamworth, 43 gs.
Excelsior. — Mr. Tliornton, Strensham, 29 gs.
Julius. — Mr. Loxley, Stoulton, Worcester, 32 gs.
Lord Hawkesworth.— Mr. Bickford, Oxley, Statts., 29 gs.
Towcester. — Mr. Tims, Atlierstone, 38 gs.
Blucher. — Mr. Martin, Madeley, 21 gs.

COWS AND HEIFERS.

Crocus. — Mr. F. Lythall, Banbury, 25 gs.

Iris 2ud. — Mr. Tunniclill'e, Eccleshall, 23 gs.

Commemoration 3rd. — Blr. Harding, Gillingham, 32 gs.

Emblem — Mr. P. Crispin, Barnstaple, 43 gs.

Coronet. — Mr. Catchpole, Iiiswicb, 47 gs.

Queen of the Ocean.— Mr. P. Crispin, Barnstaple, 38 gs.

Factory Girl. — Mr. Robins, Stoneleigh, 32 gs.

Lady Geneva. — Mr. J. Beale, Brockliurst, 40 gs.

Miss Oxford.— Mr. H. Burt, Grantham, 21 gs.

Wild Flower.— Mr. Robins, Stoneleigh, 29 gs.

Nightingale. — Mr. Martiu, Madeley, 37 gs.

Milkmaid. — Mr. J . Beale, Brockhnrst, 24 gs.

British Queen. — jMr. ^Martin, Madeley, 31 gs.

Moss Rose. — Mr. Bradburne, Wedgefield, 21 gs.

BULLS exceeding 20 months old.
Monk. — Mr. Upson, Riveuhall, Essex, 45 gs.
Knight of Wclherby. — Mr. Davenport, Ashby-de-la-Zouch,

43 gs.
Duke of Jamaica. — Mr. Davenport, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 37 gs.
Fashion. — Mr. F. Lythall, Banbury, 31 gs.
Twelfth Baron Wetherby.— Mr. J. Foster, Coventry, 20 gs.
Governor Eyre. — Mr. Simon, Fernhill, Market Drayton, 32 gs.
Prince Pearl. — Mr. Morey, Market Drayton, 34 gs.
Oliver. — Mr. Cliamberlain, Shareshill, 38 gs.

EXTRA STOCK— BULLS.
President Lincoln. — Mr. Arthur, Birmingham, 21 gs.
Sir Thomas Bates. — Mr. Upson, Rivenhall, 21 gs.
Saceharometer. — Mr. Davenport, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 24 gs.
Duke of Darlington. — Mr. Morris, Kempsey, Worcester, 31 gs.
Rocket. — Mr. Beale, Brockhnrst, 37 gs.
'I'ribune. — Mr. Davies, IMinshnll, Cheshire, 26 gs.
Boreas. — Mr. AVelch, Evercreech, Bath, 25 gs.
Buoyant. — Mr. Brown, Wigginton, Tamworth, 21 gs,
Duke of Catton.— Mr. Geary, Dadlington, 38 gs.
Emperor. — Mr. A^'atson, Sowe, Coventry, 33 gs.
Royal Towuelev. — Mr. llorley, Tlie Fosse, Leamington, 23 g?.
Pontiff,- Mr. Wilkinson, Jladeley, 28 gs.

SALE OF THE LATE MR. MANN'S SHORTHORNS.

At the Asps, Warwick, on March 1, by Mr. John Tiiorxton.

The stock was brought out in very low condition, which
had a great effect in reducing the prices. A large company
assembled, and the animals were most extensively dispersed.
j\[r. Dalzell and Mr. Ilaslam took several lots into Cumber-
land and Lancashire, Mr. Wliite and Jlr. Cross bought some
to go into Kent and Sussex, wliilst others went into Glouces-
ter, Northampton, Derby, Nottingham, Middltsex, and Bnek-
inghurashire. The county people, although not keen bidders,
kept many of tiie lots. Lord Leigh, Lord Willoughby de
Broke, Sir G. R. Philips, Mr. J. C. Adkins, Mr. J. Lane, Mr.
W. Canuing, and Mr. F. Cobb being the jirincipal buyers.
Some of the Didos made 40 gs. and upwards, the calves and
yearlings selling well, but the great number of bulls and calves
pulled down the prices, and on the whole, althougli a dull, it
was considered a good sale for the animals in the condition in
which they -were offered, The 59 cows and heifera averaged
nearly £35 each,

Lady Fairbairn, calved Feb. 20, 1858, by Fifth Duke of Oxford
(12762), out of Fanchette by Plausible (11908).— Mr.
Biggs, 19 gs.

Sylphide, calved May 8, 1858, by Sarawak (15238), out of
Pintail by Janizary (8175).— Mr. J. K. Fowler, 42 gs.

Dahlia, calved Ajjril 20, 1859, by Londonderry (13109), out
of Darling by Meteor (10526).— Mr. J. C. Hutton, 35 gs.

Amy, calved June, 1809, by Amiens (14095), out of Dehglit
bV Rubens (15209) —Mr. Bolton, 19 gs.

Oxford Lassie, calved July IS, 1859, by Fourth Duke of Ox-
ford (11387), out of F:isie by Economist (11425).— Mr.
Biggs, Cubbington, Buckinghamshire, 18 gs.

Daffodd, calved April, 1800, by Londonderry (13169), out
of Darling by Meteor (10520).— Sir George Phillips, 34
guineas.

Crocus, calved 1861, by Amiens (14095), out of Cherry Blos-
som by Rebec (15132) .—Mr. Biggs, 18 gs.

322

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

Ada, calved June 9, 1861, by Earl of Derby (21637), out of

Accident by Amiens (14095). — Lord Leigh, 19 gs.
Cocoa, calved 1862, by Earl of Derby (21637), out of Cherry

by Amiens (14095).— Mr. Meekin, 18 gs.
Dorothy, calved April 11, 1862, by Oberon (15016), out of

DarUng by Meteor (10526).— Lord Leigh, 38 gs.
Duenna, calved June 6, 1862, by Earl of Derby (21637), out

of Dairymaid by Rubens (15209). — Mr. Haslem, 31 gs.
Doubtful, calved July, 1863, by Earl of Derby (21637), out

of Titmouse by Craven (14350).— Mr. Cobb, 37 gs.
Alice, calved 1864, by Greville (19907), out of Ada by Earl

of Derby (21637).— Mr. Bolton, 20 gs.
Dulcimer, calved 1864, by Greville (19907), out of Duenna by

Earl of Derby (2163?).— Mr. Dalzell, Cumberland, 21 gs.
Duchess, calved Aug. 9, 1864, by Oberon (15016), out of

Dairymaid by Rubens (15209). — Mr. Hodges, 31 gs.
Pearl, calved Aug. 17, 1864, by Royal Prince (20743), out of

Prim by Fitz-Clarence (14552).— Mr. Arkell, 40 gs.
Celia, calved 1865, by Baron Eleda (21221), out of Clopton

by Mameluke (13289).— Mr. Wynn, 23 gs.
Dinorah, calved 1865, by Baron Pleda (21221), out of Dew

drop by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. Webster, 24 gs.
Dorcas, calved June, 1865, by Ealstaff, out of Damsel by

Oberon (15016). — Mr. Cross, Sussex, 17 gs.
Dowager, calved Aug. 21, 1865, by Oberon (15016), out of

Dairymaid by Rubens (15209). — Mr. Brown, Clipston,

Northamptonshire.
Andalusian, calved April 9, 1866, by Baron Fleda (21221),

out of Amy by Amiens (14095). — Mr. Webster, 22 gs.
Attraction, calved April 10, 1866, by Baron Pleda (21221),

out of Ada by Earl of Derby (31637).— Mr. Baker White,

19i- gs.
Diamede, calved April 14, 1866, by Baron Pleda (21231), out

of Dolby by Killie Crankie (18129).— Mr. Lane, 43 gs.
Dalrymple, calved April 22, 1866, by Baron Felda (31221), out

of Doubtful by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. Biggs 23 gs.
Desdemona, calved June 22, 1866, by Touchstone (20986),

out of Dulcimer by Greville (19907).— Mr. Webster 21 gs.
Abbess, calved April 1, 1867, by Touchstone (20986), out of

Ada by Earl of Derby (21673).— Mr. Wynn 21 gs.
Diadem, calved April 13,1867, by Touchstone (20986), out of

Dewdrop by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. Dunn 36 gs.
Custard, calved May 33, 1867, by Bull's Bay (33490), out of

Cocoa by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. W. Canning 28 gs.
Delight, calved July 22, 1867, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Duenna by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. Haslam 29 gs.
Kitty Clyde, calved Aug. 3, 1867, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Celia by Baron Pleda (21321).— Mr. W. Canning 24 gs.
Dapple, calved Peb. 8, 1868, by Bibury Butterfly (25631), out

of Dorcas by Palstaff.— Mr. Harris 23 gs.
Constance, calved Peb. 15, 186S, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Killie Crankie (18129).— Mr. Ratcliffe 20 gs.
Cornelian, calved Peb. 28, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Crocus by Amiens (14095).— Mr. Ratcliffe 27 gs.
Audrey, calved March 19, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490)

out of Amy by Amiens (14095). —Mr. Robbins, Stoneleigh,

20 gs.
MacKenzie 6th, calved April 12, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of MacKenzie 4th by Amiens (14095).— Mr. Lane,

16 gs.
Duplicity, calved May 8, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Deceitful by Killie Crankie (18129).— Mr. Cooke, 21 gs.
Deodora, calved June 23, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490) , out of

Dinorah by Baron Pleda (21221).— Mr. Thompson, 22 gs.
AUegra, calved June 28, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Andalusian by Baron Fleda (31221).— Mr. Lane, 20 gs.
Ariel, calved July 2, 1868, by Bull's Bay (^33490), out of Alice

by Greville (19907).— Mr. Ratcliffe, 21 gs.
Chloe, calved July 12, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Celia by Baron Fleda (21221).— Mr. Robbins, Stoneleigh,

16 gs.

Diana, calved July 20, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of
Desdemona by Touchstone (20986).— Mr. Dalzell, 23 gs.

Atlanta, calved Sept. 6, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of
Attraction by Baron Fleda (21221).— Mr. Lane, 21 gs.

Dimple, calved Dec. 20, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of
Dorcas by Palstaff.- Mr. Oldham, 15 gs.

Dandelion, calved Jan. 10, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out
of Dewdrop by Earl of Derby (31637).— Mr. Dalzell, Cum-
berland, 22 gs, '

Drama, calved Jan. 18, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Diamede by Baron Pleda (31221).— Mr. Lane, 20 gs.
Cora, calved Peb. 1, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Crocus by Amiens (14097). — Mr. Bourne, Wiltshi.-e, 18 gs.
Dimity, calved Feb- 25, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Doubtful by Earl of Derby (31637).— Mr. Hawkes, 22 gs.
Dulce, calved March 1, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Dulcimer by Greville (19907).— Mr. Hudson, Pershore,

30 gs.
Annie 3rd, calved March 18, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Annie 3nd by Nottingham (15014).— Mr. W. H.

Browne, 13|^ gs.
Dubious, calved April 5, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Deceitful by Killie Crankie (18129).— Mr. Hawkes, 19 gs.
Damsel, calved June 16, 1869, by Bibury Butterfly (25631),

out of Dorothy by Oberon (15016). — Mr. Hudson, 22 gs.
Adamauta, calved Oct. 10, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Andalusian by Baron Pleda (21221).— Mr. Hatton, 12 gs.
Sabrina, calved Oct. 12, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Sylphide by Sarawak (15238).— Mr. J. King Fowler, Buck-
inghamshire, 56 gs.
Achievement, calved Oct. 11, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Attraction by Baron Fleda (31321).— Mr. Robbins,

15 gs.
Lady Fevershara, calved Oct. 15, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Lady Fairbairn by the 5th Duke of O.tford (12762).

— Mr. Thompson, 18 gs.
Daphine, calved Nov. 12, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Dorcas by Palstaff. — Mr. Brown, 10 gs.
Drusilla, calved Nov. 14, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Dinorah by Baron Fleda (21221).— Mr. B. White, 12^ gs.
Columbine, calved Dec. 24, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Crocus by Amiens (14095). — Mr. Brown, Ij gs.
Amelia, calved Dec. 29, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Ada by Earl of Derby (21637).— Mr. Lane, 13 gs.
BULLS.
Bull's Bay (23490), calved Peb. 2, 1865, by Bull's Run

(19368), out of Polytint by Earl of Dublin (10178).— Mr.

Bolton, 26 gs.
General Bragg (36232), calved March 15, 1865, by Bull's

Run (19638), out of Maidenhair by Mocassin (18406).—

Mr. Harris, 21 gs.
Fnghtenem, calved Peb. 18, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Diligence by Killie Crankie (18129). — Mr. Harris,

20 gs.
Mantrap, calved April 10, 1868, by Bull's Bay (33490), out

of Dolby by Killie Crankie (18139).— M. Hatton, 20 gs.
Bardolph, calved April 17, 186», by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Dora by Amiens (14095). — Mr. Biggs, 19 J gs.
Singlepeeper, calved June 17, 1868, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Daisy by Baron Pleda (31331).— Mr. Lowe,18i gs.
Volunteer, calved JuneS6, 1868, by Bull's Bay (33490), out

of McKcnzie 5th by Touchstone (30986).— Mr. Drinkwater,

17 gs.
Third Duke of Wetherby (36030), calved July 3, 1868, by

Second Duke of Wetherby (21618), out of Oxford Lassie

by Fourth Duke of Oxford (11387).— Mr. Smith, Burbery,

Gloucestershire, 28 gs.
WeUington, calved Aug. 22, 1868, by Bibury Butterfly (25631),

out of White Rose by Rebec (15132).— Mr. Pratt, 30 gs.
Despatch, calved Jan. 1, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Daffodil by Londonderry (13169). — Mr. Spencer, 17i gs.
Romulus, calved Jan. 15, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Adelina Patti by Killiecrankie (18129). — Mr. James White,

Hi gs.

Remus, calved Jan. 15, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Adelina Patti by Killiecrankie (18139).— Mr. Horwood,

Otl'church, 15 gs.
Norman, calved Jan. 26, 1869, by Bibury Butterfly (35631),

out of Rosebud by Oberon (15016). — Mr. Brown, Chipston,

Northamptonshire, 40 gs.
Pericles, calved March 12, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Pearl by Royal Prince (30743).— Mr. Wheeldon, Gaydon,

Chadshunt, 14^ gs.
Antipholus, calved March 24, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490),

out of Amy by Amiens (14095). — Mr. Smeeton, 8 gs.
Dromio, calved March 34, 1869, by Bull's Bay (33490), out of

Amy by Amiens (14095). — Mr. Hutchings, 7i gs.
Hamlet, calved April 17, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Dora by Amiens (14096).— Mr. Birt, 18^ gs,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

323

Othello, calved July 2, 1869, by BuU's Bay (22490), out of

Oxford Lassie by Fourth Duke of Oxford (11387).— Mr.

Moore, 11 gs.
Prince, calved July 20, 1869, by Bibury Butterfly (25631),

out of Dowager by Oberon (15016). — Mr.Braylesford,17 gs.
Snow Ball, calved Aug. 28, 1869, by Bibury Butterfly (25631),

out of Duchess by Oberon (15016), — Mr. Grifiin, Chester-
ton, 8 gs.
Cassio, calved Oct. 5, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Desdemoua by Touchstone (30986).— Mr. R. Cowper,

Wolverton, 11 gs.
Troubadour, calved Oct. 15, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Dalrymple by Baron Fleda (21221).— Mr. Cookes, Snit-

terfield, 7 gs.
John Gilpin, calved Nov. 9, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out

of Alice by Greville (19907).— Mr. Hyatt, 7^ gs.
Defender, calved Dec. 24, 1869, by Bull's Bay (23490), out of

Daff"odil by Londonderry (13169).— Mr. Til)bits, Wroxhall,

C|gs.

THE SALE OF SHORTHORNS at Oldwhat, New Deer,
the property of Mr. Chalmers. There was a large attendance
of farmers and others, and the sale was very successful. The
following are the lots sold, with their buyers and prices : —
Bulls. — Duke of Kent, calved June 3, 1866 ; Mr. Ironside,
32 gs. Jock o' Drumblair, calved March 8, 1868 ; Mr. Chal-
mers, 20 gs. "White Duke, calved ]\Iay 15, 1868 ; Mr. Hay,
30 gs. Neptune, calved October 11, 1868 ; Mr. Milne, 16 gs.
Gladiator, calved October 29, 1868 ; Mr. Hamilton, 25 gs.
Squire of Cobham, calved November 12, 1868 ; Mr. David-
son, 19 gs. Columbus, calved February 16, 1869 ; Mr.
Taylor, 18 gs. Nobility, calved Marcli 7, 1869 ; Mr. Wil-
liamson, 31. Free-Trade, calved March 8, 1869 ; Mr. Mur-
ray, 31 gs. Amaranthus, calved March 8, 1869 ; Mr.
Chessor, 27 gs. Baron Bunsen, calved March 16, 1869 ;
Mr. Black, 20 gs. Scarlet Lustre, calved March 26, 1869 ;
Mr. Langster, 21 gs. Scarlet Jacket, calved Marcli 28,
1869 ; Mr. Beaddie, 14 gs. Beau Ideal, calved April 6,
1869 ; Mr. Leslie, 20 gs. Bounce, calved April 6, 1869 ;
Mr. Morrison, 22 gs. Viceroy, calved April 7, 1869 ; Mr.
Forgie, 17 gs. Floral Scarlet, calved April 20, 1869 ; Mr.
Anderson, 16 gs. Scarlet Narsturtium, calved July 6, 1869 ;
Mr, Watson, 16 gs. Gentleman, calved July 17, 1869 ; Mr.
Minto, 17 gs.
Cows IN Calf. — Flora, calved iu March, 1860, Mr. Taylor,
23 gs. ; Peer o' Day, calved iu February, 1862, Mr. Robb,
26 gs. ; Utopia, calved May 25, 1862, Mr. Milne, 25 gs. ;
Miss Butterfly 3rd, calved March 29, 1863, Mr. Watson,
28 gs. ; Brenda, calved iu March, 1864, Mr. Murdoch, 25
gs. ; Roan Laurel, calved April 27, 1864, Mr. Marr, 27 gs. ;
Rosanna 2ud, calved April 9, 1865, Mr. AVatsou, 36 gs. ;
Lady Exraouth, calved March 22, 1866, Mr. Milne, 24 gs. ;
Verjuice, calved March 31, 1866, Mr. Ingram, 23 gs.
Heifers in Calf. — Gentle Emma, calved March 5, 1867,
Mr. Gordon, 36 gs. ; Grace Darling, calved April 24, 1867,
Mr. Robertson, 27 gs. ; Laureate, calved May 23, 1867,
Mr. Ironside, 27 gs. ; Rarity, calved June 4, 1867, Mr.
Duthie, 30 gs.; Lady Cobham, calved June 9, 1867, Mr.
Gibbon, 26 gs. ; Alix, calved in January, 1868, Mr. Robert-
son, 35 gs.. Miss Cobham, calved January 39, 1868, Mr.
Stewart, 27 gs. ; Verbena, calved April 11, 1868, Mr.
Stewart, 30 gs.

LADi THORNDALE BATES 2nd. — Lord Dunmore,
not ill-. Dunmore, was the purchaser of this cow, for 300 gs.,
at Mr. Slye's sale ; and his lordship has just purchased of tlie
Duke of Devonshire a bull calf, out of Lady Oxford 5th, for
500 gs. at a day old!

AUSTRALIAN VIEW OF THE ENGLISH

WHEAT MARKET.

The probability that the markets of the neighbouring colo-
nies will be virtually closed to our breadstufl's during the
coming year renders the prospects of the home trade unusually
interesting. It is quite clear that if we have even a moderate
harvest we must find an outlet for our suqjlus elsewhere than
iu Australia, and the place to which we now naturally turn in

our per])lexity is Great Britain. It has been demonstrated
that with wheat at a certain figure exportation to the mother-
country cannot be carried on without loss. Two or three years
ago the discovery of this fact proved a substantial consolation
to dealers and producers ; and it is not at all unlikely that we
shall have to take advantage of it once more during the
twelvemonth before us, should it off'er us the least encourage-
ment. Prices have gradually receded to within a trifle of the
amount represented as the minimum below which they need
not fall, and there is no immediate ground for expecting a rise.
The nominal condition of the English market at the present time
is certainly not very encouraging to speculators. Rates have
fallen lower and lower for weeks past, until our late telegram,
bringing news to about the middle of November, quotes foreign
samples at 47s. a quarter. This points to a fall in a little
more than a month of close upon 10s. In the beginning of
October, Dautzig, the head-quarters of the fine wheat supply,
refused to abate anything of 58s. or 59s. a quarter, whilst the
Continental markets generally exhibited a firmness which,
though not reflected very strongly at Mark-lane, had a sun-
taining tendency upon prices there. By October 11 the con-
tinuous depression in trade had forced down quotations to the
extent of Is. or 3s. a quarter, although then best Dantzig found
sale in London at 51s. to 53s., Australian being reported 2s.
lower. Next week holders had to submit to a further reduc-
tion of from Is. to 2s., owing to the overwhelming quantity of
foreign grain under off'er, A general impression, however,
prevailed that wheat had reached its lowest point, and little
anxiety to deal was manifested by sellers. Ou October 25 the
published accounts show that a better feeling had prevailed,
and that rates had been restored to the level of the previous
fortnight's transactions. Unfortunately this reaction was
but of short duration, for before the close of the montk
dulness had resiuned its influence, and business could
not be done except at a decline. The confidence of
holders was not greatly shaken, and, whilst Australian was
pro forma set down at 51s. to 53s., Dantzic best took rank at
52s. to 54s. Later accounts show that these prices could not
be upheld. It is an ominous fact that the depression in prices
realized for wheat in London during the month of October,
1869, find no parallel without a reference back to 1865. In
1867 they araouuted to close upon 70s. a quarter, in 1868 to
53s., whilst for the present year they stand at a little over 46s.
The reason for tliese very broad discrepancies has occupied the
attention of statisticians and agricultural writers, and they are
unable to reconcile them with the facts of the case. The har-
vest this year throughout England has yielded less than was
expected, and less even than the average. The imports have
been very large, but advices do not justify the belief that they
will be maintained at the rates peculiar to the few weeks pre-
ceding the departure of last mail. But for the large quantities
brought in from foreign markets during that time, the stocks
of foreign grain iu hand cannot be excessive. The Board oi
Trade returns show that the importation up till September 18
of 1868 totalled 6,210,410 quarters against 6,143,588 quarters
in 1869. The monthly average, according to that return,
would be 682,000 quarters a month, or less than
8,200,000 quarters for the year, an aggregate that falls
below the mean of the last seven years. Tlie question becomes
a serious one whether the supply from the countries in closer
connection with Great Britain than Australia is will shut out
our producer from a chance of competing profitably in the
London market. To a great extent the reply to this depends
upon the exportable surplus of the United States, which this
year appears uuusuaUy large. During the eight months end-
ing with August, 1868, America contributed to English stocks
1,197,681 quarters ; whilst for the same period of the present
year she has furnished 1,755,142 quarters. This is a very
tangible increase, materially afi'ecting the prospects of other
producers to meet with a cheering reception at Mark Lane.
As things now stand, shippers will probably deem it unsafe to
send cereals to the old country, but there is reason to believe
that the present state of affairs is abnormal. The spirit of
speculation, so rudely checked by the disasters of 1867, has
not resumed its wonted vigour, and the quiet demand for im-
mediate consumption caunot make auy great impression upon
prices. We must wait for another mail with more cheering
news of the home market before we can put much reliance
upon that market as a stand-by when other customers fail
us, — Adelaide Ohseri-er, Dec. 25, 1869,

324

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE STOCKBLD PARK SHORTHORN SALE,

By Messrs. Waite and CROUfii, ox Friday, February 25ti{.

There wai? a large gatlieriug of agriculturists from the im-
mediate neighbourhood, aud of Shorthorn men from all
parts of England, The first lot was Shuttlecock, a three years
old bull by Mr. Favvkes' Lord Cobhara (2010 i), d. Blue Bell
by Reformer (18087), tracing back through Bridegroom and
The Stuart to Norfolk, Ambo, Merauou, Pilot, and
Agamemnon. This plan of commencing the sales with the
bulls, contrary to the usual polite practice of giving precedence
to the ladies, was a bold inuovatiou. Nevertlieless it was
successful, making another illustration of the truism that there
is no rule without an exception. The reason assigned for this
was that by so doing the public would have au opportunity
of seeing the value of the sire of all the young stock (with
the exception of one young bull, Lord Cobhara the 2nd, by
Mr. Fawkes Lord Cobham) tested by public auction before
they competed for the progeny iu the same ring. Had
Shuttlecock been anything but a first-class animal, the policy
adopted would have been more than doubtful, and would have
depreciated the selling prices of the young animals to a serious
extent; but it was otherwise. He stepped into the ring a
noble animal — grand iu his shape, rich in colour, of great
frame, filled up in every point, yet full of style and gaiety,
and looked every inch what one oHlte higliest authorities of the
day called him — " One of the very best, if not the best, of the
bulls now out." And thus, after a slight hesitation, before the
first hundred was telegraphed, the bidding ran up quickly to
240 guineas, at which be was knocked down to take up bis
residence in Surrey, within sight of the great city, where we
are happy to learn he arrived safe and sound.

The competition displayed for the bull, and the figure he
reached explain the spirited bidding for nearly all the young
animals, and the satisfactory prices which some of them made.
Shuttlecock 3rd, a beautiful roan, under a year old. straigiit in
his lines, and of capital quality, was a good purchase for the
Marquis of Ailesbury, at 46 gs. He is out of Miss Fawkes by
22nd Duke of Oxford, and goes through Fair Maid of Wetherby,
Fair Maid of Perth by Lord Marquis (10459), and Buclian
Hero (3283), Sir Thomas Fairfax (5196) to Lawusleeve (365) ;
a mixture of " all the bloods," including the popular Gunter.
Shuttlecock 4th, a red roan, under a year old, is another gem
worth" setting" in any casket of good-bred animals. He is
full of substance, long, low, and level, out of Maid of the Glen
by Harry of the Wvnd, and is of the favourite Favourite
(252) strain, through Punch (531) to Hubback (319). He
goes to the classic region of Yorkshire Shorthorns, where tiie
Studley White Bull in early days held sway, and is a good
purchase for the Earl de Grey and llipon, at 44 gs. Another
yearliug, Lord Cobham 2nd, white, by Mr. Fawkes' Lord
Cobham, d. Miss Pyrgo by Clement Cleveland, who goes back
through Fair Maid of Wetherby to Lawnsleeves, in the same
line as the Marquis of Ailesbury's purchase, was knocked
down at the very moderate figure of 30 gs. to Mr. Keywortli.
How this should be no one could tell ; yet everyone saw that
it was a great bargain ! Hair, frame, quality, and breeding
are in this auimal combined ; and he will fetch three figures
the next time he changes hands, should his purchaser be wil-
ling to leave hold of him. Lord AVilloughby de Broke took
away some capital young animals. The calf IJattledore, roan,
five months old, d. Miss Pyrgo 3rd by 23rd Uuke of Ox-
ford by Shuttlecock, of the same family as the Marquis's Shut-
tlecock 3rd, and the Lord Cobham 2nd, mentioned above,
was worthy of the merry competition he excited. His price, 45
gs., does not make him a dear one to his lordship ; for as a calf,
he is as full of promise as he possibly can be, and if ancestry
and beauty can make an aristocratic Shorthorn he will grow
into one. AVe must certainly congratulate his lordship on the
whole team which his commissioner drove away at the close
of the sale. The Stockeld cows were a creditable lot, only in
store condition, but in full profit. Of course many of them
were well up in years. The prices fetched were nothing
particular. Lord de Broke got a good cow, 7 years old, in
Haxby's Last by 7th Duke of Oxford, at 40 gs. ; Mr. Bottcrill
Recured a beauty iu Miss Pyrgo, 10 years old, dam of Lord
C^obham 2nd, at 40 gs, ; and, Earl 4e Grey got a cheap animal

of the fashionable lineage in Archduchess 3rd by 20th Duke
of 0\ford, dam Archduchess by Archduke (14099), at 3S
guineas. He was also a lucky buyer in securing Archduchess
4th, a roan heifer, 1 year 11 mouths, by Shuttlecock, dam
Archduchess 2ud, for 32 guineas. Archduchess 5th, by
Shuttlecock, dam Archduchess 3rd, a roan calf, 11 months old,
went to Mr. Baker, Gamston, Retford, at a nominal figure
according to her merits, viz., 21 guineas ; while Mr. Thom-
linson, Cowthorpe, Wetherby, bought a sweet heifer " very
cheap", at 28 guineas, in Nicolina 2nd, a roan heifer calf,
10 mouths old, dam Kicolina by 7th Duke of Oxford, grandaiu
Lady of Aveual by Harry of the Wynd (12992). Medora, a
two-year-old roan heifer, by 2Gth Duke of Oxford, dam Lady
of Avenal, bought by Mr. Mellor, at 38 guineas, will also
make a fine cow. Several other of the young heifers and
calves «ill be found after many days, now that they are dis-
persed, holding high and honourable position iu tlie scale of
Shorthorn society. On the whole, whatever may be thought
of the prices, there can only be one opinion entertained by the
breeders present, that it was impossible to imagine a whole
tribe of young animals iu which the characteristic merits of
the sire were more clearly developed, for the young stock by
Shuttlecock one aud all father themselves.

BULLS. GS.

Shuttlecock— Mr. Crosse, Blackwell, Surrey 240

Shuttlecock 2nd — Mr. Tinker, Thirsk 14

Lord Cobham 2nd — Mr. Keywortli, Wellingley,Doncaster 30
Shuttlecock 3rd — Marquis of Ailesbury, Marlborough,

Wiltshire 46

Shuttlecock 4tli — Earl de Grey, Ripon 44

Frank — Mr. J. Hepn'orth, Rogerthorpe Hull, Pontefract 25
Red Deer — Lord Willoughby de Broke, Compton, Verney,

Warwick 16

Battledore — Lord Willoughby de Broke 45

Shuttlecock 5th — Mr. Knowles, Wetherby 10

Shuttlecock Gth— Lord Willoughby de Broke 33

Shuttlecock 7th— Mr. Dickenson, Partridge Hill 24

Bull calf— Mr. Sharpley, Melstroy, Louth 8

COWS AND HEIFERS.

Haxby's Last — Lord Willoughby de Broke 40

jM.iid of the Glen— Mr. Cook, Thixendale 35

White Hiiui — Mr. Loy, Aislaby, Pickering 27

I\liss Pyrgo— Mr. Botterill, Dritlield 40

Last Fawkes — Mr. II. Crossley, Halifax 31

Archduchess 3rd — Earl de Grey, Ripou 38

Miss Pyrgo 2ud— Mr. Botterill, Driffield 34

Brenda — Mr. Brigham, Sllngsby 28

Nicolina — Mr. Bramley, Amcotts 35

Hampthwaite — Mr. Bromet, Tadcaster 19

Miss Pyrgo 3rd— Mr. Bromet, Tadcaster 27

Polly Haxby — JMr. Crosse, Blackwell, Surrey 24

Keady— Mr. Knowles, Wetherby 22

Tilla — Mr. Crossley, Halifax 17

Washbourue — J. W. Childers, Esq., Cantley 27

Blitz— Mr. Hatfield, Braithwaite 30

Miss Pyrgo 4th— Mr. Mellows, Meltou 35

Madora— Mr. Mellows, Melton 38

Archduchess 4th — Earl of Grev 32

Maid of the Glen 2nd— Mr. R.'B.iker, Gamston 23

White IIind2ud— Mr. Bromet, Tadcaster 20

Brenda 2nd— Mr. R, Baker, Gamston 13

Archduchess 5t]i — Mr. R. Baker, Gam.ston 21

Nicolina 2nd— Mr. Tomlinson, Cowthorpe 28

llanipthwaithe 2nd — Mr. Loy, Aislaby, Pickering 16

AVasliburne 2nd — Mr. Ellis, Thurnscoe 10

Tilla 2ud— Mr. Tennant, Sclby 9

Miss Pyrgo 5th— Mr. Botterill, Driffield 9

Heifer calf, by Shuttlecock, 3 days old — Mr. Tennant, Selby 5
The total amount realised was £1,331 Ss. on 41 animals ;
showing an average of £32 8s. 9d. per head, including young
calves. Taking the animals above six months old, the bulls
average £69 13s. 4d. each, and the cows £29 8s. each. The
young bull-calves between two aud four mouths gld averaged
420 17s, each,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

825

THE BERKELEY CASTLE SALE OF
SHORTHORNS.

On Friday, March 11th, by Mr. John Tiioexton.

This was inaugurated by Mr. Thornton as the first of a
series of periodical sales. Many of the young bulls were the
produce of cows from the herds of Messrs. Eowly, llich, and
Holland, their sires being of the Bates' blood. The cows and
heifers were principally bred from Yorkshire dairy cows, pur-
chased some years ago in Darlington, and since crossed with
pure-bred bulls. Some few of the lots weic the property of
Lord Ducie and Sir John Holt. The prices were altogether
better than had been expected.

BULLS.

Artern (25531), white, calved May 10, 1807,1 by Lord Jersey
(20185), out of Rose of Dumbleton by Duke of Cleveland
(1592i).— Mr. Cooke, 30 gs.
Baron Waverley (25592), red, calved Oct. 12, 18G7, by
Thirteenth Grand Duke (21850), out of Mora Mclvor by
Third Duke of Lancaster (1962*).— Mr. H. Mousell, Glou-
cester, 47 gs.
Bacchus, white, calved Jan. 28, 1869, by Falconer (23907),
out of Bergamot by Cupid (14.359).— Mr. N. Combe, Salis-
bury, 23 gs.
Lord Curzon, whith, calved Feb. 5, 1869, by Grand Duke of
Glo'ster (19882), out of Lady Howe by Earl Howe (17768).
—Mr. B. Cox, Salisbury, 24 gs.
Bendigo, roan, calved Feb. 7, 1869, by Artern (25531), out
Barbara by Lord Hardinge (20177). — Mr. Harding, 26 gs.
Colonel Jones, roan, calved March 6, 1809, by Artern
(25531), out of Butterfly by Lord Hardings (20177).— Mr.
Todd, 25 gs.
Duke Farewell, red, calved Marcli 20, 1869, by Second
Duke of CoUinghara (23730),out of Ursula 12th by General
Canrobert (12927).— Mr. J. Pybus, Portskewet, 50 gs.
Zeus, roan, calved April 8, 1869, by Falconer (23907), out of
Zoe by Prince William (20607).— Mr. J. Carp, Trowbridge,
37 gs.
Hardinge the Dane, rich roan, calved May 24, 1869, by Third
Duke of Waterloo (23801), out of Musical 11th by Seventh
Duke of York (17754).— Mr. A. W. Harrison, 28 gs.
Jugurtha, white, calved July 10, 1809, by Falconer (23907),
out of Numidia 3rd by Duke of Lancaster (19624). — Mr.
Harris, 25 gs.
Paganini, red and white, calved July 31, 1869, by Baron
Waverley (25592), out of Peggy 3rd by Grand Duke of
Glo'ster (19882).— Mr. Smith, 16 gs.
Lord Chief Justice, red and white, calved Aug. 16, 1869, by
Second Duke of ColJingham (23730), out of Hose of
Glo'ster by Cupid (14359).— Mr. R. Barton, 41 gs.
Harold, red and white, calved Dec. 11, 1869, by Sixth Earl of
Walton (20078), out of Musical 12th by Seventh Duke of
York (17754).— Mr. W. Till, 15 gs.

COWS AND HEIFERS.
Lady Howe, wliite, calved Jan. 8, 1865, by Earl Ilowe
(17708), out of Droophorn by Prince Alfred (13494).— Mr.
Ford, 23 gs.
Mirabelle, white, calved Dec. 23, 1865, by Lord Jer-icy
(20185), out of Mulberry's Butterfly by Master Butterfly
5th (14921).— Mr. Clarke, 40 gs.
Bonny Lass, red and white, calved April 5, 1800, by Grand
Duke of Glo'ster (19882), out of Auuis by Prince of
Orange (18620).— Mr. W. Butt, Stonehouse, 27 gs.
Lady Oxford 3rd, roan, calved Nov. 10, 1860, by Lord
Hardinge (20177), out of Lady Oxford 1st by Marquis of
Oxford (18339).- Mr. G. Hooper, Newport, 20 gs.
Duchess of Glo'ster 5th, roan, calved in Feb., 1807, by Prince
of Wales (27188), out of Duchess of Glo'ster by Harry of
Glo'ster (14674).— Mr. Butt, 28 gs.
Victoria, roan, calved in Feb. 1807, by Prince of Wales
(27188), out of Nina by Trajan (12238).— Mr. Cox, 33 gs.
Virtue, roan, calved in March, 1807, by Prince of Wales
(27188), out of Valentine by White Duke (19143).— Lord
Fitzhardinge, 28 gs.
Lancaster 21st, roan, calved April, 1867, by Prince of Wales
(27188), out of Lancaster 14th by Monarch (13347).— Mr
Cox, 30 gs.
Celia, roan, calved Marcli 20, 1807, by Grand Duke of Glo'ster

(19882), out of Beauty by Lord Hardinge (20177).— Mr.

Pitcher, 30 gs.
Capsicum, red and a little white, calved March 21, 1867, by

Grand Duke of Glo'ster (19882), out of Bellflower by Lord

Hardinge (20177). — Mr. Harrison, 31 gs.
Beauty, roan, calved March 32, 1807, by Grand Duke of

Glo'ster (19882), out of Agnes by Prince of Orange (18620).

Mr. Surman, 23 gs.
Crocus, white, calved April 4, 1807, by Grand Duke of Glo'ster

(19882), out of Blossom by Lord Hardinge (20177).— Mr.

Hooper, 33 gs.
Bigg Bess, roan, calved April 6, 1867, by Grand Duke of

Glo'ster (19882), out of Alma by Prince of Orange (1S620).

— Mr. Bennett, 26 gs.
Lady Oxford 4th, roan, calved November 20, 1867, by Lord

Hardinge (20177), out of Lady Oxford 1st by Marquis of

Oxford (18339).— Mr. Hooper, 26 gs.
Summary.
Average. Total.

13 Bulls £3114 10 £412 13 0

14 Cows 30 4 6 423 3 0

£835 16 0
27 Averaged £30 19 1

THE GAME LAWS.

A meeting as called by Mr. M'Geachy, was held in Birming-
ham, at which Mr. T. Prime, the mayor, presided. Amongst
those present were many tenant farmers.

Mr. M'Geachy, in an able address, put the following reso-
lutions :

1 . " That the existing Game Laws are detrimental to the
community at large, and in a high degree injurious to the
social and moral well-being of the nation."

2. " That they greatly lessen the productions of the land,
and are at present the greatest existing obstacle to the develop-
ment of agriculture."

3. " That, as the grievance is a national one, it is the duty
of tiie nation, through its representatives in Parliament, to
devise, in their wisdom, a sufticient and lasting remedy."

Mr. James Baldwin seconded the motion, which was car-
ried with only one dissentient.

A committee was appointed to carry out the views of the
meeting.

THE RABBIT PLAGUE. — It would be superfluous to
dilate on the nuisance which rabbits must needs be to the
tenant-farmer, eating np his young blades of grass, and his
corn as it appears above the surface. If be be a hop-grower,
he is doomed to feel their devastating influence in his hop-
yard, or hop garden also ; and, in short, the tenant who could
look calmly and complacently, we do not say upon a rabbit-
warren in his immediate neiglibourliood, but upon the tolera-
tion and keeping up of rabbits in his hedge-rows and the ad-
joining coverts, might be safely set down as a thriftless and
insensate dullard. There is every excuse, therefore, for the
almost unanimous clamour which the tenant-farmers are rais-
jntT — not a whit too soon — against this fertile source of loss
and disappointment. In whatever light a landlord may re-
gard them, in the tenant's eye rabbits are and must be vermin.
And the speedy recognition by landlords of the tenant's view
upon this matter might not improbably avail to stay or stave
off, indefinitely, a further agitation about the Game-laws. —
27ie Sdliirday Rei'iew.

MESSRS HOWARD'S WORKS AT BEDFORD.— Some
time since Messrs. Howard determined to devote the present
large foundry to the fitting and wrought-iron department, and
to erect a new foundry on a much larger scale by the side of
the old one. Some competent judges have pronounced this to
be the most complete, the best planned, if not the largest
foundry in the United Kingdom. There are no less than
35,<l0O square feet on the ground floor. There are four huge
cupolas or furnaces capable of melting 300 tons per week,
which are expected to be very shortly in full work. The
arrangements were planned by Mr. James Howard, J\I.P., the
erection being under the direction of Mr. Usher, architect,
of Bedford.

326

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE;

THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

A meeting of the Council of the Chamber of Agriculture
was held ou Tuesday, March 8, at the Salisbury Hotel, Colonel
TOMLINE, M.r., iu the chair.

Sir Massey Lopes, M.P., as Chairman of the Local
Taxation Committee, presented the following Report, which
was adopted : —

" Tlie Local Taxation Committee, in presenting their report,
have much pleasure in stating that the prize essay has now
been published and is in circulation. More than 5,800 copies
have been disposed of, of which number 2,000 copies have
been sent gratuitously to the members of both Houses of the
Legislature, to the editors of the principal Loudon and Pro-
vincial journals, to the Chairmau and secretaries of every
Chamber of Agriculture in the country,,to every member of the
Local Taxation Committee, and to every gentleman attending
this day the Council of the Central Chamber of Agriculture.
The committee venture to express a liope that the essay may be
attentively read, as they feel assured that much useful informa-
tion may be gained from it upon a subject which is at present
attracting very great interest and attention. It should be
clearly understood that tlie great object of the Committee is
to_ obtain a reform in the present system of levying local tax-
ation exclusively upon income derived from real property,
whilst tliat derived from personal property entirely escapes.
It is erroneously asserted that this exemption is balanced by
charges on personal property for imperial objects. Mr.
Gladstone has adopted this line of argument in the debate or
the 21st February on Mr. Goschen's motion for a select
committee to inquire into the subject of rating. He is re-
ported to have said, " Real property enjoys exemption which
it would not be possible to maintain for a single moment after
you removed the exemption of personal property from local
taxation. And again, ' Real property in various forms has
borne the main part of local taxation, and personality the
main part of Imperial taxation.' The accuracy of these state-
ments tlie committee deny, and they challenge the fullest and
most impartial investigation into the real facts of the case.
The committee would particularly direct attention to Chapter
III. of the Prize Essay, in which this fallacy is fully treated.
It appears from Mr. Gosclien's speech that the Government
have no intention to remove this injustice. All that it is pro-
posed to do is to rate some real property now exempt, such as
Government property, metallic mines and woods, and to divide
the payment of the rates between owners and occupiers. This
will give little or no satisfaction to the large class of free-
holders who occupy their own property, more especially
those residing in towns. The committee cannot accept
these proposals as an equitabe and permanent settlement
of the question ; for the real question at issue is not
touched. Some of the Government proposals tend in the
right direction, but no prospect is held out of a removal
of the great grievance that income derived from personal
property should be exempt fi-om local taxation, and
this is the question which the Committee consider to be of
first and paramount importance. The petition adopted by the
Council of tlie Central Chamber of Agriculture at their last
meeting has been printed and circulated, and it is hoped that
members of the Council will use their utmost exertions to get
it numerously signed in their respective districts. The Local
Taxation Committee herewith present their finance account up
to the present date, which shows that the funds placed at their
disposal are quite exhausted, and that if their operations are
to be continued, it is absolutely necessary that they sliould
receive further assistance from tlie provincial Chambers, as well
as from landholders and householders, who are more parti-
cularly interested in the object they have iu view. The amount
that the Council of the Central Chamber at their last meeting
resolved to start the subscription list with for the new year,
was £50, while two gentlemen (Colonel Tomline, the chair-
man of the Central Chamber, and tlie chairman of the Local
Taxation Committee) have each offered similar amounts,
trusting to be met in like manner by other landowners. The
committee have much pleasure in making this announcement,

and take this opportunity to offer their thanks. A financial
statement of the expenditure of some £200 was given here.

" The proposal of the Government to add to the already-
increasing burden of local taxation by a new rate for national
education is one to which the committee would specially di-
rect the attention of tlie Council. Should this scheme be
adopted, it would impose a novel and very serious addition to
the grievances which at present exist. The committee con-
sider themselves fortunate iu being able to announce that they
have secured the services of Mr. Gardner, the writer of the
prize essay, as secretary."

A long and desultory discussion ensued with regard to the
points to be submitted by tlie malt-tax deputation to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the result being the adoption of
a memorial, as prepared by the Business Committee, that will be
found in another column. It was also resolved that the fol-
lowing should address the Chancellor — an arrangement, how-
ever, that was not adhered to : Mr. James Hudsoll, Mr. Jasper
More, Mr. John Helmsley, Mr. May, Mr. H. Biddell, Mr. Isaac
Seaman, Mr. J. Whitley, and Mr. Rowley.

Professor LEO^'E Levi than proceeded, at the request of the
Chairman, to make a communication from the International
Decimal Association on the question of weights and measures.
The Association had laboured for many years for the purpose ot
securing if possible an assimilation of the weights and measures
of different countries, including those used throughout this king-
dom. In 1862 a Committee of the House of Commons re-
solved unanimously that the best mode of attaining that object
was the introduction of what was called the metric system,
which obtained to a very large extent on the continent of
Europe, and had been recently adopted in India. The Act of
ISei made the adoption of that system in this country permis-
sive, and not compulsory ; but very recently the Standard
Commissioners had made alleport in which they recommended
the further legislation of the system, and there now seemed a
fair prospect that sooner or later it would be established iu
this country. The sale of corn in England, Scotland, and Ire-
land varied very considerably in different markets and places ;
and only the other day a return was obtained by Mr. Sheridan
of the reports of the inspectors of corn in various markets,
and from which it appeared that a large number of different
weights and measures are still in existence. The Decimal
Association had received from farmers' clubs and local
chambers of agriculture communications which showed that
they have had this question under their consideration, and
those bodies had asked them for, and had received, iuformatioii
with regard to the metric system, which in their opinion was
the best system that could be established in lieu of the present
variations. At present there were great and most incon-
venient differences in weights and measures, not merely be-
tween different counties, but even between different parts of
the same county ; and the importance of the subject could no
longer be disputed. His purpose in coming before the Council
was to ask it to appoint a select committee to consider this
question. The Association thought that the subject should be
brought before Parliament as soon as was practicable. Sir
Charles Adderley, Mr. J.B. Smith, and other members of the
House of Commons would be very happy to introduce it, but
it was considered far better that it should be brought forward
by members who were connected with the Clhamber of Agri-
culture, and who would therefore be able to express the feel-
iug.s of the agricultural community in respect to any change.
He trusted that the Council would concur in an appeal for the
appointment of a Committee of the Lower House to inquire into
the whole question, of course without binding itself to any
specific course of subsequent action.

A vote of thauks was passed to tlie Association repre-
sented by Professor Leone Levi for the communication which
he had made ; and the matter was referred to the Business
Committee.

The Rev. E. Lacon Willes, of the Leicestershire Chamber,
moved the following resolutions : " That the Elementary
Education Bill merits the support of this Council, inasmucli

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

527

as it alms to secure a sufficient amount of public school ac-
commodation throughout the kingdom and to maintain a good
standard of efficiency in schools ; but this Council considers
tliat adequate opportunities for instruction may be secured by
jegular attendance at school up to the age of ten years, sup-
plemented by partial attendance after that age, and that com-
pulsory attendance of children up to the age of twelve years
would prove a great hardship to the labouring classes." The
other day he performed a similar task in the Leicestershire
Chamber, and the following resolution was adopted : " This
meeting is of opinion that the Education Bill now before Par-
liament is a just and liberal measure, and that, subject to certain
modifications which it is hoped will be introduced, it is likely to
conduce to the best interests of education and the welfare of
the country." That resolution exactly expressed the opinion
which he held himself. It was perhaps unfortunate that
the Business Committee entrusted that question to one who
belonged to the somewhat-maligned body called parsons ; but
he must say, notwithstandiug anything which might have been
stated to the contrary, that tiie clergy, especially in the coun-
try districts, accepted with the greatest thankfulness the bill
proposed by Mr. Forster. They considered it a just and liberal
measure, and for this reason, that it had regard to the past. He
did not know where the country would be now if the clergy had
not put their shoulders to the wheel in reference to education.
He felt great respect for the two associations which were agi-
tating the country on that subject, and believed that they had
done mucli good to the cause of education ; but he could not
help thinking that it would be rather hard if the labours of the
last thirty years were cast aside. £14,000,000 had been spent
on education during that period, almost in spite of the Govern-
ment and the Legislature. Nothing could be more niggardly
than the public grants made to schools ; but, notwithstanding
that, the clergy had, with the assistance of many of the laity,
built up a great work, and it would have been a reckless waste
of force to have destroyed that work, or to have alienated
those who were engaged in it. A far larger proportion of the
children of the country had been educated or were being
educated in the schools to which he alluded than many
♦ persons seemed to suppose. Now, there were many things
in the Bill which must come home to the minds of those
whom he addressed. He would first allude to what he be-
lieved to be the objections to Mr. Forster's measure — objec-
tions wliich he thought should be strongly urged upon the
Government at the present time. The chief point which con-
cerned the agricultural interest was that by this Bill the
Government were throv. ing upon the occupiers of laud a pro-
spective burden of no ordinary character. As he understood
the matter, the bill provided that if at the end of this year
schools should bo found wanting in suitableness for the object,
or not sufficient to secure it, tlien, under certain restrictions,
the burden of providing proper schools might be thrown upon
the rateable property of the neighbourhood. Did they as
occupiers of land consider it fair that those burdens which
ought to fall in a large proportion upon the owners of
land should in future be thrown upon occupiers ? For his
own part, he could not conceive what had induced so wise ami
just a man as !Mr. Fdi'ster to propose sucha thing as that, un-
less it were that this would be the last straw that would break
the camel's back, and that such an arrangement must in-
evitably lead to a revision of the whole system of local
burdens. Then, again, tliere was the (piestion of compul-
sion. That was a point on which, no doubt, many persons
present felt very strongly. There was one part of the
bill, relating to that matter, which seemed to him utterly
inexplicable ; lie meant tliat part of it which provided for
what he might call an optional compulsion. Let him give
a case by way of illustration. " A" was a country parish,
which had been found on inspection to have sufficient school
provision, and was therefore left alone ; while " B" was a
neighbouring parish where the provision had been pronounced
inadequate, and where in consequence attendance at school
was made compulsory up to 12 years of age. How would
it be possible for the two systems to stand side by side ? He
asked them as practical men whether such a state of things
could continue. He, for one, would rather see absolute com-
pulsion put in force in every parish, than a half and half system
which would produce heart-burnings through the length and
breadth of the land. Of course any system of compulsion
must tread, as it were, on many people's toes, and he confessed

he did not see how any great comprehensive measure was to be
carried out without compulsion. It was not just to the hard-
working labourer, who made sacrifices in order to send his
children regularly to school, that his dissolute neighbour
should be allowed to leave his children to grow up in the
gutter. Parliament must interfere to remove a great moral
pest, and he thought agriculturists would be ten times
better off under absolute than under partial compulsion.
He believed that a solution of this difficult question was
to be found in the Report of the Commission on agricultural
labour, which was issued last year, showing, as it did, how
due provision for education might be combined with a
proper regard for the earnings of children after a certain
age — in other words, how children might be protected against
the selfishness or cruelty of tlieir parents. He thought there
sliould be established in the country districts a kind of indirect
compulsion m accordance with the resolution which he was
proposing, that up to 10 years of age children should be pre-
vented from being employed in agriculture, and that after that
they should be compelled to receive a certain additional
amount of schooling, unless a Government inspector had
certified that that was unnecessary. If a child of 10 years of
age came up to the fourth standard, there could not be much
use in his continuing at school any longer, and he would then
have got the means of improving himself; and after all, the
proper object of education was not to educate the child
completely, but to place in his power self-instruction in
after-life. Three months' teaching in the slack time of
the year, between the ages of 10 and 13, would in country
districts prove in most cases very useful, and he should be
very glad to see provisions made for that purpose. As to
the great towns, there was no blinking the fact that there
vvas nothing for it but absolute compulsion ; but on the other
hand, he did not see how any distinction could be made be-
tween town and country as regarded the means of supporting
schools. As to the religious question, he thought the Go-
vernment had dealt with it fairly and liberally. There seemed
to him to have been just and liberal consideration for the case
of those who differed from the Church of England. It was
computed that 75 per cent, of the existing schools belonged to
that church ; and, if that were so, it was far from being a re-
proach to tlie Church, though it had been treated as one. These
schools were already in existence, and it was but just to regard
the past labours of those who started them. As regarded those
who differed from the Church, it was surely sufficient to pro-
vide that no child should be called upon to learn any doctrine
or dogma if the parent had expressed his objection in writing.
It was well known that, practically, the religious question
hardly ever raised any difticulty in the working of schools
lie had held a living in a large parish where the non-conform-
ists formed a majority, and he had also held one in a parish
where tlie Church was predominant, and in neither case had
the religious difliculty cropped up. People said that it must
do so, but it did not, and he believed it would not do so in
future. He did not mean to say that it was not possible for
it to do so, for there were silly men among the clergy as well
as among other classes of society ; but, though he had sometimes
lieard of foolish clerical intolerance, yet he believed the great
body of the clergy had treated and wished to treat their non-
conformist brethren with the greatest liberality in regard to
education. He was glad that the Government had held their own
witli respect to the non-establishment of free schools ; for he
firmly believed that to establish such 'schools throughout the
length and breadth of the land would be one of the most unwise
things that could be done. A free school was almost always a
bad school. Moreover for the Government to establish such
schools would be a great injury to the small industrious rate-
payers, inasmuch as a heavy burden would be laid upon him
for the schooling of children, while a labourer, who perhaps
received a larger sum of money for his support, entirely
escaped.

3Ir. Bund (Worcestershire Chamber), in seconding the
resolution, said that as regarded the question raised by Mr.
Willes upon whom the rate should fall, the owner or the occu-
pier, he doubted whether there should be any rate at all.
As to the question of compulsion, they all knew that
in many parts of the country the children of agricultural
labourers were able at ten years of age to contribute a little
towards the support of the family, and of course that source of
help would be lost if all children were compelled to attend

z 2

328

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

scliool dally up to 13. He felt that it was absolutely necessary
that some comprehensive education bill should be passed by
the Legislature ; and he therefore should deprecate a bill like
that before Parliament being entirely rejected.

The CiiAiRJi.\N here observed that as the resolution stood,
it appeared rhater inconsistent with one which was to follow.
Mr. Neild suggested that that objection might be met by
substituting "as far as" for " inasmuch" at the commence-
ment, and with consent of the mover the resolution was altered
accordingly.

Sir Massey Loi'ES, M.P., regretted that the introducer
of the subject had referred to the religious difficulty.
The Chamber had, in fact, nothing to do with that
difficulty ; the question before it being simply how education
was to be secured, and \yhether attendance should be made
compulsory or not. If they discussed the religious difficulty
they were not very likely to agree. He felt .strongly upon it
himself, but would not enter into it then.

Mr. YouNGJiAK (Esses), did not think the religious ques-
tion should be burked. Many persons in the agricultural
districts were strongly opposed to denominational schools being
supported out of rates. To his mind it seemed a terrible fact
that many dissenting parents having sent their children to
schools belonging to the Established Church, those children
had been taught to say liiere that by baptism they were
made members (Cries of order).

The Chairmaj* observed that such remarks were not within
the terms of the resolution.

Mr. Ridley, M.P. (Northumberland), said that the North
of England Chamber which he represented on that occasion
had passed a resolution expressing a general approval of the
Government Bill. As to the religious difficulty it was not
known in Northumberland. One good advantage, he thought,
of the Bill was the elasticity of its provisions. In Northum-
berland they would protest most indignantly against being
called upon to establish school boards in districts'^ where they
were not required ; but that would not be the case under tliis
Bill. In this district they coutted investigation into the state
of the schools, but they would strongly object to an establish-
ment of the maintaining of a" school board without proved
necessity. The definition in the Bill of a parish as a place
where a separate poor rate was levied would introduce
great confusion in Northumberland. In many cases it might
have the effect of making one man a school board in himself.
In that county they also entirely objected to there being any
restriction as regarded age; thinking that if a child had
attained a certain standard of education he should not after-
wards be obliged to attend school (Hear, hear).

Tiie llev, E. Smytiiies said he could not join in the general
chorus of praise with regard to Mr. Eorster's Bill. He ad-
mitted that in many respects it was a good Bill, but there were
serious defects. E}iisting schools which had deserved well of
their country were to be left alone, and were to continue to be
supported as to one-third by the children's pence, another third
school grants, and the remaining third by voluntary subscrip-
tions. But what was to be done in parishes where there were
no voluntary subscriptions, or almost none ? Supposing the
total annual expense to be £90 and £30 to be supplied by the
children's pence and £30 more by the Government, how was
the difference to be made up ? There were many parishes
in that position in which the burden fell almost entirely
on one individual, that individual being the clergyman.
Eor many years he had had a school in his parish where there
had been carried out from the first a most stringent conscience
clause, and yet there has been scarcely any voluntary subscrip-
tions. He could corroborate from observation what Mr. Willes
said about the inferiority of free schools. He believed that, as
a rule, the worst attended schools were those which were free.
As to the religions difficulty, it was the greatest sham ever
palmed off on the country.

Colonel BiusE, M.P., expressed his regret that any restric-
tion had been put on the discussion of the education question.
In his opinion, it was far better that gentlemen wlio differed
should have an opportunity of expressing their differences.

The Bev. Mr. Jackson (Wisheach) agreed with previous
speakers in expressing gratitude to the Government for their
Bill. He would like to know, however, how a compulsory rate
woTjld bear on the poorer class of rate-payers. As the ma-
nager of a school, he found that it was materially supported by
that class. Many of them paid not merely a penny or two-

pence, but fourpencc or even sixpence a head, and if tliey were
compelled to pay a 3d. rate in addition, for the benefit of
others, there might be a difiiculty in m;iking the two ends
meet. Were such men to be fleeced when they were
doing so much for their children ? Again, he objected to a 5s.
fine being imposed on the labourer. If a fine was to be in-
flicted at all, yet it should be on the occupier who employed the
labourer's child ; but ho doubted the policy of fining any one.
He also objected to the giving tickets to the indigent poor. It
would be impossible for a school manager to draw the line be-
tween those who were and those who were not indigent.
There would no doubt be numerous applicants for free tickets,
and he feared that what the labourer did not pay for he would
not value. Another blot in the bill was that it did not try to
stimulate education by rewards, being altogether penal. In
the middle-class and public schools there were scholarships
which opened a path to the University, and he wanted to sec
the labourer's children stimulated in a similar manner. He
should be glad to see the bill passed if it was properly amended.

The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously.

Mr. AuTiiuii Startin (Warwickshire Chamber) then
moved the following ; " That, giving school boards power to
borrow money to be repaid out of local rates, and power to
levy a rate of threepence in the pound, would be increasing
an injustice already inflicted upon the owners and occupiers of
rateable property ; and this council considers that, as the
education of the people is a national objecl', the whole of the
public contribution should come out of the general taxation
until there has been a complete revision of the present system
of rating." He said, it being now unifersally admitted that
education was a national benefit, it followed that the funds for
promoting it should come from a fund to which all contributed.
The amount charged to the poor-rate was only about one-sixth
of the total income of the country ; and could it be just to im-
pose an additional burden on such a limited area ? He
thought the time had come when a strong resistance
should be offered to these continual additions to local taxation
under the head of poor-rate. Mr. Gladstone said that the
rating system was so exceedingly convenient that it would be
unwise to toucli it ; but tliat was done by these additions to it.
He (Mr. Startin) would say, therefore, lee them not be con-
tented with scotching the snake, but let tlieni kill it. It was
no more the duty of a particular parish to provide a school
out of rates than to provide a barracks or the defence of the
country. Public duties of that kind should be performed by a
Minister of the Crown responsible to Parliament.

Mr. Genge A^'IlIlEws, in seconding the resolution, said
they had before them in that case not merely a charge for
education, but the threatened introduction of the thin end of
the wedge, which would be afterwards extended in other
directions. He did not know exactly what 3d. in the pound
would amount to, hut lie would put it down at £1,000,000,
and that would be in addition to £12,000,000 already raised
under the name of poor rate. Altogether, with the contem-
plated abolition of tolls the charges on the land would amount
to about £17,000,000 upon an annual income of £100,000,000.
This proposal to levy au education rate was directly
in the teeth of resolutions of that Chamber, which had
declared over and over again that it would oppose to the ut-
most any attempt to impose addition to the burdens under the
head of poor-rate assessment. After all, primary education
was only a means to an end. Efforts must afterwards be made
to educate the boy until he became an adult ; otherwise the
labourers would be under the influence of the conductors of
the cheap press, who taught that there was a necessary an-
tagonism between capital and labour, between master and
man (Cries of " Question").

Mr. T. Arkell, of the Swindon Chamber, in supporting
the resolution, read a resolution of his own chamber, to the
effect that the Government Bill unduly interfered with the
existing system, and that it would destroy voluntary school
management.

The Rev. E. Lacon Willes said that, if the Chamber
sanctioned that resolution, it would do what tended to shut up
every voluntary school in the country ; for the resolution de-
clared that education should be supported entirely out of the
" general taxation." Was the Council prepared to endorse
the principle that they should forego afl local effort and ma-
nagement, and ha\|e a central board directing the course of
action throughout the length and breadth of the land ?

THE FARMER'S MAGAZmE.

329

Mr. HusaoN (Worcestershire Chamber) supported the re-
solution. The real property of this country was already
taxed to an abominable extent ; and every Chamber of Agri-
culture ought to resist any attempt to increase its burdens
until every kind of property bore its fair proportion.

Mr. Martin (Cambridgeshire Chamber) read a resolution
of his Chamber in accordance witli that before tlie meeting.

After some further discussion, in which Mr. Youngman, Sir
George Jenkinson, M.P., and Major Paget, M. P., took part, the
latter observing that lie tliought the objection raised against
the bill was not directed against voluntary subscriptions, but
against the levying of any additional rate uutil there has been

a complete revision of (he present system of rating, the reso-
lution was adopted.

On the motion of Capt. Cragie, seconded by Mr. C. Bramley
(Liueolusbire), tlie further discussion of the subject was ad-
journed to the Couucil meeting on April 5 ; tlie mover
having explained generally that the object of tiie adjourn-
ment .^'as to watch tlie progress of the Bill and take steps
accordingly, it was suggested that copies of the resolutions
just passed should be forwarded to the Government, and this
suggestion it was understood would be carried out.

A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman, and the
meeting then separated.

IRRIGATION.

At a meeting of the Dorcliester Farmer's Club, Mr. John
Homer in tlie chair, Mr. Rkiiard Genge, the vice-chairman,
read the following paper on Irrigation :

You are probably aware that a few months ago one of our
county gentlemen notified to his tenants that lie would offer
prizes, to be competed for by watermen on his estates, to be
awarded to the men (if I remember rightly) who had their
weirs, hatches, mains, drains, and meadows generally in the
best condition. Whether any entries have been made for
these prizes, I am not aware. Practically there may be some
difficulty in making the competition fair to all, as some mea-
dows may possess more natural advantages than others. But
I think the otfer on the part of the landlord showed that he
was well aware of the great value of water meado\^ s, and was
anxious, as far as he was concerned, to encourage the greatest
amount of skill and attention in their management. This
gentleman's proposal gave me the idea that we may, perhaps,
not uuprofitably devote an evening to the subject of irriga-
tion ; and although it may be a dry one to those present who
are not fortunate enough to possess water meadows, still even
they may ask themselves the question vrhether they make the
most of the fertilising properties of the water they happen to
have at their command ? Irrigation, derived from the Latin
irr/f/o (to water), has been aptly described as a method of
producing or increasing fertility iu soils by au artificial sup-
ply of water. It was probably first resorted to in countries
where much of the laud must have otherwise remained barren
from drought, as in Egypt, where it was extensively practised
2,000 years before Christ, and where great systems of canals
and artificial lakes were formed for the purpose. Extensive
works, intended for the irrigation of large districts, existed
ages ago in Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, and some other
parts of the East ; and in such of those countries as have not
entirely lost their ancient prosperity, such works still remain.
In many parts of the world the necessity of irrigation is so
strongly felt, at least at some seasons of the year, that the
agriculture of even comparatively rude tribes depends on the
facility with which it can be accomplished. Some plants also
require a very abundant supply of water, and irrigation has
become general where their cultivatiou prevails. This is par-
ticularly the case with rice, the principal grain of great part
of Asia. Irrigation is supposed tci have been introduced into
Britain by the Romans. In Europe it prevails chiefly in the
south, and is most extensively practised in Lombardy, in some
parts of Spain, and of the south of Trance. The extent of
irrigated land in the valley of the Po is estimated at 1,600,000
acres, and the increase of rental thus caused at £830,000. In
our own country, and in most parts of Europe except Lom-
bardy, irrigation is principally employed for the purpose of
increasing the produce of grass, by converting the land into
water meadows ; but it is far from being so largely practised
as seems desirable. Poor heaths, by water alone, have been
changed into luxuriant meadows. Tlie extent of water mea-
dows in England is stated to be not more than 100,000 acres.
The irrigation of land with the sewage water of towns is,
under another name, the application of liquid manure ; but it
is not my intention to dwell this evening on that branch of
the subject, although it is most interesting. The utilisation
of sewage is a great, I may truly say, a national question. It
has been most successfully adopted near Edinburgh, where an
t).itensivG tract of meadows yields a rsnt of £30 to J&40 per

acre. The grass is cut from three to five times a year, and as
much as 10 tons an acre have been obtained at a cutting. It
is practised in various parts of England ; amongst others in
Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, at Bedford, Croydon, and also
at the Lodge Earm, Barking. A report of the sewage culture
at the latter place has lately been published by the Hon. W.
Petre. Fifty-three acres have been sown with Italian rye-
grass, and between September 1st, 1868, and September 1st,
1869, it yielded more than 1,800 tons. One plot, a little less
than two acres, gave in three cuttings 45| tons ; one and three
quarters acres of white onions have realized over £67 for the
plot. The crop of winter oats has produced 11 qrs. to the
acre by the application of 1,000 to 1,200 tons of sewage.
During the year 360,000 tons of sewage have been sufficient
to render highly productive 120 acres of the Lodge Farm. The
value of the crop, in the gross, grown with 360,000 tons of
sewage, is over £3,200. In no small degree the water of rivers
and of springs depends on its organic and mineral constituents
for its fertilising properties, so that the application of it is not
in principle different from that of liquid manure , but it must
be borne in mind that the mere abundance of water itself is
of great importance, as the most nutritious substances brought
ill contact with the roots of plants are of no use to them un-
less in a state of solution. Water, you are aware, consists of
oue part by weight of hydrogen, united to eight of oxygen ; hut
Professor Johnston says, " In nature water never occurs in a
pure state ; it generally contains both gaseous and saline sub-
stances in a state of solution ; and this, no doubt, is a wise
provision by which the food of plants is constantly renewed
and brought within their reach." The water that is used for
irrigation should be free from mud and such impurities as
mechanically clog the pores of leaves, or cover up the hearts
of plants, and interfere with their growth. It is a commonly
received opinion that the elementary food of plants is con-
tained in a state of solution in water, and that no plant can
exist without a supply of it in a gr'^ater or lesser degree.
Without some degree of moisture the roots of grass become
withered and perish, and too great a depth of it over them is
equally fatal to their existence. Stagnant water on grass laud
encourages the worst, and kills or discourages the best, kinds ;
water in motion, whatever the depth may be, is less injurious
than if quite at rest, and the shallower the current and quicker
its motion over the turf the more the grass is excited to luxu-
riant growth. It may be observed tliat heat, air, and light
are indispensable agents iu the development of plants. If they
be kept in a low temperature, secluded from fresh air or in
darkness, they are inactive or languish and die. Applying
these facts, whilst considering the effects of irrigation, we may
safely conclude that the energies of the plants are excited by
being defended from the chilling night air, whilst they enjoy
a higher degree of heat generated by the motion of the cur-
rent, and at the same time are not excluded from the direct
action and benefit of the light of the sun ; nor can the thin
covering of agitated and rippling water be said to deprive the
grass of the necessary portion of air. Before proceeding to
the more practical part of my subject I will, with your per-
mission, make use of an extract from a most interesting paper
by Mr. James Howard, M.P., on "Farming and Peasantry ou
the Continent." He says : " Some four years ago I spent a
few weeks in Egypt. I was so impressed with the astonishiug
results obtuiueu by tlic siinide application of water to land, iu

330

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the valley of the Nile, that I came home under a strong con-
viction that in England, notwithstanding the diflference be-
tween the two climates, we do not reap half the advantages
we might do from tlie water which a beneficent Providence
sends us. By the aid of very primitive pumps, worked by a
mule, or a bullock, or a couple of donkeys, sufficient water
is often raised by the Egyptian farmer to irrigate 30, 40,
or 50 acres of land, which fields produce prodigious crops
of a kind of clover called 'burseem.' My recent visit to
Italy and Switzerland has confirmed me in this opinion. I
am aware that water meadows in England are almost as old
as the hills. The practice of irrigation is, however, confined
to very few localities — not one farmer in 500 in England, I
venture to say, knows anything of the subject, or has ever
given the matter serious consideration ; and I believe there are
reasons which have produced the indifference for which I
think the State is in great measure answerable. The practice
of irrigation in Europe is carried out on the greatest scale,
with probably the best results, in the plains of Lombardy and
Piedmont, In Lombardy, out of an area of 6,000,000 acres,
upwards of 1,000,000 are artificially irrigated ; upwards of
3,000 miles of main or minor canals have been cut in the pro-
vince, besides a vast extent of small arteries in the hands of
private individuals. Althougli some of the main canals are
used for purposes of navigation, they are mainly constructed
with a view to a comprehensive plan of irrigating the country.
The Grand Canal, which brings the water of the Ticino to
Milan, has been in existence some 700 years, and for this long
period has the practice of irrigation been carried on. I would
also remark in passing that for almost a longer period a por-
tion of the sewage of Milan has been utilised — I believe the
credit is due to the monks of the monastery of Chiaravalle. I
visited some of the fields that had been irrigated for centuries,
and, although not furnished with all the modern appliances to
be seen in the irrigated fields at Bedford, the results are most
satisfactory. I may mention that at Bedford the growth of
Italian ryegrass, by town sewage, is a most complete success ;
as many as sis crops have been raised this year (1869). I
visited an irrigated farm of 90 acres near Milan, rented by a
M. Antonio Slonti, at which the water is used eleven times
over from the point at which it reaches his farm to where he
parts with it to his neighbour. The rent of the farm is about
64s. per acre, which is considered low. The grass I saw
growing was twenty-four days old, and was fit to cut. Seven
crops had been previously mown since the commencement of
the year. A good deal of the arable land is susceptible of
irrigation. After a wheat crop cabbages are planted. The
wheat in one field I saw was cut on June 24. On July 7
the cabbages were planted, and on 24th August (the day I
was there) the ground was completely covered. The laud was
irrigated once before the cabbages were planted, and once after.
M. Chizzoliue, who is an engineer by profession, and also a
landed proprietor and farmer in the neighbourhood, employs a
centrifugal pump, driven by a portable engine, for pumping
back the water when it has reached the lowest part of his farm
— a plan with which he is well satisfied. The watered plains
of Lombardy present a most rich and luxuriant appearance.
In Switzerland, Mr. Howard says, " Everywhere along the
hillside are to be seen devices for catching and spreading the
water on the grass slopes ; then again it is arrested on its way
to the valley and turned over the meadows aud fields of maize ;
indeed, as the fertility of the country depends on the utiliza-
tion of the water, every little stream is turned to the best
account." He afterwards observes, " I believe no gentleman
present will ditfer from me in the opinion that if upon a given
portion of land, especially if friable soil, he could always com-
mand a supply of water for irrigation, a larger quantity of green
food could be raised, and, if so, it would furnish the means of
keeping a greater number of animals. Along one valley, where
water is to be obtained at a few feet from the surface, a centri-
fugal or chain pump, worked by a horse or an engine, would
supply water for scores of acres." Gentlemen, I owe you an
apology for having quoted so much from Mr. Howard, but his
paper is so exceedingly interesting that I would recommend
any one who has not read it to take an opportunity of doing
so. Whether his deduction with regard to irrigation are prac-
tical we may well inquire. To a certain extent in some locali-
ties they undoubtedly are ; but in parts of this district, de-
pending, as many of us do for our water supply on springs,
which become so exhausted after a dry summer tliat I have

once known them not overflow till the month of February fol-
lowing, I do not think it would pay to erect even a donkey
engine to pump water to the higher parts of our farms, although
it would be most delightful to be able to give our parched soils
a supply of moisture during the hoi weather ; but we could uot
afi'ord the water. Gentlemen living on the banks of the Frome
may be tempted with advantage to help themselves more
freely to its waters ; but then, perhaps, some unhappy miller
would feel himself aggrieved ; and this is a point which is well
worthy of a passing notice. Water-mills on a stream are fre-
quently a great nuisance, and I question whether the rent they
pay is not often more than balanced by the injury they do the
meadows both above and below them — in the one case by
penning the water, and causing it to be stagnant on the land,
and in the other by preventing its being used freely and advan-
tageously for purposes of irrigation. I have been advised that
£500 per annum would pay the rent of all the water-mills
between Maiden Newton and Wareham. Could not the bene-
ficial results of their removal be reckoned by thousands ? And
where, let me ask, can landed proprietors find a better or more
paying investment for money than in the improvement of water
meadows ? I agree with Mr. Howard, that hundreds of acres
of extra water meadow could be made by a judicious outlay of
capital, whUst much of what is now imperfectly irrigated or
badly drained might be made doubly productive. Are the
Eordington meadows, which we sometimes see so productive of
docks, &c., rather than grass, in a creditable state ? And
another fine tract of land, not many miles away, which unfor-
tunately happens to be " common meadow," would well pay at
least 72 per ceut. for capital invested were it enclosed, and the
old, aud probably doubtful if not obsolete, rights to which it
is subject bought up or annihilated. Gentlemen, I need not
detain you by detailing the advantages arising from the pos-
session of good water meadows. Water is now abundant, and
the crop of grass will probably be good ; and, should the •
severe frost we have lately experienced injiue the swedes and
turnips, it will be more than usually valuable for early feed.
In making a water meadow, two things require the greatest
consideration — first, how to get the water on ; secondly, how
to get it ofi'your laud. The size of your ridges or panes must
depend on the supply of water, which should be caused to flow
gently and evenly over the surface when turned on, and when
out the drainage should be sulficiently good to leave the land
as dry as possible. With an adequate supply of water, and
beds laid out in an uniform manner, there is little trouble in
making the whole water well ; but with small streams, and
where the ridges are irregular in shape and size, considerable
care aud attention is required to give all the surface an equal
share- In such cases the vi'ater should be kept together,
and not more land irrigated at a time than can be done
effectually. Drains and floats or flows should be well
scoured, or " taken up," as it is termed, every season where
required, by which means the work of irrigation is greatly
facilitated. The first flood in the autumn should be taken ad-
vantage of. The water may then be allowed to remain two or
three weeks on one place, taking care not to shift it when there
is a probability of frost. In severe weatlier all should be
flooded that it is possible to get water for. In the spring of
the year the water must be frequently shifted. If allowed to
remain too long a scum settles on the grass, which prevents its
growth, and is very undesirable at any time. The appearance
of scum on the grass is a proof that it has had water enough for
the time. Gentlemen, I fear that I have intruded too long on
your forbearance. Many points of interest in connection with
the subject of irrigation will, I trust, be brought out in the
discussion. I now beg to thank you for the kind attention
you have paid me

Mr. Lock : He had always felt that the proper watering of
meadows was of the greatest value aud importance ; indeed
that no other branch of farming was more important. No-
tliing afforded him greater pleasure thau the opportunity of
improving the irrigation of a piece of land. They would per-
haps remember that he had the management of the Fording-
ton meadows, were docks grew a considerable number of years,
and that when he left them they were in no slight degree im-
proved. He thought there was much to be done in improving
land this side of Wareham ; if deep draining were carried out,
the landlords joining together to get a good fall, no doubt the
land might be rendered very valuable. He concurred with all
the observatious made by Mr, Genge iu the course of his lee-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

831

ture. He should like to see further improvement in the
meadows of Warehani neiglibourhood ; he was satisfied that
whreever the irrigation of meadows was properly carried out a
good percentage on the amount laid out was yielded. This
was a landlord's question, one calling for the utmost atten-
tion.

Mr. R. Damen had had a little experience in the irrigation of
the meadows near Wareham, of which Mr. Lock had just
spoken. He could not hut think that after water had run
through heath country it was deteriorated in quality ; he
thought that meadows were hest when near the spring-head.
Water used eight or ten times over was evidently deteriorated,
and there must be the greatest advantage in land being near
the spring. The water mills were the greatest possible nui-
sances. He contended that the water used at the mills might
he made much more valuable for the purposes of irrigation.
The water mills would, he thought, in the course of time,
be dispensed with, and steam mUls would take their place.
Legislation would doubtless before loug effect a material
change in this respect. Mr. Genge had indeed given them a
very nice lecture on a subject which was of the greatest pos-
sible importance. Everybody could see that it would be of
the greatest possible advantage to abolish the miserable mills ;
his own experience was not great, but he had had forty or
fifty acres of meadow for many years, and during that period
he had found those mills to be of the greatest disadvantage ;
they were sometimes of disadvantage in penning up the
water.

Mr. Lock suggested that the water was of value at the
spring-head on account of the fall.

Mr. Damen : Something more than that.

Mr. John Foot spoke on the importance of the proper
drainage of land ; it was useless, he thought, to attempt to
irrigate land unless it was fairly drained where required.

Mr. Chapman Saunders referred to the use of under
drainage in taking away poisonous water which was injurious
to plants, and he also alluded to the fact that water running
through poor land increased in quantity, but was not improved
in quality. The subject had, he thought, been very ably
introduced. He quite agreed with Mr. Genge regarding the
water mills. He at once recognised the desirability of getting
rid of them ; they were great nuisances. The Legislature
would, he thought, take action in the matter before long. The
fact that sewage was not utilised as many suggested it should
he, demanded, he considered, serious attention. Mr. Chapman
Saunders embraced the opportunity of reading the following
remarks made by Mr. J. Howard, M.P., as chairman at a
recent meeting of the Central Farmers' Club : " Mr. Cadle re-
ferred to the imporcant question of the evils which river mills
inflicted on a large breadth of land in this country. He
thought that in days when steam power was so much cheap-
ened, and when ^le prices of beef and mutton were so high,
it might fairly he said that the time had arrived when the
Legislature should deal with that question. Thousands and
thousands of acres in this country were water- logged through
miserable bits of mills which barely yield a living to the occu-
piers, and if he continued of the same mind as he was at present
he would call the attention of the House of Commons to that
subject in the approaching session."

Mr. Foot suggested that the mills were equally injurious to
imderground and surface drainage.

Mr. Saunders : If we did away with the mills the land
would absorb all the water used there.

Dr. Aldridge said no branch of agriculture was so much
neglected as the irrigation of the meadows. It was evident to
all that the meadows formed the most valuable part of a farm.
The rental was from £4 to £6 per acre, against 30s. per acre for
the rest of the farm. It was palpable, then, that the meadows
formed the most important part of a holding. To this subject
of irrigation greater atteution should be paid; if more atten-
tion were paid to it he was sure that the land would be very soon
doubled in value — instead of realiziug £6 per acre it would
realize £12. llespecting the sewage question it was still
in its infancy ; considerable progress had yet to be made. He
hoped that ultimately some plan would be adopted by which
many valuable manures now comparatively useless would be used
for agricultural purposes. He concurred with Mr. Genge respect-
ing the mills. From what little experience he had had him-
self he must say that there was no greater nuisance, no greater
obstacle to the cultivation of the meadows than these miUs. Dr.

Aldridge pointed out that in many instances by some inscrutable
law the rights of the millowner override those of the landlord
and the tenant, the water being turned off at his convenience,
whatever the requirements of the landlord or the tenant. Steam
being more economical than water for the grinding of corn, it
would doubtless be generally adopted before long in all cases
where applicable. Water mills %\ould inevitably, he thought,
give way in the end to the superior power of steam. He must
express his thanks personally to Blr. Genge for the able manner
in which he had brought forward this very intercstiug and im-
portant subject. He hoped it would receive the due attention
of the club. Before sitting down he would remind them of the
danger of putting too much water on the land. They often saw-
land for days under water; that surely could not be right; it
could not promote the growth, or at all events the nutrition of
plants. This excessive watering arose probably from a spirit
of covetousness.

Mr. Lock could not fall in with this objection raised by Dr.
Aldridge. When he began to drain his meadows he liked to
keep it on a fortnight or three weeks without taking it off.

Mr. Saunders : Your meadows have a good under drainage,
I suppose.

Mr. Lock : Yes ; I never found any ill effect to arise from
the system of retaining the water the time stated.

Mr. Shorto said previous speakers had set forth the
advantages which land derived from being irrigated, aud refer
ence had been made to the mills. Regarding the latter, he had
some knowledge of the effect of the mills in the valley of the
Avon and the valley of the Frome ; he knew that they con-
sumed the greater portion of the water. In order to get rid of
the evil pointed out by Mr. Genge he suggested the purchas-
ing of the interest of the mills and the application of the
water consumed by them to the meadows. This would be
something practical ; it was a point to which he desired res-
pectfully to direct their attention. He reminded them that
steam was preferable, the action being much more regular than
that at water-mills. Regarding the effect of water a friend of
his who had some meadows in the neighbourhood of Tisbury,
in Wiltshire, told him that they were valuable because close
to the spring-head ; he said a certain degree of warmth came
from the spring-head, and therefore the meadows near there
were worth more than the others, the grass being earlier and
richer. He paid a visit to the Isle of Man some 35 years ago.
He lodged at an hotel at the foot of a certain mountain there,
from the top of which issued a little spring. A clever woman —
an Irish woman he thought — who kept the hotel, had three or
four acres of ground there, and he was siirpirsed one morning
to see a great pile of shutes. Before he had been there a
month he saw all of them in operation, and he was truly sur-
prised at the effect produced ; they were used for watering a
garden and an orchard. The shutes were paid for over and
over again by the produce. They were shifted day by day,
and the effect upon the growth of the plants was really
marvellous.

Mr. Lock could not see that any Act of Parliament was
required to do away with these mills. Tliere were only two on
the stream between Maiden Newtou and Wareham to be pur-
chased ; the rest were in the landlords' hands.

The Chairman desired to offer a few words in closing the
discussion. To water-meadows he had been very little
accustomed ; still he had paid some attention to the subject,
and he knew weU that they formed an important part of a
farm. He knew that they were most valuable in a country
such as this, where a great number of sheep were kept.
Water-meadows, from what he had seen, were not made the
most of. Mr. Homer strongly advocated the laying out of
money in improving the irrigation of land, urging that the
investment would be amply repaid, landlords and tenants alike
reaping the benefit. The outlay would, he thought, be repaid
over and over again. With regard to the mills, he quite
agreed with what Mr. Genge had so well said. He mentioned
the case of a gentleman ottering £20 a-year extra rent for the
land he occupied provided a mill a mile distant was done away
with. The mills, observed Mr. Homer, not only took away
the water at certain seasons, but were the means of penning
it upon the meadows. There could, he thought be no question
about the mills ; the meadows would really be worth double
their present value if the mills were aboHshed. The mills
were a great nuisance. As for steam-power being used, that
was, of course, a separate question ; there might he some

332

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

little difficulty in applying it in every case. But there could
be no doubt that if the mills were done away with, agriculture
would be greatly benefited.

Mr. Genge said : Respecting tlie quality of the water he
thouglit it a subject of very interesting inquiry ; it was one
whieli lie sliould be very glad to liear properly elucidated, lie
quite thouglit that water must be considerably affected by the
subsoil from which it springs. Having enlarged on the im-
portance of pure water for the purposes of irrigation, Mr.
Genge reverted to the question of watf v mills, mentioning the

case of a miller erecting steam mills close to a railway station
and giving up a water mill three miles from the station.
Respecting sewage he could not think that in a liquid state it
would ever be conveyed to the land in a general way. They
had heard of sewage being used on the Edinburgh meadows,
but it must be rcnembered that the very air there was im-
pregnated. The solid matter should, he tiiought, be extracted,
and put in a portable form as was done at Leamington.

A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Genge, and this ended
the proceedings.

MARKET -GARDENING FOR FARMERS.

BY A PRACTICAL FARMER.

London, the wonder of the world, contains an immense
population, all concentrated within a rather limited area, and
looking for their daily supplies from the surrounding country.
Many other large populations are contained in our great cities
and towns throughout the kingdom. The additional wonder
is how they are all fed from day to day. The supplies of
bread and meat are generally suflicient, if not abuudant ; grain
and flour are articles of large import, and always forthcoming.
Live stock, the producers of our meat supplies, are not so
largely imported ; but these, together with our home meat
aids, are generally found sufficient, and therefore the main
requirement of our large populations are provided for. Animal
food, however, is too often so dear as to be far beyond the
pecuniary means of the industrial population to become a
prime article of daily food for their families. They are there-
fore compelled to resort to vegetables, and to vegetable diets
in broths, soups, porridge, and like cookeries. Hence it would
appear desirable that more attention should be given upon
every suitable farm to the culture of vegetables and edible
plants. That these crops are gradually on the increase we
readily admit. The growth of potatoes, for instance, as shown
by our satisftictory statistical returns, has increased to 43,000
acres over 1868, and 03,000 acres over 18G7 ; and yet this
area is only a little more than one-half of the acreage annually
grown in Ireland. Carrots continue to be about an average
growth, but not by any means sufliciently large in extent,
owing, no doubt, to the expensive culture. The cabbage tribe
show an increase of 30,000 acres over 1808. Turnips also
show an increase ; but these are chiefly for stock food, a very
small portion being brought into consumption as human food.
Of the increase of garden produce wc have no separate
account, but it is no doubt advancing. There are two or three
considerations to be named which ought to induce more at-
tention to the culture of roots and edibles for human con-
sumption— first, the chief monopoly which the home culti-
vator would enjoy in edibles, and the partial monopoly he
would have in the production of roots, as the importations of
potatoes and other equally bulky cargo cannot profitably take
place unless prices are high in this country ; another is, that
the industrial population require a far greater general supply
of vegetables and edible plants, in order that their prepared
foods may be better, cheaper, and more varied ; and a third
consideration is, the facilities given by railway communication
to every market, and the readiness by which all produce is
there sold under commission. The farmer's only business,
therefore, is to produce the crops and transmit them to market,
the commission agent doing all the remaining. It is not every
farmer that is qualified to undertake the growth of the many
varieties of garden produce in large quantity. It requires a
tolerable acquaintance with garden cultivation and garden
productions to make much way. There are, however, tlie
common vegetables and edibles which may be grown without
difficulty, i.e., potatoes, carrots, turnips, and cabbage in variety,
and peas and beans sold green. These may be extensively
grown, and will always command a sale. Eut the smaller
kinds, and such as are generally termed garden stuff, require a
more intimate knowledge, not only of their habits of growth,
but also of garden management. I would enumerate some of
the most useful of garden produce which I would propose to
cultivate more extensively in the field, in addition to those
named ^bovp, and ^here siiHable sites gan be found ontlje fa.rm

for their culture, such as asparagus, celery, cress, cucumber,
leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, parsnip, radish, rhubarb, spinach.
It may appear preposterous to recommend the growth of these
many varieties on any given farm, and I think would, in fact,
be so ; and it is only for the farmer to make his own selection
according to his taste and the suitability of his soil and site
and the climate in his locahty. The best results would most
probably arise by the adoption of this course : far better to
produce a few things well than aim at doing too much. In
making this selection, the farmer must have an eye to tlie
greatest returns. Suppose he commences with an area of
early potatoes, he may sow upon them seed for a crop of
radishes. These will be marketable almost before the potato
plants are above ground. After the potatoes are gone to
market, he may plant the same laud with cabbage or celery for
winter service. This coarse is not unusual, and if the season
is favourable, cannot fail to be profitable. The aiea in this
commencement must be limited so far as the radish crop is
concerned, but 1 know of scarcely any limit to a cabbage or
celery crop — the demand is always abuudant ; and the celery
crop, although expensive in management, is a truly profitable
one if well got up, good "sticks" making Ijd. to 3d. each.
I will just state its culture. Sow a large bed of the best giant
celery seed early in the spring. Prepare trenches filteen
inches deep, and three to four feet apart — the further the
better for tlie growth of large " sticks :" these to be well
manured with good rotten dung immediately prior to planting.
When the plants are ready for lifting, i.e., from four to eight
inches in height, take a common garden trowel and lift each
plant with a small portion of earth to it, and thus transplant
it into the bottom of the trench, and give it and the trench a
slight watering, to be repeated as required, and that freely if
the season is dry. As the plants attain a fair growth, i.e.,
from a foot to fifteen inches, they must be gently and carefully
moulded up by hand to near the top, taking care the earth
docs not fall in amongst the stalks to its injury, by causing
decay, this moulding to be repeated frequently as the plants
grow, all by hand, till near their full growth, when the hoe
may be used, if sufficient care is observed. In this vi'ay, very
fine celery of exquisite quality may be secured, and of great
weight per acre. The cabbage should be of the best early
garden sorts, and in variety. Every farmer should grow his
own plants, so as to be in readiness whenever required. The
culture and planting of cabbage is so universally known as to
need no repetition here. Tiie varieties are so many, it is
superfluous to enumerate. Any respectable gardener seeds-
man will supply the seed correctly to order, and cheaper than
they can be grown by the farmer. The preparation of this
crop for market is of the simplest kind. They merely require
cutting from the top of the stalk, and the trimming off of the
outer or large leaves, and packing in the trucks. 1 he celery
requires carefully digging from the trenches, so as not to break
the Stalks. One or two of the loose outer stalks may be
taken off, the fibrous roots cut off, and then it is ready for
packing in railway trucks, as the cabbage. This is all. We
will now take asparagus. This crop requires more care and
attention than most ordinary farmers would choose to bestow
upon it ; therefore none but cautious, careful men should at-
tempt to grow it. It is a profitable crop under good manage-
ment, ami always saleable. The seed should be sown in the
spring ill nicely prepared soil ; in the following spring it will

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

333

be ready for planting out. Tlie laud sliould l)e a fiue deep
loam, well pulverized aud manured. Eeds of convenient
vi'idth should be laid out ; and the planting may be doue in
fcuitable weatjier, beginning about the middle of March. As
this crop will not yield a return till tlie second year after
planting, a crop of onions may be taken upon the surface in
the first year, or lettuces, or radishes, or leeks. It will require
cleanly management and every encouragement to bring it into
early jjrofit. 'I'he cutting in the second year must be limited,
but afterwards it will yield abundantly. In preparing it for
market, it is desirable to cut it low iuto the ground, tie it up
in bunches, and pack in oblong baskets for the railway trucks.
The culture of carrots and parsnips is the same. Tiie land
must be perfectly clean, or the seedling plants will soon be
choked with weeds, being slow in their early growth. The
soil should be a good loam of considerable depth, as these tap-
rooted plants drive their roots down a long way for food. Tiie
chief management after the plant is up consists in careful
hand-weeding. The harvesting is expensive. Strong two-
tined forks are usually employed to dig up the roots ; and all
has to be done by hand — hence the expense. They are usually
graved down lill required for market, when they are taken and
thrown loose into the railway-trucks. Tiie weight grown is

often very great : hence the profit. These roots are the great
competitors with potatoes in the market, but they by no means
command the same popularity. It is a pity they do not obtain
a higher value with consumers ; they are very nutritio'is and
valuable as human food, and ought to be extensively patron-
ized. Rhubarb is a very prolific plant, and is well worth at-
tention on loamy soils. Its culture is tlie simplest imaginable.
It requires a good soil, highly manured ; and the planting is
generally from olf-shoots or divided roots '.f old plants. The
produce is very great ; aud as it is the earliest plant of the
spring, the stalks are in great demand. Lettuce and spinach
are well worth a moderate share of attention by farmers, par-
ticularly those farming in the vicinity of large towns. The
soil requires nicely preparing. The lettuce may be sown
broadcast ; the spinach is best in rows. These crops may be
sent to market advantageously in baskets. The drawing of
the lettuce and the cutting of the spinach must be done with
judgment as to maturity. The growth of the cucumber can
only be profitable on hot soils and warm situations, and such
may be found on many farms. As a general farm crop it
cannot be grown ; but it is worthy attention, and very pro-
fitable, where it can be favourably produced.

THE NEW FOREST. — A CHALLENGE

TO TIIE EDITOK.

Sir, — The discussion upon the Royal Forests in the House
of Commons, brought from Mr. C. S. Read a remark
upon the amount of rent I pay the Crown for 430 acres
of land — £816 per annum — that is, for rent and interest
upon capital expended in improvements by the Crown, at my
request. But as the object of the discussion was whether
sixty thousand acres of land should be cultivated or not, I am
anxious to add a few important facts to his statement, which
he could not be in possession of. The staple of many thousand
acres round the two farms I hold^ four miles apart (mostly
planted with fir trees), is as fiue for agricultural purposes as is
usually found in any county, very superior to that round Lon-
don, and the cliiuate superior to any I have hitherto met with
in any other part of England. The land wants nothing but
simple honest farming, by resident farmers. I say
resident farmers, because both farms I hold were
farmed by the Crown up to the time I took them,
and produced, I am told, very little indeed. They now pro-
duce heavy crops of the finest grain of all kinds, the finest
roots ; and growing grass 2 feet 9 inches high was shown at
the fat cattle show at Christmas at Mr. Geo. Gibbs' stand
dug up from the open field and sent there. I have no objec-
tion to show the last year's produce of the New Forest Farms
(swedes only excepted, they are eaten), white wheat, red April
wheat, barley, oats, botli kinds of mangolds and carrots,
against the produce of any farm in England, not for
a money wager, but for the benefit of the public.
The highest quotation for last year's wheat in the London
market, on the 31st ult., was 48s. per qr. or £13 per
load (being five qrs.) ; the highest price at Southampton was
£11 5s. per load; my last sale-return from Guildford on the
21st was £13 15s. per load. My barley is equally good, but
has not yet been offered for sale. My red and yellow mangolds
both got second prizes at Birmingham, and my carrots were
commended.

The public good I allude to is the poor people scattered
about the Forest, who with great dilficuity earn a living, and
find some resource in the produce of the Forest. They may
be driven by hunger — perhaps they are ; but there is uo
doubt cattle and pigs are taken without respect of persons.
I have been favoured with the interest they tai<e in my cattle
and pigs. I now send out heifers in-calf, instead of Scotcli
bullocks, aud uever send out my pigs without a person to stay

with them during the day aud bring them home at night.
My newly-made hay was taken away with a horse and cart
from the field duriug the night, before it was to be earned to
the stack ; my wheat was taken from two fields, oue at each
end of the farm, in the night after it was cut ; and there are
occasionally prosecutions by the Crown for taking rabbits and
pheasants' eggs, and children are prosecuted for damaging
trees for firewood. Is it not a scandal, is it not a sin,
is it not grievous to see children driven into the
forest, to pick up what they can for food and firing,
and men half starved for want of work in a country of 60,000
acres of land, capable of growing the finest grain and the
finest roots in England, uncultivated ; and that because it be-
longs to the Crown P Had not tlie Crown better sell the
60,(J00 acres to be cultivated, employ the increasing popula-
tion honestly, grow food for them, as well as for the country
at large ? The Forest, after paying off the common rights in
land or money, would realize to the Crown between one and
two millions of money, one million of which invested in
Consols would produce £32,500 per annum, instead of ^1,700
as at present. I feel sure that her Majesty would approve
this, and that it only need be placed before her to receive her
consent.

What would be about the produce of the 60,000 acres,
farmed by individuals who would purchase them ? In all
probability it would be farmed after this manner : 20,000
acres might be in pasture, 10,000 in wheat, 10,000 in barley,
10,000 in oats, and 10,000 in roots. Ten thousand acres in
wheat, 3 qrs. to the acre, would be 30,000 qrs. ; 10,000 acres
in barley, 5 qrs. to the acre, would be 50,000 qrs.; 10,000
acres of oats, 7 qrs. to the acre, would be 70,000 qrs. ; 10,000
acres of roots, 25 tons to the acre, would be 250,000 tons ;
20,000 acres of pasture for sheep, etc., produce — to be added by
a more competent judge than I am. One sheep an acre for the
roots and one sheep an acre for the pasture, would produce
annually 30,000 sheep.

If you think these remarks worthy a place in your paper, I
shall be obliged by your giving them insertion in my own name
and address : I never publish under a feigned one.

Yours truly,

WiLIJAM DiCKI.NSON.

JVtiw Fad-, LijmiiKjiuii, March 4//;, 1870.

334

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE APPLICATION OF FARM-YAED DUNG.

It lias been shown by experience in a majority of similar
results, which are very sufficient to establish a fact for prac-
tical use, that farm yard dung in a fresh condition from the
cattle yards and the doors of the cow sheds is fully equal, if
not superior, iu effect to the same quantity of straws and feces
that has been fermented iu a heap, and passed the half putre-
scent state of decomposition. Placed in the turnip drills in
the usual quantity of application, the fresh feces have shown
a superiority in effect to the fermented heap, and served in the
required change of soils and climates to establish a fact. In
order to secure a complete covering of the fresh dung in the
drills, it is necessary to cut all the straws that are used for
litter into short lengths by the power of the steam thrashing
machinery, which will coufer an intimate mixture of the
straws and feces, vrith a thorough impregnation of the earthy
matters with the urinary fluids. A very moist condition
must be maintained, completely saturated, without very large
droppings of moisture.

It has been incontestibly proved tliat rough strawy
dung from the cattle yards and stable doors is the best
manure for wheat, after the fresh and wholly unferraented
matters have lain on the fallow lands, exposed to the alterna-
tions of rain and dry weather, heat and cold, sun and wind,
only half covered by the ploughings, lying on the surface
during winter, torn into fragments by the grass seed harrows,
and the last remains pressed into the ground by the heavy
rolling that finishes the process of sowing the seed in the
spring. The application of rough strawy duug on fallow lands
for wheat has been long observed to be the best use of the
matters to that vegetable, and the subsequent reduction by
the ploughings and harrowings of the land, and atmospheric
agencies, is more effectual than the fermentation and decay
in the heaps of preparation. These facts are attested by many
results of experience, which wholly exploded the doctrine tliat
has been long entertained of the damage and loss sustained by
dung being exposed to the changes of climate in the usual
vicissitudes. Eresh bodies wiU contain the specific caloric or
lateral heat, which, in a greater or less quantity, accompanies
every formation of existence, and this provision may be more
favourable to vegetable life than the artificial productions of
heat fi-om fermentation and artificial regulations. Less ex-
pense is incurred by the application of fresh dung than by the
preparation in heaps or pies, and a diflerent use can be
adopted, and at various seasons of the year. The certain fact
of experience wiU be attended with important alterations in
practice.

Manures are applied to the ground in two ways — dung is
spread over the surface, or placed underground in the depth
of a plough-furrow. In the first method the action is exerted
by the shelter the covering affords to the roots of plants, and
the consequent warmth that is conferred. Some benefit will
accrue from the contact of the terrestrial and atmospheric
agency, and from the liquid oozings that will descend into the
ground from the substances that have been applied. The ac-
tion of manures in the ground will arise from the caloric that
proceeds from the mutual action of the applied matters witli
the soil, and of the substances with each otlier, all tending to
produce warmth for the use of vegetable life. The application
of farmyard dung is done at the wrong time of the year in the
autumn ; the winter soon follows, of which the cold is very
inimical to chemical action, and must be hurtful to the
future value of the manures. The action will be ren-
dered of much less efficacy, if not, in many cases,
altogether destroyed ; and when the warmth of spring
arrives, the matters are in a dormant state from a starved
condition, and wholly unfit for energy in beneficial purposes.
It is the great object to place the ultimate elements of mat-
ters in tlie closest contact, and to induce the combinations of
moisture and caloric in the pecuHar forms that are conducive
to vegetable life. These forms may never be under human
control, and wholly escape observation from being placed be-
yond any research that can be made, but every means must be
nsed to effect that object by performing the modes of applica-

tion that may be most reasonably supposed to favour the at-
tempt from theory and practice. It is the certain combinations
of moisture and caloric that produce the immense and largely
varied numbers of organized life — that maintain and supjiort
the existence, and engender the diseases which terminate the
existence of mortal endurance. Life and death are produced
by the materials of agency under different forms and qualities.

The use of them as a motive power is not yet half developed
nor applied to the purposes of which it is capable. The
fixed objects iu which the impelling power can be con-
veniently appHed and commanded are claily increasing, both iu
number and utility ; in these cases the application is under an
easy control. In the propeUiug of moveable adaptations
which require the use of trimmings and details, much difficulty
happens in controlling the power and using it in minuteness.
But it is very evident from the known use of steam that a
large increase of the power is very possible, and that it is
capable of lieing modified and reduced into many shapes and
forms to adapt the convenience of purposes. The private
roads of fanns of land may be provided with a railway on the
side of the common paths of traffic, running from a central
point at the farmery, and branching into each gateway of the
fields. From this point of ending a moveable railway can be
laid over the field to suit the purposes of carrying dung, or the
harvest of hay and grain crops, and the same provision will
be made from the central depot at the farm, even to the dung-
courts and to the rick-yards. Tlie moveable railway is placed
along the headland of the field, and at right angles with it,
the lines of rail are placed at 10 or 13 yards distant with turn-
tables, on which main and branch lines an engine of two to four
horse power drags light iron waggons loaded with dung from
which a man throws the manure right and left in the quantity,
as allowed. In February or March the farm yard dung in a
fresh condition from the yards, and short cut straws, mixed
with feces, and impregnated with urine, is applied as a top-
dressing to wheat sown on clay fallows, and spread most care-
fully over the ground, broken into fragments, and placed in a
close covering of the surface. The quantity of moveable rail-
way may be sufficient for one or two days' work, and then
lifted and replaced for a continuance to finish the field. In
this condition the top-dressing remains into April, when the
grass seeds are sown, and then the harrows will tear the frag-
ments into shreds, and mix the dug with the fine alluvium
that has been produced by the winter's rains and thaws, and
dried by the suns of spring. A heavy rolling will press into
the ground the dung and fine earth, along with the seeds,
which will find a matrix of growth never yet granted to any
germination of plants in point of quality and a miuute com-
mingling. The dung and the soil are very finely commiunted
to suit the small seeds of the grasses, as the size of any seeds
always need a soil of the same bulk iu which to germinate
and thrive. In this mode of application the fresh dung in un-
exposed fteces, impregnated straws, and urinary liquids, will find
a ready convenience to produce caloric warmth, from the con-
tact of atmospheric elements that are fast increasing into
power with the returning sun. This combination of favourable
circumstances for the production of aliment to plants forms
the grand secret to be discovered, and the great object to be
attained.

After the wheat is sown in autumn, straw may be placed on
the land in a quantity to cover the surface wholly and entirely,
and secured in its position by placing clods of the land on the
straw in places, to keep the covering from being moved by the
winds. On fine soils of land, clods may be wanting, when
branches and light timbers will preserve the straw in tlie posi-
tion, tUl the covering is flattened and partially decayed by the
weather. In northern climates the decay will soon be effected
by the rains, frosts, snows, aud thaws, which alternately pre-
vail, and a short provision will be required to fix the straws
iu position ; but in southern climes, the dry weather will
longer delay the rotting of the straw, and a longer provision
will be required. The covering of the straw on the ground
will protect the wheat from cold, and provide wannth to the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

335

young plants, which will be further promoted by the decay of
the earthy straws forming a manure, and very especially to
the seeds of grasses in the spring, after being torn into
shreds by the harrows, mixed with the pulverized soil, and
pressed into the ground by the roll. The result is much the
same as by laying the dung on the surface in February or
March, as before detailed.

Farm-yard dung in a state of decomposition on the surface
of the ground, or partly covered in the soil, is placed iu a very

favoural)le situation for the purpose of aifording shelter and
warmth to the plants and to the ground, and of provoking
the combinations of terrestrial and atmospheric elements to
produce aeriform matters, which are very justly supposed to
constitute a large portion of the food of plants. When dung
is whoUy covered in the ground, its agency is much restricted
from want of the necessary adjuncts to promote the effect.

J. D.

THE MALT - TAX.
DEPUTATION TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.

On Tuesday, March 8, a numerous deputation from the
Chambers of Agriculture had an interview with the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, in Downing-street, on the sub-
ject of the malt-tax. The deputation was introduced by
Colonel TomUne, M.P. ; and among the members of Par-
liament who accompanied it were tlie following : — Earl
Percy, Mr. J. Howard, Major Paget, Mr. Neville -Grenville,
Mr. M. W. Ridley, Mr. E. Turner, Mr. M. E. Welby^
Colonel Co bett, Mr. C. Sykes, Lord Claud John Hamilton,
Mr. Sewell Read, Sir Montague Cholmoudeley, Colonel
WUmot, Colonel Gilpin, Lieut.- Colonel C. Amcotts, Lieut.-
Colonel Parker, Mr. J. Figgins, Sir George Jenkinson,
Bart., Mr. R. Paul Amphlett, Sir W. BuUer, the Hon. F.
Walpole, Sir Edmund Lacon, Colonel Barttelot, the Hon. E.
Miller, Viscount Holmesdale, Mr. T. Jilitford, Mr. Ormsby
Gore, Sir Percy Herbert, Mr. Rowland AVinn, Mr. H. C.
Wise, the Hon. Henniker-Major, Mr. Benyon, Mr. Beach,
Mr. Hildyard, Mr. W. Baker, Mr. J. Floyer, and Mr. G. B.
Gregory.

Colonel ToMLiNE, said : Sir, [I have the pleasure of
introducing to you a deputation from the Central Chamber of
Agriculture, composed of delegates from seventy-two Chambers
throughout England. Of course I shall say nothing to you
on this subject, because you understand it as weU as I do.

The Cha::^cellor of the Exchequer: Oh, no (laughter).

Colonel ToiiLiNE ; You understand it, tliough you don't
feel it as we do. I will only say one thing. A former Pre-
sident of the Board of Trade (Mr. Milner Gibson) said that
the incidence of the malt-tax was only 13| percent.; and
Mr. Gladstone, in a veiy intelligible speech, also gave us to
understand that that was his idea of the matter. Now, I
have barley which I should he happy to sell at 21s. Sd. per
quarter. If I wished to malt it, I must pay 2l3. 8d. duty,
and that is more than 12}j per cent. (Hear, hear). I observe
that Lord de Grey, in speaking the other day to a deputation
which waited upon him in reference to the education ques-
tion, remarked that at this moment political economy is being
taught in schools which are maintained out of the taxes,
adding that when such schools are maintained out of the
rates, political economy will no doubt be taught more exten-
sively than it is now. From what I know of the gentlemen in
the provinces I feel sure that they will be reluctant to pay
rates for such political economy as consists in taxing one of
the three paying crops, under the four-course system of agri-
culture, 100 per cent. The secretary will now read the me-
morial, sir, and hand to you a list of the names of the gentle-
men who have to speak.

The Secretary then read as follows :—

To THE Right Honourable the Chancellor of the
Exchequer.

Sir, — At a meeting, this day, of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture, representing seventy-two Cliambers of Agricul-
ture in forty counties of England and Wales, with a total con-
stituency of seventeen thousand members, the present dequta-
tion was instructed to lay before you the following points with
reference to the Excise duty on malt.

(1) The malt tax is prejudicial to tlie agricultural interest,
because it iiderferes with the most Temunerutiue rotations of
crops, and limits the growth of harley. In particular, the
operatiQit of the didy di^Qwrages the growth of second-cUm

and medium quality barleys. Taking high class barley as
worth 40s. per quarter, barley that will produce one-fifth less
strength and quahty in beer should be worth 32s. per quarter,
but owing to the payment of a heavy duty, which is not on an
ad valorem scale, the maltster cannot afford to give for that
barley anything like so much. The better barley at 40s.,
together witli the duty, 21s. 8d., costs 61s. 8d. per quarter as
malt, and the lower class barley, being of one-fifth less merit,
is worth as malt 49s. 4d. per quarter. Of this sum 21s. 8d.
goes for duty, leaving, therefore, only 27s. 8d. as the price given
to tlie farmer for barley worth, according to its intrinsic value,
4s. 4d. more.

This virtual bounty upon first quality barleys operates as
a fine upon high farming, for the production of very heavy and
proUfic crops is incompatible with the preservation of the most
superior quaUty for malting purposes.

(2) By the Excise 'restrictions farmers are deprived of
source of profit in their business from the me of malt and
sprouted (j rain as food for animals.

By the simple and inexpensive process of germinating,
farmers could convert their medium and inferior barleys into a
valuable food containing 20 per cent- more of flesh-forming con-
stituents and 100 per cent, more of sugar than tlie raw grain ;
while it is calculated that this most nutritious food would cost
the farmer only one-half as much as the same barley made
into malt and charged with duty.

The farmer is prohibited froui using his own germinate g
grain, and thus protecting himself lo a large extent against Ih
adulterated feeding-stuff's which now victimise him in the
market. The English' farmer is placed at a disadvantage as
compared with the foreign farmer, who is free to use ger-
minated grain without payment of duty, and to compete in our
meat markets against liome produce, which the English
farmer may not rear and fatten by the same means. J/;-.
Gladstone's Malt for Cattle Act is inoperative, because of
tlie expensive and wasteful character of the feeding mixtures
which alone it permits to be used, and because of the ob-
structive and vexatious conditions which it imposes.

(3) The incidence of the tax falls with peculiar pressure upon
the labouring classes, artificially enhancing the price of the
national beverage, thereby encouraging the use of unwhole-
some and deleterious compounds, and interfering with cottage
brewing, and with the comforts, habits, and morals of the
poorer fauiihes. It is respectfully submitted that the heavy
apportionment of this tax upon the labouring classes is ap-
parent from a comparison with the duties on tea and coffee.

According to the inquiries of the Board of Inland Rerenue
in 1857, and the recent statistics of Mr. Dudley Baxter, the
annual consumption by the working classes is — of the tea 31b.
per head, and of cofi'ee lib. per head, the average selling prices
of these articles being 2d. 8d. and Is. 5d. per pound respec-
tively, and the annual expenditure upon them, therefore,
9s. 5d. per head. If a repeal of the Gd. per pound duty on tea,
and of the 3jd. per pound duty on roasted coffee, were to
lower the average retail prices possibly to 2s. and Is. respec-
tively, there would be a saving of 2s. 5d. per head in the an-
nual expenditure of the working classes.

Of beer, the ' temperate consumption' by the working
classes appears, from the investigations of Mr. Dudley Baxter,
to average twenty gallons per head per annum, which is less
than half a pint per head per day ; and taking the average

336

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

retail price at Is. 4d. per fjallon, the annual expenditure is
36s. 8d. per head. If, as Mr. Gladstone admitted in the year
1865, the price of beer is raised by the malt duty 20 per cent,
above the natural price, a repeal of the duty would save the
working classes 4s. 5d. per head per annum. Hence, a repeal
of the £3,000,000 of tea and coffee du'^ies, or a reduction of
£3,000,000 in the malt duty (which would be about half Ihe
impost), would alike relieve the working classes to about tiie
same amount per head. And if the tea and coffee duties are
specially oppressive upon the poorer classes of the community,
so, therefore, must be the malt tax.

Tliis is arguing from Mr. Gladstone's estimate that the
operation of the malt duty raises the price of beer only 20
per cent. But in another part of this paper are stated reasons
for believing that the natural price is raised by the tax very
much more than 20 per cent.

(i). In the opinion of this deputation the question of
freeing malt liquors from taxation should be entirely dis-
associated fromtliat of lightening the taxation upon spirituous
liquors.

(5). In the absence of an important reduction or total re-
peal of the malt-tax, great relief would be afforded to agricul-
turists by transferring the incidence of the burden from malt
to beer.

(6). If is suhnitted that any supposed clifficnliy of levying
£6,500,000 directly upon beer, hy hremers' licences or olher-
vnse, is not to he compared wilh the great loss to ooiisiimers
arising from the cmnnlatire incidence of the malt dnty.

From the evidence of Mr. Carling, of the Board of Inland
Revenue, before the Select Committee of the House of Com-
mons, it appears that the cost of the barley and hops for pro-
ducing beer of the strength of four barrels to the imperial
quarter averages about 4-jd. upon each gallon of beer, that the
cost of converting the barley into malt is Ofd. upon each gal-
lon of beer, and that the duty, if levied directly upon the ma-
nufactured product, would average Ifd. per gallon, making a
total cost for materials, malting, and duty of 6fd. per
gallon. The "selling price of such beer is Is. per gallon,
and as the difference between this and the sum of 6fd. per gal-
lon— amounting to ofd. out of the shilling — cannot be ac-
counted for as the cost of brewing and as profits, a consi-
derable proportion of this difference must represent an abso-
lute loss occasioned by the operation of the duty.

It further appears, from a calculation of Mr. Joshua
Fieldeu, M.P. — which the Select Committee reported to be,
in their opinion, based upon a correct principle — that the
pressure of the duty increases at every stage of the trade and
manufacture in about the following proportions : The malt-
ster, paying the tax of 21sd. 8., requires 5 per cent, interest
and 10 per cent, profit for this portion of his capital invested,
and charges the brewer 21s. lid. ; the brewer, requiring also
15 per cent, upon this expenditure, charges the retailer 28s.
8d. ; and the retailer recovers from the consumer this amount
with 10 per cent, added for his profit, making the total tax paid
by the consumer 31s. 6d., for 21s. 8d. actually accruing to the
revenue. Thus, according to this estimate, the amount of
malt duty paid by consumers is £9,425,000, for £6,500,000
received by tlie revenue, showingau absolute loss of £2,925,000,
or 45 percent, upon tl\e duty collected.

It appears, moreover, that the payment of the malt duty
by brewers in the same way that the commuted hop duty is
now charged, namely, by a licence duty, calculated according
to the quantity of malt or the equivalent of malt used, would
be a positive gain to the brewer ; for, according to these
figures, which are approximately, though not strictly correct,
they would buy malt 24s. lid. per qr. cheaper, owing to the
abolition of the malt duty and of the maltster's interest and
profit upon it, and would pay 21s. 8d. per qr. in licence duty,
showing a saving of 3s. 3d. per qr.

The gain to the consumer is made apparent by following
out Mr. rielden's illustration of the principle upon which the
malt-tax operates. The retailer, having henceforth to repay
the brewers' interest and profit upon21s. 8d., instead of upon
the larger sum, would charge his 10 per cent, profit upon '24s.
lid., instead of upon 28s. 8d., making the total tax paid by
the consumer 27s. 5d., instead of 31s. 6d. This is a gain to
the consumer of 4s. Id. per qr. of malt, from transferring the
incidence of the taxation from the stage of malting to that of
brewing, while still leaving the amount of revenue from this
source iit its present heavy figure.

In support of the opinion that an equivalent for the malt-
tax could be readily collected as licences on public and private
brewing, tlie Select Committee of the House of Commons
adduce the evidenc of Sir Charles Pressby, formerly Chairman
of the Board of Inland Revenue, and the evidence of Mr. C.
B. Forsey, Surveying General Examiner of Excise, reporting
that ' the former witness stated distinctly that there would be
no difficulty in raising a tax from private brewers :' while the
latter " could point out no insuperable difficulty in substituting
a brewers' licence in lieu of the malt-tax."

Mr. Rowley (Cheshire) said: Sir, I believe the duty
which I have to perform is that of showing the injury which
the malt-tax infiicts upon the farmer in the cultivation of the
soil by preventing him from making the largest quantity of
beef, mutton, and long wool that he can out of his occupation.
I have paid attention to this subject during the hist twenty
years, and I may remark that the malt-tax bears particularly
upon the case of Ireland. The Irish cultivators cannot, with
the climate they have to deal with, grow wheat in competition
witli foreign countries under free importations; hence tliey
are compelled to fall back upon the cultivation of oats and
barley. The barley produced in Ireland is not of the first
quality, and does not go to the maltster. Official returns
show that a large proportion of the Irish land which was
under cultivation twenty years ago has since gone out of cul-
tivation ; and it must continue in that position if the malt-tax
be not repealed or reduced. The Irish soil is very good, but
it cannot withstand this difllculty. I may state that friends of
mine, who went over to Ireland some years ago with the idea
of leasing large farms and of purchasing small properties,
came back and said they felt perfectly certain that if the malt-
tax were not repealed the land of Ireland must go out of
cultivation, and great numbers of the people leave the
country. This was stated twenty years ago, and it has been
borne out by what has occurred since. A Yorkshire gentle-
man, a friend of mine, purchased 800 acres of land in Ireland
to cultivate in the Norfolk fashion. That was ten years ago ;
and he has since told me that he could not grow wheat, that
his barley was not good enough for the maltster, and he had
now laid down the land for grass, and would be glad to sell
it. He said he felt perfectly certain that the Irish soil could
never be cultivated with the malt-tax. Since then the whiskey
dutj has been increased ; and the grain of Ireland which
sliould be used in the manufacture of a second quality of beer
cannot be so employed.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : I understand your
point to be that the tax limits the barley that is used for malt-
ing to the first quality ?

Mr. Rowley : Yes, it does, sir. Some years ago we were
advised as farmers to grow less corn and produce more beef
and mutton ; but the less corn we grow the less beef and
mutton is produced. The quantity of turnips grown in
Ireland is gradually becoming less, and it is a singular fact
that an acre of turnips will produce as much money value
in meat and wool as the best acre of grass in the kingdom
(cries of " More "). Tfie turnips produced in Ireland are an
inferior class. Grass land which produces 20 stones of meat
per acre — it must be very good land indeed to do that — will
let for £3 an acre ; while turnip land which produces the same
money value in mutton and wool averages from 25s. to 30s. an
acre. A good crop of turnips will feed eight sheep per acre,
and they va ill lay half-a-stone per quarter upon themselves ;
making altogether 16 stones. You have eight good fleeces at
10s. apiece, and all this makes more money than the best grass
land. I have no doubt that the result of the present state of
things, if it continue, will be that Irish land will almost go
out of cultivation, simply because the corn crops do not pay.

The CiiANCEHOii of the Exchequer : Let me understand
you ; I am not very clever about these things. "What you
mean is that the land would produce an inferior kind of barley,
but that it does not pay to grow it because of the malt tax —
tiiat in the rotation that would, but for the malt tax, have been
the best crop ?

Mr. Rowley : Yes.

Mr. May (Staffordshire) : The gentleman who has preceded
me comes from the North of England ; I come from the Mid-
land Counties, and can fully bear out all that he has said with
regard to tlie irregularity of the cropping which this tax causes
to us. It is well knovyn tiiat the jirice of wheat is degeue-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

337

ratiug. The removal of tlie last shilling of las on corn im-
ports has made England one vast granary ; and the piobability
is that in future we sliall always liave a stock of wheat at our
ports, as we liave at this moment, to be pushed into our markets
M'henever there is an advance sufficient to pay tlie importer.
In consequence of that the men who have been disturbed in
growing barley, as in the case of tlie hop, will not be able to
grow wlieat. If wheat is to be at the present price, or any-
tiiing like it, even with a fair crop, we shall not know what to
do with our land. And there is this anomaly in the present year
that, with a very small produce, something like 20 per cent, less
than the average, we have very low prices. It seems to me,
then, but right that every facility should be given to us to make
tlie best of a single crop, which is barley, and limited in its
growth. AVheat, oats, beans, and peas are imported freely from
all parts of the world ; whereas barley has only a limited area ;
and, that being so, why should we not be allowed to grow the
crop that we can grow best ?

The CuA^'CELLOR of the Exciiequek,: You mean that no
country can compete with us in barley ; and that English
barley is the best in the world ?

Mr. May : It is so. Supposing our barley not to be of a
good colour it will not be sold for malting ; the maltster w'ill
not touch such barley, and in our neighbourhood it is seldom
that vi'e get the whole crop good. I have been a farmer for
2-5 years, and only in 5 years have I sold the whole of my crop
of barley for malting purposes. Two of those 5 years were
the last two, both of which were very hot ; and it appears to
be only an act of justice to place us at least in the same position
as the foreiguer. The time has arrived, we think, when we
ought to have our hands loosened from these trammels, and be
allowed to do what we like with our own produce.

The CIIA^■CELLOR of the Exchequer : How do you con-
sider that you are worse off than the foreigner P

Mr. May : Because we cannot grow what he can. Wheat
is the main produce of our heavy soils — clay and marl.

The CiiANC'ELLORof the'_ExciiEQ,UER : Do you think, then,
that barley ought to be set free in order to enable you to
compete with those foreign countries where wheat is
grown ?
■^ Mr. May : Yes, and I think we might export malt. For

wliy should we not send it abroad, if we can grow better than
they P

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : Is there anything
tliat prevents you from doing so now ?

Mr. May: Yes ; the malt tax.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : But you get the
drawback.

Mr. May : True ; but the great difficulty is with the malt-
ster. He turns away from it, if we show a stained sample.
Mr. Bass, I see, recommends the growth of barley after wheat,
but good farmers will tell you that two white crops in succes-
sion are not good farming. So that we are placed in this
dilemma ; that we cannot do what we wish with our own pro-
duce, and if you would take off this tax I am convinced that
it would not only confer upon us as agriculturists a decided
advantage but be a benefit to the whole country.

Mr. Seaman (Essex) : Experience has taught me, sir, that
grain in a state of germination just previously to being carried
to the malt kiln is by far the most nutritious and the quickest
fat-former of any substance, whether single or combined food,
whatever. During the past 15 years I have conducted experi-
ments on a considerable scale. Eor the first 5 years of that
period my experiments were confined to horses, and they
brought me to the conclusion that if ever Englishmen became
liippophagists I should have no difficulty in producing an
abundance of horseflesh. In 1861 I turned to feeding sheep
with this grain.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : What grain?

Mr. Seaman : This (producing a sample bottle of ger-
minated barley). I used it for a number of ewss and lambs,
my success was very great indeed. Eor there was not a
single death during the whole of the lambing season, although
I had something like three hundred ewes, and it is a very
common thing for people to lose 10 per cent, of their ewes,
and not an uncommon thing to lose 20 per cent, of their
lambs, especially in seasons when they have not a supply of
suitable food. From 1S61 the consumption of germinated
barley increased in ray neighbourhood, until in the year 1865
there were something like a thousand sheep feeding upoii it,

within an area of ten miles of my residence. This was in tlie
summer of 1865, when there was scarcely a blade of grass to
be seen ; when our grass fields were hke ploughed fields, and
nothing could be obtained so suitable for the sheep as this ;
for they fattened very fast upon it, and produced an immense
quantity of meat. In the month of June, 1865, mutton
chops were worth 15d.a pound, and there were scarcely any
grasses and roots to be had of any kind ; whilst linseed cake
was £12 10s. per ton, and barley was wortli only £8 per ton.
This immense quantity of meat was being produced in that
neighbourhood when its price was 15d. a pound, and the Times
wrote that, so far as meat was concerned, famine was at our
doors ; at that critical juncture I ireceived an order from the
Excise not to feed any more sheep upon this grain. About
the same time the result of Mr. Lawes's experiments came
before the world, and its effect was to lead to the belief that
raw grain was superior to malt ; but I must tell you that
amongst all Mr. Lawes's experiments there was not one in
which malt or barley was used alone, for if there had been
Mr. Lawes would have been obliged to insert an extra column
in his report for the sheep which had died from the use of
raw grain, because raw grain is a deadly poison for sheep if
they are permitted to consume it ad Uh'dttm.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer: Any sort of
grain ?

Mr. Seaman: Wheat and barley. Many farmers said,
" Well, if raw grain is as good as malted, it must be as harm-
less ;" so they began to use raw grain on the faith of Mr.
Lawes's experiments on the feeding of sheep, and the result was
in many cases a loss of fifty per cent. This gerlninafed
grain undergoes a cliange before it enters the body of the
animal.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : By fermentation ?

Mr. Seaman : Yes ; and the noxious element being
destroyed, the sheep can feed upon it, as 1 said, ad lihUi'in,
and produce an immense quantity of meat. For example, two
lbs. of germinated barley will produce three lbs. of mutton per
week on each sheep, and that without mixing linseed cake
with it. In fact, no other food is required to be mixed witii
it, and now that we have sucli enormous importations of
maize, wheat, and barley, I have no hesitation in saying,
should an almighty fiat go forth to take away from us our green
crops, our peas and our beans, there would be enough maize,
wheat and barley supplied to prevent meat from being dealer
than it is now.

Mr. Gardner (Essex) : I am able to support what my
friend says on every point ; and have to hand you a sample of
germinated barley cooked and prepared for food.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : Is that pure ?

Mr. Gardner : Yes ; and now I hand you another, wliich
you see is composed of leather, /ags, fibres, and hair. It shows
you how we are victimised in our cake.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (holding up what ap-
peared to boa strip of leather about six inches in length) : Is
this what you are supposed to give your beasts as cake to eat ?

Mr. Gardner : Yes, and we should not be in that position
if we had the opportunity of making our own food.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : Wliat is this first
sample ?

Mr. Gardner : That is germinated barley cooked on the
malt-kiln.

Tlie Chancellor of the Exchequer : Without linseed ?

Mr. Gardner : Yes, or anything else. This is malt, so
called ; but it would not suit tlie purpose of the brewers to
buy it.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : It is made from
an inferior kind of barley ?

Mr. Gardner : Yes, and the tax on that barley is not less
than £6 Is. per ton.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer: Tlic tax on the
malt that a ton will produce ?

Mr. Gardner: The barley this malt is made from I can
purchase in the market at £6 Is. a ton, and if I convert it into
cattle food at the duty of 21s. 8d. per quarter, the tax brings
up the price of this valuable cattle food to £13 15s. a ton.
What the malt tax does is to prevent me and all my brother
farmers from making use of the grain which we grow for the
purpose of producing meat.

Mr. WiiiTWELL (Peterborough) : I wish to say a few words on
behalf of the labourers. At present they may as a class be said

338

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to have no beer; I have seen many of them with tlieir bread and
bit of cold meat, and nothing but water or a little weak tea or
coffee to wash it down ; and ifanybody supposes that they drink
that from clioice, he has only to take a bottle containing a pint
or so of beer for each labourer before him to see that he is
delighted at the prospect of having something wliich lie does
not very often get. I must say that if the malt-tax were
repealed, the labourer who cultivates a small quantity of land
would be able to turn the little produce of his garden
or allotment, which is often barley in the rotation, into malt.
If tliere were no restrictions he could easily get it malted, and
he and his family, instead of having no beer from one week's
end to another, might have a quart a day. Thus tlie labourer
would be kept at home, and tlie public-house would be com-
pelled to sell a better article in order to attract customers. I
consider that the position of the agricultural labourers has not
occupied sufficient attention in reference to tlie malt tax. It
should be remembered that the labourer has very few articles
of food. As a rule he has only bread, cheese, and a little
meat to eat, and the everlasting tea or cold water to assuage
his thirst in summer. If beer were added to the list he would
bless the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The CII^^'CELLOR of the Excueqitee : I should like to
ask a question. Supposing it were possible to transfer the col-
lection of the tax from the maltster to the brewer, do I under-
stand that that would be considered — of course it would not
be as good as taking'it off altogether — a great relief ? (Several
voices : " Yes.")

Sir G. Je>-kinson, M.P. : It would set free the farmers to
use his produce for feeding his animals.

The C^.v^'CELLOR of the Exchequer : Do the gentlemen
liere present think that the inferior kinds of barley would then
be more available for that purpose ?

Exclamations of " Decidedly."

Mr. BiDDELL (Suffolk) : The malt-tax bears most oppres-
sively upon the labourer who brews for himself and his family.
I know that the practice of cottage brewing at the time of
harvest has been denied ; but I have gone round among the
homes of a number of labourers in my employment, and have
found them engaged in brewing. For the last twenty years
cottage brewing has in fact been the rule in my neighbour-
hood. Independently of tlie malt which, as employers, we give
at the time of harvest, every labouring man brews two bushels
of malt in the year, which would cost at the present time 18s.,
or 9s. a bushel. The other day I sold barley in Ipswicli market
at 4s. a bushel, which would have made as good malt as the
labourers use, and from the evidence given years ago before the
committee which sat on the subject Is. a bushel would be
ample for the malting. And yet with tliese two bushels of malt
the labourer would brew 288 pjuts of beer — that is something
like three-quarters of a pint a-day on the average. I ask you,
then, sir, to consider the labourer's case and to deal with it.
It appears to me that it is not fair or consistent with commer-
cial principles that he should be required to pay cent, per
cent, in the form or a tax on malt if he brews at his own
home. _

Mr. Lema>' said that if the tax were placed upon beer in-
stead of malt, that would give the same amount of revenue,
while the farmer would thus be relieved from the great incon-
venience under which he now suffers through the restrictions
with regard to malt.

Mr. Jasper More : I wish to observe, sir, with regard to
this question, that the deputation seem to me to be placed
rather in a difficulty. You are no doubt aware that previous
Chancellors of the Exchequer have asked similar deputations
to the present one, what substitute they could suggest for the
malt tax, and when they liave proposed one they have been
twitted with being amateur Chancellors of the Exchequer.

Tlie CiLVTsCELLOR of the EscnEQTJEK : That is a common
fault on these occasions.

Mr. J. More : We have felt, sir, that as there might be a
division of opinion on that point, the wisest course on this
occasion is to leave the question of providing a substitute for
the malt tax to you (cheers). As a member of the Malt Tax
Committee I beg to draw your attention to tlie evidence given
by the excise authorities who were examined before that com-
mittee.

The Chajicellor of the Exchequer : You allude to Mr.
ForseyandSir Charles Pressby, I have read the evidence.

Mr. J. Moore : Yes, they said that they regarded it as pos-

sible to draw the same amount of rent from other sources. 1
believe it would be a relief to tb.e farmers if the tax were trans-
ferred from the maltster to the brewer ; and I am prepared to
say that the farmers would consent to a tax being levied on
private brewing.

Mr. L\TniORE : Allow me, sir, to say a few words as an old
advocate of this cause. As far back as the year 1847 I formed
part of a deputation to Lord John Russell, when he was
Prime Minister, on this question. In 1849 a number of leading
mauufactuiers invited a deputation of farmers to discuss this
question with them in London. I had the honour of taking
part in the discussion, and the result was that tlie conference
declared that something was due to farmers, that their move-
ments were fettered, and that they had not then that fair play
to enable them to contend witli the unrestricted competition
of the world to which they were entitled. But these manu-
facturers mentioned one condition, they said : " If you will
help us to get rid of the agitation for the revival of protection, we
wUl help to free you from the fetters to which your industry and
occupation are subject." I am sorry to say that a portion of
the agriculturists did not at that period see their interests so
clearly as they do now ; but, the pressure of circumstances, the
comijctition of prices, the increase of wages, the vicissitudes of
seasons, and the introduction of disease by foreign cattle, have
devastated their property, if not emptied their purses ; and I
feel humiliated to think that 24 years after the deputation to
Lord John Russell, to which I have just alluded, when he
declared that he could not answer the arguments advanced in
favour of the total repeal of the malt-tax, there should be a
necessit)-, sir, of appealing to you to do what, in my opinion ,
ought to have been done by your predecessors. I want to say
one word about the tax if I have not wearied you already.

The Chaxcellor of the Exchequer : Oh, no.

Mr. Latihore : The other day Mr. Bass remarked as a
member of a deputation which waited upon you, that he con-
sidered that a duty of 3d. a barrel on beer was so infimtessi-
maUy small a tax, that he could not recoup himself for it
from his customers, and that a tax of 3s. or 4s. a barrel would
be required, that being something tangible.

The Chaxcellor of the Exchequer : Mr. Bass said the
other day, if you put the tax on beer, you may leave me alone
to get it out of my customers.

Mr. Latimore : I hope, sir, that this is the last occa-
sion on which any deputation will wait on a Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to bait him on this subject. It
seems to me exceedingly desirable that this tax
should be entirely abolished, because it fetters
industry and impedes cultivation, because of the evil effects
which are seen in the wan and discontented faces of the la-
bourers, and the manifest tendency of the tax to increase
drunkenness and adulteration. The temptation to adulteration
is greatly strenghened by such an impost. Beer is the natural
beverage of the agricultural labourer, and if malt were
free the result would be to do away with the incitement to
adulteration, and at the same time to diminish the temptationsto
excessive drinking. Something has been said to-day respecting
Mr. Lawes's experiments on the feeding of cattle with malt and
barley. I hold in my hand a copy of some comments of my
owTi on that subject. I went over Mr. Lawes's farm, and I
pointed out at once animals which had been fed on malt and
others which had been fed on barley. I must say that I can-
not regard Mr. Lawes as a good authority on the question of
using malt for feeding purposes. In the very year in which
his experiments were made he lost one-third of his lambs and
sheep for want of malt. Uis own shepherd admitted to me
with tears in his eyes tliat his master had lost a large propor-
tion of his flock for want of that very article which his master
persuaded the Government was not necessary for feeding.
While he was thus misleading the Goverment he had himself
just lost one-third of his flock for want of malt. Arguments
on this subject seem to me to have been exhausted. What I
rely upon is the imperishable principle of justice.
It is indisputable that agriculturists have suffered
in this m.atter partly from their own mistakes and partly
for want of honesty on the part of landowners who have
not been true to the tenants in reference to the malt-tax.
There would liave been no opposition scarcely to repeal
on the part of governments if the county members bad
all acted up to their duty and determined that this question
should be settled for ever ; and I need hardly say, sir, that im-

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

339

perishable honour will attach to the name of the minister who
shall remove the malt tax.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer : Well, gentlemen, I
will make one admission to you very cheerfully, aud that is
that it is quite impossible to levy a revenue approachiufj
£7,000,000 upon a sinpjle article of agricultural produce with-
out very much interfering with the cultivation of the land
and with the business of those who are etigaged in it.
It _ would be useless to attempt to conceal that state of
things. It is absolutely impossible that the tax should
not have a very great and very embarrassing eifect. That
cannot be doubted for a moment. I will make another ad-
mission : I think it is exceeding undesirable — perhaps in
taking this view I am influenced a little by early pre-
possessions and associations — that a large, most important,
most respectable, aud respected class like yourselves should
live in a state of chronic discontent, thinking itself ill-treated ;
and, therefore, nothing would give me greater pleasure than
to hit upon anything wliich might be in the least degree gratify-
ing or satisfactory to you in tliis matter, and which would not only
be of service to you, but also beneficial to the country at large.
I do not wish a great class like that to wliicli you belong, to
think that it is not well treated, because, although the feelings
which you entertain may be esuggerated, yet I believe you en-
tertain them honestly and truly. I do not wish any large
class like yours to consider that it is passed by, or neglected,
or not treated as fairly as anybody else. Of course, as to taking
off the malt-tax, I must tell you frankly, that the thing is
simply impossible ; and for this reason, that aU our duties on
fermented and spirituous liquors hang together. Even suppos-
ing it were in my power, supposing, that is, I had the means of
doing it pecuniarily, still I could not recommend it, because that
would immediately shake the whole foundation, upon which
rest some £15,000,000, raised upon spirits. We cannot look
at these things separately, we must look at them as a whole ;
and, therefore, it would be vain for me to hold out any
hope of that kind. Whether we may be able to reduce the
duty is another question. Do not imagine that I should look

upon reduction unfavourably ; on the contrary, I should be very
glad if ii were in my power to reduce it. A.s to the views
which you have placed before me to-day, they shall be most
carefully considered ; and I do not say that as a mere matter
of courtesy, by way of sending the deputation away from this
room in a good humour. We shall look into the thing as
minutely and carefully as we can ; and I am bound to say
tliat if we can find any means of putting whatever duty we
collect upon a later stage of the manufacture, upon beer in-
stead of malt, nothing would give me greater gratification
than to propose that. Of course there are great dilliculties in
the way, and one difficulty is the question of the private
brewers, and how to deal with them (Several Voices : " Li-
cences"). But I could not take a licence-duty from a la-
bourer.

The Rev. E. Smytiiies : You take one for dogs.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer -. The next objection
is, that you would be liable to fraud, inasmuch as people would
make any excuse in order to undersell others (A Voice :
"You might send them to gaol"). Well, the whole case is
full of difficulty. I don't say that anything can be done.
Don't go away with an impression that I make any promise
to you. All I can say is that we are now looking, and we shall
look, carefully into the question ; and if we can hit upon any
means by which we can set your industry more free, and re-
dress the matters of which you complain — and it seems to me
that your complaints are exceedingly fair and reasonable — it
wiU afford us great pleasure to do it. On the other hand, if
it cannot be done, I shall endeavour to give good reasons for
not doing it ; and it will not be for waut of good-will, but
because we find it impossible to do it. More than that I can-
not say.

Col. ToJiLiNE : I am sure the deputation will agree \vith
me that our thanks are due to the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer for the manner in which he has received it.

The interview, which occupied about three-quarters of au
hour, then terminated.

THE IRISH LAITD QUESTION.

The great fight of the Session has already ended in no
fight at all. The wholesome influence of an Opposition
has come in this matter to the Opposition exercising no
influence whatever. Four evenings have been occupied in
dull and almost unprofitable debate, aud some dozen or
so of members have declared themselves not satisfied with
the Irish Land Bill. Most reasoning men had long since
arrived at a dii'cctly difi'erent conclusion. The Premier,
in fact, had in the very outset carried the country with
him ; and, if never Quixotic enough to expect to trau-
quilize all Ireland, those best qualified to judge will best
know how w'ell Mr. Gladstone has succeeded. As we said
when he first made his statement, " of all the pamphlets,
essays, letters, or reports we had met with, there was
none to compare with that address." Nevertheless, the
measure is essentially Irish in its tone, many of its pro-
visions being thoroughly inapplicable to any other part of
the tinited Kingdom, as no doubt for this very cause its
value is the greater. It was a special case that required
special treatment, aud nothing probably would create
more dismay than any attempt to establish so exceptional
a remedy as a precedent in other places. Mr. Samuelson,
a gentleman whose very name in some degi'ce identifies
him with Agriculture, said he " regarded the Bill as a
most important step in a course of legislation which he
believed would be both a benefit to Ireland and to the
Empire at large." From the context here one would be
inclined to gather that the Irish Land Bill might furnish
the framework, or its principle be extended to [other
occupations where there has so far been no experience of
such peculiar usages. Whereas, nothing would promise

to be more pernicious. The demarcation Hue be-
tween Ireland and rest of the United Kingdom, or
even of the Continent, in the way of land tenure
could scarcely be drawn more strongly than by
the ocean itself. As we have previously endeavoured to
show, there may have gradually grown some reason for
the recognition of Good Will, for Security which almost
amounts to Fixity of tenure, and so forth. There may be
right and jitstice in maintaining a race of cottier farmers,
or in allowing to tenants something of the position of
proprietors ; but all such Custom has come more as a
matter of necessity or of expediency rather than of sound
policy, aud the lesson which we learn is that we caunot
too carefully avoid the encouragement of these practices
elsewhere.

So far, indeed, as England is concerned, the dis-
cussion might be forgotten forthwith, saving, perhaps,
but for one speech of remarkable practical ability.
It was only last year, if we remember aright, that Mr.
Henry Chaplin, a new member of the Commons, fairly
took the House by storm when touching on another
phase of the Irish difficulty. There was not so much
scope now ; the subject was not one of so much general
interest, but the honourable member for Lincolnshire has
by no means disappointed his early promise, and it may
be, possibly, because he is one of the members for Lin-
colnshire that he has on this occasion done so well. lie
is one of the few, one of the very few, who have essayed
to compare the two systems of tenure with anything like
success, and in doing so he has been able to speak with an
air of singular authority. Mr, Chaplin is not only a

840

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

county member, but a country gentleman ; a large landed
proprietor in Lincolnshire, upon whose own estates the
English Tenant Right principle has demonstrated its
use°aud worth. That, if anything comes consequentially
from the adjustment of the Irish land question, there will
be the more general establishment and appreciation
of the English Tenant-right ("ustom is already sulticiently
evident. More and more attention is being called to this
matter ; people with a prejudice grounded in ignorance are
beginning to educate themselves, very possibly on the in-
centive that it may be as well to know something of
English as of Irish Customs. ^len like ^Ir. Caird may
have persistently ridiculed or confounded the English
Tenant Ixight, and others, takiugthecue, have more recently
spoken to "that old oflender," Custom of Country. But
the time for this sort of thing is rapidly passing awaj^,
when every man who knows anything of English agricul-
ture, when every man who reads him or heard him will
testify to the excellence of Mr. Henry Chaplin's speech.
And it was in this wise that he spoke : " In England es-
pecially in those parts of the country where agriculture was
carried to the highest perfection, there was something
which was entirely wanting in Ireland — namely, a
marked, distinct, and accurate system, capable of being
enforced at law, assuring the tenant that he would be
amply repaid for everything that he had laid out in the
cultivation of the soil in the event of his being ejected from
his farm. He would take as an instance the Custom that
prevailed in the county which he had the honour of re-
presenting— and he did not think he should be accused of
undue partiality when he asserted that his county stood
pre-eminent for the excellence of its cultivation. In no
county was the science of farming carried to such perfec-
tion, or capital more liberally expended upon the soil, and
nowhere was the identity of interest between landlord and
tenant more fully recognised, or were more cordial and
kindly feelings entertained between them. And yet this
was a county where leases for a term of years were prac-
tically unknown, or, at all events, were very rare. It
would merely weary the House were he to enter into
details with respect to the various arrangements. They
were many, and necessarily so, because in themselves the
operations of farming were of a very multitudinous cha-
racter. Vnder those arrangements compensation was am-
])ly provided for everything that could be laid out in fair
farming, the amount of compensation to be paid being
fixed by a valuer or valuers, and a third party being called
in to act as umpire if necessary. So simple was that ope-
ration, and so well known its results, that an appeal to law
or a dispute scarcely ever arose; and not the least advan-
tage of the system was that it applied with e(iual effect to
small or large farms. By this means security of tenure
and its attendant beneficial results were attained ; and
althougli no man could more heartily acknowledge than
he did the cordial and kindly feelings mutually
entertained with respect to each other by the land-
lords and the tenants, yet in his judgment those feelings
were mainly due to the uniform operation of the just and
effectual system of Tenant Right to which he had
referred."

Can anything be clearer than this ? There are people
who will tell you that a tenant who farms on a yearly
agreement has nothing more than a blind conlidence in
his landlord, that he has to depend on good-feeling which
may be destroyed in a moment, that this is not business,
and so on. But Mr. Chaplin, on the contrary, shows us
that this /s business, and that nowhere do landlord and
tenant do better than where such an arrangement is in
force. It may be useful, in truth, to compare the clear,
concise, and straightforward phrase in which Mr. Chajjlin
puts the advantages of his Tenant Right with the half-
hot and half-cold air with which jNIr. Sewell Read ap-

pi'oaches the subject : "The custom as between landlord
and tenant in Ireland was, as far as he could learn, pre-
cisely the same as in England, the difference, if any at all,
being in favour of the Irish tenant. There were, for in-
stance, more leases in Ireland, and when the Attorney-
General talked about Derbyshire and Lincolnshire Tenant
Right, he would merely observe in reply, that in the
large majority of counties in England there was no
Tenant Right at all, and that in Norfolk no shadow of a
custom of that kind existed. Irish members might,
however, say, 'You have covenants in Norfolk, which we
look upon in the light of a compensation for unexhausted
improvements.' Those, however, constituted simply a re-
servation which was made by the landlord for his own
benefit and the benefit of the estate, so that the outgoing
tenant should at the expiration of his tenancy leave the roots
and hay and straw to be paid for at a certain valuation."
It would be difficult to say from this whether Mr. Sewell
Read would wish to see the Lincolnshire principle extended
or not. As reported the honourable member would almost
seem to imply that as they had not got Tenant Right in
Norfolk they did not want to have it ; especially as the
custom is "precisely the same between landlord and
tenant in Ireland as it is in England." That is, of
course, precisely the same tvii/i a difference. There ai"e
some features or claims which no doubt resemble each
other, but it is simply preposterous to assume that the
Customs are anything like identical. Proportionately,
indeed, as Mr. Chaplin is happy in distinguishing the
two systems, does ISIr. Sewell Read conti'ive to confound
them. He talks of English and Irish in the same breath,
with a kind of running accompanyment of indifference to
either. " He did not mean to say that the English sys-
tem was right and the Irish wrong," and so forth. In
almost every respect jNIr. Chaplin's is by far the more
masterly disquisition of the tw'o. He not merely defines
the merits of the Lincolnshire Customs, but he proceeds
to show in striking contrast the many objections which
an Englishman must hold against the usages that have
sprung up in Ireland. "We can only repeat it would be
advisable to keep the two systems as distinct as possible ;
with one we should have nothing to do, while with the
other it is clear that we shall have more to do. In so
long a discussion, however, some comparison between the
two would naturally crop up ; but until Mr. Chapliu spoke
the English principle was never fairly represented.
There are, indeed, so far as British agiicnlture elsewhere
than in Ireland is concerned, but two speeches in the de-
bate that are worth dwelling upon. If we may dismiss
some other authorities with or rather without a word
we must give Lord Elcho almost equal credit with Mr.
Chapliu. If the one was the champion of improved
farming in England, the other as ably spoke to any ad-
vancement in Scotland ; while both arrived at the same
conclusion from their several experiences as to the inevit-
able wretchedness which must arise from the cottier sys-
tem of either tenure or proprietorship.

Within the last few years or months every reasonable
right has been conceded to the Irish, and with the ground
thus cleared, the one remaining duty of the Government
must be to meet disaft'ectiou with as rigorous a rule as the
necessity requires.

Mr. C. S. HEAD had never doubted, when once he had
heard the principle on which the Bill was founded, that it
would be his duty, as well as his desire, to support the second
reading. Jle kuew that under the Bill certain riglits of the
landlord were abrogated ; but those rights had been so long
in abeyance that they were of little pecuniary value, and if you
could not enforce your rights it did not signify wliether you
possessed them or not. New rights, however, would be created,
and the remedies of a good landlord against a bad tenant was

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ut

30 Simple that he believed, ou the whole, landlords iii Ireland
would be gainers rather than losers by the Bill. As to the
Ulster tenant-right, he thought the Government had used a
merciful consideration iu not extending it all over Ireland.
As a tenant farmer, lie knew no right so stupid and, at the
same time, so unjust. It was stupid, because it professed to
give a man an interest iu the land, whereas it really made him
bury his capital during the whole time of his occupation, and
in all probability prevented him from cultivating the land as
he should cultivate it. Then, too, in selling the goodwill of
the farm he was selling that which he had no right to sell,
and, therefore, the custom was unjust. It was wise, also, on
the part of the Government not to attempt to define that
■which they really could not define. There were so many
varieties of the custom, not only in the Province but in the
same parishes, and even on the same estates, that it would have
been impossible to define what Ulster tenant-right was. He
supposed the Bill left things.'exactly as they were ; but if leases
had been given at a reasonable rent for the express purpose of
abolishing the right, that stipulation should not be made void ;
and, again, if a landlord had bought out the tenant-right, a
new tenant should not be able to claim a right of seven years'
occupation as he would do, if ejected, under Clause 2. He
hoped, also, that if a tenant had made a bad bargain, by giving
twice or thrice as much for the tenant-right as it was worth,
he would not be at liberty to turn round upon his landlord
and so recoup himself. Cordially approving the definition
of what was to be regarded as an improvement, he was glad
that the presumption in favour of the landlord as to improve-
ments should cease, and that there should be compensation for
retrospective improvement ; but there should be some limit
of time as to these, and, even in the case of reclamation of
land avid buildings, 20 years back ought to be sufficient to
recoup anyone for what had been done. Moreover, the tenant
and not the landlord should be called upon to prove who were
at the expense of retrospective improvements. His sympa-
thies were, of course, with the Irish farmer ; but he could
not see the justice of the clf.use under which the Irish
farmer was to be paid for interruption of tenancy. If the
tenant had expended any money, and his prospects were in-
^ terfered with, he should be paid to the full ; but it was not
easy to see why he should be paid for interruption of occu-
pancy ; and, admitting that he should, there was a chance, as
the Bill stood, that lie who lost most would get least. Tor
example, if one man rented a cheap farm at £5 a-year, and
another rented a similar farm at doable the money, tbe one
man would be paid £70 and the other only £35. As to a
small farmer, he would receive much less injury than a large
farmer. A holder of three or four acres of land would be
all the better for being made an agricultural labourer, whereas
there was no more miserable being than a broken-down farmer
of 100 or 200 acres. In England, if you did not make him
relieving officer, or surveyor to one of the new highway
boards, or put him into some other office for which he was
not at all fit, he speedily became a candidate for the Royal
Agricultural Benevolent Institution. Under the Bill, the small
holder, if ejected, would receive money with which he might
emigrate or seek employment elsewhere ; and as it was now
the almost universal rule in Ireland to give money to an
ejected tenant of this description, the Bill merely legalized
a custom. The hon. member (Mr. Samuelson) had quoted
from Dr. Voelcker as to small farmers iu Belgium ; but he
should have quoted the conclusion of the writer, that their
earnings were lower than those of an agricultural labourer.
He (Mr. Read) was greatly in favour of agricultural leases,
which ought to be given in all cases where you could find an
enterprising and a wealthy tenant ; but indiscriminate leases
in small holdings would be an injury rather than a benefit.
He was told that the Irish people repudiated the provision
in the Bill that agricultural leases of thirty-one years were to
stop litigation. If that were so, the Irish were the most un-
reasonable people in the world ; and if a landlord said to a
man, " I will give you a thirty years' lease, with compensation
for unexhausted improvements, at a rent which cannot be ex-
travagant, because it must be submitted to the court," and
the tenant was still dissatisfied, he (Mr. Read) would not try
to make him satisfied. Would it not be well that at the ex-
piration of the thirty years those parties should be treated
more as civilized beings, and should be allowed to contract
themselves out of the provisions of the Bill ? There was one

remark which he wished also to make on that portion of the
measure which related to the creation of small freeholders.
It would not, in his opinion, answer, because it could not be
made to pay. Poets, politicians, and philosophers always
looked on small freeholders as a very happy class of men ; but
he regarded them, as a rule, as most miserable ; and it would
not, he thought, do to try to b^lster up a system which was
gradually dying out merely because it did not pay. If a man
happened to be the owner of 100 or 200 acres of land which
he farmed himself, he invariably found that he could not make
above three per cent, on the money which was invested in
the fee-simple, whereas he could make eight or ten per cent,
if he invested as a tenant. The result was that he sold his
land when he could, and became a farmer on a larger scale.
He might illustrate his argument by his own case. He was a
little freeholder, and he had a small farm which he let, while
he rented a large one. If it were not for the law of entail
he should sell the little freehold ; and he might observe, in
passing, that when persons talked about the law of entail ope-
rating to keep large estates together, they should remember
that several small estates were protected by that law from
being snapped up by some large proprietor. lie must express
his most cordial concurrence with the right hon. and learned
gentleman, the member for the University of Dublin, when
he said that what Ireland wanted was not so much the creation
of a peasant proprietary as a greater number of landed gentry.
It struck him that in that country there was no middle
class. Tliere were the owners of very large estates and
small squireens ; tremendous land-agents in Dublin, with
their oflices all over the country, and insignificant, miserable
bailiffs who did the work for them. There were also great
graziers occupying 2,000 or 3,000 acres of land and cottier
farmers, but he looked in vain for those men with 200 or 300
acres of land who farmed and who constituted the bone and
sinew of England. There were in Ireland large cattle dealers
and little men who dealt in pigs and poultry, immense stores
in the cities, and hardly anything between them and the little
retail shops. What was wanted, therefore, in Ireland was, he
believed, the creation of a middle class, which could never be
created until life and property were more secure in that coun-
try. Now, when hon. and learned gentlemen differed about
points of law it would be very presumptuous in a practical far-
mer to pronounce which side was right and which wrong, but
he must nevertheless say that the custom as between landlord
and tenant in Ireland was, as far as he could learn, precisely
the same as in England, the difference, if any at all, being in
favour of the Irish tenant. There were, for instance, more
leases in Ireland, and when the Attorney-General talked about
Derbyshire and Lincolnshire tenant-right, he would merely
observe in reply, that in the large majority of counties m Eng-
land there was no tenant-right at all, and that :n Norfolk no
shadow of a custom of that kind existed. Irish members
might, however, say, " You have covenants in Norfolk, which
we look upon in the light of a compensation for unexhausted
improvements." Those, however, constituted simply a reserva-
tion which was made by the landlord for his own benefit and
the benefit of the estate, so that the outgoing tenant should at
the expiration of his tenancy leave the roots and hay and
straw to be paid for at a certain valuation. But what did the
Irish tenant do ? He sold out everything at the full market
price, whereas the English tenant was bound to leave those
things which he had mentioned on the farm at the consuming
price, which was only two-thirds of their value. He did not
mean to say that the English system was right and the Irish
wrong, but the Irish tenant, he thought, had the advantage at
least in that respect. He should like, he might add, when
leases were introduced into Ireland, that some little better
definition should be given of the rotation of cropping, and that
the tenants would be good enough after they had signed a
lease to stick to it. There was one remark in the opening
speech of the Prime Minister in which he could not concur,
and that was when he quoted the increase of rental in different
parts of England to show how agriculture had prospered m
recent years. In a great number of instances it would be
found that in consequence of the development of minerals and
manufactures the rental had increased, while in other parts of
the country the liberal expenditure of capital in the first in-
stance by the landlord, and in the second place by the tenant,
had produced a similar result. That was no doubt the case
both in England and Scotland, but looking at Ireland he found

A A

342

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

land there was as cheaply rented as in any country in the South
and West of Europe, and infinitely more cheaply than the land
either in Scotland or in this country. He helieved on the
wliole that the bill of the Government was calculated to do a
great deal of good. He did not suppose it would satisfy the
Irish tenant farmers as a class. He for one should not attempt
to give them all or even half they asked, but he should be very
happy to give them all they deserved, and the present bill
would, in lus opinion, do them ample justice.

Lord ELCHO : After listening last night to the speech of
my right hon. friend the member for Liskeard, and also this
evening to the speech of the hon. gentleman who has just sat
down, my memory goes back a few years, and a flood of varied
recollections comes over me (" Hear," and a laugh). I cou-
o-ratulate my right hon. friend at the head of the Government
on liaving oljtaiued the hearty and ardeut support of my right
hon. friend the member for Liskeard for this measure. My
right hon. frieud last night made, if I may so call it, his bap-
tismal cry — it was bis first speech in this House since he
passed through the baptism of a dissolution; and when I
heard him, without any criticism of any sort or kind, praise
the Bill of the Government, the conclusion I came to was that
his regeneration had been by total immersion (laughter) . My
hou. friend the member for Galway told us that he lately re-
turned from the East, and that his path there had been marked
by skeletons — not the skeletons, I hope, of his former senti-
ments (a laugh). I had read that in his pilgrimage he visited
the residence of the ancient poet-king of Israel, and there re-
nounced independence and aU its works on his knees (laugh-
ter) ; but I am glad to find from his speech this evening that,
after aU his roving, he still retains this amount of indepen-
dence, that, while giving his cordial support to the second
reading of this Bill, he does not fail not only to criticise it,
but to produce what is to some extent a rival scheme to that
of the Government (" Hear," and a laugh). For myself, I am
not an Irishman, or an Irish proprietor, and I cannot profess
to speak as one conversant with Irish habits or ways. There-
fore I do not attempt to discuss with ray hon. friend (Mr.
Gregory) the rival measure that he has laid before us. I
should not have ventured to obtrude myself in this debate
were it not that as a Scotch member I see in this Bill princi-
ples so novel, so sweeping, so revolutionary in their character,
so totally opposed to anything we have ever seen in the
shape of legislation up to this time in this House, that I
feel bound to enter my independent protest (Hear, hear).
Do not let it be supposed that I am hostile to legislation. I
agree with my hon. friend (Mr. Gregory) in thinking it
necessary that this c|uestion should be settled speedily, in
the interest of both landlords and tenants. A measure on
this subject became necessary when it was reported by the
Devon Commission as being so ; it became inevitable when
Bill after Bill — the " skeletons" of which my hon. friend has
spoken was brought into this House, and when my right hon .
friend at the head of the Government said, with his enthu-
siasm and eloquence, on taking the reins of power, that this
was one of the questions for the settlement of which he went
into office. But for myself I will only further add that there
is no man in this House who more heartily sympathizes with
the concluding passage of my right hon. friend's speech, in
which he expressed a hope that this Bill would produce bless-
ings on Ireland. I am sure there is not a member of this
House who, however he may criticise the provisions of this
Bill, does not heartily wish that in this Session we may at
last bridge over the Irish diificulty, and tie the Irish people to
us by ties stronger than those of law and empire. But I think
we should approach this question undeterred by agrarian out-
rages from going liberally into the subject of tenant-right, and
uninfluenced by the exaggerated language or the confiscating
views of some of those who advocate tlie tenant's cause. On
the other hand, we should not go into this question in any
■way scared by that Fenianism which has of recent years sprung
up. The Secretary for Ireland has pointed to what was the
state of things four years ago, and he said a great advance
had since been made. Sir, I should like to go back four years
— to the time when there was in this country a Minister as
powerful and as able as my right hon. friend, who had besides
the advantage of being an Irish proprietor with a well-managed
estate. He epitomized this Irish question by saying that
"tenant-right was landlord-wrong" (Hear, hear). We ought
to look at this Bill from a landlord's as well as a tenant's point

of view, and we ought to see what there is in this Bill that
comes under the head of landlord wrong, for there are in this
Bill principles which to a certain extent do wrong to the
landlord's of Ireland. I am told that the provisions of this
Bill will lead to the growing up of tenant-right, under certain
circumstances, after it has been bought out by the landlord.
I know that view is taken by some of the Ulster landlords.
The whole question of tenant-right must appear to persons
on this side of St. George's Channel as being a matter which
it would be very questionable policy to establish, especially
when a person who is acknowledged to be one of the best
Irish landlords (Lord Dufferin) has bought up the tenant-
right on his estate, because he thought it inconsistent with
the proper and beneficial management of the land (Hear,
hear). I am told that the abuses of that system are
carried to such an extent that on the estate of Lord
Waterford, in the north of Ireland, forty or fifty years' pur-
chase is given for the land. We may guess what a miser-
able existence must be that of the tenants, and how deeply in-
debted they must be to those of whom they borrow the money
(Hear, hear). To a stranger looking at this question, it ap-
pears to be a landlord-wrong that, as to claims for compensa-
tion, you should throw upon the landlord the 0)ii:s prohmidl that
he has not made the improvements. I can understand its being
required that by one or the other the proof should be
given, but I cannot understand that it should be thrown wholly
on the landlord, especially when, as regards buildings and the
reclamation of land, there is no limitation of time. As far as the
provisions of the Bill go, there is no such limit, and you might go
back to the Deluge, which was, I presume, the time when land
began to be reclaimed (laughter). Again, the provisions as to
cottiers appear to me to be a landlord-wrong, because the Bill
enables tenants, but not landlords, to give land to cottiers.
With regard to purchase, if the House wishes to lend money to
enable tenants to buy estates, I should be the last person to
object. Parliament has lent money to landlords to enable them
to drain their property, and on the same principle money might
be lent to tenants to enable them to purchase estates when they
can do so. But I am told that if an Irish proprietor has a
mortgage on his property, the mortgage or bond-bolder can force
him to sell in the Encumbered Estates Court, and if the tenants ^
choose to combine they can force him to sell at any price which
they may offer, for no one else dare step in and bid more money
(Hear, hear). These are points which appear to me to be de-
serving of consideration in Committee on this BUL But there
is another point. What will be the effect of this Bill, not only
upon Irish, but also upon English and Scotch landlords ?
(Hear, hear). It will affect property of all kinds, whether
funded or landed, and it wiU affect employers of labour. Again,
it interferes with contracts and gives compensation for what is
called " disturbance" (Hear, hear) ; and to these two points I
wish to direct the attention of the House. The question of
contracts divides itself into two parts — you forbid contracts and
you regulate them. To forbid contracts appears to me
to be a novel principle, and one which goes directly in the
teeth not only of recent legislation, but of legislation which we
are promised this Session. In coming here to-night I passed
the house where for two years I sat on a Commission for in-
quiring into Trades' Unions, and that Commission unani-
mously came to the conclusion that in these days of free-trade
and free contract, it was not right that any class of men should
be prevented from combining to get what they could, and to
make their bargain with their employer, and a Bill embodying,
I presume, the views of that Committee is to be brought for-
ward in this House. How can my right hon. friend reconcile
the principle of forbidding agreements in this BiU with the
principle of free contract in the other BiU which is to come
before the House ? The Secretary for Ireland gave us a gauge
upon this question ; he said that four years ago there was not
any such proposition, but we have made a very great advance.
Again, as to the regulation of contracts. The Bill proposes
to regulate the length and the terms of leases and the rent,
and, adding to that the clauses relating to disturb-
ance and to ten-acre holdings, the Bill really gives what the
extreme party in Ireland want — fixity of tenure, with
rents regulated by the Government. I believe that no Scotch-
man except myself has spoken in this debate, and I
am, therefore, curious to know what the Scotch mem-
bers who support the Government think of the regu-
lation of contracts. In what does that regulation consist ?

THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

343

You regulate tlxe leugth of leases, and say that in some cases
they are to be for 31 years, in others tor 21 years. A 31
years' lease is to cover this, but not to cover that, yet a 21
years' lease is to cover almost everything (Hear, hear).
Among the matters which a 31 years' lease is not to cover is
the reclamation of land ; and I should like to know what my
Scotch friends can say of that. In the first place I think they
would not like 31 years' leases by way of trying to raise in
Ireland a condition of land tenure similar to the conditions in
England and Scotland. But if they do not like 31 years'
leases, how do they like leases that do not cover the reclama-
tion of land ? Every Scotchman, and almost every man who
has ever crossed the Tweed, well knows the prosperous state
of agriculture in Scotland, where the heather is being re-
claimed, and giving way to turnip crops, oats, and wheat.
The extension of cultivation in that country is due entirely to
the system under which 19 years' leases cover all such im-
provements (Hear, hear). I hope this matter will come home
to the Scotch members when we go into Committee. The
lion, member for Liskeard said he could not conceive, either
on the ground of expediency or on any other ground, that the
effect of the clause under similar circumstances could be diffe-
rent in the two countries. But you may have similar results
with totally different circumstances. Upon what does the
limitation of agreement in Ireland rest ? Upon the poverty
of the tenant, upon the impossibility, from his hunger for
land, of his making a proper bargain with his landlord. I re-
member tliat last year a Bill on the subject of the Game Laws
was brought into this House, and that Bill interfered with
contracts between landlords and tenants. I heard the argu-
ment used by an officer of the Crown that the competition for
land in Scotland was so great among the agriculturists, who
can farm thousands of acres, and pay thousands of pounds in
rent, that the law of hypothec (or the law of distress) and the
Game Laws ought to be altered, because the parties were not
in a fair position, owing to that competition, to make a bar-
gain (Hear, hear). You may have in the two countries cir-
cumstances which are materially different, but lead to precisely
the same results. If you apply the principle of regulating
contracts in Ireland between man and man, and thus interfere
with political economy, there is no earthly reason why you
should not have the same principle applied elsewhere, and only
yesterday I congratulated my hon. friend who brought in that
Bill on the Government having adopted his principle, and ap-
plied it in their Irish land measures. It is another of those
questions which did not exist four years ago in tlie Bill, which,
according to my right hon. friend the Chief Secretary for Ire-
land, was drawn up by the firm friends of Ireland in that day.
But, sir, we have made a great advance. The other point to
which I will refer as objectionable in principle in this Bill is
what is caUed compensation for disturbance. Now, iu the le-
gislation of this country this principle is as novel as the principle
of the State interfering with agreements between landlord and
tenant. The extent to which this principle goes has been
pithily described by my right hon. friend when he said, "This
Bill will prevent a man from doing what he will with his
own." It may be a right principle, but it is at least a new
one. For what you propose is this : If a man, for any reason,
with a view to the improvement of agriculture, with a view to
adding to his own farm, or to his grounds, or for any other
purpose, wants his property, he has to buy it back at seven
years' purchase (Hear, hear). I heard a discussion at my
house the other night between two gentlemen, both of them
in favour of this clause on the whole, but one of them doubted
whether it would work well, because a rich tenant might go
and offer the landlord seven years' compensation for the farm
which a poor man possessed. And what was the answer P
It was this — supposing a small farm of ten acres at a pound
an acre ; the person wlio wished to get it would have to pay
£70 in the first place for disturbance ; there would, perhaps,
be £30 more as compensation for improvements, and then to
my surprise I heard that it would take from £30 to £40 more
to clear away the fences (a laugh). What a state of agricul-
ture that must be where on ten acres it would take £30 or
£40 to clear away the fences ! And that is the state of agri-
culture which you wisii to stereotype and perpetuate (Hear,
hear). I heard last night, in a speech of my right hon. friend,
a very graphic description of two contracting parties, in which
the one went about with double-barrelled guns, while the other
crept behind a hedge to shoot hira, What must have struck

every person when he heard that account was, what a shame
that such a scandal should be suffered to exist (Hear). If you
liave not maintained law and order in Ireland, if you have not
given that security to life and property which is the prime
cause why Government exists, and therefore you say the whole
law of contracts, and of the relations between landlord and
tenant, is to be interfered with, it seems to me the most mon-
strous argument I ever Jieard uttered in the House of Com-
mons (Hear, hear). With reference to this compensation for
disturbance, I want to know where it is to stop ? There has
been a great deal of "disturbance" proposed by the Secretary
of State for War the other day (clieers). He is disturbing
the officers of the army, and yet he did not seem inclined to
give them seven years' compensation (renewed cheers). But
there is another class. As to the rich class of officers, like
the landlords, my right hon. friend may come down on them j
but there is a poorer class, a class somewhat in an analogous
position to that of the tenants in Ireland, and that is the sol-
diers (Hear, hear). How did the soldiers that you are dis-
disraissing now enlist ? For 12 years, with the power of going
on for nine years more, and at the end of the 21 they were to
be entitled to a pension. But they are liable to be dismissed
at any moment if the army is reduced (cheers). And
now my right hon. friend, with the view of helping the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to a surplus of £5,000,000,
strikes off 12,000 men at a time when tliere is great distress
in the country (Hear, hear), at a time when the papers are
full of various schemes of emigration which have found their
way into this House (cheers). These men had a prospect
after 21 years' service of 8d. or Is. a day, but ray right hon.
friend strikes them off without any compensation (Hear, hear).
But if you give compensation in the one case why not in the
other, more especially when there is this stronger claim in
favour of the soldier, that the soldier whom you send away
uncompensated is a shootee (much laughter), while the tenant
in Ireland whom you are going to compensate is a shooter
(renewed laughter and cheers). I say these are very wild
doctrines which have found their way into this Bill, and again
I apply the gauge of the right hou. gentleman the Secretary
for Ireland — " They were not iu the Irish Land BiU four years
ago, but we have made a great advance since then." And
why ? I can attribute it only to two things. I look upon
these features in the Bill as the product of what I may call
sentiment with saltpetre — that is to say, I believe that my
right hon. friend, with his warm heart, kindly feelings, and
impulsive nature, has been carried away by the vpild deeds that
have been done in. Ireland from the sound views of political
economy which he imbibed under Sir R. Peel, and that he
thinks he is doing a kindly act to those men by establishing
principles for their sake which ought never to have been men-
tioned in this House, and which I hope will not be found in
this Bill when it is read a third time (Hear, hear). Now,
any views of my own I naturally felt would require corrobora-
tion, and, therefore, I did this, and I think my right hon.
friend will admit that the opinions I have got are sound. I
sent one copy of the Bill to a well-known, first-class Edin-
burgh lawyer, quite conversant with the management of
estates. I sent another to a country solicitor — what we call
a writer — in one of the most agricultural counties in Scotland,
wlio does more business with farmers, perhaps, than anybody
else, and who is thoroughly conversant with everything con-
nected with land. And lastly, I sent a copy to a gentleman,
a Scotch proprietor, conversant with the management of land
in Scotland, and who has also had the management of land in
England. 1 said to these gentlemen, " Look at this Bill,
at the principles you find in it, and give an opinion as to
what you think." If the House wishes I will read the
opinions I have received, because I think them the most
valuable that can be got (Hear, hear). The Edinburgh lawyer
says :

" There is danger of legislation for the exceptional state
of things in Ireland, that it should familiarize men's minds
with a state of things between landlord and tenant that
would be destructive in England or Scotland. The land-
lord is not to be left really proprietor of the land, but the
' Court' is to take the part of proprietor. The bondholder is
ignored. Rules issued by the Privy Council may protect
him, but the Bill does not ; landlord and tenant and Court
agree upon a price which may be insufficient to meet the claim
of the mortgagee. The preference given to the charge of

A A ^

344

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

annuity of £&. lOs. per cent, on the land for money advanced
by the Board of Works for improvements. Sec, is an unjust
provision for mortgagees."
(Hear, hear.) The country solicitor says :

" May be land has been let at a low rent iu consideration of
the tenant making improvements, or other such cases, but this
is a compulsory power on the owner to make compensation
without usage or contract, or without it ever liaving been
coutemplated by either party during the contract — it is a
violation of the law of contracts ; an entirely new principle
in jurisprudence. This legislation for the future, according to
certain fixed details only, is a violation of tlie rights of property,
of the rights of the public, and a direct interference witli
the principles of free trade (Hear). Tlie results would be
injurious in a general sense. Altogether, the subjects for
which compensation are allowed are too varied and undefined ;
rights of free trade are violated, contracts treated as waste,
and the law upset."

The Scotcli proprietor, who has also had the management of
land in England, says :

" The first consequence will be to sow broadcast over the
land the seeds of universal litigation, embiteriug instead of
smoothing over the hostilities between landlord and tenant ;
hostilities which it is the direct interest of the lawyers and
priests to keep awake. The machinery will proljably be found
inadequate for the vast mass of disputes tiiat will come before
it, and at the end of a few years we shall find the Courts
choked witli work, discontent as rife as ever, fresh litigation
necessary. The case being desperate, the remedy must be
e.Ktraordiuary, but any direct violation of the rights of property
in land must in the end intensify the evil. My prescription
would be contract. Coerce, if you cannot persuade, all who
have to do with land to make their bargains by written agree-
ment, by putting at a legal disadvantage whoever neglects
doing so. And provide proper means for enforcing such agree-
ments, and for teaching the Irish, if we can, the meaning and
value of legal obligation. Their perverted views on this sub-
ject are at tlie bottom, not of the land difficulty only, but of
all the other disorders in the country."

There is one more voice from Scotland to which I think my
right hou. friend will listen with some deference. Among
the many Scotch proprietors I bethought me of one who had
property analogous to that ol Irish proprietors — I mean Lord
Lovat. I have been often on his estates, and there in Inver-
ness-shire you see cultivation of the richest kind between some
of the wildest parts of Scotland. Lord Lovat says : " I think,
on the whole, the Irish Land Bill is a good one for that
country under its present circumstances" (Ciieers from the
Ministerial benches). I don't say otherwise. I vote for the
second reading (A laugh). I said so. I object only to two
of its principles, and those principles I shall take every oppor-
tunity of voting against. You might as well give compensa-
tion for a disturbance from the Treasury bench (laughter).
Indeed, I am not quite sure that my right hon. friend had not
that in view, because he lias fixed for the compensation to be
paid to a certain class of tenants " a sum not exceeding two
years' rent," and in recent times two years has been the length
of time after which my right lion, friend has been disturbed
from the Treasury bcncii (renewed laughter). Lord Lovat
says :

" I think, on the whole, the Irish Land Bill is a good one
for that country under its present circumstances, but there are
some points on which it might be amended. I approve tenant-
right being paid by the landlord where tlie tenant has paid it
on entry to his farm, and there it should end. A 31 years'
lease should cover all improvements on laud, building, &c. I
think 20 years is too long a period to go back for improve-
ments— ten years would be quite enough. Unexhausted
manures, if allowed for at all, should not exceed three years,
and be very distinctly defined, otherwise it is only opening the
door for the rogue to take advantage of the honest man. I
do not approve agricultural leases being longer than 15 or 10
years. In ray experience, both on my own estates and else-
wliere, I have always found more improvement made on 15 or
19 thaii on 31 years' leases. Improvements are always made
in the first five or seven years of the lease. In all leases made
after the passing of this Act landlords and tenants should be
allowed to contract together."

I thank the House for having listened to these extracts; I
think they are of value considering the sources whence they

come ; and perhaps the most valuable is that of Lord Lovat,
who is a practical owner of land (Hear, hear). But these are
only the opinions of practical men who are engaged in dealing
with land, and I should wish, if the House will bear with me
for a moment longer, to fortify my objection to certain prin-
ciples of tlie Bill as contrary to sound legislation by the
opinions oi some greater authority than Lord Lovat whom I
have quoted. 1 would present to the House one or two
passages from speeches of a philosopher, sage, and orator,
which, I think, bear out the view I am taking, and to which I
would desire the attention of the House, and particularly of
Her jNIajesty's Government (Hear, hear). 1 find it stated as
follows in a speech made in this House in the year 186G :

" I hold it is a retrogade notion of jurisprudence to pass
laws to limit the power of contract between landlord and
tenant. I hold this introduction of a compulsory term into
voluntary contracts to be a blunder, a solecism. All these
attempts against nature, against the laws of political economy,
and against that natural law which binds men by the contracts
they make, must in the nature of things recoil, and the person
whom you mean to benefit is injured by them. I have no
doubt myself that in Ireland, more than anywhere else, it is
necessary our legislation should be founded on principles per-
fectly broad, perfectly well ascertained, perfectly defensible
upon the most abstruse philosophical grounds. You cannot
give up principle without encouraging those dreams of re-
conquering land which has been taken from them. You
must take your stand upon something ; that something ought
to be truth, honesty, and sound principle. If it is necessary
to maintain them in England, it is ten times more necessary to
adhere to them with punctilious accuracy in Ireland."
That, as I have said, was spoken in 1866, but in 1868
another speech was made, and I look to see if any change has
come over the views which in 1866 I looked upon as being
wise to a degree. In this latter speech, then, I find these
words :

" As regards the laws of political economy, I believe they
are the same on both sides of the Channel. As far as the
right of private property goes, I would be no party to do
anything in Ireland I would not do in England. There is an
oasis in the desert of politics upon which we may safely ^
rest, and that is afforded us by the principles of political
economy."

I need hardly tell the House that the speeches from which I
have quoted extracts were delivered by the present Chancellor
of the Exchequer (Hear, hear, and laughter). They were two
very remarkable orations, and when delivered had a remarkable
effect upon the House, for it was, indeed, refreshing to be
drenched with so ranch common sense, sound reason, and politi-
cal economy (Hear, hear). I would particularly call the at-
tention of the House to the last passage, in which the right
hon. geutlerauu says: "There is an oasis in the desert of
politics upon which we may safely rest, and that is afforded us by
the principles of political economy." I regret that my right hon.
friend has left that oasis. I regret it on his account personally, for
I have a great friendship for my right hon. friend, but I should
have regretted it on the nation's account less if he had left
this oasis and gone out into the desert alone with all the sins
of Iia/iS(i>-i/ oil his head (a laugh). But he has not done this.
He has gone into the desert iu goodly company, for the strong-
est Cabinet we have had for some years in this country has
gone out into the desert under the guidauce of my right hon.
friend — and where will that guidance lead them to r" (Oppo-
sition cheers). If we are to judge by the passage I liave
quoted, it can only lead to legislation for England and in Scot-
land similar to that which is proposed for Ireland (Hear, hear),
and it is to this that I wish the attention of the landed pro-
prietors, whether from England or from Scotland, who sit
behind my right hon. friend ; for the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer is a man who, I am certain, from his determination, his
logical faculty, and his courage, would not have left the oasis
and gone out into the desert unless he saw it would lead
directly to similar legislation in England and in Scotland — for
he says, " I will be no party to do anything in Ireland I would
not do in England" (Hear, hear). I thank the House for
having listened to rae with patience (Hear). I have thought it
my duty to speak out straightforwardedly on this question,
because I hold it to be more important at the present moment
than it has been at any other time in the history of this
country, that we should be careful how we deal with propeily

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

345

(Hfear, hear). Ideas germinate fast in the present time in this
country. Those who last year maintained that tlie way in
which the House was dealing with the Irish Church Estab-
lishment would react upon England and Scotland were laaglied
at by the supporters of the Bill, who wislied, supporting it, to
dull their consciences and hide their lieads in the sand in the
hope of thereby warding off, or, at any rate, of not seeing, tlie
coming danger (Hear). But what have we this year. A
motion has already been laid upon the table of the House by
an hon. gentleman from Wales, proposing to deal with tlie
Welsh Church as tlie Irish Ciiurch was already being dealt
with ; and last Wednesday the House rejected a Bill for prac-
tically knocking on the head the Scotch Churcli under the
specious pretence of dealing with church-rates, there being no
such thing in Scotland (Hear, ]\ear and a laugh). During the
debate on the Irish Church Bill it was said by some that if the
House sanctioned the mode of dealing with corporate property
proposed in the Bill it would not be long before private pro-
perty would be similarly dealt with. The statement was com-
bated by the supporters of the Bill ; but now, after so short a
time has elapsed, a measure is introduced proposing to deal witli
the property of individuals in a manner sucli as has never yet
been brought before Parliament (Hear, hear). Sliall I give
another reason wliy at this time we should be careful how we
deal with property ? (Hear, hear). In this country there is at
this time a class agitation getting up on this question of the
land. It is called the Land and Labour League. The mem-
bers call themselves, I believe, the L.L.L.'s ; but, in ray
opinion, they ought to be styled the " Lack-Land Looters"
(laughter) ; for what is it that they propose ? It is simply
that the State should acquire land, paying in State Bonds,
which are subsequently to be cancelled (Hear, hear, and
laughter). That is, I believe, the programme of tlie "Lack-
Land Looters" (laughter). Now, supposing you gentlemen
from manufacturing districts were to admit this principles,
what would be the result ? (Hear, hear). Take the case of you
moneyed men (laughter) — you who lend money, the bankers
in this House (Hear, hear). I want to know whether, if I
borrowed money from you at 4 per cent. — and it is very difficult
to get it at that sum — and you, finding you could obtain 5 per
cent, elsewhere, called it in, I am to have any compensation for
disturbance (laughter), and, if not, why not ? (renewed
laughter). But perhaps hon. gentlemen may think that landed
property and property which exists in the shape of money
ought to be dealt with on a totally different principle. Should
this be the case, I would ask the House to consider whether
the time is the most fitting one at which to commence experi-
ments in corporc v'di upon the landlords (Hear, hear). What
I wish very much is that my right hon. friend opposite (Mr.
Gladstone), who has an influence with the people which nobody
can deny, would by his influence and his eloquence effectually
stamp out all this pestilent stuff (cheers). Let it be known that
there are certain rules with regard to property which must be
maintained, for the ultimate result of such action as I have
referred to would be that communism would rise up in
this country as it has risen up in Erancc, and as it would
rise still further in tliat country, but for the fact that they have
there a man who says, "Pordre fen reponds" (cheers). I
want, sir, my right hon. friend to do in this House and in this
country what across the Channel is done by bayonets (Hear,
hear). There was a time when he was silent on the Reform
question, and as a result heads were smashed, illegal meetings
were held, and all order and law were shaken in this country
(Hear, hear). Upon this Irish question he was adjured last
year in both Houses not to say what he would do, but what he
would not do ; and why did we make the appeal? (Hear).
Because we knew full well that in dealing with a highly
imaginative and excitable race like the Irish they would run
riot if tiiey thought they were not to be treated in a spirit of
perfect fairness (Hear, hear). A very similar state of tilings
prevails at the present moment. I appeal to my right hon.
friend to look into this question of the land, and to stamp the
very beginnings of Communism under his hpel. It is because
I see the principles of Communism in this Bill in the way in
whicli it deals with property, in contracts, and in compensation
for disturbance that I condemn its provisions in the way I have
done. Why should you depart from sound and just principles ?
What do you gain by doing so ? What has been the result of
all that you have done ? Those whom you hoped to conciliate,
peaking through their accredited organs in this House, the

mover and seconder of this amendment, and the hon. member
for the city of Kilkenny, throw the Bill back into your faces ;
your sacrifices have been in vain ; they have not pacified the
unruly; they have not satisfied tlie unreasonable. But you
will say, if we strike out of the Bill what you object to, and
if we do not give compensation for disturbance, you leave
nothing whatever in the Bill. I deny that. Go back to the
gauge of ray right hon. friend the Secretary of State for Ire-
land, and you will find that yon still leave in the Bill more
than was contained in the Bill of the Irish members (Hear).
What will you leave ? You will leave the legislative recog-
nition of usage, and the power of enforcing payment for good-
will, whether goodwill or custom has prevailed throughout the
length and breadth of the land. You will give compensation
for improvements, past, present, and future ; you will give
simplication of remedies, encouragement of contracts by forcing
these to a certain extent ; and you will establish courts of
equity and arbitration. Therefore, I say, when you have struck
out of the Bill all that is objectionable in principle, as applying
to England and Scotland, you will still leave in it, as applicable
to Ireland, all that ought to satisfy reason and justice ; and
those whom it will fail to satisfy are those by whom confiscation
is demanded, and who will not be satisfied with anything less
(Hear, liear). In conclusion, I have only to say that if, as my
right hon. friend told us in his opening speech, the Irish are, of
all the people upon the earii the people that love justice most,
I say do justly and fear not ; trust to their sense of justice, be
just to all — to the landlord as well as the tenent (Hear, hear).
In endeavouring to conciliate Ireland do not break through
principles which you know to be economically sound, but have
the courage to prove your title to the government of this
country and to the confidence of Parliament by the firm, un-
swerving maintenance of light (loud cheers).

Mr. CHAPLIN agreed with his noble friend the member
for Haddingtonshire (lord Elcho) that few measures of greater
importance, and few that more affected the interests of the
empire, than the Bill now before the House, had ever been
submitted to Parliament. He thought, therefore, that in the
discussion of the measure it was desirable to avoid anything
like party warmth or parly feeling. He should consider the
Bill under two heads — namely, on that of its own merits, and
that of the particular vvants of the country for which it was
intended. He thought that security of tenure was what every
tenant in England or in Ireland or elsewhere was entitled to ;
but, as many persons differed on the question how that secu-
rity could be best attained, it would not be out of place to con-
sider how it was secured in this country and in Scotland. The
right hon. gentleman at the head of the Government, com-
paring the increase of rents in England and Scotland as com-
pared with the increase of rents in Ireland, referred to the
system of granting leases in Scotland. Now, among the best
authorities there was a difference of opinion as to the effects
of that system. The right hon. gentleman was mistaken when
he attributed the state of things to the difference between the
feelings that existed in England as compared with Ireland.
No one would deny that there existed in England, as a rule,
a feeling of a kind and cordial nature between landlords and
their tenants, and he should be sorry to think that those
kindly and cordial feelings did not exist in Ireland also,
and he could say that, with his limited experience of
that country, he had known thousands of cases where it
existed. But in England there was something beyond that,
especially in those parts of the country where agriculture
was carried to the highest perfection, which was entirely
wanting in Ireland — namely, a marked, distinct, and accurate
system, capable of being enforced at law, assuring the tenant
that he would l)e amply repaid for everything that he had laid
out in the cultivation of the soil in the event of his being
ejected from his farm. He would take as an instance the cus-
tom that prevailed in the county which he had the honour of
representing — and he did not think he should be accused of
undue partiality when he asserted that his county stood pre-
eminent for the excellence of its cultivation. In no county
was the science of farming carried to such perfection, or capital
more liberally expended upon the soil, and nowhere was the
identity of interest between landlord and tenant more fully re-
cognised, or were more cordial and kindly feelings entertained
between them. And yet this was a county where leases for a
term of years were practically unknown, or, at all events,
were very rare. It would merely weary the House were he

346

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to euter info details witli respect to the various arrangements,
riiey were many, and necessarily so, because in themselves the
operations of farming were of a very multitudinous character.
Under those arrangements compensation was amply provided
for, everything that could be laid out in fair farming, the
araouQt of compensation (o be paid being fixed by a valuer or
valuers, and a third party being called in to act as umpire if
necessary. So simple was that operation, and so well known
its results, that an appeal to law or a dispute scarcely ever
arose ; and not the least advantage of the system was that it
applied with equal effect to large or small farms. By this
means security of tenure and its attendant beneficial results
were attained ; and although no man could more heartily ac-
knowledge than he did the cordial and kindly feelings mutually
entertained with respect to each other by the landlords and
the tenants, yet in his judgment those feelings were mainly due
to the uniform operation of the just and effectual system of te-
nant-right to which he had referred (Hear). Under the ope-
ration of that system perfect freedom of contract and perfect
security of tenure were obtained without any interference
whatever on the part of the Legislature. He confessed he
should have greatly rejoiced had it been found possible to
apply some system of a similar nature to Ireland. But when
the right hon. and learned gentleman the Attorney-General

told them that was exactly what this Bill proposed to do

namely to recognise custom in Ireland as it was recognised in
England— he must venture to point out that there was this
very important distinction, that while on the one hand the
custom in England was admitted to be good, the custom in
Ulster was admitted to be as bad as a custom could be. With
the permission of the House he should wish to compare for a
moment the means by which the Bill proposed to give security
of tenure to the tenants of Ireland; and here he should be met
at once with the reply that the circumstances of the two
countries were so different that no comparison could be insti-
tuted between them. He was fully aware that there was a
marked difference between the amount of competition for land
in England and in Ireland, but that was a point with which he
would deal presently, and he should for the present deal with
this measure as one only for giving the tenant security of
tenure. In the first place he regarded this Bill as being an
interference on the part of the Legislature for the benefit of
one class and against the interests of another — in fact it was a
distinct instance of class legislation carried out in the most
undeniable manner. Young as he was in political experience,
he could not believe that such a proceeding could be otherwise
than dangerous in the highest degree (Hear, hear). Based,
as it was said, upon the principle of interfering as little as
possible with the freedom of contract, the Bill proceeded to
inflict most severe blows at the freedom to contract of, at all
events, one of the parties. The very terms of the leases and
agreements, and the very rent itself, were to be settled, not
between the two contracting parties, but by the tenant on the
one hand and some third intervening party on the other, and
that without any regard to what might happen to be the wishes
of the landlord upon the subject (Hear). And here, as he was
upon the subjectof rent, he might be permitted to point out oneof
not the least defects in the Bill. One of its provisions was that
the rent was to be settledby a Court of Arbitration. Well,tliemo-
mentPariiament had byitsCourt of Arbitration fixed the amount
of rent and had selected the tenant, the tenant ceased to be the
landlord's and it became their duty to guarantee him the punc-
tual payment of the rent so fixed. Now, competition for land
lu Ireland was great, and excessive competition meant high
rent, and the Courts of Arbitration will be bound to take the
best offer, because they would be dealing with property which
did not belong to them, but to somebody else. If they were
to compel a landlord to take the worse of two offers, they
would simply be taking money out of his pocket to put it into
that of somebody else who had no right to it whatever. And
what happened then ? The tenant fell into arrears, and was
ejected for non-payment of rent. But ejectment for non-pay-
ment of rent under the Bill was not a disturbance except where
the rent was excessive, and the plea that the rent was exces-
sive could not be put forward in the case he assumed, because
rarhament had fixed it themselves. So far, therefore, it ap-
peared to him that either the Bill was worthless, or else that
the Government would lie compelled to do that under it
which wo.ild be simply destroying the landlord altogether, and
0 proclaim to the world that free trade in laud in Ireland was

to be scattered to the winds, and to renounce ia that country
at once and for ever the principles which hon. members oppo-
site had been advocating during the whole of their political
life (Hear, hear); and when the Solicitor - General for
Ireland bantered the hon. members sitting on the Opposition
side of the House with their new-found attachment for Free
Trade and its principles, it was much more worthy of remark
that he should so suddenly have abandoned those principles
(Hear). He trusted the joviality of the hon. and learned
gentleman was not combined with fickleness (" Hear," and a
laugh): Then there was the scale of damages inserted in
the Bill, which included compensation for disturbance of oc-
cupancy as well as for improvements. Compensation for loss
of improvements was an intelligible proposition, but he con-
fessed that when he heard so much of loss of occupancy he
scarcely knew what it meant, because if the tenant lost so
greatly by the cessation of his occupancy, he must have corre-
spondingly gained when his landlord first permitted him to
commence it, and, therefore, if the tenant were to be compen-
sated for loss of occupancy the landlord ought to be compen-
sated when the tenant comes in — what was sauce for the goose
was sauce for the gander (Hear, and a laugh). Another
main objection to the provisions of the Bill altering the
relations between the landlord and tenant was, that it would
take from the landlord the power of making any distinc-
tion between the idle and the negligent and the good and
the industrious farmers, who would henceforth be placed
upon exactly the same footing in every respect (Hear).
Then, again, the Bill placed obstructions in the way of a good
landlord making improvement, and, in fact, the promoters
of the Bill appeared to be under the impression that a good
and generous landlord did uot ex\st in Ireland (Hear, hear).
That such was the case he did not believe, and it was not even
asserted by those inveterate spouVers who clamoured for that
which they knew could never be given to them, namely : the
transference of property, its rights, its privileges, and, morethan
that, its duties from one class to another, which was the real
meaning of fixity of tenure (Hear, hear). As regards the
question of giving compensation for permanent improve-
ments he asked whether it was fair that the Act should
be retrospective. Those who had purchased under a
Parliamentary or any other sound title had bought land
having upon it certain bvuldings, and he had calculated
the value of these buildings in the price he had paid ; but
if the Bill became law, these buildings would be taken
away from him, and given to another without any sort of com-
pensation— a proceeding which would be nothing short of
confiscation (Hear, hear). In considering the whole of this
question, he had often put to himself the question, " Why is
there a land question at all in Ireland ?" because until this
question was properly answered it was impossible to decide
upon any effectual remedy. One striking difference between
England and Ireland was that while in England the farms
were large and the improvements were made by the landlords,
in Ireland the holdings were small and the improvements
were made by the tenants. And this was necessarily so, be-
cause if an Irish landlord were obliged to build homesteads
for every tenant, he would have to spend as much upon farm
buildings as the value of the fee-simple. The existence of
sniaU farms was unquestionably an evil, and it would be better
both for landlord and peasant if they were consolidated ; for
the peasant especially, because a large piece of land held by a
farmer having capital would be better worked, and the poor
tenant-farmer who now earns a precarious and scanty living
would be able to command continual and remunerative em-
ployment. A tract of two or three hundred acres divided into
three and five-acre farms by high banks, which, true to the Irish
character, were called dykes (" No, no !"), would be occupied
by a large number of tenants utterly incapable of improving
them from want of knowledge, energy, or skill ; the farming
upon these small holdings was worse than anyone could possibly
conceive who had not seen it ; indeed, a friend of his, after
travelling over a considerable portion of the land, had come to
the conclusion that the dock and thistle were sacred weeds in
Ireland (laughter, and " He was a Scotch fanner "). Possibly
the view was opposed to the prejudices of the Irish people,
but he firmly believed that very many of the Irish would
prefer to remain in comparative discomfort, provided they were
also allowed to remain idle ; for when it was recollected that
the ordinary English labourer cultivates not less than 25 acres

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

347

of land each it was evident that small farms of 15 acres and
less in Ireland were maintained only to allow small Irish
farmers to live in idleness. Was this the end which the lion,
member for Kilkenny, and those who thought with him, had
been endeavouring to accomplish for so long a time ? His
answer to the hon. member was that to require the land of
Ireland to be cut \\\) and subdivided and cultivated in the
worst and most inconvenient manner for the purpose of giving
a fictitious means of support to the surplus population was
just as reasonable as to demand the banishment of science and
machinery from English manufactories in order to give more
occupation to those who were in want of employment. He
would put a case to show the absurdity of the hon. member's
argument. Let the House, for instance, take the case of an
English farm of 1,000 acres, and apply to it the standard of
Irish labour and work in connexion with a three-acre farm.
Why, it would require something like 330 labourers for the
due cultivation of the soil ; and he certainly fancied that his
hon. friends the members for Norfolk and Leicestershire, who
might be supposed to have a practical acquaintance witli
agriculture, would agree with him that if 330 labourers
were employed at 15s. a-week on 1,000 acres it would
require a tenant of singular skiU and capacity, to
say nothing of rent, to make much profit out of his
farm (Hear, hear). Ought we to refrain from doing
that which it was clearly our duty to do in the way of making
improvements out of regard either to their love of sloth and
ignorance, or to tlieir attachment to the mud cabins and farms
where their forefathers had existed for generations before them
and in a similar state of discomfort ? He believed that no
people on the face of the earth had so passionate an attach-
ment for home as was developed in the Irish nation, and he
should not presume to say a word in disparagement of so good
and so natural a feeling ; but he was compelled to remark that
to be brought up and to continue to live in the homes of their
ancestors was a privilege which in all countries and among all
classes of society was denied to all except a favoured few. Why
should Ireland be made an exception to this very general rule ?
(Hear, hear). He would now come to what he regarded as
the very germ and root of this Irish question — viz., the dilfer-
ence between the two countries arising from the fact that
while in England there were many and various means of em-
ployment, in Ireland it was to the soil alone that the people
had been accustomed to look for their means of support (Hear,
hear). It was, in his judgment, impossible for any one who
had listened with attention to the remarkable speech delivered
by the Prime Minister on the introduction of the Bill to avoid
coming to the conclusion that all the difficulties encountered at
every turn were mainly referrible to the great competition for
land in Ireland and the dire necessity of obtaining it which de-
stroyed all practical freedom of contract betweer. landlord
and tenant in that country. To this must be attributed so
many of the evils of which Ireland justly complained. This
was, indeed, the incubus which weighed so heavily on Ire-
land, and, to quote the words of the right hon. gentleman
the First Lord of the Treasury, this was " the dark star
which was for ever brooding over that unfortunate country."
This was the substantial grievance, in the absence of which,
as the right hon. member for Liskeard (Mr. Horsman)
had pointed out, agitation in Ireland could no longer exist.
It was the fruitful source of all the evils and miseries con-
nected with land in Ireland. Now he had always believed
that when a disease was known to exist the wise physician
was he who, after first ascertaining its cause, proceeded to
apply the remedy which appeared to him the most
efficacious and the most likely to go straight to the root
of the complaint (Hear, hear). Tlierefore, he asked, in
what sentence, in what line, in what syllable of this Bill
was this overpowering Irish evil attempted to be dealt with
at all? (Hear). He objected to the Bill as a measure of
policy, because it left the chief evils of the country alto-
gether untouched. If, then, he were asked how it happened
that with these opinions he did not intend to oppose the
second reading of the Bill, he would at once answer that
he should oifer no opposition to it because he beheved it to
be essentially a measure of detail, which he lioped might be
sweepingly changed in Committee, because he recognized to
the fuU the need of something being immediately done with
regard to Ireland — a need so dire as almost to appal the heart
of the bravest— and because he was in dread lest he should

see the blood of her Majesty's subjects In Ireland flowing like
water. Let it not be supposed that this was the language of
undue exaggeration on his part, for he believed that no man
could foresee what might be the effect of even appearing to
thwart without reason the reason and temper of the Irish
people (Hear.) As to whose unpardonable silence that
necessity for immediate action in the first place arose, and
daily and almost hourly increased, he would not_ now state
his opinion; but he must express his firm conviction that
all the perennial attempts at legislation for Ireland — more
baleful when they succeeded, as was the case last year,
than when they proved signal failures — had done im-
mense harm by raising the expectations of a restless and
an excitable people, expectations which could in no event
be fulfilled. Her Majesty's Government, long after having
made up their minds as to what their policy would be, had
culpably concealed it from the Irish people, and had thus in-
creased the excitement which prevailed. Indeed, they had by
this reticence done more to retard the civilization and progress
of the country than 1,000 Fenian outrages or all the Riband
societies in Ireland (Hear, hear). At the present moment
Ireland was in a state tliat was scarcely ever known before.
Agrarian outrages were of constant occurrence ; the demon
of murder was stalking unchecked through the land, and no
species of property, nor even life itself, was secure (" Oh, oh !"
and "Hear, hear"). Open rebellion was at our doors be-
cause open sedition was allowed to be everywhere openly
taught ; and he sincerely believed these to be the immediate
results — deny it who could — of the unhappy, ill-fated, and de-
plorable policy adopted by Her Majesty's Government towards
Ireland (cheers).

HEREFORDSHIRE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY.

The adjourned meeting of the Herefordshire Agricultural
Society, in reference to an amalgamation with the Worcester-
shire, Gloucestershire, or other Agricultural Societies, was
held at Hereford, the Ilev. Archer Clive in the chair.

The Worcestershire Society held a general meeting on
Saturday last, to which the follomng report was presented
from a committee appointed to consider the question : " The
committee have had under their consideration the question of
an amalgamation of the Society with those of adjoining coun-
ties, and have been in communication with Hereford an(]
Gloucester, and believe that great advantages would be derived
from a union with those counties. They have at present re-
ceived no definite expression of opinion on the subject from
Hereford or Gloucester, but will continue to give the matter
their attention, and trust they may shortly be able to report
favourably. They would, however, add that in their opinion
it would not be desirable to join either county separately."

In reference to the amalgamation of the smaller Societies
with the county Society, it appeared that efforts had been
made to effect such amalgamation but had failed.

Having counted the letters — including some received at the
former meeting — in which a positive opinion was expressed,
aye or nay, the Secretary said there were 11 for amalgamation
and 10 against it.

The Chairman : What is the position of the Worcestershire
Society ?

Mr. Taylor (Showle) : It is much worse off than ours.

The Chairman thought he might take the sense of the
meeting. He would therefore ask, Shall we appoint a com-
mittee to consider the expediency of conferring with the coun-
ties of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire with a view to
amalgamation ? Those gentlemen who are in favour of our
taking that course will hold up their right hands.

Four hands only were held up, and the negative was then
put, and carried by a very large majority.

LINCOLNSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.—

Professor Voelcker has been engaged as consulting chemist of
this society, to analyze manures, &c., for the members on terms
similar to those charged to members of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England. Dr. Voelcker, who has also undertaken
to deUver a lecture when called upon to do so, will receive
a fee of £35 for his services for the current year.

348

I'HB FABMER'S MAGAZIKE.

THE CENTRAL FARMERS' CLUB.
SEWAGE FARMING.

Tlie monthly meeting of the Club was held on Monday
evening, March 7, in the Club ilooras, at the Salisbury
Hotel, Fleet-street, the subject for consideration, standing
in the name of Mr. J. Bailey Denton, being "On Sewage
Farming, and the position of sewer autiiorities in relation to
lands to which sewage is applied." There was a very full
attendance.

The Chairman, Mr. J. Howakd, M.P., said : The subject
for discussion was sewage farming — a question of very
great importance, and one which grew in importance from
year to year. He should not anticipate what Mr. Bailey
Denton was about to say, but would simply observe that
the farmers of England had been twitted by the press and by
Mr. Mechi with indifference and apathy upon the question.
If there ever was a case of putting the saddle upon the wrong
horse it was this (Hear, hear). The question of town sewage
was one for municipalities and corporations to deal with first ;
the farmer conld not apply the sewage until the towns brought
it to him. With these observations he would only further
congratulate the Club that the paper was to be read by a gen-
tleman who was so conversant with the subject, and who had
taken so much pains to master its details (clieers).

Mr. J. Bailey Dentox read the following paper : —

Being a member of the Committee of the British Associa-
tion for inquiring into the treatment and utilization of sewage,
I shall be careful to avoid all controversial points upon which
I may, with the rest of the committee, be required to report ;
my present object being to elicit the views of others rather
than to pronounce opinions of my own. I propose
to confine my observations this evening to the prac-
tice of sewage* farming, where it may be called into existence
by circumstances which render it the best mode of dealing with
town refuse. I may premise that, having entered this Club at its
opening in 1843, and being therefore well acquainted with the
high practical character of its members, I shall avoid dwelling
upon those general agricultural laws which rule in sewage as in
ordinary farming, and shall address myself at once to the par-
ticular object of my paper, which as a new branch of farming,
demands special treatment. In sewage farming special treat-
ment, or, in other words, " technical knowledge," is admitted
by all persons to be essential to success, and when endorsing
this general opinion I do not wish to imply that in
ordinary farming technical education is unnecessary, simply
because it has been an art in which this country has excelled
from the time of the aborigines with a sort of delusion per-
vading the popular mind tliatany one may become a farmer when
he pleases, and that the practice itself consists only of tlie en-
joyable action of the limbs without any exercise of the brain.
I have been led into this little digression, while professing an
intention to go direct to my subject, by observing in a recent
address to the members of the Edinburgh Philosophical In-
stitution by Dr. Lyon Playfair — who you will remember was
some 20 years back consulting chemist to the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England, and is now one of its honorary
members — an expression to the effect that, if improvement
is to be effected in Ireland it mutt not stop at agri-
culture, but must extend to the secondary education of the
people m pmctkdl subjects, conveying the impression, if his
words are rightly reported, that he considered the art of agri-
culture an occupation requiring no special education.
It is curious, however, to observe that, wlien impressing upon
the manufacturing workmen the advantage of mixing brains
with manual labour, he borrowed from agriculture itself an
illustration to support his argument — an illustration which is
very pertinent to my subject of this evening. He likened
science to a perennial stream with a bountiful supply of fertil-

* Sewage is described by Professor "Way in his report on
the Deodorization of Sewage appended to the second report
of the Sewage Commission, to be "water holding in solu-
tion and suspension ingredients which do not belong to it as
water, and which render it objectionable to the senses of

izing waters, and its application in the handicraft of trade to
the work of irrigation, though, as the metaphor was somewhat
poetically expressed, the Professor doubtless had in his mind the
bright moving waters of rippling brooks rather than the dirty
fluid of sewage with which I am about to deal. Strange though
it be, it is nevertheless a fact, that although the learned Pro-
fessor so naturally and pleasantly applied the metaphor, and
made himself understood in doing so, there is not one in a
hundred of the teachers in our national and infant schools
who could explain in popular terms of simple English the
scientific principles involved in the operation of ordinary
irrigation, let alone the complex operation involved when
water is mixed with human excreta and trade refuse with
which we shall presently have to deal. Still, I believe it
is the failure to inculcate upon the young rural labourers'
minds such information as this, that is keeping agriculture
behind the other arts. I could not resist the oppor-
tunity of expressing this opinion when about to speak
on a branch of farming in which every one admits
the value of technical teaching ; for I believe that educa-
tion in the common things of the farm is just as much
required in ordinary as in sewage farming, and would advance
the position of rural labourers, by enabling them to under-
stand the reasons for what they do, and so improve the quality
of their labour, more than all the talk of philanthropy, and
all the threats of introducing among them the practices of
trades' unions.

But to address myself to sewage farming ; I will endeavour
at the outset to show why it is an object especially worthy
your attention. I think you will agree with me that, what-
ever may be the future result of chemical discovery in the
treatment of sewage by deodorizaaon and precipitation, or by
any other means of separating from the water "the ingredients
which do not belong to it," with a view to render it innocuous
when it reaches the rivers, it is very improbable that those
large cities and towns in which the comfort of water as a
means of transporting sewage has been experienced will aban-
don the advantage, and you will most probably agree with me
too in believing that many of those towns will resort
to sewage irrigation as the most ready and the least objection-
able mode of disposing of their discharged refuse. I say
" the most ready and the least objectionable mode" in conse-
quence of the large quantity of water which the sewers dis-
gorge. To realise the actual quantity, it would only be neces-
sary to point out that in a town of which the water supply
and influx of subsoil water into the sewers together reach 50
gallons a head of the population, there will be sufficient fluid
from 100,000 people to cover 1 0 acres of land 22 inches deep
every day of 24' hours, and this mass of water, weighing
2,232 tons, must be purified before it reaches the rivers.
Fifty gallons of water weighs 5001bs., while the excreta of
each average individual weighs only 31bs., and though it would
be easy enough to deal by chemical processes with the ex-
creta alone, it is quite another matter when dealing with water
nearly 167 times heavier. The difficulty is much reduced
where the number of persons in a community does not exceed
a few hundreds, and where, as in villages, the quantity of water
used is comparatively small, owing to the absence of a public
supply. In such cases, much is to be said in favour of the use of
earth as a means of transporting excretal matter. In villages
where a system of scavenging for the provision and removal
of the necessary earth can be readily organised, the dry earth
system of sewerage may possibly be better than tliat of water,
though even in such cases the difficulty of getting rid of the
slops of dwellings must stand in the way of its general
adoption. AVhile upon this point, I may usefully quote the

sight and smell, injurious to health, and unfit for drinking
and domestic purposes." By the Sewage Committee of the
British Association it was decided to interpret the vvord
" sewage," as "meaning any refuse from human habitations
that may affect the public health,"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

349

opinion of the Rivers toilutiou Commissioners expressed in
their last report, just issued. They say, after describing what
lias been done with dry earth in certain places, that " lu all
these cases, however, the chamber slops are kept separate ;
and independently of that the success depends, not upon the
people using the privies, but upon an officer whose duty
it is to look after tliem and keep them clean. Even at
Halton (in Buckinghamshire) one man is set apart
for this work. Elsewhere we have kuown earth
closets introduced for the use of cottagers accustomed to
the old privy seat and cesspool, and, requiring special service
and attention which the average man or woman will not give,
tliey soon become filthy and otfensive. Add to these circunr-
stances the enormous aggravation of all the difliculties of the
plan when not fifty, but fifty thousand households have to be
provided with the necessary appliances, and induced to work
tliem properly, and we can have no hesitation in pronouncing
the dry earth system, however suitable for institutions, villages,
and camps, where personal or official regulations cau be en-
forced, entirely unfitted to the circumstances of large towns."
The Rivers Pollution Commissioners evidently consider, there-
fore, that the diy earth system of sewerage is not likely to in-
terfere very greatly with the prospects of sewage farming. With
respect to tlie various chemical processes of deodorization and
precipitation which have been proposed, the Commissioners say,
" The operations of the chemist have been directed chiefly to the
soluble constituents of sewage, and have had for their object
either the precipitation in a solid form of the valuable but
off'ensive ingredients, so as to convert them into portable
manure ; or, secondly, the rendering them inoffensive by the
action of disinfectants. Although these operations have not
been altogether unsuccessful, they have hitherto entirely failed
in purifying average sewage to such an extent as to render it
admissible into running water. We have formed this opinion
both from observations of the polluting effect of such chemi-
cally purified sewage upon the streams into which it was
admitted, and from the amount of putrescible organic matter
revealed by the chemical analysis of the sewage after treat-
ment." These being the last official opinions formed and
promulgated, they are vforth attention, but at the same
time we must not forget that such are the inexhaustible re-
sources of chemistry, that the impossibility of to-day
may be the realisation of to-morrow. Most interesting
information on the chemical question is published in this last re-
port of the River? Pollution Commission to which I have just
referred, and the same may be said of a previous publication of
the details of experiments carried out for the Sewage Com-
mission in 1861, under the direction of Professor Way, en-
titled, " Deodorization of Sewage." They are appended to the
second report of that Commission. The opinions expressed
in both these reports cannot fail to remove any latent belief
that sewage irrigation is to be very readily superseded by other
modes of disposing of town refuse.

To appreciate the extent which sewage farming may
extend in this country, I raaymention that there are in
England alone 12 towns, excluding the metropolis, with popu-
lations above 100,000, 18 towns between 100,000 and 50,000,
137 towns between 50,000 and 10,000, and 360 between
10,000 and 2,000. Now assuming, for our present purpose,
that half these towns ultimately determine to utilize their re-
fuse by irrigation, then the number of acres of land that will
be withdrawn from ordinary farming and apjdied to sewage
farming will swell into a considerable area. It is true that
authorities difl'er upon the number of acres required to purify
sewage, and turn it to the most profitable account. My own
opinion is that a raucli more extended experience than we
have yet had must be gained before we can draw the line
between the necessary sanitary demands for purification, pos-
sibly requiring only a few acres, and the expediencies of
profitable farming rendering it wise to spread the sewage over
a wide area. ^Y\\at has been already done, however, affords
a variety of examples not very conclusive in result, but
very suggestive for future guidance.

At Bedford, for instance, where the surface soil and subsoil
are free and open, the sewage of upwards of 16,000 persons is
at present applied to 55 acres of land only, which is after the
rate of 300 persons to the acre. No fluid passes off the
surface : it is all absorbed. Our Chairman will tell us,
however, that it is the intention of the town authorities to
extend the area of utilization to 300 acres, not perhaps so

much because the sewage is not at present sufficiently puri-
fied by the vegetation and filtration due to this limited area,
but because the sewer authorities of the town believe a much
greater profit may be obtained from a greater number of acres.
It is not improbable, too, that there exists at Bedford the
natural belief that a narrow area of surface, and limited means
of filtration such as quoted may in time render the effluent
water from the subsoil extremely polluted. At present it
appears, from the published analyses, that vegetation and
filtration together are "sufficient as a sanitary agency," though
limited to the extent mentioned.

At Carlisle, where the soil is also very open in character,
the sewage of 22,000 people, is distributed over about 100
acres of land devoted to permanent pasture. This is after the
rate of 220 persons to an acre. The whole of the sewage is
absorbed and percolates down to the level of the springs which
help to maintain the rivers Calder and Eden.

At Croydon the sewage from about 35,000 persons is ap-
plied to 260 acres of free, open soil at Beddington, giving a
proportion of 134 persons to the acre ; the sewage from about
another 4,000 persons is utilised on about 30 acres of low-
lying clay land at South Norwood, giving a proportion of 133
persons to the acre. Tlie comparative effects of the two
operations upon the purification of the sewage is very intel-
ligibly shown by the following analyses of the Rivers Pollution
Commissioners. They are intended to show the influence of
season upon the purification of sewage by irrigation, on the
light soUs of Beddington (Croydon), and the clay of Norwood.

Results of Analyses expressed ik Paeis pee 100,000.

Average
composition of

solid
irs in
tion.

anic
bon.

li

o

_g.S be

effluent
Sewage Water.

Total

matte

solu

Org
Carl

a
4

o » -^

S
3

Spring —

Norwood ....

88-1 1-500

-303

-816

•220

1-194

8-37

Croydon

35-4 -591

-104

-072

-225

•388

2-32

Summer —

Norwood ....

88-6 ' 1-883

-312

•462

-657

1-361

11-03

Croydon

35-4 -607

•126

•069

•155

-300

2-57

Autumn —

Norwood ....

87-0 1-349

-203

•835

-734

1-629

8-91

Croydon

43- 1 -690

-138

-185

-589

-792

3-20

Winter —

Norwood ....

87-0 1-271

•273

-876

•313

1-255

7-71

Croydon

40-6 -612

•145

•204

-533

-846

2-72

After 7 days'

frost —

Norwood ....

88-8 1-356

•413

1-145

-156

1-534

8-81

Croydon

45-6 -591

-239

-371

-448 i -992

2-88

The Commissioners, in speaking of the clay land at Nor-
wood, say that the results of analyses " show that tiie
effluent sewage was, except in a few instances, so far cleansed
even upon this heavy clay soil, as to be admissible into run-
ning water without nuisance."

At Aldershot (where the sewage is all derived from the
camp, consisting of adults) the sewage of 7,000 persons is
distributed over 80 acres of poor sandy soil, in which peroxide
of iron pervails, or 88 soldiers supply the sewage for an acre
of land, which is equal to a much larger proportion of an
average population consisting of men, women, and children.

At Tavistock, where the soil is a loam with a subsoil of
pebbles, the population is 9,000, and the number of acres irri-
gated 90, or exactly one acre to 100 persons.

At Worthing, where the soil is also of a free description,
8,000 persons supply the sewage for 95 acres of land, of which
53 are cultivated and 42 are permanent grass. This is after
the rate of 85 persons to the acre.

At Malvern, where the soil is partly a gravel and partly
a clay, the sewage from about 5,000 persons is applied to 84
acres of land, of which 54 are permanent pasture and 30
arable. This is after the rate of 60 persons to an acre.

At Banbury, where the soil is clay, the number of acres
under irrigation is 130, and the population being 11,000
the proportion is 1 acre to 92 persons. The condition of the
effluent water here is not so satisfactory as in other cases, but
this is no doubt owing to tlie fact that the under-drainage of
the land is imperfect, and allows the sewage only partially
filtered to descend into the drain, and so pass into the
rivers.

350

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

At llugby, wlierc t!ie soil is of a mixed cluiractor, partaking
of gravel ou a clay sub-soil, 65 acres ol land have been takeH
on lease as sufficient to satisfy upwards of 8,000 inhabitants ;
and as this town has long been under treatment for sewage irri-
gation, past experience has probably had influence in deciding
the quantity of land taken. The proportion is 125 persons to
the acre.

There are about 30 towns in England where the sewage has
been applied by irrigation, but tlie experiences of the before-
named towns may be taken as the best examples at present ex-
isting by which to arrive at some idea of the quantity of land
required, though, as I have stated before, we must trust to
future experience to decide the question definitively. The hiic
Rivers' Commissioners stated that the quantity of land required
should not be less than one acre to every 150 inhabitants con-
tributing the sewage, but the deduction from the instances
given would be that 100 persons to the acre better represents
the mean quantity required, putting light and heavy land to-
gether, and taking an average of populations consisting of men,
women, and children. I have myself hitherto considered that
one acre of free soil to 150 persons, and one acre of clay soil,
if well drained, to 100 persons, would suffice ; but to arrive at
a general view of the matter, it would perhaps be better to
reduce the latter proportion to 75 persons to the acre, and take
100 persons to the acre as the mean of various soils. To
make sewage farming as profitable as it is capable of being
made, it is necessary to have something like 33 per cent, of
extra land beyond that used for irrigation — that is, one acre of
nnsewaged land to three acres scwaged — so as to allow of peri-
odical rests to the sewaged portion by an alternation of crop-
jjing. To provide, also, for the gradual increase of population,
additional land capable ol receiving sewage should be pro-
vided. If, therefore, we take 50 per cent, in addition to tlie
amount actually required to meet both these considerations, we
arrive at the least extent of land which will sooner or later be
abstracted from ordinary and devoted to sewage farming.
Upon this data, and supposing that half the towns I have clas-
sified by their populations adopt irrigation as the mode of utili-
zing their sewage, the quantity of land required will amount to
atleast 100,000 acres. Up to the present moment, owing to
the scarcity of sewage farmers, and the disinclination there
exists to devote attention to a business about which so
little is known, and about which so much doubt has
been entertained, the sewer authorities iu dilferent towns re-
sorting to irrigation have become farmers on behalf of the
residents they represent. In such cases the duties have devolved
principally on the surveyor of the Local Board, who, possibly
knowing nothing of practical agriculture and receiving a fixed
and probably not a very high salary for the performance of his
duties, is hardly the person to develop the most profitable
results. Sewage farming being a new thing too, the indi-
vidual members of corporations or local boards of health have
been led to take part in it ; but, as gratuitous services are
seldom very effective, it is likely that no greater profit will
attend such superintendence than that of the local surveyor,
and, consequently, the time cannot be very distant wlien
sewage farms will be ofl'ered for hire in the same way as ordi-
nary farms. As present there are very fevv ordinary farms to
be let for which there are not always many applicants, even
where the prospect of profit is very limited ; and I think, there-
fore, you wiU agree with me that it will not be inopportune
for this Club to consider at once whether the sons of the pre-
sent generation of farmers can give their attention to better
objects than sewage farming and the technical information
required for it, particularly as the extension of this new branch
of agriculture must reduce the chances of obtaining ordinary
farms by withdrawing land from one purpose to apply it to
another.

The Renting Value of Sewage Tarms. — But if
sewage farming is to become the occupation of a special
class of men who prepare themselves for it, it is clearly
desirable to come to some definite understanding as to the
basis upon which the renting value of sewage-irrigated laud
should t)e calculated, for rent, is always the first item of con-
sideration with all farmers, and at the present moment there
is much confusion prevailing upon the point. Tliis arises from
the supposition which prevails in some places that the return
from the sewage farm should cover the cost of conveying the
sevvage from the sewer mouth to the land, forgetting that the
obligation lies with the town to dispose of its own refuse in

an unobjectionable manner, irrespective of the cost. It may b<!
a stroke of good policy to adopt a mode of disposal which
will afford some return, though it is obviously a fallacy to
connect the cost of the work with the rent of the land. Indeed so
manifest is this viewthat it seems hardly necessary to remind you
that the sewage in some cases maybe appliedto land lying below
a town by simple gravitation at a trifling cost limited to the
delivering conduit ; while in otiiers it may liave to be lifted to
a considerable height above the town, when there will not
only be the cost of the necessary machinery but the current
outlay of pumping and maintenance. And this may be the
case when the productive capability of the land and the quality
of the sewage may be the same in both instances. The true
basis of rent 'consists of three elements — the productive value
of the land with reference to the sewage to be applied to it ;
the proximity of the farm to the market for the sale of its
produce ; and the quality of the sewage delivered to it. The
two first elements sliould be considered together and the last
independently.

As far as experience has yet gone, the soil most suitable for
the production of sewage crops is a light, free soil, thougli I
am disposed to believe that when we have had more practice
we shall find tlie clays equally available. Upon this point, I
lielieve, our friend Dr. Voelcker, the farmer's cherast par excel-
lence, is of opinion that clays, deeply cultivated and properly
drained, may be more productive under sewage treatment than
free soils ; though we know as a fact tliat the poor, sandy soils to
which the sewage of Edinburgh has been already applied have
produced herbage which was sold last year at a price ranging
from £il 17s. Gd. to £19 per acre ; while in the more repul-
sive soils of the Bagshot Sands at Aldershot, which are mixed
with peroxide of iron, Mr. Blackburn lias let land for garden
purposes at £5 an acre, while before the sewage was taken to it
the same land was literally not worth half-a-crown. Thesesandy
soils were naturally so sterile that it would appear it matters not
what is the quality of the soil which becomes the matrix for
the sewage so long as it is easily penetrated by the roots of
vegetation. This is an important point where suburban land is
very expensive and poor land is witiiin reach. Another consi-
deration will have its influence too, when determining the de-
scription of soil to be utilized, an opinion having recently
gained ground that a poor free soil operates as on oxidiser of
sewage at least as well as a rich loam or clay, even though the
latter may be as completely disintegrated as it is capable of
becoming by effective under-drainage.

If free soils naturally drained, and clays pulverized by
under-drainage, are equally available, the proximity of the
sewage farm to a ready market becomes the first desideratum.
It so happens that the vegetation best produced by the use of
sewege is that which will find customers in the town from
whence the sewage is obtained if within easy reach. Italian
rye-grass, roots, and market-garden produce can be sold as
soon as they are fit for use to the townspeople , and it is for this
reason that the land devoted to sewage in the vicinity of towns
must rank as accommodation laud, and the price if pur-
chased, or the rent if leased, rise accordingly. And al-
though the late Rivers Commission laid it down as arule that
sewaged farms should not exist within a mile of towns, it is not
likely that this limit will appreciably reduce the price if valley
lands of high quality are compulsorily taken. If therefore by
raising the sewage to a height above the town it can be applied
to poor and cheap land, it may be vvell worthy the attention
and consideration of sewer authorities, whether they may not
spend less money in raising the sewage to such land than in
the purchase of valuable valley land which may be reached by
simple gravitation. Tims, for instance, a town requiring 150
acres for a sewage farm can afford to spend without loss
£15,000 in pumping arrangements to raise its sewage to a
height above (including the capitalization of current expenses)
if the cost of the high-lying land does not exceed £50 an acre
and the price of the valley land is as much as £150 an acre.
This question may lie looked at iu another light by comparing
land to be leased instead of purchased under the two conditions
supposed. The land in the valley may be worth from £3 to
£5 an acre, while land above may be obtainable at £1 an acre.
Tlie difference of rent in these two cases would be at least
£500 a-year, which if capitalized at 30 years' purchase would
be £15,000 ; and the advantage of raising the sewage above
the town would not be limited to the saving in the first cost or
rent of land, for it is more than probable that the effect would,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

551

111 most cases, be to avoid all objections of a residential cha=
racter.

On these grounds it appears reasonable that the rent of the
land, irrespective of the sewage, and independent of buildings
and the special preparation of the land constituting the
sewage farm, should be the same as that of accommodation
land in the vicinity of the town furnishing the sewage, which
will vary from £3 10s. to £5 an acre.

Value of Sewage. — The value of sewage depends in the
iirst place upon the extent to which the excretal matter voided
by the population is dihited by the water supplied to the town
for domestic purposes and by influx of surface and subsoil
water into the sewers ; next, by the nature of the trades and
occupations of the inhabitants ; and lastly by the capability of
the land to assimilate the fertilizing matter and to benefit by
the quantity of fluid with which it is mixed.

Whilst the quantity of excretal matter per head is constant,
the quantity of water supphed to different towns varies
very considerably. For instance, at Bedford the daily
supply is 15 gallons per head, at Carlisle 40 gallons, at
Croydon 45 gallons, at Malvern 5 gallons, at Banbury 21
gallons, at Worthing 45 gallons, and at Uugby 25 gal-
lons. The influx of subsoil water varies in ditterent towns,
even in a much greater degree than the water supply, and
thougli it varies at different seasons according to the subter-
ranean water pervading the district, it does not change
like that entering the sewers from the surface which is
directly dependent upon tlie rainfall, and sometimes over- loads
the sewers, while at other times there is no influx at all. The
great increase due to subsoil water alone is proved by the fact
that, while at Banbury, with a daily water supply amounting
to 230,000 gallons, the dry-weather discharge from the
sewers is only 300,000, at Bedford, where the water
supply does not exceed 150,000 gallons, and where the surface
and storm waters are excluded from the sewers, the daily dis-
charge from the sewers amounts to at least 500,000, and has
been reported to be as mucli as 797, '^50 gallons daily. The
quantity and quality of town refuse, other than and in addition
to human excreta, vary also considerably in diU'erent towns,
ahnost as much as the quantity of water supplied to tlve in-
habitants and the influx of subsoil water. For instance, in
some h\rge towns there may be one prevailing cliaracter of
industry, such as the woollen, silk, and chemical works of the
Lancasliire towns, the tanneries of Stockport and Warrington,
and the breweries of Burton and llomford. In small towns
there may be an extensive brewery, or one special trade
which may proportionately affect the discharged refuse quite
as much as a general trade in larger towns. I do not propose
to go very deeply into the chemical analyses and chemists
calculations that have been published from time to time show-
ing the value of sewage discharged from different towns. I
abstain for two reasons — first, because the details are rather
too technical, being learnedly expressed in the dead lan-
guages, and next, because, although we are under obli-
gation to chemical science for the fundamental data by which
to arrive at the existence and comparative powers of fertilizing
agents, we cannot altogether rely upon the estimates of
value. It is for this reason, I presume, that we have got
into the habit of speaking of chemists' estimates of fertilizing
matter as " ihcordkul values" although they are based on the
actual price of guano and otlier saleable manures.

You will perhaps remember tliat Messrs. Ilofmann and Witt,
in the evidence they gave before the referees appointed to in-
quire into the sewerage of the metropolis, estimated the annual
total voidiugs of an adult male to be worth lis. Qjd.* Dr.
ThucUchum more recently gave the value of the urine alone of
adult males at 10s. 3|d.t Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert esti-

'"^ ADULT MALES PER HEAD PER ANNUM.

Total solid matter. Ammonia. Value.

lbs. lbs. s. d.

Urine 61 15-8 10 0^

Fteces 34 2-3 1 8$

Total

95

18-1

II 9i

t ADULT MALES PER HEAD PER ANNUM.

Total sold matter. Ammonia. Value.

lbs. lbs. s. d.

Urine alone 47 15-9 10 3^

mated the amount of nitrogen in the food of an average indi-
vidual, wliich was founded upon tlie calculation of 86 different
dietaries arranged in 15 classes according to sex, age, activity,
of mode of hfe, and other circumstances, to be equivalent to
rather less than 12-21bs. of ammonia, from which of course a
deduction had to be made for the nitrogen retained in
the body and for loss in various ways. Messrs. Lawes
and Way, after quoting tliis estimate, state in their report
appended to the third report of tlie Sewage Commission, that
" upon the whole, therefore, it is concluded that the amount
of ammonia contributed to the sewer water by each individual
of a mixed population of both sexes and all ages is pretty cer-
tainly more than lOlbs. per annum, as formerly assumed, but
probably less than 121bs. But it is not the human excretal
matters of the resident population that alone contribute
to the value of the sewage ; to these must be added the
fractional part of theexcretal matters of horses, cows,
dogs, and other animals; of the refuse from slaughter
houses, of soot and of the matters derived from the abrasion
of the streets, and also the refuse matters from_ cer-
tain manufacturing processes. So far as existing informa-
tion bears upon the point, it would appear probable that not
more than 12ilbs. of ammonia are contributed annually to the
sewers from all sources per head of tlie population." Mr.
Jolin Chalmers Morton, in liis " Agricultural Experience of
300,000 tons of Nortli London sewage," having brought
forward the results of the chemical analyses of Messrs. Lawes
and Gilbert, says, " These then are the leading points to which
the attempts to estimate the value of the sewage of a town
have led. 200 ounces of ammonia per annum pass through the
water-closet of every individual of a population, the propor-
tions of other ingredients, potash and phosphoric acid, cor-
responding fairly with that of its ammonia or nitrogen to the
wants of most of our cultivated crops; that of potash, however,
being generally deficient." To bring these analyses to bear
practically upon the treatment and utilization of sewage,
engineers and chemists have combined to shift their
figures from one denomination to another. Instead
of referring to ounces of ammonia and pounds of excretal
matter voided by each average member of tlie population, the
whole refuse has been brouglit into tons of sewage dis-
charged from a town. Having arrived at 8s. 4d. (which
is 100 pence) as the average value per head of the ex-
cretal matter voided by a population — i.e., the 12Jlbs. of
ammonia — Messrs. Lawes and AVay assume that by one
means or another — by tlie supply of water for domestic and
trade purposes, by the influx of surface-waters, and by the
accretion of subsoil waters — the maximum quantity of sewage
discharged from a town may reach 100 tons per head per
annum. Thus, as 100 pence is the value of the fertilizing
matter due to each head of the population, Id. is placed upon
each ton of sewage as its value also. The simplicity of the
calculation would be perfect if experience showed that the
excrementitious matter diluted in the proportion of 333 of
water to 1 of excretal matter was really worth the money.
But it isobviously the fact that, beyond the extent of dilution,
which renders the sewage most acceptable to vegetation, — say
20 gallons per head, — the sewage undergoes depreciation in
proportion as it is further diluted. It stands to reason that
there must be a proper limit to the dilution appropriate to
difl'erent soils, and no species of sophistry in science can make
it otherwise, however anxious we may be to utilize the water
with which we have to contend under the present sewerage
systems. Mr. Hope, the very able pioneer in sewage utilization,
having satisfied himself by the analysis of Professor Way that the
sewage of the uortliern portion of the metropolis— high and
mid-level sewers— was theoretically worth 2^d. per ton, there
being 8.3 grains of ammonia to the gallon in it, states his own
estimate of the actual value to be Id. per ton, and he takes 50
tons as the average annual quantity of sewage from each
person, thus making the actual value 4s. 3d. per head,
or half that of Messas. Lawes and Way. But though
I am also disposed, for the sake of simplicity, to take
Id. per ton as the value of sewage, I stop at a much less
amount of dilution as my datum. I think that a penny should
only rule when the water supply is 20 gallons a day per
person, or 32| tons per annum, and only then when
the accretion of subsoU water does not increase the discharge
from the sewers more than 25 per cent., which raises the dis-
charged sewage to 40^ tons, the money value being calculated

352

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

on the water supply (SS^ tons), and not on the aggregate dis-
charge (40^ tons) ; for we must always bear in mind that sewage
is " the refuse of human habitations," and not the water of
drainage or the water of rainfall, and that therefore the measure
of " sewage" is the water supply. Upon this view, while Messrs.
Lawes and Way's estimate of the theoretical value of sewage
is 8s. 4d., and Mr. Hope's estimate of tlie actual value is is.
3d., that which I have ventured to give will stand at is. S|d.
In fixing this price, I have been guided by lealized results and
probabilities, and have regarded sewage simply as manure sup-
plied by sewered towns to their tenants, and have separated
the return due to it from that which would arise from the land
without it. In the desire to support theoretical value, we have
got into some confusion on tliis head. Tliere is no reason
why we should regard commercially the supply of liquid sewage
from a town in a different light to so mucli solid manure from
stables in a town, with the single and great advantage that the
former not only distributes itself over the land without labour,
but it reaches the roots of vegetation in a ready condition for
assimilation, and is therefore worth more money. Mr. Mar-
riage, at Croydon, has shown that the full produce from his 260
acres lias yielded a return of .46d. per ton for the sewage, or a
fraction less than a halfpenny per ton, which is equal to 2s. 5d.
per head of population, and which, after deducting rent, rates,
taxes, labour, interest on capital, &c., will represent the value
of the sewage (which is much doubted) at less than a farthing
per ton. At Aldershot, where there is a return of £1,200
from the waste of 7,000 adults, the return per head is 3s. 4d.
per annum. It is difficult to arrive at what proportion of this
is due to the sewage, independent of the land and expenses, and
I leave you to draw your own deductions. At Norwood 3s. 'Jd.
per head, per annum, represents the return derivedy/'o;« //le tvhole
produce, while only 9d. per liead represents the profit ! Tliese in-
stances alone are sufficient to show that a penny a ton on the re-
duced quantity of sewage, which I liave taken as my datum, is
quite as much as the sewage, per sc, is worth in the present state
of our knowledge, and that this sum should be divided equally
between the landlord supplying the sewage and the tenant
using it. If this is right, Is. i^d. per head may be considered
as the payment due for the sewage, and in a town of 10,000
people it would amount to £G77 Is. Sd. This is equal to £G
I5s. 5d. per acre, and represents the payment of the farmer for
the manure of the se waged portion of his farm. In some soils,
where water is valuable after the land has appropriated a suf-
ficiency of manure, a larger cliarge may be made for the sewage ;
but in clay soils, the retentive properties of which cannot be al-
together removed by any amount of uuder-drainage, au excess
of water should be met by a reduced charge. This is one
reason why both storm and subsoil waters should be kept out of
the sewers.

TjiJi PRErARATiON OF THE Land. — I statcd early in my
remarks that we could not charge the sewage farm with any
cost of delivering the sewage from the town to the land, im-
plying that the outlay chargeable to the farm for works should
commence from the point at which the sewage is delivered to
it. Before entering upon the preparation of land for the only
mode of irrigation to be recommended, let me say a few words
on the systems which have each had their advocates for tlie time.
I think I may say, positively, that sufficient experience has
already been gained to lead to the conclusion that tlie method
of irrigating by iron pipes with hydrants and liose for distribu-
tion, fails in satisfactory results, although there are some
recognised authorities who still continue the practice. My
friend, Mr. Meclii, I believe, is one who does so ; though,
seeing that Lord Essex at Watford, tlie Duke of Northumber-
land at Alnwick, as well as several others have relinguished
the practice, I hardly think he would lay out a new system
on the same method he now follows. Subterranean irrigation,
admitting the sewage into the drains and allowing the sewage
to pass out of the drains into the subsoil, I believe to be
erroneous in principle : first, because it takes the fertilizing
matter away from those fibrils of the roofs which are ready to
appropriate it ; and next, because it takes the water holding
the fertilizing matter in solution and suspension down into the
subsoil to rise upwards and so maintain evaporation, which
lowers the temperature of the bed of vegetation. The appli-
cation of sewage on the surface, on the contrary, not only
feeds vegetation in the way it is best able to assimilate the
food contained in the sewage, but the flow of sewage over
the surface has the effect common to all irrigation of raising

the temperature of the ground higher than the air abovg
its surface, instead of lowering it as must be the case where
the sewage rises upwards.

Irrigation by means of channels on the surface, is there-
fore, the only method open for adoption. As the
surface of each farm will vary in configuration, it would
answer no good purpose to go particularly into the formation of
the surface. It will suffice to say that the sewage, starting
from the point at whicii it will be delivered, will be conducted
over the whole farm by open or covered conduits, witli leading
and minor carriers dividing the land into proper areas for dis-
tribution. If the laud be steep, then the catch-water system,
which is common in the hilly grounds of the West of England,
will apply. Tlie name itself explains the system quite as well
as a lengthy description, as any overflow from the first carrier
is caught by the second, and reapplied until the whole of the
sewage has fed vegetation on the surface, and been absorbed
by the soil. If the surface of the laud has only a moderate
fail, then the system now called the " pane and gutter system,"
and adopted in the first instance by Mr. Baldwin Latham at
Croydon, will be called into use. The size of the panes de-
pend upon the natural fall of the ground and the nature of the
soil. The system may be thus shortly described : The sewage
having been brouglit to the head of the field by a main carrier,
and conducted down the field in the direction of the greatest
fall by minor carriers, passes therefrom over the sloping sur-
face from the upper to the lower margin, the system being
perfect when the whole of the vegetation has been covered
with sewage, without any escape from the surface. Where the
land is nearly level it is necessary to give an artificial fall, by
raising it into ridges, and depressing it into furrows in the
shape of the winter irrigated laud of Italy, which is called
" raarcite." A niarcite field in Lombardy is very much like a
well-formed English ridgeand-furrow field, with this differ-
ence, that instead of exhibiting, as some of our " corduroy"
fields do, the " curves of beauty and grace," they are made pre-
cisely straight. The breadth of each plane or side of the ridge
iu Italy, where the water has very little solid matter floating in
it, varies from 25 to 30 feet. The most recent illustration of this
formation in England is that being carried out on Mr. Hope's
farm at Romford. He says: "The result of many careful ,
observations and experiments was that the breadth which com- \
bined the most advantages was 15 feet from ridge to furrow,"
and " two ploughings are amply sufficient to lay tlie land up to
the necessary slope of I in 25." T'he more porous the land
the steeper must be the fall from ridge to furrow, as the object
to be aimed at is tliat no sewage at all shall ultimately pass
from the surface into the rivers or watercourses. In Italy the
effluent water of irrigation is frequently applied over and
over again, and it becomes richer the more frequently it
is passed over the surface. It gathers fertilizing matter as it
flows, and more money is paid for the last application than for
the first. In England the primary object being to free the
fluid of impurities as completely as possible, irrigation and
filtration should go hand in hand. The necessity of so
forming the irrigating surface that, with the aid of natural or
artificial under-draiuage, every drop of sewage shall be ab-
sorbed by the soil at the time of feeding or after it has fed
vegetation, leads me to state that I believe a very erroneous
impression has hitherto prevailed as to the capability of vege-
tation alone to purify sewage. It has been over and over again
asserted that vegetation even in the dormant period of winter
has tiie power of abstracting and appropriating in some way or
other the obnoxious and fertilizing portions of sewage. That
it does not do so profitably has been showu to be the case by
Mr. Morton, who states, in his " Agricultural Experiences of
300,000 tons of North Loudon Sewage" before referred to,
that a very largequantity of the sewage applied at Lodge Farm in
January and February before the season of growth had arrived
had been nearly useless, having before stated that his experience
had proved to him that " it is a wasteful process to attempt
to overcome the natural tendency of things." Tliese remarks
are those of an honest agriculturist looking for a return in the
growth of vegetation. If sewage has passed off the surface com-
paratively pure, as weknowhas been the case, while vegetation has
been dormant, the purification has been due to the absorption of
the sewage at the surface, and its lateral filtration through the
soil, rather than to the influence of vegetation at such times.
In fact, I believe that fallow land would be nearly as serviceable
for purification during winter as land upon which a plant of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

353

Italian ryegrass existed provided there was natural or artificial
under drainage. I have heard it frequently said, and by high
anthorities too, that clay lands devoted to sewage irrigation do
not require under drainage ; and I remember once hearing the
foreman in charge of a well-known irrigated clay farm state
that the drains were an evil rather than a benefit, because a
large quantity of the sewage passed from the surface down to
the drains, and so escaped to the river with the fertilizing matter
he wanted to retain for vegetation. It is needless to point
out that the passage of tlie sewage from the surface carrier to
the drain below was due to the too near approach of the drain
to the carrier. It has long been my opinion, from observa-
tions made in draining works during the last twenty years,
that with a sufficient bed of any soil for the sewage to pass
through, it may be purified independently of surface vegetation.
The question is one of quantity of the filtrating material.
The llivers' Pollution Commissioners state : " The process of
filtration through sand, gravel, chalk, or certain kinds of soil,
if properly carried out, is the most effective means for the
purification of sewage to whicli reference has yet been made."
They also say, " Indeed irrigation as now carried out owes no
inconsiderable amount of its success to the contemporaneous
effect of the filtration of the sewage through the soil of the irri-
gated fields, for it is precisely in those cases in which the sewage
is absorbed and disappears in porous land that we have observed
in the eftluent water from drains the most complete purifying
effect." The absence of all reference to clay soils in this pas-
sage would lead us to believe that although the commissioners
experimented on the brown loam from the marl stone of the
lower oolites near Dursley, in Gloucestershire, and the result
showed that it surpassed all other soils experimented upon in
its power of purifying sewage, they reserve for future investi-
gation and consideration the special capabilities of clay
lands. The great point to aim at in preparing the land for
sewage is to acquire a sufficient depth of filtering bed by drain-
age where it does not naturally exist. In surcharged free soils
there is no difficulty, because a few deep drains will serve the
purpose ; but in clays, where we have to combat with the
natural retentive powers of the soil and where a number of un-
derdrains are necessary to produce disintegration, it is a more
difficult matter. This, however, is a question too special in
character to dwell upon now ; it will be sufficient to state
that, whatever drains are adopted to render the soil capable of
absorbing and filtering the sewage, their position must have
special reference to the way in which the surface carirers are
laid out, and that if miasma is to be avoided no land should
be irrigated tiiat is not perfectly drained. While upon this point
I will only add that I concur in what I believe to be an opinion
expressed by Dr. Voelcker, that clays will be found as suitable
for sewage irrigation as other soils if they are properly snbsoiled
as well as drained, for the more that is done to open the sub-
soil so as to render it less necessary to put the drains near
together the more perfect the purification will be. The cost of
laying out land for irrigation will, of course, vary with
the form of the surface and the crops intended to be grown.
It varies fiom £3 to £15 per acre. Where under-drainage is
necessary the two will probably average the larger sum. If
house and buildings are erected in cases where the extent of
land reaches 150 acres the outlay may be doubled, and then Uie
rentcharge to repay the outly in 30 years may reach £300
a year ; but in an average of instances £200 a year would
suffice. Tliis brings me to the third and last point.

The Return fiiom Sewage Farming.— The crop
which up to this time has commanded the greatest attention
is Italian rye grass, whieh has been generally sown in the
autumn, and has lasted two years and more ; but experience
is beginning now to show that it is more productive if grown
for one year only. Its value as a farmer's crop consists in the
extraordinary rapidity of its growth. Mr. Morton has shown
that 46 tons can be produced in the year by dressings, amount-
ing to 5,520 tons per acre, which is equal to one ton of grass
from every 120 tons of sewage ; while jMr. Hope states that
as much as 100 tons per acre can be produced in the year from
nearly the same amount of dressings, which is equal to one
ton of grass for 50 tons of sewage. The value of Italian rye
grass as a means of purification consists in its rapacious appe-
tite for liquid manurial matter, causing it to start into
growth earlier in the spring, and remain active later in the
autumn than any other known crop. The money value of
Italian rye grass will, of course, depend upon the market at

hand. It has realised upwards of £1 a ton when fresh cut,
but the average price will probably be lis. a ton, and then
only when there is a constant demand for fresh cut grass.
But a constant sale of Italian rye grass is not by any means
certain. In the small towns ot Rugby, Bedford, Banbury,
and Warwick, they have, I believe, already experienced conside-
rable difficulty in disposing of it, and at Banbury
last year they sold it by auction when ready to cut for hay,
the price realised in the year for the two cuttings was
£11 an acre, which is considerably less than half the amount
realised from Mr. Morton's quantity of 4G tons an acre,
at lis. a ton (£25 6s.). At the Lodge farm, last year, the
Hon. Mr. Petre actually produced and sold 53 acres of rye
grass for £1,350, which is £25 9s. 6d. to the acre ; and he had
amongst his customers Messrs. Pickford-and Co., the well-
known carriers, who had regular supplies for their stables, and
who pronounced it to be excellent horse fodder. I understand
Mr. Darby, of Rugby, the well-known horse dealer, has also
found Italian rye-grass excellent food for horses. Hitherto
there has been some doubt upon this point, and sewage-
produced grass has been almost entirely devoted to feeding
cows and neat cattle. I mention it, therefore, here, as it will
go some way to satisfy you that the demand will increase as
the production becomes better known. Mr. Marriage, of
Croydon, has, I believe, contrived to sell his fresh cut grass
for 23s. a ton when carried into town ; but the ordinary price
on his farm has been from 13s. to 14s., when taken from the
ground ready cut and weighed. This, it must be remembered,
however, is near the metropolis, and the grass was therefore
more likely of sale than in ordinary instances. At Norwood,
last year, the rye-grass from 28 acres of land was sold in five
or six cuttings for £741 Os. 6d., which is more than Mr. Petre
realised at Barking, being upwards of £26 per acre.

Now that it is pretty well understood that Italian rye-grass
does not remain at full profit more than a year, and that it
has not the effect which people believed in purifying sewage
during the winter, its pre-eminence as the best sewage crop
may cease to be acknowledged. Sewage suits all roots of a
succulent character ; potatoes, mangolds, swedes, turnips, car-
rots, parsnips, kohl-rabi, and sugar beet are all equally fond
of it. It also suits the leguminous vegetables ; cabbages
of every kind seem to luxuriate in it, and vege-
tables of a less gross habit, such as celery, lettuces,
onions, radishes, &c., all seem to thrive. The superiority of
liquid sewage over farm-yard, or any other dry manure, for the
growth of roots and vegetables, is that it allows of transplant-
ing, and thus making good any delay or accidental failure up
to a late period of the year. Mangolds have been transplanted
as late as the end of June, and have produced a heavy crop. In
fact, such is the value of a command of water in sewage that
mangolds and most other roots are looked upon as a certainty.
It is not over estimating the average crop of mangolds pro-
duced fromsewage farming to put it at 35 tons to the acre, which
will realize at least £25 at 14s. a ton. We have not had sufficient
experience in kohl-rabi to arrive at any average weight of crop,
but there is every reason to believe it will turn out to be a
most suitable one. The same may be said of swedes
and turnips. Carrots and parsnips, if grown in moderate
quantities, so as not to overstock the market, will realise be-
tween £30 and £40 an acre, assuming the land to be suitable
to their growth. The whole of these root crops appear to re-
quire very judicious treatment in the selection of time of ap-
plication, and the quantity of sewage applied, for it is easy to
overdo the dressing, and to apply it at the wrong stage of
growth. So with potatoes, whicii will probably be found the
most profitable of all roots. Already upwards of £30 an acre
have been made, and, considering that it is hardly possible to
overdo the market with potatoes, as you may with carrots
and parsnips, the anticipation will not appear unreasonable.
Cabbages of various sorts have realized from £20 to £30 an acre.
Onions, though we are told by the Hon. Mr. Petre they are diffi-
cult to raise, well repay the efforts to produce them ; for he
states in his " Notes for the year ending 31st August, 1869,"
that " If acres of white onions sown early in March, which
did not look well until June, realized over £67 for the plot."
I desist from further details, being content to point out the
fact that in many cases it is possible to take two crops in one
year, and to assure you that the figures I have given are mode-
rate. Early peas may be directly followed by mangold, and
mangold by celery, the plants being insured by the aid of a suf-

364

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

ficiency of water and manure. Moreover, there is a future for
sugarbeet and mangolds, which renders them of extra value. It
is hoped that the one may be made into sugar,' and the latter into
feeding cake for stock. I place on the table a cake made from
dried mangold by Mr. Hugh Smith. Tlie crops which do not
satisfactorily respond to sewage treatment are cereals. These
crops have seldom exceeded in quantity what has been obtained
from ordinary farmed land dressed with yard manure. It will
be a very different thing with cereals when they alternate with
rye-grass and roots ; then the sewage left in the soil after
satisfying the grass or roots will suffice to produce the heaviest
crops of wheat, oats, or beans, without additional manure ;
and it is not at all improbable that we shall have fallow
lands used as filtering beds during the winter in pre-
paration for cereal cropping during the following summer,
thus securing a fair proportion of straw. I lay great stress
on the growth of straw, as I believe it will ultimately be as
highly valued on a sewage farm as any other production ; in-
asmuch as it will only be by the most profitable home con-
sumption of sewage produce, when it cannot be advantageously
sold at the proper moment, that sewage fanning will reach its
full profit.

To bring these various prices of produce into account and
put before you the balance-sheet, I will assume that for a town
of 10,000 inhabitants a farm of 150 acres is established, on
100 acres of which the sewage will be utilzed. Let us further
assume that with good management at least one crop is pro-
duced every year from the whole farm, and that, for the sake
of simplicity of calculation, the whole is sold as it is produced.
We shall then have the following figures to deal with :

RECEirTS. £

40 acres Italian Rye-grass (20 acres sold green at £25

an acre, 20 acres sold for hay at £12 10s.)...... 750

20 acres permanent grass (10 acres for winter irriga-
tion), at £6 an acre average 120

20 acres mangolds at £24 10s. an acre average 490

10 „ potatoes ,,£25 „ „ 250

5 „ carrots „ £32') „„„

5 „ parsnips „ £32; » » "^"^^

10 „ cabbages ,,£25 „ „ 250

40 „ cereals (with straw) „ £16 „ „ 640

£2,820

Outgoings. £

Rent, with rates and taxes 600

Charge for sewage 677

Rent-charge for preparing and draining land ... 200

Labour, horse and hand 500

Seeds, repair of implements, &c 200

Interest on capital 75 — 2,252

Tenant's profit £568

By this statement it would appear that the tenant farmer's
profit and interest on capital would be £643 a year from 150
acres of land ; while the sewer authorities of a town acting
as their own tenants may realize the same amount in addi-
tion to the charge for sewage (£677), making together very
nearly 2s. 8^A. a head on the 10,000 persons contributing the
sewage, which you will remember was datum value.

But this, perhaps, is assuming a favourable view of things :
it is supposing the produce all sold, and the money all realized.
I will now claim your attention to the disadvantages and
drawbacks of sewage farming. In the first place the sewage
farmer will be under obligation to receive and dispose of the
sewage at aU times of the year, whether it be profitable or not
to utilize it ; and when you consider that, with a town of
10,000 inhabitants using 20 gallons of water a head, there will
be delivered to the farmer every day, winter and summer, 9,000
tons of sewage which must be dealt with and discharged
in a pure condition, the obligation assumes a very serious
aspect. If, however, filtration through land in a fallow state
will sufficiently purify sewage during winter when vegetation
does not want it, this difficulty will be very much reduced, and
we may regard sewage farming in a different aspect. Then it
will become an object of the highest importance so to devise the
system of filtration that it shall operate as the best means of
placing and storing the manure required for future as well
growing crops. The next drawback is that of being obliged to
dispose of your free-growing grass directly it is fit to cut. If

cut for use while green, there must be the customer near at
hand to purchase and remove it as soon as it is ready, or it
suffers considerable damage, and causes injury to the succeed-
ing crop as well. If there be no customer, the farmer must
let it stand for hay ; or he may provide stock to consume it
in a green state, when he departs from the simple course of
disposing of the crop as soon as it is ready for sale and alters
the whole system of arrangement I have assumed in my
calculations. He has the alternative of selling by auction
the grass when fit to cut for hay, as is done at Banbury
and other places, and transfer the risk of making it to
the purchasers. These difficulties are very considerable,
owing to the fact that the crop is too bulky to dry in the
natural way by being spread upon the surface of the ground
which has produced it ; it must be either wholly or partially
removed to an adjacent surfiice or it must be artificially dried.
Against these drawbacks or difficulties, however, there is the
set off of prospective advantages to be gained by the adoption
of a system of cropping more nearly approaching that of mar-
ket gardening than I have mentioned. If onions and spring-
peas, lettuces, and such like vegetebles are produced, my
figures wiU sink into insignificance ; or if milk is produced
and sold successfully, the business assumes a different
character. This I leave for future consideration. My
remarks have already been too lengthy ; and I have only
to hope that they have been kept sufficiently close to the point
to secure a profitable discussion, and that you will give me
credit for placing the details in an unvarnished manner he-
fore you.

The Chairman said there were present several distinguished
gentlemen who might be considered as pioneers both in the
practice and science of sewage utilisation, and he was sure the
meeting would be but too pleased to waive the rule of the Club
which confined the discussion to members (Hear, hear).
Amongst those gentlemen was Mr. Hope, who had had large
experience in the application of sewage to agricultural pur-
poses. A member of the Club, Mr. Baldwin Latham, who had
likewise gained large experience on the same subject,
had written a letter, in the course of which he said :
"As I have unexpectedly to proceed to Berlin to-day
on professional business, and as I shall be absent for
at least ten days, it will be impossible for me to attend
the meeting of the Farmers' Club on Monday next as I
had intended. I think the sewage question is one of vital im-
portance to the agriculturists of this country. In the sewage
of our towns wLU be found a mine of wealth which merely re-
quires time for its development. Every day fresh experience
convinces me that the time is not far distant when towns will
nett a good round sum for that matter which is now castaway
as worthless, and which is a source not only of considerable
anxiety but the means of bringing the rivers and streams of
the country into the foulest possible condition. Experience
at Beddington, Norwood, and Thornton Heath, in the district
of the Croydon Local Board of Health, shows that
sewage may be applied to almost every description
of produce. Good wheat crops, mangel, potatoes, cabbages,
strawberries, celery, and a variety of other crops, have been
grown with the most perfect success. I do not think it would
pay to grow wheat on a sewage farm in the ordinary course of
agriculture, as there are other crops which will give much
greater yield under sewage treatment; and therefore the land
will be probably better occupied by growing crops that will
give greater returns, instead of being occupied by serial crops.
The Croydon Local Board received last year for every acre
under tillage at Norwood £24 14s. They have had an offer
lately from an infiuential person to take their sewage farm at
Beddington, 270 acres only of which are under sewage culture,
and for whi;li they have been off'ered a rental of £3,000
per annum. The agricultural land in the neighbourhood
of Beddington is certainly not worth more than from 30s.
to £2 per acre. The additional rent off'ered, therefore,
may by taken as the value of the sewage. The Local Board
would not accept this offer, as they think they will be
able to realise a much larger sum by working the farm them-
selves. At the present time much difference in opinion exists
as to the expense of fitting the land for the purposes of the
apphcation of the sewage. In my experience I have had land
laid out at a cost not exceeding £3 per acre, and I have had
land which has cost upwards of £20 per acre. I am now
laying out about 6,000 acres for the purpose of sewage irriga-

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

355

tion ; and the average cost will be much less tlian £10 per
acre. We have lately tried on our irrigation farm at Bed-
dington some new turnwrsst or turnover ploughs, whinli leave
the laud level, without ridge or furrow ; aud we find they
work extremely well ; and with such an instrument in the
hands of the agriculturists, the cost of preparing land for
sewage irrigation purposes will be greatly reduced. [ trust
you will have a very successful meeting, aud that
much valuable information will be elicited. When I look
back on the short space of time when Mr. Rawlinson and my-
self were found the only engineers who advocated the applica-
tion of the sewage to laud, as the means not only of realising
the value of the fertilizing matter, but as the only meaus by
which sewage can be purified before it is turned into the fresh
watercourses of the country, aud wlien I consider the vast num-
ber of persons that since that time have taken up this question,
I take it as a criterion of the progress which has been made,
and whicli augurs well for the future success of the system of
applying sewage to land."

Mr. lioPE said he rose with great diffidence to speak for the
first time to the Farmers' Club, and should have hesitated to
do so had not Mr. Bailey Denton called attention to his ope-
rations in connection with sewage farming. Tiie first point he
would notice in the most interesting paper which had been
read, was the statement made as to the number of persons per
acre. As a rule a great deal of misapprehension existed upon
this subject. Persons frequently talked of the number of tons
of sewage per acre, and the number of persons representing
tliose tons, when they intended to speak of the particular acres
under crop in a glveu season, leaving out of consideration
those other acres which either were in crop the year before, or
would come into rotation tlie following year. Mr. Denton had
pointed out that a large addition must be made of not less than
50 per cent, to the acres actually under sewage, iu estimating the
number of acres proportioned to a town. His own experience
was that a smaller number of persons should be applied to each
acre, his average being not more than 40 or 45 persons per cent.,
including the land which perhaps received no sewage at all iu
the given year. Dr. Voelcker was perfectly right from tlie
chemist's point of view in saying that clay land was the best
, of all for the reception of sewage ; but unfortunately it was also
the nastiest upon which to grow market-garden crops. Cabbages
and other similar jilants refused to grow at all, and iloodiug a
piece of land in the face of a north wind, in tlie expectation
of getting cauliflowers, was at the best a dislieartening opera-
tion (laughter). Dilution he regarded with comparative indif-
ference. Many persons thouglit town sewage was too diluted,
and tliat iu point of fact it was questionable whether it did not
do more harm than good. The first thing he did when he took
the sewage of the town of Romford was to stipulate for an ad-
ditional dilution of something like 30 gallons per head per diem
at his pleasure iu summer. The sewage at Romford, although
it had a regular water supply, was so strong and thick that it
would injure all young plants, not chemically but physically.
Thirty gallons per head per day represented 48 tons per anuum,
or in round numbers 50 tons. Tliat was approximately the
dilution to be expected from the London sewage when the
wliole system was completed. This was the most suitable quan-
tity so far as he could discover. With regard to the estimates
formed by chemists of the value of sewage per ton, or per head
of the population, lie was liimself originally much misled by tlie
chemists, who were themselvesmisled from want of farming expe-
rience. They were afraid to trust their owu chemical knowledge,
and they fancied that by the application of so much " washy
stufl"," as the farmers called it, they would injure many crops, and
they did not see their way to applying it at all times of the
year. The explanation was that at that time they had not had
sufficient experience. They, therefore, halved their theoretical
value, and put it at Id. per ton. He himself had a little skir-
mishing with his friend. Mr. Mechi, on the matter, and he had
now very great pleasure in admitting that that gentleman's
estimate of 2d. per ton was much nearer the mark. He (Mr.
Hope) would repeat what he stated at the Society of Arts, as
to the basis of his opinion upon this point. He had samples
taken every half hour, night and day, for 203 days on the high
and middle level sewers of London in 1865, from March to
September, and the average analysis gave about eight grains
of ammonia to the gallon, or 2d. per ton. It was quite clear
that if you put a certain quantity of ammonia and other che-
mical manures into the ground, and did not somehow get them

out again with a proper proportion of profit, it must be the
fault of the man who put them iu. His experience was that
there was nothing in nature to militate against such an ope-
ration. Laud should be so arranged that with a proper pro-
portion of Italian rye-grass common meadow land, and all
descriptions of roots and market-garden produce, there was
always a sufficient proportion of ground in a condition to receive
sewage. He received all the sewage from Romford, and had
of course to stand his chance of all suits in Chancery for nui-
sances, and he was not a bit afraid of the result, because he had
long become ijonvinced that he could uot only apply it without
injury or offence to the town's people, but also with a hand-
some profit out of every ton of sewage. He was sowing
ten acres of onions which would not receive any sewage
during tlieir growth, the land having been enriched in its fallow
state. He himself could see no reason for the belief amongst
some cliemists that the theoretical value could not be
borne out by skilful management on the part of the farmer.
He had gone into a number of very careful calculations as to
the returns which might be expected from rye-grass, that being
one crop which must always be used on every sewage farm, and
he found that if cows were reasonably well purchased, of
the right breed — large-framed Yorkshire or half-bred Short-
horns— well tended and housed, and never allowed to waste
their milk -producing energy ; and if the milk was sold near a
railway station at say 2d. per quart, which was the average
price obtained by dairy farmers in the neighbourhood of all
large towns, the return to the farmer for his grass consumed,
after deductiug interest on the cost of the cows and buildings,
and allowing for everything in the most wasteful manner, would
be, net, 15s. per ton. When it was remembered that 70 tons
per acre had been got in one season from ten crops, the
return to the farmer must be even beyond what Mr. Denton
had held out. Large crops were always obtained if the grass
was sown at the proper time. It should always be sown in the
month of August, aud hghtly sewaged. One light crop would
be obtained that year to pay for the cost of the sowing. There
would then be another crop in the ground to come off in
the spring. Last year grass-cutting began on the 24th of
January. This year that was of course out of the ques-
tion, but no doubt the price would be proportionately high
when the cutting commenced, so that even if a farmer iu
a bad season got only nine or eight crops, he might rea-
lise quite as much money. With regard to mangold wurtzel
and all other crops with similar appetite for manure (such as
drumhead cabbages), 2,000 tons per acre of sewage —
equal to forty persons — was enough to produce a
maximum crop. Twenty -five to thirty tons was the
ordinary yield ; but with sewage 50, 60, or 70 tons might be
counted upon with absolute certainty, irrespective of the
season. The plant was pushed forward from the very earliest
stages of growth, supposing the soil to be suitable and friable.
Nothing seemed to check it ; it never flagged in long periods
of drought, as was the case in ordinary farming ; and, above
aO, there were no gaps. Even if some of the seed failed,
transplanting might be elTected with certainty. A field of
mangold produced iu the ordinary way showed vacancies equal
to a quarter of the whole. This was not the case with sewage,
and, irrespective of this, the roots themselves were individually
larger. Market-gardening was a trade which every sewage-
farmer must learu. He would be almost always within easy
reach of a good market for vegetables, and he could grow
better vegetables than anybody else. The quahty of vege-
tables depended upon rapidity of growth. Grown slowly,
they are more generally hard and withered ; if grown rapidly,
they were succulent and crisp. The difference between the
two kinds in sale was something extraordinary in the Borough
or at Covent Garden. Last year he knew of an instance where
600 dozen of cabbages were sent up, grown by the old and
the new method. They went up on the same day, wheu
the top price for cabbages was a shilling a dozen. The 300
dozen of sewage-grown cabbages were bought up at once at
14d. ; the others went off very slowly, first at 8d., then at 6d.,
and it took many hours to sell them. A few facts like these
ought to convince everybody not only of the value of sewage,
but of the necessity of combining market-gardening with
farming (Hear, hear) . It was the ambition of the ordinary far-
mer to spread his farming capital over a maximum number of
acres, and perhaps in some parts of the country where rent and
labour were cheap, that was right, but where the rent was

356

THE FAEMBR'S MAGAZINE.

heavy and labour scarce the best policy was to concentrate
capital upon a minimum number of acres. He would quadruple
Mr. Denton's estimate for the above, and instead of making
the sura £500 a year he would put it at £2,000 or £2,500,
but at the same time he would multiply the returns at least by
three. He had only further to add, that he paid £600 a year
for sewage, representing 6,000 persons, or in round numbers
2s. a head, and as now it was worth 8s. per head of the result
he was not afraid (cheers).

Mr. Smyth (Herts) desired to make some observations on a
plan of his own for utilizing mangold, looking at it with the
view of utilizing sewage.

The Chairman suggested that Mr. Smyth's remarks would
be foreign to the question under discussion.

Mr. Smyth said he tliought not. He would show that 8
tons of mangold would produce tlie same amount of feeding
material as was to be found in a ton of barley. He took
mangold pulped and kiln-dried and pressed it into a cake, and
that was equal to a ton of the best barley, or equal in feeding
value to a ton of oilcake. Many persons might laugh, but he
was prepared to prove it analytically that it contained the
sam^ amount of feeding material.

The Chairman suggested that Mr. Smyth should confine
his remarks to the question how far his process bore upon
sewage.

Mr. Smyth said he thought it was palpable that it bore
upon the question if he could prove that this food was worth
£10 a ton. Then came the question of the utilization of the
raw mangold.

A Member: The growth of the raw mangold.
Mr. Smyth : Not the growth, but the utilization.
The Chairman : Vour observations would apply equally to
mangold grown in the ordinary way.

Mr. Smyth : With all due deference the same thing may be
said of the potato, but the object which you have is to show
what is the best crop and what is the best way of utilizing it.
(Cries of " No, no," and "Question.") Mr. Smyth finding
the Club indisposed to hear him sat down.

Mr. Mechi (Tiptree Hall, Kelvedon, Essex) desired to ex-
press his thanks to Mr. Bailey Denton for his very able paper,
and the great number of useful facts he had given, although
he did not agree with everything he had said. He was rather
an old sewage customer (laughter), it being now 27 years ago
since he first wrote against the great folly and wickedness of
throwing that away which would yield abundance of food for
the people. He had practised it in liis small way on his farm
for 20 years. The manurial power of England taken by stock
represented 2j sheep per acre ; and he found that the same
conclusion had been come to by the Rivers Pollution Com-
mission ; and 2^ sheep, or 2J people were about the same in
manurial value (laughter). It was a fact and no laughing
question. If they took an Alderman's family he would give
it in favour of man over sheep ; but when they came to the
same thing mixed with water they must estimate 50, 100, or
200 people to the acre, and if so the land in England must be
very deficiently manured. The average rainfall in England
was 2,600 tons per acre, and tlie manurial power of 2^ sheep
was mixed with 2,600 tons per acre. In towns, taking 2^
individuals, the calculation of water was 60 tons per acre per
head, making 150 instead of 2,600 tons, and yet no one
grumbled. He hoped by and by they would arrive at a more
reasonable calculation. He believed if they doubled the
manurial power of England they would grow a great deal
more of everything than they did now — at least that was his
experience, and he was glad to see the result wherever the
towns had begun to move in the matter. He could not give
a better proof than Croydon, which had found out its error, and
was about to apply only tlie same quantity of sewage to four times
the quantity of land, and il they lived 20 years more the limita-
tion of people to acres would go on increasing, and could they
wonder at it wlien it took the annual average available pro-
duce of 20,000 acres of land to feed the people of London for
a single day ? Would any one tell him that the manure from
that was not capable of greater diffusion than they had heard
of yet ? He agreed with Mr. Hope that if they were going
to make market-gardens of the land they could hardly put too
mucii sewage in reason upon it. They know thas if an ordin-
ary agricultural crop was consumed on the land, that land was
considered sufficiently manured ; and on that principle Lon-
don ought to manure 20,000 acres a day ; but according to

the principle now adopted London only manured a few acres.
There was only one little difference between the sheep and the
human being (laughter) in this matter of manure. The sheep
consumed all the phosphate of lime that was contained in its
food. Man in the consumption of meat did not consume the
bones, and therefore in the important element of lime his
manure was deficient. Baron Liebig asserted that the addi-
tion of a small quantity of superphosphate of lime would
render the manure of individuals equal to that of animals
that were fed on the land. He was exceedingly pleased to
find the subject was now getting one of every day discussion.
When he first mooted the question 27 years ago he was called
a nasty fellow for hinting at it; but the subject had since
been taken up in editorial articles, and he believed tliey would
all now agree that the waste of that enormous amount of
value was not only absurdly wrong with regard to the pollu-
tion of our rivers, but was wickedly wrong with respect to
depriving the people of this country of a liandsome profit, a
large employment of labour, and a great increase of food.
He recollected the time when there were no sewers in Lon-
don—when they used to catch roach at Blackfriars Bridge at
low water— but that time had gone by, and the river had been
made ?, common sewer. Tiie same thing had been done at
Manchester, but now they would be compelled to do their
duty. His friend the chairman, in introducing the subject,
had rather charged him with twitting the farmers for not being
anxious to receive liquid manure.

The Chairman -. I said indifference and apathy.

Mr. Mechi said he adopted the word apatnetic, and he
thought it would be seen that he was riglit in drawing that
conclusion, as he had heard it said by hundreds of farmers
that they had put liquid manure on their land, but had never seen
where it went, but, if so, the land could not have been drained.
He believed now the time would come when the use of liquid
manure would not be confined to near towns, but would be dis-
disposed over a larger area until it reached the land that had
been exhausted in producing food to bring into the towns.
He had used a good deal of sewage, and though he might
differ with Mr. BaUey Denton as to the mode of putting it on,
when it was in large quantities it would be desirable to convey
it through open channels and difi'use it by means of hose
pipes. He had not to spend £'10 to put the land into form.
When he had the jet at work he could put the hose on any
part. He quite agreed that the land ought to be well drained.
He had spent only £2 an acre for iron piping, and was thus
enabled to dispose of a large quantity of sewage, and if it was
of good quality it would pay to put it on in that way. Our
growth of cerials could only be called half crops. The poverty
of tlie land from want of manure was the great curse of the
land in England.

Mr. Claue Sewell Read, M.P., said they were very much
indebted to Mr. Bailey Denton for his paper, which was use-
ful in consequence of its moderation. It was very much better
to understate than to overstate the case. It was well known
that to apply sewage at a certain period of the year, it would
not produce the benefits to be expected from it. With regard
to sewage farming, one point which had been hinted at he
should like to refer to. Although there might be a consider-
ably increased quantity of ground used for market gardens, he
believed that for many years to come the principal produce
would be Italian ryegrass, but the great drawback to growing
it was the impossibility in some districts of disposing of it ;
therefore every sewage farm should have an apparatus for dry-
ing that article. Such an invention liad been produced by Mr.
Gibbs for drying corn, and was pretty successful. Hitherto all
attempts at drying large quantities of grass by artificial means
had failed ; but he trusted that with the attention of scientific
men would be more given to the subject, because until that was
done they would never get the full value of their sewage pro-
duce.

Mr. Thornhill Harrison, C.E., said it struck him, after
hearing the remarks that had been made, that the area of land
required to utilize sewage upon was becoming more and more
extensive. Mr. Mechi had pointed out that we wanted a more
extended area, so as to bring about the condition of things
existing previously to the introduction of tlie water-closet aud
sewage system. Previously to that period the night-soil of the
country was collected aud carried to an extended district over
the country. Doubtless some of the Lincolnshire farmers could
give some information as to the value of the uight-soil of Man-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

357

Chester, which was carried across the island into Lincolnshire,
and purchased at the rate of 3s. 6d. to 7s. per ton, giving as
the maximum a return of about 2s. 7d. per head of the popu-
lation. That was tlie sum that the farmer gave for the night-soil.
Of course the farmer expected a considerable profit from using
it, and the amount of agricultural produce was not at all
represented by that sum. lie found that at Stockholm the
price given by the farmers for night-soil was is. 5d. per
head of the population, and at the barracks at Carlsrhue,
2s. 4d. per head. One advantage of night-soil was that
it could be distributed over a very large area. As
regarded market-gardens as a system through whicli a
maximum value of sewage might be obtained, of course
there were near every town market-gardens at present, and
byand-hy there migiit be dilliculty in disposing of the
sewage for that purpose. The question now was, what had
been the experience of sewage farming up to the present time?
Upon this point information of considerable importance was
given in the report just issued by the Rivers Commission.
First of all was given the total value of the crops, per
head of the population, derived from sewage farming.
At Edinburgh 260 acres of land returned, per head of
the population. Is. 5d. as the total value of the produce.
It was fair to deduct from the total receipts something
like £-i per acre as produce naturally to be expected from
the land without any sewage irrigation, and deducting
that in the case of Edinburgh, the amount of Is. 5d. was
reduced to Is. 2^d. per head. At the Lodge Farm at Barking
the tot.al value of produce per head 4s. L^d.; deducting £4 per
acre as before, it was 3s. 5d. At Aldershot the total value
3s. 4d. — making no deduction for the crop without sewage, as
the land being sand was worth nothing. At Rugby the return
per head was Is. 4^d. (nearly the same as Edinburgh), but tlie
deduction as before reduced the amount to 8jd. The values
respectively at Banbury were 2s. 4d. aud Is. 4d. ; at Worthing
43. 6d. aud 3s. 8Jd. ; at Bedford lOd. and 7d. ; at Norwood
3s. 9d. and 33. Id. ; at Croydon 4s. aud 3s. 5d. That was the
/ohil value of the produce derived from tlie application of
sewage, and compared to Ss. per head as the value of sewage
it could not be considered satisfactory ; but there was another
point to be looked to, and that was the commercial result.
At Rugby the net receipts, after deducting tlie expenses, only
gave £86 Ss., or 3d. per head of the population ; and there
was no allowance for the charge of interest upon £5,000,
tiie cost of laying out the land. At Banbury the net receipts
were £89 4s., or only 2d. per head, and there was no interest
charged for £4,000 expended. At Worthing the amount
was £761 IBs., or Is. lid. per head of the population, and
Mr. llawlinson said it only returned an interest of Ij per
cent. At Bedford it was only £67 6f., or Id. per head,
with no allowance for interest. At Norwood it was £141)
59., or 9d. per head, and no allowance for interest. These facts
he gathered from the Rivers Commissioners' Report ; and tlie
experience in England up to the present time was therefore
not satisfactory to the farmer or to the country. We were by
no means getting the maximum of benefits to the farmer ; nor
the benefit the whole country ought to receive. Probably the
experience of market-gardening might raeud the matter ; but
up to the present time the experience was very decidedly
against sewage irrigation, as being either a beneficial appli-
cation of the excrement of man, or a commercial success to
the person who tried it.

Mr. Edmunds (Rugby) said : That after the glowing ac-
counts they had heard, he was afraid there must be something
wrong with them at Rugby. There they had no such results.
Last season was an exceptional one — by this time they were
cutting their first crop of grass (this year it had scarcely com-
menced growing), and theu, though the ground was irrigated so
soon as the crop was removed, they were only able to get six
cuttings. Some difficulty was experienced in disposing of all
the grass, and one piece was mowed for hay. This realieed
£47 from nine acres — three other crops were obtained, but
they were inferior. He did not think sewage fiirming would
be that very profitable occupation it had been represented. So
much depended upon the nature of the land itself, its situation,
&c., &c., that he was quite sure those great returns they had
heard of were exceptional. No doubt enthusiasts had been the
means of carrying out all our great improvements, but it re-
quired some one now and then to put the drag on to prevent
others being carried too far. Now the balance sheet of their

surveyor was like another famous one. He had left out en-
tirely a small matter of i'5,000, which it took to prepare the
land by levelling for the reception of the sewage, the making
of roads, the erecting tanks, laying down pipds, &c., aud no al-
lowance at all was made for the sewage itself ; so that instead
of having a balance of £58 in their favour, there was an actual
deficiency of £200 ; but he did not complain. The advantages
gained were cheap at that cost. The land had been proved to
be a thorough deodorizer. The pollution of the river was
prevented, they had no complaints from their neighbours, and
the sewage was no longer a nuisance injuring the health of the
people. Mr. Bailey Denton had spoken of old pasture-laud.
At Rugby they had irrigated old turf, and the result was that it
destroyed all the fine grasses, and the whole of the trefoils dis-
appeared, and completely spoiled it for grazing. He was satis-
fied the system would not succeed with cereals — it might suc-
ceed for market gardens, but then they must be within reach of
large populous towns, or they would not be able to dispose
of the produce. Italian rye-grass had been proved to be the
most valuable crop for two years, then it required to be re-
newed. One great drawback to the profitable use of sewage
was, that they iiad to deal with it when they did not want it.
No less than 8^ acres out of 67 were taken for roads, tanks,
&.C. For these and other reasons lie did not believe sewage
farming would be generally a successful speculation. Where it
would be profitable would be the exception.

The CiiAiRM.VN said this was the fifth time the Club had
discussed the subject of town sewage. As early as 1848 Mr.
Warren, of Horsley, brought it forward, and it was discussed
on three other occasions by Mr. Mechi ; so that, as far as the
farmers of England were concerned, tlie Club could not be
charged with being beliiiidhand or indifTerent to its importance.
lie had long taken a deep interest iu the question, and some
•even years ago he travelled half over England and Scotland to
inform himself upon the subject before recommending any
plan to be adopted in the borough of Bedford. He saw the
necessity of separating rainfall from the sewage. This was a
cardinal point where sewage had to be pumped ; and he
differed from Mr. Hope as to the amount of dilution. Then
it must be remembered that vegetation, and not so much the
earth itself, was the great deodorizer. If the rainfall was taken
into the sewers, there was great difficulty in dealing with the
sewage in winter when the supply was greatest, and when
vegetation, being dormant, required least. As to the area
required per 1,000 of the population, that depended upon
circumstances, but mainly on the amount of filtration
aud screening which the sewage Iiad to undergo. Last
week he saw at Croydon an invention by Mr. Latham for
screening sewage. A large perforated wheel placed in the
sewage tank, in the course of its revolutious, threw out all the
more solid matter before the sewage was put on the
laud ; when sewage was so treated a very much smaller
area was required for utilising it. When he told them that
the land at Bedford had realised as much as i'20 an acre, he
thought it would be seen that Mr. Harrison's calculations
were scarcely tenable. At Edinburgh, too, in open competition,
the laud haa fetched as much as £28, aud even £35 per acre.

Mr. U.VRiiisoN : I don't deny the immense produce from
sewage application.

The Chairman said he did not base his remarks upon that ;
but he denied the statement of Mr. Harrison, that towns had
hitherto failed to apply their sewage profitably. With respect
to the soils best adapted to sewage, the towns had no
choice, but must use the soil by whicli they were surrounded ;
but towns would do well to remember that the sewage should
be applied eastwards of the town, where possible, as the preva-
lent winds being west, less eftliivia, if any, would he carried
to the town than if the sewage were applied on the west side.
With regard to the drying machine of Mr. Gibbs, he thought
its usefulness would be manifest in cases where towns had a
difficulty in disposing of their rye grass. With regard to the
dry earth system, it had been adopted in the middle-class schools
at Bedford and at labourers' cottages he had recently built
with marked success, but he did not think it could be adopted
in large towns or places where carelessness existed. His expe-
rience led him to tiie conclusion that all sanitary arrangements
in citiesor towns must be as nearly self-acting as possible. He
believed they had arrived at the solution of this difficult prob-
lem of town sewage. The plan adopted was not new. At
Milan it had existed 500 or 600 years, at Edinburgh for

B B

358

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

nearly 200 years ; and therefore, as Solomon had said, there
was nothing new under the sun. ,, , .. ,

Mr Bailey Denton, in reply to the observations made,
said as regarded Mr. Harrison's remarks they ought to look
not so much to the past as to the future, which he hoped
would be the case, as it was clearly not right to make the
efforts of infancy the criterion of the future. IIis observa-
tions would certainly he very disheartening if they had any
influence with the meeting. With regard to Mr. Hopes
remarks, he believed the report of the Rivers Commission be-
fore referred to would show that an excess of dilution washed
out the manurial matter through the soil, and if he (Mr. B.
Denton) was right there was a mean to which they ought to
direct their attention. He hoped some good would arise out of
the variety of opinions that had been expressed on this point.
With regard to another remark of Mr. Hope's as to quadrupling

the item of labour, the advantage of sewage irrigation was that
the sewage was brought to the land and tliere distributed with
a very great diminution of labour. With regard to Mr.
Gibbs's machine, he happened to be one of the judges of
it at Manchester, and he advised its application to the drying
of sewage produce. As regarded the statement of Mr.
Edmunds, of llugby, that the finer grasses disappeared with
sewao-e irrigation, it had been found at Carlisle to double the
value" of perennial grasses, land which was rented at £4 an
acre now renting at £8 there. This was old grass land.

Mr. Crosskill (Beverley) proposed a vote of thanks to Mr.
Bailey Denton for his paper.

Mr. CoNGREVF, in seconding the vote, said his experience
at Rugby was that sewage destroyed the finer grasses.
' A vote of thanks to the chairman concludca tlie business.

THE GOVERNMENT EDUCATION BILL.

At a meeting of the East Suffolk Chamber of Agriculture

at Tpswich, . - i.i. -d-h i,

Mr H. BiDDELL moved that a general assent to the ±SiU be
accorded, but that the attention of the House of Commons be
called to certain clauses that require amendment.
Mr. T. Hawkins seconded the motion.
Mr. C. Ha WARD (Bramfield) moved as an amendment:
That if compulsory national education be unavoidable, such
education shall exclude the formal teaching of religion from
such schools as shall be so supported, and also that such
schools shall be supported from the national, as contrasted
with the local, funds.

Mr. N. Garrett seconded the amendment.
Mr. R. L. Everett suggested that the Government Bill
contained many points on which they were all agreed, and it
would be better to carry Mr. Biddell's motion and then point
out in what respects the Bill could be amended.

This suggestion was adopted by Mr. Haward, the amend-
ment withdrawn, and Mr. Biddell's resolution carried.

Mr. Everett then moved that the age up to which chidren
should be required to attend school should be ten instead of
tsvelve, and also that the distance from a school which should
excuse'a child should be two miles instead of oue mile, as in
rural parishes many more schools than were really required
must be built if they were to be brought within a mile of
every house.

Some conversation followed as to whether it would be in tlie
power of a school board to excuse attendance for other reasons
than those given in the Bill, and in the end Mr. Everett
withdrew his resolution.

Mr. Everett then moved fliat at least half the school rate
ought to be paid by owners of property, otherwise in many
cases the tenant would have to pay in rate what the landlord
now pays in tlie form of subscription. Wages, too, would be
increased by the subtraction of juvenile labour from the market
and that would fall on the tenant.

Mr. Hawaru said it was on that account that he moved
that the cost of national schools should be thrown on na-
tional rather than local funds.

The Chairman suggested that as the question of local tax-
ation was under consideratiou it would be ratlier premature to
enter into the question of who should hear the burden of local
rates. Tliey would not object so much to an education rate
as to some of the existing burdens, liut as there did not seem
much chance of getting existing burdens taken off, and as this
was a national question, perhaps it was a matter in which more
national assistance might be given.

Mr. Ha\vkins thouglitas national education would be for
the benefit of the whole community it should be maintained
from the general taxation of the country. He also thought the
chamber should express its opinion as to the time children
should be kept at school, and moved that it should be up to ten
years old instead of twelve.

This was seconded and carried. It was also resolved, on Mr.
Hawkins' motion, that a child should not he excused if there
was a school within two mile?.

Mr Haward moved as an amendment to Mr. Everett s
proposition as to the incidence of rates, that national schools
should be supported by national as distinct from local rates.

Mr. N. Garrett seconded the motion, and it was carriea
by a large majority.

Mr. Everett then proposed ,. . • -

That school boards should be established in every district,
and their proposed permissive power of enforcing the at-
tendance of children at the schools should be made com-

^"col ToMLiNE, M.P., said: if he were inclined to use compul-
sion in any way upon the agricultural labourer he should insist on
compulsory eating and drinking. He asked Mr. Everett what
it was he meant practically by compulsorv education— what

was to be compulsion ? .,-,., ^ ., {■ <• „„f

Mr. Everett said the Bill provided that the fiue tor not
sending a child to school should not exceed 5s.

Ccl. ToMLiNE : Suppose he does not possess os.i/

M. Everett : The Bill makes no provision.

Mr H. BiDDELL : There's lots of Bills that do.

Col. ToMLiNE : The Bill is a sugar plum, and it does not
present the alternative. ., . v

Mr. 11. BiDDELL thought Col. Tombne would say that it
would be far better that the o/iiis of compulsion should rest on
the government than on certain parishioners forming the
school board.

Col. TOMLINE : Certainly. , , ^, -r^ .,.

Mr. BiDDELL said that was the idea of both Mr. Everett

and himself. i +1 i.

The Chairman opposed the resolution on the ground that
it was opposed to the principle of the Bill, which was to avoid
interfering with the existing system in any way.

Ur. Henniker-Major and Col. Tomhne were at this stage
obliged to leave to take the C p.m. train to London to be pre-
sent at the debate on the Education Bill, and the vice-chair-
man, Mr. M. Bidden, took the chair.

Mr. N. Garrett then seconded Mr. Everett s resolution,
which was carried. , , . . . ,

Mr Everett moved, " That in all schools receiving aid
from local rates, the teaching of any creed, catechism or
tenet peculiar to any sect, be strictly forbidden. And that in
all other schools receiving aid from Government grants, the
religious teaching be either before or after the ordinary school
business ; provision to be made that attendance at such reli-
gious teaching be not compulsory, and that there be no dis-
ability for non-attendance."

Mr. W. Beckett seconded the resolution.

Rev. C. Hodgson defended the Church Catechism, and op-
posed the banishment of the Bible from schools.

The discussion was continued by Mr. H. Biddell, Mr. N.
Garrett, Mr. Beckett, and Mr. E, Roe, but, considering t le
lateness of the hour, Mr. Everett withdrew his motion witli-
out a division being taken.

At an adjourned meeting of the members of the West

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

859

Suffolk Chamber at Bury St. Edmund's, Mr. W. Biddell
moved " That the Governmeut Bill was generally worthy the
approval of the Chamber."

This resolution was seconded by the Rev. G. F. Turner.

Mr. Fish proposed an amendment, that the Chamber
objected to the Governmeut proposition of leaving to school-
boards the power of determining tlie religious teaching to be
given in schools supported by rates and parliamentary grants,
as establishing or extending the irreligious principle of con-
current endowment and taxing minorities for the support of a
religious teaching that they disapprove of or disbelieve.

Mr. Clover seconded Mr. Fish's proposition.

Mr. NuNN here proposed a resolution to the effect that the
age up to whicli children should go to school should be reduced
from 13 to 10, and under that age every inducement ought to
be given to parents to send their cliildren to school, but there
should be no direct compulsion.

This was seconded by Mr. Gayford and carried.

Other resolutions were talked of, and eventually attention
was redirected to Mr. Fish's, which Mr. Sparke believed was
a covert attack upon the Established Church. Several gentle-
men, including the chairman, agreed with part of Mr. Fish's
resolution ; and eventually he cut it in two, dropping what
follows the word rates. This was, however, rejected by 10 to i

HOW THE AaRICULTURAL LABOURER WAS EDUCATED.

Fifty years ago I was seven years of age, and can well
remember that ray father's household consisted of two servant
men, and six apprentices, viz., two stout lads, two small boys,
and two girls. It was thought necessary in those days that
persons should serve an apprenticeship to agriculture as well as
to any other kind of business ; but now the more enlightened
part of the community think that any fool will do for a farmer
or agricultural labourer, and that experience or training is
quite unnecessary. The men in question never had more than
six pounds a-year ; they, however, lived with my father several
years, and, on leaving his service, I have heard him say that
out of his savings one of the men had left in his hands up-
wards of £13. But few apprentices on entering my father's
house could read, but none of them ever left it without being
able to read the Bible well, and most of them could write. All his
household, except one boy and girl, went to church every Sun-
day morning, and previous to doing so the youngsters spent an
hour in reading and teaching each other ; after dinner two
hours were spent in the same way, also after supper, when a
circle would be formed and the Cluircli Catechism, with
numerous hymns aud pieces would be repeated ; small prizes
would occasionally be offered for encouragement, and it was
surprising what some of those uneducated children could repeat;
one, I remember, would recite a very long chapter in the Testa-
ment without missing a word. Winter evenings, after supper,
the men and stout lads would make spears for rick thatching,
and the children would be employed reading, &c.

"Now I am one of the olden time and may be thought
too slow.
But give to me the good old days of fifty years ago."
Agricultural labourers brought up in that way understood their
work, and were not above doing it, but since the abolition of
apprenticeship there has been a fearful falling off in their
ability and manners ; boys will not now submit to necessary
restraint, but would rather work and live hard to enjoy liberty,
and their parents generally encourage those feelings. During
the last chirty-five years I have been a considerable employer
of labour, and fearlessly assert that I have generally found
those labourers who have had the least schooling the most
valuable to me. These men having devoted their time and at-
tention to their occupation have become masters of it, aud,
excelling, they take pleasure in it, and are contented in their
station. " The cobler should stick to his last." While these
more highly-educated frequently become "book- worms;" their
attention being divided, they never excel, but are always
" building castles in the air," anticipating tliat which they
never realize ; hence they become dissatisfied with their station,
mere dregs of society, ready to do anything but that for which
they were intended — work. I have had many such characters
from time to time in my employment, whom I would rather
pay to stay at home than mix them with other labourers, be-
cause they hinder more than they further by talking of what
they read and hear. This knowledge frequently leads them to
public-houses, where they " let their light shine before men,"
wasting their time and money, while their families are starving.
— Mr. T. Olver, of Penhallow,in The Royal Goriiwall Gazette.

The Improvidence of the F^rm Labourer. — It was
only yesterday that one of my men, who is the father of seven
children, requested me to take the eldest, a boy barely ten, to
act as scarecrow. I consented to do so, more with a view of
helping the father thaa to serve any purpose of my own, a« I

had rather lie without the boy than otherwise. It will be a
little help to the family income. I could not raise the parent's
wages beyond those of my other men, on the ground of his
having a large family. Such a course, even if I had, would
have caused dissatisfaction among the rest of ray hands, espe-
cially as the man is by no means a skilled workman. An in-
timate friend of mine has for the last two years employed two
little boys — sons of one of his labourers — chiefly to work with
their father when possible, solely to help the man, and the
extra 5s. on Saturday niglit has been well appreciated. We
farmers expect to pay for work according to its value,
regardless whether it be done by Richard without a family
or John with half a score, and I think rightly so. A
man's family is his own private affair. Our labouring
classes seem to think they were created chiefly for the purpose
of bringing babies into the world. Argument and persuasion
to the contrary are thrown away upon them. The man I have
alluded to as in my employ must needs take a wife at the very
ripe age of 19. Another, who has been in my service from
childhood, and in whom I took a more than common interest,
in spite of my entreaties, about two years ago did the same
sort of thing. He is now 23, the second child has just come
to light, and he promises to give a good deal of work to the
registrar. I have a third, a nice lad of eighteen, and he is
very sweet on a little girl, and I expect that before long the
two will be made one flesh, with the usual consequences
of course. I do all I can, by way of advice, to pre-
vent this sort of thing, but they appear to consider
their own feelings as the best guiaes, and they act accord-
ingly. In every other class some regard is paid to the ques-
tion of ways and means, and marriage is delayed until there
appears a prospect of livelihood for the contracting parties,
and provision for a family. Our agricultnral labourers ignore
these considerations altogether, and hence how can they expect
to be anything but paupers ? I differ with you entirely about
little Woolven's death resting upon the community. If
parents will persist in bringing heavy families into the world
without having made the shglitest provision for a rainy day,
and are obliged to send their children to work at a tender age
or submit to any other inconvenience, it is a consequence of
tlieir own act, and neither they nor any one else has a right
to turn rouud and blame the community for that which is the
natural result of individual folly and imprudence. — " A
Tarmef hi The Daily News.

ANOTHER AGRICULTURAL MOVEMENT. — The
county papers are curiosities just now. In all parts of the
country there are expressions of discontent and dissatisfaction
at the public proceedings which have been carried on in the
name of the tenant-farmers of England. In Suffolk, too,
East Suifolk, and West Suffolk, Farmers' Clubs were formed
last week, with a view to supersede the present injurious
partizanship which has crept into the more local and declining
institutions of that county. We are assured, too, that tliese
Farmers' Clubs have been simultaneously formed in Suffolk,
with a view to counteract in some measure, if not to smother
completely, the evil consequences which are resulting from
Chambers of Agriculture, in the Eastern Counties, being
misguided and misled by the partisan zeal and activity of the
Central Chamber and its Newspaper Company (Limited),--^
The Ngrth of Mi^lmd farmer,

B B 2

360

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE USE OF STEAM POWER IN AGRICULTURE.

In these days of educational development it may be a
very pertinent question to ask how long is it since the
agency of steam power was first directed to agricultnral
purposes ? Very naturally one of the favourite arguments
advanced for improving the mental condition of the
labourer is the superior class of workmanship upon which
he is engaged. The better the machinery the belter
should be the man to whom it is entrusted. Such an
elcraeut, indeed, as fire is described in something like a
proverb to be a good servant but a bad master, so that
if wc leave the ignorant dolt to deal with this the con-
sequences may be in every way unprofitable. But then
the ignorance or erudition of the farmer's boy is
worth distinguishing or defining, llow proficient is it
really requisite that he should be in "book learning,"
and how far might any such proficiency help him,
as Falstaff says, "to labour iu his vocation." Some
thirty years or so since, any such points as these would
have been scarcely worth replying to, for the business of
Agriculture was still conducted very much as it had been.
Four horses followed each other in one long halting line
at plough ; the wheat was sown broadcast, cut with a
sickle, and thrashed with a Hail. The establishment,
however, of the Royal Agricultural Society quickly
created a new order of things ; one man made a fortune
by drills, aud another by engines, as a third spent a for-
tune in perfecting the design of the steam plough. The
very stock of the farm may be now said to be fattened by
machinery, for the lowing herd gets on a deal faster on
clean cut chaff aud pulptd food than when winding
o'er the lea ; while the ploughman's whistle is fairly
drowned in the busy hum of Fowler's eight-horse or
Howard's patent. The hero of Bloomfield's Pastoral
would, no doubt, be sadly out of jdace here, as we look
rather for the smart mechanic or skilled artizan,
" Whose hair is crisp, and black, and long,
Wliose face is like tlic tan."

But is it so ? Is it within so comparatively recent a
period that the farmer has only contrived to get so strong
a power under his command ? How long is it since, we
repeat, that the aid of steam was first directed to agricul-
tural purposes? According to the tradition of the en-
gine which still stands just without the statiou at Dar-
lington, it is, if we remember aright, some forty-three
years back that George Stevenson started his iron horse
on the Yorkshire tramway, and how much later shall we
j)ut it that the plodding farmer took up the idea? The
iirst meeting of the Royal Society was held in Oxford in
1839, aud by 1841 the Tuxfords of Boston had turned
out a portable engine and thrashing-machine for Mr.
Roslin, of Algarkirk. Let us say, then, that it is
thirty years since the much-admiring Hodge first saw
steam generated, tnd the corn knocked out after so
comical a fashion. Strange as it may sound, it is much
nearer sixty than thirty years since the labourer was
called upon to educate himself up to the eveiy-day use
of such appliances. The railway engineer followed rather
than set the example to the farmer : " The steam-engine
was placed at Trewithiu by Trevithick in 1812, and it
cost £70. It is not equal to the engines now made, but
it had done a great deal of work. We use it for thrash-
ing, chaff-cutting, and bruising, but only for one purpose
at a time." So writes IMr. Henry Trethewy, senior, at
this time about the father of Cornish agriculturists, a
jmsition to which he has most deservedly attained. And
we are told on all sides to educate the labourer to the

higher duties expected of him, mere physical force will have
to give way to cultivated skill and mental power, and so on ;
when down in the far West the now worn-out grandsire
can tell the little ones that he was educating himself in
this way sixty years since, and without making much fuss
about it, either. His " betters" even did not insist on
sending him to school, and he was very probably feeding
the engine, when he should have been studying the use of
the globes.

There is something of a moral in such an incident as
this, more especially in its application to the discussions
going on throughout the country. How highly were
the farming men educated in those times? How far was
it necessaiy to elevate the minds of those who took charge
of the engine at Trewithiu, and in turn taught her to
thra h the corn aud cut the straw ? Curiously cnougli,
just within a week or so, Mr. Olver, of Penhallow,
another well-known Cornish man, has been publishing his
experiences of the last half-century, having been born in
the very year that Mr. Trethewy started his steam engine.
And this is one of the pictures presented to us : " Few
apprentices on entering my father's house could read, but
none of them ever left it without being able to read the
Bible well, and most of them could write. All his house-
hold, except one boy and girl, went to church every Sun-
day morning, and previous to doing so the youngsters
spent an hour iu reading and teaching each other ; after
dinner two hours were spent in the same way, also after
supper, when a circle would be formed and the Chureli
Catechism, with numerous hymns aud pieces would be
repeated ; small prizes would occasionally be oft'ered for
encouragement, and it was surprising what some of those
uneducated children could repeat ; one, I remember,
would recite a very long chapter in the Testament witli-
out missing a word. AVinter evenings, after supper, the
men and stout lads would make spears for rick thatching,
and the children would be employed reading." Some of
Mr. Olver's neighbours, who do not give their names,
and who, us we suspect, are not farmers, have been at-
tempting to ridicule such reminiscences, but we can
scarcely go with them, for these are surely suggestive
and susceptible of some good purpose. A farm
labourer who in the course of some years' ser-
vice could put by his £13 may be not worth
speaking of, although we fear there are but too many who
never do as much, even in this advanced age. But Mr.
Olver goes further, for he says, " Agricultural labourers
brought up in that way, understood their work, and were
not above doing it." And, again, " during the last thirly-
five years I have generally found those labourers who
have had the least schooling the most valuable;" whereas,
" the more higWy-educated frequently become ' book-
worms ;' their attention being divided, they never excel,
but are always ' building castles iu the air,' anticipating
that which they never realize ; hence they become dis-
satisfied with their station, mere dregs of society, ready
to do anything but that for which they were intended-
work. I have had many such characters from time to
time in my employment, whom I would rather pay to
stay at home than mix them with other labourers, be-
cause they hinder them more than they further." Is
there any truth in this? Or should Mr. Olver become,
as the other correspondents of some of the Cornish jour-
nals would make him, the mere laughing-stock of his fel-
lows ?

It was only the other evening that we were spending an

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

'66i

hour 01' two in company with a leading agricuUurist,
a member ot the Council of the Royal Agricultural
Society, a frequent judge of implements and slock, and a
man of high staudiugin his own district. The experience of
this gentleman was that some of the best labourers he had
ever employed were the least educated ; they were not
only the best workmen but they were the most trust-
worthy. A carter or a cowman, moreover, would take
three shillings a-vveek each for the services of his lads at
an age when according to the new Bill they must have
been at school. An addition of some six shillings to the
father's own twelve or fourteen must be a matter of serious
consideration, as it would tend further to keep the
mother out of the field, and so afford those at work
something of the sterling comforts of home. Turning
to Cornwall, again, we find that at a meeting held only a
few days since, j\Ir. Pollard, another agriculturist whose
name is not unfamiliar to us, said, " twelve years was far
too old for children to be kept at school, and, if insisted
on, would result in a deal of pauperism, for if the parents
were deprived of the half-crown or three shillings a week
brought by children between ten years and twelve,
they would have to go to the parish for assist-
ance in the maintenance of their children." The
education of the labourer must be considered mainli/
by his necessities, and there can be no possible doubt
as to the mistake of the clause which would enact
that a boy must go to school, and must not go to
work until he has reached the age of twelve years. lie
would be very probably half-starved from the force of
such a condition, and so set about the business of life at
all points a worse instead of a better man. It is satis-
factory to see that at most of the meetings held throughout
the country this twelve years' limit has been very gene-
rally protested against ; as we knov\ of nothing that would
threaten to be more injurious either to the employed or
the employer in agriculture than that such a proviso should
become law. In our improved schools a lad should learn
at least to read or write by the time he is ten years of
age, while if we ask for more, this can only be accom-
plished at some still more serious sacrifice.

THE EDUCATION QUESTION, — At a meeting of
ihe Notts Chamber of Agriculture, Mr. Gilbert, Baruby,
moved " That charging the cost of education out of the
present poor rate would be partial and unequal ; this Chamber
is of opinion that the education of the people being a national
object, public contributions should be paid out of tlie whole
income of the country," Mr. Walker, Mattersey, seconded the
resolution. Mr. Herasley, Shelton, moved the following reso-
lution : — " That we consider that compulsory education beyond
the age of ten years will be injurious to the employers of
labour, and a serious loss to the parents ; it is calculated also
to increase pauperism, and is detrimental to the children them-
selves as concerns their future usefulness." Mr. Butler, Rat-
cliffe, seconded the resolution. Mr. Walker thought they
would be better witliout the last clause. Mr. Scott, liudding-
tou, proposed as an amendment that " the time of compulsion be
increased to tliirteen years of age, and tliat it was desirable
that children should be compelled to attend a certain number
of days up to thirteen years." The amendment of Mr. Scott,
finding no seconder, the original motions were put and car-
ried. Mr. Godber proposed that a petition be sent to Parlia-
ment, embodying the resolutions passed, and praying for
tiiem to be considered. The motion was seconded, and
carried.

LOCAL TAXATION AND THE GOVERNMENT PRO-
POSALS. — At a meeting of the Cambridgeshire and
Isle of Ely Chamber of Agriculture, on Saturday last,
under the presidency of Mr. Edw. Hicks, Mr. Oliver C. Pell
made the following proposition : " That a petition be pre-
sented to Parliament praying that no furtlier addition be made
to the burdens already borne by the funds raised by local
taxation for imperial purposes till further iuquiry has been

made as to the incidence of taxation on real or personal pro-
perty respectively." This was carried after some slight de-
monstration in favour of the Government movement.

MR. HENRY HALL DIXON.

The readers of the Mark Lane Express will learn with re-
gret that the hand which penned those most interesting articles
on the " Herds of Great Britain," written exclusively
for this paper, is now still in death. The columns of
this journal will no more contain the life-like sketches of
cliaracter which was the peculiar feature in the writings of
II. II. D. On Wednesday, the ICth of March, this
talented writer died at his residence, in Kensington,
and a gap has been left in the sphere in which he
moved that cannot be easily filled up. He was as well
known in the Sporting, as in the Agricultural world. The
DoHCdster Gazelle says : " The racing interests of this town
had always in liira a most earnest and powerful supporter, and
it is not too much to say tliat to the alterations which he from
time to time suggested, Doncastcr owes much of its present
celebrity ; and writing in reference to some further improve-
ments only a short time ago, he said : ' I cluck over the meet-
ing like an old hen, as I always did. Do get something done.' "
The legal profession, to which Mr. Dixon was attached, he hav-
ing been called to the Bar some filteeu years since, are indebted
to him for a text-book compiled after great research, called
" The Law of the Parm" (1858), which has already
run through three editions. But it was iu his
sporting articles that he excelled : there was an ease, a
piquancy, " quaint almost to oddity," as the writer iu the
Field has aptly expressed it, in all his articles. Iu his de-
scription of a race, we could almost fancy we saw what he
described. Tiie " Omnibus," in the Sportiiuj Review, has for
the last ten years been from his prolific pen. And so was
"Post and Paddock" (1856), "Silk and Scarlet" (1859),
"Scott and Sebright" (1862), "Field and Fern" (1865),
" Saddle and Sirloin" (1870) ; and, while the hand of death was
poising over him, a companion volume to the latter work
was being rapidly completed by him. His real sympathies
could be traced in all he wrote, whether pastoral or personal : the
owner and the animal were alike sketched with the pen of a
master. Nor could it ever be said of him that he " set down
aught in malice," as he abhorred all personalities. AYe knew
liim well and intimately. He was most upright and honourable
in all his dealings with the world ; and where he felt friendship
extended towards him, he returned it tenfold in acts of every-
day kindnesses. In the notice given of him in the Sporiinij Life
it is truly said, " he was a most amiable, truthful, conscientious
man, and perhaps no person connected with sports and pas-
times more signally preserved the dignity of his private life.
Quaint and plain in dress, he was himself one of the ' charac-
ters' he could so well have depicted ; and as he strode along in
his deerstalker, with his stick in hand, or hovered about the
secluded portions of our racecourses, few would have imagined
how thoroughly refined, reflective, and cultivated he was iu all
his tastes and predilections. His love for anecdote was a per-
fect passion with him, and he sifted tlie traits of his subjects so
completely that he could set dead worthies before the reader's
eye with marvellous fidelity. When in health, his mind was
bright and his spirits especially vivacious, and he delighted iu
quiet satire and humorous sallies, with which he invariably set
oif his genial and chatty form of conversation with his friends."
We again quote from the Doncastcr Gazette : " On leaving
Doncaster he became more especially identified with the IL/t-i
Lane Express and Sportin(j Review, and in the dedication of his
last volume — ' Saddle and Sirloin' — he gracefully acknowledges
the substantial assistance which he had long received from
Mr. George Parker Tuxford, the proprietor of these publica-
tions." We know that the proprietor to whom Mr. Hixou so
generously referred feels that he has done no more than any
other person similarly circumstanced should have done, and
none more deeply feels the loss of one whom he always con-
sidered as his friend as well as his y;/0('tfy6'. Truly may it be
said of Henry Hall Dixon — " The Druid" as he loved to style
himself — " We ne'er shall look upon his like again."

Mr. Dixon, wlio was in his 48th year, was educated at
Rugby and Cambridge. He was subsequently, as we have
said, called to the Bar, but his love of the literature of rural
life prevented him following his profession.

362

fn^ I^ARMEU'S MAGAZINE.

THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.

The monthly meeting of the directors of this Society was
held on March 2, ia the Chambers, No. 3, George IV. Bridge,
Edinburgh, the Marquis of Tweedale, K.T., president, in the
chair.

The minute of the joint meeting of the agricultural educa-
tion examiners and of the Forestry Committee held on the 9th
of February, was read, from which it appeared that it had
been resolved to hold the examinations for tjie society's agri-
cultural certificate and diploma this year on Wednesday and
Thursday, the ;30th and 31st March, candidates being required
to lodge'iutimation on or before the 23rd.

The Secketaky submitted two letters from Mr. Gillon of
AVallhouse, convener of the society's Veterinary Committee,
who is at present abroad. In the first letter Mr. Gillon men-
tions that when in Paris he was introduced to M. Charlier and
his son, and that he spent two hours in the forge with them.
He saw the shoes of a horse removed and new ones put on,
and he considers there is more novelty than difficulty iu the
manipulation. He then started with M. Charlier, jun., to visit
some of the stables of the French noblesse which were in the
neighbourhood, and where the system has been in use for some
years. He saw all kinds of feet, large and small, shod in this
manner. There are about 6,000 omnibus horses shod in Paris
thus, but besides, there are hundreds of horses belonging to
those who let for hire in carriages and for saddle. In the
country, the nobility and gentry who care about sporting or
driving are gradually coming to see the real advantages of the
system. Mr. Gillon states that he is thoroughly convinced of
the superiority of this mode of shoeing, and any objections he
has heard urged are very easily and simply answered and ex-
plained.

It was resolved that, instead of a public banquet, a presi-
dent's dinner should be held at the head-quarters of the
Society in Dumfries as was done at Aberdeen iu 1868.

The Secretary reported that during the past month pre-
mium-books and blank forms of reports had been sent to 229
conveners and secretaries of local agricultural and other
associations iu receipt of the society's money premiums and
medals.

Copies of the detailed agricultural retiu-ns of Great Britain,
with abstract returns for the United Kingdom, presented to
the society by Government, were submitted, and were ordered
to be placed in the society's library, where any member might
consult them.

Mr. Menzies submitted a letter from Lord Kinnaird send-
ing a printed report on steam cultivation, being the result of
a year's work. Subjoined to the report there are carefully pre-
pared statements of the cost of the implements, the expense
of working, and the amount of work done in twelve months
— spring "and autumn cultivation. The secretary was in-
structed to thank his lordship for the report, which was
remitted to the Committee on Steam Cultivation.

A letter from 51r Prowett (Kent), addressed to the president,
in regard to a new plan of a steam cultivator, was referred to
the same committee.

Best Shorthorn bull, above one and under four years of age.
— First, Binnie, Seton Mains. Commended : J. Hope.

Best Shorthorn yearling bull.— First, Sir David Baird,Bart.
Higiily commended ; Tweedie, Deuchrie. Commended :
Tweedie.

The show was above an average in point of quality.

MUCK FACTORIES.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,— A farmer said to me the other day, after a chat about
artificial manures, " Give me farm-yard muck ; then I know
what I am putting on the land ! " I replied, " Do you ? Have
you travelled on the London and South Western Railway,
between Waterloo and Vaushall, and made use of your eyes ?
If so, you must have observed right aud left certain yards,
where the manufacture of muck is carried on most vigorously ;
or rather a compound is made up and sold to farmers, which
passes for farm-yard manure, but is very diiferent to what
farmers get from their own yards. There may be virtue in
spent hops, tan bark, and sundry kinds of refuse from dust
liins, mixed with straw aud as much coloured dirty water as it
will carry ; and no doubt farmers are ([uite satisfied they are
getting a dirt cheap bargain ; but it is only another illustration
that the reign of happy ignorance and blind trust is almost as
universal as ever." . .

As an old subscriber, I have felt it a duty to seek admission
for this, in order, if possible, to induce thought and inquiry.
I am, sir, obediently yours, Observer,

EAST LOTHIAN AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

SPRING SHOW OF STOCK.

The annual spring show of stock took place on the East
Haugh, Haddington, on Friday, March 11th. In consequence
of the animals for service in the county having been pre-
viously selected by a committee of the Society, no stallions
were exhibited. The following premiums were awarded iu
breeding and fat stock. Judges for the bulls : Messrs. Doug-
las, Athelstaneford, and Taylor, Carsebridge, Alloa. For the
fat and grazing stock: Messrs. J. Wilson, Edinburgh, and
GafF, Haddington.

Five best steers, under three years old. — First, A. C. Balfour,
of Whittinghame ; five second best, J. Christie, Westmains.
Commended : J. Hope, Fentonbarns.

Five best heifers, under three years old. — Premium, J.
Hope.

Five best yearling cattle, tlie property of a member.— First,
J. Hope ; second, A. C. Balfour.

THE JOURNAL OF THE BATH AND WEST OF
ENGLAND AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES ASSOCIA-
TION.—The second part of the first volume of the third
series has just been pubHshed ; but the appearance of tiiis only
tends to confirm our impression as to the impolicy of a Society
of such calibre attempting to issue two numbers during the
year. The original papers, so far as we have had an oppor-
tunity of looking through the conveniently-cut pages, are con-
fined to a treatise of some length, by Professor Brown, V. S.,
on Sheep Scab ; and briefer articles on Cabbage as a Field Crop,
by Professor Buckman ; the Management of Farm Buildings,
by Mr. Scott Burn ; the Meteorology of the Southern Coun-
ties, by Mr. Whitley ; and Observations on Channel Island
Cattle, by Mr. Henry Middleton. The last-named of these
contributions should command some especial attention, as we
never remember such " a row" — there is no other word for it
as there was over the Channel Islands awards, at South-
ampton, where Mr. Middleton was one of the Judges. He
himself admits that " the Judges were placed in a very awk-
ward and unpleasant position ;" an opinion in which we
tlioroughly agree. The rest of the part is made up by the
Note Book.

THE CLIMAX !— Seventy-nine tenants of a Scotch pro-
prietor have presented a petition to Parliament stating
amongst other things, " That su ch of your petitioners as were
not prohibited in their leases from killing rabbits, commenced
to trap and otherwise kill tlie rabbits, whereupon the landlord
applied for Interdict against them, but after a protracted,^ and
to them expensive lawsuit, he failed to get Interdict. That
your petitioners, or some of them, still endeavour to protect their
crops by killing the rabbits, but that it is impossible to put them
down in consequence of the nroximity of the landlord's covers,
in which they are carefully protected during the breeding season.
That the crops of your petitioners continue to be every year
very much aud in some cases altogether destroyed by game and
rabbits, and the extent of the damage may be inferred from
the fact that during last summer and autumn more than 6,000
rabbits were killed on less than 800 acres of arable laud. That
your petitioners believe that the existing game laws are highly
prejudicial to the general interests of the nation, besides
ruinous to tenant farmers."

THE TOTAL ABOLITION OF THE GAME LAWS.
—At a special meeting of the Hexliam Farniers Club.
Mr. Dodds moved that a Petition be sent to Parhament
from this Club in favour of Mr. Beaumont's amendment
to Mr. Martin's bill, so that hares as well as rabbits miglit be
excluded from the game list. Mr. Jobson seconded the reso-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

363

lutiou. Mr. Bentiug Lee moved: "That this Club, whilst
regarding- as unsatisfactory any legislation on the game laws
short of their total abolition, afforded its hearty support to
Mr. W. Martin's bill, with Mr. Beaumont's amendment, as
conducive to that end ;" and Mr. Catcliside seconded this.
Mr. Trotter moved that the Club petition Parliament for the
total repeal of the game-laws, and Mr. Pattison seconded this.
Mr. Joseph Lee, having merged his resolution with that
of Mr. Drydon, moved the following resolution : •' That this
Club cordially approve of Mr. Beaumont's amendment to Mr.
Martin's Bill, that hares and rabbits shall not be deemed to
be game within the meaning of the Game-laws ; the tenant to
kill hares and rabbits on the lands occupied by him, any
agreement or covenant to the contrary notwithstand-
ing, but that existing leases for a term of years shall
not be interfered with." Mr. Drydon seconded the motion.
On the voting being taken the first time the numbers were —
For Mr. Trotter's amendment, 11 ; Mr. Jos. Lee's, 6; Mr. J.
Bunting Lee's, 4 ; Mr. Dods' original motion, 9. On the
voting being again taken, the result was that there were 18
in favour of Mr. Trotter's amendment, and 14 in favour of
Mr. Dod's motion. The amendment in favour of petitioning
Parhament for the total abolition of the Game Laws was
consequently carried, the result being greeted with applause.

THE SITTYTON SALE OF SHORT-
HORNS.

On March 17, at the farm of Sittyton, Straloch, Aberdeen-
shire, the Messrs. Cruickshauk had their annual sale of about
eighty yearling Shorthorn bulls and heifers. Forty-five bulls
were catalogued, but several of them having in consequence of
some being a little off they were withdrawn ; and, in order to
make up the number, four younger bulls, which were intended
for private sale, were taken into the ring. The young bulls
were chielly descended from the famous Forth, bred by Sir
William Stirling-Maxwell, Bart., of Keir (which was slaugh-
tered the other week at the ripe old age of thirteen), cither
directly or indirectly, and the very prolific, if less famous, bull
' Champion of England, still in the herd and serviceable, though

now eleven years old. Several highest-priced bulls on Thurs-
day were by Allan, bred at Sittyton, and the winner of two
Highland Society prizes.

The average realised was for the season fair, but below
that of former years. The heifers, though creditable,
did not sell nearly so well in proportion to the bulls. The
bidding was a little slow on the whole, but the sale was pro-
bably the best that has taken place in Aberdeenshire this year.
The attendance of people, as it always is at Sittyton, was
very large. Mr. Mitchell, St. John's Wells, Fyvie, acted as
auctioneer. The following is the result of the sale :

BULLS.
Emblem, white, calved June 4, 1868. — Mr. Bruce, South-
front, Skene, 21 gs.
County Clerk, red, calved May 27, 1868.— Mr. Troup, Tullo,

Meldrum, 32 gs.
Lord North, red, calved June 11, 1868.— Mr. Gordon, of Park-
hill, 50 gs.
Chorister, red and white, calved June 15, 1868. — Mr. Philip

Boynds, Inverurie, 31 gs.
Recorder, red, calved Nov. 16, 1868. — Mr. Watson, Black-
ford, Auchterless, 22 gs.
Goldsmith, red, calved June 1, 1869.— Mr. J. Colvin Essick,

Inverness, 26 gs.
The Bishop, roan, calved Nov. 12, 1868. — Mr. Johnstone,

Drumwhindle, Ellon, 82 gs.
Solicitor-General, red, calved Jan. 3, 1869. — Mr. Cr?iig, Fin-

gasK, Daviot, 37 gs.
John Bright, red, calved March 19, 1869. — Mr. Bruce, Broad-
land, Huntly, 73 gs.
Duke of Sutherland, red, calved Feb. 11, 1869.— Mr. Still,

Pitfaskie, New Deer, 38 gs.
Lord Lennox, roan, calved Feb. 27, 1869. — Mr. Hutchison,

Cairngall, Longside, 40 gs.
Lord President, roan, calved March 8, 1869. — Mr. Milne,

Maines of Laithers, 41 gs.
Alliance, roan, calved March 4, 1869. — Mr. Stewart, Sand-
hole, Fraserburgh, 51 gs.

Peer of the Realm, red, calved Feb. 26, 1869.— Mr. Ross,

Ankervillc, Nigg, Ross-shire, 67 gs.
Augustine, red, calved March 9, 18G9.— Mr. Leslie, of Warth-

hill, 35 gs.
Archbishop, roan, calved March 20, 1869.— Major Ramsay, of

Barra, 56 gs.
City Arab, roan, calved April 2, 1869.— Major Gordon Duff, of

Drummuir, Keith, 30 gs.
Bartholomew, roan, calved April 10, 1869.— Mr. Mihie,Leven-

shall, Westmoreland, 44 gs.
Golden Cross, roan, calved March 14, 1869. — Mr. Thomson,

Drumbeck, Udny, 55 gs.
Mathematician, roan, calved March 25, 1869.— Mr. Eraser,

Faillie, Inverness, 41 gs.
Crown Royal, red, calved March 26, 1869.— Mr. Ure, Blel-

gonie, Cromar, 43 gs.
Forerunner, red, calved March 16, 1869. — Mr. Manson, banker,

Oldmeldrum, 51 gs.
Lord Clarendon, red, calved April 1, 1869. — Mr. M'Clymont,

Ballsaggart, Ayrshire, 23 gs.
Brunswick, red, calved March 15, 1869. — Mr. FuUerton, Upper

Tooks, Stonehaven, 24 gs.
Provider, red, calved March 9, 1869. — Mr. Ruxton, So. Ar-

trougliy, Logie Buchau, 27 gs.
Colossal, red, calved Feb. 37, 1869.— Mr. Robertson, Carua-

dally, Ellon, 25 gs.
Social Science, red, calved March 16, 1869. — Mr. Russell,

Kininmouth, 32 gs.
Royal Britain, roan, calved May 13, 1869. — Mr. Marr, Upper-
mill, Tarves, 59 gs.
Prince of York, roan, calved April 35, 1869. — Mr. Rannie,

MiU of Cullie, Udny, 25 gs.
Victorious, roan, calved April 29, 1869. — Mr. Cruickshauk,

Altons, Keithhall, 26 gs.
Violoncello, red, calved April 39, 1869. — Mr. Black, Lum-

head, Foveran, 20 gs.
Golden Prince, red and white, calved April 29, 1869. — Mr.

Mains of Waterton, Ellon, 33 gs.
Vampyre, roan, calved April 35, 1869. — Mr. Lawson, Old-

miUs, Elgin, 30 gs.
Saxe-Coburg, red and white, calved April 30, 1869. — Mr.

Marshall, Overtown, Ards, 21 gs.
Royal Commission, red, calved May 1, 1869. — Mr. Thomson,

Tillcarrie, Fintray, 24 gs.
Benledi, roan, calved April 28, 1869.— Mr. Valentine, Effleck,

Alford, 20 gs.
Vineyard, white, calved May 11, 1869.— Dr. TraiD, Tombeg,

Monymusk, 10 gs.
Duke of Montrose, roan, calved May 21, 1869.— Mr. Snell,

Bridgend, Cruden, 31 gs.

HEIFERS.
Angelina, red and wliite, calved Dec. 3, 1868. — Mr. Hope,

Fentonbarns, East-Lothian, 28 gs.
Woodbine, red, calved Jan. 34, 1869. — Mr. Valentine, Affleck,

Skene, 24 gs.
Challenge, red, calved Feb. 13, 1869.— Mr. Chalmers, Old-

what. New Deer, 26 gs.
Anna Buckingham, red, calved March 2, 1869. — Mr. May,

Haddo, Crimond, 19 gs.
Butterfly 30th, red, calved Feb. 38, 1869.— Mr. Cruikshank,

Comisty, Forgue, 23 gs.
Spangle, red, calved March 26, 1869. — Mr. Davidson, Mains

of Cairab ridge, 37 gs.
Aroma 4th, red, calved Jan. 27, 1869.— Mr. White, Clinterty,

31 gs.
Surprise, roan, calved Feb. 13, 1869.— Mr. Phillip, Softhillock,

Keithhall, 35 gs.
Kilmeny lOtli, white, calved March 19, 1869.— Mr, Still, Pit-

foskie, 16 gs.
Butterfly 25, red, calved March 3, 1869.— Mr. Thomson,

Dumbreck, 21 gs.
Matchless 14th, roan, calved Feb. 6, 1869.— Sir William

Forbes of Fintray, 37 gs.
Red Rose, red, calved April 15, 1869.— Mr. Philip, Boynds,

18 gs.
Golden Eye, roan, calved April 15, 1869. — Mr. Godsman, New

Deer, 20 gs.
Lily Buckingham, red, calved Feb. 11, 1809.--Mr. Hope, Fen-
tonbarns, 18 gs.

364

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Golden Rose, red, calved April 1, 1863. — Mr. Valentine,

Affleck, 19 gs.
Eosette, red, calved April 19, 1869. — Mr. Stewart, Laurence-
kirk, 20 gs.
Biitterliy 28tli, roan, calved April 21<, 1869.-~-Mr. Bruce,

Fornet, 11 gs.
Eva Buckiugliam, roan, calved April 12, 1869. — Mr. Russell

of Aden, 18 gs.
Mysie 31st, roau, calved April 27, 1869.— Mr. Philip, Boynds,

21 gs.
Siuisliade, roan, calved April 29, 1869, Mr. James Moggie,

Kiuuellar, 16 gs.
Broadliooks 10th, red and white, calved April 10, 1869.— Mr.

Godsman, New Deer, 12 gs.
Venilia, red, calved April 25, 1869.— Mr. Cruickshank, Comisty,

19 gs.
Mysie 30tli, red, calved April 27, 1869.— Mr. Mortimer, 15 gs.
Golden Lily, roan, calved June 4, 1869, Mr. Godsman, New

Deer, 15 gs.
Garnet, red, calved June 13, 1869.— Mr. Philip, Boynds, 20 gs.

SALE OF SCOTCH SHORTHORNS.

OuThursday, March21',]Mr. Bruce and Mr. Scott,Glendrouach,
joined in offering for sale by public auction, at lluntly market,
their yearling Shorthorn bulls and heifers, liitiierto disposed of
separately. Mr. Raeburn, Banff, was auctioneer.

BULLS.
Miltiades, roan, calved 7ih Jan., 1869.— Mr. Swanson, Golspie,

36 gs.
Darius, roan, calved 23rd Jan., 1869.— Mr. John Sinclair, Ulb-

ester, 46 gs.
Marshal Ney, dark roan, calved 12th Feb., 1869,— Mr. Morri-
son, Braevail, Nairnshire, 26 gs.
Hastings, red and white, calved 20th Feb., 1869.— Mr. Abel,

Pitmeddan, 19 gs.
Mazeppa, roan, calved 23rd Feb., 1869.— Mr. Allan, Portsoy,

19 gs.
Great Seal II., roan, calved 24th Feb., 1869.— Mr. Watt, Gars-

Hty, Morayshire, 51 gs.
Duke of Guise, red, with white marks, calved 24th Feb., 1869.

— Captain Cameron, Petty, Aberdeenshire, 35 gs.
Lord Clive, roan, calved 6th March, 1869.— Colouel Fraser

Tytler, Aidourie, 31 gs.
Lord o'Gowrie, roan, calved 29th May, 1869.— Mr. Gill, Tilly-
down, Marnoch, 26 gs.
Massy, roan, calved 23rd May, 1869.— Mr. Grant, Pitgaveny,

Elgin, 30 gs. > b :,

Emperor (26096), red, calved 24th June, 1868.— Reserved at

70 gs.
The Banker, red and white, calved 26th June, 1868.— Mr.

Bruce, Clova, 26 gs.
Amateur III., red, with white mark, calved 1st Jan., 1869.—
^ Miss Macpherson Grant, Aberlour, 38 gs.
The Bridegroom, red, with white mark, calved 8th Feb., 1869.

Mr. Scott, Norse, Caithness, 23 gs.
The Admiral, red, with white mark, calved 14tli Feb., 1869.—

Mr. Longmore, Keith, 37 gs.
The Favourite, dark roan, calved 17th Feb., 1869.— Mr. Alex-
ander, Balnoon, 46 gs.
Duke of Edinburgh, red, calved 17th March, 1869.— Mr.

Laing, Northumberland, 27 gs.
Prince Arthur red, calved 25th

Kirkton, Fyvie, 18 gs.
Lord Ythan III., rich roan, calved 3rd April, 1869.— Mr. Joss,

Cruichie, 36 gs.
The Marquis, red, calved 18tli April, 1869.— Mr. Smith, In-

verkcrty, 36 gs.

UEIFERS.

"Venus, red and white, calved 6th May, 1869.— Mr. Bruce,

Newton, Forres, 28 gs.
Lady Scott, red, with white marks, calved 2nd June, 1868.—

Mr. Watt, Crorabie, 25 gs.
Kitty, white, calved 3rd Jan., 1869.— Mr. Bruce, Burnside,

19 gs.
f>nowdrop, white, calved 17 March. 1869.— Mr. Mortimer,

"umkennan, 22 gs.

3tli March, 1869.— Mr. Watt,

BURGHLEY PARK SALE OF
SHORTHORNS.

By Mr. SriiArroRD, on Thursday, March 17.
This sale was a renewal of the periodical auctions of the
Shorthorns that have been held for many years at the
Dairy Farm during the life of the late Marquis of Exeter ; as
Mr. Strafford in his remarks before the sale said, "it was an
old feature under a new face." The stock was brought out in
better condition than on former occasions, and, under Mr,
Walton's management, who has of late been very successful
with the Burghley animals in the show yard, it is expected the
herd will assume a more leading position than it has hitherto
done. About a couple of hundred partook of luncheon, and
after the stock bulls, Nestor and Telemachus, had been in-
spected, the company adjourned to the ring, where, with
occasionally keen competition, the following prices were
realised :

COWS.

Bee, 12 years old. — Mr. Sturgeon, 23 gs.

Queen Mary, 10 yrs. — Mr. Brown, 29 gs.

Cecil, 7 yrs. — Mr. Slokes, 40 gs.

Louisa 8th, 6 yrs. — Mr. Bayes, 30 gs.

Faith, 5 yrs. — Mr. Whitwell, 25 gs.

Fairy, 4 yrs.— Mr. Sturgeon, 24 g8.

Lady Olivia, 4 yrs. — Mr. S'.ubbs, 19 gs.

Fair Mattie, 3 yrs. — Mr. Paleman, 21 gs.

Louisa 10th, 3 yrs. — Mr. Wood, 25 gs.

Hope, 2 yrs. — Lord Berners, 17 gs.

Chance Gwynne, 2 yrs. — Mr. Lawrence, 17 gs.

Louisa 11th, 2 yrs. — Mr. Wood, 17 gs.

Lady Cambridge, 1 yr. — Mr. Wood, 22 gs.

Miss Martin and calf, 6 yrs. — Mr. Scott, 30 gs,

Betty Martin, 1 yr. — Mr. Whincnp, 13i gs.
BULLS.

Royal Oxford (27380), 3 yrs.— Mr. Brown 40 gs.

Grand Seneschal (20309),2yrs.— Sir G. Murgrave,45 g8.

Grecian Saye (26318), 2 yrs.— Mr. Whitwell, 47 gs.

Lord Treasurer, 13 mouths. — Mr. Bonsor, 17 gs.

William of Orange, 10 months — Mr. Tindall, 32 gs.

Ulysses, 12 months — Mr. Burdett, 16 gs.

Duke Robert, 11 mouths. — Mr. Fellowes, 42 gs.

Osprey, 10 months. — Mr. Thurlby, 31 gs.

Royalist, 10 mouths. — Mr. Sewell, 35 gs.

Pembroke, 5 months. — Mr. Hack, 10 gs.

Grand Vizier, 4 months. — Mr. Nidd, 14 gs.

Lord Lieutenant, 3 months. — Mr. Sewell, 11 gs.
Average of 15 cows and heifers... £24 13 6

Average of 12 bulls £29 15 0

Some few of the company afterwards visited the stables,
where the two thorough-bred stallions Knight of St. Patrick
and Knight of the Thistle were shown. Old Pocahontas, the
famous brood mare, is still alive, and in her Sltli year.

SALE OF LORD HILL'S SHORTHORNS.— In conse-
quence of Lord Ilill entirely relinquishing his agricultural
pursuits, sales have been held last month at the Ilawkstone
Farm in Shropshire, of the whole of the farming effects, in-
cluding his famous Shorthorns, a herd of fifty-five bulls, cows,
heifers, and calves. The sale of these took place on Tuesday
last. There was a very large attendance from all parts of Eng-
land of very inftuential men, the biddings were very spirited,
and we believe the sale realised upwards of 1,500 guineas, or
an average of about 30 guineas for all kinds and ages. 19 cows
averaged 29 gs. each, 4 three-year-old heifers 31^- gs. each,
5 two years old 25 gs. each, 4 year-olds 34 gs. each, and 5 small
calves 9 gs. each. The first bull. Prodigal, 3j years old,
brought 52 gs., 5 two years old bulls averaged 32 gs. each,
and 11 young bulls (including bull calves) averaged 24 guineas
each. The sale was under the conduct of Messrs. Churton
and Elphick.

THE MILBORNE ST. ANDREW FARMERS' CLUB
(Dorset) has held its annual meeting, when the principal
prize, for general root crops, was awarded to Mr. Rogers. Mr.
llambro, M.P. for Weymouth, attended the dinner, and spoke
strongly against the proposed new regulations of the Govern-
ment regarding the Yeomanry Cavalry. He did not see how
it was possible that farmers could leave home in the busiest
time of the year for the purposes of drill.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

365

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE.

The sowing of grains must now be fiaished as fast as
possible.

Sow oats at the rale of five bushels on an acre,
with two tiucs of liarrowings lengthwise, two tines
across the furrows, and two tines or one lengthwise to
iiuisli the process. Roll light lands with a ton-weight
within two weeks after sowing, to retain moisture and to
strengthen the hold of the roots of the plants.

Sow barley in two or one-and-a-half bushels an acre,
covered by two or three single tines of harrowing done
lengthwise with a cross rolling with a ton-weight to
smooth the surface for the grass seeds, which are sown by
the broad-cast machine, that with a man, a horse, and a
lad will sow 30 to 40 acres in a day in a more level
manner than by hand, and being near to the ground the
work can be done in windy weather that prevents hand-
sowing^ovcr which this machine constitutes a very
large improvement. A single or double tine of the light
harrows finishes the process. The lands have carried a
root crop, well dunged and fallowed, and the lighter soils
have been enriched by the crop of roots being consumed
on the ground by sheep, the surface of the land encrusted
with urinary and solid freces puddled by the narrow-
pointed feet of the animals, ploughed with one furrow,
sown, and rolled with the least possible delay to retain
moisture and debar the entrance of drought. For one
crop hay no better sowing has been found of grass seed
than one bushel of rye-grass with lOlbs. of red clover to
an acre ; for the next year's pasture these quantities may
be reduced by one-fourth part, and there may be added
4lbs. of yellow clover, 41bs. of dog's tail grass, and 41bs.
of meadow fescue. Except for strictly permanent pur-
poses, very few of the grass plants are useful to the
farmer. The rye-grass yet holds its ground on the most
incontcstible grounds of preference of general utility —
in growing most readily and producing the largest pro-
duce of herbage in the greatest variety ot soils and
climates in a level crop of culms of a medium height, like
to a grain crop of a quality that is much relished by all
herbivorous animals when usi d green or in dry pro-
vender, and in yielding a large quantity of sound and
healthy seed that is conveniently gathered and manufac-
tured. These and similar physical properties in all the
articles that constitute the produce of the farm are
obvious to the exterior senses, and in all cases do most
completely destroy the chemical qualities that are found
by investigation, and very often arise from accidental
circumstances.

Sow lucerne on well-prepared ground by fallowing in
deep ploughing, or by trenching, with an ample manur-
ing of the best quality. Sow at the rale of 201bs. on an
acre, on a finely-reduced surface, and cover by harrowing
and rolling. The very ligneous structiou of this plant
will ever prohibit the use for general purposes like to red
clover, of which the succulent stems most immeasurably
exceed the quality of lucerne, and the growth is readier
and more easily obtained. But on a convenient plot of
good land near to the homstead, with a proper manage-
ment in the cultivation and manuring, lucerne will afford
an early cutting of green food when much wanted on the
farm, and several cuttings will follow to assist in obtain-
ing the constant supply of green food : the most valuable
of all the attachments of the farm. A plot of two to
four acres of lucerne will be very useful, according to the
extent of the farm.

Sow flax seeds on good lands after a root crop, fallowed

and dunged ; cover by harrow and roll, This plant
belongs to cottier farming, and will ever recede from before
an enlightened agriculture.

Finish the preparation of grass lands in the hay
meadows and pasture grounds ; in top-dressing, as a
manure, bush liarrowings, removing by hand-picking all
stones and rubbish that would impede the scythe ; rolling,
and securing fences and gates against trespass. The
pasture fields must be well fenced and with proper gates,
with water abundant and easy of access, and a shelter
shed to retire from rains and excessive heats.

Sow vetches in two seedings, in the first and second
weeks of the month. Allow four bushels of seed to an
acre including a small portion of oats, and cover by
harrowing and rolling. The sowings will form the third
and last seedings of that most valuable plant, which
forms the green food of the farm for three months, and
with the winter vetch, where it is grown, for four months,
being the earliest growth of the year except the early
irrigations, which are too local to enter into a general
estimation. Stubbles of good lands are suitable to
vetches, where not found leys arc next.

Prepare in the early month the fallow lands for the
early root crops of beets, Swedish turnips, and potatoes.
One earth may have been given last month, and the land
must have had two at least in addition to produce the
necessary pulverization of the soil by ploughings, harrow-
ings, and rollings, and to remove all stones and weeds by
hand-picking. By the middle of the month sow man-
gold wurzel ; open drills on the level ground, well pre-
pared, 28 inches apart, by a deep furrow of the common
plough. Spread along the hollows an ample quantity of
half-rotted farm-yard dung. Split the ridglets by a bout
of the eomtnon plough to reverse the earth and the dung,
and on the top of the newly-made drills, plant the seeds
by hand-dibble, or by machine, and roll with a light
weight, to press the seeds into position and exclude
drought. The seeds may be steeped for a day in moist
solutions, as suds and lees, and encrusted with hot
lime. This preparation may advance the early germina-
tion, but not the after-growth of the plants.

The third week of the month may be taken as the
average season of planting potatoes with varied soils
and under the many climates of Britain. The land
being prepared as above directed, drills are opened 30
inches apart by a " bout" of the common plough, deeply
and widely done, as for a spreading root crop — farm-yard
dung in a half-rotted state and moist to dripping, is spread
along the intervals in an ample allowance of at least
twenty one-horse cart loads to an acre : the tubers, cut
into pieces with two eyes in each plant, and large rather
than small, in order to feed the germination till the roots
gather nutriment from (he soil, are placed by hand and
trod by the foot over the dung at the distance of nine
inches apart ; the ridglets are split and the earth reversed
over the dung by a bout of the common plough, and the
newly made ridglets are rolled into a level by a light weight.
The dibbling by hand of the sets into the dunged lands,
and dropping of sets into the plough, are done in various
ways ; but no method so well suits the cleaning of the
crop, and the fallowing of the land, as the raised ridge
in which the crop grows, with intervals in which the
seeds are destroyed and the land pulverized.

Lime may be very beneficially applied with a crop of
potatoes — lying in a thatched heap over winter ; the
cinders are dissolved into powder, and spread over the

366

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

laud before the Jilllinn-, or the cinders may be spread m a
broken state and ploughed under with the last plooghingr,
or the crude limestoue may be broken small as eggs, and
burnt into cinders, and ploughed into the ground, where,
being powdered by the dampness of the soil, the emission
of caloric will produce warm and moist exhalations that
will prove very beneficial in raising the temperature of
the Si-round, to encourage vegetation. The subsequent
work^ings of the laud will promote a very minute mixing
of the soil and the lime.

Early crops will now require both horse and haad-
hoeiug — as carrots, lucerne in rows, wheat, beans, and peas.

Paring and burning of land will now proceed
vigorously ; burn the turfs into a black charred mass,
which will contain most carbonaceous matter. It is the
best method yet knowu of bringing into cultivation the
waste lands that contain much fibrous, inert, and ligneous
matter.

Rye and watered meadows, winter barley and vetches,
will be ready in the end of the month for soiling cattle
iu the yards, and for being consumed on the ground by
ewes and lambs. Cut and place the food in racks, to be
moved regularly over the mown grown. Fold the sheep
nightly on the cleaned space, allowing two square yards
to'each animal, and two nights in one place. Bare grass
lands may be much improved by folding sheep on them,
and consuming the food.

The lambing season will now be closed. Swedish tur-
nips, potatoes, beetroot, and cabbages are yet the green
food of the farm, and may be easily preserved to meet
the crops of the current year in the earliest herbaceous
plants. Tor sheep use a portion of oats and bruised cake

with salt. Remove the stronger lambs to the pasture
fields.

Attend to the milch cows and the suckling. Give the
former an ample supply of juicy food, natural or pre-
pared : to the latter as* much as they will take. When
begun to be weaned, about the end of 16 weeks, give in
racks in the calf pens, young vetches, bruised cake,
beans, and barleymeals boiled, and linseed jellies. Place
a lump of chalk and of rock salt to be licked— the latter
to quicken the action of the digestive organs, and the
former to correct the crude acidities of the stomach.

The last remaining fattening bullocks will be sold
during this month. Use oilcake in finishing off the ani-
mals. The most backward in condition must go to grass.
The season for curing bacon being over, all pigs on
baud must be kept for summer stores, and come in for
early winter fattening. The earlier fat lambs will now
come in for sale.

During wet weather carry all the dung from the cattle
yards to the heaps in the fields, and litter the yards afresh
for the summer soiling of horses, cattle, and pigs. Peed
poultry and chickens with light grains, and mashed
potatoes with meals, and provide clean houses and pure
water.

Prepare by ploughing, harrowing, and rolling, the
fallow lands for green crops, keeping most forward the
portion to be sown with Swedish turnips the next month.
Plough clay lands for wheat — fallow when convenience
admits.

The thrashing and disposal of grains will be ended in
this month, reserving a part for summer. Straw to be
thrashed as required.

CALENDAR OF GARDENING.

Kitchen Garden.
Asparagus beds are now prepared, either by seed sow-
iug in rows a foot apart, or by two years old plants. The
grouud cannot be too turfy or too clear of stones ; and if
it be manured to the extent of full half the bulk of the
whole earth, so much the better. In order to procure a
real good " grass" of six inches high, perfect in
colour, rich in flavour, and tender in its whole length, a
method has been formerly described of making a deep
rich bed, which being settled in the grouud, is to be
divided by twelve or fifteen iuches wide alleys into so
many beds, about three feet wide, as the ground will
admit ; these are to be raised about four inches above the
alleys, by earth shovelled oft" the latter. The surface
being raked into a perfect fineness, two drills are drawn
an inch and a-half or two inches deep, one foot from the
edge on each side, and as much apart. The best asparagus
seed is to be sown two or three inches apart along the
course of the drills, and immediately firmly covered with
light earths. As the plants rise they are now and then
thinned out, to staud at first three iuches a part, and
then six inches; guano water, very weak, will promote
growth and strength. Such seedlings, when thinned to
one foot asunder, and propeely managed, will produce
plants strong and durable, as if two-year-old plants were
purchased. Should that plan, however, be preferred, the
line earths ought to be raked oft" into the alleys four
inches, level depth ; the line then being stretched, the
plants are to be placed by it, the root being opened,
spread flat, and extending every way over which, the
crowns being retained upright in the centre ; the earth
is to be evenly spread and pressed carefully down ; a good
watering from the rose finishes the opei'ations. The

Giant or Battersca asparagus is the chief plant iuuse, and
though the procm-ing of a good crop requires some
trouble and attention, it is amply repaid by a bountiful sup-
ply of that highly-relished and most nutritious vegetable.

Sea-kale being prepared iu the same way, are to be
sown with sound seeds, by the line, " three seeds" in a
small circle of six inches diameter, two inches deep, and
the circles two feet a part ; the rows may be single, at
four feet distances, or, if double, two feet asunder, to
form a bed.

Peas : Sow in the first and third weeks of the month
" largely," as this season produces the largest supply
of fruit during summer. Seed thickly in rows a foot
apart, and on light soils ; tread the intervals firmly by the
foot, or lay a cover of turfy or coarse earth, or of rough
dung. Cover the seeds lightly with loose earth. The
Scimitar and Prussian varieties are the second early crop ;
Veitch's perfection and Ne-plus-ultra are the new varieties,
and the marrow plants may be introduced in the later
sowing. Sow beans twice, of any approved variety.

Sow cabbages for main crops to yield a succession of
sown crops early and late iu the month. Hill's dwarf
and Enfield Market are the new distinctions. Savoys
sown at the same time to yield the same succession. Kale
in the same way, in the dwarf, green curled, and cottager's
variety. Brocoli : the winter and spring varieties, as
Grange's early white and "Williams' Alexandra, and Sibe-
rian hardy. Brussels sprouts in the taU imported or good
local selections, and the roseberry dwarf with the largest
sprouts.

Sow spinach at several times. Beet in the superb
crimson and pine-apple kinds. Parsnip in the new
student variety. Carrots : the French horn and scarlet.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

]Ql

Onions, for bulbing, the true white Spanish and the brown
globe silver onions, very thickly for drawing young. All
these sowings in the first days of the mouth.

Sow celery, Leyniau's or Cole's crystal white and the
iiardy red variety in gently warm and leafy Ijeds, also
nusturtiums and aromatic herbs. Lettuce: the brown
and white colom-s. Radish : Wood's early and French
breakfast in the kinds in the new names. Small salading
twice or thrice.

Kidney beans : sow of both kinds ia warm soils
and dry, or rather in hoses under glass, to be trans-
planted when the leaves become strong ; in the latter case
sow early ; in the former, not before the 15th.

Potatoes : plant a full sowing early as a second crop,
and a main crop in the third week. The sets should have
two eyes, and rather large than small. Pant artichoke
suckers, if well rooted, in prepared beds, choosing showery
weather.

Transplant lettuces (but expect them to run), cabbage,
cauliflower, and sea-kale, and prick out upon beds of very
rich soil with decayed manure a number of celery plants
to become stocky, all from the seed beds to intermediate
beds.

Dress all beds with hoe and rake ; earth up and stick
peas, and attend to neat order.

PrUIT DEPAra'MENT.

Place mulch about and over the roots of wall trees, and
opening others that are barren of covering. Strawberry
beds, or rows newly planted, must have liberal supplies of
water if drought set in.

Cucumbers should be thinued to a regular number of
shoots, and stopped at a fruit, and not at a joint beyond
it. Grafting is often done successfully, but must be
finished early.

Flower Garden.

Sow animals for a summer stocks; thin out seedlings
in pots ; propagate the herbaceous plants by slippings
or rooted ofi'-sels. Dutch-hoe and neatly rake the
quarters, remove flowering stalks by scissors. Sweep and
roll lawns, and begin to mow in showery weather. Plant
or renew box edgings, and clean gravel walks, rolling
after rain.

Any plants under glass require air and waterings, and
a shift opposition to face the heavens in warm and cold
exposures by the nature of the plants.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR MARCH-

Tiie past mouth has been somewhat variable, the weather
having been subject to very considerable fluctuation. At one
period intense cold prevailed, while the change from a lovv to
a higli temperature was at times very violent. On the whole,
the mean temperature of the month has beeu low, and vegeta-
■1 tion has accordingly beeu much checked. Plants and trees of
all kinds are backward for the time of year, while wheat has
made but little progress in its growth. This latter fact is not
greatly to be regretted, as the more genial weather that we
may now look forward to will soon alter the aspect of affairs
in this respect. As a rule, the wheats appear to have beeu
well got into the laud, which was in good condition for receiv-
ing the seed, and the check produced by the great degree of
cold lately experienced will not have any hurtful elTects beyond
temporarily delaying the growth of the plant. Notwithstand-
ing that the frost has prevented farmers from proceeding
rapidly with out-door labours, there has been no disposition
shown to thrash wheat out freely for market, aud sales have
accordingly beeu made slowly. The variations that have taken
place in value during the month have been mainly caused by
the temporary conditions alfecting the market from time to
time, such as shortness of supply or the nou-arrival of grain
vessels off ports-of-call. These variations have not been
numerous during March, aud wheat leaves olf at the close of
the month at values not materially dillerent to those current
at the opening. The imports have continued large, and the
total receipts since September last show a very considerable
excess over last year. At the same time, however, the stocks
of foreign wheat in granary has seusibly diminished during the
month, although the quautity of produce on hand is still large.
It may be remarked that the amount of fine foreign wheat in
granary is comparatively small, present holdings consisting
chiefly of American and Russian descriptions, of which the
imports have been very heavy, while the arrivals from the
North of Europe have been comparatively small.

There appears to be little reason to anticipate any material
variation from present currencies. Although the visible sup-
ply of wheat available for consumption in the United Kingdom
is smaller than it has beeu for a long time past, there is every
prospect of our wants being fully met. On the complete re-
opening of the navigation — which is now near at hand —
shipments will be received from the Continent, while the ex-
ports from the United States will proliably also be heavy.
Recently, however, shipments from New York have been in-
terrupted by an advance in ocean freights, which has more

than counterbalanced the fall in gold. Towards the end of
the month, town-made flour was reduced 3s. per sack at Mark
Lane ; but this was an unimportant feature, as the prices
quoted have loug been nominal.

Spring-corn generally has ruled firm throughout the month
aud there has been an increased demand for fcediug stuffs.
The arrivals of oats have hiiew limited, and sound corn has
been wanted at very lull prices. Barley, beans, and peas may
be quoted Is. dearer on the month, while a rise of fully Is.
per qr. has taken place in the value of maize. This latter
article is coming into very general repute as an excellent feed
for cattle, though there are some important drawbacks to its
use.

The stock of roots has beeu greatly diminished, though the
holdiug is still large for the time of year. Potatoes of really
clioice quality are scarce, owing to the pressure of sales dur-
ing the early part of the seasou, and values now show an
upward tendency. Good English Regents have been disposed
of at 110s. to 120s. per ton in the Borough Market, while
Scotch Rocks have been in request.

The hop market has remaiued positively without feature.
Choice qualities of new English have ruled very scarce, and
have commanded full currencies ; but in inferior and foreign
hops there has beeu scarcely anything passing, and where
sales have beeu pressed a considerable reduction has been sub-
mitted to. The imports from America have beeu liberal.

The Metropolitan markets have beeu well supplied with hay
and straw, for whicii the trade generally has ruled dull at de-
pressed quotations.

The English wool market has continued very inanimate.
Some demand for fine lustres has beeu experienced throughout
the mouth, but all inferior samples have been utterly neglected.
The new clip is expected in the market shortly, but the quality
so far is not favourably spokeu of. The next series of public
sales of Colonial produce is fixed to commence on April 7th,
which will divert the attention of the trade in some measure
from English wool.

REVIEW OF THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
MONTH OF MARCH.
The most important feature in the cattle trade during the
past week has been the consummation of the first experiment
of supplementing our resources for the supply of animal food,
by obtaining stock from the boundless plains of the River
Plate. In November last it will be remembered that the
steam ship Ariadne, a vessel specially built for the service, left

368

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Iliis country for Bueuos Ayres for the purpose of introducing,
on a more liberal scale, the South American beasts into this
country, ahout 17 of which had already made their appearance.
This vessel has since returned with its first consignment, con-
sisting of lit bullocks, 300 sheep, G cows, 5 calves, and 7
jiorses ; but, we regret to say, that owing to the delays incurred,
caused by (lie tempestuous weather encountered during the
passage, the condition of the stock, on arriving at Falmoutii,
was not such as to justify the assertion that the laudable at-
tempt had been crowned with success, in fact, they were ad-
judged to be entirely unfit for the London market. Tiio ex-
Ireinely low prices offered for them afforded a just criterion of
the value put upon them by competent authorities, and we uu-
derslaud that, notwithstanding tiie contractor had agreed to
place any number of cattle free on board, and weighing not
less tiiau SOOlbs. each, for £t per head, the importers will
have to submit to a loss.

The tone of the cattle trade has been somewhat depressed.
The receipts of beasts from our own grazing districts have been
on a full average scale, and have included some fine Norfolk
and Scotch beasts. Amongst the foreign arrivals also, we
noticed some good serviceable stock. The demand has not
been active, and although really prime Scots and crosses have
occasionally made 5s. 2d., the more general top .;iuotation has
not exceeded 5s. per 81bs.

As regards sheep the receipts have been on a more liberal
scale, but there has been a decided scarcity of really prime
breeds. In sympathy with beasts the trade has been unsettled,
and lower rates have ensued. During the earlier part of the
month the best downs and half-breds made Gs. per 81bs., but
a decline of 2d. per 81bs. has since been accepted. In the
value of inferior and foreign breeds the fall has been more
marked, sales being difficult even at a reduction of 2d. to 4d.
per Slbs. The best clipped sheep have realised 5s. perSlbs.

In the lamb trade no material change has taken place. The
sujiplies have been moderate, and the trade has been quiet,
prices ranging from 7s. Cd. to 8s. per Slbs.

Culves, of which a moderate supply has been on sale, have
been dull, and lower in value.

The show of pigs has been less extensive. The trade has
been dull, and prices have favoured purchasers.

In the pastures and meadow lands the supply of grass has
been very moderate, and there has been, consequently, an im-
jirovcd demand for feeding stuffs, without, however, in any
material degree, hardening the quotations.

The total imports of foreign stock into London during the
past month have been as under : Head.

Beasts 3,023

Sheep and Lambs 25,830

Calves ... ... ... ... C7G

rigs 1,210

Total

... 30,7G9

Tlie arrivals of beasts from our own grazing districts, as

TVell as from Scotland and Ireland, thus tompare with the two

previous years : March, March, March,

From— 1868. 186t). 1870.

Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and

Cambridgeshire 9,100 4,80G 5,950

Other parts of England ... 2,620 2,800 2,310

Scotland 2,221 815 906

Ireland 720 4.74 1,670

The annexed figures show the total supplies of stock ex-
hibited at the Metropolitan Market during the month:

Head.

Beasts 15,112

Sheep and Lambs... ... ... 115,855

Calves 1,029

Pigs ... ... ... ... 440

Total 132,436

Co.MFARISON OF SUTFLIES.

March Beasts. Sheep and Lambs. Calves. Pigs.

1809 18,950 132,910 1,165 525

1868 20,380 127,260 1,146 2,270

18G7 14,460 95,600 1,100 1,800

186S 15,511 117,550 1,075 2,205

1865 22,400 86,752 1,143 3,015

186i 21,500 91,890 1,218 2,690

1863 18,653 88,560 935 2,433

1862 18,200 83,040 881 2,810

1861 18,500 85,370 700 2,410

1860 18,160 93,409 853 2,013

1859 16,810 91,775 695 2,890

1858 17,831 74,410 704 1,915

Beasts have sold at from 3s. 3d. to 5s. 2d., sheep at from 3s.
to 6s., lambs 7s. 6d. to 8s., calves 3s. lOd. to 6s., and pigs 4s.
6d. to 5s. 8d. per 81bs., to sink the offal.
COMFARisoN or Pkices.

Jlarch, 1869. March, 1868.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4 to 5 8 3 4 to 5 0

Mutton 3 4. to 6 8 3 8 to 5 4

Veal 4 8 to 6 3 4 2 to 5 4

Pork 3 8 to 5 2 3 4 to 4 3

March, 1867.. March, 1866.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 4 to 5 3 3 4 to 5 2

Mutton 3 10 to 6 3 3 10 to 6 2

Veal 4 6 to 5 6 4 4 to 5 G

Pork 8 8 to 4 2 3 3 to 4 4

The dead-meat markets have been tolerably well supplied
with both English and foreign meat. The trade, generally,
has been quiet, as follovvs : Beef from 3s. to 4s. 8d., mutton
3s. to 4s. lOd., lamb 6s. 8d. to 7s. 4d., veal 4s. 4d. to 5s. 4d.,
and pork 3s. 8J. to 5s. 8d. per Slbs., by the carcase.

REVIEW OE THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

The month of March has evinced very extreme fluctua-
tions of temperature commencing; with unusual mildness,
and closing bleak and severe. So the old adage, that it
should " Come in like a lion, and go out like a lamb,"
has been completely ignored. In fact, it has been a
strange mixture of winter and spring, in the proportions
of 3 to 1, though the natural order has been reversed.
No decided complaints are general respecting the young
wheat, .yet it is impossible that these fluctuations can be
good, and we do hear there is, iti some places, a great
deal of misplant, with a very patchy look, but the vitality
of wheat is so great, it is by no means beyond recovery
should there yet be before us a really genial spring.
Though we have no faith in the equinoctial theory, wc
have often noted that the character of the season iias
been set by itself. Should this then be the case, last

harvest may be the precursor of many more like it, and
then the present foreign plenty would be effectually ab-
sorbed by British wants ; and should Russia and America
have indications of a partial failure, the news would soon
rectify the present depressed rates, and enable English
farmers better to profit by their toil. Let it not be for-
gotten that we are still about 10s. below average rates,
and that foreigners are as much dissatisfied with present
prices as British growers, and that the late heavy im-
ports, mostly burdened with granary expenses, have
brought sad losses to importers, who with lessened means
and discouraged feelings, are not likely to keep long at a
losing game. Still a pressure for cash, like that now
felt at Odessa, may force off liberal shipments for a time ;
while in America, maize, from t!ic failure ot the crop,
must take off some of the surplus wheat, not ouly for

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

369

the Negro's use, but for the fattening of stock. The
trade here, on the whole, has rather gained than lost,
say to the extent of 2s. during the month, and most of
the country markets, as well as that of London, closed
with an upward tendency. Even Ilnugary, one of the
great European granaries, has lately risen Is. to Is. 6d.
per qr., and so have some places in the interior of Ger-
many, through doubts as to the growing corn, from its
present aspect, and the severe changes wliieh have every-
where been experienced. The following rates were re-
cently quoted at the several places named : White wheat
at Paris 49s., red 4Gs. ; white at Bjrdeaux 47s. ; the top
price of red in Belgium have been 41s. to 45s. ; the best
white new Zealand at Rotterdam, 44s. ; red at llambro'
(Holstein quality), 40s. per qr. Range of prices at Stet-
tin 34s. to 3Ss. ; the best new high mixed at Uantzic,
50s. c. f. i., deliverable at open water, the port yet being
closed. Wheat at llomanshorn, Switzerland, 51s. 6J.,
at rorrentruy, 4Ss., Peslh, in Hungary, 343. to 39s.
Wheat at Cologne for March 40s., for iMay 41s. At
Mayence 41s. to 43s., with much speculation. Best
wheat at Taganrog, viz., soft Ghirka 30s., ordinary wheat
at Venice 41s. to 4l3. Soft wheat at Algiers 46s. Gd. ;
white at San Francisco, 34s. Stocks 320,000 qrs.,
ashore and afloat. No. 1 best red spring at New York
39s. 6d. to 41s. per4801bs.

The crops in Australia, lately expected to be heavy,
have been materially reduced by unusual heat.

The first Monday commenced on a moderate supply of
English wheat, with the smallest foreign arrivals noted
for some time past, consisting simply of one cargo from
New York. Tiie show of samples during the morning
from Kent and Essex was limited, and factors were con-
sequently able to obtain an advance of Is. per qr. on the
best white samples ; but red and low-conditioned qualities
were dull. The foreign trf.de was not brisk, but American
) red brought the same improvement, and all sorts were
held for Is. per qr.morc. Cargoes afloat brouglit anadvanee
of Is., with a fair sale. The more favourable advices
from London were generally followed in the country by
an improvement of Is. per qr., and some places noted an
advance of Is. to 2s. Among these were Brigg, JNlan-
chester, Barnsley, Wakefield, Sleaford, Newcastle, and
jMelton Mowbray. Liverpool was 4d. to 5d. higher per
cental for the week — say, about 2s. per qr., and all the
Saturday markets were up Is. to 2s. per qr. Glasgow
noted a rise of Is. to 2s., and Edinburgh Is. per qr.
Dublin was firm for native samples, and 6d. per brl.
dearer for foreign.

On tiie second Monday the English supply was about
Ihe same, and the foreign much increased, though still
only moderate. Not many fresh samples were then exhi-
bited on the Kentish and Essex stands. The general rise
in the country encouraged factors at first to demand 2s.
jier qr. more money ; but this movement was not seconded
by buyers, who succeeded eventually in reducing the
rise to Is. per qr., when a fair trade was done.
The same eonfidenee was not exhibited by holders
of foreign, tliere being but few buyers at market, and the
only sorts that obtained an advance of Is. per (jr. were
American spring and winter red. As regards floating
cargoes, the demand was fair, but no advance could be
obtained. There was less decision this week in the
country markets, while the weather was winterly, which
was tbe case at the commencement of the week. The
earlier markets noted a rise of Is. to 2s. per qr. Among
these were Shellicld, Hull, Sleaford, Gainsborough, and
Barnsley. Many still maintained the improvement of Is.
per qr., as Leeds, Rotherhani, Spalding, Rugby, Market
llarborough. Lynn, Ipswich, Stockton, Bristol, Bury St.
Edmund's, Rochester, and ISlanchestcr ; but Birmingham
and Wakefield, with good supplies, were tending down-

vvai-ds. Liverpool reported no improvement for the week,
and sevei-al places on Saturday noted a decline of Is. to
2s. per qr. Glasgow was only dearer for Scotch and
American samples, and Leith advised a rise of Is. per qr.
Foreign wheat at Dublin was rather dearer ; but the
higher rates checked busincjs, and there was no improve-
ment in native produce.

On the third Monday both English and foreign supplies
were moderate. But with a very decided spring-like
alteration in the weather and the subdued tone of the
latest country markets, notwithstanding the show of fresh
samples was small, there was no doing any business till
factors were content to take fully Is. per qr. less on the
best qualities, the badly-conditioned samples being neg-
lected. There was a very limited demand for foreign.
The best Baltic qualities being scarce, were held at
former rates; but Russian and American red, of which
the supply chiefly consisted, lost value fully Is. per qr.,
with but little passing. Cargoes afloat were not, how-
ever, depressed, and former prices were paid freely for
anything fine. Dull markets were this week prevalent
all through the country. Many were Is. per qr. down,
as Barnsley, Gainsborough, Ipswich, Bury St. Edmund's,
Gloucester, Rugby, Rotheiham, Sleaford, &c. Others
were Is. to 2s. ])er qr. lower, as Alford, St. Ives, Lynn,
and Market Rasen ; but Birmingham noted an advance of
6d. to Is. per qr., and so did Wakefield and several of
Saturday's markets. Liverpool was 2d. to 3d. per cental
lower on Tuesday ; but on Friday this was recovered.
In Scotland the wheat trade was rather cheaper.
Glasgow found a dull trade, with rates tending downward,
as well as Edinburgh. No native wheat appeared at
Dublin, yet foreign was in very little request, though
uominally unchanged.

On the fourth Monday the supply of English
wheat was short, and that from abroad moderate.
The show of fresh samples during the morning was
small, both on the Kentish and Essex stands. It still
being frosty, and several of the last country markets com-
ing dearer, factors on the opening of the market asked Is.
to 2s. more, but this was resisted by millers, though at the
])revious rates there was a better sale. In foreign the
only quality positively dearer vvas American, Is. per qr.

The imports into London for four weeks were 20,1 14 qrs.
English, 32,929 qrs. foreign ; against 29,2G5 qrs. Eng-
lish, G7,232 qrs. foreign for the same period last year.
The imports into the klmrdoni for four weeks, ciidiuEC
19th March, were 1,820,137 cwts. wheat, 278,491 cwts.
flour ; against 2,390,02G cwts. wheat, 3i,47G cwts. floir
for the same period last year. The averaji;es eommeuced
at 40s. 7d., and closed at 41s. 9d. ; those of London
began at 43s. 7d., and ended at 45s. Gd. The Loudon
exports, in four weeks, were S55 qrs. wheat, 98 cwts. of
flour.

The country and foreign flour trade have changed Irit
little through the monlh, the former having gained about
Is. per sack, while the latter being relatively dear has
been unaltered in value. On the third ^loiiday town
millers reduced their top price, which had long stood at
43s. to 40s. per sack, the previous state of the wheat
trade for several weeks justifying the reduction. Below this
point, we think it not likely that it will go, the finer
qualities of wheat, both home-grown and foreign, getting
scarcer every day. Norfolks range froju 2Ss. to 31s. for
the better sorts, and Canada to 23s. per barrel. The im-
ports into London for four weeks were 85,9SG sacks
country ; 3,20G sacks, 24,770 barrels foreign ; as^ainst
81,559 sacks English; 15,032 sacks, 8,101 barrels
foreign for the same period last year.

The supj)ly of maize having been very moderate, and
the opening prices low, this grain has advanced gradually
through the month to the extent of about 2s. per qr..

370

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the best yellow Ijciog worth 29s., aud white 30s.
The imports in four weeks for London were 19,620
qrs., against 24,504 qrs. iu 1869.

As respects maltiup; barley the trade has been very quiet
through the month, but extra samples, when they have
appeared, and that has been seldom, were always taken
otf at rates above quotations — say up to 42s. ; but 40s.
has been a very fair top price. The foreign supplies
having been light and the weather sharp, there was a good
demand for sweet heavy qualities, as well as the lower
sorts for grinding, at from Is. to Is. 6d. advance on the
rates of February, though very light qualities may still
be had at 22s. to 23s. per qr. The imports into London
for four weeks were, in British qualities 10,647 qrs.,
in foreign 18,800 qrs., against 10,552 qrs. British, 74,796
qrs. foreign for the same period in 1869.

The malt trade has been duU all through the month,
brewers still complaining of the great falling off in the
demand for the want of work among the labouring classes,
but prices have ruled nominally the same.

There has been a great falling off in the supply of oats,
the entire foreign arrivals for the month being less than
those per week in January last ; while neither from Scot-
land or Ireland has there been a single shipment. Prices
for the month, though improved fully Is., still show the
influence ol the heavy imports of last autumn. But the
granaries begin to be lightened by the long absence of libe-
ral shipments through the frost, and a better sale for even
stale parcels has been experienced, fair 381bs. Russian
a re worth 19s., 401b. Swedes 20s., and others relatively
according to weight aud freshness. As the ice is clearing
away from the Sound and the season is advanced, the late
improvement on this side the water will encourage more
shipments at open w'ater ; but unless these are very plen-
tiful there does not seem much rjom for a decline. The
imports into London in the four weeks were 2,940 qrs.
English, 35,614 qrs. foreign ; against 3,224 qrs. English,
236 qrs. Scotch, 7,022 qrs. Irish, 124,930 qrs. foreign
in 1869.

The rise in maize and low barley has benefited the
bean trade to the extent of Is. to Is. 6d. on fine hard
new and good old English or foreign, though prices .yet
continue low — say 35s. for mazagans and ticks, and 40s.
to 42s. for pigeon qualities ; old Egyptian 34s. to 35s.
The imports into Loudon for four weeks were 3,827 qrs.
English, 3,358 qrs. foreign, against 1,686 qrs. English
6,552 qrs. foreign in 1869^.

White peas, from the coldness of the season, have also
somewhat hardened in value, extra quality being worth
35s. to 36s., which not long .igo were ofltred at 34s. in
vain ; those for hog feed have also been rather dearer.
The imports for four weeks were entirely English — say
1,910 qrs., against 797 qi's. English 3,119 qr. foreign in
1869.

Linseed has been firm and English-made cake more in
demand for the lambing season, through the want of grass.

Fine red cloversccd, either foreigu or English, has
arrived in very small quantities, and holders have realized
.an advance of 2s. per cwt. ; also trefoil and white seed
have been improving in value, as well as tares ; but the
backwardness of the spring has hitherto very much rc-
sti'icted the demand.

AVERAGE S

Fob the last Six
Weeks:

Feb. 12, 1870

Feb. 19, 1870

Feb. 28, 1870

March 5, 1870

March 12, 1870

Marchl9, 1870

Aggregate of the above ...

Wheat.

Barley.

Oats.

s. d.

s.

d.

s. d.

41 9

34

6

19 10

40 8

31

2

19 10

40 7

33

9

20 7

41 0

33

7

20 8

40 9

33

10

20 10

41 9

34

4

21 1

41 1

34

0

20 6

47 »

46

0

27 3

c

JOMPARATIVE AVERAGES.

Years.
1866..
1867..
1868..
1809.,
1870..

WHEAT.
Qrs. s. d.
. 68,5121 ... 45 3
. 60,7814 ... 69 9
. 40,896| ... 72 5
. 52,2201 ... 47 9
. 66,97H •.. 41 9

BARLEY.
Qrs. 8. d.
36,8771 ... 38 6
23,3121 ... 40 5
29,3271 ... 43 4
25,189 ... 45 0
31,817^ ... 31 4

OATS.
Qrs. 8.
6,552i ... 24
6,9114 ... 24
11,3364 ...26
3,707| ... 27
5,382| ... 21

d.
1

8
9

3

1

BRITISH SEEDS.
Mustaud, perbush., brown lis. to 13s., white lls.tolS.-f.

Canaet, per qr 52s. 648.

CLoyEBSBED,red 68s. 80s.

CoBiANDEB, per cwt 2l8. 22s.

Tabes, winter, new, per bushel 7s. 88.

Teefoil 368. 38s.

Rtbgbass, per qr 28a. 308.

Linseed, per qr., sowing 708. to 72s., crushing 59s. 61s.

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 5s. to £10 15s.

Rapeseed, per qr 64s. 748.

Rape Cakb, perton £5 108. to £5 153.

FOREIGN SEEDS.

OoBiANDHB, per cwt 21s.to22s.

Caebaway ,, 48s. 50s.

Clovebseed, red 52s. to683., white... 748, 903.

Hbmpseed, small 41.S. to 45s. per qr.... Dutch 46s. 48s.

Tbefoil 228. 283.

Rtegbass, per qr 268. 28s.

Linseed, per qr., Baltic 57s. to 593. ..Bombay 60s. 61s,

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 5s. to £10 15s.

Rape Cake, per ten £5 108,to£5 15s.

HOP MARKET. ~

Mid aud East Kents £7 0 £9 5 £12 12

Wealds

Sussex

Bavarians ... ,

French

Americans ....

G 0
5 12
C 6
5 0
4 5

Yearlings 1 10

7 0 8 0

G 6 6 13

7 7 9 0

5 15 6 10

5 5 6 0

2 10

3 U

POTATO MARKETS.
SOLTHWARK WATERSIDE.

lorkshire Flukes 90s. to 120s.

Ditto Regents 80s. to 110s.

Lincolnshire Regents 88s. to 90s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 90s. to 110s.

Perth, Forfar, and Fife do 70s. to 90s.

Do. do. do. Rocks 70s. to 80s,

French and Belgian whites 65s. to 70s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.

English Shaws 120s. to 130s. per ton,

\, Rocks 70s. to 75s. „

Scotch Regents 85s. to 100s. „

„ Regents 70s. to 80s. „

French 70s. to 77s. „

PRICES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &g.

BUTTER, per cwt,

Dorset 140 to 114

Frieslaud 116 120

Jersey 106 126

Feksh, per doz, ... 14 17

BACON, per cwt :

Wiltshire, green... 72" 74

Irish, f.o.b 68 71

CHEESE, per cwt

Cheshire 63 to 82

Dble. Gloucester... 64 76

Cheddar 80 94

American 68 76

HAMS : York, old... 90 100

Cumberland 90 100

Irish, new 86 110

POULTRY, &c., MARKETS.— Turkeys, cocks 6s. to lis.,
hens 4s. 6d. to 5s. Cd. ; ditto Irish, cocks is. Gd. to 5s. Gd.,
hens 4s. to 5s. ; Geese, Is. to 9s. Gd. ; Goslings, 7s. to 10s. ;
Ducks, 2s. Gd. to 3s. ; ditto Irish, 4s. to 5s. ; Ducklings, 4s.
to 7-s. ; wild Ducks, Is. 9d. ; Surrey Fowls, 4s. to Gs. ; Sussex
ditto, 3s. to 4s. ; Boston and Essex, 2s. 9d. to 3s. 3d. ; Irish,
Is. 4d. to 2s. 3d. ; Rabbits, tame Is. to Is. 8d., ditto wild 8d.
to Is. ; Pigeons, Gd. to Is.; Hares, 3s. to 3s. Gd. ; Widgeon,
Is. ; Teal, Is. ; Woodcocks, 3s. ; Snipes, Is. ; Gold Plover, Is.;
black ditto, lOd. ; Larks, 2s. per dozen. Eggs, 8s., seconds 7s.
per 120.

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.

CUBBENT PeICES OP ENGLISH WoOL. S. d. S. d.

Fleeces— Southdown hogs per lb. 1 Oitol 1

Half-bred ditto „ 13 14

Kent fleeces „ 13 1 34

Southdovni ewes and wethers ... „ 10 1 14

Leicester ditto ,, 1 2J 1 34

Pritttecl by Rogersou au4 Tuxford, 365., Straud, iojidOBj W, C,

THE FAIIMER'8 MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1870.

CONTENTS.

Plate I.— THE PRINCESS OF YETHOLM : a Prize Shorthorn Cow, the Property of
Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan, Bart., of Wallington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Plate II.— PERO GOMEZ: the Property of Sir Joseph Hawley, Bart.

Descriptions of the Plates ....

Sewerage Difficulties. — By Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S

Judges and Judging .

Our Imports and Exports

Cropping ....

The Over-Preservation of Ground Game

A Belgian Farm of Ten Acres

Extension of the Half-Time System to Agricultural Distric

The Factory System of Cheese-making in Derbyshire

Agriculture and Agricultural Authorities in the East

The Education Question. — By the Crotchety Farmer

Sorting Potatoes ....

The Border Agreement ....

The Over-Preservation of Game

The Agricultural Society of France

Cheese Making in America ....

Shorthorn Sales ..... 306-307

The New Farm .....

Royal Agricultural Society of England: Monthly Council

The Use and Abuse of Town Sewage

Exemption of Duty on Farm Carts

The Birmingham Show and Sale of Shorthorns

Australian View of the English Wheat Market

The Game Laavs .....

The Central Chamber of Agriculture

Irrigation ....••

Market Gardening for Farmers. — By a Practical Farmer

The New Forest, — A Challenge

On the Application of Farm-Yard Dung

The Malt-Tax. — Deputation to the Chancellor of the Exch

The Irish Land Question ....

Herefordshire Agricultural Society

The Central Farmers' Club: Sewage Farming

The Government Education Bill

How the Agricultural Labourer was Educated

The Use of Steam Power in Agriculiure

Mr. Henry Hall Dixon ....

The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland

The Lothian Agricultural Society

MccK Factories .....

Calendar of Agriculture ....

Calendar of Gardening ....

Agricultural Reports ....

Review of the Corn Trade during the past Month .

Market Currencies, Imperial Averages, &c. .

321-323-3

PAGE

277-278

. 278

. 281

. 283

. 284

. 287

. 293

. 294

. 296

. 297

. 298

. 299

. 299

. 300

, 303

. 304
24-325-363-364

. 308

. 309

. 311

. 319

. 320

. 323

. 325

. 326

. 329

. 332

. 333

. 334

. 335

. 339

. 347

. 348

. 358

. 359

. 360

. 361

. 362

. 362

. 362

. 365

. o60

. 367

. 368

. 370

ROGEBSON^^TlDXFOIip'S AGRICULTURAL WORKS.

PRICE ONE SHILLING EACH,

Ncathj Bound in Foolscap Octavo,

EACH VOLUME CONTAINING from 130 to 190 PAGES OF LETTERPRESS,

BICHARDSOf S EFRAL HAND-DOOKS.

WHEAT : ITS HISTORY, CHARAC-
TERISTICS, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION,
and NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES. By "The Oi.u
Norfolk FAian:!!," Author of "Agriculture, Ancieut
and Modern," &c., &c.

q^IIE AGRICULTURIST'S WEATHER-
X GUIDE AJNTD MANUAL OE METEOROLOGY.
By Henuy C. Creswick, Assistant Observer in the
Magnetical and Meteorological Department of the
lloyal Observatory at Greenwich, Author of several
papers on Meteorology.

FLAX : ITS CULTIVATION AND PRE-
PARATION, and PEST MODE OF CON-
VERSION.—By James Ward, Author of "The
World and its Workshops," &c.

T3URAL ARCHITECTURE: a SERIES
XV OP DESIGNS FOR RURAL AND OTHER
DWELLINGS. The Ground Plans, Elevations, and
Specifications by James Sanderson, Burgh Euginccrs'
Office, Liverpool.

ri^IIE AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTOR:

X or, YOUNG FARMER'S CLASS BOOK.— By
Edmund Murpiiy, A.B.

DOMESTIC fowl": THEIR NATURAL
HISTORY, BREEDING, AND GENERAL
MANAGEMENT.

rpHE FLOWER GARDEN.— By George
X Glennv, F.L.S., Author of "Properties of
Flowers," &c.

HORSES: THEIR VARIETIES, BREED-
ING, AND MANAGEMENT.— Edited by

M. M. MlLBURN.

D

OGS : THEIR ORIGIN AND VA-
RIETIES.

P

IGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIE-
TIES.

/noWS AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY.—

V_y By M. M. MiLBUKN, Author of "The Sheep,"
&c. The Dairy Department Revised by T. IIoRSFALi,.

O IIEEP AND SHEPHERDING : cmbinc-

^J ing the Histovj', Varieties, Roaring, I'ecding,
and General Management of Sheep ; with Treatises on
Australian Sheep Farmivig, the Spanish and Saxon
Moriuoa, &c. By M. M. ilii-BURN, Author of " Tho
Cow," and v^arioua Agricultural Prize Essays.

rpiIE HIVE AND THE HONEY

X BEE.

P

ESTS OF THE FARM. A New EJitioii.

By M. M. MiLBUiiN, Author of " The Sheep,", &c.

T AND DRAINAGE, EMBANKMENT,
A.J AND IRRIGATION.— By James Donai.h,
Civil Engineer, Derby.

QOILS AND MANURES, with INSTRUC^

kJ TIONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT.— By
John Donaldson, Government Land Drainage Sur-
veyor.
In the Press, in continuation of the same Scries,

THE IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM.
—By 11. Scott Burn, C.E,

rnilE POTATO: ITS HISTORY, CUL-
1 TURE, AND NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.^
By S. Copland.

London: Houlston & Wright, 65, Paternoster Row ; Rogerson & Tuxford, 246, Strand, V/.C.
Dublin : J. McQlash}\n. Upp«r Sackville Street. And all Booksellers.

ROGERSON & TUXFORD,]

[PRINTERS, 246, STRAND

THE

MARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

A GRXCUZiTURAZ. JO URN A I.

IS THE

LARGEST AND THE LEADING

FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' NEWSPAPER,

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY EVENING IN TIME FOR POST.

ROGEESON & TUXFOUD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

May be had of all Booksellera and Newsmen througliout the Kingdom, price Sevenpence, or £1 10s. 4d. per annum

BEAUTIFULLY EMBELLISHED WITH HIGHLY FINISHED STEEL ENGRAVINGS

PORTRAITS OF THE NOBILITY, ETC.

Puilished Monthly— Price One Shilling.
PUBLISHED^BY ROGEKSON & TUXFORD, 266, STRAND, LONDON.
May be had of all Booksellers.

POPULAR MEDICAL WORKS,
.;■ PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, CORNHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed Euds, 16 Stamps.

DR. CURTIS'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARRIAGE : a Practical Treatise on
ITS Physical and Personal Obligations. With instructions to the Married and Unmarried of both
Sexes, for removing the special disqualifications and impediments wliich destroy the happiness of wedded life,
founded on the result of a successful practice of 30 years. — By Dr. J. L. CURTIS, M.D., 15, Albemarle
Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

And, by the same Author, for 12 stamps ; sealed ends, 20.

MANHOOD : A MEDICAL ESSAY on the Causes and Cm-e of Premature Decline
IN Man ; the Treatment of Nervous Debility, Spermatorrhoea, Impotence, and those peculiar infirmities
which result from youthful abuses, adult excesses, tropical climates, and other causes ; with Instructions for the
Cure of Infection without Mercuiy, and its Prevention by the Author's Prescription (lois infallible Lotion).

REVIEWS OF THE WORK.

" Manhood. — This is truly a valuable work, and should be in the hands of young and old." — Sunday Tines
23rd March, 1858. ' '

" The book under review is one calculated to warn and instruct the erring, without imparting one idea that
can vitiate the mind not already tutored by the vices of which it treats." — Kaval and MilUaru Gazette
1st February, 1856. '

•' We feel no hesitation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book will not be found use-
ful, whether such person hold the relation of a Parent, Preceptor, or Clergyman." — Sxm, Evening Paper.

Manhood. — " Dr. Curtis has conferred a great boon by pubUshing this little work, iu which is described the
source of those diseases which produce decline in youth, or more frequently premature old age." — DoAlu
TeZejropTi, March 27, 1856; ^ J i 5 iv^ y

Consultations daily, from 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

THE ROYAL FARMERS' INSURANCE COMPANY,

8, NOEFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.O.

CAPITAL. Persons insured by this Company have tlie security of an extensive and wealthy proprietary

as well aa an ample Capital always applicable to the payment of claims without delay.

LIFE DEFAETMENT,— BONUS,— Iiisvirers of the participating class will be entitled to four-fiftha
of the profits.

FIRE DEPARTMENT,—

1st Class— Not Hazardous ,. Is. 6d. per Cent,

2nd Class — Hazardous • ..< 2s. 6d. „

8rd Class— Doubly Hazardous ... 4s. 6d. „

BTIILDINGS and MERCANTILE Property of every description in Public or Private Warehouses.—
Distillers, Steam Engines, Goods in Boats or Canals, Ships in Port or Harbour, &c. &c., are Insured in this
Office at moderate rates.

SPECIAL RISKS.— At such rates as may be considered reasonable.
NEW INSURANCES.— No charge made for Policy or Stamp.

FARMING STOCK,— 5s. per cent., with liberty to use a Steam Thrashing Machine without extra
charge. Nearly FIVE MILLIONS Insured in this Office.

SEVEN YEARS' INSURANCES niay be effected on payment of Six Years' Premium only.
LIGrHTNING and GAS.— Losses by Fire occasioned by Lightning, and Losses by Explosion of Gas
when used for Lighting Buildings will be allowed for.

RENT.— The Loss on Kent while Buildings remain untenantable through fire may be provided against.
HAIL DEPARTMENT.— (Crops and Glass.)

Policies to protect parties fi'om Loss by the destniction of Growing Crops or Glaes, by Hail, are granted on
Moderate Terms.
LOSSES,— Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.

Apply to JOHN EEDDISH, Esq., Secretary and Actuary.

LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING COMPANY.

ESTABLISHED 1836.

SUBSCRIBED CAPITAL... £2,500,000, in 50,000 SHARES of £50 EACH.
PAID-UP CAPITAL... £1,000,000 RESERVE FUND... £500,000.

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER, Esq.
T. TYRINGHAM BERNARD, Esq.
PHILIP PATTON BLYTH, Esq.
JOHN WM. BURMESTER, Esq.

WILLIAM CHAMPION JONES, Esq.
E. HARBORD LUSHINGTON, Esq.
JAMES MORLEY, Esq.
WILLIiM NICOL, Esq.

DIRECTORS.
THOMAS STOCK COWIE, Esq.
EREDERICK FRANCIS, Esq.
PREDERICK HARRISON, Esq.
LORD ALFRED HERVEY.
TRiTTSTEES

P. p. BLYTH, Esq | J. W. BURMESTER, Esq. | W. CHAMPION JONES, Esq.

A TTTiTHPOTm

WILLIAM JARDINE, EsQ. \ WILLIAM NORMAN, Esq. 1 RICHARD H. SWAINE, Esq.
General Manager— WILLIAM McKEWAN, Esq.

rmTTF INSPECTOR INSPECTORS OF BRANCHES. GHIBF ACOOUN^NT.

wTnOREOLK, Esq. H. J. LEMON, Esq., and C. SHERRING, Esq. JAMES GRAY, Esq.
SoUCiTORS-Messrs. STEVENS, WILKINSON, & HABHIES.
Secretary— P. CLAPPISON, Esq.

HEAD OFFICE, 21, LOMBARD STREET.

ManageR-WHITBREAD TOMSON, Esq. \ Assistant Manager-WILLIAM HOWAKD. Esq.

THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK opens- , , ^ u

oSffi£l^o?S?SSnr?sSSS=^^^^^
^S^O^s1/irc^oVTS.--DepositReceiptsa.eis«^^^^^^

^"cTR^^l^TVo^TBt^A^Dll^^^^^^^^^^ ^"^'^ ^-^ ^°^ °^ '''' ^°»i

tiS £ AuLalia, Cantda. India, and China, the United States, and elsewhere. J

?^^iir/JBST..'."of^rvK^S^^^^^^ Of EngUsh or Foreign Shares effected, wid Dm.,

^^CoS^of the Bank are toound not to ^isclos^e^the trs^^sagto^^^^^ its Cust^^rs.^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^

No. 5, Vol. XXXVIL] MAY, 1870. Third Series.

THE

FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

AND

MONTHLY JOURNAL

OP

THE ACIRICULTUEAL INTEREST.

TO THE

FARMERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BYROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND,

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.

BOGERSON AND TUXFORD,] [PRINTERS, 265, STRAND.

-fsraagcgtj'^wj.-i .jj.Bg8BtB3BgB»»«wag5;g='pagi'Mi<«tMLijUjr<TM!rafFrs?f?rr-'^^ ..^R-'.jtiTOjsig^ '

fMPORTANT TO

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Yeterinary
Chemist, bs* Appointment to His late Royal Highness
The Prince iJonsort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dover
Street, Borough, London, begs to call the attention of
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
DIPPING COMPOSITION, which requires no Boiling, and
may be used with Warm or Cold Water, for effectually
destroying the Tick, Lice, and all other insects injurious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Fly and Shab
and cleansing and purilying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quaUty, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal.

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Manu-
factory as above, and sold as tollows, although any other
quantity may be had, if required : —

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2 0

61b. 30 „ „ 0 3 0

81b. 40 „ „ „ 0 4 0

101b. 60 „ „ „ 0 5 0

20 lb. 100 „ „ (cask and measure 0 10 0

30 lb. 150 „ „ included) 0 15 0

401b. 200 „ „ „ ''. 1 0 0

601b. 250 „ „ „ 13 6

60 b. 300 „ „ 1 7 6

801b. 400 ,. „ „ 1 17 6

1001b. 600 „ ;, ;; :::; 2 s 0

Should any Flockmaster prefer boiling the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFICATE.
From Mr. Heeepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol Laboratory, Old Park, January 18th, 1861.
Sir,— I have submitted your Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the mixture neutral. If it is used according to the directions
given, I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys vermin,
it will not injm-e the hair roots (or "yolk ") in the skin, the
fleece, or the carcase. I think it deserves the numerous
testimonials published. I am. Sir, yours respectfully,

William Heeapaih, Sen., F.C.S., &c., &c
To Mr. Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry.

Leicester House, Great Dover-street, Borough, London.

FLOCKMASTERS.

^^/-^'il^^^xT^l?" especially call attention to his SPECIFIC,
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which will be fbvmd
^i^nrrfpf f^%®^^ ""^ eradicating that loathsome and ruinous
disorder m Sheep, and which may be safely used in aU
climates, and at all seasons of the year, and to all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price PR^E SHILLINGS per
gallon—sufficient on an average for thirty Sheep (accordine
to the virulence of the disease) ; also in wine quart bottles,

IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL.
.< 1^ " ^''O^*^"^' iiear Hingham, Norfolk, April 16th, 1855
Dear Sir,— In answer to yours ot the 4th inst., which
would have been repUed to before this had I been at home I
have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the efficacy of
your invaluable ' Specific for the cure of Scab in Sheep ' The
600 sheep were all dressed in August last with 84 gaUons of
the NoN-poisoNOus Specific,' that was so highly recom-
mended at the Lmcoln Show, and by their own dresser, the
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd after
dressmg according to instructions left ; but notwithstanding
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to have
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply of your
Specific, which I received the following day; and although
the weather was most severe in February during the dressing,
your Specipio proved itself an tnvahiable remedy, for m
three weeks the Sheep were quite cure<l ; and I am happy to
say the young lambs are doing remarkably well at present.
In conclusion, I beUeve it to be the safest and best remedy
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

.,„ ,, " For JOHN TINGET, Esq.,

" To Mr . Thomas Bigg," • • r. renNET.

eS~ Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre-
parations as "Non-poisonous Compositions:" it is only
necessary to appeal to their good common sense and judg-
menttobe thoroughly convinced that no "Non-poisonous"
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, particularly such
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites— creatures so tenacious
of life. Such advertised preparations must be wholly tiseless,
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS f 14, £5, £4, & £3.

LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING COMPANY

ESTABLISHED 1836.

SUBSCEIBED CAPITAL... £2,500,000, in 60,000 SHAEES of £50 EACH
PAID-UP CAPITAL... £1,000,000 EESERYE FUITO... £500,000.

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER, Esq.
T. TYRINGHAM BERNARD, Esq.
PHILIP PATTON BLYTH, Esq.
JOHN WM. BURMESTER, Esq.

P. P. BLYTH, Esq |

WILLIAM JARDINE, Esq.

DIRECTORS.
THOMAS STOCK COWEE, Esq.
FREDERICK FRANCIS, Esq.
FREDERICK HARRISON, Esq.
LORD ALFRED HERVEY.

TRUSTEES.
J. W. BURMESTER, Esq. |

AUDITORS
WILLIAM NORMAN, Esq.

WILLIAM CHAMPION JONES, Ebq.
E. HARBORD LUSHINGTON, Esq.
JAMES MORLEY, Esq.
WILLLiM NICOL, Esq.

W. CHAMPION JONES, Esq.

I RICHARD H. SWAINE, Esq.

Geneeal Manager— WILLIAM McKEWAN, Esq

SoLiciTOKs— Messrs. STEVENS, WILKINSON, & HARRIES.
Secretary— F. CLAPPISON, Esq,

HEAD OFFICE, 21,

Manager- WHITBREAD TOMSON, Esq. |

LOMBARD STREET.

Assistant Manager— WILLIAM HOWARD, Esq.

THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK opens-

ot?ert™^s,^o?b?raJgifa\ma™^ss?o°^^^^^^^^^ *^« Pl«^ ^'^^^ ^^oPt^^b^

Permanent Balance. ''"'^^"'^ ^ ^^^^ commission to those persons to whom it may not be convenient to sustain an agreed

alWdTr'su^hperY^'dsln^SuohmeX'^^^ 'I ^°-^yP.l^e^ ^P^^ these Accounts, and Interest ia

CIRCULAR NOTES AND LETTERS olcKlT^r^i^^^^^^^ reference being had to the state of the Money Market.

'"''^^lilt^f'i^'''''''''^^^^'^^^^ '"""'''"' '"'''"' "^^ Towns of the CO..

The Agency of Foreign and Country Banks is undertaken. eibewnere.

A^^"rlli:if%t^^y%tr%nstZ'ZTt^^^^^^ ''°'='^^' °^ ^^^^^^ °^ ^^'^'^ Shares effected, and Divi.bkbs,
p^y hasSche's'' ^'° ^^''^'^ '° '^^ ^"^'°'"«^^' °' '''' ^^^^^ f°' ^^e receipt of Money from the Towns where the Com-
The Officers of the Bank are bound not to disclose the transactions of any of its Ci^tomers

By Order of the Directors, WM. MoKE WAN, G«neral MansRer.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR PASTURES, LAWNS, &c.

Successful Earming is

Dependent on Grood Seeds."

CARTER'S PRIZE SWEDE AND TURNIP.

CARTER'S LONDON SWEDE.

THE LARGEST VARIETY GROWN.

9d. per Ih.

EYIDEICE OE '^

QUALITY.

FROM

Mr. E. BEECHER,

" Kihualooda,

" Oct. 2Uh.
'*" Mr. Beamish took
First Prize i^t Bandon
Show with Carter's
Imperial Hardy
Swede, and Carter's
Warden Wurzel."

FROM

W. SISM^m, Esq.,

" Kimholton,

" Oct. 21th.

" I took the First

Prize at the Hunting-

^^^ donshireAgricultural

"■■■^'■-^ Show with Carter's

Devonshire Grey

Stone Turnip."

^^,

HARDY

ff. S. AUSTIN, Esq.,

" Missenden,

" Nov. \st.
*' Carter's Imperial
Purple-top Swede
is very tine. I cer- Carter's Imperial Hardy Swede is

tainly'have the finest remarkable for a com^bination of fine
crop I have bad since | quality and extreme hardiness of con-
I have been here." stitution. g^^ ^^ -q^^

EDE.

CARTER'S IMPERIAL HARDY SWEDE, the best i^oc illustration)

CARTER'S LONDON SWEDE (the largest variety)

Carters Improved Hartley's Swede

Skirving's Liverpool Swede

0/9 per lb. ~1

0/9 j> 1 Lowest price per
Q/9 J J I bushel or owt.

0/7 „ J

CAETEU'S &B,ASS SEEDS EOE. PEUMAIEIT PASTURES.

Carter's Grass Seeds for Light Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Heavy Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Medium Soils

Best quality,

28/- to 32/-

per acre .

FOR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

J

AMES CARTER & Co., Seed Farmers,

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CABIES'S GBASS SEEDS FOR LAWNS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR PASTURES OR LAWNS.

"Successful farming is

Dependent on Grood Seeds."

CARTERS PRIZE TURNIPS.

EVIDENCE OF QUALITY.

From Col. Graham, llossJutown,
Mv. 25th, 1869.
" The Turnip Crops grown from
the Seeds procured from you on
different qualities of land were all
very good, in short excessive. The
Swedes are large, well-shaped, and
appear as if they would prove good
keepers for Spring use. The yellow
are equally good and well formed.
The Grey Stones are an exces-
sively large crop, every Tur-
nip being of large size, and
great weight. 0 ne root pulled hj
chance out of a 1^ -acre field , when
topped and tailed, was found to weigh
22 lbs., a feed for a fatting beast}'

From 3Irs. Dennis, Mrrton Grange,
Nov. 12, 1869.
"We have an exceedingly good
crop in bulk, of both Turnips and
Mangolds, and I attribute no small
part of our success to the excellence
of the Seeds supplied, and have
therefore every reason to be tho-
roughly satisfied with them."

From W. Webb, Esq., Dane House,
Eedington, Nov. 24th, 1869.
" Some of the largest Far-
mers have said they never
saw a better lot of Turnips
than those grown from your
Seed. They certainly are the
truest and most level stock I
ever walked over."

CAETEH'S
DEVONSHIRE QREY STONE TURNIP.

Of very quick growth and fine quality.
Most valuable for early sheep feeding.

Is. f)er lb.

per

EYIDENCE OF QUALITY.

./. Edwards, Esq., Park Farm, Bis- '
hop^s Waltham, writes, Jan. 24,
1870 ;— :

" I am pleased to state that ,
the Grass Seeds you supplied i
for the Fortifications at Hil-
sea (upwards of two miles in
length) gave me great satis-
faction. I am also very pleased
with the Warden Mangel, I don't
think a seed missed, and the '
roots weighed from 10 to 18
pounds, taken promiscously. ,
Your Imperial Hardy Swede
Seed was also first-class. I I
don't think I had 100 jslants missed i
in 20 acres. The Roots were
of fine quality, very regular
in size, thin in neck, and very
true. I certainly shall not think :
of changing from your Imperial j
Hardy Swede." '

W. Sisman, Esq., Kiinboltori,

Oct. 27, 1869.

" The Grey-topped Turnips

from your Seed took the 1st

Prize at the Huntingdonshire

Agricultural Show."

From B. Allen, Esq., Oct., 1869,
" The Seeds I had from you I
were very fine, particularly
the Swedes, Mangel, and Car-
rots. The Swedes gave the
best crop in this locality." ;

CARTER'S

LINCOLl^SHIRE EED GLOBE TURNIP.

Very Imrdy, grows to a large size, and of excellent quality.
9d. per lb.

Per Ib.-
CARTER'S DEVON-
SHIRE GREY
STONE TURNIP,
much recomraended,
being- of remarkably
quick growth, and
very hardy (setailusira-
tion)

LINCOIiNSHIRE
RED GrLOBE, very
hardy, large size, and ex-
cellent feed (sfe Illustration) 0

Pomeranian White
Globe, a very liandsomo
variety, well furnished up
to the neck, and conse-
quently less likely to rot in
wet seasons 0

Imperial Green Globe,
a very heavy cropper,
a great improvement on
the old Stratton Green
Round

Carter's Early Nimble
or Six-week, a very
quick-growing variety, suit-
able for very early or verj'
late sowings ; is hardier
tlian 117; fie Globe

CARTER'S CHAM-
PION GREEN -TOP
YELLOW HYBRID
TURNIP Uee Illustra-
tion)

CARTER'S CHAM-
PION PURPLE-TOP
YELLOW HYBRID 0 10

Large in growth an I nutritious in
feeding, and their solidity of textui-e
is almost equal in value to that of
the Swede.

Cheaper per bushel or cwt.

CARTER'S

CHAMPION GREEN-TOP YELLOW
SCOTCH.

Large, of very solid quality.
lOd. per lb.

i

CARTER

,'S GRASS SEEDS SUITED EOR ALL SOILS.

" Successful Naming is

Dependent on (jood Seeds."

DARTER'S PRIZE MANG

ZEL.

IMPROVED|^^J^

MANGEL.

EYIDEIJCE
OF QUALITY.

riioM

R. B. Annandale,
Esq.,

Steward to the
3Iost Noble the
Marquis of
Westminster,
Fonthill.
"I consider, taking
tho weight of the
Mangel crop grown
from your seed on the
ground, they are the
best I have yet had
One thing I may
mention, which was
much in their favoui ,
they came up very ^
regularly, and con l
sequently made even |
and regular growth
The Swedes were a
most capital crop
All your seeds ga\u
me great satisfaction
for farm and garden

FEOM

T. W. SWANN,
Esq.

"Ashjield,
"Nov. 25, 1869.

" The Mangel grown
from your seed were
the most splendid
level crop I ever saw,
and they were very

^ :^^ :i I NT E R MEDIATE MAN GEL.

tlnom in the field." ^ *-^ -^

CARTER'S NEW CHAMPION

Carter's Warden Orange Globe Mangel (see Illustration) ••• - V" pe^'

Carter's New Champion Intermediate Mangel, an immense cropper (... illustration) 1 -^

Carter's Mammoth Prize Long Red Mangel (see page 1) _^/^_

Carter's Elvetham Long Yellow Mangel ^^^_

Carter's Improved Red Globe Mangel

Ordinanj Stocks dieaper— Price on appUcatio'i.

lb.

1

J>

>

JJ

99

J

Cheaper
per cwt.

FOR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Eree, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., Seed Farmers,

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS FOR LIGHT SOILS.

CARTER'S IlIPERIAL HARDY SWEDE (Page 1).

" Successful Farming is dependent on Good Seeds."

JAMES CARTER & Co.,

THE ROYAL SEEDSMEN,

237 & 238, HIGH HODGxBOHN, LONDON, W.e

EAST HOUSE FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX. I JUPES HILL FARM, DEDHAM, ESSEX
THE SEED FARM, ST. OSTTH, ESSEX. | GOD'S HOUSE FARM, ARDLEIGH, ESSEX

- B^ygggg

MliH

Special low Quotations

for quantities

of

more than 10 acres

of
Carter's Grrass Seeds.

Second Quality

at
Cheaper Eates.

A3 supplied to H.M.&.M. THE QUEEN; H.R.H. THE PEINCE OP WALES, Sec.

Carter's Grass Seeds for Light Soils
Carter's Grass Seeds for Heavy Soils
Carter's Grass Saeds for Medium Soils

CARTER'S GRASS SEEDS

FOR ALTERNATE HUSBANDRY,
Induding the greatest Food and Hay-producing Grasses
and CloTers, in such proportions as the particular rotation
may require.

For One Year's Lay, best quality 13/6 per acre.

For Two Years' Lay 17/6

For Three or Four Years' Lay 22/-

CARTER'S SUPERFINE ITALIAN RYE GRASS.

7s. per bushel ; cheaper samples from 5*. to 6«, per bshl,

PACEY'S PERENNIAL RYE GRASS.

Gs. M. per bushel ; cheaper samples, 4«. to 6,?. per bushel.

FOR PERMANENT PASTURES.

Special Low Quotations

for quantities

of

more than 10 acres

of
Carter's Grrass Seeds.

Second Quality

at
Cheaper Rates.

1 Best quality,

- \ 28/- to 32/-

J per acre.

CARTER'S "ROYAL MIXTURE^'

OF FINE GRASS SEEDS FOR LAWNS, &c.
20«. per bushel ; second quality, 18*.

CARTER'S FINE CLOVERS,

Free from weeds and dirt.

Broad-leaved Red T^d. to lid. per lb

Perennial Red or Cow Grass IQid. to Is. Id

White Dutch iid. tols. 4d. "

Alsike Hybrid is. tols 4d "

Yellow Trefoil or Hop 4id. to 7d.' "

Lowest price on application, ' "

CARTER'S "LORD'S MIXTURE"
Of Fine Grass Seeds for Cricket Grounds.

185. per bushel. (3 bushels per acre.)

./. C. ^. Co. Lave reoerved t.eir stool, of Grass an. Clover Seeds i, splenm condUion, and are prepared to receive order

to he supplied ■immediately. " lOLcive oraet.

FOR THE FULLEST INFORMATION ON SEEDING DOWN LAND TO GRASS.: SEE

CARTER'S ILLUSTRATED FARMERS' CALENDAR,

Post Free, 6d. (Gratis to Purchasers.)

JAMES CARTER & Co., Seed Farmers,

237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

THE FAHMBR'S MAGAZINE.

MAY, 18 7 0.
CONTENTS.

Plate I.— CAMELIA; a Prize Jersey Cow: the Property of Mr. P. Gaudin, of Spring

Farm, St. Martin's, Jersey.
Plate II.— THE COLONEL ; Winner of the Liverpool National Steeplechase in

1869 AND 1870.

PAGE

Descriptions op the Plates ....

The Salts of Potash.— By Cuthbert "W. Johnson, F.R.S.

On Laying Land Down to Grass. — By the Northern Farmer

The Budget ......

The New Farm .....

The Science and Practice of Seeding

The Breeding of Devons ....

The Royal Dublin Society — the Spring Cattle Show

Sheep Grazing for 1870. — By a Practical Farmer

Average Price of "Wheat per Quarter for Two Hundred and Seventy Years.

Game Law Convictions .....••

Bath and West of England Society, and Southern Counties Association

Botley and South Hants Farmers' Club. — The Waste Lands of England

Causes Discouraging the Application of Capital to Agriculture

The Management of a Dairy Farm

The Principles involved in the Breeding of Animals

The Blandford Farmers' Club.— Root Crops .

Framlingham Farmers' Club. — The most profitable mode op Cultivation

On Valuations

Cheese as an Article of Food

The Herd of Mr. Sheldon, of Geneva, N.Y., United States. — To

"No Politics" AT the Chambers of Agriculture

Local Taxation .....

How TO Get Up an Agricultural Leader. — The Game Laws
THE Labourer .....

Lavenham Farmers' Club. — The Tenure of Land

Royal Agricultural Society of England: Monthly Council

The Central Farmers' Club: Exhaustion of Soil, and the Valuation of Unex-

hausted Improvements ....
What the Central Chamber of Agriculture has Done
Prizes for Garden Essays ....
The Central Chamber of Agriculture

The Society of Agriculturists in France.— Meeting in 1871
The Central and the Local Chambers of Agriculture
Stallions for the Season 1870

Shorthorn Sales .....

Northamptonshire Agricultural Society
The Second-best Christmas Cow
Sale of Mb. W. Hewer's Cattle and Sheep
Exportation of Breeding Stock to America .
The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act to March 5, 1870
Ploughing against Time : a Challenge
The Game-Laws Bill .....
Aberdeenshire Tenant Farmers and the Game Laws ,
The Game Laws .....

The Hares and Rabbits.— The Central and Local Chamber.— Highland and

Agricultural Society.— The Edinburgh Veterinary College.— Bedforshire

Agricultural Society . . . •

Wharfdale Agricultural Show

Border Union Agricultural Society ...
Cottingham Horse Show.— Stallion Show at Carlisle.--Judges and Judging.

The Malt Tax and the " Organ." — Licensed to Dea.l in Horses .
Calendar of Agriculture ....••
Calendar of Gardening .... . •

Agricultural Reports ....••

Review of the Corn Trade during the past Month . • •

Market Currencies, Imperial Averages, &c, ...

371

372

&75
377
378
379
383
385
387
388
389
389
390
396
400
403
406
408
410
412
414
416
417-453
The Worth of

. 417
. 418
. 419

the Editor

422
. 432
. 433
. 434
. 439
. 439
. 440
446-447-448
. 448

448
449
449
449
449
450
451
452

453

454
454

455
455
456
457
460
462

IE ROVAL FARMERS' ...„„..„..„^ «umrHiii.

^' ^^^^^^^^ STEEET, STRAND, LONDON, WO '

as wellt an d^i;rc'!r-rrr"""' '?• "" ^""^'"^ '^^' '^" ^^'^■""*y °^^" ^^^^-^^^^ -^-^ --I'^^I proprietary
tZI T-^ ^ "^'' applicable to the payment of clainis without delay.

of the p.!f s. ^^^^^^^--^^^^^--^^^^^'-^^'^ ^f ^^- participating cla.s will be entitled to four-fifths

FIRE DEPARTMENT,-

Ist Class— Not Hazardous , i. c;i n *

2iKl Class-Hazardous . Is. 6d. per Cent.

3rd Class— Doubly Hazardous ■" ;!' r t "

BUILDINGS and MERCAWTTTi? P J* \ 7 ".' ■ "■' "

DistiUers, Steam Engines GttfnS ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^«'^"Pt-" - Public or Private Warehouses.-^
Offiec at moderate rates. "' "^'' ^^'^' ^° ^°'* "^ ^^^^°"^' «^''- *^-' ^^'^ ^^^^-^^^ i" ^his

™^tic?rl^^^-~^' '"''^ ^"'''^ ^^ "^^y ^^ ^°-i"^--^ reasonable.

cba.,e. ^^'^i^^^lC'jt^;;:;:^ " "^^ ^ '"^™ "^^^^^^^^"^ Machine without e.tra

ifSmr W ^.^/i^^^^CES n.ay be e.Tected on payment of Si. Years' Premium only,
when used fo™«ngB.ih^^^^^^^^^ '^ ^^^^^'^^' -^ ^-- by Explosion of Gas

ModellXms'"'"' '""" '"" "^"^ '^ *^^° ^^^^-^^^^ ^^ «--g Crops or Glass, by Hail, are granted on
LOSSES.— Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.
^ri% *o JOHN REDDISH, Esq., Secretary and Actuaty.

FOUNDED A.D. 1844.

Empowered by Special Act of Parliament, 25 & 26, Yict., cap 74

THE GREAT BRITAIN
MUTUAL LIEE ASSURANCE SOCIETY,

Chairman— LORD VISCOUNT NEWRY.

SPECIAL ADVANTAGES TO ASSURERS.

• • rt r*fi? ^''°?-' ?r'l''^ ""'^^S'*^ *^° l'°^^^^'-« of participating policies

p;yaSe'dfr :;St"'th[s imLS;^^^^^^ ^^ l-miumsU a gLn date, and afterwards in maldng the policy
y mg . tins impoitant advantage being scoured without the payment of any additional p1-emium

ANDREW FRANCIS, Secketarv.

BEAUTIFULLY EMBELLISHED WITH HIGHLY FINISHED STEEL ENGRAVINGS

PORTRAITS OF THE NOBILITY, ETC.

Published Monthly— Price One Shilling.

PUBLISHLD EV ROGERSON & TUXFORD, 2G5, STRAND, LONDON.

May be had of all Booksellers.

THE

ARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

^. GUICUIfTURAI. JOURNikl.

IS THE

LAEGEST AND THE LEADING

FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' NEAVSPAPER,

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY EVENING IN TIME FOR POST.

ROGERSON & TUXFORD, 265, STRAND, LONDON.

May be had of all Booksellers and Nc^vsmell tlirougliout the Kingdom, price Scvenpcnce, or £1 10s. 4d. per annum.

CHEAP SUNDAY AND WEEK-DAY READING FOR THE PEOPLE.

Now Publishing,

C!)f €i)m'ti) of Ciiijlaut! ittag.innr,

A VERY CHEAP RELIGIOUS PERIODICAL,

Containing original contributions by several of the Bishops . Intendmg subscribers are reqiiested to send their orders
and maiTothStin-uished Divines Sketches without delay, as the back volumes and parts are now

of Natural History; Biography, Missionary Proceedings, ! becommg veey scaece.

Juvenile Reading, ' Poetry, &c., with a Register of Eccle-
siastical lutelUgence ; the whole combining amusement with
instruction, in a style suited for all classes of readers.

A series of Parish Churches, with Illustrations ot a superior
kind is in course of publication. This series, which will be
of a very extended character, will be found of particular

interest. . ^, , • r ^^

Vol LXVI., Imperial 8vo., Embossed Cloth, 480 pages, with highly-finished Illustrations of Parish Churches, price 5s. 6d.

London : Published in weekly numbers, price l^d., and in monthly parts, price 9a., by S. EWINS & SON, 9, Ave Maria

Lane; ROaEESON & TUXFORD, 265, Strand, "W-C. ; and sold by all Booksellers.

As the Magazine enjoys a circulation far exceeding that of
any other church periodical, and is read by all classes of
society, it will be found a very eligible medium for Adver-
tisements, which are conspicuously printed, and inserted at
the most reasonable rate.

POPULAR MEDICAL WORKS,

PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, CORNHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed 'E^ds, 16 Stamps.

U CURTIS'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARKIAGE : a Practical Treatise on

j^ "its Physical akd Personal Obligations. With instructions to the Married and Uumarned of both
Sexes, for removing the special disqualifications ancl impediments wldc^i f ^tro^ii^.^^^PP^^'^^^^' li!^^^
founded on the result of a successful practice of 30 years.— By Dr. J. L. CURTIS, M.D., lo, ALBtMARLb
Street, Piccadilly, London, W.

And, by the same Author, for 12 stamps ; sealed ends, 20.

MANHOOD • A MEDICAL ESSAY on tlie Causes and Cure of Premature Decline
IN Man ; the Treatment of Nervous DebiUty, Spermatorrhcea, Impotence, and those peculiar infirmities
which result from youthful abuses, adult excesses, tropical climates, and other causes ;_ with Instructions for the
Cn"e of Infection Jithont Mercury, and its Prevention by the Author's Prescription (his infallible Lotion).

REVIEWS OF THE WORK.
" Manhood.-This is truly a valuable work, and should be in the hands of young and okV'-Sunday Tines,

^^'^Thrbtok^ulL review is one calculated to warn and instruct the erring, ^^dthout imparting one idea that
can vftiate the mind not already tutored by the vices of which it tveais."-Naval and Mthiray Ga.ctle,

^''' We fe7noM^s1"tation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book will not be tbund use-
ful whether such person hold the relation of a Parent, Preceptor, or Clergyman.' -^un Evening Pape^^

Mlnhood!-" D?. Curtis has conferred a great boon by publishing this little work, m which is described the
source of those diseases which produce decline in youth, or more trequently premature old age. -B.nhj

''^Sit'onfda^.S 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albkmarl. Stre.t, Piccabilly, Londo., W.

RQGEBSON & TUXFOBD S AGRICPLTURAL WORKS

PRICE ONE SHILLING EACH,

Neatly Boimd in Foolscap Octcwo,
iJlACH VOLUME CONTAINING from 130 to 190 PAGES OF LETTEEPRESS,

filCMEDSOB'S RURAL HASD-ROOKS.

WHEAT : ITS HISTORY, CHARAC-
TERISTICS, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION,
and NUTRITIVE PROPERTIES. By "The Old
Norfolk Faemeb," Author of " Agriculture, Ancient
and Modern," &c., Ac.

n^HE AGRICULTURIST'S WEATHER-
-1- GUIDE AND MANUAL OF METEOROLOGY.
By Henet 0. Ckeswick, Assistant Observer in the
Magnetical and Meteorological Departmout of the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich, Auth^yir «f several
papers on Meteorology.

FLAX: ITS CULTIVATION AND PRE-
PARATION, and BEST MODE OP CON-
VERSION, — By James Ward, Author of " The
World and its Workshops," &o.

HORSES: THEIR VARIETIES, BREED-
ING, AND MANAGEMENT.— Edited by

M. M. MiLBUEN.

DOGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VA.
RIETIES.

P

IGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIE-

TIES.

COWS AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY.—
By M. M. MiLBUEN, Author of "The Sheep,"
&c. The Dairy Department Revised by T. Hoespall.

T> URAL ARCHITECTURE : a SERIES
-LI. OF DESIGNS FOR RURAL AND OTHER
DWELLINGS. The Ground Plans, Elevations, and
Specifications by James Sandeeson, Burgh Bngineere'
Office, Liverpool.

q^HE AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTOR:
JL or, YOUNG FARMER'S CLASS BOOK.— By
Edmund Muepht, A.B.

"TJOMESTIC fowl': THEIR NATURAL

SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING : embrac-
ing the History, Varieties, Rearing, Feeding,
and General Management of Sheep ; with Treatises on
Australian Sheep Farming, the Spanish and Saxon
Merinos, &c. By M. M. Milbukn, Author of " The
Cow," and various Agricultural Prize Essays.

THE HIVE AND THE HONEY
BEE.

PESTS OF THE FARM. A New Edition.
By M. M. MiLBURN, Author of " The Sheep,", &a

T AND DRAINAGE, EMBANKMENT,

±J HISTORY, BREEDING, AND GENERAL ^, v^^ IRRIGATION._By James Dpnau,,
MANAGEMENT. ^J^^^si^a-o^ Civil Engineer, Derby.

VII.

'y HE FLOWER GARDEN.— By George

™. ^^/^^» ^'^■^•» Author of "Properties of
ITiowers," Ac.

T^HE IMPLEMENTS OF THE FARM.
-*- — By K. Scott Burn, O.B.

SOILS AND MANURES, with INSTRUC-
TIONS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT.— By
John Donaldson, Government Land Drainage Sur.
veyor.

In the Press, in continuation of the same Series,

THE POTATO: ITS HISTORY, CUL-
TURE, AND NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.—
Br S: Copland.

London : Honlston & Wriglit, 65, Paternoster Row ; Rogerson & Tuxford, 246, Strand, WM.
_ .. ' ' -"^cGlashan, Upper SaokviUe Street. And aU Booksellers.

ROGERSON & TUXFORD,]

[PRIMERS, 246, STRAKIK

SI

.v^

,^

I ^

^
^

llllill

}!aSi£.'^i^'^J*S£S5ii^

^t^'Ss?^

i

s

r

^'V

kv

»

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MAY, 1870.

PLATE I.

CAMELIA; A Prize Jersey Coa'.

THK PROPERTY OF ME. P. GAUDIN, 0? SPRING FAUir, ST. MARTIN's, JERSEY.

Camelia, bred by Mr. Gaudin, took the second prize
in the heifer-in-milk or in-calf class of Channel Islands'
cattle at the Leicester Meeting of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England in 1868 ; and at the Manchester
Meeting of the same Eoyal Society in 1869 she took the
first prize for cows or heifers above three years old. In
the year previous, at Leicester, Mr. Gaudin also took the
first prize in the cow class with Lady Bird ; while the
two have won first prizes at the chief shows in the Island

of Jersey. Camelia and Lady Bird are both daughters
of another famous cow— Maid of Plymouth.

" Beauty, quality, size, and colour " are the four car-
dinal points which Mr. Gaudin looks to, as he maintains
that he uuites these more successfully in the Maid of
Plymouth tribe than in any other he has tried. He pur-
poses crossing with this the Lady Greys, from Lady Best,
the second prize cow at Leicester.

PLATE II.

THE COLONEL.

AVINNER or THE LIVERPOOL NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE IN 1869 AND 1870.

The Colonel, bred by the late Mr. John Weymau in
1863 is by Knight of Kais, out of Boadicea by Faugh-a-
Ballagh, her dam, Princess of Wales, by Bran— Modesty,
by Pilgarlick. .

Knight of Kars, bred by the late Lord Exeter m 1855,
is by Nutwith, out of Pocohontas by Glencoe, her dam,
Marpessa, by Muley— Clare, by Marmion— Gohanna.
Knight of Kars was a fair race-horse, but of nothinglike the
form of his famous half-brother, Stockwell, Rataplan, and
King Tom. His stock came out in 1863, and he is the
sire of some fifty winners, although they are generally
better over a country than a course. Mother o' Pearl,
however, was a smart mare on the flat, while Albrighton,
New Oswestry, Carlos, and Maesgwatha have, like The
Colonel told more in the Steeplechase Kalends. The
Knight of Kars, now the property of Mr. Eyke, is located
at Stanton, near Shifnal. , > at

Boadicea, the dam of the Colonel, was bred by iMr.
Davies on the hills at Monaughty, on the border land
Shropshire and Radnor, in 1852, where her dam. The
Princess of Wales, was also foaled ; the half-bred stain
restin"- with Modesty, foaled in 1827, a daughter on the
best side of her head of the Yorkshire horse, Pilgarhckby
Woful, out of Elizabeth, by Sancho. All the sort, with
OuD Sbries.]

the // h. parenthesis attached to the nomination could
run a bit, and from old Modesty onwards have for the
last thirty or forty years haunted the Welsh circuil—
Cardiff, Knighton, Ludlow, Tenby, and so forth Prin-
cess of Wales, however, a long way thebe-t of the family
in public, occasionally flew at higher game, and once ran
well up for the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot. Modesty
herself was no great performer, even about home, but her
produce included ISIr. Jones' Gorse-bush, foaled m 1834 ;
Mr Gou-h's Greenfinch, by Tamworth, foaled in 183 i ;
and Princess of Wales, by Bran, in 1839-all winners.
The Princess of Wales was, in turn, the dam ot Lily
Dawson by Gladiateur, Butterfly by Orlando and of the
own sisters. Minerva and Boadicea by Faugh-a-Ballagh
Boadicea's only living produce are Lady Port, by Knight
of Kars, foaled in 1862, and The Colonel, and the mare
herself died just previous to foaling at Little Brampton.
Boadicea's career in public was not very remarkable,
but her sister Minerva was a capital mare over a
country, and in 1856 ran second for the Grand National

''^ ThTcolonel is a dark-brown, whole coloured horse,
standing close upon fifteen hands three inches high He
has a good but not " pretty" head, long and well shaped,
Q C rVoL. LXVII.— No. 5.

872

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

with a particvJarly nice expression, auguring everything
for his eiceilent temper. He has a well-inclined strong,
but by no means coarse, neck, settling into beautifully
laid shoulders. He does not look to be particularly deep
in his girth, has a round rather roomy barrel, a rare back,
and drooping somewhat short quarters, but jumping like.
He is well let down to his hocks, has capital clean legs,
with plenty of bone, and seems to be all over a remark-
ably sound horse. As we have already said of him else-
where. The Colonel is one of the neatest nags ever seen —
perhaps the term of all others that best fits his character.
Neveriheless, he is not precisely the horse one might look
for. He gives you more the idea of a very clever hunter
over a trying country than racing away from a field of
latter-day platers at Liverpool. Indeed, he has shown
more speed than we should have quite given him credit
for ; as, however slight the stain in his pedigree may now
be. The Colonel does not iu his appearance convey the
impression of being a thoroughbred horse. The Colonel
was so called after Colonel, but now General, Percy Her-
bert, one of the members for South Shropshire.

As a race-horse, at light weights over short courses,
The Colonel was a comparative failure ; and in the autumn

of 1868 Mr. Richard Roberts, a neighbour and tenant of
the late Mr. Weyman, at Richard's Castle, took the horse
in hand with a view to more thoroughly complete his
education for cross-country work. They chalked out a
primitive but a very business-like line about home, and
with George Stevens coming over occasionally to ride, and
Mr. Mat. Evans, of " The Craven Arms," to set them
going. The Colonel was prepared for his two Grand
National races. Mr. John Weyman, his breeder and
owner, was a tenant of Lord Po'wys at Little Brampton,
where he always had a " likely" nag or two in his stable,
on which he would occasionally himself show in public.
He did not, however, live to witness the second victory of
his horse, that has latterly been under the management of
Mr. Evans. The stud came to the hammer at Knights-
bridge on the first Monday in April, and The Colonel, at
2,600 guineas, was knocked down to M. Andre, the repre-
sentative of the Continental Confederacy, which, as with
Blue Gown, has no intention of throwing The Colonel
out of work at once. There are some good cross-country
races coming on abroad, which it is thought he cannot
well lose, and where M. Andre proposes to act as his owa
jockey.

THE SALTS OF POTASH.

BY CTJTHBEBT W. JOHNSON, F.R.S.

The value of the salts of potash as fertilizers is still a
moot question with the agriculturist. It is true that one
of these, the nitrate of potash, has been long known as a
valuable top dressing ; but then its value as a manure
has been always ascribed to the nitrogen, which is the
base of its acid. The other salts of potash have been
tried with results so discordant that little reliance has
hitherto been placed upon them. The researches, there-
fore, which have within the last two or three years been
instituted by Professor Voelcker, are of great importance.
The reader will observe in the results of the most recent
of these, to which I shall presently refei-, that there is
good reason to believe that the use of these salts, in con-
junction, at least, with other fertilizers, will be productive
of considerable advantage. This is the more important
since, by the recent discovery in Germany of considerable
deposits of impure salts of potash, ' their price has been
very considerably reduced.

Reasoning by analogy, it would lead us to the conclusion
that potash ought, iu some form or other, to be a valuable
dressing on many soils. There is, perhaps, no saline
ingredient so uuiversally present, as an essential consti-
tuent in plants, as potash. If, then, the soil becomes
exhausted of this alkali by long continued cropping, its
application to the land would naturally appear to be a
fertilizing addition.

It is in this way and for such a reason, that chalk is
added to those soils in which carbonate oflime is deficient
in amount ; phosphate of lime to such lands as are ex-
hausted of that salt ; and sulphate of lime to red clover,
sainfoin, and lucern — these thi-ee crops containing this
salt in sensible proportions.

Before, then, we proceed farther, we may usefully
refresh our memories by referring to the results obtained
by Professor Way, in his examination of the ashes or
mineral substances obtained from various natural and
artificial grasses.

The following table gives— I. the ash per cent, in the
dried plant, II. the potash. III. the chloride of potassium
ju the ash of various grasses.

Natural Grasses.

Meadow fox-tail grass

Sweet scented vernal grass ...

Downy oat grass

Soft brorae

Crested dog's tail

Cock's foot

Hard fescue

Meadow soft

Perennial darnel or rye-grass

Annual meadow

Smooth stalked meadow grass
Rough stalked meadow

Common cat's tail

Annual rye-grass

Artificial Grasses

Common red clover
Purple trefoil

Cow grass

Common vetch

Alsike clover

Lucerne

But of course these ashes vary very materially in their
composition. Some wood ashes, from Farnham, analysed
by Mr. Nesbit {Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, vol. 7, p. 219), con-
tained per cent.

I.

II.

in.

1-55 .

. 37-03 .

. 9-50

1-24 .

, 32-03 .

. 7-03

2-01 .

. 31-21 .

. 4-05

1-36 .

.. 30-09 .

2-38 .

. 24-99 .

'. 11-60

1 59 .

. 29-52 .

. 17-86

1-66 .

. 31-84 .

. 8-17

]-93 .

. 34-83 .

. 3-91

2-15 ,

. 24-67 .

. 13-80

•59 .

. 41-86 .

. -47

1 65 .

.. 31-17 .

. 11-25

2-20 .

. 29-40 .

. 6-90

2-26 .

. 24-25 .

. -70

1-99 .

. 28-99 ..

ISSES.

1-85 .

. 36-45 ..

. 2-39

1-58 .

. 22-12 ..

__

1-77 .

. 34-72 ..

'. -85

l-ll .

. 32-82 ..

. 3-27

2-12 .

. 29-72 ..

, 6-29

3-04 ..

. 9-99 ..

. 1-54

Silica

Sand

Charcoal

Lime

Magnesia ...
Potash
Soda

Common Salt
Sulphuric Acid
Phosphoric Acid ...
Carbonic Acid
Phosphate of Iron
Phosphate of Alumina

4-25

10-00

0-35

29-50

6-65

7-55

4-89

0-80

3-25

4-70

25-00

2.60

0-50

Two or three other facts seem to lead us to the more

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

373

careful examination of potash as a fertilizer. It has beeu
ascertained that when a soil is deprived of its potash,
wheat or the grasses cease to produce on it remunerative
returns. Liebig gives an instance of this m the case of a
German cultivator who, in order to obtain potash, planted
his land with wormwood, in which potash abounds (the
old chemists who obtained an impure potash from this
plant, called it " salts of wormwood"). The consequence
was that he rendered his land quite incapable of bearing
grain for many years afterwards, since he had entirely
deprived the land of its potash (Organic Chemstry, p.
108) The ashes of wormwood were analyzed by Uavy.
He found in 10,000 parts of the ashes 730 of potash-
Ie the same amount of the ashes of fumitory 790, and
iu those of beans only 200 parts. Other interesting
researches seem to indicate the existence of a property
possessed by soils to store up potash for the use ot plants.
That they have a very remarkable power of absorbing
and retaining these salts was some time since shown by
the experiments of Mr. Way (Jour. Roy. Ay. boc vo . xi.
p 333). He passed solutions of caustic and carbonate ot
potash through different soils: in every case the potash
was abstracted from the water, and retained by the soil.
The same results were obtained when solutions ot nitrate
of potash, or muriate of potash, or sulphate of potash
wereempleyed: in every case the liquid, after passing
through the soil, was found to be entirely free from
potash. So that, as Way remarks, we thus meet with
the unexpected fact that potash, and its carbonate, which
forms very few insoluble compounds, are by a power
inherent in soils made insoluble and separated from water.
The English farmers towards the end of the last century
were led to suspect the value of potash as a fertilizer,
from noticing the good effects of an application of wood-
ashes, since these ashes contain a considerable Portion of
potash. In Oxfordshire, according to the report of Mr
C. S. Read (ibid, vol. xv., p. 245), wood-ashes are used
chielly in conjuuction with other manures ; but they are
sought after, and sown on clover, sainfoin and lucerne
It seems that although plentiful in the Chiltern district
thev are there sold at 16d. per bushel It is the beech-
wood which chiefly tenants the chalk districts of Oxtord-
shire, and, as we shall presently remark this wood
abounds both with potash and phosphate of lime. One
very important fact must not, however be overlooked-
wood-ashes contain other salts of well-known value as
manure. The ashes of some of our common weeds, for
instance, abound with phosphate of linie. The ash of
the couch-grass when analyzed by Mr. Kensington was
found to contain in 100 parts (ibid,Yo\. xvm., p. 6^^) •

Carbonate of potash

Potash in the state of silicate ...

Soda in a state of silicate

Common salt

* Osides of iron and alumina ...
Oxides united with phosphoric acid

Sulphate of lime

Carbonate of lime

Magnesia in a state of silicate ...

Soluble silica •••

Insoluble siliceous matter (sand)...

♦ Oxides equal to bone earth...

14.10
0.27
6.69
3.34

12.40
9.38
9.06
3.30
0.04

24.92

17.50

100.00
20.32

In the ashes of several trees which abound m phosphate
of lime Liebig found 20 per cent, of this salt. Now this
fact is of considerable interest when we are considering
the result of Professor Voelcker's trials of a mixture of
potash with other saline dressings. There is, be it re-
membered, no doubt of the usefulness of .these wood-
sshes on some lands, W^ learo from Liehi^ that so

great a value is attached to this "^^terial in Ae v n^^^^ of .
Marburg, in Hesse Cassel, and in the J^f «e^^^ ^^
Hesse Darmstadt, that it is transported as a ^^^"f^^^^
the distance of eighteen to^twenty-fonr miles. In these
observations upon the application »/ . ^""^/ed bv the
manure I have intended the ash as it is prepared by the
"mbis'tion of the vagetable substance ^om whenc t is
procured. It then contains all the ^<'^^}\'''^'JJ^S '
Listed in the plant. Another variety of wood-ashes
however, is sometimes found in commerce. I aUud^to
the refuse wood-ash which remains after the commoa
wood-ashes have been li^^viatedwith water In those
districts where considerable quantities of wood are burn
for the preparation of potash, this residua or nsoubie
portion of the ash accumulates in considerable quantities.
C refuse matter consists, according to tl^J examinatiou
of Professor Johnston (EL Ay. Chem p. JSJ); "J^^f
of potash, mixed with silicate, potash, ^-^i f/.^/^J^^ted
lime, and when applied to the and is remarkably adapted
for oats. It is best adapted for clay ^d^^;^ ^^^^^
laid on in considerable quantity (one or two tons to the
acre), its effects have been observed to continue for htteen

"IrtSS of the present researches of Pro^.sor
Voelcker lead him to incline to the conclusion that the
use of the salts of potash is often ^d^^^tageons to
potatoes, clover, beets, and turnips, we will note the
amount of potash found in the ashes of these important
plants befoie we proceed to the results obtained by the
able and cautious Professor. Pmfpsaor

The composition of these was ascertained by Professor

Way (Ibid, Vol. II., p. 530, Vol. IX., P- ^^^'J" -^yth
p. 149-141;. In 100 parts of these ashes he found tUe
following proportions of potash :

50-88 parti

Of the Potato 1485 „

„ Red clover hay 14-33

„ White clover hay ^..gg "

„ Long red mangold root ,„ "

Skirving's swede bulb ^° "

The reader must not conclude that the crnd^ ^^Its of
potash imported from the Continent are anything bvit very
impure specimens. The composition of a variety ot
£e native salts, imported from Germany, empkyed by
Professor Voelcker in his experiments, were found by him
to be composed in 100 parts of :

,, . , li"oa

Moisture .173

Organic matter • .g^

Oxide of iron g^.Qg

Sulphate of potash ^.^^

Sulphate of magnesia ,^.01

Chloride of magnesium ••• _„,

Chloride of sodium (common salt) •* ' °

Sulphate of lime .^^

Magnesia .97

Sand • , 1

10000

The conclusions to which the Professor arrives from

the results of his experiments have very recently been

emoted to the ConncS of the Royal Agncultural^^^^^^^^^^^^^

of England, in language which I need not atttempt to

vary. He observed (Ibid, Vol. VI., N S., p 146; :

In reviewing the field experiments which, for a
numberTyears, I have instituted with special re erence
t'ote condition; under wbich.the land is benehted hy
the direct supply of potash m the .shape of sal sot
potash I have come to the conclusion, as far as my
? S experience goes, that these salts may often be ap-
plied with advantage to potatoes, clover, beets, ana

^Tn^'several experiments, tried on poor sandy soil,
during the past Jason, the addition of crude potash saltl
I Q V a

S74

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

to superphosphate of lime had a very marked and
decidedly beneficial effect on the potato-crop, and also on
swedes. Even when applied alone, crude potash salts
benefit materially root crops growing on poor, sandy land.
The same beneficial effect, I find by direct experiments,
cannot be obtained by the application of common salt —
showing that soda is a much less valuable fertilising con-
stituent than potash, and incapable of replacing the
functions of the latter in the vegetable economy.

Hitherto the price of potash has stood iu the way of
its being employed on an extended scale in agriculture.
Even in its cheapest form — that of crude German potash
salts — potash was too dear for practical application in
agricnlture. But as potash will, no doubt, be extensively
used in agriculture if it can be had at a cheap rate, I have
pleasure iu directing attention to a mineral called Kainite,
which is found in the neighbourhood of Stassfurth, in
Saxon)^ and which, in round numbers, contains 2-t per
cent, of sulphate of potash, and 12 per cent, of sulphate
of magnesia. This saline mineral can now be obtained
in England, in a finely-ground condition, ready for mixing
with other artificial manures, at about £3 3s. per ton, and
probably less when considerable quantities are required.
From 3 to 4 cwts. of ground kainite, mixed
with an equal quantity of superphosphate of lime,
per acre^ has been found of great utility iu the sugar-beet-
growing districts of North Germany ; and I have no
doubt it will be found equally useful iu England, where
root crops are intended to be raised upon naturally poor
or upon exhausted sandy soils. The crop, however, most
likely to be greatly benefited by this potash manure is the
potato.

On light soils, I would strongly recommend, as a
manure for potatoes, the following mixture : —

4 to 5 cwts. of kainite (crude German potash),
4 cwts. of Peruvian guano, and
4 cwts. of superphosphate of lime.
In buying kainite as a source of potash, care should be
taken to have a sample of the bulk tested for the amount
of potash which it contains ; for not only are some of the
samples ofl'ered for sale very poor iu potash, but some
scarcely contain any potash at all.

Good kainite should contain about 13 per cent, of
l)otash, and should dissolve in water without leaving any
considerable residue.

The following analysis may be taken as fairly repre-
senting the

Composition of a good S.vmplk of K.vinite.

Moisture (loss at 213'=' Fahr.) 3-30

Water of combination 10-88

^Sulphate of potash 34-43

Sulphate of liiue 272

Sulphate of magnesia 13-22

Chloride of magnesium 14-33

Chloride of sodium 30-3.')

Insoluble siliceous matter -71

100-00
^Containing potash 13-20

In another report {ibid., t^. 153) the Professor gives
the results of some valuable experiments, instituted at
tiis suggestion, in the season of 1SG9, at Escrick Park,
near York, by Messrs. J. Coleman and J. Hall upon
mangolds.

The mangolds were sown on May 11, 1860, on a barley
stubble in 1808. The soil of the "experimental field was
of a light sandy character, and, though naturally poor, it
was in a good agricultural condition, as the produce from
the unmanured plot showed.

" The mangold crop was taken up, topped, tailed, and
weighed, on the 11th November, 18G9, when the
following results were obtained ■ —

Plots of
l-20th of
an acie.

Manure per Acre.

... No Manure

... Mineral Superphosphate
C Mineral Superphosphate
... ■< and

(.Potash salts

10

11

C Mineral Superphosphate
...< and

(. Peruvian Guano

... Peruvian Guano

No Manure

fMineral Superphosphate

I and
...•{ Potash salts

I and

(^Sulphate of Ammonia...
... Rotten Dung

fMineral Superphosphate

I and

...•{ Potash salts

and

(^Nitrate of Soda

f Rotten Dung

... < and

(_ Mineral Superphospliate

r Bone-dust

... < and

(. Mineral Superphosphate

3 cwts.
3 cwts.

2 cwts.

3 cwts.

1 cwt.

3 cwts.

Produce per Acre.

Tons. cwts. lbs.
. 22 10 0
. 23 10 0

39 5 0

26 0 0

24 15 0
21 0 0

3 cwts.

2 cwts.

1 cwt.
20 tons

3 cwts.

2 cwts.

1 cwt. .
.10 tons .

1^- cwt. .
3 cwts. .

l.V cwts.

...1

.. }» 30

..J

30 10 0

... I- 31 i:

..J

■)

J

31 5 0

27 15 0

The preceding tabulated results exhibit several points
of interest, on which a few observations may be offered :

1. In the first place, it will be seen that the two
unmanured portions of the experimental field yielded a
fair crop of mangolds. One of these plots produced 22\
tons per acre, and the other 21 tons ; or, ou an average,
the unmanured plots produced 21J tons of mangolds per
acre. The difference in the weights of the crops on Plot
1 and Plot 6 is not greater than can be expected in field
experiments. The experimental field thus was tolerably
uniform in character and well adapted for the trial.

2. Mineral superphosphate alone gave only an increase
of If tons, and thus appears not to be the kind of manure
which ought to be employed for mangolds on light land.

3. The addition of 2 cwts. of salts of potash to 3 cwts.
of mineral superphosphate proved very successful, inas-
much as it raised the produce to 29i; tons, and gave an
increase of 7 2 tons over the average yield of the un-
manured portions of the field.

4. In these experiments, tlie addition of 2 cwts. of
salts of potash had a better effect than the addition to
superphosphate of 1 cwt. of Peruvian guano, or than 3
cwts. of Peruvian guano alone.

5. Peruvian guano alone answered better than mineral
superphosphate applied by itself, but did not appear to be
the best artificial manure that can be used ou light land
for mangolds.

We may learn from this that neither the exclusive use
of a purely mineral phosphatic manure, nor a manure con-
taining, like Peruvian Guano, an excess of nitrogenous
compounds, produces the best crops of mangolds on light
land.

6. A moderate amount of an ammoniacal salt, or of
nitrate of soda, added to a manure composed of available
phosphates and salts of potash, appeared to be very useful.

The mixture of 3 cwts. of superphosphate, 2 cwts. of
salts of potash, and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda, it will be
seen, produced 31 f tons of mangolds, which, considering
the natural poverty of the soil, must be considered a very
good crop indeed.

The same mixture, it will also be observed, had a
better effect than 20 tons of farmvard manure ; for, whilst

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

3; 5

Plot 9 gave aa increase of 10 tons over the unmanured '
plots, 20 tons of rotten dung per acre produced only an

increase of Sk tons. , , , , . *:„;ni

7 A heavy dressing of dung proved to be less beneticial
than the addition of some superphosphate to a moderate
dose of dung. The best crop, it will be noticed, was ob-
tained by 10 tons of rotten dung and U cwt. of super-
phosphate. , -,, . 1 11

Ou the whole, the results obtained at Escrick agree well
with those described in the series of experiments which
were tried by Mr. Ellis at Iver Moor. Both sets plainly
show that potash salts are very useful to mango ds, and
that, in order to obtain the best economic results trom
their use for this crop, they should be mixed with soiper-
phosphateaud a small quantity of either sulphate of am-
monia or nitrate of soda. ,■, e

I have repeatedly observed that a small quantity ot
nitrate of soda helps ou the mangold plants lu a striking
manner, provided other fertilisers are used at the same
time, or the laud is in a high agricu tural condition
The mixture of 3 cwts. of superphosphate i cwts. ot
salts of potash, and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre
can be recommended, both as an economical and benehcial
artificial mangold manure for light land.

The result of these researches will lead to other and
more extended experiments with the salts ot potash.
They afford additional evidence of the importance of
mixing together our artificial manures, and of avoiding
the rapid conclusions at which we are too apt to arrive

from imperfect examiffiitions. That we have during the
present century made great advances in our knowledge of
artificial fertilizers is an undoubted fact, but then we are
well aware that many a vegetable mystery has to be un-
ravelled, many a discovery yet made, before we can con-
clude that no farther advances are to be made m rendei-
ing our soils more productive. We are, in all probabihtj ,
ever treading on the verge of some discovery relating to
the food of plants, a knowledge which our former ex-
perience tells us we are often much nearer to than we are
alwavs willing to believe. Wc have an instance of this
in some of tlie laborious trials of the celebrated Arthur
Youuc' It was in the year 1782 that amongst many
experimental dressings he used various salts of ainmoma
and of potash; several acids, such as the nitric, the mu-
riatic, aud the sulphuric; and also impure varieties of
phosphate of lime-as in the dung of P""lt'T M«««/^ «/
AffrL/t.re, vol. I. p. 150, vol. 1 II. p. U2). Had he but
mixed some of these together he would have formed that
superphosphate of lime which, after the lapse of more
than half a century, Liebig first advocated the use m
1840 The very numerous trials of \oung were otteu
made'in large pots of earth, and extended over several
seasons. His reports of them, always g^-aphic, were ever
and anon amusingly simple, thus he informs us on one
' occasion O^i'*, vol. L V- 162^ : 'A earpenter lett ng a
' piece of timber fall ou the pots while putting up a bench,
! broke some and tumbled the rest over. Here, therctorc,
' ends this trial."

UN

LAYING LAND DOWN TO GKASS.

BY THE NORTIIEKN rARMER.

In mixed husbaudrv the cultivated grasses occupy an
exceedingly prominent aud important position ; so mucU
so that much of the prosperity of the farmer who follows
a fixed rotation depends on their successful cultivation.
In the months of February, ^larch, April, and soinet.mes
even a portion of May, their absence, from ^vhatevei
cause, is extremely noticeable and very much felt, the
farm having a singularly bare aud thriftless appearance,
scarcely affording a bite for out-lying stock, such as sheep
and that at the very season when of all others it is most

"^^iThvmer holding light land can afford to neglect
or attend but superficially to the proper seeding of those
fields, which in the ordinary course require to be laid out
to grass each season. The actual loss of cash in pur-
chasing the seeds is not worth a momeiit s cou-
siderattou when compared with the ruinous waste oi land,
rent and taxes being paid for that which gives no adequate
return, aud which will never give a return until again
broken up, put through a course of ^-estorative husbandry
and laid down in a proper manner. Notwithstanding the
very marked improvement in the selection of grass seeds,
and in preparing the laud for their reception, which has
been gradually effected, there is still "i"'^\"!^^'«5J'^ ,^
displaced on the part of many farmers, and bad y aid
down fields arc to be met with much more trequcntly than
is consistent either with careful manageiiieut or lull profit
With small farmers the field daisy CBel/>s per.nn^sj is
the usual indication of thriftless pastures, this idant being
sure to take possession of soils that have been long
worked and laid down in poor manurial condition with
bad seeds. Where it exists in abundance, the grass must
of necessity be poor, as, notwithstanding the extreme
prettiness of the daisy, its tendency seems to be to render
those fields which it occupies absolutely sterile.

On large farms, where the manurial condition of-^ the
SOU has been attended to, but the ^leanin^ neglected
couch-rass is almost sure to have possession, to the
most^total exclusion of the .™ . whic have been
purchased and sown, involving conside able ou lay ot
capital. Such fields aftord no lood for stock ; and aie
asHv recognised in spring by the white «PP'^-^--5«f "^^'^
ve-etation, the brilliant and refreshing green ot the cul-
t'vftt'l gi'asses and clovers being altogether wanting
Thel-e can scarcely be a doubt but that the Feseiice o
couch in considerable quantity is the principal cause ot
Se wretchedness of the hay crop in but too many instances,
as ilis quite impossible that the driest spring ever expe-
rienced could have the effect of seriously injuriug a crop
wSls cut so early in the season, if the conMions for its
successful growth were at all favourable. How eNcr rich
,™uriaf constituents a field maj be it is impossible to
laJe a successful hit of the seeds if cleanliness has not
been rigidly enforced ; and hence, whatever tie expcc a-
Sormed of the future capabilities of that particuW
field, either with regard to grazmg or nieadowing, they
mus inevitably result in disappointment when this ha.
"en neglected' Docks and thistles in '-«t year s hay i
simnlv disgraceful, and the man who permits tlie.e weeds
to be present scarc'cly deserves the title of iarme.-^ as a ve^y
little attention at the proper time IS suftc.ent to pitven
their appearance in this crop. Cleanliness and a hig
fate of cultivation we thus find to be "^d^^--^^^;^^;^
secure a cood hit and vigorous after-growth ot the glasses
and clovirs • and, premising that the land has received all
a e atlen o'n that^are and skill cvn.devise, there is coin-
paiatively little danger of failure. This is more particulady
thi case when sown with spring-corn, and put in on the
soft tilth a few days after the corn ; every seed seeming to
Ilerboth clover Li rye-grass growing with such vigour

376

THE t'ARMEil'S MAGAZINE.

as to threaten serious injury to the grain crop ; and, in fact,
on those lands which grow soft straw, a wet season does
cause considerable loss, as when once beaten down
amongst the luxuriant vegetation, the corn is never again
able to recover itself. When the desire is to encourage
the grasses as much as possible by sowing them simulta-
neously with the corn, barley on such land becomes a
dangerous crop, escaping injury only in exceptionally dry
seasons. Oats do well as a substitute, and so does
April wheat, both crops standing much better
than barley, and when the superiority of the
straw is talcen iuto consideration, will in general
prove quite as valuable. On those soils on which
barley is unusually productive, and being suited for
malting purposes commands the highest price, the corn
must be permitted to get a good start before the seeds are
^own, so that all danger may be obviated. When the soil
is rich the latter made is absolutely imperative, and by
adopting it success is nearly certain with both crops, the
grasses and clovers not attaining full luxuriance until the
severance and removal of the corn. The suitability of the
seeds sown to the qualities and capabilities of the soil,
both natural and artificial, requires to be carefully studied ;
as it is sheer folly to sow seeds that will not grow, or if
through circumstances being peculiarly favourable they
are enabled to make a start, the nature of the soil killing
them out before they have been of any practical use. Thus
it is useless to sow clovers on low-lying reclaimed soils ;
as even if when the corn is cleared off the clover appears
moderately abundant, by the time spring comes round
not a vestige of it will be seen. Alsike, which is supposed
to do better on such land than any other, will scarcely be
found to outlive the first winter. We speak from expe-
rience on this subject, no longer gained than the present
season ; as when recently looking over a twenty-acre field
laid down last year, we found that on the lower half, which
was drained some years ago, there was not a single plant
of clover, while on the higher portion the surface was
completely coated with a most luxuriant growth, the
division being as distinctly marked as if drawn with a line.
This we take to be a most conclusive test as to the use-
lessness of sowing clovers on land of a marshy or boggy
nature, as the portion of this field from which the clovers
have died out has been rendered as dry by artificial means as
the upper is so natm-ally, although previous to its being
drained it afforded the best snipe-shooting in the whole
surrounding district of country. Some caution is neces-
sary in laying down laud to permanent gi'ass, with regard
to the introduction of short-lived plants, such as the
Italian rye-grass ; for, although affording a large amount
of food for the first and second years, and having the very
great advantage of coming in early, it is extremely apt to
leave the sward of grass thin and patchy when it
becomes exhausted, the very vigour of its growth
preventing the other plants from diffusing them
selves. Four pounds to the statute acre we consider
quite enough on land in good condition ; and that
quantity will make a great appearance the fol-
lowing spring. On higher or poorer land, where the
growth will not be so vigorous, the quantity may be in-
creased to 61bs. When the conditions are favourable for
success, the land clean and in good heart, and the seeds
of prime quality, it is surprising what a small weight of
seeds will prove sufficient for an acre. Although this fact
ought to be pretty well known to farmers, it is certainly
not acted on by all, as many of them give the preference
to quantity rather than quality, covering their fields with
the sweepings of some one's hay-loft, without having
even once been put through a separator to try and get rid
of at least a portion of the light seeds, and seeds of weeds,
with which it is too frequently largely intermixed.
Trashy as these seeds are they cost money to purchase,

besides the after loss which they involve by the poverty
of the pastures. Were the same money per acre given to
a respectable seedsman, say from 8s. to 148., even al-
though that amounnt would not purchase the full weight
of seeds usually given to each acre, yet it would give a
much better sward, besides escaping the wholesale intro-
duction of the vilest weeds. It is scarcely safe to sow
the grasses and clovers before the first week in April,
sharp fi'osts and harsh winds being of frequent occurrence,
both of which are highly prejudicial to the well-doing of
uch tender seeds. Unless as a mere matter of conve-
nience it is not of the slightest advantage to sow early ;
those put in when heat and growth have fairly set in
making such rapid progress as speedily to outstrip those
sown earlier, and which have been checked when in the
most critical stage. On lands difficult of access and which
have been specially improved at considerable cost for the
purpose of being laid down to permanent pasture, the
seeds may with great propriety and much future
profit be sown without a corn crop ; the same
course being followed on superior land, when it is de-
sirable to provide a large supply of succulent food for
autumn use. In general, however, the ordinary rent-
paying farmer, following a fixed rotation, will be loath to
sacrifice the corn, even although, from having abundant
capital, it may be optional for him to do so if he thought
fit. Young grass is in great danger of serious injury
from being to closely eaten down in the spring, when
there happens to be heavy stock of breeding ewes on the
farm, particularly if the season is a backward one. To
prevent the lambs from losing condition, the inducement
is great to keep them on the seeds I'ather long, the injury
committed by so doing being irreparable. The sheep eat
out the heart of the clovers, and many of the plants
perish ; besides, when the surface is rendered completely
bare immediately before the setting in of warm weather,
the roots exposed to the scorching sun become so en-
feebled as to render growth an impossibility. W^e con-
sider it absolutely imperative when the young seeds are
pastured with ewes and lambs, to remove the stock before
they have had time to eat the young plants so close as to
cause injury ; and if removed in time to permit of hay
being taken the same season so much the better, as the
roots have then time to establish themselves, and excel-
lent feeding is provided for autumn and winter. Cutting
early is of great importance when good pasture is wanted,
as the plants, not being exhausted by maturing the seed,
make an immediate growth, actually providing moi'e food,
and of course keeping more stock after the hay had been
removed than would have been afforded for the entire
season had the sheep been kept on through the month of
April. The after-grass is well adapted for young sheep,
such as lambs newly weaned, the herbage being particu-
reaUy sound and healthy.

THE HEREFORDSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

— At the annual meeting, Mr. Jancey said he thought
the item, of payments to stewards might be reduced. He
should propose " that the show be reduced to one day
before the fair, and that a committee of some few be appointed
to see in what way the other expenses coiJd be reduced, and
that the meeting be adjourned to receive the report of the
committee." Mr. J. Walker seconded this. Mr. Pitt, whilst
agreeing with Mr. Jancey, thought, at the same time, that the
landed proprietors should make an effort to assist the Society
to erect permanent shedding. After some little discussion,
Mr. Jancey's resolution was ultimately shaped into the foUow-
iug : " That a committee be appointed to consider the following
questions — First, the time of holding the show ; secondly, the
duration of the show ; and, thirdly, the general subject of the
finances of the Society."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

m

THE BUDGET.

" The only phase of the argument to which the heads
of the present Government have so far appeared willing to
yield anything, has been in allowing the farmer more
liberty in making use of his own produce. "We see some-
thing of this in the offer of Mr. Gladstone's Mixture."
It was thus that we wrote some six or seven weeks since,
immediately after Colonel Barttelot had brought on his
motion ; while we said, further, that we were " inclined
to think this offer of a substitute would only impede, il_
not the settlement, at any rate the direct discussion of
the matter. It is taking us off the line of the hunted
fox ; while there is something in the very notion of people
who brew their own beer having to provide themselves
with licences that sounds obnoxious aud inquisitorial.
Moreover, we much question whether so clever a financier
as Mr. Lowe would quite relish the idea of other people,
more particularly of other people on the other side, ad-
justing the nation's burdens for him." And all this has
precisely come to pass. "With considerable ingenuity the
Chancellor of the Exchequer contrived on Mouday even-
ing to run, as it were one into the other, the prayer to
take the licence off public breweries and to put this on
private establishments. He "dashed" one, as he had
just previously " dashed" the other ; and as for the pet
substitute of the present school of Malt-tax repealers,
Mr. Lowe " can make nothing of it — it would violate one
of the first rules of taxation, namelj, that taxation ought,
as far as possible, to leave things as it finds them, and not
give people inducements to alter their method of trade,
and do things which do not tend to the improvement of
the revenue." And so they lifted the right honorable
gentleman off the line of the hunted fox ; as he settled
to the scent again just where we thought he would :
"It has always been difficult to devise a means by which
farmers might beaUowed to use malt for their cattle without
interfering with the revenue, and I believe all that ingenuity
could do in regard to this subject was done when my
right hon. friend the present Prime Minister suggested
the mixing of the malt with linseed. I think, however,
that the problem to be solved was not properly stated. It
ought to have been put, not ' How can we allow the agri-
culturist to feed his cattle on malt ? ' but ' How can we
allow him to feed his cattle on barley which has arrived at
that stage which is best suited for the feeding of cattle ? '
One process which barley undergoes leads to the germina-
tion and generation of the saccharine matter, and the
second is the kiln drying, which has no tendency what-
ever to improve the malt for the purpose of feeding cattle.
On the contrary, it is prior to t*^ kiln drying, when it is
not parched up, that the barley is best suited to that pur-
pose. "What 1 propose, then, to the Committee is that
we should permit farmers to steep their own barley and
feed their cattle with it. The only precaution necessary
to take, in addition to the ordinary Excise precau-
tion of liberty to visit the premises, will be to provide
that there shall be no kiln on the premises, or within a
reasonable distance of them — say a quarter of a mile — so
that we may have a reasonable assurance that the barley
is really intended to be used for feeding cattle. I under-
stand that when barley is in such a state that it is ready
to be kiln dried, it is most suited to the feeding of cattle,
and the Inland Revenue Department think we can make
this concession to the farmer without putting the
public to the great loss and injury which would result
from transferring the incidence of the tax from
malt to barley." And this, as we said before,

we say here again, is all farmers may expect to get
in the way of relief from the present Government ;
as even this, according to IMr. Sewell Read, is not so
much: "He dissented from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer's statement that in allowing farmers to use
sprouted barley for cattle food he gave them the very
best produce capable of being made from barley for
feeding stock. Malt was very much better, although it
was not necessary to dry or roast the malt to the extent
necessary for making beer." Noticeably enough, how-
ever, at the very last meeting of the Council of the Royal
Agricultural Society, Mr. Thompson, as Chairman of the
Journal Committee, recommended "that a series of ex-
periments be set on foot during the next autumn and
winter to test the comparative feeding-value of barley
and malt, at a cost not exceeding £100." And this
report was adopted. It would so seem that any such
comparative value is not even now a settled question,
although people were getting already weary of experi-
ments, which may probably be made to cut either way.

There can be little doubt, moreover, but that many
farmers are themselves getting weary of the manner in
which the case of Repeal has of late been worked. The
proposal of so inconvenient a substitute as that named was,
as we maintained from the fiist, a mistake, and the
sooner that it is dropped the better. Again, it is very
evident, as we have continued to urge, that a Liberal Go-
vernment does not intend to repeal the Malt-tax. We
have said, " As a winning game, the battle has now for
many years been fought in direct defiance of the first
principles of political strategy. The chief ' opportunity'
has generally been found when the Country Party is m
opposition, or, in plain English, when a minority might
be expected to rule a majority." To carry repeal, the
agriculturists will have to create " a Party," the only
question being, whether the county members are suffi-
ciently in earnest to be put at the head of the movement ?
Plainly we doubt this, for so far they have pretty generally
taken up the cry for election purposes, and for but little
more. The true men in this way, in the House, might be
counted off on one's finger ends. Our contemporary Tha
Economist, whose opinions were so ludicrously adopted and
hawked about elsewhere, thus cooly dismisses the subject
on Saturday last: "It was only imagined that Mr.
Lowe would reduce the malt-duty, because it was
thought such a policy would be popular in counties. But
this is quite a mistake. Not one county in ten cares the
least about it or would benefit in the least by it."
We will not go quite so far as this ; but we are very sure that
not one county member in ten cares the least about it.
" Well, he did not exactly promise me anything, but he
pressed my hand, as much as to say, ' Your business is
done,' " reported the needy man to his family after his
interview with the Minister ; and very much in this way
did the Central Chamber talk of its interview with Mr.
Lowe. But then ,it is the inevitable fate of this same
Chamber to muddle everything it touches, and the next
step will be to try and forget as soon as possible the
famous substitute " which would violate one of the first
rules of taxation."

They tax the team horses, they tax the shepherd's dog,
and now they are going to tax the bird-boy's gun.
However popular the budget may be with other classes,
it would certainly not threaten to find much favour with
the farmer. But prettily as this notion of a guu-tax was

378

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

l)ut, \vc fancy that we sec in it sometliing more than that
whicli floats ou the surface. There may be a growing
iacliuation amongst Englishmen to carry arms, although
saving in the way of the Volunteer movement this has not
been so apparent. Slill, there may be a bndding tendeiiny
to expand such a habit. Let but the Game Laws be only
pai'tially repealed, let hares and rabbits come to rank no
higher than rats and mice, and everybody will be ready
to have a pop at them. In fact, but for this gene-
ral gun charge every other man would then saunter
along the roads and lanes with a gun in his
hand instead of a stick or a spud. In any
case the number of accredited Shots must considerably

increase. A professional man or a lad home for the
holidays will, as it is, often take out a certificate for the
sake of a week or so's sport ; whereas, on the other hand,
many are debarred from doing so by an expense which
will no longer stand in the way. The outlying birds, as
well as the mere vermin, like rabbits, will be more
harassed than ever, and the change should so be fraught
with some good, if it be not the prelude to something
more. If, however, an exception is to be made in the
case of the Volunteer, this should certainly be extended
to the farm-servant whose business it is to scare away the
crows or kill the vermin which injure his master's crops.
— Mark Lane Express.

THE NEW FARM.

"Good news from home" — nay, rather sad news from
farm. I say nothing of the murderous conduct of the
frost towards the young ley planted wheats, nor of the
cruel nip it has caught the clover stems just at the back
of the neck, giving them a rheumatic twinge where the
roller had managed to bruise it. I say nothing of that,
for a good stirring with the horse-hoe, which i"s working
capitally, will cause the one crop to tiller, besides, that
under the surface, I find many weak seedlings just ready
to start if more genial nights would encourage them.
The wheat I don't think is after all as bad as it looks,
although several of my neighbours are, I understand,
breaking it up and replanting with barley. The clovers
too were well dressed with a coating of long manure, so
that I think they may come round, for there is nothing
like long drawers and good keep for a cold. The intelli-
gence is unhappily of a more vexatious description. A
valuable young porcine matron, vexed I fear by the
severity of her throes, has turned cannibal and devoured
her offspring ; while, on the other hand, master reynard
has found our juicy stores out again and has appropriated
several of our darling wild-ducks. This is the more
annoying as we cannot leave them out at night now, and
the usual region of their nests is unsafe. Unluckily they
require to choose their own, and will not sit just 'where
the fowl-wife wishes, so we have the carpenter building
rafts to float on a pool enclosed within the fold-yard,
hoping that the red robber will not venture there, lie
is, however, sufficientlij bold, as Ciceronian authors write.
In fact he waylaid his lirst victim quite close to the kennel
of a terrier that, remembering former experience, I
thought well to chain up in the orchard beside the faggot-
heap, under which the ducks build. It was a curious
upstanding, head -on -one -side, swaggering, tailor-like,
comical, little mallard, white as snow too (being a cross
with the call-duck) that he took first. The bailiff and I
had been looking at the bird with some amusement during
his afternoon meal, and observed that by some means he
had lost an eye, a misfortune which possibly caused his
quaint air. Perhaps, too, it was with a view to protec-
tion that he haunted the neighbourhood of the kennel,
keeping his extinguished eye on that side, as the one-eyed
hind of which there is record jin .Esop's fable. I(ey-
uard is cute enough, and no doubt argued that where
there is a kennel there is probably too a chain, aud so he
ventured up, choking our hero's throat by one snap of his
lancet fangs, aud completing his triumph by devouring
the greater part of him on a neighbouring fallow. This
was bad enough, and we were at once on the qui vivc, but
it happened that a few days later the children going to a
low lying meadow, beside a brook, to gather violets, came
across the carcase of a vixen fox with brush and foreleg
gone, aud a piece of lamb in immediate proximity.

An immense forest and a large tract of rocks, inac-
cessible to hounds, being situate not many miles
hence, the foxes breed there in great numbers, although
until lately they have not troubled our hen-house.
I am afraid that under all circumstances there was about
our homestead a feeling of something like exultation that
the thief was caught, and the ducks got their freedom
again. A fortnight from that date, however, only last
Monday morning, as we arrived to look round, the hen-
wife took a mallard's gorgeous head from a cleft in a
twisted pear-tree, saying, " Master Fox has been here
again." Ou the evening before I had been watching with
so much delight the love-making rambles of the various
pairs as they went working about in the old grass, and
sucking ever and anon what seemed especially delicious,
something I could fancy between a slug aud a kiss, for
their bills were working together in the same spot. So,
too, the cunning plunderer must have found them, and,
with a feeling of undoubted glee at the sport he was to
spoil, came ci'eeping from apple-tree to apple-tree until
he got conveniently near to grab them, which he did most
effectually, just cutting their necks through and leaving
the bodies behind, having possibly been disturbed or struck
with a feeling of due remorse. So the carpenter now is
hard at work providing what I trust may prove a
residence of safety. The cottagers under the hill tell me
that they hear his lordship bark nightly. The plan they
adopt to scare him from their tiny lambs is to rub
them well with a ring of red ruddle around the
necks. He will never touch a youngster so distin-
guished they tell me. There being plenty of
rabbits about why cannot he be content therewith ?
From an apprehension possibly of taking tapeworm
on board, a delectable form of parasite from which these
pestilent ground game suffer considerably, as we were
informed by medical authorities during the Trichina
discussions, and which has made ourselves resolutely set
face against what we were wont to consider, when boiled
and smothered in onion-sauce, a delicate and delicious
food.

Having all but overlooked " Observans's" letter,
I am happy to give him the benefit of my experience
in bull breeding if he will take it for just as much as it
is worth. If he wishes to exhibit he must from the first
do the calf well, keeping it in a box and letting it to its
mother, or better to a deep-milking half-Alderney twice or
three times a-day, and supplying it with meal, roots,
cake, eggs, fine hay, Sec. Feeding for exhibition is an art
in which few thoroughly succeed, unless they have to help
them a servant who has the inborn gift of knowing when
and how. For it is no less. I will not bother him, how-
ever, but just answer his inquiries. The bull calf ought
to have a light ring put into his nose as soon as he i?

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

379.

weaued, aud as soon as the wound is healed the breaking \
should be^in. Let one man lead him, or rather try to 1
lead him out, for he is sure to pull back aud resist. The ;
smart application of a switch to the region whereby
youngsters are best instructed will make him jump ou
and struggle. Tat aud sooth him, the man in tront
holding him steadily meanwhile and walking on.
Then "if he a2;aiu holds back, again the smart
administration behind. One or two days of this
tuition will ordinarily bring him to lead quietly. He
should then be led and exercised daily, with many inter-
ludes of soothing and petting.

" Obscrvans" will remember Lord Byron s recipe tor
dealing with a fractious tlirt. " Pique her and soothe
her : soon you'll have your way." So, too, he must
conquer his Shorthorn princes. He cannot break them
iu too soon. I had two gentle bulls last year, which,
being kept for home use, were not fairly broken. The
consequence was they could only be driven in company
with a cow— and not led. This, in the end, became
vastly inconvenient. A bull calf will do well on good
pasture running by his mother. They should be driven
under shelter during heat. I think, too, that there is
something in what old breeders say, that the tail of a call
that runs with and sucks his mother on the open is apt
to be lu^/i. " Observans" will notice that they generally
suck swaying that appendage triumphantly in mid-air.
On the field of course they suck oftener than they do
when kept within doors. Hence, either the joint loosens
out of symmetrical position, or at least from too frequent
a repetition of the act they form a /labit of carrying the
tail hi-'h (For further information on this head, see
Aristotle's Ethics, Book IL cap. 1.) I have found no
difference in disposition between bull calves reared two in
a box or singly. Their boxes shoiUd be free from jmhhedy
Being looked at, especially if there be a walk in front ot
them, irritates them terribly. I had one amiable fellow
spoilt by the tricks of a lad tending a mason, whom 1
had occasion to employ near the box, and whom I wish
the animal had pitched into primeval mortar. , . , ^

I remember asking Culshaw about a bull which 1
bought at Towneley," and which became cantankerous.
After an instant's thought he said, " oh, it's all owing to
So-and-so" naming one of his>cestry. Temper is un-
doubtedly inherited, I had one youngster made so quick
in his temper that he was called after a distingmshed

auctioneer, all owing to a young lady with a white veil
peeping hastily into his box through the open halt-door.
He started frightened to his feet, and from that hour
continued fractious. I sold him, however, and the last
time I saw him was with a rosette upon his brow in the
show-yard, as gentle as need be. He had been put by
his new owner into a secluded box, and treated by his
attendant judiciously, with a mixture of severity and kind-

Another amiable yearling having been turned into a
yard for exercise, got his attention attracted by an old
man who stupidly took that way to carry some straw for
thatching. A few journeys passed off well. At last
the animal took to follow and rub his front against
the bundle. Finally, with a frisk, he upturned the straw,
and by consequence the old man too, who hobbled oft lu
a fright, leaving the bundle to the bull's mercy. The
animal reflecting on this issue became savagely addicted
to butting from^that day. It is with young bulls as with
young boys ; be firm, patient, and considerate. Promptly
checlTany liberty taken ; acknowledge and reward obe-
dience. And now I think " Observans" will have had
enough of me.

There have been several salmon taken by anglers m
the pool under the house, but I find there is a gang of
others bent on spoil. One of the professional fishermen
informed me first. You may hear them " whistle in the
stilly night," and the mud is covered with their cat-like

Being out early this morning, I found two of my men
hotly tearing down a bank into which they had seen a
weasel run. I disapproved and stopped them, for last
week one of the stack-yard cats caught one and killed it,
and on thrashing out a rick alongside we found no less
than fifty rats, young and old, which this foreigner had
doubtless come after. This vermin swarm had invaded
us when our neighbour cleared his granaries, for we had
been comparatively free before. The weasel I think
does more good than harm. The stoat is of quite an-
other sort. When we set about thrashing we had the
gardener's fruit-tree nets stretched around the proceed-
ings ; the consequence was that not an individual rat
escaped. The terriers caught every single one, no matter
where they broke, being baffled by this fence, which they
were not allowed time to gnaw through. But I have
shot my allotted arrows. Once more adieu ! Vigil.

THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF SEEDING.

Professor Buckmvn lias delivered a lecture before the
Blandlbrd Farmers' Club on this subject, lie said he
should only touch upon a branch of the subject, calling
their attention to a few facts connected wih ^fS^"! ''f «f^«J^'
and referriug to certain experiments which he had made
With re-aid to our crop plants some people entertamed
the idea that when man was originally placed on the surface of
the globe all plants necessary for his existence were put on the
earth with him, just ready to his hand, ready to cultivate and
wSkSon. But he entertained a perfectly 'i^fferent opinion .
He believed that all our farm plants were ^'^'J^tives that by
experimental processes they had been derived from wild ones.
Heln erred that all our garden esculents had been derived
i?om cuEtion,the forms Ld varieties S-'luf >" '""'=«^|"S
and improving. They would observe the important fact that
i thus deprived required cultivation iu order to keep them
Fn the position in which they were found. It you had a good
pknt it was important to pay a deal of attention to its develop-
ment and growth in order to keep it in its position. ^^^^\^
regard to seed it was important that t'ley saved good sorts
that they did not allow it to grow wild and scattered about the

ground ; they should adopt something like scientihc processes
in choosing that kind which they knew was the best for tlieir
purpose, llespectiug tlie sowing of it, too, there were certain
processes to be observed. Tliey should take care to sow it
sufficiently thin, so that one plant sliould not obtrude upou
another ; thus they would get those plants which would pay
them for the different processes which they adopted, lie liad
performed a few important experiments some time ago. Me
had always heard it asserted in some parts of the clay valleys
that oats could not be successfully grown because they dege-
ucrated into wild oats. Tliis might be a farmer s motion ; but
it was not a scientific notion. His notion was derived from
experiment and practice ; he believed that the wild oat was
capable of producing the cultivated oat. Tlie learned professor
here entered at length into some experiments which he had
made, illustrating his remarks ou the black-board ; he drew
specimens of the wild oat, and some of its derivatives, show-
ing: the different sizes, also the long spikes, the silky hairs,
and the berries characteristic of the plant. He had cultivated
some of the wild oats, and next year he found that they con-
tained seeds ; by the process of cultivation he obtained in four

380

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

or five years oats of 38 lb. (o 40 lb. per bushel. He was soon
made aware of tliis fact wlieu he examined some of the oats
grown under wild circumstances, grown round the oat ricks —
he found that they were not so good as the crop which he had
sown. When he went into the market and found oats 361b.
and 33 lb. per bush, he saw that some were thin in the berry,
with some hairs at the base, showing that they were not the
best kind, but oats that had degenerated into wild oats. There
was every reason to believe that after all the wild oats about
our farms had in a great degree degenerated from the cultiva-
ted oat. The inference was that, inasmuch as wild oats were
capable of being by cultivation, getting the best examples, im-
proved to a cultivated state, so cultivated oats would degenerate
into wild ones. If they sowed oats of a poor quality on poor
land they would find that they would have a poor crop. He
deduced, as already stated, this fact ; that inasmuch as wild
oats were capable — by care and selection, by being put in pre-
pared, cultivated ground — of advancing in the course of years
to good cultivated oats, so good cultivated oats were capable
of degenerating into wild oats. As the result of an experi-
ment he had taken the seeds of a wild vetch and cultivated
them, when he became aware of this important fact — that
under cultivation half the seeds would be very small indeed,
while the others would be double the size. Examine any
vetch you liked, any sample produced that you liked, and you
would find that the seeds varied considerably in size. He went
to a farm, and be was shown some small vetches ; the farmer
admitted that they were small, adding " But then you see
you get the measure." Now experience showed him (the
professor) that measure was not enough for him. Giving the
result of experiments with the smaller and larger specimens,
he showed the advantage of the latter. As a general rule
they would find, he urged, that the best seeds would, under all
circumstances, be the best for sowing. It was a folly to sup-
pose that filling up the measure would answer tke end in view ;
small specimens produced but small results. It was the same
with plants as with animals ; if you had not a good sire or
dam you would be quite sure to have small results. He wished
them to understand with regard to vetches that the matter of
selection of the seed should be observed ; that cultivated
vetches were but derivatives from the wild vetch. Proceeding
he entered into an account of experiments with the wild pars-
nip. He had some specimens of the wild parsnip, which he
put in a new bed ; he selected the seeds, planting them in
prepared ground, and instead of having the forked roots (in-
dicating the wild parsnip, as shown on the black board) he had
the larger esculent (also drawn), which was at present in calti-
vation under the name of the student parsnip. Any of his
friends present could try the experiment ; they could take the
wild parsnip seeds and put them in a drawer till next spring ;
then they could put them in a prepared bed. Some, they
would find, would be covered with hairs, and wild, dark
coloured ; others would be light coloured. They must select
their roots. Selected roots are of the utmost importance.
Erom all the experiments to which he had referred he con-
cluded that all our garden esculents, all onr cultivated farm
plants, were derivatives ; that they had all been derived by
cultivated processes familiar to evwy farmer, and which he
constantly carried out. The farmer had his change of seed ;
lie got liis seed from different localities — these were cultivated
processes. His (Professor Buckman's) object now was to
point out the principles upon which those cultivated processes
depended. In the first place the selection of seed was of the
greatest possible importance. They knew very well that when
they selected their seed they endeavoured to get seed of a good
quality. They wanted occasionally to change the sort of seed.
Why was this? Because if they did not change the sort, if
they kept the same place for sowing, they would be neglecting
some of the cultivated processes by which the sorts they aimed
at had been derived. They wanted not only to change the de-
scription of seed but also to change the soil ; they must go
from one locality to another. Professor Buckman recommended
that, when practicable, crops produced by the kind of seeds
off'ered for sale should be examined. He observed that when
a new sort wes introduced into a district it became fashionable,
for the reason tbat it had never been tried before. It took a
new position. Your neighbour got an excellent crop from it,
better than before ; so you tried it yourself, and it became
fashionable. But by and by another sort was introduced.
Change was necessary on the principles which he had already

pointed out, from perpetual changes they obtained better
crops. The greater the amount of changes the more they
were likely to succeed. There was ample evidence afforded
that the cultivated processes must be paid attention to. If
this were not done no good results could be expected. Next he
would call their attention to the quality of tlie seeds. They
all knew that the seeds of all their crops varied very consider-
ably, but they were perhaps not aware of the amount of varia-
tion. He had experimented largely with reference to this
question, and he had come to the conclusion that a great num-
ber of seeds were sold in the market which ought not to be
sold, for they did not germinate ; they contained a great
quantity of weeds. It was of the highest importance to get
the seed free of weed. He had seen samples containing enough
weed to stop all growth. Such samples every right-minded
and judicious farmer would repudiate. With regard to wheat
and barley he had tried some experiments. He had seen sam-
ples of seed of which 72 per cent, failed to germinate. He
had seen barley of which 24: per cent, failed. Of some sam-
ples in his own neighbourhood the failure reached 30 per
cent. Persons sowing seed at the present time sowed in some
cases a sack per acre. Now before sowing they should try to
do what he had always himself endeavoured to do — ascertain
the germinating power of the seed. He never put into the
ground a sample of wheat or barley until he had ascertained, if
possible, what per-centage would come up, how much per cent,
would germinate. It was easily done. The plan he adopted
was to take a small flower pot and press the soil in it, leaving
the seeds even ; he put say a hundred seeds in. If placed in a
hot-house the seeds would come up all the quicker. Thus
they would see the amount of germinating power. He had
done this frequently. He had made three or four experiments
with barley. He had been much struck by some samples sent
to him from the market. He remembered, for instance, re-
ceiving a sample of turnips. It was represented to consist of
selected bulbs, and 06 per cent, would, it was said, come up.
He tested the germinating power for himsell', and found that
26 per cent, would not come up, notwithstanding it was repre-
sented that 96 per cent, would be the yield. Therefore it was
important that farmers should be careful in these matters, that
they understood the principles involved. They should ascer-
tain for themselves as much as possible with regard to the
quality and germinating power of the seeds. A respectable
seedsman would ascertain this for them ; still, they must look
into the matter themselves — make it a matter of business, only
trust worthy men. He should now like to point out to them
some facts — which he hoped they would consider interesting —
connected with the quantity of seed to be sown. This was a
subject which would occupy them until midnight ; however,
he did not intend to keep them very long ; he should merely
point out some facts and experiments connected with thin
seeding which, if they did not care about practising, they
would at all events, he hoped, consider somewhat interesting,
llegarding the quantity of seed to be sown, then, it must be
regulated by various circumstances — not only by the quality of
the seed itself, but by the climate, the soil, the kind of cultiva-
tion adopted, the forwardness of the work, and other circum-
stances which it would be quite idle for him to explain before
such a society as that. He would point out to them some ex-
periments which lie had made in his own district. They might
look upon him, he dare say, as a scientific man ; but he only
pretended to be a plain farmer, and if they came to his farm
they would, perhaps, find many faults. They knew well
enough that a person might have ideas and opinions, but
could not get them carried out ; he knew that for his own part
he should find a difficulty in getting his men to do all the
things he wanted. When be entered upon his farm his
neighbours questioned the expediency of using superphos-
phates and artificial manures ; they had not experimented with
them, and they thought that it was no use for him to try
them. He, however, adopted his own course, and the result
was that persons were now using some of those appliances
which before they would not use because, as they imagined, of
their inutility. He did not pretend to be a good farmer ;
he was not half so good a farmer as some of those pre-
sent. He did not think he had farmed to much profit ;
he had, however, endeavoured to eff'ect and carry on
improvements, to make certain experiments connected
with the science of agriculture, and that was as much as
should be expected from a young fellow like himself.

THE FARMER'S MAaAZINE.

361

He had deterrained to try experiments with regard to
seeding He had a capital man— a siiperior workman— he
must not call him a bailiff because that was a swell name
for a small farmer's man. He found, respecting barley,
that his man was using for seed a sack of barley per acre.
He said to him " That is too much. Suppose you take a
tumbler and put three potatoes in it; you will find them
too thick ; or if you take a thimble and sow three or four
barley corns in it you will find them too thick." He showed
him that with regard to the sack of barley per acre he was
doing pretty much the same thing. He, however, was at that
time in a fresh district, and he had always respect for men
acquainted with the district. He studied principles particu-
larly because they could be applied universally. He was told
that a sack per acre was not too much, and that his neighbour
was sowing a sack and a-half, which really proved to be the
case. It was remarked : " If you don't put it in, sir, you can-
not expect to get it out." But after all that was not a scien-
tific argument. If they came to analyse it they would see
that there was a fallacy in it, which he should not now stop
to point out. In 1864 he tried the experiment of four bushels
of barley ; in the following year he tried three, and he had a
good crop— he thought quite as good as that produced by the
four bushels ; probably better. In 1866 he again tried three
bushels with the same satisfactory result. In 1867 he tried
two bushels, and in 1868 the same quantity, with favourable
results. These experiments proved to him the advantages of
thin sowing. He sowed in one part of the ground six pecks
and in another four pecks ; they were in the same field, and
the other circumstances were the same. As a result he had
from the four pecks the most magnificent barley. The result
of the whole experiments tended to show that the thinner the
sowing the better were the samples produced ; and an improve-
ment in the quality of the produce, with a saving in the amount
of seed, surely seemed desirable. He recommended them to
make these observations for themselves— to put down to " log
every event. They should record the germinating power ot
their various seeds ; the dates at which they were sown, the
dates at which they came up. Putting all the circumstances
together they would be able to say a good deal on the matter
which they could not say unless they had some such evidence
as that. What he said and wrote became scientific evidence;
practical farming was the most scientific work in the world.
Offering some remarks by way of conclusion the learned lec-
turer said he had endeavoured to point out certain principles
from which certain facts might be deduced. He believed that
the plants to which he had referred were derivatives. He had
tried to show them the advantages of thin sowing where cir-
cumstances admitted it ; if plants were sown thickly you never
got anything like the crop you would otherwise have. A
specimen of wheat was on one occasion submitted to him for
examination, when he observed that it was " smothered out by
weeds," or in other words that three or four times as much
seed as was necessary had been sown, the greatest weed in a
wheat field, as was once well observed, being the wheat itselt.
The gentleman who showed him this sample belonged to the
county, and this conversation took place at a meeting of a
board of guardians. They would see that sometimes a little
business was done by boards of guardians. The gentleman
knew it was a small kind of wheat, and denied at first that it
was smothered out by weeds ; it was, he said, " the cream of
the flower garden." He, however, ultimately admitted that
too mucli seed had been sown, that they had a little over, and
they put it all in. The result was a poor crop. By the use of
the black board the Professor illustrated the advantages of
thin sowing with respect to oats. He found, he said, that he
could grow oats on his light soil with a great deal of success,
but in order to secure success he must sow half the quantity
usually sown and the best seed he could procure. He did not
look at seed that did not weigh 451b. to the bushel ; he had
seen seed 481b. to the bushel. If he sowed light samples he
had a perfect failure. He had concluded from all the experi-
ments he had performed that after all the best seed they could
get was the cheaper to buy under any circumstances, i^o
matter about the pnce ; the best, the plumpest seed they could
buy, was the best developed, the highest cultivated. They
should aim to get as the parent of a crop, so to speak, a high
kind of seed, just the same as they did with regard to stock.
If they used degenerated sorts, why then, as with regard to
their cattle, they were certain to meet with failure. He ad-

mitted that they could not do all this at once ,; they could not
adopt the system of thin seeding at once. He congratulated
them on burning their couch, which could not in that case
hurt them. Some put it slyly up in a corner, fancymg that it
would rot. But he held that decidedly the best policy was to
burn their enemies and to let their ashes become usetul. Ue
alluded to the large number of seeds from the common aoct ;
he had counted, he said, as many as 80,000 seeds on one plant
alone— at least he set a class of 20 students to do it, pving a
branch to each student. To put weeds slyly m a corner (M
not it must be confessed, look very well— that was not getting
rid of the enemy. He fully recognised the advantage and im-
portance of farmers' clubs discussing questions such as those
which he had brought before them. .

Mr. H. FooKES (Whitchurch), thought they were much in-
debted to Professor Buckman for his capital lecture ; he had
given them a great deal of good and useful information lu a
plain, straightforward, and interesting manner. He had given
the results of experiments which could be tried very easily by
any farmer who had 50 acres of land. He (Mr. lookes) did
not exactly agree with the lecturer as to thin sowing ; at the
same time Professor Buckman had weU observed that climate
and other matters should be taken into consideration, iie
agreed with the Professor that the very best seed you buy was
tlie cheapest in the end. Mr. Fookes referred to the success
with which for a time he had grown Sp aiding wheat ; he naa
sown it, he said, four or five years in succession ; last year he
sowed it on the race-course at Monckton. He liked, however,
to change the sorts as often as he possibly could. He had
found the Spalding wlieat to degenerate. They had received
some valuable information regarding oats and vetches, and
he thought they would go home profited by what they had

^Mr" H. UiciiARDS (Abbot's Court), inferred from what the
Professor had stated, that in order to meet the question ot
thin sowing you required the land to be in a good state ot
cultivation. He could not believe that land in a low state re-
quired thick seeding. " Thin sowing" had been his motto tor
many years, and he believed he had never suffered from the
practice ; many had, however, he thought, suffered from too
thick sowing. A good deal had been said about the members
of farmers' clubs burning their couch. He had himself heard
a o-ood deal about it, but he did not attach much importance
to censure passed upon them. He did not mean to say that
members of farmers' clubs were better farmers than others,
because he knew many non-members who were thoroughly
good farmers. Great good, he thought, was derived trom
the plan of comparing notes together, stating their ex-

"^"mT^Robert Fowler (Whitchurch) said in the professor
the had not only practice but also science. As far as his own
(Mr Fowler's) experience went the best thing they could do
was to thoroughly cultivate, cleanse, and manure their soil.
Next they must put in the best seed that could be bought tor
money at the best season of the year. They should keep the
ground thoroughly clean and trust to Providence for tlie result.
He had found from experience that the theory of thm or
thick sowing should be guarded against by circumstances.
When he began working on a little farm m Hampshire he
almost insisted on it that the men should not use so much
seed: Pie thought that twice as much seed was sown as
ought to be. They then began thin sowing. But he had
lived long enough to benefit by the experience of his neigh-
hours to know that they were not all fools ; and he had gone
back to their system, sowing as they did, as thick as ever they
sowed, and perhaps thicker at times. If he had failed to do
this it would have been much to his disadvantage. With
regard to the quantity of seed sown farmers must be guided,
he°was satisfied, by climate, soil, and other circumstances. In
some land a bushel would produce as thick plants as a sack
would produce on other land- Regarding the wheat it had
been thinned out this year by the frost ; the frost had done it
this time, and no mistake. He was only the previous day
invited to ride over a friend's farm, his friend not knowing
what to do with the wheat, it was so thinned by the frost.
He had ploughed up a portion of it. His (Mr. Fowler s)
advice was that if the land was thoroughly manured and in a
proper state of cultivation the crop should be allowed to take
Its chance ; but that if, on the contrary, the land had been
worked out and was poor then there was no chance, and the

o82

THE i^ARMEK'S MAGAZINE,

wheat might as well be ploughed out. lie believed tliat a
few years' practice taught tliem a vast deal. Tliey did uot
find out things uulil they made certain e.\periments. lie had
learnt a little from what the professor had told them.
Generally they coincided, he believed, with the views which he
had advanced. Personally he had found by experience that
it was essential to tiiorouglily cultivate and clean their land,
using proper seeds at the proper seasons, lie leturnedhis
personal thanks to the professor, whose pleasant countenance
lie hoped soon to see on hi« little farm at Whitchurch.

Mr. Charles Flower (France Farm) stated that some
three years ago some white oats were bought at Bristol and
sown in a good piece of land ; the next year a capital crop of
barley was reaped. This story had originated with Mr.
Meikle, of Langton (Mr. Farquharson's baililT) whose authority
was undoubted.

Mr. Fowler mentioned the case of a piece of wheat being
spoiled by wild vetches. It had been pronounced to be a
capital piece of wheat, aud it was such, but under uncom-
fortable circumstances. Strange to say there had been no
vetches there for 30 years, and the wheat crop this year was
after two years' turnips. Now where the vetches came from
lie did not know.

Mr. I'lower mentioned a report that couch properly cul-
tivated turned into wheat at times.

Mr. G. Galfin (Garaerton) joined issue with Mr. Richards
on the question that it was unnecessary for the farmer to study
cheraistry. If you said that the farmer should not study it
for himself, you might just as well, he thought, state that it
was unnecessary to read a book yourself ; somebody else could
be paid for doing it for you. He wished the professor had
spoken on grass seed ; but time, he supposed, did not allow of
his doing so. There were a few questions which he wished to
put ; one was whether it was uot probable that in buying
grass seeds you frequently bought couch. He would also ask
the professor to eulighten them as to whether there was not
two or three sorts of couch. He remembered buying what he
took to be rye-grass ; he called the attention of the seller to
some small seeds, and the explanation was that it was grown
on new land and had not come to maturity. He (Mr. Galpin)
sowed it on clean land, but the result with regard to the
(quantity of couch was striking ; he almost fancied that he was
sowing couch grass. Now this was an important subject ; he
did not tlunk they were able sufiiciently to distinguish the
dilferent grasses. The whole subject of grasses was, he con-
sidered of the highest importance and demanded tlie utmost
attention.

3Ir. G. Key.xes (Spettisbury) thought with regard to thin
sowing that they should study their land ; he did not see that
too thin sowing produced blight more than thick sowing did.

Mr. T. H. ScuTT, the Chairman, thought with a previous
speaker that the subject of grass seeds was of great import-
ance to agriculturists. He believed that they had a great
many weeds in their grass, aud recommended that the whole
subject should be thoroughly considered. They could sow
barley much thinner than wheat. He referred to the bad
season with regard to the thinness of the crops. The lecturer,
he said, had named -tSlb. per bushel as the minimum weight
for oats ; he would have some ditHculty in always selecting
that ; 401b. was considered a pretty good weight. With a
previous speaker, Mr. Cox, he did not think that the best
samples of seed invariably produced crops of the best quality.
Change of soil and other circumstances had to be taken into
consideration, llegarding couch grass he did not think that
they really had any business to burn any touch. He thought
that if the land were properly managed, if they had any
harvest, they could get rid of the couch by ploughing. On
some farms nut a bit was ever burnt ; if it were allowed to rot
it would be more beneficial to the land than if it were burnt.

I'rofessor Bk k.man, in the course of his reply, said that
some questions of a scientific character had been put to him,
to answer which would involve a longer lecture than he had
already given them. In the first place he coincided with some
remarks made on the Spalding wheat ; he had seen wheat of a
capital quality degenerated after three or four years, so much
so that it might, in fact, be called by another name. Some
wheats altered very much in colour. A great deal depenedd
upon the soil and other circumstances connected with the cul-
tivation. He had endeavoured to impress upon them the im-
portance of paying attention to certain facts connected with
science ; they must have regard to them ; they must look a

them fairly in order to get the best results ; in order to get all
the knowledge tiiey could connected witji the cultivation of
phiuts. It they wanted good stock they looked carefully to the
animals for breeding purposes; in like manner they made
careful selections witii regard to seeds for the propagation of
plants. One of the speakers had stated with regard to oats,
that he sowed some very thickly, and had all the better crop
as a consequence. He (Professor Buckman) believed that tliis
was sometimes the case. If they were late with sowing he
was quite sure that it was necessary to put in all the more seed.
It was important that all thin seeders should be up to the time ;
they must uot be behindliand. llegarding the statement tliat
white oats were sown, and that a crop of barley came up, all he
could say was that he did not quite understand it (laughter).
He had never yet succeeded in effecting such a change. He
did not in the least dispute the evidence before him, it being
given on the best authority ; but he should certainly like to
know, something more about the matter. He did uot think
that white oats could under any circumstances change into bar-
ley : nor rice versa. Again, it was stated that couch if culti-
vated at the proper time would grow into w heat. He did not
think so. Science had done much ; but there was always some
source of error. Quoting from a pamphlet of his own con-
taining some observations on seed, he stated that in a single
sample of seeds he found 7,8 iO weeds ; in a single pint he got
70,400. He calculated — taking this fact as the basis — that in
a dozen pints of cloverseed required for an acre there would be
844,800 weeds. 174 weed plants to the square yard were, he
thought, enough to crop tlie ground. Weed seeds had such a
faculty for growing, that they ever survived all the punish-
ment given them. From experiments and calculations such
as these he had pointed out they would see that they sowed
most of their weeds ; they would come to the same con-
clusions that he had done. He was on one occasion much
struck by the wild camomile in a turnip-field : he could see
nothing but camomile. Ths wild camomile was a pestiferous
weed. Upon diligent inquiry, he found two or three camo-
miles had grown on the manure used for tlie ground. A
single flower would produce 160 seeds. Two or three plants
growing on a dung mixen would produce sufficient to crop
a field with weeds. Here was indicated one of the ways of
propagating weeds. Professor Buckman referred to the evils
of dirty seed, expressing his opinion that it was now utterly
impossible to get seed in the market as dirty as that sold say
twenty-five years ago. Farmers, he said, who had looked into
these matters, had become scientific men : they would uot
buy cheap and nasty seed. He lecoiumeuded that they should
burn rather than sell their noxious seeds, llegarding the
subject of grasses, it was, he thought, a very wide one ; and
time had precluded his entering upon it. He did not, in fact,
know a subject that was more interesting. He would advise
the gentleman who had introduced it to go on with his
studies : he evidently knew something about it. He (tiie lec-
turer) had made portraits of the various grasses; he had
counted the number of seeds ; he had a copy of every new
grass ; he had some hundred drawings. It was this faculty
of observation, the constant determination to make observa-
tion, that after all made the true scientific man. What was
science ? Why, science was only this : they put this and
that together, and then they came to accurate and sensible
conclusions. He hoped that he should gain some knowledge
of science from the remarks which they had made. The
questions they had asked had set him thinking. They wanted
to put all the facts together. They had very kindly expressed
tlieir satisfaction with his lecture. This was the first time he
had come amongst them. He believed they were hearty aud
sincere in what they had said of him ; aud he hoped they
would not make this the last time of his appearing before
them. He hoped to come again, aud that on that occasion he
should not run away so soon.

Mr. W. FooKES moved a vote of thanks to the Professor ;
and this was carried with acclamation.

The CiiAiR.MAM mentioned that it liad been proposed to
have an analysis of manures. The question had been fully
discussed. But the Milborne St. Andrew Club were going to
have an analysis also ; and perhaps they would supply the
Blandford Club with copies of the results, thereby saving ex-
pense. I'robably the same manures would come under
analysis at Blandford as at Milborne. He would suggest that
a prize should be given for excellence in general root crops,
and offered himself £5,

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

383

THE BEEEDING OP DEVON S.

At a meeting of the Melplaish Agricultural Society Mr.
Joiix PiTFiEi.D, of Symondsbury, read the following paper : —
I will not pause to consider the locality from whence this
beautiful and symmetrical breed was first derived, as I intend
to confine my remarks to what comes under my own observa-
tion. It is probably true that at one time they were to be
found only in one part of Devonsliire, though now it would be
absurd to imagine there are no good and pure animals out of
the county whence tliey take their name. We have only to
visit our agricultural shows to prove there are many choice
herds of Devons not only in Dorsetshire but in several other
distant counties. We must not, on the other hand, believe
that everything that is called a Devon necessarily is one, for
every little animal in a market or fair is often, if not generally,
]iointed out as one, because it is red and very small. That
there are small Devons I do not attempt to deny, but that
there are also fine weighty ones I think you will all allow.
The size does not so much depend on the breed as the manage-
ment, as I hope to prove to you by and by. I maintain that
a good Devon can be, and must be, a fiue " proofy" cow, which
gives a good quantity of unusually rich milk ; and I maintain
that the oxen which earn money, and whilst at work grow into
money more certainly than any others, are Devon oxen. I do
not wish to make a bare assertion ; we are practical men con-
sidering a practical subject, and 1 will endeavour to prove my
statements. If there be no truth in what 1 say, let me ask
why buyers come, not merely once, but again and again, to
obtain steer calves in this very neighbourhood ? They will
soon be here again for another supply, for which they are glad
to give a good price ; so if any gentleman doubts my assertion
I refer him to these annual purchasers. I know there are
many — I dare say some now present — wlio will allow the
hardy " proofy" quality to which I have alluded, but will add
that the Devons are not the dairyman's cows, and therefore I
repeat that a Devon need not be a little fat red cow wliieh
gives a very little milk, nor yet a great one which gives little
or no milk. I believe the reason why Devons generally are
supposed to be so small and such indifferent milchers, is that
the principal breeders of tlie pure cattle have confined their
attention too mudi to quality and symmetry, to the neglect
often of those more important points, size and milk. They
breed to sell or show, and therefore cultivate only those quali-
ties that are pleasing to the eye. There are also some parts of
Devonshire where, in consequence of climate or soil, we could
only expect to meet with small animals of any breed ; but that
can be no reason why the owner of a herd, under different
circumstances, should not succeed in obtaining a different class
of animal. I do not intend to say anything about show stock,
wishing to speak only of Devous as they are on the farm, pay-
ing as they do a very important portion of the rent. The
pocket is the judge we have to encounter, and I hope to prove
that this breed is well worthy the attention of any I'armers'
club. Therefore I will now proceed to say a few words about
the Devon bull. Taking into consideration liis important
position, I think we must reverse the usual order of things,
and give the gentleman the first place, for, with a choice cow,
we can with the best of luck only get one ^ood calf a-year,
whereas with only one very good bull and 50 or GO moderately
good cows we may get .50 or 00 very good calves, which sliows
how particular we should be in the selection of a male animal ;
a few pounds extra being well expended in the endeavour to
obtain a promising lot of young stock. My experience leads
me to say, avoid a very fat bull, and especially an old one. If
you trust to the former you will probably go short of calves ;
if to the latter you will find your stock smaller than you would
■wish. I would select, then, a bull not more than four years
old ; if a yearling he must not be worked too hard, lest his
growth and natural good qualities should run the risk of being
checked, or of never becoming fully developed. I am always
very particular never to use a buU from a bad milcher, which I
consider a most important matter : however good in other
respects he would not be desirable for a dairy. Time will only
allow me just to touch on the more important points, He

should be of a rich colour, with a good coat and skin, a clear
white nose, a full bright eye, not too short a face, crowned by
a pair of nice white horns, not too heavy or coarse, wide ex-
panse of chest, great depth of girth, and a wide straight back ;
the tail well set on good hind quarters, no ugly hollows behind
the shoulders or slack behind the ribs. I may mention that
as vvitli bipeds so with bulls, a bad temper seems hereditary ;
therefore it is highly requisite to use a good-tempered animal.
His proper place, for various reasons, is a stall or loose bos, as
then many accidents may be avoided, and a great deal more be
made of him than if he ran loose with the lierd, which, con-
sidering the difficulty of finding and the price we liave to pay
for a really good animal, is of great consequence. Tiiough a
gieat believer in his wonderful " proofy" qualities and good
constitution, I do not expect him to thrive without proper
treatment. The food I recommend is hay, with the addition
of a few beans. This I have found to answer well, whereas
oilcake, I am inclined to believe, renders him to a great extent
unsuitable for the purpose for which he is intended. Whilst
on this part of my subject I may add tliat the services of a
first-class bull are worth, in my opinion, at least £3 2s. The
owner of such an animal honestly deserves tliat sum, and the
money will bring good interest to the man who expends it.
We are all aware that there are, or rather were, several good
herds of Herefords in this county ; but of late years the num-
ber is certainly decreasing, in some instances being replaced by
Devons, which fact bears out my view that they are more
suited to tills locality; and I think I may safely venture to
back my favourite breed, for dairy purposes, against the
choicest herd of the other sort that you can mention. I will
conclude this portion of my subject by repeating what a farmer
in tlie neighbourhood told mc only a short time since. He
keeps a dairy of cross-breds, and has tried both a Hereford and
Devon bull ; and he assures me the latter answers his purpose
much the best in every respect. So, gentlemen, with this
strong evidence I will leave well alone, and proceed to speak
of the Devon cow ; and as many of the remarks already made
on the selection of the bull will apply to the cow, I will not
repeat them, except to remind you she should possess size and
quality. I insist on quality, as 1 find the better bred the cow
the richer the milk. We all know that the quantity is no
criterion of the quality, and, as the dairyman requires butter
and not " sky-blue," it is evident that quality is of greater
moment. As regards the colour of the cow, of course she
must be red. I have no objection, however, to a little white
before the udder. Some persons do not dislike a kind of yel-
low tinge with tiie red, but I am inclined to think that colour
no indication of strength of constitution. I will not dwell
on the points of the cow, but pass on to consider her general
management. I believe about the greatest fault we commit
is in the treatment of our in-calf cows and heifers. Devous
will stand poor living as well and I think better than any
other breed — indeed I have invariably found that the best
bred animals keep in better condition on the same allowance
than half-bred, but no in-calf beasts should be kept entirely
on straw. I highly approve of good straw keep ; it is healthy
and necessary ; but I am fully convinced that the outlay in
the shape of a little cake is fully repaid to the farmer, both
by the animals and the manure ; and even if the dairyman
himself paid half the cost he would not he the loser, as it ne-
cessarily follows that when beasts calve down poor it must
take them some time to get up their own strength and con-
dition before they can do justice to the dairyman. I like my
cows to get an early bite of grass, and, therefore, though I
am blessed witli no water meadow, I always contrive to lay up
as much pasture land as I can spare for their early use. With
reference to barreners I arrange to take my own away from
the dairy about the 11th October, and even then I find that
they are very good beef. Quality tells again here. When
offered for sale tiie superiority of good beasts is immediately
shown, for we must all have remarked how quickly the best
animals are disposed of for best prices at an auction. A
great improvement is manifest in late years with regard to the

v84

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

provision of shelter for cattle ; but there is room for still more.
Money expended in the erection of stalls is not lost. Warmth
economises food, and we must all be aware how much hay is
wasted by being thrown down before cattle in the fields. Time
will not "admit of my going into statistics ; but when I say
that no dairies in this neighbourhood are let at a higher
rent than my owa and other good Devon herds I hope I bring
forward a strong argument to prove the statement that
Devons can be, ought to be, and are suitable and good for
dairy purposes. As regards heifers I would say that as a
rule they ought not to calve under three years old. Though I
adopt the common practice of selecting a few of the larger
ones, and allowing them to calve at two years old, I often find
that a heifer of two years gives more milk than when she is
three years old ; but at four years I frequently find that she
will answer the expectation formed when she first calved. I
need not say that in-calf heifers should be placed where they
are well under the eye of master or man, and that they should
be kept better than cows. My dairyman usually takes thera
as cows. Two-year-old barren Devon heifers of course will do
well upon straw, and, if the straw be good, will require no arti-
ficial help. Yearlings I like to see in loose boxes, where they
are to be had. I would give good hay, water, and a little corn.
I find that a mixture of crushed beans, oats, and flaxseed
answers well, and by using it I save my roots. Young calves
of course require care and attention. I generally retain almost
all ray calves, binding the dairyman not to sell any without my
sanction, and allowing him a quarter's rent of a cow for each
calf, finding the corn myself, which is generally cracked beans,
as I have discovered nothing better. When the calves are
turned out I keep them well during the first year, and still
continue the beans in the proportion of about one pint to each
calf. Those dropped after JIarch I do not turn out at all
during their first year, and by tliis treatment I find that when
spring comes round they have nearly overtaken those sum-
mered out of doors. These, gentlemen, are about all the re-
marks I can offer this evening ; and, in conclusion, if in ISOS
it could be said that the Devons " are an important breed of
animals, active at work, and their aptitude to fatten is unri-
valled," I feel quite satisfied that the statement can be repeated
in 1870 ; and, as a proof of the truth of a great deal that I
have said, I shall be very happy to show any of you my own
herd, and to allow you to form your own conclusions. In the
meantime, if you will kindly pull my paper to pieces as much
as you like, I shaU be pleased, as I shall then liave reason to
think that some of my remarks are worthy of notice, and that
the only object I had in view will be obtained, which was to
create a discussion which may tend to help us to pass not
merely a pleasing and convivial, but an improving evening.

Mr. John Pope, the Chairman, said Mr. Pitfield had chal-
lenged them to prove that a mixed-bred animal would give as
good butter and milk as a Devon. He (the chairman) consi-
dered there was no doubt Mr. Pitfield was wrong as regarded
the quantity of milk ; without question the cross-bred gave
more milk than the pure Devon. They all knew they could
not grow a crop of corn without straw, and he could not see
why the cross-bred should not give as much and as good milk
as the Devon. A person who owned an exceUeut herd of
Herefords would no doubt give a direct contradiction to any
assertion that Mr. Pitfield had a superior dairy to his. He
(the chairman) beheved there was no dairy in the neighbour-
hood to surpass that gentleman's — he alluded to Mr. Trask, of
Mapperton Marsh. He ditfered from the lecturer as to the
treatment of calves, and considered the harder they were bred
the harder they would be in after life, and a better cow would
be produced. The same rule appUed to lambs. He did not
mean to say they should stop them, but by too high treatment
the cows were often deformed and weakly. The best and
hardest cows were those bred in the open air, and which lived
without much artificial food, such as cake, corn, and beans.
He thought if they were kept upon hay and grass only the
cows would be better and more useful than those which were
kept in houses and fed with corn, cake, and other things.
They might not reach that perfection of symmetry which some
persons aimed to produce, but they would be more hardy.
Ihey all knew that a man might be acclimatised to almost
anything, and so with calves. They must approach this ques-
tion from a practical and not a theoretical point of view — as
fanners keeping animals for profit, and not as gentlemen ama-
teurs who kept a few " fancy" beasts in their parks, Where

they as agriculturists had to keep three or four cows tha
amateur might only run one ; and it was a different thing to
keep beasts for profit instead of pleasui'c.

Mr. Trask was happy to have heard Mr. Pope's compli-
mentary remarks respecting his dairy of Herefords. It had
ever been a pleasure and his study to show good stock, and he
had been moderately successful. With regard to the treatment
of calves, he might say he had never been in the habit of giv-
ing them corn in houses until last year, when keep was short,
and even then he had ditficulty iu getting them to eat from the
troughs. Last year he gave the later calves a little corn, just
as they were about to be turned out. He believed with the
chairman that the hardier calves were kept in their younger
days the stronger they would be when turned out. With
respect to the age at which to breed from heifers, it had been
his practice to commence at two years old ; and he found as a
rule the calves were larger than when the heifer did not begin
till the third year. Every year told upon a cow ; and he
thought it advantageous to commence breeding as early as
possible. He understood Mr. Pitfield to say, that after a per-
son once bought Devon calves they would not care to have
anything else ; but he (Mr. Trask) had had people come to
his farm and refuse to purchase any except they had a white
mane (laughter). That he considered spoke well for his herd.

Mr. A. J. Pitfield could not quite agree with Mr. Trask as
to keeping calves too hard. He hked to keep them in grow-
ing condition and in good order ; but he differed from the lec-
turer as to housing calves. It made them tender, and, although
they looked well in the warm summer weather, they required
to go into the box again directly the cold was felt, and often-
times the result was that the farmer had a number of slipped
calves. He advocated that they should have a shed into
which they could go at will, and that they should be kept in
growing condition. He considered that the great point in
which farmers were at fault was the selection of the bull from
which to breed. It vas a singular fact, and no doubt Mr.
Warren and other Devon and Hereford breeders would confirm
the remark, that heifers would invariably take after the sire
and the steers or bulls would take after the dam. The same
remark applied to sheep — a good chilver always resulted from
a good sire.

Mr. Davy agreed with every remark that had fallen from
Mr. Trask relative to the Hereford breed of cattle, and none
of the arguments which Mr. Pitfield had brought forward
would induce him to depart from his favourite breed. The
Herefords would live in any locality ; they were hardy and
produced good milk and butter ; and his dairyman would say
none could surpass them. Their value, of course, depended
very much upon the management of the owners. Tor his
own part he generally reared a few more calves than he re-
quired for the dairy, and from these he selected the best
milchers, so thatif any heifer did not produce sufficient good
milk he had her turned out. As regarded the sire they should
be particular in the selection of a good animal from a well-
known superior cow. He had lately taken atrip in Hereford-
shire and had selected a bull from an SO-cow dairy ; this he
intended to breed from for dairy purposes. He was of opinion
that they could not, as a rule, obtain the greatest quantity of
milk from the most fleshy beast. He had a half-sister to the
steer which won first prize in the Hereford class at the Christ-
mas show in London, and if any gentleman present was to see
her he would say she was not worth £10, but she was a
splendid animal and had reared two admirable calves. He had
31 cows iu his dairy, and could safely say that not one of them
had ever tasted corn, cake, or artificial food of any kind ; they
were fed entirely on hay and grass, and verj' often they could
be grazed to over 50 score in weight. The Herefords could
be grazed to great weight, at little expense, which was, of
course, an advantage to the farmer. Mr. Pitfield had the
advantage of him at the last Melplaish show, but he did not
think that gentleman could say lus beasts were fed only on
hay and grass.

Mr. J . Pitfield : They had nothing more whatever.

Mr. Davy : But what was their condition when heifers ?

Mr. J. Pitfield repHed that his yearlings kept indoors
thrived on half the amount of corn that others did.

Mr. Davy said his heifers were fed on hay only, and he
could raise them well and make a good price for them. But
he repeated that Mr. Pitfield had the advantage of him at the
Melplaish show, and as he had heard, that that gentleman in-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

385

tended to retire from competition this year he hoped he would
reconsider his determination and allow him (Mr. Davy) to
have yet another " shie" at him, at all events.

Mr. J. PiTFiELD said what he had intended to do at the
next Melplaish show was to exhibit extra stock in all classes
for which prizes were offered by the society. He was going
to do this for the purpose of just "comparing notes." But
as it was Mr. Davy's particular wish to compete with him, lie
would afford him the opportunity.

Mr. E. G. Legge did not intend to take any part in the
discussion of the evening, but one remark which fell from Mr.

Davy caused him rather to open his eyes. That gentleman
remarked that he always bred a few more calves for the dairy
than were required, and that he culled out the good ones, and
those which were not up to the mark he turned out. Now he
(the speaker) was partial to Herefords, and he was sorry to
say he recently bought one from Mr. Davy. He supposed it
was one that was turned out as unfit for that gentleman's
dairy.

Mr. Davy repUed that Mr. Legge ought to have exercised
better judgment ; the heifer was not good enough for him to
keep, so he sold it.

THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOOIETY.— THE SPRING CATTLE SHOW.

The opening show of the year was held as usual on the
Society's premises in Kildare-street, to which additional
space has been lately made hy the purchase of some ad-
joining property, wherein the pigs were exhibited. This
outlying accommodation afforded more room in Shilburn
Hall for the implements and machinery, the breeding
and fat cattle occupying the Agricultural Hall. This,
the thirty-ninth show, was short of last year's entry by
ahout eighteen; the numbers in 1869, being 206 of all
ages and sexes, while this year 188 was the total. The
quality of the stock, however, was fully equal, and pro-
bably the deficiency may be attributed to the absence of
English exhibitors. But if the English Shorthorn
breeders declined doing more, as in the case of Mr.
Booth, than showing themselves, the implement makers
mustered in great strength, thii-ty-five of whom from
various districts crowded the halls with their several
stands, so that it is presumed they still find it their in-
terest and profit to visit the Island of Saints.

The yearling Shorthorn bulls numbered 122 highly
bred animals, but though it must be confessed some of
them were of no great merit, their general character was
creditable. After a considerable time spent by the judges
in weeding out and selecting their favourites, their awards
settled down to placing Mr. Chaloner's Sir Leopold first.
This young bull is by Sovereign (27538) — to be noticed
with all his honours further on — out of Medora by
Ravenspur (20628\ Sir Leopold was bought in as a
calf at the last sale of the Kingsfort herd for 12 guineas,
and has paid well for his retention ; he much resembles
his sire, has a grand back and loin, crops well blended
into the level back, is of fine proportions, and has a
capital coat. His second is Mr. E. J. Smith's Heir of
Lothian by Chief of Lothian (21417), out of Heroine, by
Hero of Thoi-ndale (18061) ; a fiue red, with a com-
manding carriage, good crops, running into a straight
level back, well sprung ribs, good fore and hind quarters.
Lord Carrick's Knight of St. Patrick was put third ; he
is highly bred, being by Lord of the Empire (24442),
out of Lupine the Twelfth, by Master Harbinger (18352) ;
has a fine coat of hair, good crops, well backed, good
ribs and ends. A fourth prize went to Mr. Bolton's
Earl of Courtown by Duke of Marlborough, out of
Doubtful, a grey Gauntlet cow. The high commendations
were Mr. Bolton's Duke of Marlborough, and Mr. E. J.
Smith's Cavendish; while the commended buUswere Mrs.
Chaloner's Belmore by Sovereign ; Mr. Drummond Dun-
lop's Harry ; Rev. Mr. Mantray's Knight Grand Cross ;
Mr. James Moffat's Senator; and Mr. Shirley Montgo-
mery's Royal Standard.

Many good animals stood in this section, some of these
not in condition, but aU well bred ; as the most ragged
amongst them may turn out serviceable to Irish farmers
to improve their dairy and store stock.

The two years old section, numbering thirty, was, on
the whole, the best class of that age hitherto shown. Mr.

Smith leads the way with the Earl, a scion from the
Kingsport herd by Ravenspur (20628), out of Village
Rose, and half brother by the dam's side to Mr. Chaloner's
grand prize bull. Sovereign ; a gay well-topped bull,
with many good points, and likely to turn out a
formidable competitor and serviceable stock bull.
The Dey of Algiers by Knight of the Empire, out of
Freak, a white Chieftain cow, stands next. His owner
Mr. Moffet, of Ballyhiland, for many years has been de-
voted to Shorthorn breeding. The Dey of Algiers is of
great substance, a little wanting in the crops, but he has
a capital back, well-developed ribs, and good ends. 'Cap-
tain Cosb)^, StradbaUy Hall, was put third for Colonel
Frank, a Thornville bull by Agamemnon (23278), out of
Fanny the Eighth, full of substance, symmetry, and qua-
lity. High commendations went to the Lord -Lieutenant,
for a very substantial bull The Doge, and to Mr. Mea-
dows, for Major Frank by Agamemnon, out of Fanny the
Sixteenth, by Fugleman; the Major being a substantial
serviceable bull, of fine symmetry and quality. Mr. A.
Roll's Viceroy by Felix, and Mr. W. Humphrey's Bryan
0' Lynn, were commended.

The three years old bulls and upwards contained six-
teen entries, some of which have been distinguished
before now ; amongst them stood Mr. Chaloner's famous
Sovereign, which now is first in the section, and
the winner for good and all of the 150 Sovereign
Railway Cup, and also the winner three times out of four
of the Towneley Plate ; he has never been beaten, being
first as a yearling, and the winner of the Townley Plate
at this show, 1867, as the best breedina; animal, male or
female, in the yard. He was shown first in 1868 as a
two-year old, and the winner of the Railway Cup, as the
best bull over two and under five years old, but he lost
the Towneley Plate in favour of Mr. Meadows' renowned
Boliver. In 1869 he took the first prize in his class,
the Railway Cup, for the second time in succession, and
the Towneley Plate ; in the same year, at the Tralee
Royal, he took first place in his class, and the Purdon
Challenge Cup, and is now the first bull in his class, the
winner for the third and last time of the Railway Cup,
and for the second time in succession of the Towneley
Plate. The next in honour is Mr. Smith's fine bull
Lictor, first in his class, and Railway Cup bull in 1867 ;
in the same year first in the class at the Royal Society's
show held in Dublin, and again at the Royal held in
Londonderry in 1868, first in his class, and winner of the
Purdon £50 Cup. Sir Robert Paul was put third for
Knight of the Empire, from the Stack-house herd.

Eleven yearling heifers formed the next section, and
never at any Irish show were there seen so many beau-
tiful creatures, so level and good were they that the judges
never had such a puzzle, particularly with the first
and second. They weeded out the third and fourth, and
then the contest lay between Mr. Meadows' Chaumontel
by Agamemnon, out of Chausonette by Tirst Fiddle, and

386

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Smith's Gertrude by his prize bull Lictor, out of
Gaiety by Jasper, and this ended at length in Chaumomtel
being put first, and justly so. She is of great substance,
lerel, sti'ong, and beautifully backed, and nothing could
surpass her coat. Gertrude of course came second, and
unquestionably is a gem, but she was smaller and more
delicate than Chaumontel. Mr. J. G. Grove, Castle-
grove, whose herd is so famously and favourably known
for many years, was put third for Nepenthe, who pos-
sesses grand substance and symmetry, but was tender on
her feet. She is by British Crown, (21278), out of
Norman Lady by Sir Roger (1G991). The fourth went
to Mr. Wm. Johnson, Prumplestown House, Carlow, for
May Rose by Prince of Rocklands, out of Amy by
Khoinoor Diamond. High commendations were given
Mr. Meadows' Polly Hopkins, and Mr. Gumbleton's
Emma, both exceedingly nice heifers.

Of two-year-old heifers in-calf or producing a live calf
within twelve months, there were but three, Mr. Bolton
taking the lead with Ally Gwynne by Guy Gauntlet out ot
Moll Gwynne, a sweet handler, with fine bosom, good back
and loins, well ribbed, and a fine coat of hair. Sir R.
Paul's Olivia by Dr. Collins, out of Octavia came next.

The three-year-old heifers also numbered but three, of
which Major Hamilton's Harmony was pronounced to be
the best. She is by Duke of Montrose (21599), out of
jSIayflower by Duke of Oxford the Fifth, end a fine
showy cow, with indications of wealth about her. Sir
Robert Paul's Bonnie Lass by Patriarch, out ot Beauty ,
was put second.

The cows of auy age numbered again but three, and
there could be no mistake in putting Major Hamilton's
Merry Eyes first ; a full sister to his prize heifer in the
previous section. Mr. Smith (Little Moyle) took the
second dogree with ^liss Matilda, which occupied the same
position last year as a three-year-old heifer, and is now a
line shapely cow.

Of Plerefords there were but four yearling bulls ; Mr.
Pollock (Mountainstown) taking the prize and also a com-
mendation; Mr. Kearney a high commendation, and Mr.
Reynell a commendation.

Of aged Hereford bulls there were but three, Mr.
Kearney taking the prize and Mr. Seally a commendation
for another but bred by Mr. Kearney ; and Mr. Kearney
had it all his own way in yearling and two and three-
year-old heifers and cows. This breed of cattle is not
much encouraged by the Irish breeders or Societies.

Of Polled Angus cattle there were but two bulls and
three females, ]\Ir. Owen taking the only prize awarded;
and of Devons there was but one bull.

Kerries mustered comparatively strong. There were
five bulls of various ages in competition with each other,
three two-year-old heifers, ten three-year-old heifers, and
ten cows, but uneven in size and quality.

Of the west Highlands and Aldcrneys there were very
few.

Of fat cattle, about seventy head of all breeds, sexes,
and ages were exhibited, some of which were prime, but
the greater number would take more time to ripen.

There are now no breeding sheep shown at this time of
the year, in consequence of the endeavour to establish a
good show in September, but there are entries of fat sheep,
of which there were ten pens at this meeting all tolerably
well finished.

The show of pigs, both black and white, was of such a
superior character that thei"e is nothing left to wish for,
and it only remains to keep up their quality, and that is
well done by introducing fresh blood from time to
time ; of Berkshires there were over 30 pens, and of the
white breeds 10 pens.

The exhibition of poultry embraced all the most ap-
proved varieties, and was as line and as good as it is pos-

sible they could be. The poultry occupied 218 pens.
The pigeons were really beautiful and in splendid plumage,
as shown in pairs in 61 very neatly got up cages. On
the whole, the show was a decided success. All that is
now wanted is sufficient space to exhibit the implements
and machinery, and for which arrangements are in pro-
gress by the purchase of some adjoining premises.

The following were some of the principal implement
firms which put in an appearance : McKenzie and Sons,
of Dublin ; Messrs. Howard, of Bedford ; Jack and Sons,
of ^laybole, Ayrshire ; Ashby, Jeffery, and Lake, of
Stamford ; Jas. Eastwood, of Blackburn, Lane. ; Messrs.
Ritchie, of Ardee, Louth ; Le Butt, of Bury St. Edmunds ;
Morgan, of Dublin ; Fawcett, of Kilcullan ; Smith and
Westwood, of Dublin ; Rollins, of liOndon ; Richmond
and Norton, of Liverpool; Bolton and Co., of Norwich;
Penny, of Lincoln ; Mitchell, of Manchester; Kennan,
of Dublin ; Houghton and Thompson, of Carlisle ;
Thomas and Tayler, of ^[anchester, &c.

On the evening of Thursday the members of the Society
and their friends dined together in the Exhibition Palace.
Lord Clancarty presided in the absence of the Lord-
Lieutenant ; and Mr Clayden, for the judges, said that
many of the animals exhibited at the show would do credit
to any Royal show iu Eugland. He congratulated the
Irish stock breeders on the improvement in the quality of
the stock lattcrlv sent to Eugland from Ireland.
JUDGES.

SUORTIIORXS.

J. Clayden, Littlebury, Saffroa-Walden.

G. Drewry, Holker Hall, Newton-in-Cartmel.

J. Wood, Stanwick Park House, Darlington.

Herefords and Devons.
T. Radcliffe, Wilraount, Kelts.
T. Rogers, Coxall, Brampton Bryan, Hereford.
\V. Tudge, jun., Adfortou, Leintwardine.

Miscellaneous Stock.
J. Borthwick, Prospect, Carrickfergns.
G. Hewson, Ennismore, Listowel.
G. N. Purdon, Lisnabin.

Fat Stock.
N. Ennis, Clareraount, Julianstowu.
S. Garnett, Summerset, Clonee.
R. Hall, Preeson's-row, Liverpool.
SuEEP AND Pigs.
J. Borthwick, Carrickfergns.
J. Bruce, Miltowu Castle, Charleville.
Seymour Mowbray, Killeany, Mountrath.
J. Smith, Moyle, Carlow.

Poultry.
E. Hewett, Eden Cottage, Spark-ville, Birmingham.
W. G. Mulligan, Springfield, Belfast.
C. H. Peacocke.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCLETY'S MEETING
IN 1871. — The Inspecting Committee of the Royal
Agricultural Society, consisting of Lord Kesteven, Mr. Brand-
retli Gibbs, IMr. I)avie3, and Mr. William Torr, visited
Wolverhampton, and were met by the !Mayor. The
party went over the race course, the proposed site of the
exhibition, and from thence to the suggested trial
grounds at Showell Farm. The Committee afterwards pro-
ceeded to Stafford, where they were received by the
Mayor on Tuesday evening, and taken to the show-
ground on the Common. On the following morning the
deputation visited the land available for the trial of imple-
ments, on the Hopton-road, which consists of about 13-i acres ;
and afterwards went on to Shrewsbury, where they viewed the
ground at Old Heath. Deputations from these three towns
will attend in Hauover-square on Wednesday week, May 4th.

ENGLISH TENANT-RIGHT.— This subject has been
selected for consideration at the next meeting of the Farmers'
Club, on Monday, May 2nd, when it will be introduced by
Mr. Henry Corbet, the Secretary of the Club, and the author
of the Prize Essay ou Tenant Right,

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE,

387

SHEEP GRAZING FOR 1870.

BY A PRACTICAL FARMER.

Profitable grazing depends very much upon the satis-
factory preparation, and due resting of the land to be
grazed. The manuring, the soiling, the boning and
chalking, the rolling, the chain-harrowing, or other
means for improving the surface of the soil of all grazing
lands, as well as the drainage beneath, ought all to be done
before the approach of spring. The resting of the land,
the freeing it from stock, and then " laying it in" for
summer grazing, are all of great value in promoting the
early and nutritive growth of the grasses in the pasturage.
The absence of treading, the working of the worms, and
the opening of drainage-pores by frosts and changeable
weather is also highly conducive to an early and luxu-
riant growth of grass. This is all so well known by all
good graziers, and is so generally practised, that we shall
take the best grazing lands as being thus prepared for the
summer grazing, and proceed to give our views as to the
most profitable mode of grazing them. Sheep are, upon
the whole, the most prolltable animals to graze upon by
far the majority of lands in this country. They yield two
returns, mutton and wool. The great question, the de-
sideratum to be arrived at, is the class or variety of sheep
which will yield the greatest profit for grazing. This is
a wide field for discussion, and there are many " pros
and cons" to be reconciled. The immense importation
of wool is dead against some of our most popular breeds.
The importations of wool in 186G amounted to
235,741,101 lbs.; in 1867, to 230,305,107 lbs. ; in
1868, to 249,931,714 lbs. ; and in the first eight months
of 1869, to 189,864,334 lbs. ; thus showing a large
gradual increase, and that principally consisting of fine
Australian and other like wools. This has brought down
the price of our home-grown fine wools very considerably.
The quotations, this day, March 15th, are as follows :
Southdown hoggets Is. to Is. Id. per lb., half-bred do.
Is. SJd. to Is. 4|d. per lb., Kent fleeces Is. 3d. to
Is. 3id. per lb., Southdown ewes and wethers Is. to
Is. 1 Jd. per lb., Leicester do. Is. 2id. to Is. 3|d. per lb.,
Leicester and Lincoln hoggets Is. 4d. to Is. 6d. per lb.
These figures conclusively prove which is the most profit-
able wool to grow. The growth or production of mutton
is quite another thing. My opinion is that on a great
breadth of our pastures a large-framed sheep which only
produces short wool is the best sheep for yielding the
heaviest weight of mutton in proportion to his age and
the food he consumes. This wiU be found amongst the
various classes of " half-brcds." We have only experience
in three of these breeds, or at most four ; if we take
the Lincoln long-wools as separate from the Leicesters ;
from which, in fact, they owe their improved character.
We have then grazed, to a considerable extent, the following
" half-breds :" hoggets the produce of the Lincoln ram
and Southdown ewe ; the Leicester ram and Southdown
ewe ; the Cotswold ram and Southdown ewe, the Oxford
down ram and the Lincoln ewe, and all from equally good
sources. The Lincoln ram and Southdown ewes' pro-
duce we found too varied. Occasionally a heavy long-
wooUed hogget appears amongst the cross-breed, and vice
versa, a Southdown hogget is seen, and others, with all
the shades of fleeces and frames between the two breeds,
denoting the cross to have been too extreme in affinity.
The grazing of them, including the weight of wool pro-
duced, was tolerably satisfactory ; but they were too long

in coming to maturity, " too long on the land." The
produce of the Leicester-cross were smaller in frame,
more compact, and they arrived at maturity much sooner,
but their yield of wool and mutton did not equal the
Lincoln-cross. The Oxford-down ram and Lincoln-ewe
cross was from my own breeding ewes. They grew up
very well and distinctive, and proved well in the quantity
of wool. They were grazed last season along with several
hundred other half-breds, principally from the Cots-
wold and Southdown cross ; but not with equally
profitable results, some of them being the last to
arrive at like maturity, all however being fatted ofl'
within the year, as were also the Cotswold half-breds.
As this cross meets our approval most, we will dwell
shortly upon its value. The true Cotswold sheep is the
largest and best formed sheep of the large breeds we
possess, and has a great propensity to fatten at an early
age. He grows rapidly, and produces a good fleece of
wool, of rather fine character for a long-woolled breed.
It is for the most part of a closer kind than other long-
wools. This, with their other characteristics, their noble
carriage, expansive chests, rotund frames, capital rumps,
great height, and handsome looks admirably fits them to
become the sires of this extraordinary class or stock of
" half-breds." It is almost out of character to witness
one of these gigantic rams performing his duties amongst
a flock of beautiful Southdown ewes, but the produce is
eminently satisfactory. They grow up quickly and
healthily, and arrive at great weights in from twelve to
fifteen months. Many thousands of these hoggets are
annually fatted ofi" in the eastern counties at twelve
months. They are shorn prior to sale, and will leave
fleeces of from five to seven pounds' weight ; the quality
of their mutton is not exceeded. The weight per sheep
would probably average twenty-two pounds per quarter.
Those commonly shown in the pens at market will vary
from ISlbs. to 281bs. per quarter so early as in the month
of March. In the spring they are much sought after by
the Lincolnshire and other graziers for their summer
pastures, upon which they improve rapidly, and produce
large returns of wool and mutton. They are quite docile
animals, partly natural, partly acquired ; for the winter
graziers in the eastern counties are capital sheep managers,
supplying them liberally with rations of cake or corn.
This the summer graziers in most instances keep up,
particularly if the sheep are forward in condition, and
by such means they graze a greater number of sheep per
acre, which yield a corresponding profit. This is one of
the best breeds for summer grazing, but the supply is
limited, and therefore not generally accessible. There are,
however, many other breeds well worthy of the summer
grazier's notice, which he will adopt in accordance with
his locality, his pasturage, and climate. To this old rule
of stocking his land he need not in these modern days
strictly adhere, because the almost universal use of arti-
ficial foods has changed the character of summer as well
as winter grazing. Inferior pasturage will by the judi-
cious use of these aids profitably depasture a heavier and
larger kind of sheep, or fatten a larger number of smaller
ones. There is no rule for stocking grass lands now, as
so much depends upon the spirit and enterprise of the
grazier. The great thing now required, and indeed neces-
sitated, is to cause the land to produce the very utmost of

D D

388

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

wool and mutton. Well, the consideration with every
grazier is. Low to do it. All can't graze " half-breds."
Let us take Southdowns : tlieir mutton is superlative,
they are speedy fatteners, and do well on inferior pastur-
age, they come to good weight at an early age, much
heavier than their diminutive size denotes, but they yield
fleeces of light weight, and now selling at a low price.
This is dead against this breed, and all similar short-
woolled breeds. Take pure Cotswolds or Lincoln long-
wools. They are similar in size and proportions, and yield
large heavy fleeces of valuable wool; but thou- large frames
come to extraordinary weights uponbeing properly fatted,
which cannot be done with all the aids man can bestow upon
them, at the same early age of some of the lighter-framed
and lighter-woolled sheep. If early maturity is immaterial
they are capital sheep for the grazier. The wool pile tells
much for them. Again, take Leicesters and Kents — im-
proved Kents, for the improved Kents are becoming apt
feeders. Both these breeds are exceedingly well adapted to
graze sweet pastm-age of medium quality, and are ready
fatteners, leaving fair fleeces of excellent long wool.
They are good, quiet grazers, and improve rapidly on
fair pasturage, even without artificial aids. Their weight of
jiiutton is good and quality excellent, possibly too great a

proportion of fat to lean meat. The Shropshires have
become a valuable breed, and yield wool of like
weight and quality with the half-breds named above.
They are cxceUeut fatteners, and well adapted for hiUy
pasturage or medium low-lands, and come to satisfactory
weights. The mutton is very superior. The large Hamp-
shire Downs are of similar size and quality, but yield less
wool and greater weight of offal, not such quick feeders,
but are better adapted for breezy downs. The Oxford-
shire Downs have become popular owing to a combination
of good quality. They possess large compact fi'ames, are
apt fatteners, yield large bundle fleeces of superior wool,
come early to maturity at great weights. These various
breeds are, I believe, the most prominent and best kinds
for summer grazing, but I name them not in disparage-
ment of any other kind which are more especially
adapted to local districts ; and in the general term Lei-
cesters I include all shades of the breed from the large
border Leicesters to the smallest of the class. Graziers
have only to look closely into these matters to ascertain
for themselves what is their best course. Meat appears
to be the most profitable farm-produce at the present
time, and no doubt wiU meet with ready and proper con*
si deration by every intelligent grazier.

AVERAGE PRICE OF WHEAT PER QUARTER FOR TWO HUITDRED AND

SEVENTY YEARS.

Year.: £

1600 1

1601 1

1603 1

]603 1

1604 1

1605 1

1606 1

1607 1

1608 3

1609 3

1610 1

1611 1

1613 3

1613 3

1614. 3

1615 1

1616 3

1617 3

1618 3

1619 1

1630 1

1631 1

1633 3

1633 3

163* 2

1625 3

1636 3

1637 1

1628 1

1629 3

1630 3

1631 3

1632 2

1633 2

1634. 2

1635 3

1636 3

1637 2

1638 3

1639 3

1640 3

16il 3

164.2 3

164.3 2

164.4. 3

s. d.

17 8

14 10
9 4

15 4
10 8

15 10
13 0

16 8
16 8
10 0
15 10

18 8
3 4
8 8
1 8

18 8
0 4

6 8

15 4
10 4
10 4

18 8
13 0

8 0
13 0

9 4

16 0
8 0

3 0

15 8
8 0

13 4

10 0

16 0
16 0

16 8

13 0

17 4

14 10

4 8
17 1

0 3

19 10

1 3

Year. £

645 3

646 3

647 3

648 3

649 3

650 3

651 3

653 2

653 1

654 1

655 1

656 1

657 2

658 2

659 2

660 2

661 3

662 3

663 2

664 2

665 3

666 ]

667 1

668 1

669 1

670 1

671 1

672 1

673 2

674 3

675 2

676 1

677 1

678 2

679 2

680 2

681 2

682 1

683 1

684 1

685 2

686 1

687 1

688 2

689 1

8.

d.

11

3

2

8

5

5

15

6

11

1

8

1

5

2

4

0

11

6

8

1

9

7

18

3

1

5

17

9

18

8

10

3

3

2

5

9

10

8

16

0

3 10 1

12

n

16

0

15

6

19

5

17

0

17

4

16

5

1

5

1

0

17

5

13

9

17

4

12

5

13

4

0

0

1

5

19

1

15

6

19

1

1

5

10

2

2

4

0
r.

10

8

Year. £

1690 1

1691 1

1693 2

1693 3

1694 2

1695 2

1696 3

1697 3

1698 3

1699 3

1700 1

1701 1

1703 1

1703 1

1704 3

1705 1

1706 1

1707 1

1708 1

1709 3

1710 3

1711 3

1713 3

1713 3

1714 3

1715 1

1716 3

1717 3

1718 1

1719 1

1720 1

1731 1

1733 1

1733 1

1724 1

1725 3

1726 3

1737 1

1728 2

1729 2

1730 1

1731 1

1732 ]

1733 1

1734 1

3. d.

10 9

10 2

1 5

0 1

16 10

7 1
3 1

13 4

0 9
16 10

15 6
13 5

6 2

12 0

1 4
6 8

3 1
5 4

16 10
9 9
9 4

8 0
1 3
5 4

4 9
18 2

12 10

13 4
13 0
10 10
13 10

1 1

0 10
17 4

8 5

1 7
13 5

9 3
3 8
5 2

10 9

Year. &

735 1

736 1

737 1

738 1

739 1

740 2

741 2

742 1

743 1

744 1

745 1

746 1

747 1

748 1

749 1

750 1

751 1

753 1

753 1

754 1

755 1

756 3

757 2

758 2

759 1

760 1

761 1

762 1

763 1

764 2

765 2

766 2

767 2

768 2

769 2

770 2

771 2

772 2

773 2

774 2

775 3

776 1

777 2

778 2

779 1

s. d.

18 2

15 10

13 9

11 6

14 2

5 1
1 5

10 2
3 1

3 1

4 5
14 8
10 11
13 10

13 10
8 10

14 2
17 3

19 8
10
10

0
13

4
15

12 5

6 10
14 8

16 2
1 6
8 0
3 1

4
9
7
6
7
12 3

9 10

19 4

6 11

3 3

14 8

Year. £

780 1

781 3

783 3

783 3

784 3

785 3

786 3

787 3

788 3

789 3

790 3

791 3

793 3

793 3

794 2

795 3

796 3

797 3

798 3

799 S

800 5

801 5

803 3

803 3

804 3

805 4

806 3

807 3

808 3

809 4

810 5

811 4

813 6

813 5

814 3

815 3

816 3

817 4

818 4

819 3

820 3

831 3

823 3

833 3

834 3

s. d.
16 9

0 0

3 5

6 4

13 9

14 9

8 7
3 0

9 3
13 8

15 2
18 7
13 2
10 4

6 11
10 5
15 11

7 9

18 11

14 5

8 3

13 5

3 8

6 6

13 1
8 8

16 2

14 0

3 8
13 8

7 11
16 2

4 7
13 5

4 0

Year. £

1825 3

1826 2

1837 3

1828 3

1839 8

1830 8

1831 3

1833 3

1833 3

1834 3

1835 1

1836 3

1837 2

1838 3

1839 3

1840 3

1841 3

1843 3

1843 3

1844 3

1845 2

1846 2

1847 3

1848 2

1819 2

1850 2

1851 1

1852 2

1853 2

1854 3

1855 3

1856 3

1857 2

1858 2

1.859 2

1860 2

1861 2

1862 2

1863 2

1864 2

1865 3

1866 3

1867 3

1868 3

1869 2

8 7

18 9

16 9
0 5
6 3
4 3
6 4

18 8
13 1

6 3

19 4
8 9

15 10

4 4

10 6

6 4

4 5

17 5

10 2

11 3
10 9
14 9

9 5

10 6

4 6

1 0

13 0
12 7

14 9
9 2

15 6
15 5

1 10
9 11
4 3
3 9

8 3

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

389

GAME LAW CONVICTIONS.

RETURN to an Address of the House of Commons, dated
7 March, 1870; /o)-

The Numher of Convictions under the Game Laws
in separate Counties in BngUuul and Wales, distm-
euishing the Number in each County ; and of the Convic-
tions, under the Act 25 & 26 Vict. c. Ill, intituled, " An
Act for tlie Prevention of Poaching," in separate Coun-
ties in Bmjlund and Wales, distinguishing the Numher in
each County for the Year 1869.

Convictions under the Game Acts eor the Yeah 18G9.

Couuties.

Total.

Summary Convictions.

S o

lis

England.

Bedford

Berks

Bucks

Cambridge ..

Chester

Cornwall

Cumberland..

Derby

Devon

Dorset

Durham

Essex

Gloucester .,...,

Hereford

Herts

Huntingdon

Kent

Lancaster

Leicester

Lincoln

Middlesex

Monmouth

Norfolk

Northampton ...

Northumberland

Nottingham

Oxford

Rutland

Salop

Somerset

Southampton ..

Stafford

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

Warwick

Westmoreland . .

Wilts

Worcester

York

Wales.

Anglesey

Brecon

Cardigan

Carmarthen

Carnarvon

Denbigh

Flint

Glamorgan ....

Merioneth . . . .

Montgomery .

Pembroke ....

Radnor

Total England ")
and Wales... )

176
121
307
110
368
125
103
353
224
234
379
310
209
167
302

64
260
547
252
227
131

67
266
222
176
254
151

19
254
380
322
400
319

90
182
182

63

216

156

1,066

11
31

27
41
37

117
71

119
31
30
42
341

.S^ O be

a M

152
109
282

9;
276

92

94
265
206
215
321
298
193
145
259

60
214
470

226

193

127
52

233

212

138

218

128
19

203

331

283

306

298
85

149

144
59

201

127 12

900 56

11
4
7

11

35

1

38
18

1
19

3
13

2
23

2
17
31

9
11

4

3
5

10
9

10

20
7

22
13

"e

17
3

9 "^

On
Indict-
ment.

^3 oj iu
< BW

"3 rb feJD
be IPS

=^•2 i

11

26
24
40
35
101
66
97
23
29
37
30

10,346 8,894 521 41

4

16

3

1

5
2

12

5
16

6

48

31

8

39

15
30

9

2
20
15

2
25
44
15
20

i'i

22

5

33

26

9

33

27

25

69

3

4

19

16

1

7

11

105

,806

83

BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SO-
CIETY, AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES
ASSOCIATION.

A meeting of the Council of this society was held on Tues-
day, March 29th, at the White Lion Hotel, Bristol, R. G.
Badcock, Esq., in the chair ; there were also present, Messrs.
J. D. Allen, H. G. Andrews, S. Best (Hon. and Rev.) J. 1.
Boscawen (Hon. and Rev.), R. Brent (Colonel) W^ A Bruce,
Clement Bush, R. H. Bush, Thos. Danger, R. R.M.Daw,
Eras W. Dymond, Chas. Edwards, M. Farrant, John Gray,
Jonathan Gray, J. D. Hancock, James Hole J E. KnoUys,
Jos. Lush, H. A. E. Luttrell (Colonel), H. St. John Made.
H. Middletou, E. F. Mills, H. G. Moysey R. Neville^Gren-
viUe, M.P., R. H. Paget, M.P.. T. PhiUpotts (Rev.) W. R
Scott Ph.D., R. J. Spiers, J. C. Moore Stevens, R. Trood
(Maior), H. WiUiams, and J. Goodwin (Secretary and Editor),
A communication was read from Sir Stafford H. ^orthcote
the president for the year, wherein, referring to his rumoured
visit to Canada, he said, "I think it very doubtful whether I
shall go at aU ; but, if I do, I hope in any case to be back m
time for the meeting at Taunton." _

The Counc;i having at their last meeting granted a sum ot
£100 to the Arts Committee for the Taunton Meeting, m June
next, now recommended the following appropriation ot t he
grant The £100 to be added to the sura received irom the
sale of the Art Union Tickets, thus forming one common
fund to be drawn for by the subscribers to the Art Union and
the annual members of the Society, and providing the tollow-
ing special prizes : Two of £20 each ; two of £15 each ; and
three of £10 each. This recommendation was adopted.

Tlie Railway Committee having entered into negotiation
with the various companies for facilitating the traffic m con-
nexion with the Society's approaching exhibition, satisfactory
replies were produced by the Secretary from the managers ot
the Bristol and Exeter, the Midland, the Great Northern, the
London and North Western, the London, Chatham, and Dover,
the Somerset and Dorset, and other railways.

A clerical error having been committed by the judges in
entering their award of prizes in Class XII. at Southampton
whereby Mr. W. B. Simonds, M.P., was represented as entitled
to the prize of £30 for the best Hereford bull not exceeding
two years old, and Mr. Nathaniel Benjafield, of Short s Green
Farm, Motcombe, Shaftesbury, to the prize of £10 for the
second best, the error was now rectified by the act ot Mr.
Simonds, who, having satisfied himself that a purely clerical
error had been committed by the judges, waived his right to
the prize money already paid to him, and this with the sanc-
tion of the Council, was directed to be handed over to Mr.
Beniafield as the actual owner of the first prize animal in his
class • Mr. Siraonds's animal taking the second prize

Mr J H. Kennaway, of 19, Oxford-square, London, was
elected to supply the vacancy in the Council occasioned by the
death of Mr. John Woolcombe SiUifant, of Combe, Copple-
stone, Devon. „., .„ ,,

A communication from Mr. E. G. Carew Gibson of Crofton
Isle of Wight, offering a prize for pheasants at the Guildtord
meeting, was ordered to be referred to the Stewards of poultry,

NEW MEMBERS.

Governor.— Mr. R. Bright, M.P., Stocks, Tring, Herts.

Members.— Colonel Gustavns Basset, Tehidy Park, Corn-
wall ■ Messrs. Becket and Sons, Quiet-street, Bath ; Mr. Ed-
ward'Dymond, Sampford Arundel ; Messrs. Follows and Bate,
Manchester; Colonel W. R. Gilbert, The Priory, Bodmin ;
Mr. John George Johnson, Crosshouse, Torringtou, Devon ;
Mr William Lewis, Northgate-street, Bath ; Mr. W. M.
Richards, Stapleton House, Martock ; Messrs. Southwell and
Co., Albion Foundry, Rugeley.

THE LATE MR. H. HALL DIXON (The Druid).-.
A proposal has been made for raising a subscription for the
widow and family of this gentleman. It would be wrong to
infer that Mr. Dixon died in anything like indigent or needy
circumstances, but there is a young family of eight children to
bring up and hence the origin of this movement. Mr. Jen-
kins, the Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society, has
consented to act as honorary Treasurer, and Mr. Tlioraton the
ShortboTO auctioneer, as honorary Secretary, Tl'-e Puke ot
Devonshire has already headed the list with a dojiatioa of ?5
gulBCRa ftB(l other guhsoviptions have also beea proraiaed,

P P 2

m

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

BOTLEY AND SOUTH HANTS FARMERS' CLUB.

THE WASTE LANDS OF ENGLAND.

At a meeting of this Club Captain Maxse, R.N., gave a
lecture iipou Uncultivated Lauds. Mr. W. Warner piesided.
A feature in the lecture was a map, with the proportion of
waste laud to cultivated laud exhibited in blank parallelograms
drawn to scale.

Captain Maxse felt that there was a great deal of misap-
prehension and prejudice tliat required clearing away from
our minds before we could examine the subject of our wasted
land fairly and impartially. There are some people (he con-
tinued) who imagine that to call attention to the uncultivated
land by which we are surrounded is to challenge the right of
private property. Tbey therefore petulantly refuse to consi-
der the subject at all. There are others who belong to the
Fatalist class, and, believing whatever is is right, plead
that whatever is out of cultivation ought to be out of
cultivation in compliance with the design of Nature
or (you are permitted to take your choice of these au-
thorities) the canons of Political Economy. As to the first
class of objections, this constant cry about the rights of pro-
perty is a very dangerous one. Looking back in history we
may observe that it is one which has been raised whenever an
attempt has been made to redress an evil of any magnitude,
and always by people who have had possession of some power
injurious to the coramuity at large, and of which they feared
dispossession ; whilst in reply to those who undertake to repre-
sent Nature and the laissez faire or " let alone" school, he
ventured to say that both Nature and the Political Economists
disown them. With this slight preface he proceeded to call
attention to the extraordinary amount of uncultivated land in
this country, illustrated by the map on the wall. Few people
can look on that map without a feeling of astonishment at tlie
amount of uncultivated land thus revealed at a glance, and in
all probability this assertion will be heightened when they re-
member the common assertion that England is so densely popu-
lated, so exhausted in regard to space, that she must imme-
diately commence to discharge her surplus population on other
shores (Hear, hear). The idea of this map was acknowledged
as due to Major-General Alexander, a gentleman residing at
Southsea, who has made the subject of waste land his particu-
lar study, and who lent the speaker the original in a smaller
form, as well as some valuable notes of a lecture he gave at
Clapham last year. Captain Maxse proceeded to say that lie
particularly desired to distinguish between the amount of
land that cannot he profitably cultivated by ordinary means,
and the land that can be cultivated by ordinary means. In esti-
mating the number of waste acres that should be in cultiva-
tion, he could only present approximate figures — in fact,
estimates, and in order to confuse as little as possible,
when referring to large areas, lie gave only the
gross figures, omitting the fractional figures. The total acre-
age of the United Kingdom amounts to 77 millions and a
half, and of tliese we have, according to the Board of Trade
returns, just issued, 46 millions under all kinds of crops,
bare fallow, and grass, and out of this 46 millions there are
23 million acres of permanent pasture, meadow, or grass
exclusive of heath or mountain land. This leaves 31^
million acres totally unaccounted for. The cultivated and
uncultivated land is distributed in the following manner :

Taking England first, we find that out of an area of
32,590,397 acres, we have :
13,274,408 under all kinds of crops, bare fallow, and grass

under rotation ;
10,096,094 under permanent pasture, exclusive of lieath and

mountain land ;
9,219,895 waste, or land unaccounted for.

In Wales, out of an area of 4,734,480, we have :
1,003,105 under all kinds of crops, bare fallow, and grass

under rotation ;
1,527,534 under permanent pasture, exclusive, &c. ;
2,203,847 waste, or unaccounted for.

In Scotland, out of an area of 19,039,377, we have :
3,325,868 under all kinds of crops, &c. ;
1,112,269 under permanent pasture ;

15,201,240 (three quarters of whole) waste, or unaccountB
for.

In Ireland, out of an area of 20,322,041, we have :
5,590,824 under all kinds of crops, &c.;
10,046,877 under permanent pasture ;
4,078,940 waste, or unaccounted for.

In the Isle of Man, out of an area of 180,000, we have :
67,077 under all kinds of crops ;
10,800 under permanent pasture ;
95,403 (more than half) waste, or unaccounted for.

Two questions present themselves for consideration : 1.
How much of this land should be in cultivation ? and 2.
What is the cause of fertile land lying waste? — and the first
of these he regarded as their principal one. There was great
difficulty in answering the first question with accuracy.
There was no help to be got from official returns, those of the
Board of Trade being confined entirely to tlie produce of land
in cultivation. Tlie figures as to cultivatable land out of
cultivation were generally quoted from Porter's " Progress of
the Nation," Spackman's " Analysis of the Occupation of the
People," and McCulloch, and mainly founded upon a state-
ment by Mr. William Couling, a civil engineer, wlio travelled
all over England to gather statistics for a select committee of
the House of Commons in 1827, and who said that there were,
probably, but 15,871,403 acres of the Ignited Kingdom irre-
clairaat)le, and upon liis authority we were led to conclude
that there remain, at the present moment, no less than
15,595,969 acres of cultivatable land still lying waste. Mr.
Couling's figures were not unimpeachable ; for, as an illustra-
tion, he estimated the cultivated laud of Hampshire at
900,000 acres, whereas by the Board of Trade returns now
we have but 685,540 acres cultivated, and he estimates the
total amount of cultivated land in the United Kingdom
in the year of his report at 46 millions, which is all that
we have now after the enclosure of an addi-
tional million. If he does err, it is in the direction of under-
estimating the amonnt of land that may be profitably cultivated,
and, erroneous as his report may be, it is — shameful as the ad-
mission appears — the only report possessing official character
which takes a compreliensive survey of our subject, and is that
upon which all our usual information is based. The proper
method of ascertaining the value of Mr. Couling's statement
was to take different parts of the kingdom in detail, and this he
proceeded to do, quoting Ireland and Scotland. Coming next
to England and Wales, where we have 11,423,742 waste acres,
he referred to several articles written by practical men from
time to time in the lloyal Agricultural Society's Jounialw^ow
the condition of various counties. Among them there is uni-
versal concurrence of opinion as to the extraordinary waste of
our land wealth. Mr. Dyke Acland, whose autliority will be
regarded as unexceptionable, says that in Somersetshire alone
" there are thousands of acres of moor and fen land capable of
the highest order of arable cultivation." We have similar re-
marks on other counties. Mr. Bailey Denton stated before the
Rivers Commissioners that whilst " only 2,000,000 acres of
land in Great Britain have been drained, upwards of 20,000,000
remained undrained, and of this about 9,000,000 are clay soil."
General Alexander, in a lecture, says — " Some few years since,
when visiting Cornwall, I saw large tracts of waste land in all
directions, and some of it covered with luxuriant growth of
gorse and ferns. How is it, I used to ask in my ignorance,
that land which can grow such magnificent weeds is not turned
to better account? ' Impossible,' was the answer I always re-
ceived,' the land is not worth cultivating : it would not pay,'
Of course I had to be satisfied with this answer. Only last
year on re-visiting Cornwall, I found that a large portion of the
neglected land was in full cultivation and bearing rich crops.

THE FAilMEiVS MAGAi^lNE.

891

' I see a great cliange,' I observed to a friend. ' Yes,' lie said
in reply, ' there is a great improvement : the farmers have
taten in a great deal of the waste laud, and some of it novi'
forms the most productive portions of their farm.' " General
Alexander then refers to one of the causes that had tended to
produce this result — " the landlords had granted their tenants
very long leases of their land at exceedingly low rents." Evi-
dence of this sort might be multiplied, and was doubtless within
the memory of all present. Then we had general evidence
from the Enclosure Commissioners, who have to report on the
character of the waste land which is enclosed under authority,
and of which he gave some specimens. Since 1837 (he con-
tinued) about one million acres have been enclosed, and a large
portion of it brought into cultivation. This is not much, seeing
that population has about douhled since that date, but it proves,
in spite of the disadvantage under which agriculture labours in
this country, that it has paid to cultivate a large amount of
waste land. I have been careful to say that only a " large por-
tion" of this has heen brought under cultivation, because I be-
lieve that some of it, notwithstanding the plea upon which it
was annexed to neighbouring estates, remains untilled, owing
to the neglect and indifference of landowners. It may, how-
ever, be said that the land will not pay to cuhivate, and that
whatever has remained out of cultivation does so upon the
sound commercial principle of its not paying. Now, when
we say this, we must be very clear as to what we
mean by " paying." If we mean that the land will
not pay a high rate of interest upon a high nominal
value which is purely an artificial one, there may be
truth in the assertion, as far as the owner is concerned ; but he
should have considered this previous to undertaking responsi-
bility of ownership. I contend that no one is justified in
wasting (to a clearly appreciable extent) the productive power
of land ; and it must be remembered that although the laud
may not pay on the entire investment, including the
purchase-money, it certainly will pay on the capital ne-
cesary to bring it into cultivation ; there is, therefore,
no ground for shirking the outlay — it is perfectly clear
that the land pays no one while lying waste. Far more strongly
does this argument tell in regard to common land that has been
taken from the community, and allotted to proprietors with the
express object of bringing it into cultivation for the general
good. I cannot wish for a better illustration of the unjustifi-
able waste of good land, and of the contrast between the in-
terest of large and small landowners in the cultivation of the
soil, than is afforded by a common in my own neighbourhood
called Titchfield Common. I shall content myself with a bare
narrative of the facts of the case. This common was set out in
allotments to large and small owners, in 1862, in the following
proportion : — Acres.

Land set out to 22 owners in parcels exceeding 8 acres 900
Of this amount, up to Sept., 18G9, eight owners had
broken up and tilled 225

Leaving uncultivated 675

Laud set out in 255 plots, in parcels «.'(ffo' 3 acres 190

Of this, up to the same date, there has been broken up

and tilled 183

Leaving uncultivated 8

These eight acres remaining, I believe, in the hands of specula-
tors or Upholders. The capital necessary to bring this land
into cultivation amounts to £10 or £12, and the average rent
ranges from 30s. to £3, small tenants paying the highest rent,
and I need hardly say purely for the sake of the produce of
the soil. I now come to the consideration of royal forests
and woodlands. These extend to about 100,000 acres. As
nearly three-fourths of this is situated in our own county, the
Woods and Forests question may be considered essentially a
Hampshire one. We are thus brought, therefore, to our own
province. According to the Board of Trade returns just pub-
lished, Hampshire contains 1,070,316 acres. Out of this area
we have — 531,112 under all kinds of crops, bare, fallow, and
grass under rotation; 154,438 underpermanent pasture; 384,676
acres, or more than one-fourth, of it waste, or unaccounted
for. Deducting 30,000 acres for water in rivers and estuaries,
we are still left with 334,676 acres of woodland and common.
1 feel that you can all judge far better than myself of the
amount of this which might be under profitable cultivation.

I have been fortunate enough to secure a very valuable opinion
on this point. I imagine it would be difficult to obtain one
more likely to secure universal respect than that of Mr.
BluudeU. He calcidates that in Crown lands, heaths and
commons, raudlands and estuaries, there are in this county at
least 130,000 acres which might be profitably converted into
use as arable or pasture. Now as, whenever a proposal for im-
provement or reform is made, the first opposition assumes the
form of misrepresentation, I should like to say here that,
although I complain of the amount of waste land there is on
all sides, I do not ask that all woodlands should make way for
the plough. There is some woodland which it would pro-
bably be advantageous to grub up and convert, but a large
portion must always be desirable, not only for ornament but
also for utility, and there is besides, soil solely adapted for
timter cultivation. At present we have it in excess, and cer-
tainly what we have in excess in Hampshire is waste common
land. If Mr. Blundell's 130,000 acres were absorbed into use,
we should still have over 200,000 acres of wild laud, which
surely is as much as we can aflford in a populous county. If,
however, there is some misappropriation of woodland, how
much more is there misappropriation of land in common and
heath, and I should like to know where is the bit of common
land that has once been got into cultivation that it does not
pay to continue in cultivation. Our greatest waste of land is
in the New Forest. We have lately had some characteristic
correspondence on this subject. It is curious to note how ou
one side the experienced cultivator perceives fertility in the
land, and how the landowner, to whom land bears but a
residental vabie, can only perceive barrenness. Mr. Dickin-
son informs us that there is in the New Forest 60,000 acres
of land capable of growing the finest grain and the finest
roots in England, upon which Mr. Esdaile steps forward,
demands his balance-sheet, declares cultivation won't pay, and
insinuates against him the personal motive of desiring to
manage the 60,000 acres himself ; after which follows another
residential point of view in Mr. Morant, who has read " with
much pleasure and interest Mr. Esdaile's admirable exposure
of Mr. Dickinson's fallacies" — the cultivator to him is the
" ruthless agriculturist" who must hate the National Gallery
because he wishes to grow more food. Well, I have been a
lover of the picturesque all my life. We all know that

" There is a pleasure in the pathless wood,"

but this land question in the New Forest, as throughout Eng-
land, is a question between sentiment and sport on one side
and the lives and happiness of thousands of human beings on
the other (Hear, hear). If the gentlemen of the New Forest
could only realize this, I am sure they would not desire to
preserve it as a " National Gallery" for the benefit of them-
selves at the expense of the nation. I have always under-
stood myself (althougk Mr. Dickinson is probably as good an
authority as anyone) that there are in the New Forest
about 30,000 acres of corn-growing land. If this be
so, why should not the successful precedent of Wich-
wood Forest (see an interesting account of this iu
volume 24 of the Agricultural Society's Journal) be
followed with this amount, by reclaiming it, dividing
into farms, and letting on leases of thirty-one years, reserving
out of the rest complete common rights for the neighbourhood,
and especially for the poor, who have suffered too much
hitherto from enclosures ? I would rather this were done than,
see it merely sold and absorbed into the unproductive " plea-
sure ground" of the rich (Hear, hear). I wiU not detain you
further with the tiresome detail we have been compelled to
enter on in reply to the first question. As regards opinion,
and information upon character and probable value of waste
Hampshire lands I feel I shall be better as a listener than as
a speaker. I hope I have succeeded in establishing in your
minds that the figures with which we started are, as far as we
have the means of ascertaining, by no means extravagant.
That they are not is my own impression. Before concluding
this part he inquired if it was desirable that all cultivatable
land should be cultivated, and contended that a country could
not be regarded as over-populated before all its resources were
developed (Hear, hear). Those who talked of our population
had their attention fixed upon the large towns, and it was true
that more than half the population of England had collected
in the large towns. But while these are densely crowded, the
country had become depopulated (Hear). A constant emi-

392

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

gration has been going on for several years ou the part of
agricultural labourers into the towns, until, as Mr. Caird in-
forms us in a paper read before the Statistical Society last
year, " the proportion of the people of England employed in
agriculture has diminished from a third to a tenth," and
this within a single generation. Not only, however, is the
number of agricultural labourers diminished, but the quality
of the labour is affected, the proportion of boys and old men
to able-bodied men having increased considerably. Hence he
(Capt. Masse) denied that we are over-populated. Wliat
we suffer from is the congestion in the towns and depletion
in the provinces (Hear, hear). The method in which popu-
lation is reckoned conveys a very fallacious idea. Tor instance,
it is said that England and Wales have 3i7 persons to the
square mile, but in some districts we have not more than one
person to the square mile, and in the east end of London we
have 130,000 persons to the square mile. The really im-
portant point in regard to population is its distribution. While
we have eleven millions in the towns, there are but nine millions
in the country ; whilst Belgium, with a poor soil, is better off,
although she has 430 persons to the square mile, for out of
her population of five millions, one million and a half live in
towns, and three millions and a half in rural parishes. In
France, of the population of 38 millions, 23 millions are rural,
and 15 millions non-rural. The most extraordinary and in-
structive statistics come, however, from the Channel Islands,
which exist under a totally different land system to our own,
and under which we find 1,200 persons existing happily, and
in perfect comfort, to the mile, and land let (when let) at £5
to £6 the acre. Even the little island of Sark, with an area
of only two and a half square miles, and no harbour, maintains
232 persons to the square mile, enjoying positive independence
and happiness, and exporting more articles of consumption
than they import. I take this information from a valuable
pamphlet upon "The Land Question of the United Kingdom,"
by M.Tupper, of Guernsey, and I cannot resist calling your
attention to the very instructive comparison he draws between
the statistical position of the two classes of dependencies of
England which are subject to different land systems. The first
place he looks at is the Isle of Wight, which " with 86,801
acres of land has a population of 55,362, and scarcely any
shipping or commerce." On the other hand, Jersey, with
" under 28,000 acres has a population of 55,613, and 55,000
tons of local sliipping, carrying on trade and commerce with the
whole world." After further extracts the lecturer continued ;
Yet, it inay be urged, the wealth of the country is enormous.
So it is in one sense. So for as the measure of money goes, we
— that is, some of us — are immensely rich. In the space of
fourteen years our aggregate exports and imports have increased
from £268,210,145 to £523,100,229. These big figures produce
a very imposing effect— also, it is to be feared, a rather soporific
one. People listen to them, say " AH right," and go fast asleep
over evils which in the mean time ripen, and ultimately re-
appear intensified. Notwithstanding the apparent wealth sug-
gested by these figures, there would appear to be paralysis at
the very source of the nation's life. While there is superfluous
capital— capital in sufficient excess to compete in any wild
scheme upon this or the otlier side of the globe— there is some
cause that prevents capital turning itself upon English land
and employing English labour. We want to grow more food.
In order to do this, three ingredients are uecessery- capital,
labour, and soil. We have them all in superabundance. But
the capital flies abroad, the labour goes to the workhouse and
the gaol, and the soil lies waste, or at best grows Japanese
pheasants for some idle gentleman to shoot at— who, may be,
has so many other places to idle at that he can only afford one
week to idle at the place where the Japanese pheasants have to
be shot. Look at the amount of food we import from other
countries. I believe myself we are too dependent upon other
countries for food. Free-trade is riglit, but home waste is
wrong. Even granting that we can obtain corn cheaper from
other countries than we can grow it ourselves, it is quite certain
that we already grow some at home, and if we can, we sliould
grow more. But putting entirely on one side our importation
ot wheat, and tliere is this reason for putting it on one side, viz.,
that notwithstanding our population has increased 4,500,000
since 1841, the price of wheat is on an average lower than then •
putting aside this as a matter of no moment (or assuming it to
be an advantage) our annual importation of wheat, amoimtinR
to (m wheat and flour) 25,000,000— there yet remains an

expenditure of £42,000,000, in foreign agricultural produce and
stock. Since 1854 our importations of food have almost
doubled. Captain Maxse liere enumerated the various items of
food imported. Now, how much of this food might we not grow
at home? (Hear). Look at the price of meat, a commodity
which it is costly to import ; compare the present price with its
past. In the sixteenth century beef and pork were sold at a
half-penny a pound, and veal at three-farthings ; in the
eighteenth century it rose to 3d. a lb. ; and now in the nine-
teenth century it lias risen to a prohibitory price as far as the
poor are concerned. Again, what a volume of comment is
afforded in that single item about eggs — £1,000,000 for foreign
eggs ! Our dairy produce, not less than our meat growth, is —
it must be confessed — miserably deficient. The reason of this
is that dairy produce is the result of small farms, and these
we have very nearly abolished in England. The difficulty
in treating this subject within the limit of a paper
is to know where and when to cease drawing upon
the accumulating argument and illustration that pre-
sent themselves to demonstrate the error of our posi-
tion. In saying this I beg you will understand
clearly that I do not mean error in mode of cultivation ; what
I point out is error in the system of land tenure, upon which
cultivation and agricultural enterprise largely depend. I
believe that the system of agriculture in this country, when
it can get fairly at work, surpasses that of other countries.
We know at least that the yield per acre in bushels of wheat
is much higher than anywhere else. Mr. Caird, after a con-
sultation with M. de Lavergne upon the cause of this, attributes
it to the larger proportion of our restorative (grass and roots)
area to our corn or exhaustive crops compared with that of
other countries, but whatever the cause, the fact of consider-
able excellence in cultivation is established, and it appears to
me we should more largely avail ourselves of it. There is
another point worth considering. Look at the cost of our
pauperism and crime. We spend some £18,000,000 in the
relief of distress and the repression of crime. Some people
wiU say " Oh, you must always have pauperism and crime."
To this I enter my most vehement protest. Misery is not
God-ordained (however convenient it may be to declare it is),
but man-ordained. Nature supplies everything in abundance.
We cannot in the midst of our human hive, overflowing with
energy and activity, seal up with impunity the primeval source
of all human industry and wealth. If we do, the energy and
activity display themselves in very unpleasant forms. Paupers
and rogues are manufactured as much as any otlier article. I
think we should do well to remember the terrible disadvan-
tage that poor people labour under born in a country where-
being themselves destitute and without prospect — to use the
words of Tennyson's " Northern Farmer"—

Proputty, proputty's ivry thing 'ere, an', Sammy, I'm blest
If it isn't the saiime oop yonder, fur them as 'as it', the best.
'Tis'n them as 'as munny, as breaks into 'ouses an' steals.
Them as 'as coilts to their backs an' taiikes their regular meals,
Noa, but it's them as niver knaws wheer a meal's to be 'acl,
Taake my word for it, Sammy, the poor in a loomp is bad,

— " Rights of property ?" Yes, these — within reasonable
limits — we respect ; but the rights of property must not be
pushed to the extent of involving the right to monopolize the
means of existence. This brings me to our second question
What is the cause of fertile land lying waste ? My paper has
extended itself so far over the first question, that I shall have
to shorten as much as possible my reply to the second. The
cause is to be attributed to our land system, because it pro-
motes the accumulation of land into few hands, artificially
restricts its circulation in the market, and encourages an
artificial value being placed upon land which is detrimental to
its true agricultural value. The first proposition, that the
land system promotes the accumulation of land in few hands,
is proved by the fact that whereas in 1770 there were 250,000
rural landowners in England, we find ourselves at the last
census (1861) with but 30,766, and is illustrated by the follow-
ing passage from a very valuable work that has recently been
published, entitled " Systems of land tenures in various
countries." The article I quote from is by Mr. Cliffe Leslie,
upon the land system in France. He says : " The contrast
between the land systems of France and England, two neigh-
bouring countries at the head of civilization, may, without
exaggeration, be called tlie most extraordinary spectacle which
European society offers for study to political and social pliilo*

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

393

sopliy. The English census of 1861 returned 30,766 landowners
and 249,461 farmers," and he goes on to tell us that by the latest
official statistics in France there are 6,000,000 rural proprie-
tors, of whom nearly 4,000,000 are actually cultivators of the
soil (the area of France being but one-third larger than Great
Britain). He begged they would not think he advocated the
French law of compulsory sul)-division, which he proceeded to
explain (although we may be quite sure that the effect of re-
sisting moderate proposals will be that it will be ultimately de-
manded, and possibly conceded in a panic). The evil effect of
our land system, he added, is that cultivation is not the pri-
mary object of ownership of land, and therefore that agricul-
tural produce is not the measure of its value. There are two
forms of value attached to land— the one is what may be called
the residential value, and the other the agricultural value, and
in this country the residential value (which of course is a legi-
timate one within reasonable limits) supersedes the agrioil-
tural value. Then, again, it is the object of so many good
people to what is called found a family— that is to say, to get
hold of some land and tie it up by means of the very mis-
chievous power granted by the law, as long as possible within
the noble family of Tomkins, away from every one else. The
consequence is that when a natural cause arises (such, for
instance, as the poverty of a Tomkins, and his inability to do
justice to the land) to send the land into the market to a
richer man, there is an artificial restriction in deference to the
posthumous power of a departed Tomkins. The law, there-
fore, in the power it gives, stimulates a fictitious value to the
laud. It is to the interest of the community that land shall
flow freely into the market whenever there is a natural cause
impelling it there. But surely, it might be urged, in reply to
all he had been saying, a man may do what he likes with his
own, and it is his own property. This, however, called our
attention to the fact that the right of property in land has
a different foundation to the right of property in any other
form of wealth. Mr. Mill says : " Whenever, in any country,
the proprietor, generally speaking, ceases to be the improver,
political economy has nothing to say in defence of landed pro-
perty as then established. In no sound theory of private pro-
perty was it evei; contemplated that the proprietor of land
should be merely a sinecurist quartered on it." I could cite
passages innumerable from all the eminent authorities we are
in the habit of deferring to— from Blackstone, Vattel, Adam
Smith, Bentham, McCulloch, and J. S. Mill, in support of the
views I have ventured to express. The attention of the com-
munity has, however, never been aroused to the importance of
the subject, and it is to be feared never will be until the evil
of the land system makes itself known in some disastrous man-
ner. Crowds from all classes will flock to hear the disgusting
revelations of a high-life divorce scandal, and the newspapers
that report it fully treble their sale, but subjects of the deepest
social and political importance, problems that depend entirely
for their solution upon the amount of interest they are able to
attract; questions affecting closely the lives and happiness of
millions of fellow-creatures, and, possibly, the fate of a nation,
are too often tossed with impatience aside ; for

" Evil is wrought by want of thought
As well as by want of heart."

Mr. Blundell, in opening the discussion, said he thought
the lecture followed well upon the subject he had the
privilege of reading a paper on in January, and that it
entered most fully into a branch of it which he did not
then introduce. The letter it had brought forward from
Mr. Dickinson he considered too highly coloured, whilst
Mr. Esdaile's was not coloured enough; and Mr. Morant
seemed to have fallen into error in intimating that the
balance-sheet of a notorious Essex farm had not been pub-
lished. He presumed that this alluded to Mr. Mechi,
who, it was well known, had published and circulated his
balance-sheet. The subject seemed to divide itseH into
two heads— crown lands and private property. With re-
spect to the former, that was a question for Government,
and was not a party question, or at least ought not to be so,
because of its importance to the country. It was a great dis-
grace that in these days of commerce and utilization such large
tracts of land should remain uncultivated. Mr. Morant
pleaded that the New Forest should be kept open for the sake
of pleasure seekers, but they desired that in any enclosure
recreation and pleasure grounds for the inhabitants should be

preserved, such as were to be seen in bouthampton by the
preservation of the common. He could not understand gentle-
men going to Government and asking them to assist in sending
labourers out of the country when there were so many thousands
of acres lying unproductive which could be made to yield some-
thing yearly, if not of corn, of timber. It had been urged by
some that the Forest was required for the navy, but we all
knew the extent to which iron had superseded timber in sliip-
building, and if the money would realise 4 per cent., whilst the
timber would not pay 2, and thus double the rent of the land,
why, in the name of common sense, should the timber stand/
The pauperism and the difficulty of maiutaining people in tins
country demanded that every man should raise his voice
against land lying waste, and force the subject upon the atten-
tion of the Legislature. As to the law of entail, there was no
doubt that through this law and the shortsightedness of men
who took advantage of it, many improvements were prevented,
and the sooner Parliament looked into this the sooner it would
show that it had really at heart the interests of the country
which it governs. i ■ iu •

Mr. James Withers made some remarks showing the im-
portance of agriculture in providing for the wants ot the
people, and urged that it was a disgrace to us as a nation to
have so many able men occupying our unions and being ted,
for the great part, on American and Russian produce, while so
many thousands of acres of land were left in the country un-
cultivated. Having a plenty of capital and of spare labour
and an increasing number of consumers, what good reason was
there why they should not be applied to our waste lands t-
Some urged, he knew, that they would not pay for cultivation,
but from 18 years' acquaintance with the New Forest he be-
lieved that it was not inferior iu; average quality to the com-
mons in that immediate neighbourhood which had of late years
been reclaimed and cultivated. Emigration had been talked
of as a remedy for the present distress amongst the unemployed,
but he urged that it would be far better and more to our credit
to put them on our waste lands, and so to turn their able and
wiUing bodies to good account amongst ourselves instead ot
sending them to other lands. Sport had been urged as a
reason for retaining the Forest as now, but he believed that
cutlivation would increase the sport fourfold and that hares
and partridges would be more plentiful under the altered state
of things— a proof of which they had in that neighbourhood.
He was opposed, however, to very small holdings, on the
ground of their not being sufficient to keep three or tour tami-
lies respectably. The profits on farming had been so sniaU
that if the present average farms were split into tour or live
holdings there would be great poverty among the occupiers
(Hear, hear). With respect to the letters of Mr. Dickinson
and Mr. Esdaile, he agreed in the expression of opinion that
one was coloured too much and the other not enough.

Mr Spoo:!^er would like to hear one or two points upon
which they were specially called to fix their attention, whe-
ther as regarded the laws relating to the tenure of land or
the cultivation of the New Forest. He had read the letters
which their last discussion upon waste land brought torward,
and was struck by the extreme opinions of the two parties--
the one who would preserve the Forest iu aU its native beauty
and all its native ugliness, and the other who wished to grow
eight or ten sacks of wheat on every acre of the Forest— and
thought them both equally extreme, and equally astonishing
to those who knew the Forest. With the letter of Mr. Mo-
rant he could not agree, as regarded the great injuries that
would accrue to the present estates by more houses being built
tliere. If the argument was good that the Forest was better,
more productive, and more advantageous in every respect, it
left to its native state, that argument would apply to the
estates and mansions already existing. If they were good, a
larger number would be good ; but if bad, then they ought to
be done away with. Referring to the barrenness ot some
parts of the Forest, as contrasted with more beautitul portions,
he said that the improvements which had been effected in the
plantations of late vears must strike every one, and showed
that there was no reason why every bog in the Forest should
not be drained and cultivated with profit and advantage, ihe
point he thought they should take up was, How could this
land, as a whole, be turned to the best advantage ? He never
wished the Forest to be entirely done away with ; but he
thought that at least one-half of the present uncultivated land
should be sold, the most attractive spots being selected, and

39i

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

the rest improved, as fur as may be, by planting or otlierwise.
Ue was sorry to see statements circulated that the whole of
the Eorest could be made productive, because that was noto-
riously not the case. Since long before the time of William
the Conqueror, a very large portion of the soil had been taken
away every third year. The custom was to pare one turf, and
leave two. In three or four years the turf again grows, and
in its turn is taken away. If this practice of cutting turf had
never existed, no doubt there would be a soil through the
greater part of the Porest, where there was absolutely no soil
now, or not perhaps more than two inches to the dry gravel.
If, then, tliis jioint of ability to cultivate all were pressed too
far, he thought it probable that more harm than good would
be done, because tliose statements would not bear the light of
investigation. He should like to see at least one-third of the
existing uncultivated land there brought into cultivation, the
belts of estates sold, and the remainder improved as much as
possible, but to remain intact as forest, or, at any rate, as
public land. Witli respect to the population of the Channel
Islands, he tliouglit it more attributable to the climate, the
great productiveness of the soil, and the large number of tour-
ists that annually expended large sums there, than to the differ-
ence between their land-laws and ours ; whilst, with regard to
purchase of estates in this country, he bad no doubt the i-eut-
roll took a fair share in the calculations of an intending pur-
chaser. As to the system of small holdings, although this
district might be an exception to the rule, he had no doubt no
farms were so badly managed as those in the hands of small
holders, because their returns were so small as to hamper their
enterprise.

Mr. GoDEKiCH had no doubt that a considerable portion of
our waste land was capable of some kind of production, but
it would, probably, first require a great outlay. In many of
the low lands of the New Forest only drainage and chalk were
required to make them valuable as pasture ; but with the
higher lands it would be very different, and, therefore, he
thought they should divide it into two districts — the upper and
lower; and let the \>hole go into tlie market, either by the
hammer or by private contract. It would take up a consider-
able deal of labour for a number of years, and be of beneiit to
the nation in more ways than one.

The Chairman thought the subject a very appropriate one
at a time when lu London and other places meetings were
being held to promote emigration and to relieve distress. He
was very pleased to hear the Government object to assist the
vievis of those gentlemen who waited upon them the other day
to send people out of this country. To have adopted tiieir
suggestion might relieve a present difficulty, but he believed in
the end it would lead to a greater one. He thought that,
speaking generally, the wealth of this country consisted quite
as much in the people as in the land or the money, for the
stronger a country was in people the better was it able to pro-
duce wealth, resist aggression, and consume its productions.
The lecturer had shown them in a very lucid manner the
quantity of land in this country remaining uncultivated, and
he had no douht that no small degree of the distress now pre-
vailing was attributable to the large landowners for not em-
ploying labour in reclaiming and making productive these
thousands of acres. It might be well to say that a man had
a right to do what he liked with his own ; but that clearly had
a limit, and he thought that a man ought not to have the
power of entail for more tlian one generation after him. With
reference to the taunt to Mr. Dickinson, that he had not pro-
duced his balance-sheet, ho liad no doubt he could produce one
quite as good as the occupiers of the farm before hira, for he
believed he was correct in stating that before, it never paid a
shilling to the Crown, who now received some 30s. or 40s. an
acre for it. Not only this, but the whole of the Forest never
paid its expenses for many years. And when it was said it was
absurd to talk about enclosing the New Forest, tliey had only
to refer to what the late Lord Leicester did witli so many
thousands of acres in Norfolk, converting a blowing sand into
a tract bearing turnips and corn in abundance ; and he ques-
tioned whether any part of the Forest was so barren as these
sands once were. "They had plenty of clay there for bricks and
tiles and to mix with the sand, and otlicr opportunities of in-
termingling the soil ; and, although it might be barren in some
places, there was something in a soil brought to the air and
exposed that would produce, if not corn, fir. It was clear tliat
it now paid next to nothing, and as regarded the sentiment

that 00,000 acres should be preserved for the sake of a few
pic-nic parties, he thought it time such sentiments should give
way to the useful. He therefore thought they would have to
ask the i'orest proprietors to make up their minds to have the
" ruthless agriculturist" there growing his turnips. There
was no fear of a National Gallery being brought there, else
he was not sure that some would be even found objecting to
that.

Captain Maxse, in reply, said that he purposely abstained
from entering into the controversy of "Small !•<?«/« Large
Farms," thougii he knew that the principal modern writers and
thinkers upon the subject agreed in the small-farm system —
that he would like to see the laws of primogeniture, entail,
and costly conveyance altered, and a tax laid upon cultivable
land which remained uncultivated. They simply wanted that
natural causes should operate in relation to the exchange of
land, and he thought their opponents, by refusing to entertain
moderate proposals, led to the advancement of the wildest
agrarian theories. He then proposed a resolution to the elfect
that, whilst there are so many million of acres lying waste, he
was of opinion that attention should be directed to its cultiva-
tion as a means of employing our surplus population rather
than to the question of emigration.

This was seconded by Mr. Bltjjjdell and carried, and votes
of thanks to Captain Maxse for his paper, and the chairman
for presiding, terminated the meeting.

MEETING AT LYMINGTON.

A meeting was held in the Town Hall, Lymington, to con-
sider the subject of enclosing the New Forest. The Mayor,
IMr. Corbin, was in the chair. The meeting was very largely
attended .

The Town Clerk having read the requisition calling the
meeting,

The Rev. W. Field proposed the first resolution, stating
that he should not make a speech, Jlr. Dickinson, of New
Park, having agreed to second the resolution, which was as
follows : " That, in the opinion of this meeting, the present
condition of the New Forest is not satisfactory, from either an
economical or social point of view, and that the time for effect-
ing some beneficial change has now arrived."

Mr. Dickinson said he felt very great pleasure in
seconding the resolution. He had farmed for sixteen years
on the New Forest land that had been once unproduc-
tive, but it was now very productive, and that not from
any extraordinary means. He never knew anything got from
spending nothing. Many farmers looked upon experimental-
izing as unwise. He did not think so. If a new manure were
brought to him, he tried it first on single plants, to see its
effect. Thus he discovered that one manure would produce
large crops of grass ; another of corn ; while another was
simjily poison ; and so on. He had in his garden a range of
pots that, in this manner, was telling him all manner of facts.
He thought the New Forest was capable of keeping a much
larger number of animals than he had formerly stated. He
believed it was capable of keeping not less than 200,000 sheep,
besides producing cereals over not less than 30,000 acres. The
people in various parts of the Forest were half-starved, for
want of employment. The New Forest — what does it now
produce but fern and fir-trees ? but if it were dug and culti-
vated it would produce gold and silver — oats, and wheat, and
barley. It had been said of him he was not willing to show his
balance-sheet. He thought very few farmers could produce a
balance-sheet. He should want a couple of clerks to keep tlie
accounts in suck a case. But he knew he took care to look
into his pocket at the year's end, and he could give them his
word that tlie balance was always on the right side. He de-
nied the statement that he had been losing money by his
farming during tlie last sixteen years, and he would be happy to
show a statement of these matters to any gentleman qualified
to form a correctjudgmeut thereon. The question with regard
to the poor in the New Forest was this — Is a man to starve or
pilfer ? In the New Forest children were sent out to pick up
what they could, and every now and then they were prosecuted
for damaging trees. As they grew up to be men they were
often induced to take anything they could get when pressed
with hunger and want. One night his hay had been taken
from the field wliere it had been cut — with a horse and cart ;
his wheat at both ends of his farm had also been stolen, Ue

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

^)95

could tell ol' vvoi-se tliiugs than these if he chose. lie was very
happy to second the resolution.

The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried
unanimously.

Mr. Helsby then rose to propose the next resolution : —
That, in the interests of the general public, and particularly
of the labouring classes, it is desirable that the New I'orest
should be enclosed and cultivated as speedily as possible, all
vested interests being duly tespected. »

Mr. Peterson, of Drumduan, seconded the resolution.
He said he could not help feeling a lively interest in the wel-
fare of the people among whom he had pitched his tent. He
fully approved of the manner in which the resolution was
vi'orded. It was important that the vested interests it men-
tioned sliould be considered and respected. The resolution
embraced the public welfare, and particularly the welfare of
the labouring classes. Now, putting the New Forest, in round
numbers, at a liundred tliousand acres, he sliould call that very
fair farming that did not expend more than £3 per acre per
annum in labour. This, supposing the Forest to be cultivated,
would bring to the labouring classes in it an income of £300,000
a-year — people who now were getting their living God only
knows how. He wished to see those classes in the New Fo-
rest in a very different condition than at present. An idea
was prevalent that England was overpopulated ; this he denied.
It was not that the country was overpopulated, but that a
large portion of the land was badly cultivated, and some of it
not cultivated at all. He did not see the necessity of emigra-
tion while sueh was the case. As a rule there was no person
more helpless than the emigrant. lie knew well that for one
-success there were three failures. Wc often heard about the
lucky men, but not of those who did not succeed. The colo-
nies wanted men of a very different material from those who
so frequently went to them from this country. He denied in
ioio that this country was overpeopled. He knew Bel-
gium, Lombardy, and China well, and was justified by
his experience of those countries to deny it. We should
rather inquire if the land in present cultivation was pro-
perly cultivated. Much ridicule had been thrown on the farm-
ing at Tiptree. He had been in the Tiptree country, and he
would say that any one acre of the New Forest would be worth
ten of that which liad been taken in hand by razor-strop magic.
But he had seen there a 14-acre field which had produced 20i
sacks of wheat — 14 acres of which had formerly supported
three geese and one donkey. About 20 years ago a geologist,
Mr. Trimmer, published a pamphlet in the AfjricuUural Jour-
nal, showing the capabilities for cultivation possessed by the
New Forest, with its calcareous marl, beds of coprolites, and
so forth, of which it was full. As to the question whether it
would pay or not, suppose the New Forest were sold to mor-
row, it would yield to the Crown, and those who had rights
therein an annuity equal to £10,000 a year at the least, to say
nothing of the good that would arise from its cultivation. He
looked upon Mr. Dickinson as a benefactor, who had shown
them what could be done in the way of producing food froni
the land. He was not one who would sacrifice the welfare of
the people to ideas of what was romantic and beautiful. He
told them of a man who bought 100 acres of waste be-
tween Ringwood and Wiraborne, at £6 10s. per acre, which
he planted with quicks, where now 70 men were kept in con-
stant employ, and in the summer months 150 men found re-
munerative employment. The New Forest land is now worth
nothing except as giving some people an unbounded licence to
ramble over the ground. He had been very much struck with
a letter he had seen in the Lymington paper, signed " John
Morant," which reminded him of an Ojibbeway Indian lament-
ing over the loss of his hunting-grounds in New York or Phi-
ladelphia. He was utterly at a loss to conceive how a gen-
tleman of his position and education should have written such
a letter, knowing it would keep away many wortliy men from
attending the meeting that day. It was evident he had not
rubbed shoulders with the world, or such a letter would not
have been written. Every man had a right to express his
opinions, but no man had a right to use his influence to deter
other men from expressing theirs. He did not agree with Mr.
Morant's idea of the " ruthless agriculturist" — and " conge-
ries of turuip fields." He did not exactly understand the term
" congeries" as applied to turnip fields, which were difficult
things to heap one upon another. He, the speaker, thought
the welfare of the labouring classes ought never to be lost sight

of— that a happy peasantry was of far greater importance than
a vast peasantry and howHng wilderness. Mr. Dickinson had
tried, and done well. A man had better even try and fail than
not try at all. His desire was to see the most made of the
land, and he was happy to second the resolution.

Mr. EsDAiLE (Burley Manor), said he had attended the
meeting, being desirous of hearing what would be said on
the subject. It was a great question, and should be carefully
studied. He desired to express no opinion. He was second to
none of them in the interest he felt in the welfare of the poor
in the New Forest. But he had lieard with the greatest pain
what had been stated by the gentleman who seconded the first
resolution, that the New Forest children were sent out to pick
and the men to steal. He must say, though among them there
were some " black sheep," that the New Forest had an orderly,
decent, and honest population. He could almost wish that
this had been an evening meeting, so that these poor people
might have been there to defend tliemselves. Speaking for
them as a neighbour living among them, he denied the accusa-
tion. He was sure that Mr. Dickinson's kindness of heart
would not permit him to state that these people were nothing
but a population of thieves.

Mr. Dickinson explained that he did not use the words as
referred to by Mr. Esdaile. He said children were sent out to
collect what they could in the Forest. This was an inducement
to them when there to take other things. It was not the first
time he had been misunderstood by Mr. Esdaile. He (Mr.
Dickinson) held by his words, as he had himself suffered
severely, and he could, if he liked, speak of worse things. He
added that the New Forest contained all things necessary to
cultivation. The marl found in it was the finest of all manures,
and he had largely used it.

The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously.
Captain Wilson, R.N., then proposed the third resolution
as follows : " That this meeting memorialise the Government to
the effect that it is highly desirable to carry out the above reso-
lutions by prompt and elfectual legislation."

This was seconded by the Ilev. J. B. BuRT, of Beaixlieu, who
said that, as he had lived over forty years in the New Forest,
had cultivated land there all the time, and had had intimate
relations witli its people, he thought he had some right to
speak. Last year very many in his district were out of work,
and came on the parish. He spoke to them of emigration.
They said, " No ; look at the land here lying waste ; here's
plenty of work, or ought to be." Before his window lay
huudreds of acres of waste land that might be profitably t;ul-
tivated, and would yield good crops. He had grown twelve
sacks of barley and eight of wheat to an acre, besides heavy
grass crops. It was possible some of the poor might think
they would suffer in this proposed change, and that if a
petition were got up many of them might be persuaded to
sign it. He objected to the system of Crown enclosures for
the growth of timber, which was now comparatively useless for
navy purposes. He seconded the resolution, which was
unanimously adopted.

The Rev. W. Field, seconded by Mr. Dickinson, proposed
" That a committee be appointed to embody the resolutions in
a memorial to the House of Commons composed of the follow-
ing gentlemen: Capt. Wilson, Il.N., Mr. E. Dennett, Mr.
Lewis, Mr. Purchase, Mr. Helby, Mr. W. Dickinson, and
Mr. H. Doman."

The names of the Rev. W. Field and Mr. A. D. Peterson,
were also added to the list.

Mr. R. Sharp, seconded by Mr. Peterson, proposed a
vote of thanks to the Mayor, and the meeting broke up.

THE PROVISION TRADE AT NEW YORK.— In 1869
the exports of pork from New York amounted to 72,019
barrels, as compared with 82,G2S barrels in 1808 ; the exports
of beef amounted to 32,299 barrels, as compared with 2(3,430
barrels in 1868 ; oatmeals were exported in 1869 to the
amount of 47,941,458 lbs., as compared with 36,330,799 lbs.
in 1808 ; butter to the amouut of 1,108,417 lbs., as compared
with 987,362 lbs. in 1808 ; cheese to the amount of 56,413,581
lbs., as compared with 41,233,806 lbs. in 1868 ; and lard to
the amount of 30,383,538 lbs., as compared with 44,490,487
lbs. in 1868.

396

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CAUSES DISCOURAGING THE APPLICATION OF CAPITAL TO AGRICULTURE.

At a meeting of the Newbury Fanners' Club, Mr. J. J.
]\lEcni read the following pa^er :

A nation superabounding in population and in wealth, which
it loans to foreign nations in hundreds of millions, and yet,
witli its land half farmed and half capitalled, is dependent on
foreign countries for nearly one half of its daily bread, must
appear to every reasoning mind a pitiable, dangerous, and re-
proachful anomaly. There must be causes for this uncom-
fortable state of things, and into those causes we are about this
evening to inquire. When this subject was proposed to me,
I asked of myself the following questions : —

1. Are there practicable remedies ?

2. Will they benefit alike landowners, tenants, labourers, and
the country at large ?

3. Can the necessary capital be found to carry them out ?

And I at once, guided by my own long practical experience as
landowner and tenant, answered in tlie affirmative. As to
capital, we are all, I believe, agreed, that almost any amount
of money may be had on land security ; and that is, I know,
the experience of the several land drainage and land improve-
ment companies that have been of late years established. I
therefore anticipate that to give a security on the land for tlie
cost of improvements effected by these companies will be here-
after looked upon as a commendable and desirable transaction.
The time will come when purchasers of estates wiU naturally
expect to find a considerable annual charge on them for liqui-
dation of principal and interest of improvements effected
through these companies. This system will (when legalised on
entailed and embarrassed estates) bring into agricultural use
and profit the surplus funds of those who, but for these com-
panies, would never have thought of investing their money in
agricultural improvements. It wiU divert millions from
foreign loans that would go to strengthen foreign nations as
our agricultural and manufacturing competitors, and would
bring vast funds for agricultural use and profit. Before I
continue my subject, let me say, truthfully and without flattery,
that your county is one in the foremost rank of agricultural
progress, thanks in great degree to that wise, good, and far-
seeing man, tlie late much lamented Prince Consort, to the
late Mr. Pusey, and to other spirited landowners
and their tenants — some, alas ! no more. I infer,
Irom your invitation to me, and from the subject
which you have chosen, that you are dissatisfied
with the present condition of British agriculture, and desire to
see it amended, so that we may be enabled, now that we have
free trade in corn and meat, to compete successfully with
foreign nations in the production of human food. I therefore
ask myself, could we thus successfully compete ? and I reply,
with the confidence resulting from long practical experience,
that we certainly could so compete, provided that all the con-
ditions were favourable to the investment of more capital and
intelligence- in agricultural production. But how important
and significant is this last sentence ! It may be said to con-
tain the whole future of British agricultural progression. In
order to succeed fully, British agriculture should be, both as
regards landowner and tenant, as free as air, and released from
the numerous trammels which at present cramp its action and
hinder its advance. I presume we are all agreed that so long
as the average prices of meat and grain are remunerative, we,
as farmers, shall not complain, although tliose prices may be
subject to the ups and downs that have ever attended and ever
must attend agricultural productions. But while the average
prices since the introduction of free trade have been satisfac-
tory to those whose farms are in a proper condition, favourable
to capital, thousands of farmers who are deprived of those
favourable conditions have had, and continue to have,
especially just now, a painful struggle, and are totally unpre-
pared to combat successfully with foreign competitors at the
present low prices. Shut up in little ill-shaped fields, with
broad hedgerows and timber trees, their laud undrained, their
roads wretched, their liomestead ill-placed, their personal and
animal accommodation insufficient and ill-arranged, their

leases _ restrictive and antiquated, and, in some cases, grouud
game in excess and a deficient capital, theirs, indeed, must be
a sorrowful and unprofitable lot, still further aggravated by the
uncertainty of annual tenure, and the absence of a valuation
for unexhausted improvements. Not only have they to com-
pete with foreigners, but also with those of their own country-
man who, in every one of these respects, may be much more
favourably situated than themselves. When I say that we
could compete successfully with foreigners, it is because I
know that we have an important natural advantage over them
(from our greater proximity to a market) which, I think,
may be taken as approaching 15s. per quarter on wheat.
A considerable difference of opinion prevails as to the
cost to foreigners of placing their grain in our markets,
and that is not to be wondered at, seeing not only how variable
at times are the charges for conveyance by land or water, but
also how different are our distances from the sources of supply.
Estimates run from 8s. to 20s. per quarter ; probably 15s.
would not be far from the average truth. A friend, well versed
in the foreign corn trade, writes to me thus : " As you put the
question — ' Has the British farmer a protection to the extent
of 15s. a quarter in wheat ?' — coming from the AVestern States
of America and the interior of the south of Uussia, perhaps,
you would be within the mark, but the great bulk of our sup-
plies come not thence direct, although I have little doubt they
do by displacement. A large portion of the wheat shipped at
St. Petersburg ascends the Wolga, nearly 2,000 miles, and is
two years reaching the port of shipment ! What are the
charges, waste and interest of money ?" A Russian gentleman
informed me that this tedious transit has been considerably
hastened by the use of steam tugs on the Wolga. The ab-
sence of local reads and bridges iu Russia and other countries
that supply us with grain, render its conveyance difficult and
costly. They are, however, making railways with English
money. We must not forget, in making our estimate, how
numerous and repeated are the charges on transit, such as
loading and unloading by land and water, cartage freight, in-
surance, commission, difference in weight, waste, damage by
damp, heating, or salt water, the latter not recoveralile by in-
surance unless from some accident to the ship. Now, as a
good British farmer will average 5 quarters of wheat per acre
(some years I have averaged 7 quarters per acre) he has thus an
advantage, from natural causes, of £3 15s. per acre, to which
must be added the difference in acreable produce which is cer-
tainly from 1 to 2 quarters per acre. The returns for the
quantity of seed wheat sown are, in southern Russia, 5 for 1 ;
in poor northern land in Russia, 4 for 1 ; iu England, 14 for 1 ;
with good farmers, 25 for 1 ; on my farm 40 for 1. In the
United States of America it can be scarcely 6 for 1, because
their average crops of wlieat are, I have reason to believe, as
low as 16 bushels per acre. Ours iu England are 28 to 30.
In Russia, America, and other foreign countries, the hand and
horse-hoe are too generally neglected, and consequently they
get a mixed crop of weeds, seeds, and grain. I am sorry to
say that some farmers do this, even in England. Against our
advantages, which I have described, must be set off cheap or
nominally rented laud, and the generally smaller cost of pro-
duction. Take the extreme case in favour of the foreigner ;

£ s. d.

Our rent, rates, tithes, and taxes 3 0 0

Cheaper labour in Russia 0 10 0

Other charges, manures, &e 1 0 0

3 10 0

— that would still leave a balance in favour of England. In
America, whence v/e derive so much of our wheat, labour is
double the price of ours, so that our advantage is increased to
that extent. It may be useful to consider the present aspect
of the foreign grain trade as it affects the foreign farmer, for
lie is by no means just now in a comfortable position, and, if
I am not mistaken, these low prices will soon lessen foreign
import, and gradually enhance prices here. Wheat has re-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

397

cently Leen bought at Cliicago (United States) at 20s. per qr.,
and in Russia at the same price. That wheat cannot be brought
here and sold with any profit much under 40s. per qr., but how
much does the farmer get for it who lives hundreds of miles away
from any shipping port ? for we must remember that most of
the lands of the old settlemenis near sea-ports have been long
since exhausted by constant croppings, and that it is only
from the distant interior that supplies can be now obtained.
Even with our good roads, which are wanting abroad, we can-
not cannot convey wheat to market under 3d. per qr. per mile,
or L6s. 8d. per 100 miles. I know of oats contracted for, free
on board at Montreal, in Canada, in May next, at 12s. 3d. per
qr. How much will the poor farmer get, who is some hun-
dreds of miles' distance from the shipping port ? A Canadian
gentleman assures me that after deducting from the present
price paid in London, the charges in London, ocean freight,
the transport from Chicago to New York (the port of ship -
ment), and the charges at Chicago, with cost of land transport
to Chicago, the grower realises only 13s. 6d. per qr. for wheat,
or very little more than half the cost of production. He an-
ticipates that supplies to us must greatly fall off. 1 am as-
sured that exporters and importers of grain have during the
last six months suffered a loss equal to £2,000,000 sterling,
having ordered and bought too dear, expecting, as many of
us did, that corn would realise a high price. The high price
of labour in America is sufficiently proved by the fact that last
year 120,000 mowing and reaping-machines were sold. Beg-
ging pardon for this digression, I now proceed to name the
obstructions to agricultural progress :

1. Want of security of tenure by transferable leases.
3, Want of legalised sanction of valuation for tenants' un-
exhausted improvements.

3. Want of a more uniform practice in valuations, all other
things being equal.

4. The law of entail.

5. The cost, delay, and difficulty of land transfer.

6. The want of drainage, local and arterial.

7. Small irregular fields, with too much hedgerow, timber,
and ground game.

8. Unsuitable residential and animal accommodation, mis-
placed homesteads, and ill-shaped farms.

9. The retention of half the kingdom (32^500,000 acres)
in permanent pasture, much of it robbed, starved, poor,
and unimproved.

10. The want of education,

11. A dislike to change, and a comfortable belief in anti-

quated customs.

Security op Tenure is one of the most important means
for attracting capital. Human nature is aUke in town and
country. Who, in a town, would effect an improvement
with merely annual tenure, or unsecured by a lease, with
power to sell or transfer that lease ? Without leases London
and other great cities would have remained small and anti-
quated. The nineteen years' lease and the intelligent educa-
tion of the Scotch farmer and his labourers, have, together,
worked well, especially for the landowner ; and only require
the valuation of tenants' unexhausted improvements to make
the system nearly perfect. Mr. Gladstone, in his able speech
on the Irish Land Question, assumed that in England tenures
were more certain than in Ireland. By courtesy they are, but
not by law or contract. In order to satisfy my mind on this
point I made inquiries of several of our most eminent land-
valuers, whose replies, so kindly given, are as follows ;

1. " I do not know how to answer your question, there
being no data upon which to base an opinion. In the Home
and Eastern Counties I should say leases were general ; in
the Midland and Northern Counties the exception. You
may take this fact, however, as indisputable, that by far the
larger majority of tenants would accept leases if they had the
chance."

2. " I cannot give you from any data the extent of land
under lease in England, but I do not think it can exceed one-
tenth of the cultivated portion. I am very doubtful indeed
whether the majority of farm tenants would have leases if
they were offered, but this is owing to the present want of
capital. Once get the capital that is wanted and leases would
be a sine qua noii"

3. " There are no means of arriving at any even approxi-
mate conclusioa as to the proportion of leasehold to annual

tenure. The difficulty in England is to get the tenant to
accept a lease." , . -n i i

4. " I consider that four-fifths of the land in England are
held on annual tenure, and the remaining fifth held under all
sorts of leases, some for the term of 7 years, and again for
the term of 13, 14, and 21 years. I very recently gave the
tenants of a large estate in Lancashire, for which I am agent,
the option of holding on as yearly tenants or of accepting
leases at 3s. per acre more rent than they were asked to pay as
yearly tenants ; aU the tenants accepted the leases at the addi-
tional rent."

It is quite true that on certain noble estates, where it is
made a point of honour never to change the tenantry against
their will, there tenants do not wish for a lease and would
decline taking one. The true reason is that they know that
they hold at an unvarying or easy rent rate, with fixity pf
tenure, and they also know that under leases landowners obtain
higher rents than without them ; for while now all is quiet
and undisturbed in the tenant's case, had they leases there
might and probably would arise at the terminution of those
leases, revaluations or other reconsiderations. " But," said I
to a tenant of 1,000 acres on such a well farmed noble estate,
" supposing that an unjust or oppressive tenant for life should
succeed to the estate ?" " Oh," said he, " a few instances of
wrong-doing would alarm the tenantry ; they would change
their high farming for a taking-out system, and the estate would
soon become deteriorated in value." Again, he said, " The
stewards of the estate are well aware of this ; so we see no
danger of such a kind." They justly observe that the Scotch
nineteen years' lease (without valuation of tenants' unex-
hausted improvemeutsi has enormously increased rents, to the
landowners great advantage ; and they thus appreciate their
own more favourable position. Notwithstanding these facts,
I am stiU decidedly of opinion that farming should be treated
as a business, and not as a favour, and that leases, with a valu-
ation of tenants' unexhausted improvements, would attract a
greater investment of capital, and improve the class of tenants.
I would strongly advise every one who feels an interest in these
matters to peruse a work which is full of valuable evidence on
most of the points of our discussion. The information it con-
tains is far more copious than it is possible for me to lay
before you this evening ; audit becomes, just now, of great
practical value, seeing that Government has recognised and is
prepared to legaUse tenant-right in Ireland. No one can for
a moment suppose but that it must very soon become legalised
also in England as well as in Ireland. In 1849 there occurred
the late Mr. Phihp Pusey's House of Commons' committee on
Tenant-right. A digest of the evidence was prepared by
Messrs. Shaw and Corbet, of the London Farmers' Club. A
republication of that valuable document may now he had at
Mr. Tuxford's, 365, Strand ; or of Mr. Ridgway, 169, Picca-
dilly, price 3s. 6d. It contains the evidence of 50 eminent
landowners, land valuers, and farmers, on the following

subjects : .

Tenant-right, customs of the different counties, pp. 1 to 55,
Cultivation of the different counties, pp. 56 to 134.
Tenure, pp. 135 to 133.
The necessity of legislative enactment to secure or create capital

invested in the soil, pp. 134 to 163.
The laws of entail, and the policy of giving enlarged powers to

holders of life estate, &c., pp. 164 to 173.
The general benefit that would follow from a recognised
system of compensation for unexhausted improvements, pp.
173 to 186.
Farm buildings, pp. 187 to 199.
Permanent improvements, draining, chalking, marling, or

claying, pp. 300 to 314.
Temporary improvements, pp. 215 to 221.
Dilapidations, and the justice of giving compensation to the
landowner for injury, as well as to the tenant for improve-
ment, pp. 233 to 334.
Advantage of breaking up inferior grass-lands, pp. 235 to 240,
In 1849, when the foregoing evidence was taken, we had no
land drainage and land improvement Companies. Now such
Companies exist, and have at their command an almost un-
limited amount of capital waiting for investment, when the
laws of entail shall have been reformed, as suggested in the
evidence at p. 1G4. These Companies will form the link that
will connect the surplus funds of cities with agricultural im-
provement.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZIKE.

The Laws of Entail.— Oiic-lialf of Euglun J is owned by
150 individuals, and one-half of Scotland by about twelve. In
most of these cases the owners are merely tenants for life, fet-
tered by very limited powers, quite inconsistent with
agricultural improvement. Some relaxation has been granted
by Parliament, but much more is required. I am glad to see
that the succession question will be considered by the Govern-
ment.

Valuation of Tenants' IJNExnAUSTED iMrEOVEJiENTS.
— No doubt we shall have for England a legalisation of tenants'
unexhausted improvements, and a general but clear definition of
them. We know that we have a body of able men as land
valuers and land agents, forming a society called the Surveyors'
Association. I hope that they will soon come to an agreement
as to the most important questions, such as drainage of stitf
clays, covered yards, fixed steam machinery, &c. We want
uniformity of valuation, other things being equal. Now, I
can find valuers and farmers in Essex who don't believe in the
deep pipe drainage of stiff tile clays, although they would
decline to stop the holes in their flower-pots. I look upon
stiff soil deep pipe drainage as almost a permanent improve-
ment, provided the outlets are kept free. Mine, done 25 years
ago, are all perfect, and likely to remain so for another cen-
tury. In light and springy soils the drains require more
attention. Covered and enclosed yards with paved floors, I
look upon as essential to the successful farming of stiff soils.
It is a great mistake to suppose that such farms are not stock
farms ; they will produce stock food abundantly, and with
proper management and suitable winter shelter, plenty of
stock may be reared and fattened, as I know by experience.
Modern agriculture, with its chemical and mechanical aids,
and artificial foods and manures, has become quiet a different
affair from the primitive pastoral period of the past century,
and requires in respect of tenure, concurrent and suitable
conditions and valuations, giving confidence and support to the
extra capital that must be now invested. The incongruous
and inconsistent state of our valuations for tenants' improve-
ments or investments is, as a system, or rather as a want of
system, discreditable to us as men of business. In one county
every improvement is by custom allowed for, in another not
cue is taken account of. A farmer in Essex may have ex-
pended £10 an acre in the draining and chalking of stiff
clays, yet not one farthing would be received by his family
should he die, and the farm be let the very next year after the
execution of these costly investments.

The Want of Good Eaem IIoads. — In this age of loco-
motives steam-ploughing engines, weighing from 6 to 25 tons,
a farm can hardly be said to be in a fit condition for capital
until it has good internal roads. I know of more than one
valuable engine stuck fast in the rand and waiting for a dry time.
Agricultural Residences. — Landowners often complain
to me of the difficulty of finding tenants with capital to take
their farms, forgetting that modern agriculture, with its greatly
increased capital, is entitled to suitable conditions, very
different from the antiquated arrangements of too many of
our south country farmeries. Men of capital seeking for
farms often say to me, " I would take that land, but the house
and premises are wretched, the land undrained, and the whole
affair unsuitable for the profitable investment af capital." If
a tenant is to bring a capital of £15 to £25 per acre (which I
recommend on arable land, and which is often the case in
in Norfolk and Lincolnshire), he must be treated as a gentle-
man, as I know to be the practice on some of our noble
estates, where the tenants and their labourers rank high in
comparison with neglected districts. That is the way to im-
prove the landowner's rental and to feed the people. Modern
farmers with education and capital do not wear smock frocks
and dine in the kitchen with their labourers, as was once, and
is now in some districts, the custom.

Poor or neglected Permanent Pasture opposes a
great barrier to the investment of capital, the employment of
labour, and the production of food for the people ; 22,500,000
acres, being one half of our available land, are in permanent
pasture, much of it poor, robbed, and unimproved, yielding a
wretched produce of probably only 4'5s. per acre. Under
cultivation, with modern improvements, an exactly opposite
state of things would prevail. It is a mistake to suppose that
arable lands cannot be made stock farms.

Trees and Hedgerows must succumb to steam culti-
vation and modern improvement. I wish that our Board of

Trade would give us a return of the miles of hedgerows, their
average length per acre, and the number of trees, and their
numbers to each acre. The length of open ditches and water-
courses would be also desirable.

Game. — The exclusive privilege of sporting would, in many
cases, attract tenants of capital. The detested gamekeeper, and
too much ground game, often repel capital.

Education. — The want of it, either for our farmers or their
labourers, must be a great impediment to successful agricul-
ture. Scotch farmers and their labourers owe much to their
long-established and general education, dating from the time of
John Knox — 300 years ago. In this respect they have stolen
a long march upon us south countrymen, hence the general
prevalence of Scotch valuers, stewards, gardeners, and bailiffs
in England and Ireland. England is, however, at length
awakening to the importance of education, and I rejoice to see
that the matter is taken in hand by our Legislature. I have
been told, more than once, by large practical farmers of the
old school that not only was education not required, but that it
would spoil their best labourers. Let ns hope that this delu-
sion is gradully passing away. What we require in our agri-
cultural labourers and in ourselves is intelligence ; and although
it is only the Almighty who can give natural talents, man may
cultivate and improve them. Certainly the ability to read,
write, and cipher would afford to the labourer, desirous of in-
formation and improvement, the means of acquiring both, and
thus of becoming a more useful member of society. Ignorance
is not bliss even in agriculture, but knowledge is power. Not
only will education render the labourer much more valuable to
his employer, but it will also enable him, if he has talent and a
desire for improvement, to emancipate himself from the mere
drudgery of labour, and take a better position in society.
Several of my best labourers, aged about 45, who liave been
with me more than 25 years, can neither read nor write, and
they all regret it, especially the one who has managed my
steam-engine and machinery for the last 20 years, and who
could greatly improve his natural talent if able to read the
current engineering literature. The superior iuteUigence and
rapidly-increasing power of our American cousins arises from
their passionate love of education, their Government and
people having always made ample provision for national educa-
tion by endowment with lands and by liberal taxation. It has
been a paying investment, and, but for their vast area of cheap
land, and the consequent high wages of labour, we should have
lost ground in the competitive race of manufactures, and per-
haps warfare. There are more than 120,000 pubUc schools
and colleges in the United States, most of them free. Edu-
cation would also, no doubt, effect a religious aud moral
change in our labourers, and much diminish the diffi-
culties of the beer-shop question. At present the un-
educated labourer's mind is, comparatively, a blank,
receiving no impressions from past or passing events, British
or foreign ; but educate him, and he, like ourselves, would
take a lively interest in the world's affairs. The broadsheets
of inteUigence in newspapers and books would then give him
wholesome excitement, and occupy pleasingly, innocently, and
profitably, much of that portion of his time which is now
injuriously wasted at the beer-shop. We have already a
halfpenny newspaper in Essex, aud I hope that the postal
charges on them will be greatly diminished. Everybody
in America reads a nev^spaper ; there, newspapers were
produced at a cheap rate long before we attempted it.
We must, both landlords and tenants, expect and prepare for
great changes in our agricultural practice. Local and arterial
drainage, the utilisation of town sewage, the manufacture of
beetroot-sugar or its distillation for spirits, the extensive use of
steam for cultivation, and fixed steam-machinery, covered-
homesteads, &e., will necessitate a considerable relaxation in
the stringency of leases, and require large additional invest-
ments of landowners' and tenants' capital. General and necd-
fid agricultural improvements, both by landowners and tenants,
might gradually absorb much more than £500,000,000 of ad-
ditional capital : it would be a safe and profitable investment.
This is no exaggeration ; I speak practically on the matter. We
have nearly 50,000,000 of available acres, besides uncultivated
wastes. TJie mere drainage of the portion requiring it would, ac-
cording to our best authorities, absorb more than £100,000,000,
to say nothing of many other costly landowners' improvements.
The tenants' capital increased by £4 per acre would absorb an
additional £200,000,000. On my farm and on many others the

THE FAUMBR'S MAGAZINE.

399'

iicreable sums expended by landowner and tenant are very
much beyond the amounts I have specified. There need be
no fear of our arriving too suddenly at the expenditure I have
named : a host of prejudices by the way — let us try and re-
move them. The mul'tipUcation of our population, now num-
bering 32,000,000 (which 70 years ago were only 10,000,000),
will outstrip, I fear, any attempts we may make to provide
them with homegrown food. What a happy country this
would be if, by tlie freedom of agricultural action and by the
investment of ample additional capital and intelligence, wc
could produce our own food as we manufacture our own
clothing and other necessaries, and in the act of so doing em-
ploy more of the British people, thus diminishing suffering and
pauperism, and increasing the wealth, strength , and content of
our country. Experience has taught me that all this could be
profitably done, and I pray that those who have the povyer may
be moved to encourage, by suitable and improved legislation,
and by every other means, so desirable a result. You will
agree with me that the quantity of food we can produce must
depend upon the quantity and quality of the manure which we
dei)osit in the soil. Admitting this to be so, our country
ought to be one of the most productive in the world, for not
only do we consume all that we grow, but in addition some
£70,000,000 worth (solid and liquid) of human food which
we import from foreign nations, in addition to millions' worth
of food for our live stock. The results of all this, which now
pollute our streams, would, if applied to the soil, produce food
enough without foreign imports, and spare our paying
£2,000,000 annually for birds'-dung from Peru, and taxing
the graveyards of the world for osseous remains.
But if we have not yet made the laud fat by sewage,
we have evidently succeeded in fattening the bed of the
Thames by pouring into it for many years the results of all
the good things that we consume. There can he no mistake
about this, for a French gentleman has succeeded in extracting
fat from Thames mud, and it is reported that he has estab-
lished a factory at Battersea for that purpose. A series of
chemical analyses have shown that there is an ample supply of
fat on all the mud banks, both on the north and south side of
our once salmon stream. Can there be a more bitter satire
tban this on our national agricultural intelligence ? Need we
be surprised at this, seeing how many tons of fat pass daily
into our river ? In conclusion, this is an unfavourable time
for arable land farmers, and many will suffer heavy losses.
My balance-sheet for 1869 shows a considerable decline from
those of former years, as you will see at foot. The difference
would have been greater, but that I sold much of my corn
before the heavy fall in price :

Balance to pay Rent, also Interest and Peofit on
Tenant's Capital on 170 Acres.

1869 £427 13 G

1868 572 13 6

*1867 773 5 10

1866 573 11 6

1865 543 7 4.

Let us, then, resolve to amend our agricultural ways, for
our own profit, and for the good of our country.

THE APPLICATION OF CAPITAL TO AGRI-
CULTURE.—At the meeting of the Warwickshire Chamber
of Agriculture at Atherstone, Mr. T. Horley introduced
this subject in an address, in which he said, it was Lin-
colnshire where agriculture was carried to the highest per-
fection, and he quite agreed with Mr. Chaplain that it was the
best farmed county in England. He believed that great
changes would take place in respect to agriculture in this aud
other counties, where they were universally behind the Lin-
colnshire farmers. Nothing, he considered, would have so
great a tendency in causing capital to flow into the channels
of agriculture as a certainty that the out-going tenant would be
re-imbursed for unexhausted improvements. There were, how-
ever, two sides to a question. The tenants should remember
that if tliey did not do their duty they might be called upon to
make good anything which had arisen from their mismanage-

ment or neglect. They should not consider one side of the
question alone, and it was only fair that if tlie tenants
asked for a guarantee that the landlords should have
a guarantee also. He nest referred to local taxa-
tion, and showed how unjustly it pressed on real
property, and observed that it prevented in a great mea-
sure capital being employed in agriculture. They could not
shut their eyes to the fact that if a gentleman having £10,000
put it into the funds he was entirely free from those taxes, but
if, on the contrary, he laid it out in the improvement of the
soil he was called upon to pay rates for that capital. That
had a serious effect in preventing capital being employed in
agriculture. This question had been debated for many years
past, and evidence respecting it was taken before a Parlia-
mentary Committee in 1848. It was the opinion of this
Committee and the bulk of the witnesses examined before it,
tliat it should be dealt with by a system of what was called
tenant-right, and it was decidedly shown that this would be
beneficial both to the farmers and landlords of this country.
It was then universally admitted that it was very desirable
that the question should be one of early legislation. He
feared that many landlords did not understand this question.
A rambling discussion followed that went but occasionally to
the point, and the following resolutions were ultimately car-
ried : " That the application of capital to agriculture is to a
large extent discouraged by the absence of provisions which
would secure to the tenant when leaving a farm the value of
his capital invested, and the agreements which would ensure
repayment to the tenant of money expended by which he has
increased the value of the soil, would encourage the applica-
tion of capital to agriculture by tenants, would add to the per-
manent producing powers of the land, and would thus mate-
rially benefit the landowner." And " That the existing law
which places all local expenditure upon land and building,
leaving other investments entirely free from such charges, is
unjust, and is a great and serious discouragement to employing
capital in agriculture."

lu 1867 my wheat crop averagerl 7 quarters per acre.

PAYING THEIR WAY.— A short time since Mr. Mor-
timer, a gentleman down in the West, sharing in the very
general dissatisfaction now abroad, spoke thus at a meeting of
the Devon Chamber : " The Central Chamber was opened in
18G5, and at present comprised some 180 members, of whom
26 were elected to the couucil. He was not aware of any-
thing that constituted tliera the head of the chamloers in the
country, or that the country chambers should affiliate them-
selves to the Central Chamber. About fifty chambers had
aflUiated themselves to the Central Chamber, and sent a hun-
dred delegated members to it, so that the council consisted of
120 members. The self-elected members of the Central
Chamber had more weight than the chambers in the country.
He did not consider they should place so much confidence in
the Central Chamber ; and he urged they should have a
chamber where they could be properly represented. The
chambers throughout the country had no common bond, and
often were working in direct opposition to each other.'' Mr.
Mortimer then moved a resolution, which we gave in our
paper immediately on this being passed. In answer to Cap-
tain Davey, the secretary of the Central Chamber writes a
letter, in which he says : " In order tliat there may be some
certainty about attendance of a portion of the council, the
twenty-six elected members of the Central Chamber are
allowed second-class railway fares, and this takes up fully one-
half of the money subscribed by the Central Chamber mem-
bers." Only imagine, in order to secure " some certainty of
attendance," tlie members of the council of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society, of the council of the Smithfield Club, of the
committees of the Farmers' Club, or of the council of the
Royal A.^ricultural Benevolent Institution expending the funds
of those Societies in sending each other up to London, car-
riage paid, second-class ! Of course, the secretary then gets
on to his favourite topic, and hints pretty broadly at sending
round the hat again : " The active and hberal-miuded cham-
bers are from time to time increasing tlieir contributions,
while others are lukewarm or non-progressive ;" wliile, as he
plainly puts it, if the executive would only travel first-class,
ihey would run pretty closely up to the income !

400

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

THE MANAGEMENT OF A DAIRY FARM.

[We have thought it useful to promote the subjoined cor-
responclencc]

Dear Sir, — You miglit think me rather hold in intruding,
but as I thought the writer of the articles " Northern Farmer"
was some one with a sound knowledge of farming, some one
that I durst safely follow, not one of Mr. Mechi's stamp, hut
oiie both safe and profitable, it encourages me to do so.
Though I am a young man, 1 have been a, subscriber to the
31ar/c Lane Express twelve or thirteen years. I admired
some articles written last winter, signed J. S., hut I have a
better liking for those signed '■ Northern Farmer," though
both are very good.

I have about 123 acres of good second-rate land, all either
naturally dry, or else well drained ; also about 14 acres of
land that used to he a wood, but now only a little timber in ;
this is on a slope, hut nearly all dry.

My stock consists of 24 cows at present ; I generally have
from 17 to 27, the greater number in winter, and the less in
summer ; also six calves of about five weeks old, from my own
cows, though I have only one heifei out of the lot ; these are
the first I ever attempted to rear. 1 have three horses, and
three carts of 11 cwt. each.

I have 136 Northumberland ewes, tupped with two Lincoln-
Leicester tups, bred near Wetherby, due to lamb about the 8th of
March. The milk is all sold at 3d. per quart, and fetched from
the house ; some of it is fetched a mile ; it is all ready money,
excepting about a dozen customers that pay monthly, in fact
30s. would cover all the had debts I ever made with milk. I
churn a little ; being ready money, it varies at times ; what we
churn is whole milk, not cream ; the buttermilk we sell at Id.
per quart, the butter averages here about Is. 4d. per lb. (16
ounces.) Before tea and sugar became so cheap there used to
be a great demand for buttermilk. Some time since 1 milked
35 cows ; but churning a deal, my misssus grumbled about
it having so much butter making.

The last winter was my first beginning with sheep, partly
through having so much grass left on the land at the back
end of the year, and then when we came to mow the meadows,
the hay was fuU of the old dead grass ; and partly through the
writer of the articles, signed J. S., in M. L. E., I bought 60
Cheviot in-lamb ewes, 20 Penistone ewes, and a few what they
call Derbyshire Limestones, bred near Buxton. We lost one ewe
in lambing, one lamb through sucking in wool ; but being rather
short of land for them, we gave them adealofcake and corn, and
sold both ewes and lambs to the butcher. I went to the sale
at Shrewsbury, in September last, the 3,000 sale, but I thouglit
they sold very dear. I bid hard, but did not get a lot. I
gave 48s. and 49s. for my north ewes at York, such would
be bought at 40s. and 42s. the season before. What I should
much like jouto tell me is, for one thing, which way would you
do with the ewes and lambs, first as to what, if anything, would
you give them besides a good pasture P The ewes are all full
mouthed. Would you sell off a part of the lambs, or all, or
any of them ?

I will tell how I keep my cows. I get from 12 to 15 loads
of grains weekly, about two miles from here, at 2s. 6d. per
load of G bushels ; each cow also gets about 41bs. daily of
linseed cake and rape cake, together with Gibs, of bean-meal,
mixed up with the grains and mangolds, at present three times
a day ; once a day we fodder them with straw ; what they
leave we bed them with ; we give them hay twice a day in
summer ; they get the same weight of cake and meal with the
grains. We turn them out to grass * in April, but they don't

* We think that these fields should be examined well. If
ryegrass is plenty, ergot of rye is a disease to which this
grass is particularly liable. It consists of occasional Islack
spurs, of variable length, growing in the position of the
seeds, and is probably a diseased condition of the seed itself.
This disease has nothing whatever to do with the seed, but
•where it occurs in any quantity it is usually an evidence of a
damp condition of the atmosphere, and want of drainage.
If these spurs are to bo found, we would recommend tho
writer to remove Ma stock, and especially in-calf cows, to
another pasture, as cows eating the ergot vrill certainly slip
their calves,— [Ed,]

go out in the night until the first of June ; they were tied up
early in October for the winter. I have tried letting them
stop out in the day until near December ; but they always lost
a deal of condition, and this is of some consequence, for I let
them all go to the butcher. 1 have tried bulling a few, hut
they nearly always slipped their calves for several years ; people
here say it was through being too highly kept ; but they never
used to do if, and they have always liad about 101b. each
cow of meal, or meal and cake per day. I did sell two that
had been milked about 13 months for £66 at Christmas, these
made about £10 more than they cost me ; but they were very
well bred, and made a good price, 8d. per lb. ; but as a general
rule of late they never make near the price they cost. At
the present time they are very middUng ones at £24 or £25
each ; we used to get better at £18, besides the risks attend-
ing getting in fresh stock from fairs and markets. My cows
used to carry their calves before T got some land that was very
poor ; it had not had a shilling spent on it for 50 years ; it lies
near the rock, but fair amount of soil on it ; it used to burn iu
summer if there were 10 days without rain, but now a long
drought scarcely injures it. I have limed it three times — with
6 tons per acre once, and 4 tons per acre twice ; it has not
missed having a dressing of either manure or lime these nine
years; it is in pasture, it is full of benty grasses yet, and has
a skin of about 2 inches thick of dead grass, something like
that from a heath. We put the heaver slieep and lambs on
this field last summer, but they did not grow a bit ; then we
let it get fresh, and put the Cheviots amd their lambs on it,
but they stopped growing also, yet they all did well on the
other land. How do you think it would answer to break it up,
and sow it with rape this season ? This is a badly-farmed dis-
trict ; we live near what is called the back bone of England :
they are almost all of them small farms, nothing but grass,
milking six or eight cows, skim their night's milk, and mix it
with their morning's fore milk, and retail out at 2jd. per
quart. My land consists of four or five such places. The
steward, for part of my land, does whatever draining I have
wanted done ; he has done it all, both carted 3 inch-pipes, and
put them in free ; they also keep all walls on the roadside. Of
such I have 1| mUes iu good repair, free also. The rent aver-
ages about 50s. the statute acre. 1 live on the outskirts of the
town ; it runs near 1| mile from one end to the other ; we can
get on to two-thirds of the farm with 25 cwt. of manure with
one horse, and for the remainder it takes two horses for that
weight. There is horse and cow manure to be had at an
average of 4s. 6d. per ton within Ij mile of auy of it, and they
will put one-horse barrels of night soil on the land at Is. 3d. per
barrel ; night soil and ashes mixed we can have free for fetch-
ing. We can get 35 cwt. or more hay to tlie acre. Swedes
and mangolds are worth, on an average of years, 25s. per ton ;
they come some miles from here by rail, out of York.

All my land was in grass until 1868, when a gentleman
came out of Nottinghamshire, and said to me, " Why don't
you grow some cabbages and mangolds? This land will
grow cabbages and mangolds with any land. Try an
acre of cabbages, it will not he much loss if they
fail." I did so, and put the manure on the flat surface, and
only harrowed it, and got 5,000 plants ; we had lots above
301bs. each ; and green crops being a failure, people were
quite astonished. Succeeding with these, and the cows doing
so well on them, I put in about 5 acres last year, also 3 acres
of mangolds, an acre of kohl rabi, and a few swedes ; my man-
golds would weigh about 25 to 30 tons to the acre, kohl rabi
16 to 18 tons, hut they were sown on some of the poorest
land. People in this country said cabbages and roots could
not be grown, neither could sheep be kept ; they could
not tell their reason for it, only some one tried a few
sheep about 20 years since, and they could not manage them.

I only came into possession of one part of this land at
Christmas, the owner having let his mansion ; it is all in grass,
but about 12 acres that has been part oats, part beans, pota-
toes, mangolds, and swedes; but it is turnip-sick, for it has had
turnips ou every other year, he being the only turnip grower for
miles. I was thinking of sowing this with oats and seeds j

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

401

the fault with corn of any sort here is, being late to get ripe.
I have a field of ahout 7 acres ploughed, aud I thiuk of sow-
ing it with oats.

The field which I had the cahbages, &c., was four fields put
in one. There was a deal of labour to get it into form so that,
it could be worked with horses. I have a midden in it of
about 250 tons of horse and cow dung. I am thinking of
planting cabbages, mangolds, &c. again.

The way we used the cabbages, part was cut with a large
turnip cutter for the cows, and mixed with the grains, &c.,
the ewes got a good many carted on the grass iields ; and a
portion was given to some wethers feeding otf 30 acres of good
after-grass. I also sold a lot, about 10,000, to the hucksters
about here. I can also get the winter eating of a lot of dry
land near this very cheap.

The cows are milked winter and summer in a shippon, about
200 yards from the house. I should like to get a class of
cows that would milk well at less cost. I have given since
Christmas £127 10s. for four, they were so dear; they are York,
and Skipton cows. I have bought five common ones, such as
are bred about here, but they have not flesh about them;
there is not a good bull kept in this district. I am rather
fond of sheep, but know very little about them. I have given
them a sack of bran (1201bs.) every morning for some weeks,
but since the storm, two sacks,— aud hay as well; and shall
have some mangolds to spare for them. I have about 25 acres
of grass that nothing has been on since October.
'' I have written to you just as it came uppermost ; it will
need some trouble to sort it; it will need some patience;
but I shall be heartily glad of any information from you; and
if there is a time when you could come so far, I would most
eladlv pay you for your time. Yours truly,

^ •' ^ •' ■' A SmAXL rAKMEE_.

N B The sheep last summer we did not mix with the milking
stock, i am puzzled what sort of stock to get to fully stock it,
as for buildings to tie up in I have abundance.

Dear Sir —I have received your letter per favour of the
Editor of the Mcnli-Lane Eyrress, and being unable at pre-
sent to pay you a personal visit, shall endeavour to answer you
by post as fully as possible. _ .

I have to thank you for the highly flattering terms in which
you refer to recent articles which appeared m the columns ot
the Mark-Lane Express. You could not 1 assure you pay me
a greater compliment than by looking upon these articles as
practical, and capable of being carried out to the fuU in every-
day practice by the ordinary rent-paying farmer, as that is the
sole aim in publishing them, and to know that you or any
other reader has been instructed or benefited, is both pleas-
ing and satisfactory. I consider that if such exceedingly prac-
tical communications as that which I have just received from
yourself appeared now and again in print, real bona fide de-
scriptions of crops grown for particular purposes, and the
amount of success attending their growth, as also the amount
of concentrated food consumed by different classes of stocic ;
a much better idea of farming, as it is actually carried out m
different districts of the country would be arrived at

I may say in passing, do not thmk too hardly of Mr. Meclii,
as although he is admittedly too far ahead of his time for the
bulk of a'-riculturists to follow ; yet he has done a great deal
in pointing the way, and in inducing monied men to give new
systems at least a fair trial. Latterly he has refused to answer
obiections made by practical men to his published statements,
a course I would say fatal to his popularity, and to his success
as a practical teacher of his favourite pursuit, and one rather
surprising in a gentleman whose countenance is the personi-
fication of geniality aud good humour.

For the size of your occupation I would say you keep a
large stock ; your abihty to do so being explained by the fact
of your using so much purchased food in the shape of grains,
cake, and bean-meal. But for your feeding hberally with
concentrated food you could never have forced milking cattle
to such a price as £33 a-head, even although 8d. a lb. was ob-
tained for them. When a man has capital, and possesses
sufficient spirit to invest it in these foods, your experience
shows that it is a profitable investment, the produce of the
animal being longer sustained, its amount largely increased,
and the manure made both bulkier and richer in quaUty_. By
following the system which you have described, viz., selling to
the butcher, when the diminished flow of milk renders it no
longer profitable to keep her, it would be ruinous to feed only

with the food of the farm, as high-priced cows could not be
disposed of at their original cost, several pounds less having
to be accepted, the money which would in more favourable
conditions form the owner's net profit being thus irretrievably

The unavoidable deterioration in value that takes place in a
herd of dairy cows kept on, aud bred from for a succession of
years, must always be allowed for in striking the year's balance,
as if omitted the true result will not be obtained.

A number of old cows in a herd makes the dairy returns
very deceptive, particularly in the case of butter-making, the
milk being so much thinner from aged animals, aud a second
source of loss is thus introduced, the whole amounting to a
very considerable sum on the year's receipts. To get rid of
loss from this cause many intelligent men sell their cows on
the third or fourth calf, replacing them by young anim_als_ ot
their own breeding, each animal on leaving the farm bringing
all the money she could ever be worth, the extra price received
proving amply sufficient to repay the trouble and expense in-
evitable in the production of good stock.

Your own experience in having to pay, say £25 for middling
cows, is altogether in favour of this mode of management,^ as
it clearly shows that careful breeding aud liberality of feeding
in conjunction with the ordinary business of the dairy is a
great help in raising the annual return from that department
of farm business and setting the man who follows it on the
high road to success, if not competency.

I am sorry you did not state the exact amount in cash yon
made from each cow, as facts of that kind are invaluable if
only for the sake of comparison, but as the price, Is. per im-
perial gallon, is a high one for a country district, I will give
you my own opinion as to what should be extracted from each
animal.

You feed well, and, judging by the price you pay for them
have in your stall cattle of large frame capable of being forced
to yield an abundant flow of mUk. Taking the milk given by
a well kept cow at 600 gaUons, you have, at Is. per gallon,
the highly respectable sum of £30, but as you churn a little,
aud the price of butter only Is. 4d. a lb., there must neces-
sarily be some few deductions. That price for butter, even with
the large price of 4d. per gallon for butter-milk, is not by any
means equal to the price you get for the milk as it comes from
the cow, therefore I deduct £3 from the cow's monetary re-
turn on that account, and taking £5 to cover the cost of con-
centrated food, you have stiU £23 left to pay for the home-
grown, servants' wages, your own time and trouble, and in-
terest of money. , j-

I shall be exceedingly happy to know from you at any time
whether this calculation is over or under your mark, and how
much. Speaking experimentally, I believe it to be highly im-
politic to turn out cows that are being milked and prepared
for the butcher at the same time, more particularly of course
in spring and autumn, the withering blast and drenching rains
taking off condition faster tbau the best food can put it on.
As a rule with dairy cows, whether they are kept as temporary
or permanent stock, the later they are of being put out by
night in spring, and the sooner they are housed in autumn tlie
better it is for their own health and the interests of their
owner, although very singular to say, the opposite appears to
be carried out in practice. , » , - j

The reason, however, is obvious, the supply ot house tood
for winter being in too many cases inadequate, stern necessity
compels people to resort to such unnatural treatment of the
poor dumb creatures. Apart even from these considerations
it is short-sighted policy, as the grass nipped in the commence-
ment of its growth is never able to cover the ground and
afford a full bite, and by-and-by, when the sun becomes strong
the roots from having no protection get scorched and the land
becomes as incapable of affording sustenance to heavy stock
as it is in mid-winter. , , , , ,■ <• -n

The remarkably high prices now and lately ruling tor mUk-
ing cattle of a good class is very encouraging to breeders, and
every weU-bred calf should be reared. It is of no use, how-
ever rearing a badly bred one, as they are not worth the
trouble ■ all such should be sent away the moment they are
dropped, whether male or female. A heifer calf pure bred
from the sire will, if healthy, even although extremely smaU
when born expand rapidly if weU fed, and will always be a
decent thing to look at ; whereas a miserable cross-bred article,
however promising when dropped, will never raamtain an equal

402

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

appearance on the same amount of food, and will fall very
short in value when sold. It is very mortifying when a man
has gone to a good deal of trouble and expense to procure a
good bull to lose the reward of his trouble by having the
calves slipped prematurely. For a year or two in a stock this
will sometimes happen to a very distressing extent, and it may
disappear for years without the arrangements for the care or
comfort of the cattle being in the slightest degree altered.
High feeding will not of itself cause abortion, the foods which
constitute high feeding being small in bulk, and consequently
having not the slightest tendency to overload the stomach, and
thereby cause an undue strain on the vessels of the womb, or
the embryo which it contains ; neither has it the etfect of
suddenly lowering the temperature of the body, one of the
most fruitful causes of untimely birth definitely known.

Although it is usually considered that when a large number
of cows in a particular herd cast their calves, the cause is some
subtle sympathetic influence unexplainable and undefinable;
yet it has often occurred to me that farmers should not rest
satisfied with such an obscure explanation of such a trouble-
some disease. It is but reasonable to suppose that a number
of cows, the conditions of whose daily existence are exactly
the same, and subject to tlie same atmospheric changes both
in-doors and oub, must be very similarly affected, and what
wiU cause abortion in one animal must of necessity have the
same influence on its neighbour, particularly if it resembles it
in constitution. Careful driving, roomy doors and stalls, re-
gularity in feeding, good ventilation, and a smooth floor to
rest on are nearly all the precautions that can be taken in the
way of prevention.

A comfortable niilking-stall can be got up at very moderate
expense, and for the sake of a little paltry economy the ani-
mals should not be hampered for room. Eight feet for every
pair of cows should be allowed when of a large breed, and on
no account should it ever be less than seven. Breadth of the
house in the clear 13 feet, divided as follows : 3 feet for trough
and fastening, G feet standing room, 1 foot for channel 4
inches deep, and 3 feet of path.

By this arrangement the cows must of course be fed from
behind, tlie room given each pair as above stated being ample
to permit the food to be taken to them without either annoy-
ance or disturbance. In the case of a large stall with a double
row of cows, I would decidedly then feed from the head as the
convenience is obvious. The flooring should be of a sub-
stantial material, so as to ensure permanence, comfort and clean-
liness. Fire-brick of the rougher and cheaper sort suits ad-
mirably, always looking neat, and there being no liability to
injury from slipping.

The above is the description and dimensions of a stall in
actual existence, and which I laid down my pen for a minute
to go and measure, so as to give you it correct ; it was built
about 20 years ago of substantial materials, but without the
slightest attempt at ornament, and a neater, more comfortable,
or healthy cow-house could not be desired.

You have given immense sums for your cows, £32 each is
something enormous ; I would like to get two for that amount.
Would you not try half-a-dozen or more Ayrshires and judge
for yourself as to their capabilities as paying dairy stock ? My
own opinion is that they are the best breed going, and their
progeny when crossed with a Shorthorn bull are handsome
animals, of good stamina, aud useful for any purpose. A few
years ago useful animals of this breed could be purchased in
the neighbourhood of Glasgow at from 10 to 12 guineas, at
present the same class fetch from 15 to 18 guineas, but mind
you an animal at the latter price is a decent one to look at,
although smallish to those accustomed to Shorthorn crosses,
a rare pail-filler, and keeps herself in good condition on a
moderate supply of food. If you wanted to see this breed in
her native purity the Glasgow or Hamilton shows would an-
swer your purpose, although it is of no use purchasing prize
cattle, they cost a great deal more than tliey are worth, and
disappoint all but those who purchase for showing purposes.

In rearing calves success is easily attainable by liberal feed-
ing, comfortable quarters, and senaration while receiving milk.
Attention to the latter point prevents sucking, and the absorb-
tion of hairs into the stomach thereby, and many lives can be
thus saved by attention to a matter so simple. You do not
grudge your cattle a little oilcake, therefore I think you will
be disposed to give a little to the calves, than which nothing
pays better. If supplied to them as soon as they will make

use of it, even in as small a quantity at first as half-a-pound a
day, increasing it eventually to a whole pound ; it preserves
them in excellent healtlt, and is actually a preventive of
disease. For instance, it is well-known that the great scourge
of young cattle, black-leg, or black-quarter, is scarcely ever
experienced amongst those stocks where oilcake is regularly
used, even although present and peculiarly fatal in the imme-
diate neighbourhood. A good many years ago an old Aber-
deenshire farmer told me that until he confined his calves in
separate cribs and allowed them a small portion of cake his
losses from black-quarter were most vexatiously heavy, but
since he adopted both plans he had been perfectly free from
it. His reason for confining them separately was not that
which I have given above, but to prevent the strong knocking
about and injuring the weak, their injured health and weakened
constitutions from that cause making them more susceptible
of disease.

You have been most successful in growing cabbages,
although not conversant with them as a field crop. I would
say the fresh land was the cause of their doing so ex-
tremely well ; but the same land well prepared ought to grow
a larger crop of mangolds than 25 tons, although for a begin-
ning it was not bad. It would be cheaper to grow your own
green crops than purchase at 25s. a ton, your land seeming to be
easily worked and of easy access, aud apparently very well
suited to their growth. Green crops being such an excellent
preparation for grass-seeds, and, in fact, the only way in which
land can be got into proper order for their reception, as large
a breadth should be grown each year as circumstances will
permit. The very fact of your crop of hay being hard to cut,
through the previous year's grasses being present in large
tufts, would indicate that the land wants renewing by being
put through a course of husbandry, couch and bent having to
all appearance taken possession of the soil to the exclusion of
the more valuable herbage.

It would be dangerous now to plough an old grass field and
sow with rape, as if the sward were not well turned down the
young plants could not root; and to have juicy plants,
capable of affording a large amount of food, the freshly turned
up soil would require to be very rich and full of organic
matter, which is seldom the case on old and exhausted pastures.
The better way would have been to plough aud sow with oats
this spring. Grub well and plough down on the removal of
the crop in autumn. Grow mangolds or turnips with liberal
treatment, and then lay down either with or without a crop.
The enormous quantity of valuable herbage grown on a field
so prepared when the latter arrangement is followed, being
almost beyond belief until proved experimentally. The present
season is the one to teach a man how to appreciate the value
of laying a field down to grass without a crop, especially if he
has a few scores of ewes lambing, as you have. The succulent
grasses and rape leaves bring the ewe to her milk at once, and
enable 'her to sustain it unchecked. This is a very important
matter, as if the flow of milk is once checked from deficient food
she never again recovers herself, and the lamb, instead of being
fat, is merely fit for .store — and not much good even for that.
The lamb that gets a good start, and does not for a single day
get an insufficient supply of food, may be almost seen growing,
and before they are three months old the whole stock, if it is
^ntended so to dispose of them, may be cleared off at a guinea-
and-a-half a-head, and they need not be large lambs either at
that price, as 8 lbs. a-quarter at Is. a lb. is all that is assumed
in the above calculation. To have the lambs fat should be the
owner's whole care ; and it is easliy done, if the food has been
prepared — the stock not over, but rather under the mark ; and
the lamb therefore pampered from the beginning. The
moment the big price (Is. a-lb.) can be got for them let thera
go : it relieves the pastures, and gives the mother a chance of
putting up condition early, and so being got rid of before the
price of mutton falls, by the markets becoming glutted, which
they invariably do in autumn. I give you the mixture of
seeds which I sowed last April without a crop, although I am
not aware that it possesses any unusual merit ; but as it did
noble service in September and October in finishing a lot of
broken-mouthed ewes, and now is carrying the pre-
sent season's lambs, it may be useful. I may remark,
with regard to the proportion of rape, if the land
is in high manurial condition, 2 lbs. to the statute
acre is amjile, as it branches wonderfully when well
nourished, and that quantify will completely cover the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

403

ground. If in only middling heart, ilbs. will not be too
much, as the difference in foliage and succulence is extraordi-
nary : 1^ bushels perennial ryegrass, ^ bushel Italian, 2|lbs.
cocksfoot, 2^1bs. timothy, 241bs. Poa pratensis, lib. Poa tri-
vialis, 2^1bs. Poa nemoralis, 3|lbs. hard fescue, 2lbs. meadow
ditto, 31bs. white clover, 31bs. cowgrass, 21bs. red clover, 2Ibs.
alsike, 21b3. trefoil, Slbs. rape ; the whole costing for net cash
28s. the statute acre.

I may notice that a slight dressing of lime — even as little
as 3 tons to the acre — on the removal of the green crop,
slightly worked in so as to keep it near the surface, is highly
beneficial to the grasses, imparting richness of colour and con-
siderably-increased luxuriance, while at the same time, I be-
lieve, it sweetens the herbage.

With regard to the class of ewe most likely to be profitable,
I decidedly say the Shropshire, if to be had for the value ; but
there is no use in buying anything that goes beyond the mark,
either. For a permanent stock, that would be held over uutil
they had given, say, at least four crops of lambs, one would
give a little more for well-bred hoggets of well-proved excel-
lence, so as to have a decent article to look at ; but for a
stock that is intended to be completely cleared out each year,
a class of ewe that makes good nurses and costs little moaey
must get the preference. To have a loss on each ewe when
parted with, as should be the case when fancy prices are
given (no butcher taking that point into consideration), would
make the business all trouble and no profit. In this way the
Cheviot sheep which you allude to come useful, as their cost
is comparatively small. They stand high as nurses, and
fatten readily when relieved of their lambs. From 28s. to
323. is about as high a price as can be safely given for cast
Cheviot ewes ; and in general they can be purchased in the
neighbourhood of the grounds where they are extensively bred
for considerably less. The Falkirk Tryst, held in August,
September, and October, is a very central district for pro-
curing this breed; and thousands are annually trained at
Larbert station, at the conclusion of each day's market, to be
dispersed all over the kingdom.

For a nice stock, that one could be proud of, while at the
same time making money by its prodi'ce, I think there is no-
thing to heat the Shropshire Down ewe, crossed by a Border
Ijeicester ram. The lambs from this cross are exceedingly
handsome, of fine size, remarkably well-wooUed, and easily
iattened ; and the ewes are nearly as good nurses as if they
were pure-bred. So good are they, that a few of those which
most closely resemble the mothers may be held over each
year, to keep up the stock ; and you may be certain that they
will not fail to give sati^sfaction.

In thinking so highly of the Border-Leicesters, I do not at
the same time fail to recognize the merits of the Shropshire
Down ram, if pure Down stock were preferred to crosses, or
when used to cross white-faced ewes. As brought out to the
perfection he is to be] seen at the Shrewsbury sales ; he is a
magnificent animal, not easily equalled, far less surpassed. In
purchasing rams solely for breeding, prize animals should be
rigidly avoided, as the high condition to which the fasliion of
the day compels them to be forced injures them for reproduc-
tive purposes, besides incapacitating them from ever being able
to gather their food in the open field, unless under unusually
favourable circumstances. From 7 gs. to 12 gs. is enough for
any farmer to give for a ram, and half the latter sum will often
buy a first class animal. Soundness of constitution, hardiness,
and activity are more practically valuable than are many of
the fancy points which enable a ram to carry off a prize.

Your 25 acres of clean grass will stand you in good stead
now, as the lambs begin to come thick on you, and will pay
well for the time it has lain idle.

Corn being now cheap, and linseed-cake (the only kind fit
for sheep) also moderate in price, a more liberal allowance than
is usually the case may be given, particularly while the weather
continues severe and vegetation remains dormant. A morning
and evening feed of 1 lb. to each animal of cake and corn
mixed will not raise a large bill by this time two mouths ; and
if with this feed they have a few pounds of mangolds in the
day as you propose, and fair pastures, your flock of ewes and
lambs will be a credit to you by that time, and worth a large
sum iu hard coin.

Oats are the better for being crushed, and form a more
substantial food than bran, and I think, at present prices, is
better value.

Liberal treatment enables a man to clear out his stock early
in the season at large and profitable rates. When badly fed
they must be held over from necessity, and finished with turnips
during the succeeding winter and spring. This mode draws a
small farmer into too much trouble, and keeps too much money
out ; so that I come to the conclusion that the quicker tlie
return in the case of sheep-breeding the larger are the profits.
If you have a taste for it, a few of the handsomest ewe-lambs
might be retained in " store condition as future breeders ;" and
then you have an opportunity of judging for yourself.

Wishing you the large amount of success which you cer-
tainly deserve for your spiritedness in feeding so highly and in
purchasing such expensive stock, and agaiu regretting my in-
ability to visit you and make your acquaintance,

I remain, dear sir, yours truly.

The Northern Farmer.

THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE BREEDING OF ANIMALS.

At the last meeting of the Dorchester Farmers' Club, Mr.
W. C. Spooner, V.S., of Eling, said : Although this was
a topic which he had not for many years past brought before
a Farmers' Club, yet he could but remember that it was
an old hobby which he had occasion to ride at many former
meetings. Nothing struck the student of natural history so
mucli as that wonderful provision of Providence for the sus-
tentation and reproduction of animal and vegetable life. There
was no spot on earth so barren that there was not found on it
either animal or vegetable life. The very sands of the desert
were instinct with Ufe. And wherever there was vegetable (ix-
isteuce animal life was found — there were animals to feed upon
the produce. It seemed a most wise institution of Provi-
dence that the power of reproduction should be given to ten,
twenty, a hundred fold the extent to which food was
raised; the limit was rather in the food supplied for
vegetable and animal life than in the power of reproduction.
Types were handed down from father to son, from ancestors to
posterity, with wonderful exactitude. Nothing could be more
wonderful in the human race than the peculiarity of counte-
nance and the disposition to disease. The germ of a disease
might have been invisible for a course of years, yet it must
have existed in the parent form or it could not have been
handed down. This was a subject for astonishment and re-
verence rather than for anythipg like ridicule or sarcasm.

The vitality and the types handed down from one family to
another through a long course of years, through a long course
of ancestry, were exceedingly astonishing. Although we were
capable of studying and ascertaining certain facts, and ascer-
taining what those facts produced, yet the greater part was in-
volved in mystery, and would probably ever remain mystery to
us. We, however, could not do better than study those facts
so far as was found useful, adopting those principles found to
be correct. One of the first things which he proposed to
speak to them about was the influence of the parent on the
offspring. His object would be to present to them some of
the leading principles involved in the breeding of domestic
animals, and he should limit his examples to three classes of
domestic animals — cattle, sheep, and horses. There were
numberless examples in regard to other animals, but to deal
with them properly he should have to give a course of lectures
instead of a single one of half-an-hour's duration, such as the
present. They had all heard of that celebrated work by
Darwin on the origin of species, in which he came forward
with a somewhat novel doctrine, differing very much from
those opinions that had been formerly held. Mr. Darwin was
disposed to think — and he brought forward many examp es
to prove it — that not only were there many groups of families
hauded down for many years, but that different species had
descended from one common origin. He stated in that work

E E

404

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

his intention to bring forward in an after-work a great num-
ber of facts to support his theory, and after a course of years
he produced two volumes on " Animals and Plants under
Domestication." If those volumes only proved that a vast
amount of reading and research must have been involved
in the inquiry into the subject, Mr. Darwin merited
their warmest respect and their warmest admiratioui Re-
garding the influence of parents on offspring he thought
there was a sufficient number of facts to show
that in the case of the three classes of animals he had men-
tioned the male had the preponderating influence as far as the
external form was considered, and that the vital functions in
the constitution more frequently followed the female than the
male. Although the external form, the general appearance of
the skin, and the colour more frequently followed the male than
the female, it must be observed at the same time that if they
considered this rule without an exception they would be ex-
ceedingly wrong. There were suflicient instances to prove that
it was usually the fact. He enlarged on this part of his
subject, giving many illustrations, amongst them that given by
Mr. Darwin, of the Manx cat. This animal is tailless and has
long hind legs. Dr. Wilson crossed a male Manx with common
cats, and out of twenty-three kittens seventeen were destitute
of tails ; but when the female Manx was crossed by common
male cats all the kittens had tails, though they were generally
short and imperfect. Mr. Spooner then passed on to say that
before the present day, before the existence of the Royal
Society, which was now thirty years old, many experiments were
tried in the breeding of domestic animals — sheep, cattle, and
others — which experiments frequently ended in failure, so much
so that the fashionable doctrine of purity of breed and
nothing else held good at the time the Royal Society was
establislied. He remembered the time when no other prizes
were given for sheep than those for the Leicestershire class,
which had struggled into importance although they were
originally cross-bred animals. By and by innovations were
introduced into the society, which was obliged to submit to
public opinion by giving prizes for other breeds. Mr.
Spooner enlarged on the principles of reversion and prepo-
tency of transmission, on both of which Mr. Darwin treats at
length in bis work on " Animals and Plants under Domestic-
ation." He pointed out the eftects of "in and in" breeding,
furnishing his audience with many practical and telling illustra-
ations as he proceeded. He thought the most perfect speci-
mens of crossing were found to exist with regard to sheep.
He ventured to thmk he was not too bold when he said
more science and more practical knowledge had been used in
the breeding of sheep than in any other class of
domestic animals, if not all the other classes put together.
A certain idea had taken possession of the miud with regard
to breeding, and then practice and experiment had been
adopted in order to produce the result which the mind at first
conceived to be just proper, and right. This had been most
successfully done. With rgard to horses, he thought there
had been less science, less practical knowledge, and less success
than with regard to any other animals. It was well
known with respect to cattle that the prizes at the
shows had been confined to almost one purpose alone — that
of producing the best animal for the butcher. Although it
was exceedingly desirable and very important to aiford
food for the million and profit for the graziers, yet he
thought the subject of milking qualities had been too much
neglected — had not met with that encouragement in tlie fact
of prizes being ofi'ered as had been the case with other animals.
In Scotland the subject had received some attention. No
doubt it had been neglected in this country because of the
bother which it would occasion the leading societies. The
consequence was that time after time the great object had been
to produce the most perfect animal in its external appearance,
one the most profitable, coming the earliest to maturity. The
result of tills had been advantages very good and desirable as
far as they went. We had now three breeds, and it might be
said we had none other of comparative importance — he re-
ferred to the Shorthorns, the Herefords, and the Devons. The
old milking breeds had been done away with, there being
scarcely left a herd of the old Longhorns, which were of great
repute for the dairy. He thought it a matter rather for regret
that we could not have the dairy breeds as well as the pure
animals for the butcher. Dwelling on sheep, he must speak
to the eminent services rendered by the late Mr. EUraan iu

bringing out and improving the latent qualities of the South-
down breeds. Great credit, he thought, was due to those who,
whether profitably or not, had perpetuated this breed. The
public were greatly indebted to the breeders of pure animals,
because when the cross was wanted there was the source from
whence to procure it ; at the same time, a compliment was
justly due to the successful breeders of the cross-bred sheep.
Eight or ten years ago he was applied to by the editor of the
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society to prepare a paper
on the subject of cross-breeding, particularly with regard to
sheep. His compliance with tbis request brought him into
contact with some eminent breeders, amongst others the late
Mr. Humphrey. This well-known gentleman was a breeder
of Hampshire sheep before the Oxford show of the Royal
Society. He was struck with the inferiority and uncouthness
of bin own breed in comparison with the different other breeds
exhibited there. He determined, if possible, to effect an Lra-
proTcment. " With this object," stated Mr. Humphrey in a
letter, " I wrote to Mr. Jonas Webb to send me one of his best
sheep, and he sent me a shearling by his favourite sheep
Babraham, which made some good stock out of my large ewes.
I went down the next two years, and selected for myself ; but
the stock did not suit my taste so well as the one he sent me,
and I did not use them. I then commissioned him to send me
his sheep which obtained the first prize at Liverpool ; and from
these two sheep, the first and the last, by marking the lambs of
each tribe as they fall, then coupling them together at the
third and fourth generation, my present flock was made. Not
having used any other blood on the male side for more than
twenty years, I found some difficulty at first, when putting the
first-produce ram to the first-produce ewe, the lambs coming
too small to suit my customers. To obviate this difficulty I
drafted out the finest and smallest-bred ewes, replacing them
with the largest Hampshi'-e Down ewes I could meet with that
suited ray fancy ; still continuing to use the most masculine
and robust of my rams to keep up my size. Some of my friends
advised me to use a large coarse sheep to these small ewes to
remedy the defect ; but the larger ewe seemed to me the better
way, and that course I pursued. I got rid of my smallest
ewes and replaced them with large ones, which gave me what
I thought to be an advantage — the using no male animal but
of my own blood, the pedigree of which I am now acquainted
with for more than twenty years. It has succeeded hitherto
beyond what I could have expected. My object has been to
produce a Down sheep of large size with good quality of flesh,
and possessing sufficient strength and hardiness to retain its
condition while exposed iu rough and bad weather to consume
the root-crops on our cold dirty hills. Independently of the
value of the Hampshire or West Country Down in an agricul-
tural point of view for such localities as ours, they produce
when slaughtered a valuable carcase of mutton, giving the
consumer a good proportion of flesh to the fat, which is a point
that may be too much lost sight of. I will, in proof of it,
relate an instance which a gentleman told me the otlier day.
When residinuK in another county he sent to hisbutcher for 31bs.
of mutton. The fat seemed so much out of proportion to the
lean that he had the curiosity to weigh the lean. After care-
fully cutting it out he found it to weigh fib., or
only one-fourth of the whole. This anecdote indicates to
those who are attempting by crosses to estabhsh a new breed,
or to improve an old one, the importance of producing ananimal
in which the flesh forms a due and sufficient proportion of the
whole." Previous to Mr. Humphrey's time — 60 or 70 years
ago, the original sheep in Hampshire and Wiltshire was un-
couth and bony, and had a large Roman nose, with a white
face, although the descendants had black ones. It was the
custom, in order to effect an improvement, for some of the best
men in North Hants to go into Sussex and select the largest,
coarsest, and blackest-faced rams they could get. The effect
was greatly to improve the breed, but unfortunately for a very
long time the North Hampshire men attached too much im-
portance to large coarse heads, thinking that to that circum-
stance the early maturity of the lambs was due— which Mr.
Humphrey afterwards so well corrected. There was a por-
trait of the old Wiltshire sheep in his essay on " Cross Breed-
ing." The Hampshire sheep, had been greatly improved by
crossing the ewes with the Sussex rams — the class of sheep
upon which Mr. Humphrey first operated. It was worth
consideration to show how different breeders liad operated
in the improvement of the breeds. Crosses had taken

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

405

place in Wiltshire aud Hampshire, and improvements
effected by the famous breeders Mr. Rawlence and Mr.
Humphrey, the former of whom acknowledged readily the
vast improvement obtained from the sheep of the
latter. Some breeders clung with superstitious tenacity
to purity of blood, and you would suppose from
their talk that their breeds came originally out of the Ark. The
New Oxfordshire sheep was a very valuable breed, originating
from a cross between the Improved Cotswold and the Hamp-
shire or West Country Down. Passing on to speak of horses
he had officiated as judge of horses on many occasions, parti-
cularly at the shows of the Royal Society. He had had good
opportunities of witnessing what had been done and what had
been lamented over and undone. If he were asked in what
breed of horses the greatest improvement had been made with
regard to the shows he should say unquestionably the heavy
cart horse. In this class an amount of improvement had, he
thouglit, unquestionably been established. The horses used for
the cultivation of the soil and other purposes in this country
were now superior to what they were 35 years ago. For the
guidance of the judges had been set the excellent rule that they
were not to pay too much attention to size and strength, but
that they were to consider likewise activity and symmetry.
Tliis operated as a useful precaution. A great improvement
had been effected, he said, with regard to the breed of horses.
It was much to be regretted that the subject had been so
generally neglected. He considered that the Royal Society —
to which he himself belonged, and which he greatly respected,
had greatly injured the breed of horses in this country, be-
cause they had encouraged a certain system of breeding, the in-
evitable tendency of which was obvious. You could not keep
up a certain type without falling into a great error. After
crossing and re-crossing, and after improving the animals, you
got rid of those very improved animals, and got coarser and
inferior ones altogether, in order to carry on the improvement.
He mentioned that in the tenth generation there would remain
in the offspring only the 1,024th part of one cross. Of late
years it had been customary, he said, to give prizes for horses
best calculated to produce hunters ; one of the conditions laid
down was that they must be thoroughbred. Now he thought
there was a great mischief involved in that. The object of a
Society should not be to produce a raree-show ; utility ought
to be the leading object. He was glad that this important
subject of the breed of horses was receiving public attention
in the country. It was fully recognised, he said, that wlien
thoroughbred horses were introduced in the time of James I.,
they produced an immense improvement in the breed of ani-
mals. No one could deny tlie improvement that racing had
established, and one of the strongest pleas in its favour was
that it effected an improvement in horses generally. Queen's
Plates were consequently offered for competition. Amongst
other breediug establishments was one at Hampton. The
prizes offered for competition at the Derby and other races
were of sufficient importance to induce breeders to try to pro-
duce the best and fastest animals. He questioned himself that
the slightest benefit arose from the Hampton Court establish-
ment. He should like to see a system for providing useful
mares, the rest of the animals being of sufficient weight and
power for mounted cavalry and other purposes.

Mr. Genge would ask Mr. Spooner whether Mr. Darwin
had decided the type of cats when they came out of the Ark —
had they tails or not ? This, however, would not, he must
admit, affect them much as agriculturists. With respect to
the type of animals, he thought that as a rule it was affected
by tlie locality and climate in which they existed. The sheep
in a warm climate, for instance, instead of being clothed with
wool, had long hair like that of the goat. He reminded
the Club that in the present day the consumption of animal
food exceeds that of fifty years ago, and observed that farmers
now go in for early maturity, for getting the greatest
quantity of meat in the shortest possible time. Further,
while the breeding of sheep and cattle had been found to pay,
the breeding of horses had not always been attended witli that
success. He believed that Mr. Spooner had with justice com-
plained that the breed of horses had not been improved to the
extent desirable they should be, in which subject farmers were
particularly interested.

Mr. T. Chick called attention to an important point in the
breeding of dairy cows. He admitted that the breeding of
horses ^d not pay, but this was, he said, in his humble opiuiou

owing to the bad judgment of those who attempted to breed.
When you got good mares and good horses — although he be-
lieved there was no such thing in this neighbourhood — nothing
paid better than breeding cart horses.

Mr. Chapman Saundeks did not think that the Oxford
sheep were so pure a breed as the lecturer seemed to suppose.

Mr. Wood Homer did not think that the pastures of this
county were sufficiently extensive for the breeding of horses.
The mares would gallop about and disturb other stock. A
district for breeding horses with any degree of satisfaction
should have a large number of small enclosures. Re-
garding cattle he suggested the griving of prizes for the
form of udder, good appearance, &c. What, he asked,
was the object of keeping a cow ? For the butcher ?
No; for the dairy. Experience at Dorchester aud else-
where showed, he said, tliat there was the greatest demand
for cows for dairy purposes. This, he thought, was lost sight
of by agricultural societies, and much harm was consequently
done. Passing on to speak of the breeding of sheep the speaker
expressed views similar to those advanced by the lecturer.
The best way he thought was to take a certain type of sire and
stick to it through the flock ; then tlie animals would be
matched well.

Mr. W. H. Hawkins inquired of the lecturer whether if he
saw a flock of sheep he could tell how they had descended.
Regarding the breeding of liorses he mentioned that at a cer-
tain competition a thorough-bred worth 300 guineas did not
gain a prize, while one was awarded to an animal wliich
fetched £15.

Mr. J. G. Homer, the Chairman, said the lecturer had
set forth that the form of the sheep ought to be studied. In
his (Mr. Homer's) opinion quality was very much combined
with form. The deep fore-quarters of a sheep, the depth of
chest, the roundness of ribs, generally indicated a strong con-
stitution in the animal ; that was a point which breeders in
sheep had adopted for many years. They must go back to
Jonas Webb ; his sheep were by some considered to be pure-
bred animals. He (the speaker) used them for many years ;
but those sheep to his experience were not thorough-bred
Southdowus. They, however, had a noint about them which
produced constitution ; they had a good width of fore-quarters,
which Mr. Ellman's sheep never had; this was a point in
constitution which all ought to study. Judicious crosses had
been the means of establishing thoroughly good flocks. Re-
ference had been made to the Hampshire sheep. What was
tlieir origin ? They had been shown a print of the Wiltshire
sheep. He remembered the former coming by thousands into
Fordington Field, and they were of such diminutive bad breed
that it was said a certain shearer of Martinstown could shear a
hundred in a day. Half of them had no wool on their backs,
and it was stated tliat one of them could be sheared while the
town clock was striking twelve. It might be safely said that
the breeds of Hampshire and Wiltshire had been wonderfully
improved by crossing. The quality of the animal was a great
study for the present generation. He agreed with the lecturer
that the crossed animal was the best.

Mr. Spooner, in reply, said : Mr. Genge had asked for Mr.
Darwin's opinion as to the cat that came from Noah's ark. He
declined to answer the question ; the subject was too extensive,
and, besides, he did not think that theology was one which
should be taken up by Farmers' Clubs. Mr. Darwin had
raised upon a vast number of facts a certain theory. He (Mr.
Spooner) did not pretend to say whether that theory was right
or wrong — the theory was that different species — the jackall,
hyena, and dog — had descended from the same source ; and he
carried this still further — he had thrown out his ideas, thereby
doing a vast deal of good in ventilating the subject. The
original idea was that animals were descended from certain types
which came out of the Ark — that was the opinion of a few;
but could it be imagined that thousands, millions of animals of
various bodies with various shapes could have proceeded from
those fc'v animals that came out of that small ark ? But that
subject was beyond their consideration at present. He agreed
with Mr. Genge that climate and locality made a wonderful
difference in animals. It had been remarked that this locality
was not adapted for the breeding of horses ; he (Mr. Spooner)
simply recommended the breeding of cart liorses, which really
were profitable animals to breed. He would refer, in conclu-
sion, to a proposed alteration in the judging at the Royal Agri-
cultural Society's shows. It was proposed, he said that the

E E 2

406

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

judges should be furnished witli catalogues showing the ijedigree
of the animals and the names of the various owners. Now he
thought nothing could be so detrimental as that ; he should be
very sorry to act under any such regime. He mentioned that
at the Chelmsford meeting he overheard a conversation as to
what a terrible thing the judges had done — they had absolutely

given the first prize to Prince Albert's horse ; every one would
say that they had awarded him the prize because he was the
I'rince. But the judges had not the slightest idea as to whether
the animal belonged to a prince or a peasant.

A vote of thanks to LIr. Spooner was accorded, and the pro-
ceedings ended.

THE BLANDFORD FARMERS' CLUB.
ROOT CEOPS.

At the monthly meeting of this club there was a large
attendance of members, to hear Mr. Galpin read a
paper on " The Cultivation of the Root Crop." He said :
The preparation for the turnip crop begins immediately after
harvest. It is needless now to insist on the importance of
autumn cultivation. The time is gone by when the scanty
pittance of food afforded by dirty subbles can weigh for oue
moment against the advantages which are to be derived from
taking time by the forelock, and eradicating the twitch before
it has had time to make its second growth. To those gentle-
men who have clean stubbles, all I can say is, they have the
game in their own hands, and I envy them. Now which is
the proper way to set about cleaning stubbles ? Here, I think,
a great difference of practice prevails. Some persons say,
plough your stubbles clean as soon after harvest as you can.
Others, don't plough but scarify them, as by this means you
get over a greater breadth of work in a day, with the advan-
tage of having all the weeds on the top. Others only half
plough, so as to get over the whole of the stubbles as quickly
as possible, and then come back and finish them if the weatlier
permits. Of course the great object must be to do as much
as we possibly can in a given time. We cannot safely reckon
on more than three weeks or a month after harvest to do what
is required to be done, as the weather does not generally admit
of it. My own opinion is that when the stubbles are not
too foul, or the ground is not too hard, the most expeditious
way is to scarify witli the Benthall or Coleman, as in this case
you get the weeds on the top, without any admixtures of earth,
but I have generally found that one scarifying is not sufficient.
We must go first one way, and then cross it. At this rate very
little more ground is gone over than if it were ploughed, ex-
cept that if get the weeds on the top instead of under. But
when the stubbles are very foul, then I believe the most expe-
ditious plan is to plough clean at once, and what we do, to do
thoroughly where it can be done rather than go over tlie whole,
and only half do it. Now, in all farming operations time is
money. The seasons go on whether the work is finished or not ;
and that which is not done in the proper time must be very
often left undone altogether. If, then, the time for cleaning
the stubbles is restricted, it is evident that the most economical
plan, other things being equal, must be that which is most ex-
peditious. Now many of you have steam-engines for the
purpose of driving tlirashing machines, which, unless let out
to hire, must stand idle a great portion of the year; and it has
often appeared to me worthy of consideration if it pays a man
to buy a steam thrashing-machine, why it would not pay him
to go to an extra expense in the engine, and add a steam cul-
tivating apparatus to it. The difference between an eight-
horse and a ten-horse steam engine would be about £4-0 or
£50, and the cultivating apparatus £250 extra. I do not be-
lieve on our light soils steam cultivation in its present form to
be more economical than liorse-power ; still, if we take into
consideration the greater breadth of land got over in a day,
and I may add the superior quality of the work done, I think
it is worth consideration whether a steam cultivator, merely
for the purpose of breaking up the stubbles in the autumn,
and again in preparing for the barley crop and the turnip
crop in the spring, using the engine at other times for the
purpose of thrashing, &c., bearing in mind that a gam in time
IS a reduction of the estimated cost, would, ou a farm of 400
acres of arable land, pay. The great objection to liireiug
seems to be that we cannot depend on getting it when we
wish, and if wet weather sets in one is in a fix what to do,
whether to send away the machine or go on and risk the state
01 the weather. At the same time, whilst advocating the use
ot the steam cultivator, I do not think it will pay unless we
can, by its means, reduce the staff of horses kept on the farm

by three or four. Having, then, used our best endeavours to
cleanse the land by autumn cultivation, it must be laid up in
ordinary for the winter, which should be done by a good
ploughing as deep as the land will bear it. If we have been
fortunate enough to clean our laud in the autumn, I beUeve
on our light soils the less done to it the better, and, above all
things, whether on light soils or heavy ones, we ought to be
careful to do nothing unless it is in a fit state to work. Very
often, in our anxiety to forward the work, we are apt to get
on the land before it is sufficiently dry, and do more harm
than good. Now there is one point on wliich I fihall be
obliged if gentlemen will give me their opinions. A certain
portion of the land in course for the turnip crop will have
been sown with vetches, or rye, or trifolium, or some other
catch grass ; which is the best way of treating such land after
the crop is fed off ? I mean with especial reference to our
light dry soils. Ought we to plough it at once, and let it lay
some time to gather moisture, or scarify, or raft it, previous
to ploughing it ? Of course I assume the land to be clean.
Again, I am very much troubled with thistles, and without
good ploughing I am afraid they are difficult to get rid of.
If any gentleman will enlighten me on the subject I shall
feel obliged. I believe the great object which we have to
attain on our light dry soils is, wliiLt doing what is necessary
for cleansing the land, to avoid as much as possible any un-
necessary exposure to the drying winds, or in other words, to
retain what moisture we can. 1 do not enter into the subject
of manures for the reason stated above ; at tlie same
time I cannot help expressing the regret with wliich I
see around us the great waste of animal manures in
our bartons through neglect, and the absence of
proper shedding, properly shuted, so as to carry
away the rain water, instead of allowing it to soak out the
most valuable constituents of the manures ; and in our towns
and cities, through the present system of drainage by means of
sewers, where day by day hundreds and tliousands of tons of
valuable manure are discharged into the rivers, polluting them,
or into the sea, never more to be reclaimed, if we except the
infinitesimal portion which we get back again in the shape of
guano, which supply seems to be failing us, or at least to be
getting dearer and dearer year by year. I believe, with regard
to the manures for the turnip crop on poor soils whicli have
been badly farmed, we can hardly err in giving too much
manure ; but on good laud, in a high state of cultivation, we
ought to guard against applying too much stimulating manure,
as we thereby get an extraordinary development of leaf, wliilst
the root, from its rapid growth, is more apt to suffer from the
frosts of winter.

Mr. Forrester quite agreed as to the desirability of com-
mencing ploughing as soou after harvest as possible, and in
some instances, when the crops could not be got off the ground
in time, would plough between the stooks. There was no
doubt tliat the fertility of the ground was derived in a great
measure from the atmosphere, and, therefore, the sooner tlie
ground was ploughed, especially where they had couch, the
better, so that the sun, which at that time of the year had groat
power, might burn it up ; but whether they had couch or not
it was best to get to work as soon after jiarvest as possible, so
as ro get not only the benefit of atmospheric influence, but also
that of frost, which was a great pulverizer of the soil.

Mr. JoHiN Keynes said that the plan which he adopted was
to plough liis ground as soon after harvest as possible, tlien
dress it and let it ,lay for some time, and then plough the
manure in. In the spring he ploughed his laud for turnip, but
not after green crop, for every time the land was plouglied the
seed came to the top. He used Colemau's scarifier, which did
not bring up the seeds. He thouglit that they were apt to get

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

407

the land] too light for mangolds, and it was perhaps best not
to plough so much hut to get the land line by scarifying. With
regard to artificial manures he hardly knew what to say. He
had hut a very poor opinion of superphosphate, and
thought they ought to use more bone than they did. He did
not understand light manures but liked something he could
depend upon. Last year he applied superphosphate and bone
in equal quantities and had some excellent roots. With respect
to steam cultivation, Mr. Keynes e.ipressed himself in favour of
it where practicable, and also of the use of the scarifier where
the ground was foul.

Mr. H. FooKES could remember the time when autumn
cultivation was not thought of, and when it was considered
that the ley would keep dry sheep for a month. He quite
agreed with Mr. Galpin that the best way was to do the work
effectually at once, rather than go over a large portion of
ground and be obliged to do it twice. If they could get their
land in good order by autumn cultivation he believed the less
they did to it in spring the better for the turnip crop. Mr.
Galpin had asked for information as to the best plan to be
adopted where turnips followed a green crop. He (Mr. Fookes)
did not like scarifying after a green crop, but was in favour of
deep ploughing. With regard to artificial manures so much
had been said and written about them, and each maker thought
his own the best, that he would not say anything about them ;
hut would mention a circumstance which occurred in his own
experience. Last year he had as fine a crop of turnips as ever
he had. An old mud wall fell down, and he used the material
with his farm-yard manure, and the result was that he had the
best crop of turnips he had ever had in his life, and not a
single one club-rooted.

Mr. J. Keynes explained that when he alluded to the
use of the scarifier it was not after green crop, but for plain
stubble.

Mr. Bartlett said : With regard to the cultivation of
turnip after a green crop, last year he had a clover ley, which,
after ploughing up, he had double rafted, and the turnips were
very superior. He thought that if the land was properly culti-
vated in autumn the less there was done to it in spring the
better. With regard to the waste of manure in the barton, the
not having proper shoots to carry off the rain water, it had
been a crying evil, but it was passing away. Yet there was
room for a great deal of improvement in this respect. The
most valuable properties of the manure were wasted, and by
its loss they were obliged to have recourse to high priced arti-
ficial manures. All farm buildings ought to have shuting to
carry off tlie rain water.

Mr. Groves (Damory) said, after green crop he prepared his
ground with a skim coulter and then with a rim roller, and
thoroughly ploughed it, and had a very good crop, for which he
took first prize at the last Blandford show.

Mr. T. Frv did not think they could be too quick in pre-
paring for the root crop. The last two or three years there
had been great difficulty in getting a good crop on account of
the dryness of the season. His plan had been to get as much
land ready for the action of the atmosphere as soon after har-
vest as possible, and, unfortunately, as they were too well ac-
quainted with the Dorsetshire clover as it had been called (and
not like the American who said he did not know what couch
was), he (Mr. Fry) considered that when the land was scarified
it should be gone over with the chain harrow, so that aU the
couch might be collected, and exposed to the action of the
sun, and if this plan was adopted he did not think they would
have any trouble of burning it. He considered that if the
land was properly prepared by autumn^cultivation the less that
was done to it in spring the better : for, by disturbing it, they
lost moisture. With regard to artificial manures he considered
they had been expending too much money in them. He had
paid £300 last year, but he did not think he should expend so
much this ; at the same time he did not consider they could do
without bones. The two first prizes awarded last year by the
Shaftesbury Club for roots were given for turnips grown on
land where no artificial manure had been used.

Mr. H. Richards, in reply to Mr. Galpin's question as to
the best mode for the cultivation of turnips after green crops,
found it very important to solidify the soil, and therefore was
in favour of disturbing it as little as possible in spring. He
had seen plants come up and wither away in consequence of
the land not being solid enough to retain the necessary mois-
ture. There was an old implement, introduced he believed

into the county by Mr. Fookes' father thirty yeare ago (the
only objection to which was that it required five or six horses
to draw it), by which the land was best prepared for tlie turnip
crop. That instaument he often saw lying in the ditch, but if
farmers knew more of its value, it would be oftener used.
From having a large crop of trifolium last year, not all fed off,
he had a considerable proportion to plough in. He only
turned it over once, but, by the aid of that instrument, he had
as good a crop as he could wish for. The great secret being
to sohdify the soil, no instrument was more suitable. It was
true it was hard to work, and it was a somewhat difficult
thing to get men willing to use it, but what of that if it did
the work well and thoroughly. He had seen ley lands where
this instrument had been used bearing a good crop, whilst in
those parts where it had not, scarcely a plant came up.

Mr. Fookes explained that it was not his father but him-
self that introduced the Norwegian harrow, the instrument
referred to, into the county.

Mr. C. Flower fully coincided with Mr. Richards as to the
va.ue of the Norwegian harrow. He knew of no instrument
which assisted the farmer in getting a good crop of turnips
as that. Respecting steam cultivation, he did not think it
would be practical to have it in general use without they could
have a steam traction-engine attached to the scarifier, and the
machines very much simplified. It was a good thing, if pos-
sible, to have the land prepared in autumn, but when the wet
weather set in it did not always answer. He hoped to see the
day when a traction-engine, without chains and wires, would
be available for agricultural purposes.

The Chairman (Mr. Scutt) fully endorsed the opinion ex-
pressed that the sooner the land was prepared for the turnip
crop after the harvest the better.

Mr. George Keynes agreed with the lecturer as to the
desirability of early autumn cultivation for the root crop, and
with respect to the cultivation after the roots were taken up
he commenced ploughing immediately. With respect to the
Norwegian harrow, he had had one many years, and found it
very useful when he broke up a portion of down laud, but
soon after that it was sent to Spettisbury, and thrown aside.
He should, however, he thought, use it again, as so many
present had spoken of its value in preparing land for turnips.

Mr, Galpin, in reply, stated that wheu he lived at Kinson
he never missed having a good root crop, but at his present
farm he was not so successful. He thought probaby it might
be owing in some measure to a difference in the atmosphere.
He went on the same principle at his present farm as before,
but the remarks which had been made by Mr. Fookes and Mr.
Richards threw new light upon the advice given him by their
lamented friend Mr. Rawlings, which showed his kindness of
heart and desire to assist any one he could. He was riding
with that gentleman one day, and in course of conversation
Mr. Rawlings asked what he was doing with a piece of down
land he had broken up, and on his replying that he had set
his men to plough it up again, told him it was the worst thing
he could do ; and, acting upon his advice, he (Mr. Galpin)
stopped the work, the result being that he had a very fair
crop. With respect to the observations made by Mr. Fookes
as to the mud waU, he believed that the advantage derived
from the application arose from the chemical action which
took place. It was a well-established fact in chemistry, that
by the exposure of any salts potash would be formed, and this
by its exposure to the atmosphere, supposing no rain washed
it away, would form nitric acid, a very powerful fertilizer.
The mud wall had probably been standing for a number of
years, and all that time the potash attracted the influence of
the atmosphere, and he had no doubt that the extraordinary
fertility Mr. Fookes had spoken of was caused by the presence
of a quantity of nitrate in some form or other. Mr. Flower
had spoken of the advantage which would be derived if a trac-
tion engine could be devised to use with a scarifier. In the
Times, a short time ago, there was a long article giving a de-
scription of a newly-invented machine called a road steamer,
and he thought by the explanation given that it would be
applicable for agricultural purposes. It was formed with
three wheels with india-rubber tires, and would go at the rate
of eight or nine miles an hour.

On the proposition of Mr. Flower, seconded by Mr. H.
Fookes, a vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Galpin, who, iu
acknowledging it, proposed the §^e compliment ta tte
Chairman.

408

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FRAMLmaHAM FARMERS' CLUB.
THE MOST PROFITABLE MODE OF CULTIVATION.

At a meeting of the Framlingham Farmers' Club, Mr.
Goodwyn, one of the vice-presidents of the club, in the
chair, the subject for discussion was, " Cultivation, or
how to draw the largest amount and value of produce from
the soil at the least expense." This was introduced by Mr.
D. Smith, Parham, who said the history of a nation celebrated
for wealth and power, is in every way intimately connected with
cultivation. The soil may be said to be the true riches of a
country, for in ancient, as in modern times, nations have in-
creased in wealth, power, and importance, just in proportion
as they have cultivated their soils. Commerce and manufac-
tures are no doubt powerful resources for multiplying the
wealth and greatness of a nation, but they never have nor
never can flourish until the cultivation of its soil has
reached a certain degree of perfection. After glanc-
ing briefly at tlie history of the cultivation of
the soil from the earliest period, he continued : Our
soils are composed of certain substances, having certain dor-
mant capabilities, and there are few soils to which some im-
provements might not be made, whilst a vast tract of our land
IS capable of extensive improvement. The art of cultivation
differs materially from any other art practised by man. Man
can but prepare and sow, whilst the bringing to maturity
remains in the hands of an ever wise and indulgent providence.
But it is, nevertheless, incumbent upon us to discover the
cheapest, simplest, and easiest methods of cultivation. That
man who comes to his occupation free and disunited from old
customs and prejudices and is willing to adopt sound methods
of cultivation is mostly seen to be the leading man in the dis-
trict ; such a man it is true does not always thrive, but, from
his being the introducer of new systems, is a benefactor to his
country. That " knowledge is power" is strickingly applicable
to the business of the farm. Knowledge is a capital of the
greatest value in the absence of more available advantages.
I have often heard, and from practical men too, that many
farmeis fail for want of sufficient capital, but more from want
of suflicient knowledge. There is no class who rely more on
their own skill than the farmers, yet we must admit a great
number, perhaps the greater, have not acquired a thorough
knowledge of their business. Nor can it be asserted that the
cultivation of our soil has yet been brought to that degree of
perfection which it is capable of reaching. In a business
point of view the intention of cultivation is to obtain
the greatest possible amount of produce from the soil,
and the farmer's object is to raise it at the least cost —
to afford him the greatest profit, and shall I be
going too far in saying the more scientifically
he farms the more effectually will his object be gained? The
first step to this end will be, where practicable, the straight-
ening the old crooked fences, doing away with all useless ones,
and cutting down the pollard trees, and dividing the enclosures
into sizes, according to the extent of the occupation, varying
from 10 to 20 acres, with whitethorn fences neatly kept (but
I do not think, however, that large enclosures of pasture
would be so desirable). Thus a saving of land would be effected,
as well as a saving in economy of management. To show how
this applies, I may say a furrow nine inches wide and eleven
miles long is equal to an acre ; calculating that a plough
travels at the rate of two miles an hour, and that it takes
three-quarters of a minute for a plough to turn round, a dis-
tance of 44 yards is lost during the time of turning. In
ploughing a field with furrows 500 yards long, this is a loss of
1| of a mile per acre ; with furrows 400 yards long, it is a
loss of 2^ miles ; with furrows 200 yards long, 5 miles per
acre ; with 100 yards' furrows, 9 miles ; with a furrow 50
yards, 18 miles per acre. Our drainage might be equally
efficient, and a vast amount of unprofitable labour would be
dispensed with — I mean the labour of hedging and ditching —
and applied to greater advantage on the land. I would also
further recommend the better farming the banks and brews of
the fences and ditches, they are but too frequently seen to be

nurseries for the most troublesome weeds. The next step in
advance vpill be to provide a thorough and sufficient subsoil
drainage ; by this process vpe shall convert the water into as
great a friend to us in enriching our soils as it is an enemy to
us in undrained lands requiring draining. Even our fore-
fathers discovered manure added to the soil of but little ad-
vantage, as is evident from their lazy, bad systems of hus-
bandry practised to the present day in the remote and unim-
proved parts of the country. This brings me to the point at
which food or nourishment is required. We are all doubtless
aware that the ruins of one plant furnish life and sustenance to
another, and that vegetation thrives on vegetable decay.
Hence the necessity for a more strict observance for the pro-
curing as much as possible, and for a stricter watch against
the waste of any vegetable substance upon the farm either
before it has passed through the animal or after, and whether
in a liquid or solid state. I am sure by a strict observance
against the waste of home-made manure — I mean manure
made from animals kept upon rich diet, and not merely wetted
straw — we should have less occasion for the use of artificial or
concentrated foreign manures. I do not, however, mean to
condemn their use ; I think them valuable auxiliaries, and I
am sorry to say I cannot discover how to get on without them ;
but what I want more strongly to impress upon you is the
necessity of first making use of every available cartload of
home-made manure before we purchase irom abroad. The
growing green crops and ploughiug-in or, better, feeding off with
animals eating a portion of some richer diet may be strongly re-
commended as an euricher at alittle expense. Having now divided
my farm, drained it, and manured it, I come to the ploughing ;
and here I should recommend deepening the soil to as great a
depth as is practicable according to the description of soil you
are working upon, so as to allow and give the plants a more
extended space in which to work their roots and to provide
sustenance. By a deeper cultivation our crops will be better
able to withstand the effects of a dry summer ; and the looser
your soil, the sooner will the superabundant water percolate
through it, and turn that which has proved to you a bitter
enemy into a good friend. In addition to the above, com-
pletely pulverizing the land before seeding it will be found of
the greatest advantage. Next I shall call your attention to
eradicating as much as possible all vegetation save the one
kind sought for. I need hardly remark to you how much
easier and with how much less expense is the process of keep-
ing land clean, when once cleaned, as compared with keeping
the weeds in foul land sufficiently down to allow the crop a
fair chance to grow at all ; besides, the waste of nourishment
to the crop must be considerable in foul land. As to the
rotation of crops, a good cultivator needs no dictation on that
head; for that which is prejudicial to the interest of his land-
lord would be equally so to that of himself. One who keeps
and grazes a large quantity of cattle will be able to return to
the soil a proportionate amount of manure for any fair
cropping which he might adopt. I imagine a sufficient re-
striction to guard against excess would be a limit of three
white-straw crops in five years. With agriculture in its pre-
sent competitive position with the world, the agriculturist
needs the greatest latitude ; and, depend upon it, that landlord
who acts the most liberally on that head will secure the best,
most scientific, and most wealthy tenants. Now, I shall call
your attention to the homestead, or the providing sufficient
accommodation for cattle, in the shape of sheds and houses.
I think I need fear no contradiction from practical men when
I assert that the rent of a farm may be nearly, if not entirely,
lost from this want of sufficient accommodation. Our fore-
fathers' chief wealth consisted in cattle ; and our chief de-
pendence must be on cattle also. How can we enrich the
soil without manure ? and how can we make a good substan-
tial manure without cattle P The manure-manufacturers may
dispute with me ; but sound practical farmers will not. Let
me impress upon you — the more cattle you can keep, to keep

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

409

well, the belter it will be for you ; and the more rich, nutritious
food you reasonably use in feeding, the more wiU be your profit,
indirectly if not directly. I would under this head recommend a
more extended system of house feeding in summer, believing
it to be economical and advantageous. Now, gentlemen, I
cannot recommend a small expenditure per acre to produce
the largest amount of, and value of, produce from the soil at
the least expense, more than I can tell you that the yard of
cloth you can buy for the least money is the cheapest.
Farming under the most economical principle possible is ex-
pensive, and in many instances, I fear, suiliciently so to be
rninous with the prices of the present time, whilst a more
liberal system may provide a bare subsistence, leaving the
chance of profit for the return of a fair and remunerative one.
We had the advantage of a lecture here a few months since
from Mr. Mechi. That gentleman (whom I always like to
hear, although I seldom can agree with his ideas, for he
mostly propounds some novel scheme which sets us thinking,
and may in some instances fructify) advised us to expend more
money on our cultivation. We have thought £10 per acre
sufficient capital to carry on the business of a farm. But
when we are told that it requires to be nearly, if not entirely,
doubled to be remunerative, in comparison with other busi-
nesses, our thoughts are aroused ; and a prudent man, and
one who has the means to adopt such management, and who
is desirous of seeing his business prosper without reference to
the amount of outlay, provided there is a chance of reaping a
remuneration for that which he sows, naturally seeks to solve
this problem. Now, should it appear that this outlay will
prove beneficial, the solution of it, m my opinion, amounts to
the fact that we must have security in every sense for sucli an
outlay. Let us look at it in plain business terms, and in doing
so, I would ask you what man wiU buy or advance on mort-
gage on an estate a sum the interest of which will exceed the
amount of the rent the property lets at after first paying
therefrom all the fixed demands upon such estate, and is as-
sured against all hidden claims ? Then, gentlemen, and not
till then, vnU the capitalist advance such capital ; and then,
and not till it is clear to the cultivators that such a heavy
expenditure wiU produce such a result, will capital be brought
to that amount and invested in the cultivation of tlie land.
Perhaps I have deviated a little from my subject ; and to return
again to the query you ask me to answer, I must tell you in
my humble opinion the largest amount and value of produce
can only be grown by a judicious and liberal outlay of capital,
and to insure such an outlay, the greatest amount of security
is required, with liberal covenants; and these, with God's
blessing, will no doubt produce harmony and the best feelings
between landlord and tenant, with mutual benefits to each.

The Chairman expressed his pleasure at Mr. Smith's paper,
but said he did not agree with that gentleman when he said
that the great cause of failure in farming was not so much
from the want of capital as of knowledge, for he should say
the reverse was the cause. The main source of good farming
must be keeping abundance of good stock and feeding that
stock well. To put a sufficient amount of stock on the laud
required a considerable amount of capital, and then they miist
put their hands still further into tlieir pockets to feed that
stock and to obtain the best possible manure. Mr. Smith
rather slandered the farmers when he said they had not know-
ledge enough for their business, but if he had said they had
not capital enough he (the chairman) could have agreed with
liim. No doubt it gave a man a certain position and import-
ance to be able to say that he farmed 250 acres, and there was
a great temptation to a man to take that quantity of land in-
stead of perhaps 140 or 150 acres when he really had only
capital enough for the smaller quantity, but let them recollect
that with every acre they took their expenses were increased
whether their profit was or not. He did not want to go the
length Mr. Mechi did, but he would say if the same money
that was now made to do for 300 acres were laid out on 200
acres the return would be more satisfactory. The more the
acreage was increased not only was there more to pay for
rent and tithes, but more for taxes, labour, and the live and
dead stock from which profit was not directly received, and in
which money must be locked up, and it was only from the
stock a man could put on his farm which would produce
manure of a rich quality to grow more corn that additional
profit could be obtained. He had seen many a man, who had
b^en doing well on a small farm, tempted by circumstances of

one kind or another to take a larger, and borrow the capital
and pay interest on it, find his money slipping away with-
out his knowing how or where it went. He agreed with
doing away with some of the old fences, and with the
pollards (which were rapidly disappearing) but thought
the fields might be made too large. In the large open
plains there were, no doubt, some means of getting rid
of the water which used to run into the old ditches, but
he questioned whether the time would not come when
there would be a difficulty in having the land lie as dry
as it ought. Whether the water was to be permanently
got away from large open plains of GO or 70 acres of good
heavy laud without very heavy outlay was a great question.
Every rational man would agree with Mr. Smith that the
greater the care taken of the manure the better, and he knew
a good farmer who employed a man whose sole duty was to
gather up what would otherwise be wasted. After alluding
to one or two other points in Mr. Smith's paper with which
he agreed, the Chairman came to the question of giving liberal
clauses as to cropping which were gaining ground fast. Mr.
Smith spoke of the outlay depending on the security, and of
money not being advanced unless the security was good, and
he asked Mr. Smith what he meant by security — did he mean
a sufficiently long term to take out of the land what he put in ?

Mr. Smith said he meant security in every sense of the
vrord.

The Chairman said a yearly tenant could not be expected
to act as liberally to his land as one who had a lease for 8, 12,
or 16 years to secure him. He thought that where ample
capital was likely to be laid out on the farm, there would be
no difficulty iu obtaining a long term.

Mr. Smith said there was other security besides security of
tenure.

The Chairman granted that, but it was the first thing.
With respect to other matters, no doubt Mr. Smith in his
position felt as he (the Chairman) did some delicacy in allud-
ing to the game question. Those who hired land where game
was must hire either as a game farm or have security that
they would be compensated for any damage. If they hired as
a game farm they had no one to blame but themselves ; but if
they paid the full value of land under a guarantee that they
should not be injured, they had a right to compensation if they
suffered damage.

Mr. C. Capon said it would be impossible to be free from
all consequences if a man hired a game farm.

The Chairman said the game question was one which ap-
proached too near politics to be discussed at that Club, One
other point Mr. Smith did not allude to, and that was the
question of cottage accommodation in proportion to the size of
the farm ; for it was self-evident that if a man had to walk a
mile and a-half to his work, his labour was not worth so much
as if he lived on the spot. In that respect, though cottages
did not pay a high rate of interest, matters were improving.

Mr. E,. Garrard said when landowners and agents saw
that the land was well farmed greater liberty was given to
the tenant than was the case at one time — not but that he
thought they could not do much better than farm on the old
four-course system. With respect to capital, he did not see if
a man of energy had £2,000 why he should be cramped up to
200 acres if he thought he could work more. It should be
the same in farming as in trade, for a man in trade with
£2,000 would take a business requiring £6,000, borrowing the
rest of the capital ; and if a man could not make farming pay
the interest as a tradesman could, it was not worth a man's
while to farm.

Mr. W. Chambers, jun, -. I fear you can't make farming
pay as trade does.

Mr. Garrard : I think you ought to make it pay five per
cent.

Mr. C. Capon : If money is not worth five per cent, ou a
farm it ought to be.

Mr. Paul Re.vd said Mr. Smith had spoken of the neces-
sity for good farm buildings, in order to carry on the business
as profitably as it was possible, and it was very cruel that
when new buildings were erected more rent was asked.
With respect to leases, the Agricultural llelief Association,
formed at Stowmarket more than 20 years ago, went on the
principle that the tenant should be paid when he left the
occupation for the improvements he had made, and should
pay for damage he might have caused, and that he thought

410

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

would be better than long leases, for a long lease might tend
to tie a man too long to tlie same occupation if he were a bad
farmer, and if he were a good one lie mignt wish for a change.
A.S to the question of capital, he would not, with Mr. Garrard,
advise a man witli £2,0U0 capital to take a business requiring
a capital of £6,000, for ha believed he would make a mess of
it. If they let a hardworking labouring man have ten acres
of land at the rent and rates the farners now paid, he would
maintain himself, and to do so could not make less than £30.
If the labouring man could make £30 a-year out of ten acres
they ought to be able to make i'GOO a-year out of 200 acres ;
for though the £30 the labourer made included his own
labour, they would not have so large a proportion of labour
by half. He was not an advocate for cutting all the laud into
farms of ten acres, but he thought there ought to be more
than there are. If they wanted to make a man an industrious,
steady, good servant, and if they wanted to do away with pau-
perism let them set before the man the prospect of being able
to take ten acres of land themselves one day or another. That
would be a thorough reviver of the agricultural community ;
for let them remember that if there was only one ten-acre
farm there would be a dozen competitors who would be saving
up with the hope of being able to take it, and thus it would
have a tendency to stop laziness and intemperance.

The Chairman asked if any gentleman had any answer to
make to Mr. Read.

Mr. Garrard would point to Ireland, where there were
plenty of small farms. He would wish Mr. Read no worse
fate than to be put into a ten-acre farm.

Mr. J. C. Kent : A ten-acre farmer is generally considered
worse than a labourer.

Mr. Read said he could point to a man in Framlingham

who held ten or fourteen acres, and had not only paid doable
the rent most farmers paid, but after eight years was able to
pay a still further increase.

Mr. Patterson contended that Mr. Read's comparison did
not apply, for the £30 earned by the ten-acre farmer included
all the labour ; and if the amount paid in wages on farms of
200 acres were included he ventured to say many farmers
made £000 a-year.

In the course of further conversation, Mr. Wolton said he
knew the generally-received notion was that a farmer ought
to have £10 an acre capital, whilst Mr. Mechi had told them
£20 would not be too much. He should like to know what
was the amount of capital required to farm most profitably
without going into fancy farming ?

Mr. R. Garkard said a man who took 200 acres of land
ought to have £2,000 ; that was the amount it was generally
considered he should have, but he did not say it was enough.

Mr. C. Capon observed that it did not matter whether the
man had the money of his own or borrowed it.

Mr. Smith, in a brief reply, said he did not intend to dis-
parage the amount of knowledge existing among the agricul-
turists of the county, but there were many who really began
farming without having previously made it their busiuess and
soon lost money enough to induce them to withdraw from the
occupation. He did not think they really knew the amount
of capital they had in their farms, for when they spent money
in draining a certain portion he was not prepared to say what
was capital. In that way they were continually putting
capital in, and he questioned whether they had so little as £13
an acre employed.

The Chairman conveyed the thanks of the club Mr. Smith,
and the meeting ended.

ON VALUATIONS.

The letting of land grants an occupation of the ground
for a specified time, at the end of which, removals and changes
of occupancy very frequently happen from differences, failures,
dislikes, and private wishes. No term of the year can be
found at which a free and clear quittance can be made without
the outgoing tenant leaving articles that are fixed and incor-
porated, and which cannot be removed or taken away. The
value cannot be realized by any present method, but must wait
the returns of crops and seasons. A loss would be sustained
by the removal, and a gain would be acquired by the incoming
tenant, who would derive a benefit without having expended a
price for its value. The cultivation of the land must be per-
formed and not neglected on pretence of removal, and that
the profits would not be obtained ; an intolerable damage would
thence ensue, and not be borne. The due courses of husbandry
must be maintained, as if no removal was intended, in order
to secure, as far as possible, the much to be desired perpetuity
of occupation. Justice and equity direct that an estimate be
formed of unobtained values, and the payment made by the
person who will reap the benefits to the person who has pro-
vided the sources of advantage. These reciprocities are now
well defined and firmly established, and the mutual rights
universally admitted. Improvements have been made and
alterations are suggested, which will be admitted by the force
of circumstances, and the conviction of benefit.

In the early records of the tenancy of land no notice is
found of any compensation being made for alterations or im-
provements, or that any idea had been entertained on the sub-
ject of valuations. As the practice increased of temporary
possession of land the views were enlarged, and as society
multiplied new interests arose which claimed a just and pri-
mary consideration. The first notice is attached to the houses
or buildings erected on lands for the residence of the occupiers,
tenants and labourers, and for the animals and implemc;nts,
and for tlie storing and manufacture of the grain crops. The
houses were erected by the proprietors, and the tenants coven-
anted to uphold the proper condition by executing the neces-
sary repairs, and when the tenant had done any improvement
by erecting a wholly new building, at his own cost, or by
making any beneficial alterations, in many cases the additions
remained with the property wholly free and without compen-

sation, being considered as a fixture that was irremovable, and
had become a part of the inalienable ground. In other
cases the improvements were valued by the award of " just men
and true," who assigned a value for the benefits conferred on the
property. The use crept in very slowly, and required much
time, along with a concurrent force and pressure of circum-
stances, which is ever necessary to estabUsh a permanent
arrangement of any business or negotiation. The stipulation
was early introduced, which gave the tenant from the landlord
the raw materials of repairs, as rough timbers, stones and
lime.

The land was used in the triennial cultivation of one-third
in the process of fallowing ; one-third sown with autumn
grains ; and one-third in lent crops. All articles were trans-
ferred wholly free and without consideration at the end of any
tenancy ; tlie grain crops were reckoned equal in quantity to
the giver and receiver, and the arable lands in the same con-
dition of quantity and preparation. This simple condition of
tenancy had lived with little or without any alteration till
about the middle of last century, when the introduction of
green and forage crops wholly revolutionized the entire system
of agriculture, and fixed a new era in the practice of the
art. The crops of different plants succeeding each other al-
together varied the labours of cultivation, and very much
intermingled the periods of return and the kinds of produce.
The nature of the cultivation of land requires a time during
which to derive t)ie compensation of outlay of money. The
cost of raising a green crop of roots cannot be repaid by the
crop itself, as the benefit is extended over the succeeding crops
of the rotation. No other business of life is so closely bound
to this natural law as agriculture, and a greater risk is incurred
during several seasons, which may be favourable or adverse,
and the prices of produce are fluctuating and uncertain, de-
manding a wide consideration of the peculiar circumstances
that surround the employment. The original mode of transfer
did not provide for the increase of produce that arose from an
improved system of cultivation, as it would leave the out-
goer wholly deprived of the value of much labour and
expense. The arrangement prevented all the confusion
that arises from the mixture of new and old tenants
being employed on the farm, and it has left its vestiges

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

411

iu the yet remaining custom of farmyard dung passing free
from the old tenant to the new. Even this arrangement is
objectionable, as the improved management of one tenant may
produce a greater quantity of dung at the end of the lease
than was received at the entry. This increase will arise from
a greater quantity of straw being produced, which is trifling
in comparison with the quantity of grain that has been thrashed
from it, neither of which was provided against by the primi-
tive arrangement of a free transfer.

It was very early perceived that no period of the year could
be found at which the tenure of land might be terminated
without an expenditure of labour and money remaining un-
paid to the tenant who left the occupation. The terms of the
jear were adopted from the Saints' days in the Romish calen-
dar, which were fixed in the months as the times occurred.
The mass, or feast- day, of a Saint became a period of time,
and was used in the purposes of social life. The feast of St.
Michael was fixed on 29th September, and very early became
a term of much utility. Martinmas, or the feast of St. Mar-
tin, was fixed on 11th November. Candlemas was fixed on
2nd February, and so called from the number of candles used
at the ceremony of Purification. Whitsuntide was fixed in
May, as the early converts then appeared in white ; Ladyday in
March, so called from the annunciation of the Holy Virgin,
The term of Martinmas is not very distant from Michaelmas,
and is found in the same state of the farming produce. Can-
dlemas and Ladyday are nearly placed, and are very similar in
the above condition, the manufacture of the crops not being
finished that was begun at Michaelmas and Martinmas. The
two chief terms of comparison are the May and Michaelmas
entry.

The Michaelmas term in September is the oldest period of
time that was used in entering and quitting the temporary
possession of land. It obtained the first preference with clerical
bodies, who granted the first leases of land, and has continued
in use over a large part of South Britain. The whole labours
of the year come into view in the maturity of the crops of
grain, the raising of root crops, tlie preparation of clay
fallows for wheat, and other minor articles of value. The
whole assemblage is due to the outgoing tenant to be valued
to his credit, and paid to his behoof. The hay in ricks is
valued at a fodder price, or the value reduced by the expense
of carrying it to market : the straw is similarly valued, or
given wholly free — tlie articles of hay and straw being ever-
most expressly reserved to be used on the farm. On this point
no omission or relaxation has ever been made in all inland
situations, where manures cannot be obtained in the full
return. The barns are used during winter for the purpose of
thrashing the grain crops by the out-going tenant, who gives
the straw and chaff in some cases for the delivery of thrashed
grains to a moderate distance. The fallow lands of bare clays
and of root crops are valued in the rent and taxes of one year
— the workings and manure, and in any seeds sown.
Dung in heaps ; grass leys of one or two years, in a half or a
third of seeds and labour ; copse woods, by the years of
growth ; hop gardens and poles, with minor articles of fruit
trees and bushes, are all valued by well-known rules, that are
much varied by local customs, which differ in the special
articles that are subjected to valuation, and also in the rates
allowed for compensation. These local usages have subsided
into force, and are acted upon accordingly.

The payment of rent by the out-going tenant ceases on the
39th September, and at that period every connection must be
severed and wholly discontinued, to prevent the unfriendly
interferences and unpleasant collisions that happen during the
winter's use of the barns by the out-goiug tenant, who may
remove a distance of much inconvenience. The improvement
in this term of quit and entry would be that the in-coming
tenant purchase the grain crops just before maturity, when the
reaping and storing may be very inconvenient from a distant
abode. The grain crops may be reaped and ricked, as is the
hay, by the out-going tenant, the contents computed by
measurement, and the value fixed ; the appearance of the
stubble will guide an experienced judgment to reckoning of pro-
duce ; and the two estimates being added and divided, the half
of both amounts will constitute an equitable estimate of value.
The amount of valuations may be somewhat lessened by the
underwood being wholly managed by the landlord, when the
farmer buys at the neighbouring sales of cut articles a quantity
for his use, which will prevent the frequent misunderstandings

from the landlord preserving a number of standard trees for
timber, which damage the under growths. Timber trees and
copse growths are best produced in separation.

The Whitsuntide term, in May, presents a more clear se-
paration between the outgoing and incoming tenant than the
terms that have been mentioned, and has obtained a more ex-
tensive application in the leases and lettings of land. At that
period the entire crops of grains and roots have been wholly
expended in the application by the outgoing tenant, and no
value remains unattached on these two very principal articles
of produce. The grain crops sown in the spring of that year
are the property of the outgoing tenant, and there remains for
adjustment only the small account of the grass seeds and
labour expended in the previous year, which will be grown
into a crop of hay for the incoming tenant. The straw and
dung remaining on the farm at the term, are conferred to the
use of the farm, free from any charge of value from the old
tenant to the new. This practice is a remnant of the old ar-
rangement, which transferred the whole crops of all kinds to
the new tenant without any value or discrimination, which
chiefly prevailed in the southern counties of England, where
the Michaelmas term was mostly adopted. In North Britain,
the term of Whitsuntide had the largest application, and the
practice was the most used of transferring the straw and dung
free of any charge or value. Such goods were called " steel-
bow," from the Teutonic, " stellen" to place, and " bow" a
field, as being goods placed on land, and attached to it, which
were often delivered to the tenants by the landlord, and re-
mained as his property, and to be redelivered at the expiry
of the lease. The word being confined to Scotland may be of
Scandinavian origin, and merely an inversion of the Swedish
" bosteele," a residence or fixed abode. The practice has
prevailed from time immemorial, and lias acquired a very high
reputation as a most beneficial arrangement, and prevents
the accumulation of valuations to press upon the
incoming tenant. In one sense the truth is undeniable,
though a correct feeling of justice and a true sense of equity
will reckon the dung and straws as a moveable article, and
worth a value to the outgoing from the incoming tenant, as it
has been produced by the previous crops, and from the excre-
ments of animals, all which articles are exclusively the pro-
perty of the outgoing tenant. The condition must be express
that it be purchased by the incoming tenant, and a greater
quantity may be produced at different terms to alter the equit-
able interchange of the commodity. But the custom has been
long established, and the equity of it is not challenged.

The May term of entry to farms has long prevailed over
the whole extent of Scotland and over the North of England.
It has been most justly held to be the easiest and most ac-
commodating to both the parties who quit and take possession
of the farm. At no other period of the year is there found
so complete a separation of the crops and labours of the farm,
nor any time at which so fuUy the processes are ended and
being commenced. A wholly entire separation never can be
got — the labours of one year are extended into the next, crops
sown in the end of one year are reaped in the next, lands are
ploughed and fallowed in different seasons, and the grazings
of one year are repaid from the following produce that is
realised. The grain and root crops are the chief articles of
produce, and demand the largest consideration, as from these
sources all other productions have their origin. Hence, the
foremost place that is ever enjoyed by these productions of the
ground. All the straws and hays of the farm are manufactured
and converted into dung lying in the yards, or carried to the
fields into heaps, and the pasturage of the grass fields has not
commenced by a mutual understanding and the general
custom, or is expressly arranged by agreement in the
lease or tenure of the lands. Grass seeds have been sown
the previous spring on the barley and wheat lands
after fallowing with manure, and come forward for a crop of
hay in the first term of the new occupation. Hence the value
of seeds and labour is due to the out-going tenant who lias
made the expenditure and has not reaped any benefit, to be
paid by the in-coming tenant, who will derive advantage from
the crop of hay.

The advantages are very great, and well understood, of
winter ploughing the stubble lands intended to be fallowed for
green crops or autumnal wheats during the next summer. No
subsequent cultivation of the soil can ever compensate for the
want of the exposure of earths to the vicissitudes of atmoa-

412

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

plieric influence during the winter months. The old and yet
prevailing custom gathers a number of ploughs from the
neighbourhood to a " ploughing-day," gratis to the new
tenant, when the work is very imperfectly done in a hurry aud
confusion, and very often at an improper season. The dung
for the early green crops is beneficially placed in heaps during
the late winter or early spring, and both performances of
ploughing the stubble lands and of carting the dung is paid to
the out-going tenant by the current rates of labour, along with
any work done in preparing the lands for spring crops. These
labours are of necessity to be done to prevent any damage to
the faim from change of occupancy.

The value of auxiliary manures, as lime, bones, and guano,
is awarded in a tenant-right of three years on the original
cost and labour. The quantity of dung in the cattle-yards may
be computed by allowing a certain quantity to the acre of straw
of the previous grain crops. The valuation of grass leys of one
year, and of the farm-yard dung that has been applied for one
crop, has obtained only a bare mention, and has scarcely ad-
vanced into notice once. Tt may not be thought expedient to
increase the transactions at the quit and entry farms, which
should be free and easy, and exhibit the least possible appear-
ance of change.

The Lent crops of grains grow into maturity as the property
of the outgoing tenant, and are sold by auction in lots to the
highest bidders, who carry the lots to different localities. Grains
and straws are brought back to the farm in a similar way,
which creates much labour and confusion, and an unnecessary
loss of time. The purchase of the crop just before maturity
will be a very considerable improvement on the old custom of
a public sale, but it continues the connection after the term of
quit, which should be wholly destroyed, and prevent the
inconvenience of distant abodes of business.

The rent of the farm is paid half-yearly, with six months'
grace, with the power of demanding the payment of the full

amount at the May term, if the farm Ije vacated at that time.
This arrangement does not remove tlie anomaly of the incom-
ing tenant paying the first half-year's rent for lands producing
crops that are not his property — the purchase of the grain
crops prevents the public sale, but continues the connection
of the quit and entry.

It is now proposed to break this " steel-bow" arrangement,
though the equity of it has not been challenged, and to sever
the whole connection on the term day.

The following arrangement of valuations transfers the grain
crops on the day of quit to tlie new tenant, who pays the rent
half-yearly, and on the expiry of six months from the entry :
Clay Fallows for TFheat.

1. One year's rent and taxes, full value of tillages, dung,
s eed, and sowing.

Green Crop Lands.

3. Full value of tillages and dung on the crop lands of the
previous year, but no rent and taxes, as a crop has been got.

3. FuU value of ploughing, seed, and sowing the grain crops
of the present year.

4. Full value of the grass seeds, and sowing of the previous
spring.

5. Full value of the winter ploughing of stubbles.

6. Full value of any cartage of dung.

7. Full value of the dung in the cattle yards.

8. Value of one year's grass leys in pasture.

The in-coming tenant now pays rent for lands producing
crops that are his own, and all connection is wholly severed on
the term day.

Objections may be raised against valuations in eases of none
being used, as the general desire wishes the abolition where
the custom is most prevalent. The May entry has attracted
notice from these localities, and it is hoped the arrangements
now suggested will appf^ar to be just and equitable, and worthy
of being adopted into practice. — J. D.

CHEESE AS AN AETICLE OE FOOD.
[_Prixe Essay by Mr. L. B. Arnold, of Ithaca, read at the Utica Bairymefi's Association.']

So extensively is elieese manufactured in the United States,
and so commonly is it used in this community, that, at first
thought, it seems almost a needless task to discuss its merits.
But there are some objections urged against its use, as well as
some considerations in its favour that it may be worth while
to notice. A strong presumptive evidence in its favour is the
fact of its being derived from milk. From the earliest records
of our race the milk of animals has been extensively employed
as an article of human food, and has been, by general consent,
regarded as both wholesome and nutritious. Among all the
multiplicity of foods used for the support of human life, milk
is one of the most perfect. It is in fact almost the only food
that will, when used alone, support life and maintain health
and vigour for an indefinite length of time. The perfect pro-
portions of its aliment are proven, if proof is necessary, by the
fact that it is the only food of the young of all mammalia, and
that they not only live upon it, but grow and thrive, and are
perfectly developed in all their parts. Coming from such a
source, it is very natural, and I may say fair, to presume that
cheese should partake of the excellent qualities of the material
from which it is derived. But there are objections sometimes
urged even against milk. There are some people with strong
vegetarian proclivities, so sensitive as to object to both milk
and cheese, because of disease aud a tendency to disease, in the
cows from which it is produced. They say that domestic
animals are reared under circumstances so artificial, and often
so unnatural, as to produce a constant tendency to disease and
often disease itself, and that in the case of cows, both may be
conveyed to their milk. And hence they object not only to
milk and all its products, but also to the flesh of such animals.
That the treatment of cows is sometimes so improper as to
produce disease that will influence their milk is doubtless true.
The swiU-milk of the New York city stables is notorious.
Milk from cows fed upon the slops of breweries and distilleries,
and other improper and unwholesome food, will doubtless par-

take of the food from which it has been derived. But cheese
is not made from the milk of staU-fed cows. It comes from
the milk of cows that live in the open country and inhale its
purest breezes ; that feed upon the fresh green grass as it
grows upon the turf-clad hills and valleys, and that drink from
the crystal fountains and sparkling rivulets, as meandering
along the undulations of the fields, they first start on their
joui'ney oceanward. What better circumstances of health
for cattle can be imagined than those which, as a
rule, surround the herds of the dairy farmer in one of season
lactation ? Surely, the presumptions in favour of the healthful
origin of milk for cheesemaking are strongly in its favour.
Another objection sometimes made to the use of cheese, is, that
it does not fairly represent the good qualities of the milk out
of which it was made ; that it leaves out a part of the elements
of milk, and those that it takes in are so altered in the process
of manufacturing and curing, that they make the cheese a very
difl"erent thing from the original milk. That cheese does not
take in all the elements of milk is true, it leaves out nothing,
however, that is worthy of notice but the milk sugar, and this
is so easily and abundantly supplied by the saccharine matter
and starch in the food with wliich cheese is eaten, that its loss
can hardly be said to have any weight in disturbing the just
proportions of its aliment. In respect to the idea that cheese,
on account of changes made in manufacturing and curing does
not represent the milk it was made from, let us look at the
facts. They do not look alike to be sure, but appearances are
sometimes deceitful and cannot always be relied on to deter-
mine important points. That milk must undergo many
changes in appearance before it can be assimilated is evident.
Milk in tlie cow's udder, and milk two hours in the stomach
of a calf, diff'er as inucli in appearance as milk in the dairy-
man's pail, and milk in the form of a cheese ; and yet, that the
curd in the former case is uninjured and identical with the
raUk it was made from, will not be questioned. Nor will it be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

413

questioned that the solid condition of the curd in the calf's
stomach is necessary to prepare it for assimilation, for it is one
of the steps in nature's own method of convertiug it into blood.
I hold that the conversion of milk into cheese involves the same
changes that occur in the stomacli of the calf, and that it is
only carrying out a part of the process of digestion. Let us
compare what happens to the milk in the two cases and see.
But first, let me remark, that the active agent in rennet is
now known to reside in minute globular bodies called cells,
which float in the gastric juice by myriads; that Uieyare the
cause of coagulation and digestion when applied to warm milk,
whether in the stomach or out of it ; aud that they are like the
globules of cream which they somewhat resemble, mechanically
inclosed in the coagulura they have formed, and remain there
to continue the process of digestion they have begun. Let us
now suppose a gallon of milk to be taken into the stomach of
a calf, and a quantity also placed in our cheese tub, gastric
juice containing an abundance of digestive cells is applied to
each, the one naturally, the other artificially ; but
with this difi'erence ; the quantity whicii the calf ap-
plies to one gallon of milk we apply to 300 or 400
gallons, and consequently one coagulates in ten minutes
and the other in an hour. In one case the curd
is broken up and kept stirred by the peristalic motions of the
stomach; in the other, with the curd knife and the hand of
the dairymaid. The whey separates in each ahke, but in one
case it is sbsorbed away and carried into tha circulation, and
in the other it is carried away artificially. The curds in each
case, at first soft, gradually harden tiU the whey is nearly all
separated and they become firm and solid, one rapidly, the
other slowly. We may now suppose that the curd in the
stomach has assumed its most compact form, and the artificial
eurd a corresponding condition ; that it has been through the
press and now hes on the shelf in the cuiing room. The curd
in the stomach full of digestive cells, with new ones in multi-
plied thousands poured out upon it with the increased supply
of gastric juice, is lept at 98 deg. Thecurdi i the curing
room, containing only the cells employed to coagulate it, is
kept at 70 deg. or below. In the former the digestive process
is rapidly hurried on, and in a few hours the hard and ten-
acious structure of the curd begins to be broken down and
appear soft and salvy, and to assume a cheesy texture, as well
as a cheesy flavour and odour. In the latter, the process is
slow. In a few weeks, instead of a few hours, its firm aud
tenacious structure begins to yield to the digestive agency, and
also begins to soften and to assume the same salvy and disinte-
grated appearance and the same cheesy flavour and odour of
the former, but unaccompanied with its strong animal odour.
In the former, the process of disintegrating and softening goes
on rapidly, till the whole becomes liquid and is carried away to
save the purposes of life. In the latter it is checked by drying
and cooling, so that little change will be noticed for a long
time. We now consider our cheese ready for use. It will be
seen that all we have done is to carry the digestive process up
to a certain point, and there to check it. We have digested the
curd till it is just ready to dissolve, and there we hold it. We
have the solid elements of the milk in our cheese tub in a good
state for preservation, and yet so nearly digested as to require
but little aid from the human stomach to dissolve it, and
make it ready lor the work of assimilation. Is it not plain,
from the foregoing, that cheese is a fair representative
of the milk from which it is made, and that it is
entitled to the reputation we are in the habit of ascribing to
to that perfectly (and nutritious) wholesome luxury ? The
last objection I shall notice is the one most commonly raised,
viz., that cheese is food in a state too concentrated for the
human stomach. I shall not dispute this point ; for I believe
the human stomach was not made to hold food that contained
nothing but pure nutriment like cheese and meat. It is too
large for such a purpose. Our food must have bulk enough
to distend the stomach and bowels, so as to afford a sufficient
substance for them to act upon. Cheese will not do this when
taken alone, and hence some people would have us reject it
altogether. But the same objection hes against beef, and
pork, and mutton, and all similar food. Shall we reject them
also ? We do not, and should not, object to meat because of
its being too concentrated to eat alone. We remedy its defec-
tive bulk by using with it some less nutritious food, as bread,
potatoes, or roots ; and the remedy is perfectly efiBcacious.
We should do the same with cheese, and the objection would

lose all its force. And this we do instinctively. We never
eat cheese with meat, or beans, or peas, or other strong food.
We use it in connexion with farinacse and fruit, with bread,
pastry, and the Uke, and we do so with the happiest effects.
The practice which prevails generally in selecting food to use
with cheese is as much in accordance with reason as with
taste. A little chemistry will illustrate this, and show us that we
might, with profit, consume much more cheese than we now do.
Chemistry divides our food into two classes : these which go
to make up flesh and the framework of the body, and are called
flesh- forming or albuminoids ; and these which furnish the
material for fat and animal heat, and are called fat-forming,
or supporters of respiration. We do not use these two kinds
of food in equal quantities : we take only one of the former to
two and a fourth of the latter. They are found in just this
proportion in milk. That it may be seen at a glance in what
relative proportions the two classes of elements exist in some
of the common articles of food, I have prepared a table, by
selecting from some of the latest and best authors, to show
what per cent, of albuminoids and fat-forming elements are
contained on an average in the kinds of food named :

Albuminoids. Tat-forming.
Per cent. Per cent.

Milk 3.8 8.2

Butchers' meat 14.4. 29.9

Cheese 24 31

Wheat flour 11.8 74.1

Wheat meal 13 67.6

Ryeflour 10.5 72.5

Corn 10 68

Buckwheat 9 59.6

Peas 22.4 52.3

Beans 25.5 45.5

nice 7.5 76.5

Pruits, aU kinds 0.5 11.3

Potatoes 2 21

I have said that we consume on an average about 2^ parts
of fat-forming to I of flesh-forming material, and that is all
we can consume. Whatever is in excess of these proportions
is of no value. Wheat contains over 6 to 1, while cheese, it
will be seen, contains an excess of albuminoids, that is, it has
only I5 of the respiratory matter to one of flesh-forming,
whereas it should have 2j. This disproportion comes in con-
sequence of its loss of milk sugar. If eaten alone it would
not be consumed to the best advantage. Wheat-flour stands
in the opposite relation. It has nearly three times as much
starch, &c., as are necessary for, or that can be used with, its
albuminoids ; and hence, if consumed alone, is used at a great
loss, besides the liability to disturb the healthful conditions
of the body by its great excess of starch, &c. A moment's
thought wiU enable any one to understand that to use cheese
with any preparation of wheat-flour would tend to balance
both their excesses, and make them both more valuable and
nutritious than they could be alone. And the same is true
with aU the cereal grains, corn, buckwheat, rice and fruit.
The use of cheese, therefore, with every variety of bread,
pastry, fruit, &c, is not only proper, but earnestly to be recom-
mended, as a positive aid in preserving a proper equilibrium
in the elements of food. Cheese used in connexion with the
bread grains, &c., as suggested above, has an economical value
that it is well worth while for all purchasers of food to con-
sider. Cheese is an animal food, and may, with advantage,
be substituted for meat. At the current prices it is a cheaper
food than butchers' meat. The average retail price ol the
latter for the past season at our markets, after divesting it of
bone, has been 20 cents per pound, and cheese the same. But
cheese contains more nutriment than meat when equal weights
are taken. Meat, it is true, is perfect nutrition, and is all
consumed. Assuming no waste, a pound of flesh may make a
pound of flesh again. It cannot do more ; while a pound of
cheese, simply by absorbing water, wUl furnish the material
for more than a pound of flesh. It is, therefore, the cheaper
food of the two, and may be profitably substituted for it. But
its highest economical value arises from its enhancing the
value of other food with which it is consumed. By the figures
in the table it may be seen that if a half pound of flour, that
wiU cost only four or five cents, is converted into bread and
consumed with a pound of cheese, the two together will furnish

414

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

a little more nutrimeut than two pounds of meat. The figures
which represent their value stand thus :

Flesh-forming. Tat- forming.

One pound cheese 2-i 31

One half pound 5.9 36

29.9

67

59.!

Two pounds meat 28.8

Two pounds of cheese and the one half pound of flour will
cost 25 cents, and the two pounds of meat 40 cents. Cheese
sustains a similar relation to all the cereal grains, and in fact to
almost all the food derived from the vegetable kingdom, and is
therefore used with that class of foods with great advantage.
Thus consumed it has an economical value that pertains to no
other animal food. We cannot use butcher's meat, for
instance, with wheat ilour and produce any increased value
over usiugthem singly; for meat, as a rule, contains just the
right proportions of flesh and fat (1 to 2j). It has nothing
therefore to offset with the excessive starch in the flour. Hence
when meat is consumed with bread, potatoes, roots, &c., all
the excess of starch or sugar they contain is wasted. The only
valuable purpose they can serve is to supply the deficient bulk
of the meat. It cannot possibly utilize them. This relation
of cheese to food containing an excess of the supporters of
respiration ought to be better appreciated by our people than
it now appears to be. We live mostly upon food that contains
an excess of fat, starch, or sugar, which we pay for at a heavy
expense, without its contributing anything toward the support
of life. By a better understanding of the relation that the use of
cheese sustains to such food, so much of that excess might be
utilized as to be sensibly felt in the cost of living. A large
amount of food now consumed without any benefit, might be
rendered available. There is another consideration connected
with the use of cheese, as above suggested, that I would not
have overlooked. I refer to its influence upon health. That a
food in which the elements of nutrition are in the same
proportions that they are used in sustaining life,
is more healthful than a food in which they are
in great disproportion, is a fact too evident to need
argument or illustration. The nearer we approach to the
perfect proportions in the elements of our food, the better must
it be for our health. That cheese may be so used as to pro-
mote a better relation in the elements of food has been suffi-
ciently shown, and hence the bearing which a more liberal con-
sumption ol it would have in promoting health may be inferred.
There is still another peculiarity in the use of cheese that I
may notice in this connection. It has been previously stated
that the coagulation of milk was effected by the aid of minute
globular bodies, called cells, that float in the rennet, and that
they are enclosed in the coagulum they have formed, and re-
main there during the process of manufacturing and curing the
cheese. All this is true, and more. Unless they are destroyed
by some unusual treatment, they remain in the cheese until it is

consumed, and retain their power unimpaired. This may seem
a strange assertion, but it is nevertheless true, and may be
easily verified. If any one desires to do so, let hira take a
piece of rich old cheese and dissolve it in tepid water. When it
is dissolved, or so softened as to mix readily with the water, apply
it to a little sweet milk and keep it warm, and in due time it will
coagulate in the same way as by the use of the rennet. If a
microscope is at hand, he may see the cells floating about in
the water in which the cheese was dissolved. When cheese is
dissolved in the stomach the cells are set free, and resume
their former efficiency, and become a positive aid in digesting
other food. The opinion that cheese will digest other food,
quite commonly prevails, and here we may see that it is founded
in fact. This peculiarity which belongs to cheese may justly
claim some weight while we are considering its merits.
Enough has been said I think to show that there are good
and substantial reasons for regarding cheese as a wholesome
and valuable food ; and that it is worthy of a more liberal
consumption than it now receives. This opinion is not only
verified by the argument offered, but is sustained by experi-
ence. As a community, the dairying people of the United
States are very large consumers of cheese. They have at all
times an abundance of good cheese of their own manufacture
on their tables, and use it very freely, and they do so
with the most favourable results. A more healthful and vigo-
rous class of citizens cannot be found among us. As a na-
tion, the English people probably consume more cheese
than any other nation on the globe. Their annual con-
sumption amounts to 300,000,000 of pounds for 30,000,000
of people, or ten pounds to each inhabitant. In the
United States the annual consumption amounts to 180,000,000
for 40,000,000 inhabitants, or four and one-half pounds to
each inhabitant. The statistics of mortality in the two nations
show the conditions of health and longevity to be rather in
favour of the English people. This difi'erence may or may
not result from the use of cheese, but in either case it shows
that cheese does not hurt them, and that the people of the
United States might annually consume more than double the
quantity they do without doing them any injury. In conclu-
sion, there are many reasons for commending cheese to a more
general use. Besides being, when properly used, a wholesome
and nutritious diet ; besides being richer iu nutritious value
thau butcher's meat or any other animal food ; besides its pe-
culiar ability to enhance the value and improve the healthful-
ness of other food with which it is consumed ; besides the aid
it renders in digestion, its readiness for use at all times with-
out loss or trouble in cooking, its convenient form for handling
and transporting, the ease and certainty with which it may be
preserved for many months without loss or injury that occurs
to other food from an excess of salt, all commend it to the
favour of the public, and especially to the army and navy,
where it could not fail to prove not only a luxury to our sol-
diers and sailors, but a cheap, healthful, and substantial sub-
stitute for the continued use of salt meat.

THE HERD OF MR. SHELDON, OF GENEVA, N.Y., UNITED STATES.

TO THE EDITOK.

Sir, — Thinking a description of Mr. James 0. Sheldon's
herd might be interesting to some of your readers, I will en-
deavour to give you some idea of it. His mansion, which is
a splendid one, and iu which much taste is displayed in the
architecture, is situated on an eminence about the centre of
his farm. This establishment is complete from the house to
the pig-pen. Since the fire, when he lost all his fodder, he
has built his cow-house of brick, and it is a very spacious one ;
the cows occupy one side, and the calves have each a pen to
themselves on the opposite side. The cows are milked regu-
larly, and are not allowed to suckle their calves, which are fed
on new milk for a time, then mixed with skim, and afterwards
raised on milk and linseed gruel. All seemed to be in a thriving
condition, and I was glad to see that he did not force his
calves. Taking Mr. Sheldon's herd iu comparison to others,
I have seen herds much fatter, and they varied much in this
particular. Some of them were lower in flesh than I exoected

them, while others carried much flesh, more especially at the
ketch and round bone. These points seemed proverbial iu the
Oxfords. I was not prepared to meet with so many thick,
mellow skins and long hair as I did in this tribe, as the origi-
nals at Oxford Royal Agricultural Show in 1839 were not of
that character ; most of them were thin skinned and flabby,
pecuharly suited to the taste of the judges at that time. You
may remember, Mr. Editor, that the judges judged the Short-
horns at that day by raising the skin with the thumb and
finger. Soft handling was admired, and by this admira-
tion the Duchesses gained their reputation, which I cannot
help thinking was a very great mistake, for from such consti-
tutions sprang many diseases which was attributed to other
causes. My experience tells me that a thin skinned animal is
always tender : the lean meat is porous, and the fat is blubbery,
the tripes and bowels are thin, all corresponding. They take
cold easily, and it settles on their lungs, thereby breediug dis-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

415

ease, wliicli becomes contaffious. I have seen mueli of tliis iu
this country, more thau I have in England. Many of the
Duchesses inherited it, and breeders in this country patronized
this kind of handling because it was fashionable, and many of
them suffered much loss from this foible. They were led away
from sense and reason by a clique of leaders who had selected
this soft touch, and who were determined to drive it into the
brains of rich men with their tongues and pens, and many
a novice with more money than wit was taken in by them.
The scene seems to be changed here now, and the thick, mel-
low skin and long thick hair of the Booth is taking the place
of the thin skinned Duchesses. That firm touch, when ripe,
in the Booth, is beginning to be appreciated, and the thin
skinned ones are dying out or abandoned. You know, Mr.
Editor,thatthe Bates sort was \i\\xA\9A\VMe.iS.{m\\\&x sweet heads,
and you also know that they took most of the prizes at Oxford
htc&MiQ the judges were so mnch pleased ii'iih their soft hand-
ling. Two of these cows were much to my taste : they had
thick, mellow skius, with plenty of long soft hair, but they
received second prizes under the thin skinned ones. Now I
will venture to suppose that this peculiar kind of the " Oxford
Strain," or tribe, now owned by Mr. Sheldon were derived
from these two cows, if it can be proved. I do not recollect
the names, but the three heifers and the bull, coming three
years old, distinguished favourites of Mr. Sheldon, are precisely
the same quality — Booth-like. Mr. Sheldon called my atten-
tion more particularly to these four animals. They have been
bred as closely as it is possible to breed them, and Mr. Sheldon
is going to continue it still further, although the bull is half
brother to the heifeis, and other relation very close. He says
he shall pursue this course of consanguinity. He believes
that as long as they have constitution, which they certainly
denote, and he can produce such animals by his course of breed-
ing, he will continue to do so. I do affirm that these four
animals are as near perfect as any animals can be : beautiful,
thick, mellow skins as can be found anywhere, plenty of long,

it thick hair, and their quality of flesh cannot be excelled, accord-
ing to ray course of handling. I think they will die as well
as Scots or Hereibrds whenever slaughtered. Still I cannot
reconcile myself to this close breeding. It must fail, as it
has with others, and I am very anxious to see the offspring
from this experiment. This young bull has a very straight top
and bottom, a little tucked up in his belly if anything, not at
all characteristic of tlie Duchesses generally, for they are apt
to be paunchy. He has no superfluous flesh on his neck, as
most Shorthorns have ; his shoulder blades are well covered
(Booth-like), and his shoulder top as bare as it ought to be,
but his shoulder point is not so full as it might be for the con-

, dition he is in. This, I think, is a very difficult point for
Shorthorn breeders to contend with, more especially in the
Duchess tribes. His crops are good, which is another evil in
this tribe, and Shorthorns generally. His chine excellent, and
his twist good. He has a fine round bone, and a beautiful
ketch on the top of it, such that are very much wanted in
what are sometimes called pure Ijred Shorthorns. Although
his outward thigh was light, the inward part gave him a good
twist, and I think this part of the round is considered by
epicures to be the best quality when the animal cuts marbled.
His tail was well set on and level with the chine, and he de-
notes as good a coustiliution as we find in an outward bred
animal.

Now, I contend that the skins that cover these four animals
protect the constitution, and that closer affinities can be bred
in consequence of this protection. But breeders ivill overshoot
the mark, and come to a dead lock, as the noted and veteran
breeder the late Sir Charles Knightley did before them. It was
precisely this skin and hair that his herd possessed when in
their prime, as these four animals now under consideration be-
longiug to Mr. Sheldon so plainly show. Sir Charles took a
long course of very close breeding from his own sort, and this
thick, mellow skin, with plenty of long, thick hair protected
his strong constitutions ; but as soon as the herd generally
began to show signs of weakness in their calves, and they
began to grow up with a sickly look, nothing seeming to make
them thrive ; the skin, however thick and mellow, and the hair,
however thick and long, could not save them. This herd of
Sir Charles Knightley's dwindled into nothing, entirely from in-
and-in breeding. I hope these noted young heifers of Mr.
Sheldon's, and the bull from which he intends to pursue the same
course that Sir Charles did, will not fall by the experiment, but

I have strong fears that such breeding caunot last ; when it once
begins to fail, farewell to good breeding. Mr. Sheldon says he
shall pursue this experimen:j as long as he can breed such
symmetry, quality, and constitutions, and, as his purse is ample,
he can afford to indulge in a trial of this kind, however un-
natural the course seems to be. I know I have lost much by
this system of breeding, notwithstanding I have seen as fine
animals bred amongst Herefords as the world produced. Old
Sovereign was as closely bred as an animal could be. There
never was a better bull of any breed in England, or a better
stock getter. Probably he has got more prize animals thau
any bull in England of his day. It is these successful incidents
that encourage men thus to breed, but that dead lock must
come, and when it does, farewell to good breeding. I tried
to persuade Mr. Sheldon to try one of Mr. Booth's bulls of
the smaller families, or of Mr. Carr's ; but he emphatically pro-
nounced his judgment against this. As long as such animals
will sell for 7,000 dollars to fancy men in England, with their
risk in crossing the water, of course he will breed them ; but I
cannot help thinking such extravagance will die out. Now, I
contend that these animals have bred back to the Alloy, as well
as Hubback, which I am satisfied from history is another Alloy,
and from which the skin and hair of the Scot were derived,
and that it is these two crosses that have kept up the constitu-
tion hitherto ; but the test has yet to come, by the continuation
of consanguinity. One good out-breeding will stand to build
upon, and when there are two outs in the Alloy and Hubback
the foundation is still better. How far these animals' pedi-
grees will apply to the two Alloys will be seen by applying to
the English " Herdbook ;" but the difficulty is to find out the
distinction between the first Alloy and the second, as the pro-
duce of the first got so mixed up with the second that it was
left enlirely to the honesty of the breeder, to reveal or conceal
as he thought proper, and it is generaUy supposed that the
Alloy before Hubback is mixed up with the best Shorthorns of
the present day. This leads me to believe that these four ani-
mals of Mr. Sheldon's are strong productions from both Alloys,
and gives them constitutions to produce their like again. May
it be so, for I think Mr. Sheldon is trying earnestly to produce
uniformly good stock, although his sales and purchases have
given him a herd far from uniform in size and quality. I found
some blubber in this herd, as well as in the other noted herds
of the Duchess tribes, and some cows lacking in symmetry ;
but I did not find a thick, leathery hide amongst those I
handled.

There was a yearling heifer in one of the calf-stalls (the name
of which I have forgotten) that was equal to anything I ever put
ray eye or hand upon. Give rae such animals as this, uniformly
bred in a herd of Shorthorns, and I wiU praise that herd as
highly as either Lewis F. Allen, author of the American Short-
horn " Herdbook ;" Luther Tucker (sen. or jun.), of Country
Gentleman ; or the late Mr. Tom Brown, editor of the Ohio
Farmer, could have done it ; but to praise a herd to the skies
where there is disunion in size, quality, and symmetry is beyond
my ability or desire. My attention was more particularly
directed to a white cow in a stall, with a young calf by her
side (I believe her name was Berlina). A more complete speci-
men of a Scotch cow I never saw. She had beautiful sym-
metry, very compact ; as fine, thick, mellow skin, with long,
thick, waving hair, as ever covered a Galloway ; her legs were
short, her fore and hind flank as full as a Scot's. Her full
crops, meaty chine, straight top and bottora, her full eye
and " very short horn " convinced rae that she was thrown
back to both Alloys, or some other Alloy had crept
into the fold, to keep breeders from consanguinity, and
that there might be other " closet men " (as Mr. Lewis E.
Allen says Mr. Collings was) in England amongst Siiorthorn
breeders who were aware of the importance of this cross. If
Berlina was mine, and I was a Shorthorn breeder, breeding
bulls for the public, raoney could not purchase her.

The Hon. A. B. Conger, of Haverstraw, State of New York,
has two cows precisely of the same character ; but not, I think,
with so purely the Scottish look as Berlina. Udora was the
name of one of them ; the other I have forgotten. These art
the Shorthorns I like to write about, for I had rather praise thau
condemn, no matter to whom they belong.

Mr. Sheldon is breeding Alderneys as well as Shorthorns,
and has some fine specimens of their kind ; but I think this
breed is only lit for fancy men, and are not a rent-paying sort.
I am much indebted to Mr. Sheldon for the kindness shown

410

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

me, and I sincerely wish him success in his undertaking. I
have no objection to his making 7,000 dollars of every animal
he breeds ; but he will have to come to England for this class
of men, for such novices are become extinct in this country.
I should say that Mr. Sheldon's farm was well adapted for
breeding, worked under a good system, which it seemed to be,
and is a very productive one. May he long live to enjoy his
pleasant position, and call the attention of Euglishmen with
more money than brains to take his animals at all risks for
1,000 to 1,500 gs. each. Such men will " bear bleeding."
He has everything around him that man can wish ; and who
can enjoy the comforts of home more than such a gentleman
who has a mind capable of appreciating it ?

Suppose Mr. Sheldon had chosen the thiu-skiuued, flabby
animal to have tried the experiment he is now engaged in,
this in-and-in breeding would have brought them to grief
much sooner. There is another class of Duchess tribe of this
character, many of which have died of disease, which I attribute
to their thin skins. How many of such animals have met
with a premature death in this country as well as in England?
These Duchesses of the opposite stock to Mr. Sheldon's were
long in the leg, hght in the crops, paunchy, and thin-skinned.
In-and-in breeding told strongly upon them, and many of them
died, even after being nursed with the most tender care ; many
died in this country before they added much to the stock.

W. H. SOTHAJI.

"NO POLITICS" AT THE CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE.

At a special general meeting of the Warwickshire Chamber
of Agriculture, held at Atherstone, Mr, J. H. Barbery pre-
siding, the Secretary read the following letters, the one from
Lord Aylesford, and the other from Lord Warwick : —

Packingtou HaU, Coventry, March 17th, 1870.
Sir, — I should be obliged by your taking my name from the
list of subscribers to tlie Warwickshire Chamber of Agricul-
ture, as I do not approve of it becoming a political association.
I have the honour to remain, yours,

Aylesfoed.

1, Stable Yard, St. James's, March 26th, 1870.

Sir, — I have received your circular inviting me to attend a
meeting of the Warwickshire Chamber of Agriculture on
Tuesday, the 29th of this month. Although unwilling to
enter into discussion in WTiting, I feel it due to the Chamber,
to my friends and tenants, and to my own character as a
Warwickshire landlord, publicly to refer to the recent pro-
ceedings of the Chamber, and to explain the reason of my
absence from their late debates.

When the Chamber of Agriculture was first established,
landlords were specially invited to join, in order that aU
classes might unite in the discussion of subjects affecting the
general good. It was, therefore, with smcere regret that I
soon observed a bitter spirit arise, which has since culminated
in a direct and most personal attack upon one class — the
landlords

This has prevented my attendance at the late meetings, and
I confess that my first impulse, on reading the account of the
proceedings at Coventry, was to withdraw my name from the
Society, feeling that landlords could not remain silent under
such unfair and sweeping imputations, and that unseemly re-
crimination could be the only result. I refrained, however,
from this step on the consideration that none with whom I
was personally associated had expressed these extreme views,
and I should have been unwilling to class them with those
W'hose opinions I felt sure they must disapprove of. That
such was the case is proved by the bold and manly conduct of
Mr. Eord, who well deserves, in my opinion, the hearty thanks
of all who desire to see harmony between landlord and tenant,
for fiiraly expressing his dissent from resolutions which
asperse the character of the former, as a class who would
knowingly, and for their own selfish gratification, injure men
whom they in truth regard, and whose interest ought to be
identical with their own. 1 do not go so far as to assert that
the working of the Game Law is not a legitimate subject for
discussion by a Chamber of Agriculture, but I will say that,
considering how liable it must be to produce antagonism of
classes, it should only be entered on in a moderate and kindly
spirit.

The opposition to the present state of game-preserving
assumes many forms. It comes 1st, from tenants who have
seen, either in their own case or in that of their neighbours,
injury done to crops by excessive preserving, and who, with
every wish to be on friendly terms with their landlord, and
without any desire to abrogate the presen law, feel that they
are entitled to more consideration in this respect.

2nd. From those who do not object to game, but on the
contrary, in the words of one gentleman at the late meeting
"hope that all tenant-farmers mil become game-preservers,"

and whose only object, therefore, is that game should be trans-
ferred from the hands of the landlord to those of the tenant.

3rd. From those who wish all game to be utterly destroyed.

4th. From those who care little for game or injury to
crops, and only use the cry as capital in their endeavour to
unsettle and break down the position of landlord and tenant
throughout the country.

li\\e. first class have my hearty sympathy, and I cannot con-
ceive any reasonable landlord who, if the matter were repre-
sented to him in a really kind aud friendly spirit, would not
endeavour to meet his tenant half-way in this matter.

With the views of No. 2 I fear I do not altogether coincide ;
and although ray friend Lord Leigh has, with liis usual gene-
rosity, at once fallen in with them, I trust that one who
cannot go quite so far wUl not be supposed altogether devoid
of feeling on the subject.

Without going into the argument, however, 1 may, perhaps,
he allowed to say that the circumstances of all estates are not
similar, and tliat this may be shown to apply in the case 'of
Lord Leigh. But further, I cannot agree that it is for the
benefit of either party that game should be the property of the
tenant. Perhaps, in the first instance, the tenant might be
iucUned to offer his landlord sport, yet I beHeve that this
would soon die away, and that jealousies would be sure to arise.
Even taking it in the most favourable point of view, it would
not be a pleasant reflection for the landlord to feel that he was
shooting on his own ground, on si'ffrance, game which was no
longer his.

Then, again, if tenants are to be game preservers, they
must themselves employ keepers, not alone for the game, but
as a protection to their houses and flocks (for the poachers
wiU not spare them), and besides perpetuating the injury
said to be done by game, they will fiud themselves saddled
with expenses which must tell against their own pockets
and their landlords' rents. With regard to No. 3, it will be
sufficient to say that, as Mr. Phillips justly observes, it would
have a strong tendency to drive landlords from their homes, and
the foxhunter must remember that foxes would be rather
pressed for food.

The spirit which actuates No. 4 in their opposition to
game is well explained by the remarks of Mr. Richards, who,
when good landlords are spoken of exclaims, " Would to God
we could find them !" and of Mr. Congreve, who describes
contracts as " always broken by landlords." The justice of
these sentiments I shall not debate, but there is something to
me suspicious in the statement of Mr. McGeachy, in a letter
last week, that we are to look to the " r/reaf towns of England
and Scotland" to unite with Birmingham and Aberdeen iu a
demand for a repeal of the Game Laws.

I was not aware that hares and rabbits had gone so far as to
take the streets of Birmingham by storm, and burglariously to
enter the dwelling houses of its inhabitants in search of food.
If not, to what are we to attribute this urbaue indignation ?
Are we really to suppose that they are only actuated by affection
for the farmers, whose interests they have not always so
scrupulously respected, or may they not fairly be suspected of
some ulterior views.

Of one thing I am certain, that nothing is more foolish and
wicked than antagonism of classes, and that they incur a heavy
responsibility who are reckless enough to encourage it, and

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

4I7

hope to take advantage, for other purposes, of the evil spirit
which it engenders. And now a few words on the subject of
" the battue." I am one of those who would far prefer mode-
rate shooting, with a friend or two, throughout the season, to
the massacre of a large head of game once or twice in the
year, with a dozen guns. Some years since the former custom
prevailed ; but it is only just to say that improved farming has
been the chief cause of the change, formerly numerous small
plantations existed on a farm, and every hedgerow and stubble
field was a cover for game ; but the close cutting of these has
forced high feeding, as game can only now be kept togetlier in
compact masses, and if disturbed more than once or twice in
the year, is driven over a country where there is no cover, and
lost. It therefore becomes necessary, when once disturbed, to
kill it. The same thing appHes to partridges. I infinitely
prefer walking with a good dog, and seeing him work, but this
for a similar cause is now impossible, and hence the necessity
of driviiiff. To conclude, for my own part I can see no good
to be gained by legislation, nor can I willingly consent to
dangerous interference with private contact between man and
man ; neither do I see that it is necessary for justice that I
should resign my right of game upon my own laud ; but
beyond this I am truly desirous that no tenant of mine should
suffer from game in any way that can liurt him, though I
will admit that it is difficult, as long as game at all exists, to
avoid at times some sliglit inconvenience ; but this, again, is
usually allowed for in the original rent of the farm, and, if
game is abolished or taken out of the landlord's power, you
will find his farms put up to auction and the last penny of rent
exacted.

I have no wish to see a rahhif on my lands, neither do I de-
sire an overstock of hares, and if (as will sometimes happen)
they inadvertently get a head, I will do my best to control
them. Further than this, I should be willing in extreme cases,
which I trust would not often arise, to have the damage valued
by a friend on either side. I am far from saying that there
are not instances of hardship, which I much regret, but I be-
lieve that, as a general rule, if tenants will not show distrust
of their landlords, and the landlords on the other hand dismiss
all selfish feeling, and sacrifice excess of game preserving to
the benefit of their tenants, these unpleasant feelings (unless
otherwise fostered) will soon subside, and a better understand-
ing be come to without the aid of legislation.

I remain, sir, your very obedient servant,

Warwick.
To the Secretary of the Warwickshire Chamber of Agriculture.

LOCAL TAXATION,— A special general meeting of the
Lincolnshire Chamber of Agriculture was held at Lincoln,
when Mr. Charles Bramley read a paper on the above
question. The discussion was carried on by the Chairman,
Mr. Ashlin, Mr. Trotter, and others, and the following reso-
lutions adopted : " 1. That in the opinion of this meeting
the existing tax collected under the name of Poor Kate
bears exclusively and unjustly on income arising from real
property. 2. That the exemption from the Poor Rate assess-
ment of income arising from personal property is not only
unjust, but also impolitic, and prejudicial to tlie public interest.
3. That this tax indirectly increases pauperism by impeding
industry and enterprise, and discourages the application of
capital to the employment of labour and the production of
food. 5. That the tax has an injurious bearing on house
property, and presses especially on investments in improved
dwellings for the working classes, and limits the demand for
the labour of the skilled and unskilled artizans. 5. That the
general tendency of recent legislation having placed the
management of Poor and County Rates under boards and
auditors, controlled by a central power, has to a great extent
removed the objection that the maintenance of the poor, tlie
highways, and the other purposes for which these rates are
levied, are strictly local duties, and should therefore be de-
frayed by a local tax. G. That the majority of county and
borough voters are ratepayers, but not generally large money
owners, and are therefore deeply interested in the removal of
the present exemption from Poor Rate of income arising from
money however invested or employed. 7. That this Chamber
do therefore urge the Central Chamber to do all in its power
to influence the Government to take up the early considera-
tion of the incidence of Local Taxation with a view to the
assessment of personal property to its fair proportion of the

burdens of the country, more especially as it is contemplated
to furtiier increase the pressure of Local Taxation by new
rates for the maintenance of roads and education."

HOW TO GET UP AN AGRICULTURAL LEADER.—
We have seldom seen a more barefaced piece of literary
" crib," and a more unblushing advertisement, than that of
which the paper calling itself the " organ " of the Chambers
of Agriculture was guilty last week. Its first leading article
is taken almost bodily from the columns of our esteemed con-
temporary the Economist, and done so, sooth to say, in a
patronising style ! Surely, if it be the " organ " it represents
itself, among all the " grinders " in the chambers, it might
have found one to turn the handle of an original tune on the
malt-tax. The advertisement, however — after the Economisfs
air — is its own, and played out with an effrontery that none
but one of those foreign pests to Mr. Babbage could have
displayed. Petitions in favour of repeal or reduction of the
malt-tax ought, we are told, to be sent from every town and
village ; and forms of petition can be had (we give the ad-
vertisement gratis) from " the secretary of the Central Cham-
ber of Agriculture. Address, the Salisbury Hotel, Eleet-
street." Very ingenious certainly ; but wiU the tub thus
thrown out catch the whale ? We fancy not. — The Farmer. -r-
[The secretary of the Central Chamber may advertise himself
at " the Salisbury ;" but, as we have said before, he has no
office of any description at that hotel ; and if his forms of
petition be kept there, it is diffieult to see where these can be
stored, unless it be in the coal cellar. — Ed. M.L.E.']

TEE GAME LAWS.— At a meeting of the West Kent
Chamber of Agriculture held at Cranbrook, the Earl of
Darnley in the chair, the following resolution was pro-
posed by Mr. Chittenden, — " That this Chamber is opposed
to legisla ion between landlord and tenant, but considers that
progressive cultivation and successful farming require the
ground game to be under the control of the tenant." Lord
Ilolmesdale moved, as an amendment, — " That this Chamber,
while entertaining the strongest opinion that an excess of game
is prejudicial to agriculture, is also of opinion that the ex-
aggerated statements made from time to time with regard to
game are a serious hindrance to the settlement of the ques-
tion." Mr. Hodsoll also moved, as an amendment, — "That,
having regard to the interests of agriculture, this Chamber is
of opinion that there should not be an over preservation of
game, and that a right of action should lie for any damage sus-
tained thereby unless the party preserving has, by means of
walls or close fences, used his best endeavours to keep such
game within his own domain ; and that it shall be lawful for
hares and rabbits to be destroyed by tenants and others on
whose lands they may be found, at all times of the year,
without any licence duty, notwithstanding any covenant to
the contrary, the tenant first repaying his landlord any com-
pensation he may have received from him in reserving the right
of game." Both amendments were negatived, and the original
resolution carried.

THE WORTH OE THE LABOURER.— He had a man,
who he thought he did not exaggerate in saying was worth
double to him of any man he had on his land ; that man was
a most intelligent man ; if he put a perfectly new machine,
which he had never seen before in his "life, into his hands, he
would not break it, but would learn how to work it in 2't
hours — to conduct it and carry out all its operations with singu-
lar zeal and intelligence. If he wanted a piece of land sowing
with seed — if he wanted this man to sow it with two bushels
or with one bushel and a-lialf, he would see it regularly and
uniformly done. Would anybody tell him that the man who
could do those things was an uneducated man — a dangerous
man — and likely to be one of the arabs of society ? The man
who could do that, and many morejthings he would not weary
them with relating, could neither read nor write. An honester
or a better fellow did not exist, or a man who did his duty
better in the position of life in which it had pleased God to
place him. Would they greatly improve their labourers by
that rate-supported education ? He was most anxious that
every poor man's child should be able to read and write and
cast accounts to a certain point, and above all that education
should be formed upon religion and the bible. But when it
was proposed to carry out a system of Government education ,
which was to be paid for out of their pockets, he was quite
certain men would ask themselves, " Is it fair and just^ and is
it to our interest f—The Rev. E, ^niijthies at Leicester,

418

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

LAVENHAM FARMERS' CLUB.
THE TENURE OF LAND.

At the March monthly meeting of the members of this club,
Mr. Ma-NFIELD read a paper on Land Tenure, in which he said :
The land suffers not so much for want of capital as for want of
security for tliat capital. My own opinion is that all laud
should either be let upon lease or upon a well devised system of
tenant-right. I prefer leases because they give greater liberty
to the tenant in the way of cropping than may be given under
a system of tenant-right. I conceive that lease to be the best
which will secure the best rent to the landlord and the greatest
profit to the tenant. I have drawn up a lease and will bring
before you the points in which it differs from many. From
the list of reservations, pollard trees growing upon, or in
fences adjoining arable land, are excepted ; the exclusive right
to game is reserved to the landlord with certain exceptions ; if
by fair and legitimate sport we can keep our landlords and
country gentlemen living amongst us, it is desirable to do so ;
it contains a provision that it shall not be terminated without
two years' previous notice in writing from either party. It is
better for all parties to come to an arrangement as to the future
some time before the end of the unexpired term. And I will
go as far as to say that if a landlord refused to come to terms
as to the future, two years before the expiration of a lease, I
should take as much as possible out of the land, or put in as
little as possible ; if on the other hand a tenant would not
come to reasonable terms, I should feel perfectly justified in
giving the offer of the farm to another when the lease had
nearly expired. I do not think a tenant can benefit himself
by lowering the condition of his farm for a longer period than
two years before the termination of his lease.

Clause 2 authorises the tenants' executors to assign to any
responsible person, if the landlord shall decline to take the
tenant's interest at a valuation, which is but fair.

Clause 3. The tenant to have a pecuniary interest in
keeping up the repairs, he paying for half the labour in keep-
ing up the buildings, &c., in repair, and all the labour in
keeping gates, &c., in repair. All the first to be put in repair
by the landlord, and all materials to be found by the landlord.

Clause 8 allows the tenant to sell any article grown upon
the farm, such as straw or roots, upon condition that he buys
back an equivalent in oil-cake or feeding stuff. I tliink it
most desirable that the tenant should be able to do this. I
think this liberty should not be extended nearer than eighteen
months to the termination of the lease, which would insure
that all the produce grown upon the farm (except the corn,
grass, or seeds), in the year next preceding the termination of
tlie lease, should be consumed upon it.

Clause 9 gives the tenant liberty to farm and arable land
in any place he pleases, except in the last two years, when it
must be farmed on the 4-course system. It is here that the
lease has the advantage over the tenant-right.

Clause 10 provides that if either landlord or tenant desire
it, the landlord must provide tiles for draining, and can charge
the tenant with the cost of an efficient man to see that they
are property put in.

Clause 16 provides that if any straw is destroyed by fire,
the value of such, at foddering price, shall be laid out in the
purchase of artificial food, to be consumed by stock, or in
artificial manure to be used or left upon the land.

Clause 17 provides that the tenant may course hares
during the coursing season ; that he may kill the rabbits
(except in April, May, June) at any time, or in any way that
will not interfere with winged game. If this was generally
adopted it would wonderfully lessen the estrangements and ill-
feeling which subsist, and ought not, between landlord and
tenant.

My experience of rabbits has been somewhat extensive;
for several years the damage caused by them on a compara-
tively small farm exceeded £100 a-year, during which time the
landlord persisted in saying there were none. I suffered so
severely that had not an alteration been made I should liave
given the farm up, but after a bit I was allowed to kill the

vermin ; the landlord expressed his surprise that there were so
many. I afterwards had a lease of the same farm with a right
to kill rabbits if they did me material damage. I was never
troubled with them after. I cannot believe that a landlord
would preserve such vermin if he really knew the damage they
do ; they are the greatest pests a farmer has to contend with.

Clause 19 provides that the straw aud chaff and colder
arising from the last year's crop of corn, thrashed before the
expiration of the lease, is to be thatched, the thatching to be
paid for by the in-coming tenant. Before the lease is for-
feited for non-payment the rent must be demanded, and before
the lease is forfeited for the branch of any stipulation it must
be shown tliat the tenant will not submit to an award of
arbitration.

Valuation Clause contains the usual conditions, except
that it provides that the cost of draining is spread over a
greater number of years than usual —

Of 30 inches deep 3 years,
40 „ „ 5 „
48 „ „ 7 „

the greater the depth the greater the cost, and the greater the
efficacy and durability. Therefore in future the time should
be extended. I have inserted the usual conditions as to thrash-
ing and carrying out the last year's corn, but I think they may
be improved upon it. this way : Let there be a fixed charge^
say, of Is. Gd. per coomb for thrashing and carrying out last
year's crop of corn, aod Is. 6d. per bushel for trefoil, and 3s.
6d. per bushel for clover-seeds. If the out-going tenant can-
not come to terras with the in-coming tenant about the
carriage, &c., he can get some one else to do it for him. I
have heard valuers say that the thrashing is often more
bother than all the rest of the valuation account.

The Mutual Clause contains a provision in case of a dis-
pute arising as to the meaning of any part of the lease, and it
provides that it shall be submitted to arbitrators who shall
have power to settle it.

Mr. R. Hawkins said they were not overstocked with game
in that district, but when game was allowed to get ahead he
did not know anything more injurious. He had no doubt many
of them would agree that the Legislature ought to interfere,
and not allow tenants to be over-run with game under any
circumstances, whether the landlord interfered or not. As to
rabbits he thought they should be considered as vermin, the
same as rats, and destroyed.

Mr. T. P. Hitchcock said : Mr. Manfield had dealt gently
with the question of game. Some people talked as if the
Game Laws were peculiar to England, but they would find
upon inquiry that they existed in other countries as well, and
the law said everywhere that the game belonged to the owner
of the soil. Indeed what other inducement would there be for
a gentleman to remain in the country if he could not have his
country sports. He thought, however, tliat the Game Laws
ought to be restrained within proper bounds. It was a great
hardship where a farmer hired land on the understanding that
only a moderate quantity of game was to be preserved, and
then the landlord afterwards let the shooting to someone else ;
perhaps it might be that the landlord died, and the next man,
not caring about the shooting, let it to some one, a London
stock-broker perhaps, who having no land, did not care a bit
about the tenants, and the farmer had his crops destroyed by
the abundance of game. Where a tenant-farmer had hired
his land on certain conditions and his crops were injured, he
thought the Legislature should step in, so that he was recom-
pensed for all his losses.

Mr. W. BiDDELL said, as to game, it was quite right, what
Mr. Hitchcock had said, that a man had a right to do what he
liked with his own, but still he thought if a limited liability
clause were introduced into their leases it might have a whole-
some effect. If he was in the happy position of being a land-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

419

lord, as he was ouly, he was sorry to say, to a very limited
extent, he should not object to a limited liability clause, but
still he would have game and he would have sport, and if the
tenant thought he was not going to have either he would not
suit him. But he should not object to a clause that if the
damage by game exceeded a certain amount the value should
be paid to the tenant, and in reference to this he was fully
aware of the difficulty there was in valuing damage by game.
Mr. Gayfoed, for one, should be very sorry to see the game
laws done away with. They wanted to get the country gen-
tlemen among them, and they could not do that unless they
had sport to give them. If they had not some of the right
sort of the old aristocracy among them they would be iu a
pretty fix.

Mr. ViNCE said they did not mind the landlords preserving
a little if they would only come and live among them.

Mr. Manfield, replying upon tlie discussion, said he
thought there must be legislative interference, for in some
places game was not preserved as it should be ; there was an
excess of it, and it did damage. Of course there were parties
— both landlord and tenant — who would take advantage where
they had the opportunity, but he purposely omitted from his
remarks all reference to them. After thanking the club for
the kind way in which they had listened to him, Mr. Manfield
said if by anything in his paper or in the discussion that had
arisen from it a better feeling between landlord and tenant
were brought about, or useless restrictions should be done
away with, he should be very gjad.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

Monthly Council : Wednesday, April 6. — Present
the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., President, in the chair ;
Viscount Bridport, Lord Berners, Lord Cheshara, Lord
Kesteven, Lord Tredegar, the Hon. H. G. Liddell, M.P. ;
Sir Watkia W. Wynn, Bart., M.P. ; Mr. Acland, Mr.
Amos, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Barnett, Mr. Booth, Mr. Bow-
ley, Mr. Cantrell, Colonel Challoner, Mr. Ciayden, Mr.
Clive, Mr. Davies, Mr. Dent, M.P. ; Mr. Brandreth
Gibbs, Mr. Hassall, Mr. Holland, Mr. Hornsby, Mr.
Hoskyns, M.P. ; Mr. Jonas, Colonel Kingscote, M.P. ;
Mr. Lawes, Mr. Leeds, Mr. Milward, Mr. Ransome, Mr.
"White Ridley, M.P. ; Mr. Shuttleworth, Mr. Thompson,
Mr. Torr, Mr. Turner, Mr. "Webb, Mr. "Wells, M.P. ;
Mr. "Whitehead, Major "Wilson, Mr. Jacob Wilson, and
Dr. A'^oelcker.

The following were elected members '■ —
Allnutt, T. A., Watling^on I'arm, Tetsworth.
Barclay, "W. Leatham, Kuotts Green, Leyton,
Blyth, James, Weasenham, All Saints, Brandon,
Brough, W. S., Fowlchurch, Leek.
Byrd, Frederick, Dunston, Penkridge.
Callender, Peter, Devonshire House, Birkenhead.
Cooke, Frederick F., Caston Hall, Attleboro.
Corbett, C, Broad Marston, Stratford-on-Avon,
Darby, Alfred, Stanley Hall, Bridgnorth.
Davy, John, Owersby, Market Raisen.
Denton, J. Bailey, 22, Whitehall Place, London.
Dickin, Edward F., Yockingsgate, "Whitchurcii.
Dudding, Henry, Panton House, Wragby.
Early, Thomas, Witney.
Elwell, Edward, Wednesbury.
Fitzhardinge, Lord, Berkeley Castle, Berkeley.
Gilbert, Joseph, Evesham.
GiUard, Henry, Stafford.
Gunson, John, Hope Field, Lowick, "Ulverston.
Hamond, Nicholas, Bridgnortli.
Herring, Henry, Caldwell Farm, Kidderminster.
Hodgson, J. Stewart, Denbigh, Haslemere.
Humphrey, Henry, Asliington, Hurst.
Hunt, R., Earl's Colne, Halstead.
Johnson, John George, Cross, Torrington.
Johnson, Joseph, Sutton by Beckingham, Newark.
Juckes, Thomas, Tern, Wellington.
Kaye, John Edward, Bretton Park, Wakefield.
Kent, George, North End, Portsea.
King, Frederick, 39, Lombard Street, London,
King, Raymond Fuller, 39, Lombard Street, London.
King, WiUiam David, 130, Queen Street, Portsea.
Lepper, George Andrew, Aylesbury.
Lett, William, Rushock, Droitwich.
Mayo, Henry, Cokers Frome, Dorchester.
Mayon, John, Webster, Fazeley, Tamworth.
Morley, Edward, Bruze Norton, Bampton.
Newill, Joseph, Lydbury North, Salop.
Park, James, Ulverston.
Page, Thomas Robert, Adderbury East, Oxford.

Parsons, John Philip, 2, Acacia "Villa, Putney, S.W.

Parsons, William, Elsfield, Oxford.

Pettiward, Robert John, Firborough Hall, Stowmarket.

Reade, Joseph, Shipton, Chipping Norton.

Rogers, A.,Plas-yn-y-pentre, Llangollen.

Roupell, John Stuart, Lee Place, Charlbury.

Rowland, William R., Creslow, Aylesbury.

Scott, Jonathan, Little Crossthwaite, Keswick.

Sheldon, J., jun., Eynsham, Oxford.

Sheldon, Thomas, Oxford.

Short, A. L. H., East Castle-street, Bridgnorth.

Skelton, Edward, Dunkley, Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire.

Spencer, John, Villiers' Hill, Kenilworth.

Steedman, Edward B., High Ercall Hall, Wellington, Salop.

Stratton, Joseph, Upton Lower Farm, Burford.

Stuart, John Windon, Oldbury-terrace, Bridgnorth.

Stubbs, Richard, Stone, Staffordshire.

Stubbs, Thomas, Teddesley Coppice, Penkridge.

Tallant, Francis, Easebourne Priory, Midhurst.

Taylor, Francis, Church-street, Rorasey.

Thompson, Thomas C, Ashdown Park, East Grinstead.

Tildesley, James, "V^Hllenhall, Wolverhampton.

Tredwell, William, Elsfield, Oxford.

Twinch, John, 58, Thames- street, Windsor.

Warner, William Henry, 4, Whitehall, London.

Wiggins, William, Watcombe Manor, Watlington, Oxon.

Wood, John, Draycott-in-the-Clay, Uttoxeter.

Wright, Thomas, Seaton Barn House, Dudley.

"Weatherhogg, George William, Newark.

Finances. — Major- General Viscount Bridport presented
the report, from which it appeared that the secretary's
receipts during the past month had been examined, and
were found correct. The balance in the hands of the
bankers on March 31 was £1,745 3s. Id., £3,800 re-
maining on deposit at interest. The balance-sheet for the
quarter ending March 31, 1870, and the statement of
subscriptions and arrears were laid on the table, the
amount of arrears due being £940. The committee had
had under their consideration a number of cases of de-
faulting members, and they recommended that these cases
be referred to the Society's solicitor, with instructions to
take proceedings to recover the arrears of subscriptions
due to the Society. — This report was adopted.

Journal. — Mr. Thompson (chairman) reported that
the committee recommended that a prize of £10 be
offered for the best description of the most improved
form of kiln for burning lime for agricultural purposes*.
It was also recommended that the committee be em-
powered to spend £25 in obtaining an article for the
Journal " On the Latest Improvements in the Manage-
ment and Cultivation of Hops ;" and that a series of
experiments be set on foot during the next autumn and

* Essays competing for this prize must be forwarded to the
secretary of the Society not later than June 15.

F F

420

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

winter to test the comparative feeding value of Barley and
Malt, at a cost not esceediug ^£100.— This report was
adopted.

House. — Major-General Viscount Bridport (chairman)
reported that the attention of the committee had been
called to a recent assessment of the Society's house — the
previous rating having been on a basis of £80, and the
present demand being based on £280. The committee
therefore recommended that the secretary be instructed
to communicate with the Society's solicitorj with a view
to an appeal. — This report was adopted.

Library. — Major-General Viscount Bridport reported
that, with regard to the improvement and the gradual
completion of the library, the committee recommended
that a grant be made this year of £100 for the purchase
of books, and that a future grant of £50 be annually ap-
plied for for the same purpose. The committee suggested
that a list of books proposed to be purchased be made
out by the Editor, and submitted to the Journal Com-
mittee for their approval. As to additional book-cases
the committee recommended that the two spaces on each
side of the fireplace in the council-room be successively
appropriated when required, and that the House Com-
mittee be empowered to contract for the same. — This
report was adopted.

Gexeral, Oxford. — Lord Kesteven reported the fol-
lowing recommendation of the committee : That the
secretary put himself in communication with other par-
ties than those from whom refreshment tenders have
been received, in order to negotiate with them. — This
report was adopted.

On the motion of Lord Kesteven, it was resolved
" That the secretary do put himself in communication
with the Oxford local committee to secure the required
lodgings for the officers of the Society at Oxford."

Chemical. — Mr. "Wells, M.P. (chairman), reported
that the committee had had before them the correspond-
ence between Messrs. Bradburn and Co., aud Professor
Voelcker, and that they had nothing to add to theii" former
report. — This report was adopted.

Education. — Mr. Holland (chairman) reported that
only two candidates had entered to compete for the So-
ciety's certificates and prizes, and that neither of them
desire to be examined either in geology or botany. The
committee recommended the following gentlemen as ex-
aminers at the forthcoming examination, viz.: General
and Agricultural Chemistry, Professor Liveing and Dr.
Voelcker ; Land Surveying and Mechanics, Professor
Twisden ; Book-keeping, Messrs. Quilter, Ball, and Co. ;
Anatomy and Animal Physiology, Professor Simonds. —
This report was adopted.

Selection. — Mr. H. S. Thompson (chairman) reported
that the committee, after full consideration of the ques-
tion referred to them by the Council, relating to the power
of adjournment possessed by the general meeting of the
Society, fixed by the Charter to be held on a particular
day in May, have to report their opinion that there is an
inherent power in such meeting, when once duly consti-
tuted, to adjourn to another day for the more convenient
transaction of the business of the meeting, within such
limits as shall not admit of a de])arture from the evident
intention of the Charter that a general meeting of the
Society shall be held in London for the election of oflicers
and other business at the particular time of year named.

Judges Selection. — Mr. Milward (chairman) pre-
sented a list of the names of gentlemen nominated by the
committee as judges of stock and implements at Oxford ;
and he reported the recommendation of the committee
that these gentlemen be invited to act in such capacities
at the Oxford meeting. This report was adopted.

Veterinary.— Mr. Wells, M.P., reported that in
order to give effect to ths resolution, arrived at by the

Council at their last meeting, the committee recommended
that a sum of £25 be placed at the disposal of Professor
Simonds for making experiments in pleuro-pneumonia,
especially with regard to preventive measures. The
committee had received the report of the Governors of
the Royal Veterinary College, as well as a communica-
tion in reference to the resolution passed at the last meet-
in of the Council. This report having been adopted,
the last-mentioned communication was read as follow :

" Royal Veterinary College, March 23, 1870.

" My Lords and Gentlemen, — The Governors of the Royal
Veterinary College having considered the communicatiou
from the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, dated
March 3, 1870, beg to express their hope that the amount of
the grant of £200 a-year from the Royal Agricultural Society
win not be diminished.

" In proof of their earnest desire that the objects of the
Royal Agricultural Society shaU be attained, they beg to place
the £50 a year, which they have for some years appropriated
to the purchase of specimens of disease in cattle, sheep, and
pigs, in the hands of the Council, and have made arrange-
ments to the extent of their accommodation for the reception
of any specimens the Council may forward to the College ;
and further,

" The Governors of the Royal Veterinary College request
the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society to transmit to
them such subjects for investigation to be undertaken in the
College as they may decide upon, and the Governors will in-
struct Professor Simonds to conduct such investigation.

*' The Governors have instructed Professor Simonds to re-
port the circumstances connected with the diseases manifested
in such specimens as may be provided by the Council, and
the treatment thereof, to each meeting of their ' committee
for general purposes," which meeting take place quarterly,
aud from which such reports will be immediately transmitted
to the Council.

" The Principal is requested to transmit the communicatiou
now agreed upon to the Council of the Royal Agricultural
Society, — I have the honour to be, my lords aud gentlemen,
your obedient servant, " C. N, Newdegate, Chairman.

" To the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society."

It was then moved by Lord Bridport, and seconded by
Colonel ChaJloner, " That the request contained in this
communication be complied with." A discussion then
ensued, in which Mr. Thompson supported the motion,
and Mr. Jacob "Wilson explained the views of the com-
mittee, and their reason for not acquiescing in the request
of the Governors of the College. On the question being
put to the vote, Lord Bridport's resolution was lost by
ly noes to 6 ayes.

The report of the governors of the Royal Veterinary
College having been read,* it was moved by the Hon.
H. G. Liddell, ]\LP., seconded by Mr. J. D. Dent, M.P.,
and carried unanimously, " That this Coimcil call the
attention of the Privy Council to so much of the report
of the Governors of the Royal Veterinary College as
relates to rinderpest, and urge the Privy Council to
take tills report into their immediate and careful con-
sideration."

jMemorials having been received from the authorities
of Shrewsbury, Stafford, and Wolverhampton, inviting
the Society to hold their country meeting for 1871 in those
localities, on the motion of Mr. Jacob Wilson, the follow-
ing were appointed as Inspection Committee to visit and
report on the facilities offered by the competing towns :
His Grace the Duke of Richmond, Sir Edward Kerrison,
Mr. D. R. Davies, Mr. B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, and Mr.
William Torr.

On the motion of Mr. Cantrell, the following list of
competitors for the prizes offered by Mr. Mason and the
Society for the two best-managed farms in the district
round Oxfoi'd was ordered to be published :

* Extracts frpm this report are appended.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

421

Cother, William, Middle Aaton, Dcddingtou, Oxford.

Craddock, llobert, Lyiieliam, Chipping Nortou, Oxou.

Dashwood, Frederick Loftus, Kirtliugton, Oxford.

Deane, Thomas, Huttons, Hambledon, Henley-on-Thames.

Denchfield, William, Easingtou Earm, Banbury, Oxon.

Druce, Samuel, Eyusham, Oxford.

Edmonds, William John, Southrop House, Lechlade, Glouces-
tershire.

Powler, John Kersey, Prebendal Farms, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Gibbons, George Thomas, White Hill Farm, Tackley, Oxford.

Gillett, Charles, Cote House, Barapton, Oxon.

Hall, William, I5arford House, Deddington, Banbury, Oxon.

Hattou, William, Kingston, Tetsworth, Oxon.

Latham, Thomas, Little Wittenham, Abingdon, Berks.

Millington, Mary Elizabeth, Ash Grove Farm, Ardley,
Bicester, Oxou.

Pensou, Robert, Foxcott, Chipping Norton, Oxon.

Savidge, Matthew, Sarsden Lodge Farm, Chipping Norton.

Smith, Samuel, Somerton, Deddington, Oxon.

Smith, Thomas, The Downs, Wootton, Woodstock, Oxon.

Stilgoe, Nathaniel, Manor Farm, Adderbury, Banbury.

Stilgoe, Zachariah W^, Adderbury Grounds, Banbury.

Treadwell, John, Upper Winchendon, Aylesbury, Bucks,

Mr. Torr then moved " That judges of live stock at
the Society's country meetings be supplied with a list of
tlie animals entered for the prizes which they have to
award, omitting the names of the exhibitors, but giving
the pedigrees of the entries," and he explained that his
object was to ensure that the prizetakers should be good
animals with good descent, stating his opinion that they
ought to possess four or five crosses of pure blood. — Mr.
Milward, in seconding the motion, expressed his regret that
Mr. Torr had not adhered to his original intention, and
proposed that the catalogues should be placed in the hands
of the judges, and he quoted the case of a prize bull at the
Society's Warwick meeting, which no breeder would have
dared to use on account of his want of pedigree. — Mr.
J. D. Dent, M.P., having stated that he would have voted
for the motion of which Mr. Torr had originally given
notice, but that he must oppose it in its present form, —
Mr. Bowly expressed his dissent from Mr. Torr's
views, mentioning particularly that in his opinion prices
given for animals at a sale rested on a diil'ereut basis
from that on which prizes were awarded at a show.
He also remarked that the great success of the
Society's shows was due to the certainty of the awards
being made with impartiality. Mr. Jacob Wilson also
opposed the motion, and expressed his opinion
that if the object was to guarantee the possession of
hereditary qualities Mr. Torr had placed the cart before
the horse, for he should have moved that the possession
of a certain pedigree be made a condition of entry. — Mr.
Booth likewise opposed the motion, although personally
he felt indifferent whether the judges, if they were honest
and independent men, were supplied with catalogues or
not ; but he felt that many younger exhibitors would
object to such information as was proposed being afforded
to the judges. The resolution having been further op-
posed by Mr. Turner, Mr. Davies, Mr. Webb, and Mr.
Jonas, it was withdrawn by Mr. Torr, with the expression
of his conviction that the discussion would have a beneficial
eifect, and that in future years it might be found possible
to demand a certificate of pedigree as a condition of
entry.

A letter from the president of the " Societe des Agri-
culteurs de Prance," on the subject of an international
agricultural congress was, on the motion of Mr. Brand-
reth Gibbs, referred to the Journal Committee.

The Secretary was authorised to aftis the common seal
of the Society to the diplomas of recently elected hono-
rary members.

On the motion of Mr. Jacob Wilson, Bcconded by Mr.
Brandreth Gibbs, Mr. Amos was empowered to commu-

nicate with intending exhibitors of steam-engines, with a
view of ascertaining their respective " speeds" and other
particulars, so as to facilitate the forthcoming trials of
implements at Oxford.

Extracts fi'om the report of the Governors of the Royal
Veterinary College to the Council of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society :

" During the past year (1809) events have occurred which
tend to prove the increasing importance to the members of
the profession of a complete and practical acquaintance with
the diseases of farm stock, and especially with those which,
normally existing in a mitigated form, are likely to assume an
epizootic character, and occasion serious loss to the farmer,
although they may not be essentially malignant in their na-
ture. Such, for example, is the malady commonly known as
' mouth-and-foot disease.'

" Some interesting cases of disease of the skin of lambs
were brought to the notice of the students. The disease pos-
sessed aU the characteristics of the affection known as Crusta
lactea in the human infant. The parts principally affected by
the morbid action were the sides of the neck ; and even the
shoulders were ultimately attacked. Thick crusts of a dark
colour covered the skin, which was also much inflamed and
cracked. The young puiraals suffered much from local irrita-
tion and symptomatic fever, under which some sank. The
cases, however, were not numerous in the several flocks in
which the disease appeared — not more than six or eight
among 150 to 200 animals. AppHcation of the oxide-of-zinc
ointment proved beneficial ; but careful nursiug and protection
both from hot and wet weather were needed as adjuncts to
the treatment.

" Some other novel cases occurred in lambs, in which death
resulted from parasites existing on the skin. Tlie parasites in
question were those commonly known as ticks (lodes Rici-
mus). These parasites abound in most countries, and are met
with both on wild and domesticated animals, firmly attached
to the skin, from which they draw blood as their food. Until
now they have not been found on animals in Great Britain to
any extent injurious to health, much less as causing death.
In hot countries, however, and particularly in many parts of
South America, these parasites attack animals in such vast
numbers, that even oxen succumb to the irritating and ex-
haustive effects of their attacks. Specimens of the skin of
lambs, thickly covered with these epizoa, were sent from Kent
by a veterinary surgeon consulted on the case. In his commu-
nication he writes that ' they had attacked the sheep and
lambs, both on uplands and marshes, and that one farmer
found a large quantity of them on some colts which were at
pasture near to the sheep.' There are few parasites more
tenacious of life than ticks, but experiments having shown that
they can easily be destroyed by carbonic acid, was recom-
mended that a trial should be given to dipping the sheep and
lambs in a diluted mixture of the acid. This proved most ef-
fective in the destruction of the ticks, and thereby prevented a
further loss of lambs.

" The chief event of the year in connection with cattle
diseases has been the remarkable outbreak of the malady known
as the mouth-and-foot disease. Few parts of Great Britain
have escaped, and in one instance, at least, the disease was as-
certained to have been introduced into Ireland by cattle ex-
ported from England. In Ireland, however, the malady has
been kept far more in check than elsewhere by sanitary re-
gulations, as the executive of the Government in that coun-
try was enabled to enforce the orders of Council through the
medium of the constabulary.

" Another contagious disease of cattle has excited a good
deal of attention — pleuro-pueumonia ; and in addition to the
legislative provisions for its suppression a revival of the system
of inoculation by way of prevention has been resorted to.
Experiments for this purpose have been begun in several parts
of the country, but chiefly in Norfolk and Cheshire. Some of
the results have been published, but in the present state of the
inquiry no correct deductions can be arrived at from the data
obtained. It may, however, reasonably be doubted whether
the results will so far differ from those which were obtained
in 1853-53 as to justify the adoption of the system.

" That no fresh introduction of the cattle plague has oc-
curred withia the year is a subject of sincere congratulation,

F F 2

422

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

The disease, however, has been more than usually rife iu many
parts of Eastern Europe, and early in tlie year made its way
from Hungary into Lower Austria, showing itself in several
places, and among these in some villages near Vienna.

" The latest intelligence which has been received is far from
reassuring.

" The plague had entered Silesia from the south-western
districts of Poland, and although it was quickly stamped out,
the state of things was so threatening tliat both the Prussian
and Austrian frontiers had to be strictly guarded by the
military. It may be thus hoped that Western Europe will be
protected from further loss through this most malignant and
infectious disease ; but that Poland, Galicia, Hungary, Tran-
sylvania, and Buckowina will suffer severely from the outbreak
cannot be questioned.

" With reference to another foreign disease (the smallpox of
sheep) it may be mentioned that the Government measures,

which required that all foreign sheep should undergo a quaran-
tine of fourteen days, or be slaughtered within four days at
the port of landing, proved most effective in securing the
country against the introduction of the malady.

" Passing from foreign to home diseases of a contagious
nature, we find that scab in sheep has been exceedingly preva-
lent during the year. This disease is essentially parasitic in its
nature — the analogue, in fact, of itch in the human subject. It
is not difficult of cure, and many of the popular remedies are
sufficient 'for the purpose. These, however, often fail in
effecting a cure, as must the best chosen remedies, for want of
sufficient care in its application. Each sheep in turn should
be well examined, and the agent applied to every spot 'where
the disease is found to exist. In all places where ' scabs' are
met with they must be well broken up with the fingers before
the agent is used, otherwise neither theAcari nor their ova will
be destroyed."

THE CENTKAL FARMERS' CLUB.
EXHAUSTION OF SOIL, AND THE VALUATION OF UNEXHAUSTED IMPROVEMENTS.

The usual monthly meeting of the Farmers' Club took place
on Monday evening, April 4, in the Club Rooms, Salisbury
Square, the chairman.Mr. James Howard, M. P., presiding. The
subject fixed for consideration to be introduced by Mr. J. B.
Lawes, of Rothanipsted, St. Albans, was announced in the
following terms : "Exhaustion of Soil in relation to Landlord
Covenants, and the Valuation of Unexhausted Improvements."

The Chairman said : Gentlemen, the subject on the card
for this evening's discussion is one of the utmost importance,
and I think the Club may consider itself very fortunate in
having induced so able a man and a gentlemen of such high
reputation in the scientific world as Mr. Lawes to introduce
it (Hear, hear). Mr. Lawes has laid the farmers of England,
and the farmers of the world, uuder a deep debt of obligation.
His researches and experiments are such as have never been
undertaken by any other private individual of the present
generation ; his contributions to agricultural literature will be
read by many generations of farmers yet to come. We have
lieard, and most of us have read, a very great deal of late with
regard to the two things mentioned in the card, namely, land-
lords' covenants and unexhausted improvements in relation to
a sister-country. I believe we shall this evening have them
lifted above their social and political aspects, and treated from
a scientific point of view. Having made these few and brief
observations, I will now call upon Mr. Lawes to address you.

Mr. J. B. Lawes then read the following paper : —
A comparison of the conditions and practice of the agricul-
ture of this country at the coraraeucement of the present cen-
tury with those which now prevail, brings to view many im-
portant changes. Among the more prominent of these is, not
only the great improvement in those descriptions of machinery
which were then in use, but the introduction and the very
general employment of a large number of entirely new ma-
chines, adapted to almost every requirement of the farm. Not
less characteristic elements of modern advancement and still
continued progress are the improvement of our breeds of stock
and the use of oilcakes and other purchased cattle-foods, con-
tributing to early maturity and to a greatly increased produc-
tion of both meat and animal manures ; and lastly, the employ-
ment of large quantities of imported, and what are commonly
called artificial manures, as distinguished from those which

are produced on the farm by the feeding of stock. Coincident
with these changes has been a rise in the value and rent of
land ; much greater iu the case of the light than in that of the
heavier descriptions of soil. As a necessary consequence, too,
much more capital has been expended in the cultivation of a
given area of land. It is remarkable however that, with all
these important changes of our own time, little or no altera-
tion has taken place either in the actual course of cropping of
any district, or in the views which prevail in regard to the ne-
cessity of adhering to a fixed rotation of crops. It would
seem as if the systems of cropping established by our fore-
fathers were proof against all alteration, in spite of the vastly
improved means of mechanically working the soil, and the
enormous increase in our resources of elements of fertility, in
the form of cattle-food and manures imported from all quarters
of the globe, and of artificial manures manufactured at home.
Nor is it less surprising that, with the extensive and greatly
increasing use of expensive purchased cattle-foods, the value of
which can only be recovered in the meat and manure con-
jointly, there should be no recognised basis, or general system
adopted, for the valuation of unexhausted manures, as between
the outgoing tenant on the one hand, and the landlord or the
incoming tenant on the other. As a contribution to the dis-
cussion of these important points, I propose to direct your at-
tention this evening chiefly to the following questions : 1.
Whether, in order to preserve the soil from exhaustion, it is
necessary to enforce a fixed rotation of crops ? 2. What are
the best, or most generally applicable means at our disposal,
for the estimation of the value of unexhausted manures ? In
considering the characters of soil with the view of arriving at
some answer to these questions, it will suffice to confine
attention mainly to the definition and illustrotion of
those qualities which are commonly known under the
term "condition" and to pointing out the distinction
between these and those which are due to what
may be called the normal or natural fertility of the soil.
There are other points of great practical and scientific interest
in connection with the state of fertility of our soils which must
be left out of view on this occasion ; as, for instance, the influ-
ence of the various crops we cultivate, the special effects of or-
dinary and of various artificial manures, the loss of fertilising

THJ3 FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

423

matters l)y drainage, and allied subjects. The word " condi-
tioa" is ia very common use amougst agriculturists. It is said
that a farm is " in condition," or " out of condition," or in
" high condition," or in " low condition." These terms are
well understood to imply certain states of fertility which it is not
easy to define more accurately in a few words. As I under-
stand it, the word " condition" refers to those elements of fer-
tility in a soil which, whether tliey have been accumulated by
natural processes or by the art of the farmer, are capable of
being turned to account in the growth of crops within a limited
period of time, and which by such growth are soon exhausted.
" Condition" is, therefore, something altogether distinct from
the natural or standard fertility of the soil. A soil may be na-
turally very fertile, but at the same time very much out of con-
dition ; or it may be naturally very poor, but in very high con-
dition. As an illustration of a soil brought into a state of high
condition by natural causes, I will quote a few sentences from
that great writer on the science and practice of agriculture, M.
Boussingault. In his Rural Economy, p. 231, he says : " By
far the finest crops of Indian corn in America are obtained
upon breaks of virgin soil. I do not hesitate to say that the
liusbandman gains from six hundred to seven hundred times his
seed under such circumstances. The mode of proceeding upon
these breaks, which I have frequently witnessed, deserves to fix
attention for a moment. The planter chooses the end of the
rainy season for cutting down the trees and the brushwood ;
everything remains where it falls until it is sufficiently dry ,
fire is then set to the heap, and the burning extends and lasts even
for weeks ; all the smaller branches are completely consumed,
nothing but the charred trunks of the larger trees remain. As
the rainy season is about to return, a man, with a pointed stick
in his hand, goes over the burnt surface, making a hole of no
great depth at intervals, into which he throws two or three par-
ticles of Indian corn, over which he draws a little earth, or ra-
ther ashes, by a slight motion of his foot. This primitive
mode of sowing terminated, the planter takes no further heed
of the crop ; his habitation is often so remote, that he never
visits it until harvest time : the rain and the climate do all the
work : it is unnecessary to hoe, the burning having destroyed
all the plants that were indigenous to the soil, nothing rises
but the grain which has been sown. In such fields, stems of
Indian corn are frequently seen of the height of from twelve to
fourteen feet. It rarely happens that more than three consecu-
tive crops are taken from the burnt soil ; and the last, though
still very superior to anything which we can obtain by our
regular husbandry, is not to compare with the first. As there
is no want of forest, it is held preferable to make a fresh break."
Here, then, we have an instance of a soil in which the elements
of productiveness, having been gradually accumulating for ages,
are so far exhausted by three successive crops of Indian corn,
as to render it more profitable to abandon the land, and
clear a fresh portion of the forest, than to cultivate
tlie same area over again. As a more familiar instance
of land brought into " condition" by somewhat similar causes,
may be mentioned old pasture, when broken up and converted
into arable land. The cases of land brought into " condition,"
which it is much more to our present purpose to consider are,
however, those in which the immediate productiveness is due
directly to the outlay of capital by the tenant, by the use of
purchased foods and manures, by means of which the land is
brought for a longer or shorter, but still only for a limited
period, into an increased state of productiveness. By way of
special illustration of such " condition" I will direct attention
to some results selected from among those of the numerous
field experiments made on my farm at Rothamsted. Table 1
shows the produce of dressed corn per acre, on certain plots of
a field which has now grown wheat year after year for more
than a quarter of a century. Up to the autumn of 18i3 it was
under the ordinary system of cultivation of the farm. In
183!) it was dunged, and grew turnips ; in the next four years
it was unmanured; growing barley in 18-iO, peas in ISI-l,
wheat in 1842, and oats in 1843. In the autumn of 1843 the
first experimental wheat crop was sown, and the twenty-seventh
is now growing. Portions of the field have received no
manure whatever during the wliole period of the experiments ;
one portion has been manured with 14 tons of farm-yard dung
every year ; and the remainder, divided into numerous plots,
has been manured with different descriptions of artificial
manure, the same description having, as a rule, been applied to
the same plot year after year for the last eighteen years, and in

some cases for longer still. Table 3 shows the results of ex-
periments in which barley has been grown year after year in an
adjoining field for many years in succession, the nineteenth
crop being now in the ground. The plan of manuring has been
very similar to that in the wheat field, portions being always
unmanured, part being annually manured with farm-yard dung,
and the remainder divided into plots, which have been
manured, respectively, with different descriptions of artificial
manure. Table 3 relates to experiments on the four-course,
rotation of turnips, barley, clover or beans, and wheat ; and
therefore illustrates " condition" of soil under circumstances
much more nearly representing the ordinary practices of agri-
culture than when corn crops are grown year after year on the
same land. The twenty-third crop — that is to say, the third
crop of the sixth-course — is now growing. The root-crop,
commencing each course, has been liberally manured with

Illustkations of Condition. — Table 1.
TP/ieai grown year after year on the same land.

Plot 2.

Plot 16.

Plot 6.

Plot 17.

Plot 18.

Mixed

14 tons

mineral

Mixed

dung.

manure,

mineral

Mixed

mineral

Years.

every

& 8001bs.

manure.

manure and

year ; 26

ammonia

alone ;

ammonia-salts,

years.

salts ; 13

18 years,

alternated

: 18 years.

1844-69.

years.

1852-69.

1852-1869.

1852-64.

Bushels

Bushels

Bushels

Bushels

Bushels

of dressed

of dressed

of dressed

of dressed

of dressed

corn

com

corn

corn

corn

per acre.

per acre.

per acre.

per acre.

per acre.

1844

20^

19|

15^

18f

281

1845

33

32J

24f

32i

33

1846

27i

27

25

32

26^

1847

29|

32

301

34f

30|

1848

25|

30J

30t

28i

26i

1849

31

33|

38|

33f

32|

1850

28^

33|

30i

30^

29i

1851

29t

36f

37

31i

31

Average '\

8 years, >

—

30a

29 i

30i

28i

1844-51 )

1852

271

28i

*16|

t24|

*14|

1853

19^

25J

noi

* 8f

tl9i

1854

41i

49|

*24i

t44i

*23|

1S55

34f

321

*18i

*18

t33i

1856

36i

37|

*19i

t31

*17|

1857

41i

m

*23f

*26i

\m\

1858

38^

41J

*18|

t33i

*21J

1859

36i

34|

*20|

*20i

t32f

1860

32i

32i

*15f

t25^

*15i

1861

34|

37

*15i

*18f

t32J

1862

38^

36i

*17i

t27|

*18i

1863

44

55|

*19|

*21i

t46i

1864

40

5U

nej

t36^

*17|

1865

37J

32i

*14i

*17

t31t

1866

321

17J

*13i

t26^

n2f

1867

27^

141

* 9i

no J

t23|

1868

414

22a

*17i

^m

*18|

1869

38i

16i

*15|

*16^

t22|

26 years,

1844-69
21 years,

1844-64
13 years,

1852-64
5 years,

1865-69
18 years,

1852-69
18 years

1852-69

33a

A\

ERAGES :

36J

—

—

39i

—

—

20t

—

—

—

—

+24|

—

*17i

*17f

+241
t31|

* Mineral manure. t Ammonia-salts.

} Mineral manure antl ammonia-salts.

m

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mineral mauure, ammonia-salts, and rape-cake; both roots
and tops have been carted off th« land, and the three following
crops of each course grown without any further manuring.
Clover was the third crop in the first course ; but as it wUl
not grow onee in four years, beans have been substituted for
it in the succeeding courses. The Table gives tlie average
produce, respectively, of turnips (roots and tops), barley, beans,
and wheat, over the second, third, fourth, and fifth courses—
tiiat is to say, over tlie four complete rotations in which beans
were grown. Table 4 gives the results of experiments con-
ducted for fourteen years in succession on permanent meadow
land, the plan of manuring having been much the same as in
the case of the experiments on wheat and barley.

Illustrations os Condition.— Table 3.
Sarlei/ grown year after year on ilie same land.

Plot 7.

Plot 3a.

Plot 3aa.

Superphosphate and

Superphos-

4001bs. Ammo. Splts,
6 years ;

14 tons Dung

phate and
2001bs. Ammo-

Years.

every year : 18

2001bs. Ammo. Salts,

10 years ;

3751bs. Nitrate,

years,
1853-1869.

nia-salts every
year : 18 years,

1852-1869.

2 years ;
Total, 18 years :

1853-1869.

Eushels of

Bushels of

Bushels of

Dressed Com

Dressed Corn

Dressed Corn

per acre.

per acre.

per acre.

1852

33

m

43i

1853

361

401

421

1854

m

601

631

1855

m

471

50f

1856

33i

%n

31#

1857

5H

561

661

1858

55

51^

561

1859

40

341

35|-

1860

«f

43|

43i

1861

54a

55

55f

1863

49J

48f

51

1863

59i

61|

601

1864

62

581.

56§

1865

52|

48|

47i

1866

53i

501

50|

1867

45|

44

1868

43|

37f

44

1869

46|

48

48i

18 years,

1852-'69.

6 years,

1852-'67.

48

Averages ;

m

451

491

Illustrations of Condition. — Table 3.

ArCijlc'ially Manured, Four-course Rotation, conducted throMjh
51 Courses (22 years) 1848-1869.

Average of 3nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Courses (16 years) 1852-1867.

Mixed Mineral

Description

Manure, Ammonia-
salts, and Rapecake,

Years.

of

for turnips of each
course; 1852,1856,

Crop.

1860, 1864,

Turnips carted off.

.

Per acre.

1852, 1856, 1860, 1864 Swedish turnips* 13 tons 3f cwts.

1853, 1857, 1861,1865 Barley i48f bushels.

1854, 1858, 1862, 1866 Beans. ... '21i „

1855, 1859, 1863, 18G7iWheat . |36|

* Roots and tops.

Illustrations or Condition,— IVble 4.
Experiments with Mamtres on pernmienf Meadcw Land.

fears.

Plot 2,

Plot 9,

\

14 Tons Dung,
8 Years, 1856-'63 ;

Unmanured,

6 Years, 1864-'69.

Total, 14 Years,

1856-1869.

Mixed Mineral
Manure, and
400 lbs. Ammonia-
salts, every year ;
14 Years,
1856-1869.

1856

Hay per acre.
Cwts,
36
47i

m

40f

461

451

451

44|

48i

35|

43

51

36i

55i

AVERJ

44|
431
43

Hay per acre*
Cwts.
56f

1857

574-

1858

64

1859

1860

501
66#

1861

1863

57i

1863

53J

1864

50^

1865

34^

1866

441

1867

48

1868

59^

1869

68$

8 years,

6 years,

14 years.

1856-
1864-
1856-

'63 ...
'69 ...
'69 ...

lGES:

54

I will first call attention generally to the fact that, throughout
the long periods over which these various experiments have
extended, " condition" has been equally kept up whether farm-
yard dung, or certain chemical mixtures, were employed. In
the wheat experiments, the average of 26 successive crops
grown by farm-yard dung was 33j bushels ; the average on
plot 16, of 21 crops grown by artificial manure was 36g^
bushels, and the average on the same plot, over 13 years when
the artificial manures were increased in quantity, was 392-
bushels. In the case of the barley, the average over IS years
of farm-yard dung was 48 bushels, and over 18 years of arti-
ficial manure 47^ bushels. In the rotation experiment, after
the removal, on the average of the four courses, of about 13J
tons of turnips, which had been manured with artificial ma-
nure, the average of tlie four crops of barley was 48 1 bushels,
and that of the four crops of wheat 36f bushels. Lastly, in
the 14 years experiments on permanent meadow land, the
average produce of hay where farm-yard manure was employed,
was 43 cwts., and where artificial manures were used 54cwts. It
is obvious, therefore, as I have already said, that land can be kept
in " condition," whether continually under grain crops, under
rotation, or growing natural grasses, equally by farm-yard dung
or artificial manures. I wiU now endeavour to illustrate the
extent, or limit, of duration of " condition" of soil, under dif-
ferent circumstances of manuring. I wiU refer first to the ex-
periments on wheat, the results of which are given in Table 1.
During the first eight years, from 1844 to 1851 inclusive, plot
16 was variously manured with mineral manure and ammonia-
salts, and gave an average annual produce of 30J bushels.
During the next 13 years, from 1852 to 1864 inclusive, it re-
ceived every year a mineral manure, composed of salts of po-
tass, soda, and magnesia, and superphosphate of lime, and also
a largely increased amount of ammonia-salts, namely 8001bs.
per acre per annum, and the average produce over the 13 years
was 39^ bushels. The manuring was then stopped, so that
the crops of 1865 and since, have been entirely unmanured.
The crop of 1865, the first after the cessation of the manuring,
was 32 J bushels, the second 17f , the third 14|, the fourth 23f ,
and tlie fifth I65 bushels. It is obvious, therefore, that the
" condition" of the land, due to the unexhausted residue of the
manures applied during the 21 previous years, was sufiicient to
yield a fair crop in the first year after the manuring was
stopped, but that the produce then rapidly declined. It should
be stated, however, that the quantity of ammonia applied in
tliis experiment was very excessive, amounting, in the 21
years, to as much as would be supplied in 10 tons of Peruvian
guano. Deducting the amount of nitrogen in the increase of

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

425

crop in the 21 years, from the amount supplied in the manure
during the same period, it appeared that nitrogen equal to
more than a ton of ammonia, and to more than would be sup-
plied in 6| tons of Peruvian guano remained unrecovered in
the increase of crop. An analysis of the soil lo the depth of
27 inches from the surface showed that about one-third of
this excess still remained in the soil within that depth, at
that period ; leaving, however, the remaining two-thirds still
unaccounted for. Even the one-third retained within a depth
of 27 inches from the surface would appear, from the small
produce yielded by it to be so diffused, and locked up
in such states of combination in the soil, as to
be available in very small quantities annually. Of the
remaining two-thirds, doubtless a part is still retained in
the soil below a depth of 27 inches ; but probably
the largest proportion of it has passed off, in the
form of nitric acid, in the drainage-water. In the other ex-
periments on wheat, the results of which are given in the
Table, the amounts of ammonia applied were by no means so
excessive, only half as much being annually applied where
they were used at all, as during the 13 years of excessive appli-
cation on plot 16. During the first eight years of the 26,
that is from 1814 to 1851 inclusive, plots 5, 17, and 18, were
manured with various but, upon the whole, somewhat similar
mixtures of mineral manure, ammonia-salts, and sometimes
rapecake, and gave nearly equal average amounts of produce
over the eight years, namely — 29^, SOj, and 28| bushels,
respectively. From that date, 1852, to the present time, a
period of 1 8 years, plot 5 has been manured with a mixed
mineral manure containing salts of potass, soda, magnesia,
and superphosphate of lime ; and every year during the same
period plots 17 and 18 have been manured with the same
mineral manure, or ammonia-salts, alternately. For example,
in 1853 plot 17 received ammonia-salts, and plot 18 the mineral
manure. In 1853 plot 17 received the mineral manure, and
plot 18 the ammonia-salts, and so on, alternately for the 18
years ; thus, plots 17 and 18 have each been manured nine
times with ammonia-salts and nine times with the mineral
manure during the 18 years, the difference being that when
one received ammonia-salts the other received mineral
manure, and vice versa ; and, accordingly, we have had each
year one plot manured with mineral manure following a
residue of ammonia-salts, and one plot manured with am-
monia-salts following a residue of mineral manure. Over
the 18 years the average produce of plots 17 and 18 was
exactly the same, namely — 24| bushels in each case ; but if
we take the average of the 18 crops grown by mineral manure
alone, whether upon plot 17 or 18, we find it to be only 17|
bushels, whilst the average of the 18 crops grown on either
plot by ammonia-salts is 31f bushels, or nearly 14 bushels per
acre per annum more. At the time of the commencement of
this set of experiments the utility of supplying ammonia as
manure for grain crops was vehemently disputed, it being
asserted that if only a sufficiency of available mineral con-
stituents were provided within the soU, the plant would obtain
all the necessary ammonia from the atmosphere. It would
hardly be possible to select, or arrange, a set of experiments
more entirely conclusive against such a view. The mineral
manures, though always succeeding upon a residue of ammonia-
salts, gave only a small crop, whilst the ammonia-salts, succeed-
ing upon a residue of mineral manure which had been useless
without them, gave a large crop. My present object is not,
however, to show the effects of one manure compared with
another, but to ascertain how far the unexhausted residue
from previous manuring affects the produce of succeeding
crops. Plot 5, manured everi/ year with the mineral manure
alonej gave an average over the 18 years of 178 bushels,
whilst the same mineral manures applied on either plot 17 or
18, and always after a residue of ammonia-salts, gave only
17| bushels, or less than f bushel per acre per annum of in-
crease due to the unexhausted residue of the previously applied
ammonia-salts, these being employed in comparatively mode-
rate quantity. From these results it is clear, that the soil may
be kept in " condition" to yield a fair crop of wheat every
year, by the application of ammonia-salts and certain mineral
manures ; but, that, if the ammonia-salts be only ap-
plied in moderate quantity, the unexhausted residue will
very little affect the produce of succeeding crops.
I will now refer to Table 2, which gives some results of ex-
periments on the growth of barley for eighteen years in suc-

cession on the same land. Plot 2a has been manured every
year with superphosphate of lime and ammonia-salts ; and
plot 2aa has received the same amount of superphosphate
every year, and twice as much ammonia during the first six
years, but only the same amount as plot 2a each year since.
Taking the six years ol the double application of amrnonia on
plot 2aa the result is an average of 49^ bushels, against only
45^ on plot 2a, with the smaller amount of ammonia-salts,
thus showing an average increase of four bushels per acre per
annum due to the extra amount of ammonia-salts applied. In
1858, the first year in which the amount of ammonia applied
on plot 2aa was reduced to the same as that on plot 2a, it
still gave five bushels more than the latter ; in the next year
it gave only 1^ bushel more ; and in the third year the pro-
duce was practically equal on the two plots. Here, again,
then, the unexhausted residue from the ammonia-salts pre-
viously applied has appreciably increased the succeeding crop ;
but it should be stated that the amount of ammonia- salts-—
4001bs. per acre per annum — applied during the previous six
years was, for barley, very large, indeed excessive. Table 3
gives the average produce over four consecutive four-course
rotations, in which the turnips were liberally manured with
mineral manure, ammonia-salts, and rapecake, and the whole
crop (roots and tops) carted from the land. On the average,
about 13:^ tons of turnips were removed; yet it will be
seen that the unexhausted residue from the manures
applied for the turnip crop was such that an
average produce over the four courses of 48^ bushels
of barley, 2\\ busliels of beans, and 36j bushels of wheat,
was obtained. In the experiments on permanent meadow
land, the results of which are given in Table 4, plot 2, was
manured with 14 tons of farmyard dung per acre per annum
for the first eight years, and has since, that is for six years,
been left entirely unmanured. It will be seen that during the
eight years of the application of dung the average annual pro-
duce of hay was a little under 43 cwts., and that during the
six following years it amounted, without any further applica-
tion of manure, to a little over 43 cwts. of hay, thus showing
a very marked effect from the unexhausted residue of the pre-
vious heavy dressings of farmyard dung. From the above
results, relating to wheat, barley, rotation, and permanent mea-
dow, the following conclusions may be drawn : 1. That condi-
tion of land may be maintained, either by farmyard manure or
by artificial manures. 2. That when active nitrogenous ma-
nures, such as Peruvian guano, ammonia-salts, or nitrate of
soda, are applied in only the moderate quantities usually em-
ployed in practical agriculture, the unexhausted residue left in
the soil after the removal of a corn crop has but little effect on
succeeding crops. 3. That when rapecake, bones, and other pur-
chased organic manures, which yield up their fertilizing ele-
ments comparatively slowly, are employed, the unexhausted
residue left after the removal of the first crop may yield an
appreciable amount of increase throughout a rotation. 4. That
when farmyard dung is employed the effects may be apparent
for a still longer period. 5. That when mineral manures, such
as phosphates, salts of potass, &c., are used, the effects of any
unexhausted residue are too slow and gradual to admit of any
determination of their value. So far I have endeavoured by
means of some actual experimental results to illustrate " con-
dition" of soil, and it is obvious that when it results from the
expenditure of capital in the purchase of cattle food or direct
manures it should be reckoned as the property of the tenant. I
now propose to consider those other characters of a soil which
are not included under the term " condition." When a tenant
takes a farm, what is it he agrees to pay rent for ? Partly for the
use of a residence and farm buildings ; but the greater portion
of the rent is paid for permission to grow crops on the land.
The course of cropping is either expressly stipulated in the
lease or agreement, or the tenant is bound by the " custom of
the country." As he is subject to penalties if he deviate from
tiie course so prescribed, it must be assumed either that that
course is the very best he could follow for his own interest and
profit, or that by following any other, with a view to increased
profit to himself, the interest of the owner would be sacrificed
by a reduction of the natural or standard fertility or rent-
value of the land. Admitting that the recognized rotation of
any district may be, upon the whole, the most suitable to follow
in it, it nevertheless will not be denied that the farmer of in-
telligence and capital would, if he were permitted to do so,
occasionally deviate from it with profit to himself at any rate,

426

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

It will be well, therefore, to direct attentioa to some results
illustrative of the extent and limit of the productive capability
of a soil of a certain class or character, with a view of forming
some judgment of the probability of injury to the land by a
deviation from the ordinary course of cropping. I have, in
the course of my various experiments, sought to gauge the
capability of my soil to yield crops for many years in succession
without manure, and even under more exliaustiug conditions
still, and some of the results obtained are recorded in Table 5.
It should be stated, however, that in no case has auy
attempt been made to increase the productiveness by either
subsoiling or deeper ploughing than usual ; though great
care has been taken to keep the land as free from weeds
as possible without injury to the crop by treading.

Illustrations of Natural Fertility. — Table 5.
Experiments with Wheat, Barley, and Meadoio-hay.

Years.

ISil

1845

184.6

1847

1848

1849

1850

1851

1852

1853

1854

1855

1856

1857

1858

1859

1860

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

1867

1868

1869

First period
Second „
Total „

First period
Second „
Total „

Wheat.

Plot 3
Unraanured
3very year ;
26 years,
L844-1869.

Bushels.
15
234
171
16f
14i

19i
15J
15|
13i
5i
2U
17
14^
19|
18

m

12f
111
16
17i
16i
13*
12^
8|
16|
14i

16i
15

151

Plot 10a.
Ammonia-
salts, alone
25 years,
1845-1869

Bushels.
15*
31J
271
25f
19i
32i
26|
28|
21f

19|

24i

29 J c

22|

18|

15i

12f

23

33

25i

26i

18|

24f

20i

Barley.

Plot lo.
Unmanured
every year :

18 years.
1852-1869

Bushels.

27i

25|

35

31

13J

261

21i

13i

13i

16i

16i

22f

24

18

15|

17i

101

15i

AVERAGES.
25i I 23

23| 171

24f I 20J

Meadow-hay

Plot 3.
Unmanured
every year ;

14 years,
1856-1869.

Cwts

22i
25 i

241
25f
27i
20*
34

lU
23f
29|

m

18

24i
23^
23J

AVERAGE STRAW, PER ACRE. — CWTS.

15i
12|
14

25f
21|
24

13*
lOf
12i

The first column of the table shows the produce of wheat
obtained for 26 years in succession, from 1844 to 1869 in-
clusive, on a portion of the experimental wheat-field which
has received no manure whatever since 1839. The average
produce, per acre per annum, over the 26 years, has been
rather over 15^ bushels of dressed corn, about 14 cwts. of
straw, and 22j cwts. of total produce (corn and straw to-
gether). The average over the second half of the period is
li bushel of corn and 2} cwts. of straw — less than over the
first half; showing perhaps a slight, but at auy rate no very
marked, tendency to dechne in annual yield. I hold in my
hand a specimen of this unmanured produce grown in 1868,
the 25th crop of wheat in succession, and the 29th crop since
the application of any manure to the land. Here also is a
section of the soil, taken to the depth of 30 inches; and, so
far as can be judged from appearance, certainly no one of ex-
perience in such matters would take it to be naturally more fer-
tile than the majority of moderately heavy soils in this country.

Nor does the rent of similar land in the neighbourhood (259.
to 30s. per acre tithe-free), or the condition of the farmers of
the district as to wealth, indicate any great fertility of the soil.
On plot 10a the productive capabilities of this same soil have
been still further put to the test ; and the results enable us
not only to gauge the past, but to form some idea of iis pro-
spective productiveness. For the crop of 1844, the first of
the experimental series, this plot received a dressing of super-
phosphate of lime and siUcate of potass ; but not any, either
potass, soda, lime, magnesia, phosphoric acid, or silica, has
been applied since that date. For the crop of 1845, and for
each crop since, that is for 25 years in succession, it has been
manured with ammonia-salts alone. During that period it
has given an average annual produce of 24f bushels of dressed
corn, and 24 cwt. of straw per acre, per annum, being an
average annual increase over tlie unmanured produce of 8j
bushels of corn, and 9| cwt. of straw, and a total increase
over the 25 years of nearly 220 bushels of corn, and 239^
cwt. (nearly 13 tons) of straw. It is obvious from these
results that the soil of this plot 10a has yielded up annually,
for this long period, considerably more mineral matter from
its own resources than the uumanured plot. There is, how-
ever, an average annual produce of If bushel of corn, and 3|
cwts. of straw less over the last 13 than over the previous
12 years of the period. Assuming this to be due to exhaostion,
and not to difference of seasons only — and there is the evi-
dence of analysis that it is at least in a great measure due to
exhaustion — it is still obvious that it would take many more
years yet to bring down the annual yield of this plot to that
of the unmanured one. The next column in the Table shows
the amounts of produce of barley obtained for 18 years in
succession on the same land, without any manure, in an im-
mediately adjoining field. The average produce over the
whole period is 20J bushels of corn, and 12 g cwt. of straw,
per acre, per annum. There is, however, a considerable re-
duction of produce in the later years ; the average of the first
9 years being 23 bushels of corn and 13| cwt. of straw, and
of the second 9 years only 17* bushels of corn and lOf cwt.
of straw, or a reduction of 5| bushels of corn and 3 cwt. of
straw, per acre per annum, over the second half of the period
as compared with the first. This more rapid reduction in the
case of barley than of wheat is doubtless due to the much
more limited range of the roots of barley, so that in its case
an actually less bulk of soil has contributed to the crop, and
the exhaustion, though telling more upon the crop, is, there-
fore, more superficial than in the case of wheat. The per-
manent meadow-land gave, over 14 years, an average of 23g
cwt. of hay per acre per annum without manure, and, as the
figures show, an average of only f cwt. less over the second
than over the fiist half of the period.

Illustrations of Natural Fertility. — Table 6.
Unmanured Fonr-Course Rotation, conducted through 5J

courses (23 years), 1848—1869.
Average of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th courses (16 years), 1852-1867.

Unmanured, every
year ; sixteen years,

1852—1867.
Turnips carted off.

Years.

1852, 1856, 1860, 1864
1853,1867,1861,1865
1854, 1858, 1862, 1866
1855,1859,1863,1867

Description

of

Crop.

Swedish turnips'*

Barley ,

Beans

Wlieat

Per acre.
18| cwts.
40|^ bushels.
12| „
34i „

* Roots and tops.

Lastly, as Table 6 shows, the 3nd, 3rd, 4tli, and 5th courses of 5
consecutive entirely unraanured 4-course rotations gave scarcely
any turnips at all ; but the average of the 4 crops of barley was
40^ bushels, of the 4 crops of beans 12f bushels, and of the
4 crops of wheat 34J bushels. To sum up the chief points of
these illustrations of the extent or limit of the fertility of a
somewhat heavy loam, of by no means extraordinary quality,
it has yielded an average annual produce, without any
manure at all, of 15f bushels of wheat for 36 years, of
20J bushels of barley for 18 years, of 23J cwt. of hay
for 14 years, and, under rotation for 20 years, an average

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

427

over the last 4 courses, or 16 years, of -lOj bushels of
barley, 12| bushels of beans, and SiJ- bushels of wheat.
I confess that my view of the productive capability of heavy,
or even moderately heavy soils, has undergone considerable
change since I commenced the various experiments to which I
have referred, formerly I supposed that a very few years of
consecutive corn-growing would suffice to reduce the coru-grow-
ing capabilities of any ordinary soil to practically nothing.
Such, however, is not the case ; and a very little reflection will
show how essential it is for the well being, if not, indeed, for
the existence of man, that the elements of fertility should be
so locked up and distributed throughout the soil, as to be capa-
ble of being taken up by crops extremely gradually, and so to
last for an immense period of time. If needy landlords, or in-
digent tenants, could have drawn upon the locked up elements
upon which the maintenance of the natural or standard fertility
of the soil depends, how little fertile soil would still remain in
England ? It has sometimes been argued that the soil Is to be
looked upon as little else than a support for plants, to which
the cultivator must add all the constituents necessary for the
growth of the crops he removes ; just as the manufacturer who
hires a mill has to supply the cotton or other material for the
manufacture. I think, however, it would be difficult to account
for the difference of rent paid for land, except on the assump-
tion that it yields, from its own resources, a greater or less sur-
plus, in the forms of corn and meat, beyond the amounts re-
quired to pay the cost of cultivation, to return interest on
capital employed, and to afford a profit to the tenant. I think,
further, observation will show that, excepting in the case of the
lighter soils under modern management, the rent-value of dif-
ferent descriptions of land has generally borne a closer propor-
tion to their relative natural fertility than to any other circum-
stance. Let us suppose, for example, three descriptions of
soil ; one that would yield 5, another 15, and another 25
bushels of wheat per acre, from their own unaided resources ;
that is, without the use of any purchased cattle-food, or ma-
nure. A soil which would yield only 5 bushels of wheat
would probably bear no rent at all, the whole value of the
produce being required to meet the costs of cultivation. The
soil yielding 15 bushels would doubtless pay a rent, and the
one yielding 25 bushels a considerably higher rent. But now
let us assume that all three cultivators were able to go into the
market and purchase cattle-food and manure ; the three soils
would be very differently affected by this importation of ele-
ments of fertility from without. An amount of money expended
in food and manure that would raise the produce on the poorest
soil from 5 bushels to 25, would not raise that on the medium
soil from 15 to 35 bushels, and still less would it increase the
yield on the best soil from 25 to 45 bushels of wheat. It is ob-
vious, therefore, that the surplus available for rent, de-
pendent on such an use of elements of fertility from without,
would be proportionally the greatest on the poorest soil, and
the least upon the naturally most productive soil. It is chiefly
in the fact here illustrated, that is to be found an explanation
of the rapid rise in the rent of light soils of late years ; com-
pared with heavy land, they are cultivated at a less
cost, they arc much better adapted to carry stock,
and with the aid of purchased food and manures they can
now rival in productiveness the natural fertility of clays and
loams. So long as the farmer depended almost exclusively upon
the natural fertility of the soil, the surplus to pay rent was
much less on those light soils which could supply from their
own resources but little of the constituents required for
the growth of crops ; but since he has been able
to go into the market and purchase, in the form
of cattle-food and direct manures, those elements of which his
soil was deficient, the increase of productiveness which fol-
lowed has, as a matter of fact, been found to be proportionally
much the greater in the case of the hghter and naturally less
fertile, than in that of the heavier and more fertile soils.
Thus, the productiveness of light soils is in a greater degree
dependent on the amount of capital expended on food and
manure than is that of the heavier soils. Moreover, the
increased fertility, and the increased rent of the lighter soils of
late years, are partly due to the accumulations from the past
expenditure of the tenant. This increased productiveness is,
however, of the character of improved " condition" ; and hence
it is that the productiveness of such soils may be comparatively
easily and rapidly reduced. That, excepting in the case of
light soils under the conditions above referred to, the amount

of rent paid is, in practice, chiefly dependent ou the natural
fertility of the soil, and not on the amount of capital em-
ployed by the tenant, is evident from the fact that there are,
on many estates, highly cultivated farms with abundance of
capital invested, adjoining others in a very opposite condition ;
the poor farmer being able to set apart from the produce of
the land as large a surplus in the form of rent as his higher
farming neighbour ; whilst any demand for an increase of rent
on account of increased capital employed, would be met with
the remonstrance that the benefits arising from the increased
expenditure of capital by the tenant should justly accrue to
himself. From the facts and arguments which have been ad-
duced in regard to the natural fertility of the heavier soils,
and to the essential conditions of productiveness of the lighter
soils, the question naturally suggests itself — whether, or under
what circumstances, the more frequent growth of corn than ac-
cords with the recognised rotation of a district might be per-
mitted without risk of deteriorating the property of the land-
lord ? Although any such repetition of corn-crops is strongly
objected to, as tending to exhaust the soil, it is remarkable that
many operations which affect the soil in an exactly similar
Way are are not only allowed, but approved. A fallow, for
example, is an economical means of obtaining the produce
of two seasons in one year ; certain costs of cultivation,
seed, and harvesting, are saved ; but so far as the removal
of constituents from the soil is concerned, it is immaterial
whether two crops of wheal of 16 bushels, or one of 33
bushels, be taken from the land. By liming, again, certain
constituents which are locked up in the soil are set free and
rendered available much more rapidly, and so are removed in
larger quantity within a limited period of time than they other-
wise would be. The same result, namely, the export from the
farm of larger crops within a limited period of time, follows in
like manner from the use of the subsoil plough, the steam
smasher, and a great variety of implements of modern applica-
tion. In fact, all these processes, which are regarded with
favour rather than otherwise, have the one object and result of
causing the soil to yield up its elements of fertihty more
rapidly. I believe that whilst a greater freedom from tlie
adoption of a fixed rotation would often be beneficial to the
tenant, it would not, if accompanied with proper conditions,
result in any injury to the landlord. In saying this I trust it
will not for a moment be supposed that I would recommend
the abandonment of a rotation of crops, and the continuous
growth of corn. To be more specific, what I do think is, that
where fallow, or liming, or subsoiling, or steam smashing, and
allied processes, are admissible and advantageous, or where
root crops cannot be consumed on the land during
wet weather without injury to the succeeding crops —
that is to say on the heavier and deeper soils — barley may often
be grown both in larger quantity and better in quality after
wheat than after a root crop. Again, where mangolds are
manured, as they often are, with 20 or even 30 tons of dung
per acre, I see no objection, either from a scientific or prac-
tical point of view, in taking out of the land the large quan-
tity of mineral constituents still remaining available after the
removal of the mangolds, by growing two or even three corn
crops in succession, with the application of artificial manure
for each extra crop. Very generally, indeed, two corn crops
might be taken in succession from medium and heavy land,
provided it be kept free from weeds, and artificial manures be
applied for the second crop. Nor do I think that real injury
would be done by the occasional growth of peas, or even an
extra corn crop, on light soils, when the seeds have failed, as
occurred after the dry summer of 1868 ; indeed, as much of
some fertilising matters might be washed out of the soil by
drainage as would be exported from the land in the extra crop.
So far I have endeavoured to illustrate what is " condilion^'
and to point out the distinction between it and what may be
called the natural fcrl'tlify of a soil. I have maintained that
" condition" is a quality dependent on the expenditure of the
tenant, and that it should be considered as a part of his capital.
I have also shown that "condition" may be withdrawn, or
reduced, by cropping, within a very limited period of time.
" Natural fertility," on the other hand, is the property of the
landlord ; and although it is not absolutely inexhaustible, it is
very little liable to injury from any system of agriculture
which, so far as present appearances enable us to judge, has
any prospect of prevailing in this country. It remains to offer
some suggestions of a practical kind, with a view to the pro-

4^3

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tection of the landlord, oi" succeeding tenant, from injury, in
case of any considerable modification, or the entire removal,
of the usual restrictions in regard to cropping ; and also as to
the best, or simplest, method of estimating the value of the un-
exhausted capital of the outgoing tenant, with a view to com-
pensation from the landlord or the incoming tenant. It will
be admitted on all hands, that if the tenant were uncondi-
tionally free as to his course of cropping, and he were to leave
his farm wholly under corn, the landlord would not so readily
obtain a tenant for the farm. I would propose, therefore : 1.
That all land should he given up with a fixed proportion under
fallow, root-crops, seeds, and corn-crops ; the proportions to
be settled according to the custom of the locality ; and that
the outgoing tenant should pay a compensation to be assessed
by competent valuers, for any excess of laud under corn over
the so fixed amount. 2. That, excepting under special ar-
rangement, and with the purchase of stable-dung, or similar
town manures, no straw or root crops shall be sold off the
farm. 3. That the tenant should be rer[uired to keep the
land free from weeds ; and, in default, to pay compensation
to the landlord or incoming tenant for the cost of clean-
ing ; such cost to be assessed by competent persons. The
cost of cleaning foul laud which is in high condition
is much greater than that of putting laud which is poor
iu condition, but free from weeds, into good condition.
Moreover, the state of the land as to weeds should be one
important element in deciding whether an extra corn crop
should or should not be taken: If, therefore, the tenant be
allowed greater latitude in regard to cropping, more stringent
clauses should be inserted in agreements agaiust foul land.
However highly a tenant may farm during the early or
middle years of his occupation, he, as a rule, endeavours
as far as possible to withdraw his capital out of the land,
by reducing its condition towards the end of his term, lest
neither the landlord nor the in-coming tenant should
adequately compensate him for his unexhausted manures. It
must be admitted that there is great difficulty in laying down
any rules which shall be generally applicable for the estimation
of the productive, and consequently the money, value of the
residue of manures which have previously been applied to the
soil, and have already yielded a crop. It has been shown by
reference to direct results, that some important constituents of
manure either leave little or no unexhausted residue in the
land, or leave it so combined within the soil, or so distributed
throughout it, that it produces little or no appreciable effect on
succeeding crops. Some manures, on the other hand, have been
shown to produce marked effects for several years after their
application. It is obvious, therefore, that it would require a
very complicated sliding-scale to enable us to estimate the value
of unexhausted manures under the many varying conditions that
would arise — as to the description and amount employed, the
soil, the season, and the crop grown, were it attempted to take
as a basis the valuation of constituents already underground.
In Lincolnshire and adjoining counties half-inch bones ara
valued to the in-coming tenant the second year after applica-
tion, and in some instances guano is valued after it has grown a
crop. It would, I think, be much more satisfactory that all
valuation should, if possible, relate only to what is above
ground. Nor do I see any difficulty in doing full justice to the
out-going tenant without taking into account the value of the
unexhausted residue of manures which have already yielded a
crop. The three items upon which I would rely as the basis of
a valuation in favour of the out-going tenant are — the farm-
yard manure made during the last year of the occupancy ; the
manure from purchased food which has not grown a crop ; and
the straw of the corn crops of tlie last harvest. The quantity of
straw grown is a pretty sure indication of the condition
of the land in regard to recent manuring. To
take an extreme case by way of illustration, the
continuously unmanured wheat plot which has been already
referred to, gave an average of only about 11 cwts. of straw
per acre, whilst plot 16 gave, over the 13 years of heavy ma-
nuring, 46^ cwts. or 3 l-3rd times as much. Now, if I liad
entered upon a farm with the straw of the corn crops given
over to me not exceeding 14 cwts. per acre, and left it with
straw averaging 3 l-3rd times as much, I might surely in jus-
tice claim, of the landlord or my successor, compensation for
such an increase iu the quantity of straw; iudicating as it
would the increased condition of tlie land. In reference to
tliis point, it may further be remarked, in passing, that not

more than about 5 per cent, of the weight of the straw is de-
rived from the constituents of the soil itself ; by far the greater
part being derived from the atmosphere, through the agency
of the manures applied, and directly due therefore to the ex-
penditure of the tenant's capital. I propose then, as a part of
the compeneation to the improving out-going tenant, that he
shall be paid the consuming value of the straw which he leaves
in excess of that which he entered upon. The next point to
consider is, the valuation of the manure which has been ob-
tained by the consumption of purchased cattle-food within 12
months from the termination of the occupation, and which
has not yet yielded a crop. Some years ago I published a
Table showing the calculated value of the manure resulting
from the consumption of 1 ton of each of the chief standard
articles of cattle-food. Those estimates were, at the time,
considered by some to be somewhat too high. They have
lately been carefully reconsidered ; and, taking into account
the higher money value of some of the chief constituents at the
present time, it has been decided to make but little further
alteration than to add a few articles to the list that were not
previously included in it. The results are given in Table 7.

Table 7.
Estimated value of the Maiinre obtained hy the Consumption of
different Articles of Food, each supposed to be of good quality
of its Mtid.

Description of Tood.

Money value
of the Manure
from one ton
of each Food.

1. Cotton-seed Cake, decorticated

£ s. d.
6 10 0

2, Rape Cake

4 18 6

3. Linseed Cake

4 12 6

4. Cotton-seed Cake, not decorticated

3 18 6
3 17 0

3 14 0

7. Tares

3 13 6

8. Linseed

3 13 0

9. Peas

3 2 6

10. Indian Meal.....

1 11 0

11. Locust Beans

12 6

12. Malt-dust

4 5 6

13. Bran

2 18 0

14. Coarse Pollard

2 18 0

15. Fine Pollard

2 17 0

16. Oats

1 15 0

17. Wheat

1 13 0

18. Malt

1 11 6

19, Barley

1 10 0

20. Clover Hay

3 5 6

21. Meadow Hay

1 10 6

22. Bean Straw

10 6

23. Pea Straw

0 18 9

24. Oat Straw

0 13 6

25. Wheat Straw

0 12 6

26. Barley Straw

0 10 9

27. Potatoes

0 7 0

28. Parsnips

0 5 6

29. Mangold-wurtzel

0 5 3

30. Swedish Turnips

0 4 3

31. Common Turnips

0 4 0

32. Carrots

0 4 0

It will be observed how very widely different is the estimated
money value of the manure obtained by the consumption of
one ton of different articles of cattle-food in common use. It
is obvious, tlierefore, that, in settling the amount of compen-
sation to be paid to the outgoing tenant for the value of the
manure produced by the consumption of purchased food, it
would not suffice to take a fixed proportion of the purchased-
food liill, but the value of the manure-constituents of the par-
ticular description of food actually employed must be esti-
mated. It would no more be fair to make the valuatiou irre-
spectively of the value of the constituents obtained from the
different descriptions of food, than it would be to charge the
same price for the inferior descriptions of guano as for the
best Peruvian. As the value of the constituents obtained as

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

429

mamtfe from one ton of tlie various foods has been estimated
at their market price, if sold in a concentrated, dry, and easily-
portable state, some reductiou from the amounts given in the
Table should be made in the valuation supposed, on account of
the risk of loss by decomposition and drainage, and for the
extra cost of carriage and application to the field, all of which
vpill be greater in tlie case of the cattle manure than in that
of the dry purchased manure. For these reasons I would
propose that one-third, or one-fourth, less than the
amounts shown in the Table should be allowed for all
purchased cattle-food used within twelve months of the
termination of the occupation, provided the manure obtained
from it has not yet grown a crop. It is, I believe, the custom
in Norfolk, and in some other counties, for the tenant going
out at Michaelmas to apply the dung made during the previous
winter to the root crop, the incoming tenant taking the crop at
a valuatiou. The objections to this plan are, that the root
crop is a very uncertain one, and may, in a bad season, be very
much less than the amount of manure should produce, and
that if the outgoing tenant has fed his stock upon purchased
food, the value of the manure cannot be recovered in the root-
crop alone, even if the season be favourable. JFor example,
in one of the courses of experimental rotation to which I
have referred, after a liberal manuring of rape-cake, salts of
ammonia, and mineral manure, less than 4^ tons of roots were
removed ; and the result was, that the succeeding crops
amounted, without any further manure, to 60^ bushels of
barley, -iSj bushels of beans, and 46 bushels of wheat. It is
obvious that, under the system referred to, these heavy crops
of barley, beans, and wheat, would become the property of the
incoming tenant, whUst he would only have to pay for the ma-
nure which had largely contributed to produce them, the small
value of 4^ tons of roots. I would submit that it would be a
much fairer arrangement to value the manure made during
the winter by the load, or ton, and that the incoming
tenant should also pay two-thirds, or three-fourths, the
estimated money value of the manure from the purchased food
consumed in its production. If, in addition to this, the out-
going tenant were paid tlie consuming value of the straw of
the corn crops of the last harvest, he would receive fair com-
pensation for the capital which he had invested in "coiulilion"
wliilst the incoming tenant would only have to pay for that
which possessed an actual money value. The conclusions ar-
rived at in the course of the foregoing discussion may be
briefly summarised as follows :

1 " Condition" is a quality quite distinct from natural fer-
tility of soil : it is mainly dependent on the amount of capital
expended by the tenant in the purchase of cattle-food or ma-
nures, and is, therefore, his property ; it may be easily and
rapidly reduced.

3. The natural fertility of a soil, whether high or low in
degree, is, comparatively speaking, a permanent quality ; it can
only be injuriously affected by the continuance of an ex-
haustive system of cropping for a long period of time ; it is
the property of the landlord ; and, excepting in the case of
very light soils, it is the chief element in determining the rent-
value of the land.

3. In the case at any rate of the heavier soils, it would ge-
nerally be beneficial to the tenant of capital and intelligence,
if he were allowed much more freedom as to cropping than
present customs permit.

4. No injury is likely to result to the lantUord from grant-
ing the tenant permission to crop as he pleases, provided he
be bound to keep the land free from weeds, and to leave a fixed
proportion under fallow and green crops, at the termination of
his occupation.

5. No simple rules, applicable to various descriptions of soil,
crop, and manure, can be laid down for the valuation of the
unexhausted residue of previously applied manures which have
already yielded a crop.

6. By the valuation of so much of the farm-yard manure,
and of so much of the manure constituents derived from
purchased cattle food, as have not yet yielded a crop, and
also of the straw of the last harvest, fair compensation may be
made to the out-going tenant, whilst the in-coming tenant will
only be required to pay for that which lias a fixed and easily-
ascertainable money-value.

In 1845 tlie late Mr. Ph. Pusey made tlie following remarks
in an article in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England (Vol, V.) : " The subject of unexhausted im-

provements seems to me the most important of all agricultural
subjects for landlords at present, and the improvement of our
agreements in this respect to be a condition sine qua non of
any steady and general improvement of the soil or its cultiva-
tion." If this were true then, how much more is it so now ?
During the quarter of a century which has elapsed since these
lines were written very great advances have been made in
British agriculture, and every step in the progress has been
accompanied with an increased outlay of money. If abundant
capital is to be attracted to tlie soil, it is essential that Hberal
covenants in regard to cropping should be adopted, and fair
compensation for unexhausted improvements made. If I have
this evening in any degree contributed to that advancement of
knowledge which is necessary before we can hope to attain
marked improvement in these respects, I shall feel that I have
not occupied your time in vain.

Mr. J. J. Mecui said he had listened to Mr. Lawes's re-
marks with much interest and satisfaction. There were two
points to which he wished to allude. Krst, he would observe
that Mr. Lawes's deductions were drawn from a certain quality
of laud, and that whether it would be safe to rely upon such
results in the case of other kinds of land — for example, light
sandy soils — was open to question. Again, his own experience
differed rather from that of Mr. Lavves as regarded the im-
provements resulting from an improved application of manures
to heavy soils. He had often found that the application of an
abundance of manure to the best quality of heavy soils pro-
duced quite as great an effect in increasing the crop as was
produced on lighter soils, and he might even say that the
effect was greater. Without at all desiring to boast, he might
declare that on his farm, which, when he went to it five-and-
twenty years ago, produced at the utmost in damp seasons
from 2 or 2^^ quarters per acre, had through the application
of good manure yielded' 8 quarters of white wheat, followed
by Ta of revet. In 1867 60 or 70 acres of land under tillage
produced on the average 7 quarters per acre. It was clear,
therefore, that heavy land was, after being well drained, very
grateful for an improved system of cultivation with the aid of
rape and corn-fed animals. He quite agreed with Mr. Lawes
as to the advantage of keeping land clean, even in reference
to adjacent farms. Indeed, he believed that the law would
enable a man who sustained injury iu consequence of a large
quantity of thistle-seed being continually blown from neigh-
bouring land to recover damage, and he thought he remem-
bered cases in which that had been done after an ineffectual
complaint. As respected drainage, it was most important that
the ditches and outlets should be kept constantly open, and
the drains should not be allowed to get stopped up. He
attached special value to what Mr. Lawes said about root
crops, which his experience showed to be far more difficult to
grow than corn crops.

Dr. VoELCKER said he hoped he might be permitted to
compliment Mr. Lawes on the very valuable paper which he
had just read (Hear, hear). In his opinion that was one of
the most valuable papers ever heard in that room, and he was
sure that in saying that he would be supported by the opinion
of the practical farmers assembled (Cheers). Perhaps he (Dr.
Voelcker) looked a little too much at theory, but certainly, so
far as the science of Mr. Lawes's paper was concerned, he
must say it seemed to him perfectly sound, and quite con-
sistent with all tliat was known about tlie application of
manuring elements to the soil. He believed that the great
majority of those present would endorse, with very few ex-
ceptions, the practical deductions with which Mr. Lawes's
concluded. These deductions seemed to him extremely valu-
able ; and he regarded them as a most useful attempt to settle
the vexed question of the compensation to be paid to the
outgoing tenant. That question was a very difficult one, and
if he had to settle it he would cut the Gordian knot by giving
the tenant a long lease, tying hiiu down to farm during the
last rotation of cropping according to a prescribed mode, and
leaving him to do almost what he liked in the interval. He
had remarked in that room that it was an extremely fortunate
circumstance that a tenant could neither impoverish the
land permanently nor permanently increase its fertility ; and
Mr. Lawes had expressed the same — just the same — thought
before them that evening in a very practical and telling manner
in speaking as he did about the permanent fertility of land.
He (Dr. Voelcker) went the whole length with Mr. Lawes iu
thinking that farmers could not materially alter the permanent

430

THE Jb'AllMEB'S MAGAZINE.

fertility of the soil, aud hence the practical advice which he
had given for years on that subject was that, as a rule, tenants
should he allowed to get whatever they could out of the soil,
knowing, as he did, that if they took too much from it they
would soon come to a stand-still (Hear, hear). While, on the
one hand, he would recommend a landlord not to take a bad
tenant, he would also advise him to let a good tenant do with
]iis land as he pleased. Neither light nor heavy land could he
profitably farmed except a good deal of money were spent upon
it, and after all it came to this : in wliich way should the
tenant spend his capital ? Of course the spending of capital
was like everything else that practical men had to do with — a
matter of discretion. There were cases in which a large outlay
must prove unprofitable. No man would send a son who was
a confirmed idiot to Oxford or Cambridge University ; and, in
like manner, if you had a thin soil of three ov four inches rest-
ing on chalk or marl, as was the case, for example, in some
parts of Cambridgeshire, it would be useless to turn up that
soil or spend much money upon it. The question was then,
ho .V much money could be spent profitably ? As a rule, how-
ever, it would be found that the amount of produce depended
very much upon the amount of capital which was laid out. In
the case of light laud they had not only to keep the land in
condition but they had to supply all the elements of fertility —
all the raw materials of growiug crops ; while in many heavy
soils valuable mineral fertilizing matters were naturally present
in an almost unlimited extent, speaking practically, and it re-
quired only certain constituents, like guano or sulphate of am-
monia, to put the land in proper condition. Deep draining,
steam cultivation, the thorough breaking up of the land, the
ploughing up of stubble, autumn cultivation — these expensive
operatious generally improved heavy laud, and made the clay
farmer less dependent upon manures ; while on light lands
they must spend a large amount on manures if they wanted to
grow paying crops. He fully concurred with Mr. Lawes, that
a good tenant-farmer ought to he left in a very large measure
independent of a rotation of crops (Hear, hear). A rotation
would, indeed, naturally follow. A good farmer would find out
what rotation suited him best, but he sliould not be tied down
(Hear, hear). Nothing was more injurious to the progress of
farming than the being tied down to a certain course of crop-
ping (Hear, hear)i He firmly believed, in the long run, tlie rota-
tion profitable for the tenant would also be most profitable for
the landlord. The interest of the two would always go toge-
ther. Ue could not quite agree with Mr. Lawes that in com-
pensating for unexhausted improvements no allowance should
be made for the effect of artificial manures on succeeding crops
(Hear, hear). There were certain artificial manures which told
very materially upon the crop following that for which they
were applied. JFor instance, if a turnip crop were well manured
with superphosphate of lime, even mineral superphosphate,
the result would be seen in the succeeding crop. Some years
ago he made some experiments upon turnips with superphos-
phate of lime, and the result was that he could trace in the
succeeding barley crop, as it were by a line, the part of the
field where it had been applied. He thought, therefore, they
should not go so far as to say that in no case should an allow-
ance be made for the effects of artificial manures on the suc-
ceeding crops. That remark was still more applicable to the
use of bones. Bone-dust had a more lasting elfect upon vege-
tation than almost any other artificial manure, and he thought,
therefore, that where there was no lease the landlord ought to
pay a portion of the outlay for boneing pasture land. In the
case of poor grass lands the result of applying bones might be
visible for at least five or six years ; and hence the compensa-
tion for bone-dust should exceed that for guano.

Mr. MEcni : On heavy soils bones never show any result.

Dr. VoELCKER: Then you should not use them (laughter).

Mr. 11. Leeds ^Castle Acre, Brandon) said there was one ex-
pression in Mr. Lawes's paper which rather puzzled him when
he heard it. From what that gentleman said about the land
being" tortured" he inferred that he was not in favour of deep
cultivation.

Mr. La.w^es : 0 yes, 1 am indeed.

Mr. Leeds said Mr. Lawes also remarked, he thought, that
barley being a shallow-growing crop fell off sooner in the
amount of produce than wheat. He could not reconcile those
'two things.

Mr. Lawes observed that barley was a shallow-rooted crop,
and exhausted the soil quicker on that account.

Mr. Leeds remarked that that was rather in favour of deep
cultivation.

Mr. Lawes : No doubt.

Mr. Leeds said he could not agree with Mr. Lawes that
straw was a good criterion for a valuation at the end of a
tenancy. For many years he cultivated a light land farm.
He farmed it highly, and used a great deal of artificial manure
and feeding-cake. His thatching bill varied nearly half. One
year it was £28 and another only £16, aud the same quantity
of feeding-stuff was used in both cases. It would not do,
therefore, in his opinion, to take straw as a criterion for com-
pensation.

Mr. John Thomas (Bletsoe, Beds) wished to mako one or
two remarks with reference to cropping. He believed that all
tenant-farmers were too much restricted in that respect. The
first thing that a landlord, or his agent, should do was to look
to the man, and if he had got the right man in the right
place — a man of capital and skiU — he should not restrict him ;
for if such a man took too much out of the soil he would soon
find out his mistake, and resort to a better system (Hear,
hear). The landlord had of course as much right to take care
of himself as the tenant ; but if the tenant were compensated
for unexhausted improvements, instead of being induced to
take all he could out of the soil towards the close of his occu-
pation, that would be better at once for the landlord, for the
in-coming tenant, and for the community at large (Hear, hear).
One great evil connected with the question was that many
land-agents knew nothing at all about farming (Hear, hear).
They had plenty of theory but no practice (Hear, hear). A.
man who assumed the character of a land-agent should have
previously undergone a certain examination (laughter) as
members of the medical profession did ; otherwise, they might
be dictating to men how to crop their land or manage their
farms without knowing f.nything whatever about the matter
(Hear, hear). Professor Voelcker seemed to think that heavy
land was much more profitable than light land farming. In his
(Mr. Thomas's) experience it had been quite the reverse (" No,
no"). Heavy lands, no doubt, often yielded large crops under
good management ; but there were seasons when they would
produce scarcely any crop at all. On light lands they could
almost always produce beef and mutton, and adapt themselves
to circumstances, so as to meet the peculiarities of seasons and
so ou ; while on heavy lands they miglit only be able to obtain
wheat at -lOs. a quarter, and that was an operation which he,
for one, was sick of (laughter).

Mr. H. Trethewy (Silsoe, Amphill) said he cordially
united with those who had spoken in such complimentary
terms of Mr. Lawes's introduction. He agreed with that gen-
tleman in a great deal of what he said, but there were a few
points on which he differed from him. In the first place he
did not concur in the opinion that straw would be a good cri-
terion of value, with respect to unexhausted improvements.
They had only to go back two or three seasons, when owing to
a large amount of wet, the amount of straw was exceedingly
small ; while in dry seasons the straw crop was generally very
good. The same remark applied to hay. Compare the crop of hay
last year with that of the year before. In his own ease the crop
had doubled under the same treatment. Therefore, he thought,
such a mode of valuation as that suggested by Mr. Lawes
could scarcely be adopted. Another thing in the paper which
he could not understand was, the extraordinarily small quan-
tity of 18J cwt. of Swedish turnips per acre. Supposing there
had been some other crop, khol rabi or mangold, the result
would, he thought, have been much greater. As regarded
the question of leases, he had expressed his views in that
room before, as to the comparative advantages of leases and
yearly tenancies. He had stated that, so far as his experience
went, it tended to show that on estates where leases were not
the rule, but, ou the contrary, yearly tenancies, the tenancies
remained much longer than where an opposite system prevailed,
and he could give abundant proof that such was the case.
Another result of leases was very high and increasing rents
(Hear, hear). Leases had prevailed in Scotland for many years,
and it was a notorious fact that rents were higher there
than in any part of England. Even in England, where
leases prevailed, the expiration of the lease was generally fol-
lowed by as increased rent. Yearly tenancies went on ge-
neration after generation. He did not mean to say that it was
prudent to take a farm under a yearly tenancy without some
kind of agreement for compensation ; but he held, that under

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

481

a gool landlord, or a good funiily — [A voice " (jr a good
agent"] Well, they must take agents as they found them
(laughter) — under a good family, he said, a man was safer as
a yearly tenant with a compensation clause in his agreement
than he would be under a lease [A. voice " llow long notice
would you have ?"] The usual notice was only six months ;
hut he did not know that that much signified, because if there
were a two years' notice, there would, of course, he a much
more stringent clause as respected the system of cropping.
With regard to the question of compensation, he thought that
might be settled very easily without any valuation at all. As
he in effect said before, an estimate founded on the straw or
the hay crop would, in his opinion, be very fallacious. The
proper mode of proceeding was, he thought, to have an agree-
ment in the first place as to a scale of compensation, and in
his judgment that scale might be easily adjusted. Mr. Lawes
said that he would have two-thirds or three-fourths of the value
of the manure.

Mr. Lawes observed that by that he meant manure made
from any artificial food.

Mr. Tretiiewy said of course something would be allowed
for the root crop, which would be obtained through the ma-
nure made by the artificial food consumed the year before.

Mr. Lawes ; I don't know that.

Mr. Tretiiewy thought there should be. Supposing there
were a crop of roots, would not Mr. Lawes allow something
for the manure that produced it ?

Mr. Lawes replied that he wanted to avoid all underground
valuation.

Mr. Tretiiewy said he did not concur in that view. He
would go a little further, and allow something for the dung in
growing roots. There were two ways of assessing that, lu
one case the crop was taken at a valuation, in the other the
value of the artificial manure which produced the crop. He
should go for the value of the manure to be certified or proved
by bills showing that such artificial manure had been con-
sumed. He should take half for the manure in the yard, and
a quarter for the crop. That was the rule he generally
adopted. One little difficulty that had to be dealt with in that
case was, that a certain quantity of manure must be applied to
all lands in common husbandry. They could not farm with-
out a certain proportion of manure being used on the farm ;
and the question was how much of that manure, if produced by
artificial food, was fairly chargeable to common farming, and
how much the tenant was entitled to be paid for when he was
leaving. Supposing on a heavy land farm a man grew beans,
oats, and other cereal crops, and purchased no cake. That he
should be paid for all the manure which he brought to the land
in order to produce those crops could hardly have been in-
tended, if such manure was produced on the farm. There must
be some kind of line drawn between the natural condition of
the land and the natural cultivation required to keep it up to
that condition. He thought all that was required might be
comprised in an agreement to the efi'ect that should a tenant
apply more manure than was necessary to keep the land up to
that state of fertility, he should be paid accordingly. Sup-
posing there were a farm including 100 acres of arable land, a
certain quantity of manure would be required for its general
cultivation, and anything beyond that should be allowed for
on quitting. As regarded the comparative merits of light and
heavy land, Mr. Thomas, in his preference for the former,
seemed to forget that unfortunately seasons affect light as well
as heavy land.

Mr. Thomas said he referred to medium light land, not to
land which was extremely light.

Mr. Trethewy said as regarded artificial manures, as they
all knew bones were more lasting in their effects than guano,
the one remaining for five or six years, and the other only for
one or two ; but he thought a scale might easily be adopted
under which such differences might be adjusted.

Mr. Neild (Worsley, Lancashire) thought that what
they had to consider that evening was not so much the diffe-
rent tenures of land as the proper compensation for unex-
hausted improvements when a tenant was quitting a farm.
No agreement would apply under all circumstances and in all
cases (Hear, hear). He could not agree with Mr. Lawes in
reference to the compensation for what might be called tillages
or light manures. In 1868 the farmers in his district used
manures on a large scale in the cultivation of turnips. In that
year they got little or no crop ; hut in the following year.

1861), he grew the best crops of wheat, and of clover under
that wheat, that it had ever been his lot to obtain on the farm
which he occupied. Had he therefore left the farm last year,
the tillage of 1868, beiug underground, would have remained
for his successor, and he himself would have derived no benefit
from it (Hear, hear). They were now entering upon a new
phase of farming ; and he believed the sewage of towns would
have a great effect upon production. In the neighbourhood of
Liverpool and Manchester, an immense quantity of sewage
would be brought upon the land, and great results might be
expected. As regarded the course of cropping, he agreed with
a preceding speaker tliat the grand thing for a landlord to aim
at was to get the right man in the right place, and that would
afford much better security for good farming than any parch-
ment enactments (Hear, hear.)

Mr. G. Smythies (Marlow Lodge, Leintwardine) said he
was much struck with two features in Mr. Laws's paper. One
was the extreme fairness of that gentleman in recommending
the use of ammonical manures in preference to mineral
manures, though it was well known that he was a large manu-
facturer of the latter ; and the other was the statement that 40
bushels of barley per acre and 31 of wheat were grown without
any manuring on land which was let tithe-free at 27s. per acre.
He was sorry to say that he paid 30s. per acre and paid the tithe,
and with what appeared to him good manuring he could not
produce such an amount of produce. The gist of the paper
seemed to be the best way of compensating tenants for their
outlay. Mr. Trethewy, while opposing leases, seemed to him
to speak indirectly in favour o£ them. He said that wherever
leases were the rule rents increased very much : and every
one would agree with hira (Mr. Smythies), that where rents
increased very much there must be a corresponding increase in
the produce of the soil, and that that was an extremely good
thing for the community. That was a question which must be
viewed in reference to the community at large as well as in re-
ference to individual landlords and tenants ; and if, as he be-
lieved could be proved, land under leases produced the greatest
amount of produce, leases were things to go in for.
He knew very well that English tenants generally did not like
leases ; and the reason for that was, perhaps, that the greater
portion of the aristocracy were very kind and favourable to
their tenants, and did not wish to turn them out, so that the
tenants felt on the one hand that they had sufficient security
for their occupation, if they choose to stay, and on the other
that they were at liberty to leave. He thought that feeling
was at the bottom of the indifference about leases. Still that
did not tend to produce the best kind of cultivation, for they
might rely upon it, that farmers would not pay a higher rent
than in the long run was justified by the return. There was a
stimulus in the case of a man who had a lease which led him
to get more out of the land than was obtained under any
other kind of holding. The question what should be allowed for
in the land at the end of a tenancy did not seem to have been
much elucidated by that discussion. Mr. Lawes thought the
matter should be decided by the straw, but every subsequent
speaker appeared to think that that would make compensation
depend too much on the seasons. That brought them back to
the cost of manure. Now, in his part of the country there
was nothing like lime as manure ; but in some cases lime was
exhausted in two or three years, and in others the effects were
seen for five or six years, and how, then, could a fair valuation
be arrived at on that basis? He recollected that when he first
began to use guano, that is in 1843 or 1844, the results
were seen for seven years. As regarded bones applied to
land in Cheshire the effect was, he believed, in some cases
almost as good now as it was at first (laughter) ; while on the
other hand Mr. Mechi assured them that in his neighbour-
hood bones did no good at all. This matter was an extemely
comphcated one. He believed, however, that the tenant would
be perfectly safe if the landlord would undertake to pay him
for the use of a certain amount of oilcake. Still there was
nothing like a lease to induce a tenant to farm well.

Mr. Trethewy observed in explanation, that Mr. Smythies
must have misunderstood him if he supposed that he implied
that under yearly tenancies land was not farmed as well as it
was under leases. He wished now most distinctly to say that
he believed that with proper agreements land was farmed quite
as well under a yearly tenancy as under a lease.

Mr. J. Bradsiiaw (Kuole, Guildford) observed that Mr.
Lawes had read a most valuable paper — a paper which fur-

432

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

nished a basis for making calculations as to uuexhausted im-
provements. The fact that the experinieuts had been carried
on for 18 or 30 years made them very reliable. It had been
well pointed out by several speakers that the duration of the
effects of bones and other manures differed accordiui; to the
nature of the soil, and that variation of course bore elosely on
the question how much should be received in the way of com-
pcBsation by an outgoing tenant.

Mr. J. Trasic (Highleaze, Yeovil) thought that Mr.
Lawes's conclusions were on the whole very just. As regarded
what had been said about straw not being a good criterion of
fertility, he would remark that although not a perfect criterion
it affords a material element in the calculation. He had known
very bulky straw crops grown on soils in good condition, but he
had seldom known a poor, or comparatively exhausted, soil to
produce a considerable amount of straw, either in a wet or dry
season. In such matters the wliole aim should be to give such
inducements to the outgoing tenant to farm in the last year of
his tenancy as well as he had in previous years. If that were
done the requirements of what was called tenant-right would
be satisfied, while if they went beyond this they might do as
much harm as by falling short of it.

Mr. Clemext Cable (Gloucester) wished to add his humble
testimony to the value of Mr. Lawes's paper, but there was
one point that had escaped notice in the discussion. Mr.
Lawes said he was not in favour of any restriction in crop-
ping, except in the last year or two of a tenancy. Now the
majority of tenancies in this country being yearly ones, with a
six mouths' notice to quit, under such circumstances there
would be great difficulty in restricting a tenant in the last year
of his occupation, all the land would be under some crop or
other when the notice is served.

Mr. R. J. Newton (Campsfield, Woodstock), having
succeeded Mr. Howard in the chair, in consequence of that
gentleman being compelled to leave, then summed up the
discussion. After remarking that he felt himself rather out of
place in that position, he said that so far as he could gather
from the remarks of Mr. Lawes in his excellent paper, and
from the observations of succeeding speakers, it was the
general feeling that much greater freedom should be allowed
to tenants in manuring and cropping their farms of course
without prejudicing the interests of the landlords ; and that
compensation should alway be given to tenants for unexhausted
improvements ; and he felt sure that if those objects were
secured, the effect would be that a great impetus would be
given to the improvement of agriculture (cheers).

Mr. Lawes tlien replied : he observed that Mr. Mechi
thought that he had laid too much stress on the experiments
which were made in his particular soil. Being fully aware of
the difficulty of drawing conclusions from results obtained in
any one quality of soil, lie had tried to get similar experiments
to his owo carried out on different kinds of soil — for example,

at Wohurn, at llolkhani, and in Kent ; but he was sorry to say
that tlie matter was attended with great difficulty, and, in fact,
owing to weeds or game, or both, the experiments were not
altogether satisfactory, and were consequently given up. He
did all he could to secure similar experiments to his own else-
where, but in vain. Another point raised in the discussion,
was the valuation of unexhausted manures which had grown
a crop. Professor Voelcker had justly observed that bones
were an admirable manure, and that the effects were perma-
nent. On some soils the effects of bones were so permanent
that they never seemed to do any good at all (laughter). Mr.
Mechi thought they were of no use to himself. The truth was
a manure might have a special action on a particular crop,
on particular soUs, and in particular seasons, and no general
rule, therefore, could be laid down for the valuation of the uu-
exhausted residue of manures which have yielded a crop. He
wanted to have the valuation transferred to what was
above ground. The greatest exception taken to his paper
had referance to straw. It was naturally remarked that
in some years the straw crop was good, and in others bad ; but
on the other hand, it should be remarked that, whether the
crop were good or bad the higher men farmed the more straw
they obtained (Hear, hear). The tendency of all high farm-
ing was to produce a large quantity of straw. If valuations
were transierred in the manner he proposed, a tenant going
out at Michaelmas would have two straw crops valued. There
would be the straw in the dung, which, he (Mr. Lawes) said,
should be valued instead of the turnips, the straw of the last
corn crop, and, besides, the value of the manure from the
purchased food consumed during the winter. If there were a
bad crop of straw one year, there would probably be a good
one the next, and with the two there would be a fair basis of
valuation. As to the valuation of artificial manures, there
was no rule universally applicable. If a man asked him the
value of an artificial manure in a particular case he might tell
him something near it, but he could not lay down a general
principle which would apply to all cases. For example, in
one of the experiments be had referred to there was a residue
of 600 lbs. of ammonia per acre within 37 inches from the
surface, and that did not produce as much effect as 20 lbs.
applied afresh on the top of the soil. There was 600 lbs. of
ammonia worth 9d. or lOd. per lb., and perhaps it would not
produce more than a bushel of corn a year for the next half
century. If the valuation were transferred to things that had
a tangible money value, that would, in his opinion, secure
justice to both parties (cheers).

On the motion of Mr. Meciii, seconded by Mr. J. Thomas,
a vote of thanks was given to Mr. Lawes for his paper.

On the motion of Mr. H. Tretiiewy, seconded by Mr.
Little, thanks were also accorded to the Chairman, and this
terminated the proceedings.

WHAT THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE HAS DONE.

" They were increasing constantly in numbers, and yet
practically they had done nothing. They were endeavour-
ing to perform three most important and difficult tasks —
to obtain agricultural Freedom of Trade, to obtain Equal
Rating, and to obtain Representation in reference to
taxation in the shape of County Financial Boards. Those
were the three things which they were established to
secure, and they had not advanced one step." So said
Mr. Tomline, M.P., when opening the April business
in his office of chairman of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture. The scope of this Society would here seem
to be somewhat arbitrarily limited by its President, and,
indeed, the agenda paper went at once to a correction of
the honorable gentleman's impression. The first dis-
cussion of the day did not turn upon Free Trade, the
Equalization of liates, or the establishment of County
Boards ; nor, for that matter, did the second. What-
ever was said, however, on this or that question, it must

be sufficiently clear that the Central Chamber has
" practically done nothing," as that its delibera-
tions are attended with little or no effect. Of
this the first topic taken afforded some remarkable
illustration. At the meeting in March the Council
passed a resolution declaring that "adequate opportunities
for instruction may be secured by regular attendance at
school up to the age of ten years, supplemented by partial
attendance after that age, and that compulsory attendance
of children up to the age of twelve years would prove a
great hardship to the labouring classes." In accordance
with the trimming timidity usually evinced by the Cen-
tral Council this resolution is as roundabout as it well
can be, but if it mean anything it comes to this — that
no labourer's child should be compelled to attend any
school after he is ten years of age. And, no doubt, a
very proper and sensible amendment to the Govern-
ment Bill would this be. But what has happened in the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

483

interim ? At meetings of local Chambers and Farmers'
Clubs tberc lias been an almost unanimous expression
of feeling, very plainly put, in favom\of the ten instead of
the twelve years' clause. In Northamptonshire, Liucola-
shire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Nottingham-
shire, Worcestershire, Hertfordshire, Cornwall, Norfolk
and SuiFolk resolutions have been carried substituting ten
for twelve ; while Leicestershire and Staffordshire would
appear to have gone altogether against compulsion. The
com'se of the Council on the force of such a manifesto
would look to be obvious enough. So far as we can pre-
tend to understand the action of that mysterious carriage -
paid body, there is a long sitting on the evening previous
to the meeting, when with much care and deliberation
" appropriate" resolutions are drawn oat for presenta-
tion on the next morning. The Education Bill was
announced to come again under consideration, and,
with the evidence of the agriculturists of the country
taken as it were in the mean while, nothing would pro-
mise to be better warranted than strengthening or more
emphatically pronouncing for the ten years' term, as
embodied in the resolution of the March meeting. But
the Council in its collective wisdom thought otherwise,
and, instead of supporting the original resolution, did
everything to weaken its effect, for the first motion sub-
mitted on Tuesday ran thus : " That this Council consi-
ders that the partial attendance of children between the
ages of ton and twelve, as approved by the resolution
passed at the last meeting, would be best attained by re-
quiring a certiiicate of proficiency for every child em-
ployed in labour." In the face of all that has since hap-
pened throughout the country it is here attempted to fuse
or confuse the compulsory attendance from ten to twelve
years ; although of course as a member, whose name our
reporter did not succeed in catching, very properly
remarked, " at the last meeting the Council passed a
resolution declaring that ten years should be the
limit of compulsion, and if a resolution was now
adopted to the effect that a child was not to be allowed
to go to work after ten unless it obtained a certificate
of proficiency, that would be a retrograde movement ;
it would, in | fact, be reversing what was done be-
fore." Precisely so ; as this brings us back to the chair-
man's fii'st charge. If the Council will only reverse at
the next meeting all they have done at the previous one,
"practically, they will do nothing." This marching
backwards may be perhaps safe enough in its way ; but
still it was not altogether countenanced on Tuesday,
when an amendment, proposed, as we believe, by one
outside member, and seconded by another of the " un-
paid," was carried by a majority of more than two to
one — the point of this being that " no compulsory
attendance should be required after ten years of age."

And here a very pertinent question arises. Is the
Council of the Central Chamber — the carriage-
paid company which assembles on Monday eve-
ning— supposed to represent the sense of the country
or the sense of itself ? If this be really a
central body, of course the first duty should be
to collect the opinions of the corresponding societies
throughout the country, and frame resolutions in accord-
ance with the majority, as so expressed. Of all the local
Chambers which have taken the Education BiU into con-
sideration it would be interesting to hear how many have
gone for ten instead of twelve years as the limit for com-
pulsory attendance. And if, as we shall assume, there
were a majority in this direction, why was not a clear de-
cisive resolution to that effect put before the meeting on
Tuesday ? Mr. Mortimer said the other day, down in
Devonshire, that " the self-elected members of the Central
Chamber had more weight than the Chambers in the
country. He did not consider they should place so much

confidence in the Central Chamber, but that they should
have a Chamber where they could be properly represented."
Every word of this would certainly seem to be warranted
by the proceedings over the Education Bill on Tuesday.
These " self-elected Members," if Captain Craigie's mo-
tion were put with their cognizance, did not properly re-
present the local Chambers. Their duty would have
been to put the ten years' limit as a substantive motion,
and to have left Captain Craigie to have done what he
could with his proposition as an amendment. Instead of
that, they put the cart before the horse, by giving
as it were their countenance to this retrograde move-
ment, although ultimately in a meeting of some thirty
people the sense of the country prevailed over the sense
of the Council.

The Central Chamber of Agriculture was started,
not, if we remember aright, precisely to carry out the
three objects enumerated by the present chairman, but
to look to matters coming before Parliament, and there
are now two or three Game Bills launched. Where,
upon Lord Aylesford withdraws from his Chamber as he
does not approve of this becoming a political association,
and Lord Warwick admits that he is very much inclined
to do so from exactly the same reason. At the meeting,
however, in London on Tuesday it was deliberately de-
clared, " That in the opinion of this Council the applica-
tion of capital to agriculture is discouraged by — amongst
other causes — the over-preservation of ground game.'*
This evil, however, was significantly enough passed
without any discussion, possibly from the fact of the-
over-preservation of ground game having already come-
under the consideration of the Council. And what has.
been done by the Central Chamber to remove this,
discouragement to the application of capital ? As Mr..
Tomline would say, " practically nothing." In fact,,
if there had been, it is likely enough that the chair-
man of the Central Chamber might have followed the
example of the noble lord in Warwickshire, and have with-
drawn, as not approving of ^this becoming a political as-
sociation, that is as regards the over-preservation of game.

Looking at the ludicrous want of administrative ability
as displayed by the direction of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture, we have not hesitated to express our opinion
as to its little use or worth. Or, in the more concise
condemnation of its own chairman, "practically they
have done nothing, and not advanced one step." A good
strong resolution, issued under the authority of a central
society, and embodying as it should have done the
opinions of agriculturists, might have had its effect on
the Government Education Bill. But, should Mr. Foster
care to look in this direction, what will he find ? A
pitiful division of 18 to 8, and the sense of the country
frittered away by captains and clergymen. Surely the
world is getting very sick of this sort of thing !

PRIZES FOE, GARDEN ESSAYS.— Mr. W. Egerton
Hubbard's prizes, • offered through tlie mediiuu of the
Royal Horticultural Society, have been awarded as foUows :
For an Essay on Cottage Gardening, the prize of £5, to Mr.
E. W. Badger, Midland Counties Herald, Birmingham ; for
an Essay on Window Gardening, the prize of £3, to Mr. H.
Buttery, Clapham. For the former prize, thirty-four essays
were sent in, of which number those from Mr. W. P. Ayres,
Nottingham, and Mr. E. Luckhurst, Egerton House Gardens,
Kent, were highly commended; and those from Mr. D. T.
Fish, Hardwicke House, Bury St. Edmunds ; Mr. A. Meikle,
Read Hall, Whalley ; Mr. P. Grieve, Culford ; and Mr. W.
Earley, Digswell, were severally commended. For the
Window Gardening Prize, eighteen essays were contributed,
that from Mr. D. T. Fish being highly commended, and those
rom Mr. E. Luckhurst, Egerton House Gardens ; Mr. A.
Meikle, Read Hall ; and Mr. W. Moss, Sheiaeld, Wickham,
Hauts, were coiuffiended,-»(?rtrf/^.«fr*' C'/irg/iifk,

434

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE CENTEAL OHAMBEE OF AGEICULTUEE.

A Council Meet'ng of this Cliamlier was held ou Tuesday,
April 5, at the Salishury Hotel, Mr. Tomline, M.P., presiding.
There were about 30 members present.

The CnAiRMAN, iu opening the proceedings, said that they
were increasing constantly in numbers, and yet practically
they had done nothing. They were endeavouring to perform
three most important and difficult tasks — to obtain agricultural
freedom of trade, to obtain equal rating, and to obtain repre-
sentation in reference to taxation in the shape of county
financial boards. Those were the three things which they
were established to secure, and they had not advanced one
step. A short time ago our Minister in China entered, with
the consent of the Government, into a treaty, and brought it
home with the idea that it could not possibly be opposed. It
took away all the transit duties in China, but added 2^ per
cent, to the import duties in that country. Lord Clarendon
wrote a favourable paper about it, but one or two Chambers of
Commerce disliked it, and acted with energy. They went to
the Minister, and, in spite of the assent of the Government,
and the long and able paper of Lord Clarendon, they gained
their point. Such was the result of the efforts of one or two
Chambers of Commerce, and that was what he (the Chairman)
called decisive action (Hear, hear). Was it not a contrast to
what they had done that such rapid success should have fol-
lowed the action of one or two Chambers of Commerce P He
thought they ought to see why it was that similar success had
not followed their own efforts (Hear, hear).

Mr. A. Pell, M.P., brought up the following Report of the
Local Taxation Committee: —

" The Local Taxation Committee, in presenting their Re-
port, have much pleasure in stating that their executive com-
mittee have met regularly twice a week since the last general
meeting of the committee on the 7th of March. These meet-
ings have been attended by Sir Massey Lopes, Bart., M.P.,
chairman, Mr. A. Pell, M.P., Captain Craigie, and Mr. C. F.
Gardner, secretary. The circular letters addressed to secre-
taries of provincial Chambers, requesting further contributions,
and asking for lists of magistrates, landowners, and otliers,
have been written and sent out by the secretary, as ordered at
the last general meeting. Letters will be sent to the magis-
trates, landowners, and others, as authorised by the committee,
as these lists arrive from the provincial Chambers. Replies
have been received from many of the secretaries, and some
donations. The committee also beg to report that nearly
twelve thousand copies of the ' Prize Essay ' have been
distributed. The committee cannot close their report without
expressing their deep sympathy with their chairman. Sir
Massey Lopes, in the severe domestic calamity which he has
sustained, and which has caused his unavoidable absence."

In accordance with a recommendation of the Business Com-
mittee for co-operation with the International Decimal Asso-
ciation on the question of " Uniformity of Weights and
Measures," it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. Neild,
" That a petition to the House of Commons for a Select Com-
mittee of Inquiry into the subject be signed by the chairman
on behalf of the Council."

On the motion of Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., seconded by Mr.
Genge Andrews, it was further resolved, " That the thanks
of the Council be voted to the several Chambers of Agricul-
ture which have increased their subscriptions or forwarded
donations to the funds of the Council."

The discussion ou the provisions of the Elementary Educa-
tion Bill, adjourned from the previous meeting, was then re-
sumed.

Captain Craigie said that as he made the motion for ad-
journment it was his duty to reopen the question. In doing
so, he would allude to three distinct points. The first was
that the bill was not now in the same position as when thpy
last met. It had been read a second time, and therefore its
principles had been approved by tlie House of Commons. The
second point was that there had been promises of important
amendments ou the part of the Government, and various sug-
gestions had been thrown out as to what should be done in

committee ; while the third was that what might be termed
the congested state of public business in the Lower House
rendered it extremely doubtful whether the bill could pass
into law during the present session (Hear, hear). These
things should make them very careful as to what they said on
the subject, and in his opinion it was desirable that it should
be treated by them strictly as an agricultural question, and
not as an imperial one (Hear, hear). The vexed question of
religion seemed to him inadmissible in that Council, and he
hoped that every speaker who followed him would, like him-
self, abstain from alluding to it. Two exhaustive resolutions
were passed at the last meeting, and before proceeding to move
an amendment he would reiterate the protest made on that
occasion against any contributions being made for elementary
education out of local rates until the incidence of those bur-
dens had been altered (cheers). Even that rating question
stood in a different position from what it did when the ques-
tion was adjourned, the likelihood of even the small measure
which was then referred to being passed in the present session
being very small indeed, and that fact strengthened the protest
to which he had just alluded (Hear, hear). There were four
points to which he thought the Council might usefully ad-
dress itself on that occasion — first, what was meant by the
" partial attendance " after ten years of age ? mentioned in one
of the resolutions passed at the last meeting ; secondly, the
distance to be fixed upon as a limit for attendance at schools ;
thirdly, the alleged pauperising tendency of free education ;
and, lastly, the absence of any provision in the hill for tech-
nical education, which if judiciously given would, he thought,
produce a very good effect in rural parishes. He would move
the following resolution : " That this Council considers that
the partial attendance of children between the ages of ten and
twelve, as approved by the resolution passed at the last meeting,
would be best attained by requiring a certificate of proficiency
for every child employed in labour." They all knew the dif-
ficulty which existed with regard to ages. He did not think
it mattered how a child acquired additional education after the
age of ten, whether in a night school or in any other way. It
would be quite enough if the inspector were satisfied that he
had attained the fourth standard, that being made the test of
proficiency (Hear, hear).

The Rev. Mr. Botfield (Shropshire) did not think the
Council need trouble itself very much with regard to the
period between ten and twelve, as very few boys were then em-
ployed in agriculture ("Ob, oh"). He spoke from his own
experience in the matter. He had a school of one hundred and
twenty boys, and he found that the average age was eleven years
and three months. He quite agreed, however, that there were
many boys of ten, eleven, or twelve — big lusty lads — who
might be usefully employed in agriculture (Hear, hear) ; and
he thought that parliament should be contented if such boys
attained as much education as would fit them to perform their
duty in after-life (Hear, hear). If a boy had thoroughly
mastered reading, he would never forget it. Having once
learnt to read a column of a newspaper, he could afterwards
study for himself. He thought that amid the attention
bestowed on the children of labouring men, the children of a
large class of farmers has been too much overlooked. While
the labourer might obtain for his children a good education,
perhaps for nothing, men immediately above him must either
send their children to a pauper-school or not have them
educated at all. There were no schools provided for the inter-
mediate class. A school which he originated in his district to
meet that difiiculty — it was a school for all classes, the children
of labourer's as well as of farmers and others — had been in
existence for 17 years, and complete success had attended it.
There were now 120 boys, including the sons of labourers, the
sons of farmers, the sons of tradesmen, and even the sons of
gentlemen, some of whom lie hoped one day to see in the
house where their chairman sat. He sent his own sons there,
and though he afterwards paid two or three hundred a year
for their education, he had not the slightest hesitation in say-
ing that the education which they received in that school w&s

THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

435

better thaa that which they received subsequently. [A voice^
What is the highest sum charged ?] fifteen shillings a
quarter. As regarded the question of distance, mentioned by
Captain Craigie, he found that one boy came six miles to his
own school and several farmers' sous came three miles. I'ay-
ment was not compulsory, but for 11 years there had not been
a single instance in which a parent had not wished to pay.

Mr. Wiles (Cambridgeshire) observed that most persons
seemed now to have entirely lost sight of the importance of
industrial education, which in his opinion should begin at
ten years of age at the latest. He was not at all inimical to
education ; but it struck him that the couutry was running
wild about it ("No, no"). If the compulsory principle was
to be carried out, it must be applied to the children of peers
as well as to those of peasants (Hear, hear). Noblemen must
in that case have tlieir children educated as well as vacci-
nated (laughter). Some rich parents spoiled their children ;
and he supposed they would lie called to account (laughter).

Mr. Smith (Essex) asked the Chairman whether the reli-
gious question was to be admitted into the discussion ?

The Chairman' replied that it was to be excluded, and the
meeting was to confine itself as much as possible to the point
before it.

Mr. Garfit (Lincolnshire) observed that the great problem
was, how tbe children of agricultural labourers were to be
compelled to attend school, as the Government proposed, and
yet the family be fed and clothed ? He believed that many
persons went with the stream in advocating compulsory edu-
cation, without individually approving of it (Hear, hear) ;
and, in his opinion, it could not be enforced without inter-
fering injuriously with the right of parents to secure a main-
tenance for their children. Many children could not he fed
and clothed properly even now ; and what would he the use of
driving a half-fed and half-clothed child to school? (Hear,
hear.) If there must be compulsion, let it, at all events, not
extend beyond the age of ten, when boys became very useful
to their parents or their employers. He conchided by moving
as an amendment, " That this Council considers that no com-
pulsory attendance sliould be required after ten years of age,
and that, after a certificate of proficiency in reading and ele-
mentary writing at any age, no compulsory attendance should
be required."

The Rev. E. H. Willes (Leicestershire), in seconding
Capt. Craigie's resolution, said he believed there would be no
necessity for compulsory educatiou in rural districts wliere
good schools were provided. Nor did he think that rating
would be required uuder a good system of school manage-
ment. In his own parish — a parish comprising a population
of 300 souls — the children's pence and the Government grant
together paid all expenses, and left a surplus.

Mr. Webb (Worcestershire) advocated exemption from
compulsory attendance, iu the hop districts, during the pick-
ing season, when the mothers were in the field and the. home
shut up.

Mr. Varden (Worcestershire) concurred in this view.

Mr. WniTWELL (Peterborough) supported Capt. Craigie's
resolution, on the ground that, after ten years of age, a certi-
ficate of proficiency ought to satisfy everybody. He depre-
cated any attempts to stop the progress of education. At the
present moment many agricultural labourers could not read
the names on carts. (" Oh, oh !) A week ago he asked a
labourer to read a name, and he could not do so (A Voice :
"That is the exception"). He believed that it was not the
exception. In such remote districts as the Government Bill
was especially intended for, there would in many cases be no
schooling without compulsory educatiou and local boards. In
a school of 300 children with which he was connected the
master told him that the greatest difficulty he had to contend
against was tVie voluntary principle, adding that, if attendance
were made compulsory, the table would be better filled up,
and the children all the better for it. The man he mentioned
was only 40, and a very good labourer too (Hear, hear).

Mr. Leman said that in his county great attention was paid
to the education of the labouring classes.

Mr. Herman Biddell seconded Mr. Garfit's amendment,
which seemed to him much more to the point than Captain
Craigie's motion. He wished that gentlemen who advo-
cated compulsory education up to 13 years of age would con-
sider what it would lead to. How was a child to be forced to
attend school ? What did compulsion mean ? It meant fine

in case of non-compliance, and wliei-e there was no money fine
meant the gaol (Hear, hear). He admitted, however, that
Mr. Forster's bill only required a little alteration to make it
suitable to the wants of the country. As a large employer of
juvenile labour in agriculture he would warn farmers against
waiting until (he bill was passed before seeking to get its pro-
visions altered ; whatever was to be suggested in the way of
alteration must be urged now. His idea was that there were
many parents who could not spare a child for school beyond
ten years of age, and he was for limiting the restriction to that
age. He had six boys iu his employment under 13, and some
of them had been at work for four or five years, and he felt
certain that some of the parents could not have spared their
child's labour even in the first year that he (ilr. Biddell)
employed him.

A member observed that at the last meeting the council
passed a resolution declaring that ten years should be the limit
of compulsion, and if a resolution was now adopted to the efi"ect
that a child was not to be allowed to go to work after ten
unless it obtaiued a certificate of proficiency, that would be a
retrograde movement ; it would, iu fact, be reversing what
was done before (No, no). At the preceding meeting it was
declared that no attendance at school should be required after
ten.

Captain Craigie explained that the resolution ou the sub-
iect passed at the last meeting was, in effect, that regular at-
tendance should be required up to the age of ten, and partial
attendance afterwards.

Mr. Genge Andrews said he concurred neither in the
original motion nor in the amendment. He believed that the
longer they discussed the question in the way they were dis -
cussing it, the farther they would be from any conclusion.
The longer he listened, the more he felt that they were in a
mist (Hear, hear). The main point on which the Council
were agreed was decided opposition to the rating principle,
and he believed there was a general feeling against labourers
being compelled by law to send their children to school (Hear,
hear). One fact of general application was more expressive
than a long string of arguments. Some time ago he met
wit h a case in which a labourer's daughter, who was one of a
large family, earned 2s. a-week by making gloves, thus sup-
plementing, to that extent, the father's wages of 10s. a-week.
The Government Bill as it stood would prevent that.

Mr. Smith (Essex) felt, that to compel children to attend
school after they became ten years of age would be to lay a
very heavy Imrden on many parents. A great number of
childreu could, at that age, earn 3s. or 3s. 6d. a week, which
materially helped the parents in providing for the wants of the
family. The proposal to authorise the levying of a 3d. rate
for education greatly strengthened the arguments of the Local
Taxation Committee.

Mr. CuRZON was sorry to be obliged to endorse the opinion
expressed that day that many labourers could not read the
letters on carts. A short time ago he met with a case in
which a girl who was a witness at a Coroner's inquest, and
who had left school only two years before, was obliged to put
a cross against her name (Hear, hear, and a Voice : " That
shows that the schoohng was not very good"). There must,
he thought, be partial compulsion or attendance at night
schools after the child became ten years age.

Mr. Neii.d (Cheshire) hoped the meeting would confine
itself strictly to the agricultural aspect of the question (Hear,
hear) . The Council had been censured for what it did at the
last meeting, and he believed many who took part in the pro-
ceedings would not now vote for any compulsion at all (Hear,
hear). He had in his employment children under 13 years of
age who were earning as much as 4s. 6d. a week, and he felt
certain that unless lads were initiated in agricultural work
early, they would never learn in after life. By providing a
little for industrial education, and not forgetting the primary
point of feeding and clotbing, parliament would do a great deal
more good than by sticking altogether to scholastic education
(Hear, hear). Many persons in his parish said that people
were now riding the education horse to death (Hear, hear).
Notwithstanding all that had been said about the ignorance of
agricultural labourers, he believed that the school attendance
in most of the rural parishes would shame the towns in a
comparison (Hear, hear).

Mr. Garfit, as the mover of the amendment, then replied.
He said that if he had been previously aware of the feeling

G G

436

THE PAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

of the meeting as mauifested iu the discussion his amendment
would have gone a little furtlier in the direction of opposition
to compulsory attendance at school (Hear, hear). He was in
favour of compulsion in so far as it would oblige parishes to
provide adequate school accommodation, but opposed to it in
so far as it would compel children to go to school (cheers).
If they provided pure water for cattle the cattle would driuk
it, and the same principle applied, lie believed, to the case of
schools. Compulsion would, when carried out, produce a
revulsion against itself. Even Mr. Forster seemed hardly to
have made up his mind on the point, but the Birmingham
party was urging him on in that direction, and hence it was
important that agriculturists should urge him iu the contrary
one.

The Rev. E. H. Willes reminded the meeting that com-
pulsioa was already carried out in towns under the Factory
Act.

Captain Craigie appealed to the meeting whether it would
be wise to revoke, as he thought it would do by adopting Mr.
Garfit's amendment, tlie decision which it came to at the last
mdeting, after long and grave deliberation. The resolution
passed on that occasion was so worded as to avoid declaring
that there should be no compulsion, but it distinctly affirmed
that there should be none after ten years of age. He thought
it would be wise for the Council to leave the question there,
and not pass an amendment by which, in his opinion, they
would stultify themselves in the eyes of the country. He was
perfectly prepared, if the seconder would assent to it, to insert
in his resolution the qualifying words, " in country districts."

Mr. MuNTZ expressed his approval of the limitation of
compulsion to the age of ten.

The amendment was then submitted to a show of hands,
and carried, the numbers being eighteen for and eight against
it ; majority, ten.

The Chairman said that the next question for consideration
was the causes now in operation which discourage the appli-
cation of capital to agriculture ; and a discussion followed as
to the propriety of postponing the matter until the next meet-
ing in May, a course which was strongly advocated by Mr.
Jasper More, and opposed by Mr. Genge Andrews, Capt.
Craigie, and Mr. H. Nield. The last mentioned expressed
his surprise that such a proposal should have been made after
the long preliminary discussion wliich took place in the
Executive Committee the previous niglit in settling the reso-
lution lo be submitted to the Council. The Committee were
engaged until jiast eleven o'clock, and had considered the
resolution clause by clause, to the best of their ability ; and if
the council were to waive the present opportunity of pro-
nouncing its opinion on such au important subject, all he could
say was that the Central Chamber of Agriculture was not
likely to pass muster with the practical farmers of England. It
was then agreed, on a show of hands, that the discussion be at
once proceeded with, and

The Chairman read the resolution prepared by the Business
Cinnmittee as follows : " That in the opinion of this Council
the application of capital to agriculture is discouraged by the
following causes — 1. The undue amount of local taxation upon
capital invested in land and its improvement. 3. Uncertainty
of tenure. 3. Absence of compensation for unexhausted im-
provements. 4. Unnecessary restrictions upon courses of
cropping. 5. The over-preservation of ground game."

It was then arranged that the several " causes " indicated
should be taken and considered separately ; and

Mr. Whitaker thereu|X)n moved, " That the application of
capital to agriculture is discouraged — first, by the uudue
amount of local taxation upon capital invested in laud and its
improvement." He observed that matters oi such magnitude
as were embraced iu the resolution which had come down
from the committee required the careful attention of all the
local chambers, and that the sooner the subject was gone into
with spirit and determination the more likely would they be
to arrive at a just conclusion, and to meet the wishes of both
the landlords and the tenantry of the country. The resolution
involved some very vexed questions, but they must not recoil
from their consideration simply because of a diversity of
opinion. Especially when they saw the progress that was
being made — he might say in a revolutionary direction — with
the land question (Hear, hear), it was the duty alike of laud-
lord and of tenant, and the possessors of real property gene-
rally, to stand forward ani 8V0\r their opinions with equal

moderation and firmness. There were portions of the resolu-
tion to which he was not favourable ; but the first clause of it
set forth a truth which no reasonable man would attempt
to deny (Hear, hear). The purchaser of an estate worth
£1 an acre, invested in it say capital to the amount of
£5,000, and increased its value from £1 an acre to £2 or
even 50s., by drainage, new buildings, and other improvements,
when in would step the rating committee, and tax the capital
so invested to the amount of 13 per cent. ; whilst, if the money
had been invested in the funds, it would be charged only with
the income-tax of 4d. or 5d. in the £1. Iu these circum-
stances, he asked, whether it was likely that either landlords
or tenants would invest their capital largely in the improve-
ment of the land so long as such an iniquitous system of local
taxation continued. Upon tliis first clause of the resolution,
then, he trusted that every chamber of agriculture and farmers'
club in the kingdom would be unanimous, and that the Local
Taxation Committee would have their hands strengthened by
the resolutions which those several associatious might arrive at
on the subject. Having made this reference to the Local
Taxation Committee, he would take the opportunity of remark-
ing that that committee ought to receive a much larger sup-
port than they had yet done from the chambers of agriculture,
and that unless funds were supplied to them to work the Cen-
tral Chamber more efficiently, this grand movemeut in the
interest of the farmer would fail (Hear, hear). He said this
because he found that the subscriptions on the part alike of
societies and of individuals were of such a meagre character
that they would not enable the Chamber to carry out the im-
portant objects that it had iu view. If they turned for a
moment to the operations of the manufacturing community,
they would see the large manufacturers coming forward and
giving their personal exertions and money subscriptions to
promote their common interest ; and that the agricultural
community should remain quiet and utterly apathetic when
this important question of local taxation was being agitated,
was to him a source of great amazement (Hear, hear) .

Mr. Genge Andrews seconded the motion, because it was
almost the only question upon which this Council and the
local Chambers might be said to agree. It was a question,
indeed, as to which there was scarcely a discordant opinion
entertained (expressions of dissent). He did not mean to say
that that was absolutely and positively the case, but that there
was such a great majority of the members of this and the
local Chambers in favour of it that they might safely assert
it to be the leading question which the vast preponderance of
opinion was ready to support. That, he thought, would be
generally admitted. What was the question in itself? It was
not that of creating a new tax ; but they were attacking the
system of exemption from a tax. They contended that capital
invested in land and iu the cultivation of land was more heHvily
burdened by taxation than capital invested in any other
property or pursuit. It was not wise or politic to lay an
extensive tax on the production of food, so far as agriculture
was concerned, for the tax had to be paid before any profit
could arise to either the owner or the occupier of the
land. More particularly was it an injustice to the owner.
For if he were the possessor of land which scarcely afforded any
rent, there was a tax of 13 per cent, upon the uett annual income
cf that land, and that must operate as a bar to its cultivation
on the slightest depreciation in its value. The land must
therefore go out of cultivation if it did not pay rent. On the
other hand, it was quite clear that if these local taxes were dis-
tributed over the income arising from the whole of the capital
of the country, however invested, the land instead of 13 per
cent., would probably have to pay little more than 4 per cent.,
in other words, the burden it bears would be reduced by two-
thirds if it were fairly distributed over aU the capital returning
a profit iu the country. The result would be a large extension
of the area which could be brought into cultivation ; and there-
fore an increase of employment for capital and consequently of
labour. Even upon economic considerations then, he held that
they had fair ground for saying that these local taxes were im-
posts levied upon the raw material of food, were unjust and
impolitic, and injurious to the common weal, leaving out of
the question the interest of the landlord and farmer. As to
the farmer, he was not directly interested in this taxation,
which really fell upon the owner ; but collaterally another
element came in which brought the occupier very strongly
into the field. They all knew that the farmer could not

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

437

cliange his stock witli the same facility that a trader could
change his. Once that the farmer had invested his capital, it
was in itself a serious tax upon him to have to remove it
(Hear, hear). Consequently occupations did not frequently
change hands, nor were rents often adjusted. It was not
natural indeed that they should ; because, in the first place,
the profits of farming were exceedingly precarious. There
might sometimes be a run of two or three years with scarcely
any ; and, again, for two or three years there might be a
profit ; so that if changes were frequent they would be fatal to
good cultivation in every respect (Hear, hear) . Take the case
of a man who has been an occupier of land since the year 1832,
in a district where rents were not doubtful from day to day.
He found by the returns of the Poor-law Board that six or
seven millions sterling had been expended in that period upon
the purchase of sites, legal expenses consequent thereon, and the
erection of union houses alone. There had also been a greatly-
increased expenditure on the building of gaols, lunatic asylums,
militia stores, and county courts. In his county (Somerset), for
example, tlie outlay on an assize hall amounted to £100,000. Now
he should like to know upon whomallthat;expenditurehad fallen
(Hear, hear). The man who had been an occupier since 1832
had not only had to pay for these buildings, but the intere t
upon the money they cost, which in 25 years had been as
much as the capital itself. Besides that he had had to bear
large additional charges which had been placed upon the poor-
rate. If at any time he wanted redress on account of these
things, all he could do was to go to his landlord and ask for
it ; but the fact was that these increased burdens had come
upon him gradually, and in practice it was very rare indeed
that the man was able to get an abatement of rent on the
ground of those additional charges on the poor-rate wliich
he had not contemplated when he entered upon his oc-
cupation (Hear, hear). Collaterally and indirectly, then, the
occupier was deeply interested in the present system, though
it was true that, in the abstract, the taxation fell solely upon
the owner (Hear hear). At the present moment a Committee
of the House of Commons was engaged in inquiring into the
advisability of dividing the burden between the owner and the
occupier ; than which he believed a more insidious proposal
was never made (Hear, hear). One of the principal pro-
moters of the Committee, not the Chairman himself, but a
gentleman who sat on the right hand of the Chairman, told
him a year ago that he was quite ready to relieve the tenant
from some of his future responsibility ; and when he (Mr.
Andrews) was examined before the Committee, a few days
since, he stated that tlie proposal was ridiculous ; for he con-
tended that if they did anything in that direction the whole
charge should be borne by the owner. Had it been laid upon
the owner from the year 1832, was it likely that the additional
charges would have been imposed on the poor-rate as had
since been the case ? He thought not ; and if they were
placed on the owners now, he believed the eyes of those gen-
tlemen would sooner or later be so opened that the chambers
of agriculture would have that interest with them much more
heartily than at present. What he said, however, was that
the system of exemption ought to be abolished. There was
some diff'erence of opinion in many minis as to the mode in
which that should be done ; but if the exemptions ceased, and
the charge were placed on the basis of the income-tax the
trading, manufacturing, commercial and farming interests
would still have to pay the income-tax as they now did upon
their profits. One thing quite clear to him was that if a man
had £10,000 invested in mortgage it was as much realised
property as if it were invested in land or houses, so that the
argument that profits ought not to be assessed would not ex-
clude the doctrine that capital ought to be assessed. Take a
large brewer or manufacturer who had a considerable capital
invested in his business, was that capital to escape altogether ?
was it not as good as if it were embarked in land ? It was
even admitted by a great many persons who did not
support the farmers or their associations that the exemption
of realised capital, however invested or employed, was
an injustice ; and he agreed with the late Sir G.
CornewaU Lewis, that the profits of capital when realised,
were as assessable to the relief of the poor and the twenty-five
other objects to which poor-rate was applied as any other
capital. For the information of his brother agriculturists, he
would enumerate the various heads under which the money
levied as poor-rate was expended. They were these : For the

relief of the poor, £6,959,000; payments towards county,
borough, and police rate, £2,511,000. Then came constables*
expenses and costs of proceedings before justices ; registration
fees on account of the Registration Act ; vaccination fees ;
parliamentary and municipal registration ; highway board ex-
penditure ; proceedings at law and equity ; surveys and valua-
tions ; other expenses not discriminated. Next, there were
the heads of county rate expenditure ; rural police and super-
intending constables ; conveyance of prisoners ; gaols ; prose-
cution of prisoners ; shire halls ; lunatic asylums ; maintenance
of pauper lunatics ; county bridges ; clerks of the peace ;
coroners ; inspectors of weights and measures ; interest on
principal of debts ; repayment of debt ; militia storehouses,
and miscellaneous. Nobody could say that these various heads
were for strictly local purposes, and the fact was that local and
general purposes were mixed up together (Hear, hear) .

Prefessor Bund moved to amend the clause by striking out
the words "capital invested in land and its improvement," and
substituting for them the words " capital invested in the
improvement of land." What tliey wanted to show was the
reasons that people would not come forward and invest their
money in the land. These were two : first, that they were
taxed on their improvements, to which they naturally objected ;
and next, there was the uncertainty as to what the amount
of taxation would be. When a man took the lease of a farm,
he calculated that his rent would be so much, his tithes so
much, and his taxes so much, and thus he arrived at his
probable profit. But these local taxes were continually
increasing, and never taken oif; consequently he could not
fairly calculate what would be the amount, though he might
be aware that he would have to pay far more at the end of
ten years than he would at present. And this uncertainty
about knowing what his outgoings and incomings were likely
to be, acted as a great discouragement in the application of
capital to the improvement of the land.

The Chairman : Your point is that year by year the rates
become larger without the tenant knowing what they would
be., The amendment seems to be a logical one ; and although
the Business Committee have placed on the agenda paper the
resolution as it stands here, I will take the sense of the Council
upon it.

Mr. Neild thought there could he no objection to the
amendment, which after all appeared to be simply a verbal
alteration.

Mr. Varden, in seconding the amendment, observed that
what was termed " rent" consisted of two parts : payment
for the use of the natural powers of the soil, and
payment for the use of the capital invested in the soil.
For the purposes of the present discussion, they had nothing
to do with the first. The simple question they had to con-
sider was. What prevented capital from being attached to the
land in the form of improvements ? It was not the question,
What taxation fell upon the land? but What fell upon the im-
provement of the laud ? If they followed out the view of the
late Sir Hobert Peel, they would at once perceive the cogency
of this. That view was that everything which bore upon the
means of production should be swept away, and a substitute
placed by taxation upon profits ; because a tax upon the means
of production was a bar to improvement. In the light of
that principle, therefore, the Chamber was asking for relief ;
for a tax upon the improvement of the land acted just as much
upon agriculture as a tax upon the raw material formerly did
on the imported article. What they wanted, then, was that
the capital attached to the land should be in precisely the same
position as capital employed in any other manner (Hear,
hear).

After some remarks from Mr. Wiles, and Mr. Beamley,
the amendment was put and negatived, and the original motion
agreed to.

Mr. Russell next moved that the application of capital
to agriculture was discouraged by uncertainty of tenure, and
the absence of compensation for unexhausted improvement.
These questions he regarded as essentially interesting to the
tenant farmer. As to uncertainty of tenure, it was well known
that thousands of landowners objected to grant leases ; and
he for his part readily admitted that there would be no neces-
sity for leases if a fair system of compensation for unexhausted
improvements were established. Those who contended, how-
ever, for leases for the protection of the tenant were perfectly
right in doing so under present circumstances -, hut it it wft?

G G 2

438

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

not necessary that the existing system should be always in opera-
tion ; and as there was now a knd bill before the House of
Commons for the protection of the occupier in Ireland, he
saw no reason why the English tenant also should not be
equally protected (cheers). Of course tlie relations between
landlord and tenant were diiferent in the two countries ; but
in a modified degree, and so far as improvements were con-
cerned, some legislation in the same direction was as much re-
quired in England as in Ireland. What advantage was there
in a lease beyond the security it gave a man that he would
not be disturbed in his holding ior a certain length of time ?
True he would put his capital into the soil during the earlier
portion of the term, but he would make a point of taking it
out again before the lease had expired (llear, hear). Now if
he were entitled to compensation for unexhausted improve-
ments, tliere would be no necessity for his doing anytliing of
that kind; and he might continue to farm just as well at the
close as at the commencement of liis tenancy (Hear, hear). In
his opinion, then, it would be for the mutual interest of land-
lords and tenants that compensation should be given for un-
exhausted improvements, and that that compensation should
be secured by Act of Parliament (cheers).

The motion having been duly seconded,

Capt. Ce.vigie thought it desirable that the wording of a
resolution of such grave import should be carefully weighed,
and he felt that the could not endorse the first three words of
the combined clauses, viz. " Uncertainty of tenure," because
their meaning had not been satisfactorily explained. There
were few parts of the country better off in respect of com-
pensation for unexhausted improvements than Lincolnshire,
where a perfect system prevailed. He held in his hand an
agreement between a landlord and tenant in that county, and
under its provisions a number of things were specified with
regard to which the tenant could recover all the capital he had
invested at the end of his occupancy, though he might quit
upon a six months' notice only. What was reaUy required was
compensation for such things as draining, manures, and espe-
cially feeding stuffs. He begged to move, as an amendment,
therefore, that " Uncertainty of tenure " be omitted, and for
the words " absence of compensation for unexhausted im-
provements," that " absence of leases or a well-regulated
system of compensation for unexhausted improvements " be
substituted. These amendments would, he thought, meet the
ease, as respected sufficient security of tenure, without the use
of words which, iu their present connection, were to many
persons decidedly objectionable, and he hoped that by voting
for them the Cliamber would pronounce an emphatic condem-
nation of the doctrine which found some favour in these days
that there was such a thing as an acquired property termed
" occupation " beyond what a man had expended in improve-
ments.

Mr. Genge Ajn'drews, in seconding the amendment, said
that, in practice, compensation for unexhausted improvements
was a question between the outgoing and the incoming tenant,
and was not a question iu which the landlord was particularly
concerned (dissent). That, he considered, was a point whicli
all should understand ; and if any system of compensation for
unexhausted improvements could be agreed upon by tenants,
landlords would be only too happy to sanction it.

Mr. WiiiTAKER, alluding to uncertainty of tenure, con-
tended that in the case of a tenant-at-will the obligation to
quit at the expiration of a six-months' notice was most
objectionable. He believed, however, that landlords as a rule
■would be satisfied if their tenants had a longer time afforded
them for making their arrangements to leave. The question
of compensatiou for unexhausted improvements required grave
consideration ; and he, as a poor landlord, would not like
unconditionally to consent to it himself, for the tenant might
be a wealthy man, who chose to drain, use artificial manures,
and erect costly buildings and sheds, all of which might
improve the value of the property for the particular descrip-
tion of farming he pursued, such as, for example, the feeding of
stock, when the farm itself might not be suitable to the
purpose. He was of opinion, therefore, that all improvements
by the tenant should receive the previous assent of the land-
lord ; otherwise, in the case of a rich tenant and a poor
landlord, the improvements might be carried to such an extent
^W °?' '■^ ^^^'^ ''"^ latter, to compel him to mortgage his land.

Mr. Webb supported the resolution as it came from the
Jiusiness Committee, with regard to uncertainty of tenure. As

the law stood lie might be in possession of a farm on the 1st of
September ; but the teuant-for-life having died the next
tenant-for-life might come in and turn him out of possession
on the 29th of the same month. Iu fact, a case of this sort
had lately occurred in his county (Worcestershire). As to
unexhausted improvements, it was the interest of every man,
both tlie lessee and the tenant at will, that he should farm as
well and invest as much money in the land in the last year
when he went out as in the first year when he came in ; it was
equally the interest of the incoming tenant to have the land in
tlie best possible condition. In the vale of Evesham, a few of
the largest tenant farmers, holding among them about 8,000
acres, had met and laid down a short code of tenant-right, wliich
was neither more nor less than that the incoming tenant or
the landlord should pay the outgoingtenant for his unexhausted
improvements ; and that the outgoing tenant should be liable
to a penalty for neglect, so that his successor should receive
the farm in a state of perfection.

Mr. G. Smytiiies, as a tenant farmer, objected to any com-
pulsory interference by the Legislature between owner and
occupier. He concurred with Mr. Whitaker in protesting
against the landlord being compelled to make allowances to
his tenants for improvements, whether he liked them or not.
All he would ask the Legislature to do was to permit tenants
for life to make these agreements, whicli they could not do at
present. As to making it compulsory, he did not believe tliat
farmers generally wished anything of the kind. They only
wanted to enable those to do it who had not the power of
doing it now.

Mr. Neild pronounced the amendment of Capt. Craigie
mere hair-splitting. For his part, he desired to approach the
landlords' question with as much honesty and fairness as the
tenants' question. If a just system of compensation for unex-
hausted improvements could be established, they might almost
do without any leases at all. It was a delicate thing to go to
a landlord and tell him that he must give a lease. If he (Jlr.
Neild) were the owner of an estate, he should like to do what
he pleased with it. The landlord should, therefore,
be left perfectly free and unfettered in that respect ;
and if any good was to be done, an endeavour should
be made to bring about a union of feeling between
him and the tenant. The necessity for compensatiou
for unexhausted improvements, Mr. Neild illustrated by the
case of a widow lady who, on the decease of her husband, was
left with a large farm upon her hands. An enormous outlay
had been made upon it ; but she had no one to look to for
compensatiou, and no resource but to trust to the kindness of
the landlord (Hear, hear). There was a good deal of com-
motion in Pa.-liament just now with regard to the Irish land
question ; but he was really beginning to tliink that we wanted
some legislation of the sort in England also (Hear, hear). Upon
the whole, he was of opinion that the uncertainty of tenure
and the absence of compensation for unexhausted improve-
ments did militate against the advance of agriculture, and that
if a well-digested system of compensation could be arranged
this country would very soon double the produce of her soil.

The amendment on being put was negatived by an over-
whelming majority.

Mr. Whitaker then moved to amend the original motion
by making compensation conditional on tlie previous consent
of the landlord to the improvements effected by the tenant ;
but no seconder appearing it fell to the ground, and the
original motion was carried unanimously.

The other clauses in the resolution of the Business Com-
mittee, ascribing discouragement iu the application of capital
to agriculture to "unnecessary restrictions upon courses of
cropping " and the " over-preservation of ground game," were
also agreed to ; and a vote of thanks to the chairman termi-
nated the proceedings.

THE LATE MR. W. FISHER HOBBS.— The portrait
of this distinguished agriculturist has, in accordance with the
resolution passed at the last Meeting of the Committee, just
been hung in tlie dining-room at Tlie Farmers' Club, where it
comes as a companion picture to that of the late Mr. Robert
Baker, also painted by subscription. The likeness, however,
is not equally good, although it is only fair to say that tiie
artist, Mr. Kuight, R.A., had but one sitting or so, when Mr-
Hobbs was in very ill-health.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

439

TBE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURISTS

IN FRANCE— MEETING IN 1871.

At the Manchester meeting of the Royal Agricultural
Society, a deputation from the French Society of Agri-
culture had, as we specially reported at the time, an
interview with the Prince of Wales. This embassy came
with the object of inviting his Royal Highness, as Pre-
sident of the National Agricultural Society of England,
to become an honorary member of the French Agricul-
tural Society, a request which was at once acceded to, and
the union of the two bodies thus auspicioixsly inaugurated.
But -nhat is the Fi-ench Society of Agriculture — or,
more properly, The Society of Agriculturists of France ?
For some years past Englishmen have been tolerably
familiar with French exhibitions, whether of stock or im-
plements, and it would so seem rather late in the day to
cement such a sympathy as is here implied. The agri-
culturists of France and the agriculturists of England
should have been old friends, and, like the lodgers in
Dickens' sketch, have interchanged mutual civUities and
weekly papers long since. When we call to mind all the
stories of what Brandreth Gibbs and Hall Maxwell did in
Paris, aud of the impression which the Babraham Downs
and the Tillyfour Polls created, we might only interpret
this visit as paid in particular compliment to the high
position which our past President occupied otherwise
than in his mere relations to agriculture. But it is not
quite so. The Society of Agriculturists is the embodi-
ment, or perhaps more precisely the effect, of the pre-
vious agricultural celebrations in France. These, as is well
known, were too often far better conceived than carried out.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the design,
nothing more awkward than the execution ; and mat-
ters came to a climax at Billancourt in 1867. As our
own report then ran — " this incongruous scheme has been
a most lamentable failure. Every expectatioa has been
doomed to disappointment." And from the ashes of this
failure arose the Society of French Agriculturists. To af-
ford some really becoming illustration of steam ploughing
M. Lecouteux, a landed proprietor and editor of the
Journal (V AffricuHure Pratique, collected subscriptions
through the agency of his paper not merely sufficient to
induce Messrs. Fowler and Messrs. Howard to work their
several systems at Corbeil, near Paris, in the August of
the same year, but with a very satisfactory balance still
remaining. This surplus it was eventually determined to
devote to the establishment of au agricultural society al-
together independent of Government support or inter-
ference, and with our English national society as the model.
M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the diplomatist, and one of the
eight members of the Privy Council of the Empire was
elected President, and; M. Lecouteux Secretary, so that
the venture was well launched, while it already numbers
more than five thousand members, with a handsome fund
wherewith to develop its intentions. On the Ollivier
Ministry coming into office, the Society, after a hard fight,
received its Charter from the Government, and is now
accordingly one of the recognized institutions of France.
There was a long sitting, extending indeed to many days,
of the administration in February, to determine as
to its foundation principles and course of action, and
now the good ship may be said to be fairly afloat.
Under the auspices of the Society of French Agriculturists
a great Congress will be held in Paris during the month of
May, 1871. There will be companion exhibitions of cattle
and implements ; " a combination" of all the rural Societies
of Europe ; investigations on the present knowledge of
the art of agriculture, practical and scientific, and every
possible stimulus ofl'ered for further advancement in the
same direction. Nothing could look to be more whole-

some than this movement, as it is one which even a few
years back it might have been altogether impossible to
have originated in France ; while in its infancy it does the
English farmer the honour above all others to come over
here again and again for advice and example. It had
representatives both at Leicester and Manchester, who,
we may be sure, were doing something more than paying
empty compliments, but the rather profiting themselves
by our experience of the last thirty years or so.

THE CENTRAL AND THE LOCAL
CHAMBERS OF AGRICULTURE.

At a meeting of the Coimcil of the North of England
Chamber of Agriculture, the President, Mr. W. H. Charlton,
Hesleyside, in tlie chair,

The Secretary reported that he had received the follow-
ing resolution from the Devonshire Chamber: "That this
Ciiamber, convinced of the necessity of more united action
amongst the chambers of agriculture throughout the
country, desires respectfully to submit that subject for their
careful consideration, and to invite their cordial co-operation
in suggesting aud adopting such measures as may be deemed
best calculated to promote among the various chambers a
more united and harmonious course of action."

Mr. Lawson cordially concurred in the object of the
Devonshire Chamber, but it was not desirable to enter upon
the subject without having given it that mature consideration
which it deserved. He therefore moved that it be taken into
consideration at the next meeting. He quite concurred that
the Central Chamber did not at present correctly represent the
local chambers— (Hear, hear from the President)— and he
thought the Central Committee committed a great and funda-
mental error when they requested local chambers to send up
deputies to consider and decide upon the question of agricul-
tural statistics, and came to no decision upon the subject,
clearly showing tliat the Central Chamber either chose an
inopportune time for bringing the question forward or did not
carry it to a solution which they ought to have been pre-
pared to do.

The C11AIRM.VN said he might add that, after the discussion
upon turnpike roads at the meeting of the Central Chamber,
which he attended, about one-fourth of tiie members left,
and the question of agricultural statistics was discussed by the
remainder.

Mr. Lawson : 1 think I understood you that they displayed
notliing in considering the turnpike roads to alter the con-
viction of what I said ; aud that they did not proceed to a
decision upon it.

The Chairman : No. Mr. Hugessen said the Government
were going to bring forward a bill to alter the incidence of
local taxation in some way ; but that there was no chance of
aaything being done about turnpike roads themselves this
Session. It gave him a very bad opinion of the business habits
of the Chamber.

Mr. C. D. Balleny had great pleasure in seconding the
motion. He quite concurred that the Central Chambei should
be an associated chamber, and that time should be given to
the local chambers to thoroughly discuss each question before
it came before the Central Chamber, and arrived at a con-
clusion upon it.

The Chairman thought it would be difficult to get union
among the chambers.

Mr. Lawson thought it might bo doue ; chambers of com-
merce did it.

Mr. D.\JJD, Hauxley, thought they diffused their energies
too much ; they should grapple with some subject, local tax-
ation, for instance, and devote all their energies to it. The
incidence of taxation affected them more than anything else.

The Chairman : I think it does.

Mr. Lawson : It is a national subject, but particularly
affects the landed interest, because they have been left on what
we may call a lee-shore, to take care of themselves.

Mr. Danu : And there seems to be an inclination to pay
for every fresh scheme out of the local rates.

The resolution was then carried.

" o o <

M .^ ^ ^

bfi^H be bJD

o l2 r» ift

« ^ ^ ^ "^ c« ^

O
CO

o
<

w

(^
O

02

O

I— I

EH

DQ

• S

;as

" s s

C »4 C

■:s ^M

O^ 6

• .^ • o

• o . £ i

22 »3 o

a> o) S > a
^ *3 ^ » ~ J5

S (B ^ Q J- y

o j= cs i- ■-:

i^l

EhX ni 5g a a ag ^ ga

' g 8 (2 tS S tg 2*

S>1SJ & s

ea 2

I i

BOM

■3§5
»- ti ^

2ii O »

— OS

^5 Q

: : :a

= = :^
: « ^."^
• Q i

OS ca — ^2 -a «;

s-ififii'll

^ a ^ a ai >. o*^
ISOi B£0<oS

— £

S as 05

So,

03 nS
0.0

« O j-
9 2 S "
S ■* as

— > ---,-^

2 S oo

esse
o o o o
» » t &

:j<2

i S0.2

OS » t. P-)

£ C8 « a
Eh«053

o " o o

r*. ■^

«*}«H

= i
O d

ill

2.1 §

** o C fi

goio, fe

-! ca S

ro -i-

a s e a
o o o o
fc fc fe S

Q. ooSoi®
d. .-r i-i

2 .e» t^

e a rs a a

o o « o o

fe ^ s & ^

c c c
o o p

&: S ^

Q.^ CD O* lO -*

a a
o o

o> o t'- t> oi 09 n

a c c sacs

o p o o o o o

^ & ^ fc fc (E fe

C) o. CI
•OT3 * T3

o Qj Qj a
** -w-M^-*^ -M *rt gjccci rteaca fls © rteaj si csos ^ as as ss

' t* ® -t^ "T*

-^ — (M

•CO '^ "O

■* 95

■a TS

c3 A A etf

«2o

•- o >.
•3 3ja
So.
MH »

>>&•—

1^ o gjoSS
""'cS'®'©

"5 ^l^Sa

§ i = °-&

*» Qj . fcT o j5
S = S 2 ^--S

c = u c » f a

s i^ 3 ft .s 3 a

Ha Wfc
t>-. c>. >. >> >^

JS ^ Si JS x^

ox;
2H

« 2

fe* 3 O 03 a

S fc. s 5 '^ >.

•e a i^-"

t^ I •= ■£ « =

o I-) sSi^

», H o iJ<) o
S wS^ rt c £

c- £5 fcoc.a

^ S2 og2^ «
a ooH 0«&

O ® -3

x; 3 OS
H^S

5^^

H «

6^ a

o * «

a-r'

•5.2-°

a 03 ;;
X5g

sa--

•^ as ^

050

btO" .

a o|
ois

1^5 8 5

£1'^' £lXi£t .Q*.0 JS

-so

S tv ea

2'So.
a OS c3

n^(6

as
^a
a-o
^^
|a

.is

o"©

5 s

_- ^

o <_

■S <]J

ts 2! « " So .Q-

"!i OS ti .'^ — O T?

^ >. >.

acD

3 ■" .= -

O go
«" c .-S c "^ '•"

.c o 3 OS ^2
2 m 5^ 3 c

OS J5 £ £ ? -S

©•go

■S -w-g

3 O t>.Q

•°__o, fc »"

&-§=2
0.2 "3 a

woaM

XI.Q .a .Q J J3

t. -H cs o

C4-^ r^OOd i^QOOd

— CO O !N l^ —

A .Q .a o JS .0 ^

— >> osA 09 03 d e>

, lu O

.;i j; M u

.0-0 B ti

.2 a

5 £•» 5

111

«l

J -Si

1^ •;S

(3 »n«

.2^

2 ^°tn
ca oj p -^ ?^
«Eh «2 g
n nSpq

2^

£2

— a

o 2
m

2 S

3 03

no

K-giS

11
oot

©} Cl CO

be bD bo

J5 -OS"

be be

(N 1-1 -^

be (>* i^

be bo bo

O tO o

be be be be bo
»o o oo o

be be bo be ce

>rt O O O lO

R fe

a

l-j

o z.

O 18

2

bJD

"3

3

s

wis

1/1

S

= -5 a

. <1> o

a go

• br £3 •

•3 C aJ

2 ^

r5 2 S «

T« ^ « •" "O
bo >. .2 o -a
a 3 " o •=

inn irg

M « POSO O I? ^

« C ^ c o

^ c 5 i- 5 -2

«■"■-; 3 cS c«

J; o n ^ .5 I

• o •-

e-

a;

- " Ol « O O =
D3CCOZ uB

s

,

bD

I r

1 : £

1 ^» 1

1

1 1 5 1

1

:U 1

s'

' I s

>

1 J;

Mai

1 =

o

'en '

joiaa

•= m ■£

^3 M^-**

3 3 3

« J w .a

o ± ■- /S

r;- - _<= ^

■M a a

5 se

[^o

o ««

^ 2 CO

ti N .2

fe <J

!« "1 ««

•^ • ,.^ CO " CO

• 00 00 r- !■• 00 «0

fi-O-O

o a> <v
^ c« C8

« Ol 1-1 p. o.

p. o.

flj OS

' "«

•a

^s

: gf

w fr.

a«

^S

3 G "3 c C

O O « o O

f: P rt & fe

GO lo" Cl-lC >0

■ars '^ -a "O

■2 * o S -g

•3 a
« o
S3fe

<1> ^

fl C C C fl
o o o o o
^ ^ & E= ^

*0 <N lO CO 00*
SO « !N

'D T3 'O tS -d
W OJ ^ O) QJ

u "C fc, ti "E

C fl fi fi C C fl

CQ TO «0 -^ l^

"« -rt '^ "O T3 "O

CU Cj O) 3 <V ^

rt ee cS ci c3 ^

a m

51 ^1

g OS 3 a;

^1 b« >^ £
-^3 33

s a

3i

: a ;

a

o

4i:

C3

:w ;

go :

rt

M

s

S 3 ■

ai

a> 3

■-? "i 3 "t: lo '"' 3

3 -

O *- 03

— " s

lis

O-a o

2 <=>

« o ^'

5^ ~

! bf __ 2

! H a" «

t» o

l^SaS
2-3 ■£ « «

>> X t>. >.

fe go 5-H
■J« o 'S e bo
g ca a ca a

•" J2 >-, 01

" a - - "

0) ca fe £ '-S
a T O 3 fl

o .S H o >«
a c o

a a^l £i
& fe «^ s g

bo

3 _r _

o — —

: : I •■=
• ; 3 o oT

bo t. « a cs
t»> o XI o a

o a ij » ^,
2 ^ -S >. o

: Y .H§
•■3 c5

cS rf 2 "^ 3

"3 ffl 5 "* S -J 3

■^ -w J3 S - W

« I M. »- § ^-s 7,
° -^ a o Q. >. .

3 gn S3 a-° °-

o a i. — ' «» 3

- OJ

beg '3'- -^

3 !rr ° 5 ta

SQr?.

^ is XJ X) ^ ^ .

a S
S"* a
a s ea

03 O S _' _

° 2 •- fe 'S
bo a a •« "2 «
■c 5 fe § 3 fe

>i >« >> >t >>

ogis:=<u3aa
's: i W ^ r/j I is

3 « aS

« 3^ a S g^

A ^ .C J= ^ JU J3

o« c» — 05 V to 00 -H o> ra 1-H 1-1

■^tOO^ (0(00» OOOQOOJ lOCQ OOOS^^-^kO

• • a ' ■ a a • • '

. . . . ^ s • • •

:eaA itricaos h^eaeaca

) X> X5 X>Xa.3 ■O.O.O.OiS

►,!»» ►, t-.

0) X3

=2i

I ca «

5 o

a o

cax:

** a ^

O 3

o

ca Ol oj «
PPPQ

3 -a

^ s s

•- o o

6 ' a ®

•- »*< -f^ £

a 3 -^ a
o o i; 3 3

opq«q

ca

:=! i? H a S

^^ be ^ CiJ' bfi bD bfi be

bo bO be bs bii bs br=; ^i, ^

O -N C^ — U< -.. _

3 5 S-^

5<

I I

.a 9
9 be
as c
P3 ^
.Q

2 o-o

F-* Sfeg

S

, Biggleswade..

rt, Ireland

7, Wolverhmpn
jy, Lincoln ....

j^ ■

-ia

. .s .

a a

1 1 il a

ee a F- ei d ■

S 5

•2^4 •:: s

x: .9

i. -2 g

■■3 f-"

» t^ ^=5 -a 9

Ci, ? - „- 5 o

•^ t- X 9 *J w

^— -h 9 t^ 9

£ £

aa sa

■ 73

>> 5 S .=« "^ S o 3
S " "2 C^ ^ ^ c ^0

negaoaiar/)33

■a 1-1

: t. £ O « *3

i ja as

•2 =

o

CO

I— I

!Z5
O
J/2

<1
E^

(^
O
Ph

o

<J
02

o

J* >■ 0

« o o

i-sSS

t-. 9
— 18

09 03

•- -* 10 00 .S I « ■- -S

I -

2 : &

9 . O

9 9 9
000
B fe fe

03 9.

.2515

E « fl i;

9 9
O O

^ CO

= S
° 2

S i^

« 2

.5 w

B o

5 5 : ■£ *
rS i« .9 « >2 ^, 5

r\ "=" ^~' o .« .2 ^
9999^99

bfirf

.2 '

0 p

f3

0 s

X ■

9 3

9 -i

0|

S »

cb_

.c*^

><o

««

■«■ — ira

c» 00 • n to

m

C3

0 to

CO

•0

0 ■»■ (M — •'^ n iM •'•

C<3

N

-; 0

0 &

r«t33

0

2!

lO

0
3

a

& S -s

9 9T3 C S
0 0 cu 0 0

•; fe S ^ ^

9
0

9
0

e a

9
0
&

a
0

9
0

a
0

ag
1^

a
0

a
0

-M -* _

—' ^ Q.CO C»

CO

C3
75

l> (O

M

«

^■'oc-r:«5--°2S

CO

«

..'^

S"5

OS

so

'S'S'g'S'S'S Ztt

73

•0

■s -o

•«

■■a

•a-d-a-a-a-o-o-^

•a

■o

•o-d
25

■a -a

■a

•a

PL,

rt S S

c

r t: 2; z: z

rt a 5 rt s

2

M

5 5

«

OJ rt «f^2553

rt

B

cS rt

2i3

&.

rt

3

,H s

. » JS o

099

-Jo""'

"3 • 'b cu ai

S u Q, i t>^ '*•— 9

-3 S H.O •= 9-, 2

6 .2 -^ S" a =" 5 » ■
t « s - =f ■" x7 •

C5 ^ 9 -n ^ .0 ^

^ - . 5 & ^ CO S £:

! .. <- V. ^^ 9

9 p

a

|9§g°J = °

^ ° » S £ s ° i

S 9^9-03" fe « —

><aooa;2V5a3i*

a §

' J 5 o g ^

■a 2 3 9 o -n

„ 9«a;ai Q>

''■2»Ox.x >-
.=-2 X S - 3

o M

fce^; m C - S « 0 -g

- si ^

§ a rt >;.

w 39
. C g 5 C ^

||-'|S-=

E-i S OJ "3 .S «

"^ * a 9 .^

tc-a o "^ g ^

n a o X) » B3
W "-J Z

xxxxxxxxx

XX

- .t: 00

jO-9 a
„„5t;=^90 "•

9 a-a s o 0-0 g^

O rt
7: o

ly;

55

5 .S^^i2Hfc.2-

■S'^<^ZS

00 ^

' .S tj .S O -3 rt 3 a> rt 9 ffi

'Wa;Wcn>3:z5 «
xxxxxxxx X

JS X> J3 ^ .9 XS J3 .0 J5

t; . o a) rt
fc ^ .2- 9 "H
f- C 9 O S

<» O Ho

XX XX

o -3

be

osc»cDOW5or^t^i'»

0

CT

l> -f

<s

ou

Or-),at>^Ci<tift

t^

c^>

•—1 -H

0 c^

CXI

»/5

_, — rH —

""

—

~

— -i

cr.

^

: • : I :^ ; I ;

•

:

; :

•

• *J • „ • ■ •

•

^

I I

; ;

;

9

y..

y ••

ey..
own
esnu

y ••

own

y ••

a

a 9

•

e

: 9 ■ . 9 . • .

.9 ■ • a • • •

a

• •

•

9

S

^

X

gS

X

ft

X

XX

XX

^

^

0

1.)

(h

.0 rxi bf.O O.O.QJD

.9 xa

.0

.D O^J= OJD.O^

x>

X) ^

,0 .9

" = * 6 „ - ;3

•rt 5 I S g .li I S

I ^ a •-9 § 9 g--5
S — iiilsSocsg

O ;3
9 rt

c' S. : rt r/3 5

rt ,5?

H

SoJ.S.S 9 5 9B"> 9^ —

U)

es

^^

se

w

«

n

«««

i»

SI

SS

J

,0 A

ja

j:

JS

JS

.

J= J3

A

S>S) ui

u U) bfi ^ ^

o

?»

>

>
o

^ So

i

&

n 00

lO i5» O

m o o o «

o

U5

o to

in 0

u) >n

■0 lO

00 — — -- ^

-^ — 9*

bijemMiixitaoMSi ^
ot>oooot» o

U5, "> »" ="

JDbCbfi bObo bcbobcbcbo ^bfi
■00 cio mosouso ^e»

^S

oO g
S 2 o

t^ t^ b b

1" ^^

sa g

. , , *< (« ■
=^gog5

1.5 i§|

S S - 5 sS

2 8

2 -2

O^loJidai g o tro rnco

O >-l

S qT ^- c $

i.S ^ 3 a<»

i'S ■£ S S fc

'OS O "o .2 o

10 a. 'fi aa o

OS -3 •:;

\. ~ *> bo = _

« S = 2 s <«£
» S oO S^^ o

^=3
8 E

Si II I I

.£ .2 m .2 I
^ b CO h I

01 .a OS «5 ira .S o

5 I

00 I o m .S « 00 «

c8 «;

t i
3 fe

oz

„*§ I"

ao V a>
0) =

<u a c
3 o o

gas

*j< «o t-*

G a c
000
ess

-J3 -OJ c
•- V til-O «

— S oiO —

>. c c c c
o o p o o
Pi a ^ fe fc

-<f I> .* « CO

e e c e e
00000
fe fe fe S &

a c

e a
o o

c a

o o

55

c c

c c c a
0000

I c3 la ci

1 s^ a

' ': (E fe

n". o =

a c a a
0000
& » fe ft

000

= § ^
55 S

O w o O

o| .'«
1 tSjs a o

O ~t1 « IM O

!^ a a c a

to C> ^ ©J — cc^t^

r^ 71 HC1?* C^Oi COX^WCOOCQ C* r^

0) O V OJ

•o-o

e 3

13 13

s &

cow eow-^wcc^c*
i> ««« — '-T*^

QjQJ g;, O) Qj Qi Q> <V 'ii

c c-d 5

O O CD fe

c«i -^ o."
a; a> t- 0}

a a

TS '3

T3 a

■2 = 'E ■-

0> <1} 0} ^

— £55

a a a a
0000

I r» e> o «j

a.— n -• c^ -3 —

22 .

eH"r 3
^ ° o
o 3 .

o.^ S '-

bo O & 3

oj o o '-

s «^ ^

.a ^ A

o « • "

^ Sg tQ
■g«D. S „

~Ph >.>Ti^
2 t-"" '- -

K^.Sfffi -5 a

£ S£ oQ

r; 3 o 5 o a

o => »- S ^.■■:

- - = a a "^

3 "3 2 a ® —

° ft ^2 So

Q o 3 » « 2

• 2 0;C ftu3

S en H H tfl
t>, >, t>> t>. >,

.0 .e js-OjO^

o ^o

O bo
p4 o

O »5
_ 3

o a

01! OS Q>

S.S"3

.iS'

(2 ^-

P. o

IsglSi-

! a a,^ 5 3

°-£ : u o o2

Ja _g S « a .5 .a

|s J-ili 3

P< " « a -^ o ^

ililils

° 3- o25 o

3 o = .- 3 3 -S

! = °-§! = §

. a o c - a »r_r

; S « 5 g i2 ^ "S
; H a g ■S ^ o fe

! 65 T3 J3 g- bf aJ>(

j.S'SS *•- ° =

>> b^ >t >% >» >i >«

js .c .a £ .0 ^ A

^ OS (5 "u

2" I!

rt fij 3

03 o
= S a

5 a. »
. acc S

■S0< J3 ta

^ - fci a
a 03 o *

-•^Sai-
Sgg

bOJ3

a ° =■
,5^ a s

•5

•9 s^

02 3

■- o
o .

oSo-e^

— bi -^ a) "r;
^ .S t £ .S
"■Ojs a 2

O Q> O t>. S .

> W g a^
£ ^ I o ^

■3 O g „ 0)

g 2 -E 3 5

a — Oh °>-

3 a--- a

S-s T3 J2 J3 ^ ;
_ £ S o M sr S
o « -r -2 a S <■

a ^

oT a;

>, o

►J 3

ti oT o

S -^ —

^ Xi JD ,0 i £ J2) .0 ^ ^ ^ X> jD XJ jS

06500 Xt^CO-^W t* •> et* 0« «C0 ^CO -Ha»005000l> 00 ^ OSOS-^*-^ Oi*** ■<*'^WtO —

M 2

.0 ja ^ u

A bo

A o x: u ^ u

o >* <i> <u >* >. >^

^^^^ ^u AA

■J .3 J5 -a

.a •>!<

bO

<u

bo

<-> s —

a o -
o 'V*- .
tjiJ o 2

"O "3 -O « S
u. u fc* ^ N
00000

5.5

« o ^15

ss

o! «

6 te

111.2

o o oC

t^ S =*> 5
<D « .a 3

= 3 Sb

£2 « «

.2 «

0) aj

So .

2 2 uj^ "

os-J 3 c^
^e^ oE-5

o o s^S
y; Z !5 O O

o o o u3 ^ e CO

o »o o r* o o o tf3 wa oot>- 3to »o o

^

: :a

, bo

s lis d OT i-^-S ^ 3

, ^j 'o ^ ; o

. >- o 2 ■=> . • "S, o

» 03 O ;C c8 tj to rS?-"

So en

sa

oo ^

as

1?

3 *^

sg^ "2 a^

3 (S ^ 3 rt V-
P5 Od !»&. B

J3 2
be 3

C to 85

ml

1§§K

SJ3

" S

n hrC _-£ cQ

S .£ 2 1 s 2 „-

O . o • o

S J3 -O -^ •?
c 73 o bc be

- s! o 3 e

1> * w

o lo

•g g -E s i

Hiss's

o c 5

JSci;^3B 3Wo!^"

E a) « 2 _

S en oa SS CO oi

o « go

- C C XI o'O

_ o «s bo^ i

^ ■♦^ -o 3 — P

i u- o g 2 cj ^S

•a 5 « .

3-OS 60

a> pa h4 >-]

I I I

^ 1 II "II

g.a

■glz;

«H 0«H <J 5

O"* to. 00 Op-i OODW OiOSO-WOi H«C

00 OS

•o-o

s^ : ^

o o

gcc CgC.flCCcC

c e e
o o o
fe S fe

— CI c» -K (N m

CD CO O t^

"E t- "

g^ggs

00 p.'*rj -*"

m I

e a

<a la a

a eSc* etfrtrt ^5 ^2*^ cScscSrteartceoaGj ee^rt ^ ^^5 ^ ^o^^iS^ -2-2

> S

£ a
■v'S

•c "io-?

a u C
ta-o «

5M >.

2 • 3

. O C • J=

.C f.« 3

« s _

s

fee

2s rT w

o 2 £

lis

- _- oi

£ 6 o

^ -M ^

S 5 -S £ 2 s, «-

cmII t-s a I s
«-=j==.-5i)»sa"«

oC5 3
3 O •-

so ^•g
H_gQ g

M o-3'g

o !c 'o

£33 = 0 .53»C
*ocW-«-: „o'~'fe
■°5 .-i.s'S-o -<»o

t;2g-2-.rfe'3g-^ti:j

"3 o.cj:^s:iC fe oj
t> fH H H 1^ P P 03 iJ

'P-.3 • a ^

>.-g g 3-°
.° •- •-I a Ko~

= ^ fe-> £

£ >> *^f^
rt ^ n _
W^-.s >.-2

.5? "5 g ° ?
ogoc-

is s

la"'"

a|§ °

Son: ■«

3 o "3 S bC QJ

hf-o EC •- C
t^fc, ^ t-, >,

i °s

"O ar2
t.- c ■"
32 3

bi).C**

o §1

JS pja oi

H _g.-°.^. a

■22 '^o 5

=!?!!

■S 3 -M 3 3
30300

2 ° - o .-■»
o - 1* .. c^-t;

»^ o 3 5 » 3

^B3

O 3

ago

bo i3 i;

m n r~ o> m o» « uj wvt

t~i-.n«o» tcoo5

00 t^ ^ o c

o^ *»^00 >t>^ >\>*>*
.Q .0 .0 Xi JO Xf JO ^ ^ J5

oSS£ai>.SSl». t»,ooo>^ 1»^>^«>. >> a-rt^So
X fa o o ej ja o JO ^ -o x^^jb -ox-o .Q o^-oo^

C -.J o

S o

3^

3|J

a a a

O 3- ■

c.i: OS Tj

: "a be « 3

;§2a§

1 .S S;-3 "

»3 3 g-s

-W^- J3 3

»* * 'E a -3 2

se-g-ssa gag

<xi .d .ts .t: J4 ^00

C "

a 2 -S fe ;

-jS 2 2 J

99 oscsmi

^-^ t.

bfi bo

J3^

— « ^

12 S 2 12 '

ante 60 '^M °" °"

bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo

OO O t-W5 OtNiOO OO OO

— -^ — —I — -« — ■ -H K5 rH

. o
■S.O
«a •

""Si

o 2

•^ii

a 6

m SS

aa

a<g«

» . 1

bo •.■«

"I « O

C3 £ = " £

S « G b(

-SB ='

go. O

'^ a; bo "C

■2 o '3 —

OQOJ Ph

2 o

^S

m«i o a

2^ o S

■O O » »

o "a

as

•a c-g ^^"'^
o o S ^ a ^

t£ 0-401

OJ 2 ^ —

5Q

» 3 £ 2

A, «

iiii

ca =8 o .5:

! ■ "^

« 'I

2 ■£ «

bo 3 33

- D. ^ S

O Mo

S

Sea
! 3 C

iaiS

g I
§1

o«

r I

o g

U3 H 1^

3 S

• 'CO)

• o bo

• o-o

• ^'S

.73 J=
. O^

• o 2
t,®2

» es

i^i

See
o o o

fe & fe

I ooo «5.S -I .2 .2

is is 2 I

I 1

3'S S-fe-

s oi a cl) I

O J3 O ^ I

So
IS

^'^

a d

;•«« ««1S<H««

3 0)

C 3
o o

" o
a a

to g

a a

o-gO

O 3 CO

o fe«rt
a>a c

a a
o o

a 3
o o

S a
p o

05 (O CO SC lO

a a c
o o o

fe fe ^

CS OS CO CO ct ■^

c3Ad ri c4^c4 A ^c0 Acs 0$ e8 c^cd

3 '3^

6«g

° -3 o

a 2 o

o o 5

to . £8

ra fl (u

o '^ bo»,

"° -2 J- b 3
C O « ■= O Qj

_r "^ ho _ *s
* g _r a a 5 a

■35 og 2^..-

:a

. o
a ^

1 a

ffl n a

3 O

o .i

£5-

•= <U ;3 .^

"^ Sc ^

.2 <«

§ a

b^O

j=*.

-w o
3 *j
O 3

'<- ° " n,

- O

r-^C-

T3 1^ Xs

2 >>
O'

t^a'a
a a V

■° So

as-
«<« 2
•00°

o <u

I* fl H
b'2 t^

6 »;

2 '^ .tT

bo

'3 2 a a, >
a^^ op.^

S^

^»(c2

JD ^ jS J3

og

S =8 -a

o) 2 3 ^.a

- '^ 's -3 a

S » & - e

a t;

■gi

■^ ♦J .c ®
3 3 o -w

° = |§

|:2«i

SA2

CO

Si

3

■-s a

!i

§2£lH

i; a —

S «^ 3

t^-a-a S
•2ft; 0) es

a 3-22

•Sain

t*, >, b^ >,

-I?

c 5 « »

^ u o p

^ 00 00 W CO *— t SO

** o ^w o

10 1-ieow) t»o> tOiH

t» 00 o — •

Q) O ^

13 C8 ^ s

Xo o

(d b M

XI ja .c

a 3 crag

00 o >» O OJ

^ iH b 03 h ,3

■a ^ XIX1.0 u

xi ^

« g a

S .S 3

3 3 3
J3.g O

as

a a

.2-3
a S;

2 " e

o.bo£

Is

I I2

i * a g

•3 bfl^ .S:; ^ -

c5 a

3"° 3

•M = •

. O 3 S
■S O to

>S a
a 5P»

446

tHB FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SALE OF MR. HODGKINSON'S SHORTHORNS AT MORTON, RETFORD.

By Mr. John Thornton.

This herd has been selected and bred during the last ten
years from stock bred by the late Mr. John Hall, Kiveton
Park ; Mr. John Armstrong, Palterton ; Mr, George Bland,
Coleby, and other breeders. Among them were some animals
in direct descent from Lord Spencer's noted herd at Wiseton,
including two specimens of the No. 54 of Lady Sarah family.
The bulls that have been in use at Morton Grange have been
bred chiefly from the AViseton herd, combined with the blood
of Messrs. Bates and Booth, viz. : Majestic (24510), by Mr.
Booth's Lord of the Hills, from a daughter of Zeal, bred at
Wiseton ; and Duke of Nottingham (25992), by Mr. Bolden's
Grand Duke 6th, from a descendant of Dimity by Zenith.

COAVS A?fD HEIFERS.

Fairy, white, calved January 3, 1860, by Strongbow (15350),
dam Firefly by WiU Watch (12307)— £16 16s.

Yorkshire Belle, roan, calved January 31, 1861, by Hospi-
tality (16287), dam Yorkshire Lass by Red Duke (15136)—
£31 10s.

Carnation, roan, calved February 17, 1862, by Kirkman
(16345), dam Crocus by Young Champion (12574)— £35 14s.

Grace Darling, roan, calved September 13, 1862, by Othello
(20446), dam Grantham by Snowdrop (20861)— £26 5s.

Aconite, red, calved March 28, 1863, by Victor (21025),
dam Acacia 10th by Lord Raglan (14849) — Mr. Charles
Hodgkinson, £29 8s.

Fay, roan, calved January 21, 1864, by Lupus (20244),
dam Fairy by Strongbow (15350)— £40 19s.

Emily, red and white, calved May 11, 1864, by Knight
Errant (18154), dam EmmeUne by Magna Charta (16486) —
£27 6s.

Amelia 9th, red and white, calved in May, 1864, by Lucky
Lad (18291), dam Amelia 2nd by Frederick (11489)—
£32 lis.

Julia, red, calved October 28, 1864, by Lupus (20244), dam
White Stockings 2nd by War Eagle (15483), a beauty—
£47 5s.

Queen of the North, white, calved March 15, 1865, by
Fredericksburg (19784), dam Northern Belle by Highthorn
(13028)— Mr. Longstaff, £37 6s.

Fairy Queen, roan, calved December 8, 1865, by Lupus
(20244), dam Fairy by Strongbow (15350)— Mr. Greenwood,
£42.

Forest Fay, roan, calved February 9, 1866, by Duke of Cum-
berland (21585), dam Fay by Lupus (20344)— Mr. Ellis,
£30 9s.

Apiil, roan, calved April 20, 1866, by Grand Duke 6th
(19876), dam Apple Pie by Victor (21025)— Mr. Edwin
Hodgkinson, £26 5s.

Lady Grace, red and white, calved May 15, 1866, by Fre-
dericksburg (19781-), dam Grace Darling by Othello (20446)
—£22 Is.

Susan, red and white, calved January 17, 1867, by Victor
Royal, dam Sarah Ann by Victor (19058)— Mr. Wilkinson,
J.29 8s.

Minnie, roan, calved March 29, 1867, by Duke of Cumber-
land (21585), dam Clara by Strongbow (15350)— Mr. Wells,
£35 14s.

Alice, roan, calved April 1, 1867, by Duke of Cumberland
(21585), dam Fay by Lupus (20244)— Mr. Ramsden, £22 Is.

Judith, red, calved April 26, 1867, by Duke of Cumberland
(21585), dam Juha by Lupus (20244)— Mr. Brooksbank,
£30 9s.

Emily Mary, red and white, calved August 17, 1867, by
Grand Duke 6th (19876), dam Emily by Knight Erant (18154)
—Mr. Tallent, £21.

Fanny, roan, calved January 18, 1868, by Duke of Cum-
berland (21585), dam Lucy by Watchman (17316)— Mr.
Copeland,'£37 6s.

Star of the Evening, roan, calved February 7, 1868, by
Victor Royal, dam Sarah Ann by Victor (19058)— £38 17s.

Annie, red and white, calved February 21, 1868, by Duke
of Cumberland (21585), dam Fay by Lupus (20244). — Mr.
Brooksbank, £28 7s.

Nellie, red and white, calved February 31, 1868, by Duke

of Cumberland (21585), dam Fay by Lupus (20244).— Mr.
Brooksbank, £28 7s.

Bonnie Katie, roan, calved August 9, 1868, by Majestic
(24510), dam Grace Darling by Othello (20446).— £18 7s.

Clara Morton, roan, calved November 12, 1868, by Red
Comyn, dam Clara Carlisle by Duke of Cumberland (21585).
—Mr. Foster, £18 18s.

Morton Duchess, roan, calved November 16, 1868, by
Majestic (24510), dam April by Grand Duke 6th (19876).—
Mr. Ellis, £17 17s.

Morton Fay, roan, calved January 6, 1869, by Majestic
(24510), dam Forest Fay by Duke of Cumberland (31585).
— Mr. Brown, Lincoln, £23 2s.

Cherry, roan, calved January 29, 1869, by Majestic (24510)
dam Carnation by Kirkman (16345). — Mr. Brown, £35 14s.

Chance, white, calved April 8th 1869, by Victory (page 23),
dam Cowslip by Victor Royal (page 23). — Mr. Copeland,
£23 2s.

Housewife, red, calved May 13, 1869, by Duke of Notting-
ham (25992), dam Hostess by Lupus (20244)— Mr. Ellis,
£17 17s.

Forest Nymph, roan, calved February 24, 1870, by Duke of
Nottingliam (25993), dam Fairy by Strongbow (15350)— Mr.
Ramsden, £6 6s.

Forest Fairy, red, calved June 1, 1869, by Duke of Notting-
ham (25992), dam Fairy Queen by Lupus (20344)— Mr.
Copeland, £19 19s.

Morton Sprite, roan, calved June 1, 1869, by Duke of Not-
tingham (25992), dam Fay by Lupus (20244)— Mr. Radford,
£18 18s.

Julianua, red, calved October 28, 1862, by Duke of Not-
tingham (25992), dam Judith by Duke of Cumberland (21585)
—Mr. G. Sanday, £13 13s.

April Queen, red, calved December 6, 1869, by Duke of
Nottingham (25992), dam April by Grand Duke 6th (19876)
— £9 9s.

Queen of Denmark, red and white, calved May 15, 1869, by
Duke of Nottingham (25992), dam Queen of the North by
Fredericksburg (19784— Mr. Wortley, £18 18s.

BULLS.

Prince Christian ("24799), red, calved May 25, 1866, by
Archduke (19239), dam Catalina by Bernard (15646)— Mr.
Middleton, £35 14s.

Duke of Nottingham (25992), red, calved July 28, 1867, by
Grand Duke 6th (19876), dam Aconite by Victor (31035)—
Mr. Tallents, £31 10s.

Duke of Morton (35930), roan, calved November 3, 1868,
by Majestic (24510), dam Aconite by Victor (21025)— Mr.
Brown, £70 7s.

Jupiter, red, calved May 31, 1869, by Duke of Nottingham
(25992), dam Julia by Lupus (20244)— Mr. Barker, £12 12s.

Darling Duke, roan, calved November 36, 1869, by Duke of
Nottingham (25992), dam Grace Darling by Othello (30446)
—Mr. Brooksbank, £22 2s.

Duke of Carlisle, red, calved December 7, 1869, by Duke of
Nottingham (25992), dam Clara Carlisle by Duke of Cumber-
land (21585)— Mr. Beevor, £10 10s.

Bridegroom, roan, calved January 17, 1870, by The Beau
(27610), dam Aconite by Victor (21025)— Mr. Sampey, £21.

Gracious Duke, red, calved February 4, 1870, by Duke of
Nottingham (25992), dam Lady Grace by Fredericksburg
(19784)— Mr. Radford, £6 6s.

Duke of the Pail, red, calved February 13, 1870, by Duke
of Nottingham (25993), dam Carnation by Kirkman (16345)
—Mr. Beevor, £11 lis.

Thirty-eight cows realized an average of £25 15s., and a
total of i'977 lis., and nine bulls an average of £24 12s. 4d.,
making £221 lis. The total proceeds were £1,199 2s. for 47
animals.

Lo^JG-wooLLEB SiiEEP — 30 ram hoggs were then sold,
bred for many years from the tlocks of Messrs. Burgess, Stone,
and Sanday, and lately from Messrs. C. Clarke, Marshall, and
Johnson,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

447

CAPTAIN OLIVER'S SHORTHORN SALE AT SHOLBBROKE, NORTHAMPTON.

By Mr. J. Thornton, on April 13th.

Tlie farm attached to Sliolebroke Lodge until recently
formed part of the ancient forest of Whittlebury, some portion
of the premises having been the offices of the forester. Nature
lias done but little for it; auda more barren or uninviting pasture
we have seldom seen. If Shorthorns can flourish here, no part
of England need be without them. A goodly array of breeders
mustered at Sholebroke on Wednesday last to witness the dis-
persioa of the well-known herd, all being offered with the ex-
ception of the Grand and Cherry Dukes and Duchesses, Lady
of the Lake of Foggatliorpe descent, and four heifer calves,
which are retained as the foundation of another herd. Tlie
animals were in nice trim, not in any way pampered — a state
of things alike satisfactory to buyer and seller. The greatest
competition was excited for Lalage dth, of Bates' Olive
Leaf tribe — a very handsome cow, of good colour, but
short in her quarters — when Mr. S. E. Bolden, of Grand
Duchess fame, once more appeared on the Shorthorn scene,
aud claimed her at 450 guineas. This event caused
great excitement among the " locals, " who, no doubt,
thought she might reach 40 or 50 guineas ; their hearty cheers,
however, testified the delight they felt, that their popular
neighbour had secured so great a price for one of his stock.
Mr. Bolden also purchased Bracelet the 8th, 9th, and 10th at
130, 100, and 120 guineas. It was rumoured around the ring
that Mr. Bolden was the adviser of one of our large railway
contractors, into whose hands these animals would eventually
go. Lords Fitzhardinge and Skelmersdale were also present,
tlie former, after spirited biddings, securing two of the famous
Wild Eyes tribe at 170 and 140 guineas ; while Lord Skelmers-
dale confined his attention to The Charmer tribe, of Milcote
renown. Earl Fitzwilliam, Sir Tatton Sykes, and Sir Curtis
Larapson, with the Hon. C. W. Fitzwilliam were also among
the foremost purchasers.

A luncheon was served to about 350 in a tent near to the riug
and presided over by Colonel Kiugscote, who in a few well-
timed sentences gave the usual toasts. The company then ad-
journed to the ring over which Mr. Thornton presided, and it
is only right to add, conducted the business in a very efficient
and becoming manner. We subjoin the " ofiicial " history of
the herd : The foundation was first established at Stock-
wood Park and Milcote sales in 1860 ; the Orange tribe
came from the former, and the Sweethearts, frills, and
Queens, from the latter ; the Adelina tribe following them
from Panton. The next year Cowslip 5th and Lalage
were bought at Mr. Jonathan Peel's sale ; both these
animals are full of Kirklevington blood, the latter being in direct
descent from the Olive Leaves or Barringtons, formerly in Mr.
Bates' possession. Romulus Butterfly (18741) was then pur-
chased privately from Col. Towneley ; and in 1802 the Mason
or V tribe came from Mr. Surtees, who obtained it from Mr. S.
Wiley, and he purchased No. 51 at the great Chilton sale.
The same year Cherry Duchess 9th and Graud Duke 7th
(19877) were added to the herd. This bull was bred by Mr.
Bolden, by Grand Duke 3rd from Grand Duchess 4th,andia own
brother to the dam of Duke of Devonshire's GOO- guinea Grand
Duke 10th (21848). At theclose of 1862 Wiley Witch wasbought
at Mr. Marjoribanks' sale at Bushey Grove. The Bracelets,
with two crosses, Grand Duke and Seventh Duke of York,
were originally at Castle Howard and Holker Hall, but came
from Mr. Graham of Yardley, in company with Lady Wild
Eyes 2nd, granddaughter of Wild Eyes 27th, bred by Mr.
Bates. The most important additions to the herd were made in
1867, when Grand Duchesses the 17th and 18th were bought
at Preston Hall for 1,500 guineas.

COWS AND HEIFERS.
Viscountess, red, calved January 22, 1859, by Duke of Argyll
(11375), out of Baroness by Master Goldsmidt (13315).—
Earl Fitzwilliam, 43 gs.
Darlington 9th, roan, calved July 7, 1859, by Marmaduke
(14897), out of Darlington 8th by Fourth Duke of Oxford
(11387).— Mr. A. J. Robarts, 40 gs.
Bracelet 2nd, white, calved March 20, 1862, by Seventh Duke
of York (17754), out of Bracelet by Second Duke of Bolton
(12739),— Mr. J. Cole, 50 gs.

Willy Witch, red. calved May 25, 1862, by Royal Butterfly 5tli

(18756), out of Water Witch by Lord Scarboro' (14852).—

Sir Tatton Syke«, 70 gs.
Queen Bee, roan, calved July 28, 1802, by Romulus Butterfly

(18741), out of Queen Annie by Baron Warlaby (7813).—

Mr. W. Amos, 31 gs.
Sonora, red and white, calved December 0, 1802, by Romulus

Butterfly (18741), out of Sincerity by Mameluke (13289).

— Lord Skelmersdale, 61 gs.
Duchess of Glo'ster 3rd, roan, calved May 23, 1SG3, by Earl o(

Oxford (19670), out of Duchess of Glo'ster by Harry ol

Glo'ster (14674).— Mr. J. W. Ellis, 40 gs.
Bracelet 3rd, roan, calved May 29, 1804, by Touchstone

(20986), out of Bracelet 2nd by Seventh Duke of York

(17754).— Lord Fitzhardinge, 47 gs.
Adelina, roan, calved July 3, 1864, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Autumn Rose by Vanguard (10994).— Earl

Fitzwilliam, 62 gs.
Lalage 4th, roan, calved December 27, 1864, by Grand Duke

7th (19877), out of Lalage by Prince Imperial (15095).—

Mr. J. E. Bolden, 450 gs.
Filligree, roan, calved February 8, 1865, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Festoon by Kirklevington 4th (14775).—

Hon. Chas. Fitzwilliam, 115 gs.
Lady Wild Eyes 2nd, roan, calved March 80, 1865, by

Touchstone (20980), out of Lady Wild Eyes by Weather-
cock (9815).— Lord Fitzhardinge, 170 gs.
Vanity, roan, calved May 10, 1805, by Grand Duke 7tb

(19877), out of Viscountess by Duke of Argyll (11375).—

Mr. J. A. Mumford, 58 gs.
Satanella, red, calved June 30, 1805, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Sonora by Romulus Butterfly (18741).—

Lord SKelmersdale, 120 gs.
Cowslip, red and white, calved October 13, 1805, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Cowslip 5th by Chieftain

(10048).— Lord Fitzhardinge, 70 gs.
Lady Seraphina 2nd, roan, calved November 7, 1865, by

Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Seraphina 2nd by Sweet

William (7571).— Mr. A. J. Robarts, 35 gs.
Orange Leaf, red and white, calved April 27, 1806, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Orange Fruit by First Fruits

(16048).— Mr. T. T. Drake, 40 gs.
Bracelet 4th (late Beauty), white, calved April 30, 1806, by

Kuightley (22051), out of Bracelet 3rd by Touchstone

(20980).— Mr. J. K. Fowler, 57 gs.
Blarney, roan, calved February 2, 1867, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Bella by Romulus Butterfly (18741).— Mr.

H. H. Hammond, 36 gs.
Crescent, roan, calved July 6, 1866, by Grand Duke 7tli

(19877), out of Crinoline by Aaron Smith (12331).— Mr.

J. White, 53 gs.
Folly, roan, calved March 9, 1867, by Cherry Grand Duke

(23554), out of Filigree by Grand Duke 7th (19877).— Mr.

G. Savill, 42 gs.
Bracelet 5th, roan, calved April 13, 1867, by Knightley

(22051), out of Bracelet 3rd by Touchstone (20986).— Sir

C. M. Lampson, 100 gs.
Bracelet 6th, white, calved M«ay 4, 1867, by Knightley

(22051), out of Bracelet 2nd by 7th Duke of York (17754)

—Mr. T. Trotter, 66 gs.
Vexation, roan, calved May 23, 1867, by Grand Duke 7tli

(19877), out of Vicountess by Duke of Argyll (11375)— Mr.

S. S. Dickers, 51 gs.
Orangeade, roan, calved May 31,1867, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Orange Fruit bv First Fruits (16048)— Mr.

M. H. VVilUams, 56 gs.
Queen Caroline, roan, calved August 8, 1807, by Grand Duke

7th (19877), out by Queen Bee by Romulus Butterfly

(18741)— Not offered.
Athena, roan, calved October 2, 1867, by Cherry Grand Duke

(23554), out of Adelina by Grand Duke 7th (19807)— Mr.

J. White, for Australia, 56 gs.
Lady Wild Eyes 3rd, roan, calved October 30, 1867, by Cherry

448

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

Graud Duke (23554), out of Lady Wild Eyes 2ud by Touch-
stone (20986)— Lord Fitzhardinge, 140 gs.
Wily Witch 2ud, roan, calved December 3, 1867, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Wily Witch by Royal Butterfly

5th (18756)— Mr. H. J. Sheldon, 38 gs.
Vision, red, calved May 1, 1868, by Grand Duke 7th (19877),

out of Viscountess by Duice of Argyll (11375)— Mr. M. H.

Williams, 61 gs.
Orange Pips, red and a little vi^hite, calved May 30, 1868, by

Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Orange Fruit by First

Fruits (1604.8)— Mr. T. B. Locke, 71 gs.
Freedom, roan, calved June 4, 1868, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out ofFestooa by Kirklevingtou 4th (14775)— Lord

Fitzhardinge, 70 gs.
Bracelet 7th, red and a little \yhite, calved August 30, 1868,

by Grand Duke 7th (19887), out of Bracelet 3rd by Touch-

stone (20986)— Sir J. Rolt, 70 gs.
Bracelet 8th, roan, calved Sept. 24, 1868, by Cherry Grand
■ Duke (23554) out of Bracelet 2nd by 7th Duke of York

(17754,)_Mr. S. E. Bolden, 130 gs.
Alicia, white, calved Sept. 30, 1868, by Grand Duke 7th,

(19877) out of Adelina by Grand Duke 7th (19877)— Earl

FitzwUliam, 56 gs.
Duehess of Gloucester 4th, white, calved November 3, 1868r

by Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Duchess of Glouceste,

3rd by Earl of Oxford (19670)— Mr. H. H. Hammond

32 gs.
Wily Witch 3rd, red and a little wliite, calved December 22,

1868, by Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Wily Witch bj

Royal Butterfly 5th (18756)— Mr. P. Brown, 50 gs.
Queen Bess, white, calved July 13, 1869, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877) out of Queen Bee by Romulus Butterfly (18741)—

Mr. H. H. Hammond, 27 gs.
Orange Peel, red, calved August 25, 1869, by Cherry Grand

Duke 2nd (25758), out of Orangeade by Grand Duke 7th

(19877)— Mr. C. C. Dormer, 26 gs.
Basliful, red, calved September 4, 1869, by Cherry Grand

Duke 2nd (25758), out of Blarney by Graud Duke 7th

(19877)— Mr. W. WeUs, M.P., 29 gs.
Bracelet 9th, roan, calved September 30th, 1869, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Bracelet 2nd, by 7th Duke of

York (17754)— Mr. S. E. Bolden, 100 gs.
Bracelet 10th, white, calved September 30th, 1869, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Bracelet 2nd by Seventh Duke of

York (17754)— Mr. S.E. Bolden, 120 gs.
Cascade, red and white, calved October 25th, 1869, by Grand

Duke 7th (19877), out of Crescent by Grand Duke 7th

(19877)— Mr. J. Beasley, 30 gs.
Bracelet 11th, red and white, calved January 23rd, 1870, by

Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Bracelet 3rd by Touch-
stone (20986)— Mr. J. Clayden, 45 gs.
Fretwork, roan, calved March 18, 1870, by Cherry Grand

Duke 2nd (25758), out of Filigree by Grand Duke 7th

(19877).— Lord Fitzhardinge, 36 gs.
Orange Tree, red, calved April 5, 1870, by Cherry Grand

Dake 2nd (25758), out of Orange Leaf by Grand Duke 7th

(19877).— Mr. F. Sartoris, 13 gs.
BULLS.
Lord of the Forest (26704), white, calved June 26, 1868, by

Grand Duke 7th (19877), out of Lady of the Lake by 2nd

Duke of Bolton (12739).— Reserfed, 150 gs.
Beadsman (25619), white and a little roan, calved August 31,

1868, by Cherry Butterfly (23550), out of Bracelet 4th by

Knightley (22051).— Mr. J. W. Ellis, 66 gs.
Candidate, roan, calved November 29, 1868, by Second Duke

of Claro (21576), out of Duchess of Cambridge 2nd by

2nd Duke of Cambridge (12743).— Mr. G. E. Frere, 57 gs.
Chorister, white, calved December 3, 1868, by Second Duke

of Claro (21576), out of Duchess of Cambridge 4th by 3rd

Graud Duke (16182).— Mr. J. Pretty, 51 gs.
Duke of Liverpool, roan, calved May 30, 1869, by Second

Duke of Claro (21576), out of Lalage 4th by Grand Duke

7th (19877).— Mr. C. Barnard, 86 gs.
Fortunio, red, calved August 17; 1869, by Cherry Butterfly
(23550), out of Folly by Cherry Graud Duke (23554).—
Mr. T. B. Locke, 51 gs.
Adonis, roan, calved September 6, 1869, by Grand Duke 7th
(19877), out of Adelina by Grand Duke 7th (19877).— Mr.
C. Higgins, 23 gs.
Vespasian, red, calved October 2, 1869, by Cherry Grand

Duke 2nd (25758), out of Vexation by Grand Duke 7th

(19877).— Mr. G. Underwood, 28 gs.
Tortworth, roan, calved October 11, 1869, by Grand Duke 7th

(19877), out of Duchess of Glo'ster 3rd by Earl of Oxford

(19670).— Col. Fitzroy, 30 gs.
Sholebroke, red and white, calved Dec. 14, 1869, by Sam of

Oxford (25084), out of Lady Seraphina 2nd by Grand Duke

7th (19877).— Mr. W. Linnell, 15 gs.
Darrington, red and white, calved Dec. 23, 1869, by Grand

Duke 11th (21849), out of Darlington 9th by Marmaduke

(14897).— Mr. S. Ayers, 27 gs.
Songster, red with a little white, calved April 4, 1870, by

Cherry Grand Duke 2nd (25758), out of Sonora by Romulus

Butterfly (18741).— Lord Southampton, 27 gs.

Summary. £ s. d.

45 Cows averaged £73 18s. lOd 3,32? 9 0

11 Bulls „ £44 Os. Id 484 1 0

Total £3,811 10 0

56 head averaged £68 Is. 3d.

11 Bracelets averaged £81 4s. 7d.

5 Frills „ £65 18s. 9d.

THE COOLLATTm SHORTHORN SALE.

The annual sale of Earl Fitzwilliam's yearling huUs took
place at Coollattin, co. Wicklow ; Messrs. Ganly, auctioneers.
The following is a list of the animals, purchasers, and

l)riC6S !

Prince Consort (27135), calved Nov. 22, 1868.— Mr. Leslie,
Suddie, Ross-shire, £35 14s.

Royal Oak (27371), calved Dec. 5, 1868.— Mr. Magenis,
Roscommon, £48 6s.

Jolly Tar (26475), calved Dec. 8, 1868.— Mr. Ellis, co.
W^icklow,-£39 7s. 6d.

Lord of the Isles (26706), calved Dec. 14, 1868.— Mr.
Glancy, Roscommon, £42.

Prince Oscar (27191), calved Dec. 27, 1868.— Mr. Hornidge,
CO. Wicklow, £32 lis.

Pleiades, calved Feb. 2, 1869.— I. T. Hamilton, M.P.,
£29 8s.

Vulcan, calved Feb. 4, 1869.— Mr. Glancy, £43 Is.

Julian, calved Feb. 25, 1869.— Mr. Keogh, £22 Is.

Ploughboy, calved Feb. 25, 1869. — Mr. Brown, co. Carlow,
£18 7s. 6d.

Islander, calved March 5, 1869. — Mr. Trotter, Garguston,
Ross-shire, =£33 Is. 6d.

Ich Dien, calved March 5, 1869.— Hon. Mr. Proby, £28
17s. 6d.

John O'Gannt, calved March 7, 1869.— Mr. Hanlou, co.
Carlow, £26 5s.

Peveril of the Peak, calved March 12, 1869.— Mr. Courtney,
CO. Wicklow, £22 lis. 6d.

Safeguard, calved May 10, 1869.— Mr. Montfort, co.
Wicklow, £15 15s.

They were all by Lord Stanley (24466).
Average, £31 4s. 9d.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SO-
CIETY.— The show of entire cart horses in connection with
the above society took place at Northampton, with the
following result : Best stallion for agricultural purposes, the
property of or hired by the exhibitor, first prize £10, Mr. John
Manning, Orlingbury — chesnut colt, bred by Mr. Stokes, sire
Old Champion, 3 years old ; second of £5, Mr. John Roach,
Gretton — England's Glory, bred by Mr. R. Shaw, Swineshead,
sire Mr. Taylor's England's Glory, sire of dam Old Lincoln,
7 years old. The judges were Mr. Thomas Woods, Wytchley
Warren ; Mr. William Tressler, Moulton ; and Mr. F. J. Berry
Stanion.

THE SECOND-BEST CHRISTBIAS COW.— At the last
Birmingham Show we spoke to Messrs. Mitchell's Blue BcUe
as " a very sweet, almost dainty creature," and as one, '• what
with her pretty lady-like head, her nice long low frame and
light bone, that would seem yet more an ornament for the
herd than a victim to the shambles ;" and Blue Belle has just
dropped a very pretty heifer-calf.

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

U9

SALE OF ME. W. HEWEE'S CATTLE
AND SHEEP.

This sale took place at Northleach, on which occasion, as
might be expected from his repute as a breeder of cattle and
Cotswolds sheep, there was a very large attendance of farmers
and dealers from the adjoining district, as well as others from
more distant counties. Mr. Hewer spared no expense in ob-
taining the best blood, and he had succeeded in collecting a
herd which, in point of form and quality, contained perhaps
a greater number of really good animals than could be found
in this part of the country. The oxen and steers were very
fresh having had neither cake nor corn ; amongst the three-
year-old steers were some extremely choice beasts well calcu-
lated to make prize animals.

The sale commenced sliortly after one o'clock, Mr. Villar,
of Cheltenham, officiating as auctioneer. The sheep were first
brought to the hammer. The ewe tegs, which were
sold in lots of five each, were speedily knocked down
at prices varying from 38s. to 168s. per head, the
principal buyers being Mr. Swanwick, of the Royal Agri-
cultural College, Cirencester ; Mr. Canning, whose pur-
chases are intended for New Zealand; Mr. Eastou, from
Scotland ; Mr. Phillips, of Dorn ; Mr. Tucker, of Poundbo-
rough ; Mr. Hodges, of Milcote, Stratford-ou-Avou ; Mr.
Smith, ofBibury; Mr. Pletcher, of Sliipton ; Mr. W. Harding
of Northleach ; Mr. Matthews, of Thenford Farm, Newnton ■
Mr. Deacon, of Dix ; Mr. Rayer, of Withington ; Mr. Lord]
of Brize Norton ; Mr. Wheeler, of Elkstone ; Mr. Porter, of
Coin St. AJdwyus ; Mr. Humphries, of Seveuhampton ; and
Mr. Clare, of Bampton.

The ram tegs, of which there were 30 lots, realised prices
varying from 3 gs. each the lowest to 9^- gs. the highest, seve-
ral other lots fetching 7^, 8, and SJ gs. each. Amongst the
buyers were Mr. Easton, from Scotland, and Mr. Little, of
Norcutt, purchasers of the highest-priced animals ; Mr. God-
frey, Rissington; Mr. Pedley, Kilkenny Farm; Mr. James
Taylor, Long Compton ; Mr. Swanswick, of the Royal Agri-
cultural College, Cirencester; Mr. Hiatt, Snowshill ; Mr.
Frampton, Ulfington ; Mr. C. Newman, Long Furlong Farm •
Mr. Frampton, Fernham, Beds; Mr. Rivetts, Rendcombe
Park ; Mr. Stevens, Farmington ; and Messrs. Hands, Har-
wood, and Taylor.

A well-bred Hereford cow. Bloomer, fetched £25 10s the
buyer being Mr. Allday, of Chipping-Norton ; and her calf
£10 10s., the purchaser being Mr. George Hewer, who
is taking to the farm. A Hereford cow. Young Bloomer
was bought by Mr. Stilgoe, of Adderbury, for £27 10s •'
Pretty Maid, and Cherry, fetched £29 each; Blossom',
£22 10s. ; and Snowdrop, £38. The working oxen realised
high prices, several of them ranging up to £37 a-piece,
the lowest being £28. Amongst the buyers, besides those
already mentioned, were Mr. Barton, Coin St. Dennis • Mr
Peaehey, Coverley ; Mr. Hulbert, North Ceruey ; Mr. Austin'
Wroughton, near Swindon ; Mr. H. Cuss, Cricklade ; Mr'
Stranks ; Mr. Harding, Northleach ; Mr. T. Palmer, Nails-
worth, Ssc.

The steers and heifers fetched good prices, the highest be-
ing £42, bought by Mr. Harding, of Northleach, and others
were purchased by Mr. Leonard, Dursley (£37) ; Mr. A. Pike
Tewke-sbury ; Mr. Waller, Farmington ; Mr. Tanner Welford'
Berks ; Mr. T. Porter, Baunton ; Mr. Slatter. Stratton : and
Mr. Hulbert, Cerney.

EXPORTATION OF BREEDING STOCK TO
AMERICA. — A shipment of two-year-old and yearling
Shorthorn heifers left Liverpool by the " Denmark" for Mr.
James O. Sheldon, Geneva, New York. These animals were
purchased in this country and shipped by Mr. John Thornton,
as breeding stock for the celebrated Duchess bulls in Mr.
Sheldon's herd. Mr. Cheney's herd at Gaddesby supnlied two
heifers— Bouquet 3rd, a roan of the Foggathorpe tribe, and of
the same family as Col. Towneley's prize heifer ' Baron
Oxford's Beauty, and May Lass 2nd, roan, descended
from Mr. Fawkes' Millicent tribe ; both these heifers
were by General Napier a bull of Bates Princess blood
Lady Worcester 4th, roan, a Bates' Wild Eyes heifer was
selected from Mr. John Harvard's herd at AVinterfold and
Sidoma 2ad, a red of Mr. Bowly's Gazelle family, from Mr.

Isaac Downing. Two heifers were bought of Mr. Hugh
Aylmer — Guava 4th, with some Booth blood, and Britannia
18th, red, descended from Mason's No. 6 Chilton sale. A
Booth heifer. Rosary Charm, was purchased from Mr. Torr at
Aylesby, and Rosemary, descended from Mr. Cowling's Kitt
stock, came from Teesdale. These animals had a very good
voyage, and were landed safely at Mr. Sheldon's farm at
Geneva, New York State, on the 10th of March. As the
United States Government restrict the importation of live
stock, they were accompanied with certificates of health from
the breeders and magistrates of the district: Messrs. Walcott
and Campbell, who recently purchased Mr. Booth's cow. Bride
of the Vale, for 1,000 guineas, are in treaty for another ship-
ment of Shorthorns, including Colonel lownely's heifer.
Baron Oxford's Beauty, and other well-known animals, and
a small lot of heifers and bulls will shortly be sent to Colorado.

THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES (ANI-
MALS) ACT TO MARCH 6, 1870.

Mr. Sewell Read has asked for a return of stock
diseases, which is not yet printed. He desired to have
a return of the number of cases reported to the Veterinary
Department of the Privy Council, but was informed he
could only have the number of infected farms or places,
and in the c?moi pleiiro-pneumonia that some local authori-
ties did not get into order till the Michaelmas quarter ses-
sions were over (for there was no power, in fact, to put the
local authority in motion till the sessions met), but after
they were made to keep a register of all eases of disease for
each inspector to weekly report to the Privy Council. It
seems so very odd that no record of the number of cases
thus reported is kept by the Veterinary Department.
Possibly they consider none but pleuro are of sufficient
importance to render a record necessary ; but then why
trouble the local authorities and inspectors to make these
weekly returns ?

A return of the number of farms and other places in Great
Britain infected with foot-and-mouth, pleuro-pneumonia, sheep
scab, and glanders reported to the Privy Council :

Foot-and-mouth... 16,140 I Scab 1,69637

Pleuro-pneumonia 911 | Glanders

Tiiere are in the 911 outbreaks of pleuro 2,763 cases reported-
no record seems to be kept of the number of cases of foot-and-
mouth, sheep scab, and glanders. Foot-and-mouth has pre-
vailed in all counties, but there are only five infected places
reported for Cornwall : the West Riding of Yorkshire seems
to have suffered most, and then comes Suffolk. There is no
case of pleuro in Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucester, Hereford,
Monmouth, Westmoreland, or the East Riding of Yorkshire ;
and the Welsh counties are free from this deadly disease, save
Denbigh and Flint. Cornwall furnishes 251 farms on which
scat) prevails, Devon 166, Monmouth 124, Somerset 103, Cum-
berland 89, Leicester 87, and Northampton 78. Northumber-
land, AVestmorelaud, East Riding, Cambridge, and Berks are
clear.

PLOUGHING AGAINST TIME : A CHALLENGE.— A
pjoughing-match of a novel kind has recently taken place at
Baningale, Shropshire, and it was certainly an extraordinary per-
formance. Mr. Southall, a farmer, undertook, on the impulse of
a bet, to plough one acre of land, in a workmanlike manner,
within three iiours, using a single plough, to which four horses
were attached, working two abreast and driven by a boy. The
field selected was a wheat-stubble, and the crop had been cut
with a reaping-machine. The plough has been many years in
Mr. Southall's possession. It was made by his own blacksmith,
according to his own plan, and under his instructions. The
work was completed in the short space of two hours and six-
teen minutes, to the entire satisfaction of the judges, and
amidst the applause of a large coucourse of agriculturists who
had assembled to witness it. Mr. Southall is open to challenge
any plougli, whatever its construction may be for accuracy of
work and ease of draught; and, according to our corre-
spondent, Messrs. Howard, Messrs. Ransome and Sims, and
othe,r celebrated implement-makers must look to their laurels

450

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE game-laws BILL.

Draft of tlie bill to amend and to assimilate in certain
respects the laws of England and Scotland relating to game,
as introduced by the Lord Advocate :—

Whereas by the law of England the tenant in the posses-
sion of land for the time Jjas tlie sole right of killing and
taking the game thereon, unless right be expressly reserved by,
or granted to, the landlord or any other person ; and it is ex-
pedient to assimilate in this respect the law of Scotland to
England, and also to amend and assimilate in certain other
respects the laws of England and Scotland relative to game,
and to make certain provisions for the protection of tenant-
farmers against injury arising to them in consequence of any
undue increase of hares and rabbits, when they are prohibited
by the landlords from killing and taking these animals : Be it
tberefore enacted by the Queen's ]Most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament as-
sembled, and by the authority of the same as follows : —

1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as^ " The Game-
Laws Amendment Act, 1870."

3. For the purposes of this Act, the words and terms
hereinafter mentioned shall have and include the meanings
iiereinafter assigned to them, that is to say: —
The term " lessor " shall mean the grantor of any lease of land
for a year or a longer term, and also the person for the
time in the right and subject to the obligations of the
grantor with respect to such lease.
Tlie term " lessee " shall mean the grantee of any lease of
land for a year or longer term, and also the person for
the time in the right and subject to the obligations of
the grantee with respect to such lease.
The term " game " shall be deemed to include hares, phea-
sants, partridges, grouse, heath or moor game, black game,
and bustards.
Tlie term " Martinmas " shall mean the eleventh of No-
vember.
The singular shall include the plural, and vice-veisd.

3. The Act of the Scottish Parliament, 1631, chap. 31,
" anent hunting and hawking," is hereby repealed.

4. In all cases where any person shall occupy any land in
Scotland as tenant, under any lease or agreement made sub-
sequently to the passing of this Act, such person shall have
the sole right ot killing and taking the game and rabbits
upon such land, unless such right sball have been expressly
reserved by the landlord, or granted to him by the tenant, or
except in so far as such rights shall have been so reserved or

5. No lessee in the occupation of any land in England shall
be liable to prosecution, or to any penalty or punishment
under the Act 1st and 3nd William IV., chap. 33, intituled
" An Act to amend the laws in England relating to Game,"
or under any other Act or Acts of Parliament, for pursuing,
killing, or taking hares or rabbits on such land, or lor giving
permission to any other person so to do ; but the permission
of a lessee without right shall not avail any person to whom ii-
may be given : provided always that nothing herein contained
shall protect a lessee against an action for breach of any con-
tract whereby he is restrained from pursuing, killing, or taking
hares or rabbits on the land of which he is lessee.

6. No lessee in the occupation of any land in Scotland shall
be liable to prosecution, or to any penalty or punishment
under any Act or Acts of Parliament, for pursuing, kilhug, or
taking hares or rabbits on sach land : provided always that
nothing herein contained shall protect a lessee against an
action for breach of any contract whereby he is restrained
from pursuing, killing, or taking hares or rabbits on the land
of whicli he is lessee.

7. No injunction shall be granted in England, and no in-
terdict shall be granted in Scotland, upon, or iu order to pro-

tect or enforce any contract whereby a lessee is restrained
from pursuing, killing, or taking haies or rabbits on the land
of which he is lessee ; but the lessor shall be left to his or-
dinary legal remedies other than injunction or'interdict upon
such contract.

8. When the exclusive right of killing hares or rabbits lias
been reserved by, or granted to, the lessor, and he shall fail or
omit to keep down the stock of these animals to such an ex-
tent as shall be fair and reasonable in justice to the lessee, who
is prohibited from killing them, such lessor shall be Hable in
damages to the lessee for the loss, injury, and damage caused
to him by such failure or omission : provided always that iu
judging of the extent to which it is fair and reasonable that
such stock should be kept down, and also in assessing dam-
ages, regard shall be had to the character and cultivation of
the land, the amount of the rent as compared with the real
value, and the terms and conditions of the lease.

9. Any lessee who, by himself or others for whom he is
responsible, hunts, kills, or takes game or rabbits contrary to
the terms of his lease, or of his bargain with the lessor, shall
be liable in damages for breach of contract, and the same may
be recovered in the form and manner hereinafter provided.

10. Anv lessor who, to the injury and damage of the lessee,
fails to fulfil the obligation incumbent on him under clause 8
of this Act, shall be liable iu damages as for breach of con-
tract, and the same may be recovere'd in the form and manner
hereinafter provided.

11. In England, damages to any amount not exceeding £50,
for which liability is incurred under the provisions of this Act,

may be sued for in the county court within the district of f

which the lands upon which the claim of damages has arisen,
or any part thereof are situated, and the judge of such county
court may remit to a man or men of skill to inspect the pre-
mises and report, and shall try and_decide the case without a

jury-

13. In England, when the damages claimed exceed £50,
any action therefor shall be brought inone of the supreme
courts of common law at Westminster.

13. In Scotland, damages to any amount not exceeding £50,
for which liability is incurred under the provisions of this Act,
may be recovered by action before the sheriff of the county in
which the lands or any part thereof are situated ; and such
action may be raised and proceeded with in the form and
according to the procedure observed in the Sheriff Small Debt
Court, subject to the following provisions in cases where the
amount sued for exceeds £8 Gs. 8d., viz. : —

Pirst, That counsel, agents, and procurators shall be entitled

to appear for the parties in such actions.
Second, That the sheriff shall take and preserve a note of the

pleas of parties, and any evidence that may be adduced.
Third, That the sheriff maj remit to a man or men of skill to

inspect the premises and report ; and,
Fourth, Tliat when the sum sued for exceeds £35. the sheriff's

judgment shall be subject to appeal to the Court of

Session.

14. In Scotland, when the damages claimed exceed £50, any
action therefor shall be brought in the Court of Session.

15. Any action by a lessor against a lessee for damages of
the nature hereinbefore provided for, shall be brought within
three monihs of the date of the act or acts on account of which
damages are claimed, and shall not hereafter be competent.

16. Any action by a lessee against a lessor for damages of
the nature hereinbefore provided for, shall be brought not
later than Martinmas of the year in which the injury was done,
in respect of whicli the damages are claimed, and shall not
thereafter be competent ; and the year shall, for the purposes
of this Act, be taken to run from Martinmas to Martinmas,
and only one such action shall be competent in the same year
to the lessee against the lessor of any farm.

17. Any written agreement between a lessor and lessee to
refer to arbitration claims of damages which have arisen, or
may thereafter arise between them, of the nature hereinbefore
provided for, shall be valid and binding, although the arbiter.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

«r arbiters may not le named ; and if either party shall refuse
•or tail lor ten days after written notice to name an arbiter or
arbiters in pursuance of such agreement, the arbiter or arbiters
named by the other shall be at liberty to proceed and to act as
io°'".""'y •'^'^ '^^•'» "luly appointed by both parties.

18. A written decision by an arbiter or arbiters named by
the parties, or by one of them, after the refusal or failure of
tne other as aforesaid, or by an arbiter or arbiters duly ap-
pointed under any such agreement as is contemplated in the
preceding section, or by an oversman duly appointed under
any sucli agreement, shall be valid and effectual in act of law
according to the true intent and meaning thereof, althou-h it
shall not be in the form of a formal award or decree arbitral
and It siiall be no objection to the agreement to refer to the
nomination of an arbiter or arbiters, that the same is not con-
tamed in a formal deed, provided it be in writing, admitted or
proved to be genuine.

19. A lessee who is by contract or agreement with the
lessor prohibited from killing hares or rabbits on the land let
to him shall be at liberty before the terra of Jlartinmas in
any year to render to the lessor, his known factor or agent an
account of the damage caused to him in the year by the failure
or omission of the lessor to keep down the stock of these ani-
mals, and to name an arbiter to whom he is willing to refer
his claim against the lessor for sucli damage ; and provided
the amount claimed does not exceed £25, the lessor shall be
bound within fourteen days of the receipt of such account and
nomination to name an arbiter to act for him in reo-ard
thereto, and the arbiters named by the parties respectively
shall be entitled to decide finally upon the lessee's claim, or if
they cannot agree, to name an oversman or umpire, who shall
be entitled finally to decide upon tiie same ; and should the
lessee fail to name an arbiter within the time hereby limited
the arbiter named by the lessee sliaU be entitled to decide upon
the claim. ^

20. No proceedings under the preceding clause shall be void
Jor want of form, and the arbiter or arbiters, umpire or overs-
man having jurisdiction by virtue thereof, shall be at liberty
to determine the course of procedure and the nature and extent
ot tlie inquiry which it is proper to make, and their decision
or decisions shall be final, and although informal, may be en-
forced by action in act of law.

21. It shall not be competent to any lessee to liave in
respect of the same farm more than one such arbitration as
aforesaid in any one year, and such arbitration shall preclude
an action by him in the same year for damage caused by hares
or rabbits upon such farm.

23. This Act shall come into operation from and after the
first day of February, 1871.

ABERDEENSHIRE TENANT FARMERS
AND THE GAME LAWS.

A largely attended meeting of tenant farmers and others in
the Alford district of Aberdeenshire was held at Bridge of
Alford to consider the Game-law Eills before Parliament."

Mr. Walker (Bithnie) presided, and said he could not
introduce the subject better than by reading a letter from
their representative, Mr. M'Combie, M.B., who took great
interest in the question, and unHinchiugly represented the
wishes of his brother farmers in this important matter. The
letter stated that the member for West Aberdeenshire was
very glad that the farmers of Alford were meeting in the
matter, and would have been delighted to have been present
but for important engagements in other parts of the country.
He could have wished very much that Mr. Loch and Mr.
M'Lagan had agreed to amalgamate their Game-law Bills, and
not have divided public opinion about their merits. He was
very glad that the Lord Advocate had promised to lay upon
the table of the House of Commons a Government bill and
in consequence of this, Mr. Loch's bill had been postponed.
A bill brought in by any private member would (Mr
M'Combie thought; have very little chance of being carried
in opposition to a Government measure, which be hoped would
deal in a satisfactory manner with this vexed question. If it
were not a measure that they could accept, it would only
increase agitation on the subject. A strong feeling was now
arising in this country that the time for a compromise has
passed, and that nothing short of entire abolition will be

451

accepted. His sympathies, he said, entirely went with this
teeliug, and he was glad many Scotch members were of a
similar opinion. Nothing but bad health would prevent hiin
from being in his place in the House of Commons when Mr.
iaylor's bill or the others on this subject came up for dis-
cussion. Mr. Walker, after reading the letter, referred to the
change which has recently come over the minds of farmers in
respect to the public discussion of this question. What he
proposed ten years ago— the public discussion of game-laws
by agriculturists— was now extensively adopted. No one had
made a greater change than their respected member, who, in
J 600, was a zealous game protector, and in IS/O was prepared
to abolish the law. His opinion was that, in order to have
successful legislation, the old laws would require to be entirely
repealed. Mr. M'Lagan's Bill— an honest measure— would
have been satisfactory in 1860, but not now. Mr. Loch's
bill would evidently perpetuate the laws. Many diflicultics
interfered to prevent the farmer benefiting by the proffered
boon of conceding hares and rabbits. He was afraid the
landlords' consent would benecessary to the killing of hares
and rabbits as much after the passing of Mr. Loch's Bill as
it was now. Mr. Loch's bill certainly promised compensation
for ravages by game, but how could these damages be correctly
ascertained? He condemned the clause in Mr. Loch's bill
enabling the tenants to break contracts with proprietors.
Ihey had themselves to blame so long as they had a voice in
making the laws of their country if they allowed their crops
to be destroyed by game any longer, they should go in for
entire abolition, and they would be supported by their brother
farmers m Scotland as well as England, and also by inhabitants
of towns.

,<3^' -^^'^™^ (Crookmore) moved the following resolution :
"That the Game-laws are injurious to the interests of agri-
culture, inasmuch as they give one class power to preserve and
multiply to excess wild animals which feed upon and destroy
the tenants' crops designed for the food of the people." Le
supported tlie resolution briefly. He said it was more a
national question than one affecting merely proprietors and
tenants. It would be generally admitted that Game-laws
favoured one class at the expense of another.

Mr. Forbes (Newbrace) seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimouslv.

Mr. Mitchell (Auchnagathel, Keig) moved : " That the
present Game-laws are a national evil, inasmuch as they
encourage poaching, are a fruitful source of lawlessness and
crime, and greatly diminish the progress of agriculture."
When one-third or one-half of their crops, he said, as the
case might be, were destroyed by game, there was very little
use of what remained, in consequence of frost. The damages,
especially on grass fields, were incalculable. The Game-laws
fostered poaching and crime, as well as much ill-feeling
between landlord and tenant.

Mr. Lawmond (Mossbead) seconded the resolution, which
was carried with acclamation.

Mr. Anderson (Wellhouse) said it was very unpleasant
for them to take up a position against their landlords.
Aberdeenshire farmers had taken the lead in this matter, as
shown by the result of the last two Parliamentary eleetio'ns.
Other Scotch counties had since followed their example, as
had also several English constituencies. The preservation of
farmers' crops was indirectly as much the landlords' interest
as the tenants'. Aberdeenshire proprietors did themselves
great credit by not only joining but leading the farmers in
stamping out the rinderpest, and the farmers now regretted
that the landlords did not join with them in stamping out the
game pest. Farmers were not guilty of complaining, and were
too keenly alive to their own interests to open their mouths
against their landlords, and to come thus forward without a
grievance. Let the rights of property be regarded as sacred
upon the one side as the other. Were not their crops as much
their property as the landlords' purses were theirs ? Did they
not waste their labour and capital in cultivating crops which
were sacredly their own ? Mr. Loch's bill was, he would say,
calculated to be favourable to the Lowland and unfavourable
to the Highland tenant ; while it would be unfair to Lowland
landlords, and beneficial to Highland landowners. If the
Lowland landlord did not get hares and rabbits, he would be
left with only a few partridges ; while the Highland landlord
would have his deer and grouse preserved. The result of this
Bill would be Free-trade in game in one part of the country,

fl H

452

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE,

and Protection iu another. Nothing short of entire abolition
would do. The rabbit warren was probably not so destructive
as the deer forest. The rabbit in its mischievous powers was
half-brother of the rat, and though the red-deer was the most
noble of four-footed game, he was not destined to take the
place of man. Deer forests had been created at the expense
of evicting thousands of families from Highland glens, and he
regarded the deer forest as the greatest blot on the Game-laws.
Game watchers could no more prevent professional poachers
from killing game than they could prevent notorious thieves
from stealing. It had been said that the letting shootings and
preserving game encouraged noblemen and gentlemen to live
for some time in the north and spend money. It was only a
few hotelkeepers and gamekeepers that benefited by this
arrangement, and during the eight or nine months of the year
during which the game was not shot, the farmers' crops
suffered greatly. He maintained there was more need for the
repeal ot the Game-laws than of the Corn-laws. They had
Liberal as well as Conservative proprietors in Parliament
opposed to abolishing these laws. He was afraid the most
dangerous opponent to abolition was the Liberal landlord, who
gave the measure a sort of half-warm-hearted support to
enable him to face his constituents. He feared there were
lions thus in sheep-skins. Before they obtained their wishes
in this matter, he thought it would be necessary for town and
country inhabitants to form themselves into an Anti-Game-law
League, which they should do. He concluded by moving the
following resolution : " It is the opinion af this meeting that
of the several Game-law Bills which may be introduced into
Parliament, the only one which will remedy the evils com-
plained of is that which proposes their entire abolition."

Mr. Walkee (Mill of Pawlis) seconded the resolution,
which was carried unanimously.

Mr. Reid (Upper Balfour) moved: "That a petition
embodying the above resolutions should be sent to Parliament,
through our representative, Mr. M'Combie, with an urgent
request that he use his influence in getting the prayer of the
petition granted." He regarded Mr. Loch's bill as a mockery
to the tenantry of Scotland.

Mr. Ross (Corbanchory) seconded the motion, which was
declared carried amid great cheermg.

A vote of confidence was then passed unanimously in Mr.
M'Combie, M.P. ; and a vote of thanks to the Chairman
closed the meeting.

A petition in terms of the last resolution was numerously
signed after the meeting terminated, which was, without
exception, the most unanimous for total abolition that has yet
been held among northern tenant-farmers.

THE GAME LAWS.

At a meeting of the East Snff'olk Chamber of Agriculture
at Ipswich, Mr. Newson Garrett read a long paper on this
subject, and concluded by moving the following resolutions,
which were seconded by Colonel Sir R. A. S. Adair :

1. " That the present game laws are injurious to the best
interests of landlords, tenant-farmers, and the country at
large ; and that their influence is demoralising to all classes."

2. '_' That they add greatly to the heavy rates, the payment
of which is yearly becoming more irksome and distateful to
the whole community, and to the judicious reduction of which
each Government in its turn professes to accord its most
hearty approbation."

3. " That hares and rabbits ought to he excluded from the
operations of the game laws ; that their preservation, being
incompatible with good farming, is contrary to the public
good, and that therefore all contracts, having for their object
the preservation of hares and rabbits, ought to be declaredi
illegal."

4. " That the expenses of all prosecutions under game Acts
ought to be defrayed by the persons concerned in the actions,
and not by the county."

5. " That this Chamber of Agriculture is unanimous in
hopmg that the hon. Members for East Sufi'olk will use their
influence both in the House of Commons and out of it, for the
thorough investigation, and for the reform of these laws."

.^'i^ meeting appeared by no means inclined to go altogether
wnh Mr. Garrett, vM Mr, E. Deck movea as an amendment,

" That the over preservation of ground game is injurious to
the best interests of landlords, tenant farmers, and the country
at large." Mr. Garrould seconded Mr. Deck's resolution.

Mr. R. L. Everett proposed the adjournment of the de-
bate, and deprecated taking any resolution upon a part of the
question, which should be debated as a whole. Mr. W. Kersey
seconded the motion.

Mr. Newson Garrett objected strongly to the amendment,
and pressed for a division on the first resolution.

Mr. M. BiDDELL, who had succeeded Mr. Henniker-Major,
M.P., as chairman, ruled that he must first put the amend-
ment for the adjournment of the discussion which had been
last moved, and said he should like to have more said about
the remedy for the present state of thin gs. He was sure Mr.
Garrett's position would be no less strong for an adjourn-
ment.

Mr. Garrett : I come here not to maintain Mr. Garrett's
position, but I come here on the part of the farmers, and I
protest against the adjournment of the discussion-. I press
for a decision now. (Cries of " Chair, chair," and " Order.")

The Chairman then put the amendment moved by Mr.
Everett, which was carried by a large majority, and the
meeting was declared adjourned for a fortnight.

Several members essayed to continue to address the meeting,
but votes of thanks were passed to Mr. Garrett and the Chair-
man, and the hall was soon cleared.

THE GOVERNMENT GAME BILL.— The Bill is very
different from any which has hitherto passed into law upon
the subject of game. The clauses are few and very simple.
But they indicate perhaps more clearly than any other measure
which has been introduced by Government since the com-
mencement of the Reformed Parliament in what direction
public opinion is drifting. Not that the measure can be cha-
racterized as democratic. On the contrary, it is eminently
moderate. But when compared with any previous Acts which
have been passed on the subject ot game there is a marked
diff'erence. And it is this — that, whereas in all former Acts
almost without exception, the interest of the landlord has been
paramount, in this Bill it is the interest of the tenant wliichis
paramount. The object ol the Bill is to assimilate the laws of
England and Scotland relating to game. In Scotland it
appears that game is not tlie property of the tenant. When
he enters on a lease he has no more right to the game upon
his farm than he has to the landlord's residence. In England
it is otherwise. But, on the other hand, it appears that in
England the farmer who has resigned his rights to the game
may be treated as a poacher if he should take a
head of game off his own farm. In Scotland he
cannot be so treated. In these two particulars the Lord Ad-
vocate proposes to assimilate the laws of the two countries.
Henceforth, if this Bill passes, game in Scotland is to be the
property of the tenant. Henceforth the tenant in England
may take what game he likes off his own farm, and he can be
dealt with by a civil action only. It is obvious that both
these alterations in the law will tend greatly to better the con-
dition of the tenant. But these are the first steps only in this
direction. No injunction or interdict is to be granted whereby
the tenant can be restrained from kiUing all the hares and all
the rabbits on his laud if he be so minded. The landlord's
only redress in such a case is a civil action for damages against
the tenant. The latter may kill every four-footed animal on
his land, and then leave the assessment for damages to a jury
of his peers. This is an important weapon in the farmer's
hands, and one which is well calculated to bring even the most
exacting of game-preservers to reason. But the Lord Advocate
proposes to go beyond this. In cases where the landlord re-
serves the right of killing hares and rabbits he is bound to
keep down the stock of these animals within reasonable
limits, under penalty of liability in damages to the tenant.
And the reasonableness of the limits and the amount of the
damages are to be judged of after due regard is paid to the
character and cultivation of the land, the amount of the rent,
and the conditions of the lease. — T/ie Saturday Review,

THE GAME LAWS IN SCOTLAND.— The Haddington
Farmers' Club has just held a special meeting to consider the
Game Laws and the Game Bills before Parliament. The

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

453

cliairman, Mr. Scot-Skirving, moved that the Club petition
Parliament against the Lord-Advocate's Game Bill hi Mo
Mr. Dune, Barney Mains, moved that the Club think the
-Lord-Advocates Bill an improvement on the present law, but
the motion was not seconded, and the chairman's was declared
earned. Nr. Hope, JFentonbarns, then moved that the club
siiou d express an opinion in favour of Mr. M'Lagan's bill
which excludes liares and rabbits from the game laws. The
chairman moved the previous question, staling that by a
former deliverance the club was in favour of Mr. Loch's bill.
Ihe motion of the cliairman was carried by 10 votes to 9.
ihe Aberdeenshire Branch of the Scottish Chamber of Agri-
culture had also a meeting, and passed resolutions adverse
to the Lord Advocate's Bill.

THE HARES AND RABBITS.— The tenants on tlie es-
tate of Lord Leigh, Stoneleigli, Warwickshire, have just had
prepared an address expressing their apprecia^^^ion of his lord-
ship s hberality in granting them permission to kill the rabbits
and hares upon their respective farms. They express a hope
that his example will be extensively followed by otiier land-
owners, and that thus a frequent source of discontent will be
removed. The address, which is richly illuminated, with a
Gothick border, is signed by 27 tenant-farmers, each holdino-
from 300 to 400 acres.

THE HARES AND RABBITS.— ANOTHER SAD
STORY.— At the inquest on the body of Mr. John Hewitt,
who held a farm under Sir Charles Anderson, Bart., at Lea',
and whose untimely end we chronicled last week, it was elicited
that deceased just before succumbing to the effects of the poison
said; " I cannot bear it any longer : these rabbits have killed
me. Frequently of late he would look out of his window
and say, " I have sown my corn, but they'll eat it again." We
have been informed that last year deceased had to sow some of
his fields twice over, and, notwithstanding, one field of 16
acres yielded only 6 quarters.— ^?«;«/b/r; ilercury.

THE CENTRAL AND LOCAL CHAMBERS.-Cham-
bers of Agriculture are happily beginning to realise the fact
that, in regard to the agricultural interest, they are of no use
whatever. We have endeavoured, by means of arguments
which at the time were unpalatably strong, to convince them
of this palpable truth. The force of facts, data, and reasoninff
had not, however, its desired effect at the outset. Eor the
provincial Chambers could not readily believe that the way
they were being misrepresented and misled by a few men in
London, who affected to be, " We, the Farmers of England "
was really as bad as we described. This is often
the result when a case happens to be put in a neces-
sarily strong form, and the conclusions come to run counter to
the hope— it may be of the " hope against hope"— of the per-
sonages_ interested. Men are thus staggered, but for the
time being they are not convinced. Now, however, that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's financial statement for 1870 is
before the farmers of the country, it wdl surely not need much
more discussion lor the agricultural interest generally, and
provincial Chambers of Agriculture in particular, to fully
estimate the depths of social, commercial, and politi-
cal humiliation into which they have been led by
the Council and officials of the Central Chamber,
and their "Accredited Organ" Company (Limited)!
But our anticipations and predictions had happily
begun before the Budget of Mr. Lowe was published. There-
fore, now that the right honourable gentleman has, on the part
of the Government, not only not conceded one single request
made by the agricultural interest, but has increased the bur-
dens of farmers, while he has brought them more and more
into competition with foreign soils and climates, that indignation
which we said was gathering will, in all probability, very soon
explode with suitable force and effect. But of this we shall have
more to say in another column. The really important data, ho w-
ever,towhichwehavehere to draw attention is thewayin which
provincial Chambers begin to express their dissatisfaction at
the manner in which their views have been perverted, and
their publicly expressed displeasure has been turned to private
account by a coterie of political adventurers and their co-
partners—the Company (Limited) of newspaper speculators
and puffers. The Devonshire Chamber was the first to move
in the form of passing a resolution of dissatisfaction • and to
our surprise and great pleasure, the North of England Cham-
ber endorsed the resoJutioa gubsequeutly.-J/ie North of Enrj- I

HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.—
The April monthly meeting of the directors was held in
Edinburgli, Mr. Graham Binny in the chair. Specimen liorse
shoes, made after the Charlier and Goodenough systems, for-
warded by M. Charlier, were laid upon the table, with au
illustrated pamphlet by M. Charlier. Copies of the premium
list and regulations for the general show which is to be held
at Dumfries, from the 2Gth to the 29th of July, were sub-
mitted. The draft of a letter to the conveners of the counties
connected with the show to be held at Perth in 1871, viz.,
Perth, Forfar, Fife, and Kinross, as to the auxiliary subscrip-
tion, was read and approved. Forms of first and second class
certificates in forestry, to be signed by the president of the
Society, the board of examiners, and the secretary, were ap-
proved of; and it was resolved that the next examinations in
forestry should be held about the beginning of November.
The examination of the students at the Edinburgh Veterinary
College, for the society's veterinary diploma, was fixed to take
place in the College Hall, Clyde Street, on the 18th, 19th,
and 20th April, commencing each day at ten o'clock, and it
was resolved to grant the usual medals to the students who
pass the best examination in the various departments. The
secretary read a letter from the agent for Professor Dick's
trustees, sending one from Professor Williams suggesting that
there should be two examinations for the Society's veterinary
diploma every year, instead of one, namely, the usual exami-
nations in April, and an additional one about Christmas, as
two examinations in the year are of great advantage to any
student who may be rejected. The proposal was agreed to by
the board. Drawings of first and second class cattle waggons,
as patented by Mr. Reid, Grauton, Edinburgh, were submitted
to the meeting.

THE EDINBURGH VETERINARY COLLEGE.— There
have been no lectures on anatomy in the College for a fortnight,
owing, as it is alleged, on one side, to the inability of the
lecturer, Professor Brandford, to manage his class ; while on
his part it is understood that there is a feeling against him,
amountiag to something like a conspiracy, on the part of the
students and others in connexion with the College. Certain
it is that he has been grossly insulted in various ways, pelted
in the face, and burned in effigy ; and, as showing their spite
towards him, the pupils liave also broken several of the
college windows. One of the students had been brought
before the magistrates and fined for riotous conduct, and as he
afterwards refused to apologise to Professor Brandford, that
gentleman deprived the whole of his class of whatever ad-
vantage was to be derived from his prelections. Deputations
of collegians waited upon the Lord Provost and magistrates,
who are trustees of the College, and represented Professor
Brandford as being unfit to teach them. The trustees offered
their services to effect a reconciliation, but this was declined
by the Professor, on the ground that he was well enough able
to manage the class himself. Things have now come to tliis
pass, that the trustees, at their meeting at the end of last
week, came to the resolution " to make investigation into the
state of matters in the Veterinary College, and take such
evidence as may be judged necessary, with full powers to
appoint a substitute for teaching the class of anatomy during
the investigation, or for the remainder of the session, and
make such other arrangements for the College as they may
tliink necessary." It is to be regretted very much when such
an emeute occurs in an educational institution of such im-
portance.— Tlte Farmer.

LOCAL TAXATION.— At a meeting of the Cambridge-
shire and Isle of Ely Chamber of Agriculture, the question
of " Local Taxation" was introduced by Mr. Hicks, J.P.,
Chairman, who proposed : " That a petition be presented to
Parhament praying that the injustice under which the landed
interests in this country labour, in being taxed for imperial as
well as local purposes, in exoneration of other property, may
be remedied." Mr. Oliver Claude Pell, J. P., Wilburton,
seconded the motion. Mr. W. Marshall, of Ely, made a
powerful speech in opposition ; but the motion was carried by
22 to one, several not voting.

BEDFORDSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY —
Show of Stallions.— The first prize, £10, dark brown, Mr.
J. Roach, Gulton, Uppingham (England's Glory)- second
£5, Mr. F, Carpeuter, Forth Marston, Bucks (Active), '

H H 2

454

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WHARFEDALE AGRICULTURAL SHOW.

The Wh;\rfedale Agricultural Society, established in 1796,
has a history that extends fur beyoud the memory, if not the
existence of its oldest supporters, but age sits liglitly upon it.
AVith all tlie vigour of a new undertaking, it anticipates nearly
every other exhibition of the kind in its annual shows, and in
its ripe experience it knows well the channels through which
to aim at success. The seventy-second show o'' the society
wi'S held at Otley, when there was no falliug-off in the display
in the strictly agricultural sense.

The judges were : Cattle and Horses, J. Knowles, Wetherby ;
R. Bramley, Morton Grange, Northallerton; and W. Lancaster,
Koker, Sunderland. Sheep and Pigs : C Carr, Rowley
Grange, Scarcrolt ; and J. Lynn, Stroxton, Grantham, Lin-
colnshire. They made the following awards :

SHORTHORNS.

Bulls. — One-year-old, Lieut. -Col. Markham, Aberford.
Two-year-old or upwards, W. Fison and Co., Barley-in-
Wharfedale. Bull calf. Major Stapylton.

Cows. — One-year-old, E. H. Marshall, Weetwood ILill.
Two-year-old, V/. M. Spence, Otley. Tliree-year-old or aged,
Major Stapylton.

Bulls. — One-year-old, Wm. Linton, Sheriff Hutton (cup) ;
3, Thos. Wall, Addingham. Two-year-old or upwards, C.
Wright, Tadcastcr ; 3, M. Lamb, Caley farm, near Otley.
Bull calf under 13 months, J. Renton, Otley ; 3, J. T. Robin-
son, Thirsk.

Cows. — One-year-old, J. T. Robinson (cup) ; 3, T. H.
Hutchinson, Catterick. Two-year-old, J. T. Robinson ; 3,
H. H. Eawcett, Old Bramhope. Three-year-old or aged, J.
Renton; 3, J. W. Botcherby, Darlington. Heifer calf under
13 months, W. Linton ; 3, J. T. Robinson. Cow, any age,
for dairy purposes, J. T. Robinson ; 3, W. M. Spence, Deau-
field House, near Otley.

Stallions. — Blood stallion, J. H. Wright, Rigton.
Roadsters, H. R. AV. Hart, Dunnington Lodge. For draught
or agricultural purposes, J. Forshaw, Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Geldings, Colts, a^'u Fillies. — Hack under 15 bands,
any age, H. Crossley, Halifax (cup) ; 3, Thos. Clarkson, Leeds.
Gelding or filly, foaled in or before 1866, for roadsters, T.
Clarkson ; 3, E. Charleswortb, Bradford. Geldiug or filly,
foaled in or before 1866, for coaching, W. Dawson and Sons,
Otley ; 3, Hy. Fawcett, Old Bramhope. Gelding or filly, foaled
in 1867, for roadster, Wm. Stead, Cleckheaton ; 3, Wm. Luin-
ley, AVetherby. Gelling or filly, foaled in 1867, for coaching,
Geo. Turner, Leeds; 3, AA'm. Haigh, Lowmoor. Gelding,
foaled in 1867, for draught or agricultural purposes, J. Robin-
son, Laister Dyke ; 3, C. G. and AA''. Cheetham, Horsforth.
Filly, foaled in 1867, lor dniuglit or agricultural purposes,
Mrs. Heddon, Thirsk; 3, J. AA^ood, Beeston Royds. Gelding
or filly, foaled in 1868, for hunter, AA' . Ingham, AVortley ; 3,
E. and AA^ Pawson, Burley-iu-Wiiarfedale. Gelding or filly,
i'oaled in 1868, for roadster, Jas. Duncan, Otlcj ; 3, D. New-
sora, Yeadon. Gelding or filly, foaled in 1868, for coacliing,
E. and AV. Pawson, Burlcy-in-AA'harfedale; 3, Chas. Pickard,
AA'^eston. Gelding, foaled in 1868, for draught, Mrs. Heddon,
Thirsk ; 3, Robt. Denison, Barrowby Grange. Filly, toaled
in 1868, for draught, \A'm. Hartley, Gledhow, Leeds. Colt or
filly, foaled in 1809, for drauglit, B. Long, Kearby, near
Wetherby ; 3, Steven Fawcett, Bnrley-in-AVharfedale. Colt
or filly, foaled in 1869, for roadster, J. T. Robinson, Leckljy
Palace, Thirsk; 3, J. W. Yeadon, Fewston. Colt or filly
foaled in 1869, for coaching, Jno. Reauison, Thorparch ; 3,
Joseph Clarke, Beeston, near Leeds.

Brood Mares. — Brood mares for roadster, Joseph Clarke ;
3, AA^ M. Spence, Deanfield House, Otley. Brood mare for
draught or agricultural purposes, Jno. Robinson, Laister Dyke ;
3, Thos. Gieenwood, Rodney.

lIoESES IN Harness. — Horse or marc in single harness
(cup). Josh. Smith, Bradford ; 3, AA^aller and Son, Bradford.
Cart horse or mare of any age, lUingworlh, Ingham, and Co.,
Leeds ; 3, James Hammond, Bradford. Pony of any age, not
exceeding 13 hands, 1, owner's name not in catalogue ; 3,
Ann Sutcliffe, llawortli Fold, near Burnley. Pony of any age,
not exceeding 1-1. hands, AVm. Ingham, Wortley ; 3, J. JM.
Kendall, AVeston, Oth'v. Leaping pony, not exceeding II
liands, J. M. Andrew, Dewsbury.

llu^TERS. — Hunter of any age (euij), Henry Crossley,

Broomfield, Halifax. Best leaper (cup), Henry Johnson,
SpofTorth.

SiiEEi- — Ram, any age (cup), T. H. Hutchinson, Manor
House, Catterick ; 3, Josepli Simpson, Spolforth Park. Shear-
ling ram, T. H. Hutchinson; 3, J.Simpson. Tup hogg, 1
and 3, T. H. Hutchinson. Pen of three gimmers, T. 11.
Hutchinson ; 3, John Rishwortli, South Milford. Pen of
three wethers, 1 and 3, "W. Thirkill, Aberford. Pen of three
ewes and lambs, T. II. Hutchinson. Louk ram, any age, B.
Dobson, Ilkley ; 3, John Iloyle, Keighley. Any distinct breed
or cross not named above, 1 and 3, Jno. Jowett, -Prospect
House, near Keighley.

Pigs. — Boar, large breed, 1 and 3, AA^ilson Lister, Armley.
Boar, small breed, J. and AV. Sagar, L'ster Hills, Bradford.
Boar, middle breed, J. E. Fox, Great Ilorton ; 3, J. and W.
Sagar. Sow, large breed, Wm. Hatton, Addingham ; 3, AA^m.
Parker, Bradford. Sow, small breed (cup) Wm. Hatton ; 3,
Wilson Lister. Sow, middle breed, AA'. Parker; 3, David
Spencer, Keighley. Pigs not exceeding nine mouths old:
Boar, large breed, AV. Parker ; 3, AVilson Lister. Boar, small
breed, Jolin Marshall, Yeadon ; 3, AA'. Parker. Boar, middle
breed, W. Hatton. Sow, large breed, W. Parker. Sow,
small breed, T. AA'^ilson, Crossbills ; 3, W. Graham, Leeds.
Sow, middle breed, AV. Hatton ; 3, F. Ambler, Keighley.

BORDER UNION AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY.

The annual spring show was held at Jedburgh. At a
meeting of the Society lately held it was agreed that the
autumn exhibition should be confined to sheep, and that the
principal competitions for cattle, horses, and implements
should be held in the sprinj^-. The Union includes the counties
of Roxburgh, Berwick, and part of Northumberland.

The show of Shorthorn cattle was considerably larger
tlian in previous years ; but the stock was, with a few eminent
exceptions, not of a superior class. Of bulls calved before Lt
January, 1868, the premium was secured by Beverley Lad,
third in the Highland Society's show last year. There was
a great absence of really good bulls in the yearling class, few
being beyond mediocrity out of the thirty-one shown. The
cows and heifers were a better class, but the number shown
was small.

Judges. — For cattle and drauglit horses; Messrs.
Douglas, Athelstaneford ; Gibbons, Burnfoot ; and Iladdon,
Honeyburn. For hunting and other horses: Messrs. R.
Calder, Kelloemains ; Ford, Hardeugreen ; and E. 11. Max-
well, of Teviotbank.

AWAKDS :

SHORTHORNS.

Bulls calved before 1st Jan., 1868. — First prize. Sir T. B.
Hepburn, Bart., Smeaton, Prestonkirk. Commended : Mr.
Smith, Melkington, Coldstream.

Bulls calved before 1st Jan., 1869.— First prize, Mr. Smith,
Melkington, Coldstream. Commended : Mr. J. B. Browell,
East Bitchfield, Belsay, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Bulls calved after 1st Jan., 1869.— -First prize, IMr. Bell,
Fans, Earlston (late Cockburn) ; second, Mr. John Dinning,
Belford.

Cows not exceeding ten years old. — First prize, Mr. John
Atkinson, Byewell Hall Farm, Stoeksfield-ou-Tyne ; second,
Mr. J. Oliver, Hawick.

Heifers, two years old. — Mr. John Atkinson, Byewell Hall
Farm.

Heifers, one year old. — First prize, Mr. J. Atkinson, Bye-
well Hall ; second, Mr. R. Richardson, Crailing Nook, Jed-
burgh.

HORSES.

Cart mares, with foal at foof, or to be in foal at the time of
exliibition. — First prize, Mr. Shortreed, Attonburii ; second,
Mr. J. Lawrie, Mitchelstone, Stow.

Cart mares or geldings, above three years old. — First prize,
Mr. J. Lawrie, Mitchelstone, Stow ; second, Mr. Oliver, Loch-
side, KeLso, Sharp.

Colts and fillies for agricultural purposes, two years old. —
First juize, ]\lr. Adam AA'ilson, Midsliiels, Hawick ; second,
Mr. J. jjawrie, Mitchelstone, Stow.

Hackneys (geldings or mares). — Dr. Kynock, Greenlaw,
Berwickshire.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

455

■pouies (geldings or mares), under 14 Iiands.— Mr. J. John-
ston, Criiling Hall, Jedburgli.

IIUNTII^G STOCK.

Four year olds, likely to make good hunters. — First prize,
Mr. G. Dove, Todshawhaugh, Hawick ; second, Mr. J. Fen-
wick, Nortlihouse, Hawick.

Three year olds, likely to make good hunters.— First prize,
Dr. Kynock, Greenlaw, Berwickshire; second, Mr. Pringle,
Cleithaugli, Jedburgh.

Brood mares.— First prize, Mr. Elliot, Hindhope, Jedburgh;
second, Mr. Steen, Pilmuir, Hawick.

Four year old hunting colts and fillies.— Mr. G. Dove, Tods
shawhaugh, Hawick.
Melkington, Coldstream. Commended : Dr. Kynock, Green-

Threeyearoldhunting colts and fillies.— Prize, Mr. W.Smith,
law, Berwickshire.

Made hunters.— First prize, Mr. Dodd, Nisbet, Kelso, Ben
West ; second, Mr. T. E. Boog, Lanton, Jedburgh.
PIGS.

Boars of the large breed. — Mr. Ross, Newtoulees, Kelso.

Boars of the small breed. — Major Dickins, Coruhill House,
Coldstream.

Brood swine of the large breed. — Mr. Haddon, Honeybnrn,
Hawick.

Brood swine of the small breed. — Major Dickins, Cornhill
House, Coldstream.

COTTINGH AM HORSE SHOW.— Judges, Mr. C. Wood,
South Dalton ; Mr. R. Stephenson, Goodmanliaiu ; and Mr.
Green, Withernwick. Entire horses for hunting purposes :
First prize, Mr. G. Lamplough's Stratheru ; second, Mr. W.
Shaw's Prince Plausible. Coaching stallions : First prize,
Mr. W. Lavenck's Emperor; second, Mr. G. Holmes'
Darlington. Roadster stallions : First prize, Mr. J. Leake's
Lord Derby ; second, Mr. Brown's President. Agricultural
stallions : First prize, Mr. F. Sinipkin's Sir William Wallis ;
second, Mr. T. Carrick's Brown Hc^-o. Hackney mares or
geldings : First prize (a silver cup), Mr. Stephenson, Cotting-
ham ; second, Mr. Holmes, Beverley. Ponies under fourteen
hands : First prize, Mr. Sinipkin's Maid of all Work ; second,
Mr. H. Wilson, Cottingham.

STALLION SHOW AT CARLISLE.— This was a show of
entire horses for the prizes offered by the East Cumberland
Agricultural Society. Judges : J. Jardine, Dryfehohiie, Locker-
bie ; Laurence Drew, Merryton, Hamilton ; J. Davidson, Long-
bank' Alnwick. Awards : Thorough-bred Stallions— 1st, J.
Casson's Sincerity, by Red Hart ; 2nd, Toppin's Kingfislier.
Highly commended— J. Casson's Motley. Cart Stallions—
1st, W. & H. Phillip's Clydesdale Tam ; 2nd, G. & A. Nichol's
North Star. Highly coramended—AV. Allerdice's Dumbarton.
Commended — J. Mounsey's Dundonald.

MR. DUCK HAM'S THIRD PERIODICAL SALE OF
HEREFORDS AT HEREFORD.— This experiment was

' again tried on the last Wednesday in April, but with an equally
j unsatisfactory result in the way of business. There were some
j twenty lots of cows and heifers and a dozen or so of hulls
offered ; but, according to the local journals, " the biddings
I were by no means of that spirited nature we had hoped to
I have seen :" and no return of the prices is given.
I JUDGES AND JUDGING.— Notwithstanding the con-
fidence which Mr. William Torr is said to have ex-
pressed as to carrying his motion it will be found
that he considerably modified this on bringing it before
tlie Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, and
ultimately withdrew it altogether ! We refer our readers
to the report of the proceedings, and in doing so would
congratulate the members generally of the Society on the
clearness and fulness with which these reports of Council
meetings are now given. Mr. Milward appears to have
been the only other member of the Council who went
with Mr. Torr, and his sole argument was directly
answered by Mr. Jacob Wilson. The discussion ran
mainly on Shorthorns, and there was a very be-
coming tone about Mr. Booth's observations which went
to support all we had advanced as to the chances of
younger exhibitors. If a good pedigree be necessary for
bulls, and we should be the last to question this, cannot
Messrs. Torr and Milward see that the conditions of entry
might be made to assimilate very much with those for
thorough-bred horses? Let a pedigree be given with
each bull, and let the decision over any such qualification
rest, not with the judges, but with the Council or stewards
of the show.

THE MALT TAX AND "THE ORGAN."— Certain
recent appearers in, or rather poachers upon, the newspaper
field have of late been trying very hard to make the farmers
believe that Mr. Lowe would take off part of the malt tax.
We knew better. However large his surplus might be, we
felt certain he would do nothing of the kind. Hostility,
deadly hostility, to the agricultural interest is the badge of the
tribe with whom he is officially connected, and the false
prophets have an uncomfortable task in excusing themselves
to their dupes as well as they can. AVe need not rt^fer more
particularly to the organs in question, not feeling inclined to
advertise mischievous commodities gratis. — T/ia Ileiis Guar-
dian.

LICENSED TO DEAL IN HORSES.— Sir George Chol-
mondeley, Bait., who exhibits hunting stock so regularly at
the YorKshire shows, and who liad the " best of all the hunters"
at the Manchester Royal Meeting last year, has just taken out
a licence to deal in horses. Mr. Millward has long had a
similar sign board stuck up in a tree at Thurgarton, as there
are others we know of who might as reasonably announce
their "profession" in this way.

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE.

The lands to be planted with beetroot and Swedish
turnips will receive the last earth working early in this
month, and will be thoroughly pulverized and cleared
from weeds and stones, and laid into a level condition.
Ridglets are formed, 28 inches apart, by a single or double
furrow of the common plough, deeply done to throw fresh
soil over the tops of the drills. Farmyard dung in a
half-rotten condition, short and moist, is spread along the
intervals of the drills, in the quantity of 20 loads of one-
horse carts and 15 loads of two horses, which must cover
the bottom of the hollows without any bare space ; and
this condition must be held a general ride in the planting
of root crops. The ridglets are split and the earth is
reversed over the dung by a " bout," or two furrows of
the common plough, which throws from opposite sides a
deep furrow of earth raised by the narrow point of the
one-winged share or sock. On this newly-formed ridglet
of fresh soil the seeds of beet are deposited by hand dibble

or sown by machine, and may be previously steeped for
48 hours in solutions of caustic substances and dried
with hot lime. This preparation may hasten the
germination of the seeds without much aiding the succeed-
ing growth. The drills arc rolled by a weight of 5 or
6 cwt. of cast iron. The sowing of beet is best done by
the middle of the month, and very beneficiallv after
20th of April.

Swedish turnips are sown during the whole month,
exactly in the manner that has been described, except that
in moist seasons the drills may not be rolled after sowing,
but left loose on the top. Tankards and early white
turnips are sown for use in autumn, and rape on any left
grounds or inferior lands, to be consumed on the ground
by sheep for a catch crop of wheat. The purple and
yellow-topped swedes are yet the best varieties of that
most valuable root.

riant cabbages by the middle of the mouth, oa deep.

456

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

strong, clayey loams of the first-rate quality, whicli hav^
been prepared by the cultivations of ploughing, harrow"
ing, and rolling, hand-picking of weeds and stones, and
brought into the condition of a pulverized fitness. The
drills must be 30 inches wide to allow the spreading of
the heads of the cabbage, and the allowance of farmyard
dung must be larger than for any other green crop. The
plants pulled from the seed-bed are placed upright in
tubs of water that immerse the roots, which have been
dressed by hand- cutting into a short and compact neat-
ness from the long fibres. After being in this position
for two days, the plants are carried to the field in the
tubs, and planted by hand dibble on the ridglets of land,
at two feet distance, over the dung and previously rolled,
and at the same depth as the plants stood in the seed-bed,
as marked by the skin of the stem. The plant requires
much moisture, and is best planted in the wettest weather
the work can be done. Fill up any blanks that occur in
order to produce an even crop on the ground. The drum-
Lead variety is the best cabbage plant yet known, producing
very largely and readily under the requisite circumstances
of deep strong lands of the very best quality, under a
moist climate of frequent rains and warm suns. The ma-
nagement of the crop is costly, but the produce is large,
and forms a most invaluable spring food for ewes and
lambs at a season the most trying for the use of the green
food of the farm.

Khol-rabi and savoys are cultivated in the same man-
ner as cabbages, but claim a small notice, as the first
plant is very coarse and fibrous, and the latter yields leaves
only and no bulb.

Pare and burn lands during the month, and spread the
ashes as produced, in order to cool them.

Prepare the turnip lands for sowing next month, and
cross -plough the clay fallows for wheat at every conve-
nience.

Dung heaps must now be turned over by hand forks,
and all lumps carefully broken and shaken out, and the
heap loosely placed, in order to produce an even fermen-
tation for use.

Watered meadows are now shut up for hay, and all pas-
tures and grass lands must now be carefully protected
with fences and gates.

Dig hop grounds, and tie the bine to the poles.

Finish the sowing of grass seeds left from last month.

Put mares to the stallion, and geld colts, though this
operation may be more safely done the preceding autumn.

Stall-fed cattle will now be all disposed of, the fat ani-
mals to the butcher, and the leaner beasts will go to the
pasture fields, to be fattened on grass. Arrange the cat-
tle in the pastures by age, size, and condition, in order
to a systematic order of the manufactory of animals, both
for pleasure and profit. The colour of a herd of cattle is a
point to be regarded, showing a taste which leads to per-
fection. A shelter shed and copious supply of water are
essential to pasture grounds. The milch cows are accom-
modated with a grazing closely adjoining the homestead,
with a short and easy communication with the cow shed,
which forms the end of the wing of the farmery, with a
door of entrance. This field is the lambing ground, and
is enriched by the ewes consuming the roots, by bush-
harrowing, and rolling, and by the sowing of seeds of
clover and grass at times, as may seem necessary. A
shelter shed, with an ample supply of water are necessary,
and also an open clump of trees on any knoll or high
ground, to afford shelter to the animals from rains and
heats.

The oldest calves will be lodged in a grass paddock,
provided for the special use, with a shed and water, and
have one suckling daily with the green food of clovers and
vetches. The calves in the pens should have green meat
to accustom the use of such food before being turned out

The ewes and lambs that are consuming the earliest
green meat of the farm, in rye and winter vetches, will
require a fresh piece of ground every two days, which is
guarded by flakes or bundles, and are folded regularly
over the cleaned land, which is thus prepared to be sown
with tm-nips, one furrow of ploughing drilled into the
ground with a manure of guano or bone-dust. The green
meat may be cut by scythe, and placed in rack for the
sheep, with oats and small broken cake placed in troughs,
to correct the juicy quality of the very succulent herbage.
In the end of the month green meat -nill be provided for the
soiling of horses, cattle, and pigs in the yards, which must
be amply littered. Watered meadows will afi'ord a green
meat for ewes and lambs in pasture, or in hurdled spaces—
a most invaluable production at this most critical season
of the year, for the food of animals.

Finish the sowing of grass seeds on barley and wheat
tilths. Cover by light harrowing and heavy rolling.

Gather, by hand-picking, stones from the surface of
lands to be mown for hay, chiefly the young seeds sown
with a grain crop. Lay the stones in a heap, to be broken
for road metal, or for drains. This gathering of stones
must be done early in the month, or rather in last mouth,
in early situations.

The stubble of strong straws of wheat will remain un-
broken during mild winters until the hay harvest, and
much impede the scythe. The stubble must be broken
before the rise of the grasses, by a heavy bush-harrow of
thorns under a heavy weight, as a gate, or a platform of
timber, which goes and returns in the same path, to reverse
the action of the harrow. This operation is not required
in many places, and is much required in others, fi-om va-
rious causes.

Fell oak trees for barking ; strip the bark by hand,
chisel, and mallet, and dry it for use.

Wash sheep by hand in a clear running stream two
weeks before the shearing commences, to prevent the
maggot-fly depositing the eggs on the animals ; sprinkle
the bodies from head to tail, fi-om a dredging-box, with a
mixture of hellebore-root powder and black brimstone,
ilb. to l^lb. This precaution is|seldom required beyond
a distance of more than three miles from the sea, the
maggot-fly not being inland.

Weed young quickset hedges ; pull or cast away the
weeds that overtop and hinder the thorns, leaving the root
weed to retain moisture and defend fi'om drought without
exposing the roots to the sun, as is done by spade-cutting
off the soil to remove the weeds.

The grains of last year wiU be wholly cleared away,
unless a portion of the crop be reserved for litter,
and thrashed as required. The thrashing may be all per-
formed in March and early in April, and the straw built
into a rick for summer use. All grains being carried away
from the thrashing barn, the erection of a granary on any
farm is restricted to a temporary accommodation of seed
corn before being sown, and of wool before being weighed,
preventing an unnecessary expense in the building and
the cost of repairs. Large erections are the remnants
of Saxon " granges," yet visible in the huge and un-
necessary flail-thrashing barns of modern time, so obsti-
nately retained by prejudice and vacuity of mind.

CALENDAR OP GARDENING.

Kitchen Gauden.
This month includes the late crops, but not the very
latest. Commence with kidney beans, dwarf, or Mackie's
Monarch for a full crop in July, and repeat the sowing in
the third week. Scarlet and varigated runners are first
called for, planted over a shallow trench with a layer of
moist decayed mixen dung, pressed over with light earth

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

457

of tkree inches in depth, to secure against scorching
■weather of nest months. Dry soils arc required, but not
arid, and the seeds perish in wet grounds, as in the
case with Freneh beans. It is a good policy to be pre-
pared early in AprU with a stock of beans sown in pots,
to be now transplanted into fresh earth with dung, and
with open-ground plantings in summer.

Sow peas largely in two divisions in the first and second
weeks of the month, the first sowing with the later
variety of the early kinds, and the second division with
the tallest and latest varities, as Knight's Marrow, and
Adamson's Matchless, with the new names of Abergavenny
and Victoria Marrow. To guard against mildew in late
crops, trench the ground into a row of three feet wide
and one foot deep, with rotten dung in the bottom spits.
Water profusely by the rose ; fill up with the soil and
raise it to a flat ridge a few inches high along the centre ;
water again, that the ground may be thoroughly wetted ;
a few days after sow the peas an inch assunder. By
following these directions fine late peas may be secured at
Michaelmas, even when sown in July.

Plant the late crops of potatoes, and if practicable
plant the rows north and south to admit an equable
diffusion of sunlight.

Sow cucumbers on a ridge over manure.

Repeat all the sowings of last month, except the tap-
rooted plants, to afi'ord a succession of supplies.

Sow dwarf Indian corn about the 13th.

SuiFer no weeds to prevail, and where there is time
to Dutch hoe and finely rake every portion of uncropped
land the extreme neatness of the garden will amply repay
the trouble.

Fruit Department.

Water strawberries if the ground and weather be dry ;
the first bloom perishes under a scorching of May and

June. Fi'uits of trees and shrubs grow unmolested
during this month.

FiiOWER Garden.

Sow annual seeds in the borders ; biennials in a nursery
plot for the next season, thus for Brompton, Queen, and
German stocks. Propagate by slips and cuttings. Wall-
flowers, rockets, &c., put a glass over to shade them.

Roses must be watched. The worm in the bud is a sore
enemy. Stir the surface of the ground when nearly dry
after heavy rains. It is a great thing to know how to use
a Dutch hoe and a rake adroitly.

Attend to air and water in any glass structures.

In the end of the month the more elegant flowers, as
pelargoniums, verbenas, and nemophilas, are bedded-out
on the parterre system in plots on lawns. The mixed
collections require some little taste and judgment, to be
got from experience, and attention on a small scale.

Shrubberies may be littered by the falling of laurel and
other evergreen leaves : let such be removed to the com-
post grounds. Eradicate lilac suckers and keep all shrubs
in figure by judicious thinning back to larger branches.
Attend to every office of neatness and order as respects
weeds and rubbish of any kind, the rolling of gravels,
and the lawns prior to mowing.

Never cease to collect manure in the liquid pit and in
the dry compost heap. Fine earths, the droppings of
animals, sci'apings of roads and paths, the tender turf of
short grass from road sides, with vegetable refuse of all
kinds afi'ord a never-failing source of materials, assisted
by the liquids of the dwelling house that are urinary,
soapy, and in washings of a mixed composition. The
solid fajces are caught into boxes to be largely mixed
with fine earths to form a most powerful manure for the
root crops of the garden, as onions, leeks, and similar
plants of the succulent nature.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR APRIL.

The past month has been characterised by great inactivity
in the wheat trade, though as we write a decidedly firm tone
prevails, and the currency shows an upward tendency. Up
to very recently millers have continued to act with extreme
caution, and values have with difficulty been maintained, but
a very sensible diminution has taken place in the stocks of
foreign wheat on hand, while the holding of English wheat
has been much reduced. Millers accordingly now show some
anxiety to purchase atpresent prices, their stocks being very low,
but the more immediate cause of the late rise in values has been
the shortness of the supplies of English wheat on ofi'er at
Mark Lane. The navigation is now re-opened in Europe,
while the American canals are again free from ice, and ship-
ments are already being resumed with some activity in both
quarters. The intelligence of the late rise in prices on this
side will probably stimulate this movement, though the quota-
tions current here are still too high to admit of much margin
of profit on imported produce. The return of several steamers
from the Baltic may be looked for at an early date, but some
time must elapse before the receipts of foreign wheat can
again be on any very great scale, and the firm tone now pre-
vailing in the market may, therefore, be expected to be main-
tained. The average price of wheat, as shown in the Gazette
returns, has not materially varied throughout the month.

The weather, which was disappointing and unseasonable at
the opening of the month, suddenly changed at about the
third week, and since then we have had a spell of brilliant
weather, unusually warm for the time of year. The early-
sown wheats are well above ground, and are looking strong
and healthy, but the plants are not forward as the lengthened
winter greatly checked vegetation. This, however, is not to
be regretted as it may now be hoped that the plants have

obtained a firm hold in the groimd and will be able to stand
any moderate reverses of fortune.

There has been an active demand for feeding stuffs through-
out the month, and all kinds have tended upwards in value.
The arrivals of oats have been somewhat small, and sound corn
has advanced about Is. to Is. 6d. per qr. both on the spot and
afloat.

Maize has also been in good request, and the stock being
light has commanded more money. The utility of this
article as feed is becoming very generally recognized.

Beans and peas have ruled very firm in value, but barley
has been somewhat inactive.

In the hop market there has been scarcely anything doing,
and where sales have been pressed lower prices have been
submitted to. The holding of American hops is very large,
and a disposition was at one time shown to force the market,
which led to a considerable reduction in values. Present
quotations are nominal, especially as regards foreign hops and
yearlings, which have recently been altogether neglected.

The markets have been only moderately suppHed with hay
and clover, and although the demand has been far from active
prices have been maintained. The quotationa for hay have
ranged from £2 10s. to M 4s., and for clover M to £6 10s.
per load.

The imports of foreign potatoes have been rather hberal,
but the quality has not been generally good. With home-
grown produce the market has been fairly supplied, but there
has been less anxiety to force sales as it has been found that
the roots wUl keep better than was at one time anticipated.
Prices of both flukes and regents have tended upwards, and,
on the whole, the trade has been of a more satisfactory
character than for some time past.

On the continent the grain trade has not varied greatly.

458

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Very littlo Ims been passiug ou Euglish account, owiug to the
dull state of the market here ; but sUipmcuts are usually inter-
rupted during the winter season. IVom New York the ex-
ports of all kinds of grain have been on an extensive scale for
the time of year, shippers having been encouraged by a decline
both in gold and ocean freights.

REVIEW OF THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
MONTH OF APRIL.

The cattle trade during the past month has differed in no
material degree from the preceding month. The receipts of
stock have been on a full average scale, and have included
some prime breeds ; in fact, the actual weight of meat ex-
hibited has been above the average. The Norfolk beasts have
come to hand in prime condition, and althougli the animals
from Scotland have continued limited, the quality of the
beasts has gone far to compensate for the shortness of the
supply. Included in the foreign supply liave been some
serviceable French aud Spanish beasts. The former, although
they are still far short of the perfection attained by home-bred
stock, have considerably improved of late, and have become
much more saleable. As regards trade, the tendency gene-
rally has been towards quietness ; but prices at the same" time
liave not been subjected to any severe fluctuations. At the
commencement of the month, influenced by the cool weather,
the demand ruled steady, and the best Scots and crosses
realised is. lOd. to 5s. per Slbs. Subsequently a fall of 2d.
took place ; but this was almost immediately recovered, and
at the present moment the extreme value for the best Scots
and crosses is 5s. per Slbs.

A fresh outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease has occurred
in some districts, and some losses have been entailed on
graziers ; but the ravages have not as yet attained important
dimensions, neither have the losses been heavy. It is to be
hoped, however, that it will act as a warning to the authori-
ties to be vigilant to prevent a recurrence of last year's dis-
tress.

As regards sheep, the supplies have been about an average,
both as regards number and condition. The trade on the
whole has been quiet; but prices have been without move-
ment of importance. At one period the best shorn slieep
were selling at 4s, lOd. ; but the price now is 5s. per Slbs.

The market has been fairly supplied with lambs, for which
the demand has been steady, at from 7s. 6d. to Ss. per Slbs.

Calves have been quiet, and pigs have sold slowly.

The continued drought has caused a scarcity of grass in the
pastures, and the wheat at the same time being very backward,
a strong demand has necessarily been promoted for artificial
food.

The annexed figures show the total supplies exhibited and
disposed of at the Metropolitan Market during the month:

Beasts 19,528 Head.

Sheep and Lambs... ... ... 104,553

Calves 1,800

Pigs 4.30

Total 186,311

COMPAKISON OF SUPPLIES.

April Beasts. Sheep and Lambs. Calves. Pigs.

1869 18,849 141,760 1,329 585

1868 16,280 138,600 1,403 1,765

1867 16,250 113,770 977 1,805

1860 11,350 120,180 208 3,331

1865 19,670 92,850 1,279 2,002

1864 22,200 107,010 1,596 3,100

1863 19,290 113,000 1,341 2,540

1862 19,000 110,500 1,077 3,055

1801 17,140 102,630 497 2,662

1860 18,512 114,450 1,848 2,140

1859 16,850 110,114 420 1,990

1858 17,950 104,380 1,332 2,097

The arrivals of beasts from our own grazing districts, as
~xe\[ as from Scotland and Ireland, thus compare vvith the three

previous years : April, April, April, April,

From— 1870. 1869. 1808. 1867.

Norfolk, Suffolk, &c. 8,431 4,820 0,800 6,200

Other parts of England 2,542 2,006 4,020 2,150

Scotland 1,479 571 1,337 670

Ireland 725 953 290 130

The total imports of foreign stock into London during the
past monlli have been as under: Head.

Beasts 5,136

Sheep and Lambs 29,173

Calves 1,372

Pigs 1,387

Total

... 37,C68

Imports at

corresponding

periods :

Total

in

1809
1868
1807
1860
1805
1864
1863
1862
1861
1860
1859
1858

... 48,925
... 18,207
... 30,926
... 37,115
... 27,810
... 15,442
... 16,021
... 9,010
... 11,119
... 10,489
... 8,888
... 5,998

Beasts have sold at from 3s. to 5s., sheep 3s. to 5s., lambs
7s. Gd. to 8s., and calves 33. lOd. to 5s. 8d. per 81bs., to sink
the offal.

Comparison of Prices.

April, 1866. April, 1867.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 4 0 to 5 6 3 4to5 2

Mutton 4 6 to 7 0 3 6 to 6 0

Lamb 6 8 to 9 0 7 0 to 8 0

Veal 5 4 to 6 4 4 6 to 6 0

Pork 3 10 to 5 0 3 0 to 4 2

April, 1868. April, 1869.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef from 3 2 to 5 0 3 2 to 5 8

Mutton 3 4 to 5 0 3 2 to 6 6

Lamb 0 6 to 7 8 6 0 to 7 8

Veal 4 0 to 5 6 ' 4 8 to 6 2

Pork 3 4 to 4 4 3 8 to 5 2

In tlic dead-meat markets fair supplies h.avc come to hand.
The trade has been quiet, as follows : Beef from 3s. 4d. to 4j.
8d., mutton 3s. 4d.to 4s. 8d., lamb 6s. 8d. to 7s. 4d., veal 4s.
4d. to 5s. 2d., and pork 3s. 8d. to 5s. Od. per Slbs., by the
carcase.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.
We have completed as favourable a spring seed-time as we
could desire. All our heavy soils have worked admirably.
The very variable weather we have had d'.iring tlie winter have
so finely reduced the texture of the soils that there is every
prospect of spring-sown crops being good, The breadth sown
of all spring corn is above the average ; the low value of
wheat has deterred a many on our light soils from sowing that
grain during the winter months, consequently the additional
breadth of barley and oats. The wheat plant is backward,
and in some places thin of plant, but with a change of wea-
ther may soon present a different aspect. Spring appearances
are very deceptive, and some of the best crops we have known
liave been bare in the spring months. A good deal of rolling
has been done, the motive being to consolidate the soil and
give the roots of the plants a firmer liold. We very much
doubt the wisdom of the act, for the soils are invariably liglit
when the farmer is tempted to compress, thinking that a con-
trary state of things would be best. Now, as far as our ex-
perience goes we never had very favourable results when the
soils were soddened and stiff and hide-bound by long-continued
rains ; such a state of things in spring we remember have
always brought on much labour, and very irregular crops.
The lightness of soils (wo speak now of strong loams) should,
we think, never be counteracted, but looked upon as being a
state which very much facilitates the rootlets of the plants,
and when rains come are so remarkable for their rapid growth.
We much ratlier prefer harrowing, which generally promotes
tillering, and leaves the soils as far as tenacity is concerned in
much the same state. There is a damage done by the roller
which many do not observe, the action of which is easy to be
seen. A great many of them are not more than some 14 to
18 inches in diameter, consequently the centre being so near
the ground the resistance, which is equal to the power applied,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

455

pushes forward tlie light earth for some iaches before the roll,
and so witli the eartli the plants are driven forward, and the
roots broken, and irreparable damage done. Many a crop we
have seen destroyed in trying to improve it, instead of pa-
tiently waiting. If rollers must be used, thny sliould be of
large diameter, or they must injure the crop, and if the soils
want consolidating feed sheep or cattle upon them, the action
of whose feet give a direct downward pressure. We have put
on lands subject to wire-worm live stock, and fed ihem witli
cake aud other food, and what with the trampling and the
deposits in the shape of manure and urine, the crops have re-
covered wonderfully, care being taken tliat the weather be
favourable. We make these cursory remarks because the
roller has been so freely used this spring, and we doubt not in
many cases to much hurt. The lands intended for the growth
of turnips arc in a favourable state, and drilling will no doubt
be early, for early sowing after all is the safest; late
crops last year were nearly a failure. As far as
the application of farm-yard manures are concerned
we jierceive a marked improvement among the farmers.
That is, its early application to the soil, so that it may be well
incorporated and subject to those chemical clianges which take
place in our compost heaps of soil we prepare for our grass
lauds. Plants cannot derive immediate benelit from fresh
manures out of the fold-yard, and the mangold and turnip
plant need a prior preparation to ensure safe growth. We
manured a field of clay land rather heavy (it was drained) in
December last, and ploughed it in, and now it is in beautiful
condition for the good crop which we intend putting in the be-
ginning of next month. I'otatoes have kept well, and the
time for setting will soon be at hand. The low prices of bread
have checked consumption, so that we may expect them rea-
sonable in prices. 'J'he sales of farming stock, live and dead,
nave been good, and realized more than for some years.
Horses, cattle, and sheep have been in request, and in some
- instances made high figures. Pigs, short vacillating animals,
1 are very dear and very scarce. Ve should not be surprised
if within twelve months they were to hop down. Our corn
markets are very tame, and devoid of animation ; anv at-
tempt at an advance is soon met by liberal supplies. Labour
IS more plentiful, and meets the continued demand from our
mining districts. With high farming we could easily employ
our redundant population, but that will not be without se-
curity for capital ; and when will the English farmer get that ?
Impoverished farms are to let, and in too many instances are
taken by those of limited means; v^hile men of means are
driven to employ their money in other channels. For the good
ol both landlord and tenant we must eventually have the capital
of tiie cultivator protected. — 18th April.

NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND.
At this advanced period of the season we are in no favour-
able position to report. Early vegetation, field and garden
alike, show a blank of the green leaf, quite three weeks later
tlian ordinary seasons. Nor do we recollect any ordinary
season presenting so little life on the autumn sown wheat,
particularly on the loamy clay laud, cropped after a naked
fallow. We liad fields looking well planted, presenting a
favourable aspect until the end of February. Alternate
severe frosts, fresh, hail and sleeting rain seem to have
damaged the plant ; the hind, to walk over, now feels soft and
iloury under foot. Many of the plants weak and sickly, or
dead out, inasmuch as at a distance no green blade is seen, ex-
cept a piece near a hedge-row or furrow edge ; rolling and
harrowing (when the land will bear it) lias been the rule.
Land very dry and dusty. Whether the plant may recover or
not is problematical. At any rate we can only look for a late
harvest. Spring sown wheats and all cereals, barley and oats,
have gone in well, and the the braird very promising. Beans
also have a favourable appearance. Potatoes are being
planted in largo breadths under favourable auspices, the late
crop being used liberally for pig and cattle feeding ; our late
fine turnip crop being about a finish. We have experienced
about two weeks of very fine weather for all field work, and
spring sowing, including clover and grass seeds, all about a
finale. The days hot, with generally spiring wind— nights a
little chilly or raw frost, wliich checks" vegetation, consequently
grass aud ail green herbage very backward. Hence the ewe
and lamb are as usual really blealers, as in other seasons a
deal of oats, bran, and other artificial food has been and still

is consuming. Our butcher markets have always had good
supplies, and seem now over-stocked with foreign supplies.
There may be a large market supply from the north side of the
Tweed, yet such does not appear in the demand for grazing
land. The lots by auction nearly all fall far short of last year's
rents, varying from 2^ to upwards of 30 per cent, in some in-
stances. The snow seems now all melting off the mountain,
which enables the mountain sheep to pick up their nibble on
their native domain. Farm labour has been well worked np
since tlie last week in March, and we are quite up witli
ordinary seasons. Draining has not been so general as on
some former years, yet the ablebodied have been fully em-
ployed.— 22nd April.

NORTH WALES.

We are now sadly in want of rain to set the pastures grow-
ing, and give a cheerful look to the face of nature. The
north and north-east winds which have prevailed for two or
three weeks, and the brilliant sunshine of the past ten days
have caused everything to look parched. The nights have
generally been a little frosty, so that vegetation is decidedly
backward. But, as the wind has within the past 21. hours
veered round to the south, and as the mercury has gradually
fallen during the last two or three days, we are in hope that
before this will be in print some soaking showers will have
refreshed the thirsty fields. We have been waiting for the
past fortnight to sow guano on some meadow land, for, as
there w-ere no indications of rain, we thought it best to bide
our time. As we write we are preparing, however, for
sowing to-morrow, believing tliat rain is not far oH". The
spring tillage though late before it was commenced, owing to
the heavy rain fall which succeeded the frosts of the latter part
of the winter, has proceeded without a check. The land was
in first rate coudicion to receive the seed, the winter frosts
having caused the soil to pulverise easily with less than the
ordinary amount of rolling and harrowing. The wheats have
gathered together lately, and some fields have a capital ap-
pearance, with a full plant, strong, and healthy ; but, generally,
they are thin and weak, giving no good promise. The winter
was a most trying one to them, and, remembering the vicissi-
tudes they have encountered, they are perhaps just in as good
a state as we could have expected. We passed through some
midland and northern counties last week, and were sorry to
observe the wheats in our line of travel looking anything but
well. A large breadth of potatoes has been planted in ex-
cellent condition, and, except in our high mountain farms,
this work is nearly over. Last year's crop kept much better
than was anticipated, and the price throughout the winter has
been low ; now it is of course somewhat higher. The lamb-
ing season was, on the whole, very favouiable, and a good
fall of lambs is everywhere spoken of. Some of our flocks on
the mountain farms have been reduced by the severity of the
winter ; but where a li'tle care and attention were paid to them
the losses have been but slight. We have a good demand for
fat sheep, with a high price, and mutton is scarce. There is
little feed in the pastures yet, and winter fodder is well nigh
exhausted ; unless, therefore, we get rain soon, the cattle
must have short commons. We are sorry to report that there
is a good deal of scab amougst the sheep in various parts ; at
the same time it is a matter for congratulation that our herds
are free from disease of any kind. — April 20.

SOMERSETSHIRE.
It is several years since we had two such dry months as the
past aud present. For the past six months north and north-
east winds have taken the place of the more westerly ones
usually most prevalent. The wheat plant is backward, and
shows a deficiency in plant. Some rain nest week will no
doubt greatly alter the complaint now observant in the wheat.
There is the appearance of tillering out, and the amount of
this required to make up for the thinness of the plant will
greatly depend on early rain. There has been a great deal
more resowing than usual, especially on the light soils ; the
wheat looks best ou the stone ruck. Oats and barley sown
last mouth have come up nicely. We liave not had for years
so fine a season for preparing the land. Mangolds are much
more forward than usual, and a large quantity of these useful
roots will be cultivated this year. Beans have come up well,

460

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

but a considerable portion of the \('iuter-sown are thin ; some
pieces very promising, others hardly worth working. There
has been almost a failure in winter oats and barley for feeding.
Vetches backward. Sheep-keep very scarce, which has brought
down their value considerably. The supply being beyond the
demand, there is not that brisk sale amongst other stock.
Most of the dairies are filled up. Cows and calves have sold
very high this season. The dairies are consuming much more
hay than was expectad, and with present prospects it must con-
tinue some time into next month. There is very little doing
in wool ; prices have little altered. Beef still ranges from lis.
to 12s. per score, and pigs 10s. to lis. Mutton and lamb to
tjiis time firm, at late prices ; not so much on offer as some

seasons, and the supply will probably be shorter during the
next month. Wheat has been more steady in value lately :
best white 5s. Gd., red and nursery 5s. to 5s. 3d. per 621bs. ;
flour 30s. to 31s. per 2801bs. ; beans 6s. to 53. l^d., few ofl'er-
ing ; barley, little left in farmers' hands ; oats have sold better,
at 21s. to 2-ls. There is a good deal of unthrashed wheat on
hand, waiting for better prices, and the supplies are short.
Millers are lessening their stocks, and they are freer buyers,
but cannot get up the price of flour. There is the appearance
of a general blossom of fruit trees ; peaches and apricots well
set ; plums in general blossom ; pears and apples bid fair to
foUow in the same luxuriance. The frosts this mouth, beyond
retarding, appear to have had no injurious effect.

REVIEW OE THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

The mouth of April has passed without the customary
genial showers. Some fell at the close of the first week, but
the temperature was low and nights frosty for more thau
a fortnight, when a burst of mid-summer came, stiU with
very little rain. The Lent corn has been well got in, but
that lately sown cannot emerge from the hard crust w here
it is deposited, and should seasonable weather be long
withheld there will be a short crop of grass, and most of
our corn also. But the clouds have a Ruler whose
goodness never fails, and, though deferred, we would yet
expect the needful blessing. There has, however, been
sun and heat enough for all deeply-rooted things, so that
the fruit-trees have become suddenly charged with abun-
dant blossom, and the wheat-plant that has outlived the
late fluctuations has made some advance, and shows a
brighter green. But the misplant is only the more
apparent. Raised by repeated frosts, and dried after-
wards by cutting winds, some fields present a very sorry
aspect, and but few pieces look thoroughly well. Some
take it for certain that at least we shall have a late crop,
and others prophecy a poor one, but we would yet hope
better things. As respects prices, there has been very
little change, but on the whole there has been a gain of
fully Is. per qr. It is remarkable that, though the
averages for the last two months were Gs. below last year,
there has been a reported increase in the deliveries for
the same time on the deficient crop to the amount of over
68,000 qrs. ; we therefore infer that the produce of last
season must be much reduced ; and when we find that
London has had no portion of this increase, but has been
very freely delivering from granary stores, and that prices
since the opening of the Baltic have been rising there with
a similar state of things in Trance, it would seem to
indicate that we have about touched our lowest, a feeling
that seems spreading in the country as well as in the
metropolis. Indeed, it is a long lane that has no turning,
and though foreign stores abroad, more especially in
Southern Russia and America, are known to be heavy,
better accounts of prices in England, and worse prospects,
will very probably influence the rates there, as both
countries complain of the late depression in the grain
trade, and with a chance of doing better by waiting they
may rcsti'ain their shipments ; and should a drought set
in the rise in spring corn must occasion a more liberal use
of wheat for cattle food as proportionately cheaper. We
have now come to the period of weather markets, and
with prices so low there seems a much greater chance of
amendment than otherwise. The following rates were
recently quoted at the several places named : white wheat
at Paris to 51s., red 473., white at Bordeaux 47s.
In Belgium the range for wheat was from 45s. to 478,

Rotterdam quoted 44s. ; for white Zealand, Polish,
at Amsterdam, 51s. Holsleiu wheat at Hambro 40s.
Rostock 44s., white, 43s. At Stettin quotations ruled
from 36s. to 42s. Tine wheat at Danzic had become so
scarce that there were no offers on the London market,
and fine new was worth 51s., cost, freight, and insurance
included. At Cologne, good quality red was worth 42s.
At Pesth, in Hungary, heavy Banat or Theiss was quoted
at 38s., inferior sorts 34s. ; red at Vienna 42s., fine at
Venice 47s., Berdianski at Genoa 40s., the best at
Porreutruy, Switzerland, 43s., at Romanshorn 50s.
No. 1 red spring wheat, at New York, 38s. per 480 lbs.;
No 2 36s., Winter 38s. 6d.

The first Monday in Mark Lane commenced on a mo-
derate supply of English wheat, and only one cargo of
foreign. The show of fresh sample? from Essex and
Kent was scanty, and fine qualities fully maintained their
previous value, but did not go oft" very freely, the remain-
der being difficult to quit. A rather better inquiry was
experienced for foreign, but holders were not able to es-
tablish any advance, buyers operating with great caution.
But few floating cargoes remaining for sale, prices were
unaltered. Though the weather, which commenced very
cold, became more general as the week advanced, there
was generally very little change. The earlier markets
mostly w' ere unaltered, but those held later in several in-
stances "were Is. down. Among those were Birming-
ham, Newcastle, Sheffield, and St. Ives, and several
others on Saturday. Liverpool was down 2d. to 4d. for
the week. Scotland had quiet markets. The tendency
at Glasgow was rather in favour of buyers. The show of
Irish wheat at Dublin being very limited, prices were up
6d. per barrel ; but there was no improvement in foreign
qualities.

On the second Monday the arrivals, both English and
foreign, were moderate. The show of samples from the
near counties was limited, and with the weather more
general, accompanied with showers, more difficulty was
found in placing English samjiles. Kentish factors, who
generally are most desirous of selling, in some instances
accepted a reduction of Is. per qr. on former rates ; but
those of Essex would not submit, so but little was done.
The foreign trade was also dull, and to sell low descrip-
tions, such as Russian and inferior spring American,
some holders were content to take Is. per qr. less, but
the higher Baltic qualities were steady as to value. Though
the arrivals of floating cargoes were small, prices tended
downwards. Dull accounts from London, the commence-
ment of the holidays, and improved weather all contributed
to make markets heavy in the country. Though several
places uoted no change, it was chiefly from want of bu-

iness. Tte foUowing markets were all Is. per or

biay. Kugby, Rotherham, Stockton, Sleaford, and Shef-
l^f\ I"^"-P00 gave way 2d. per cental on Tuesday.
S bo7 ^f 'l?.^-'! Gd. per qr., and Glasgow 3d. to Gd

f^it ' , / ^r'^""^ ^'^l^"'^- ^° ^li^^Se was noted
in the value of wheat at Dublin, or indeed in any of the
provincial towus. ^

,nl^' *f ']? ^y?'^''? ^" *^^''^ ^^"^ '^'I'i about the usual
the rL°t f T^^^'f*' ^"^^^ " "^"'^'^^•''^t'^ ii"-ease from
Ind F« I • ^''' ''^^T °^ ^'•^^'^ ^^'^Pl«« from Kent
fhin ^ ''''' ^""^ '"''^' "^'l '^ ^''''S Easter Monday
W?fh I'"", H?' was equally so, and also business transacted.
SSr ^^"1^. P^^^'^^g the former rates were unaltered for
English qualities, and it was the same with foreign
only needy buyers making their appearance. wttl
few cargoes afloat unsold, prices were fuUy supported.
1 hough scarcely emerged from the holidays, and with an
outbreak of summer weather, the country trade through-
out the week was unusuaUy firm, scarcely any markets
complained of dulness ; many were slightly in sellers'
™\^') '°T ''?'' a'^o'^t Is. higher-among these
^ere Boston, Newark, Birmingham, Manchester, and
most of the maAets held on Saturday, Liverpool through-
out the week being firm. Glasgow exhibited an upward
tendency, and foreign wheat in Dublin was more in
demand, at fuUy the previous rates.

The fourth Monday commenced with a moderate
arrival of English wheat and increased supplies of foreign
half being from the Baltic and a fair quantity from New
)Lork. The show of fresh samples from Kent and Essex
was scanty; and as several of the later country advices
^ ?1 f^ improvement, 2s. per qr. advance was at first
P demanded, but only I3. was eventually paid, and that
reluctantly. There was a moderate inqui,-; for good

BaTtwr ^TTr '^ ' ^'""^^^' i'^^p'ovement, and
Baltic sorts were held for more money

The imports into London for four weeks were 20,273 qrs.

fc ? ^nLf'^^l ^''- f°r^ig'^> against 19,966 qrs.
English, 70 725 qrs. foreign for the same period in 1869 •
exports 4 53o qrs. The imports into the United King-
dom for four weeks, ending 16th April, were 1,905 683
cwts. wheat, 456,655 cwts. flour, against 1,621 404 cwts
wheat, 303,009 cwts. flour in 1869. Th^ general ave-"
rages commenced at 42s. 5d., and closed at 42s lOd •
tnose of Loudon began at 45s. 4d., and ended with 44s'
^cl. per qr.

The flour trade has been quiet throughout the month
Country sorts improved Is. per sack on the fourth Mon-
day, and American barrels, notwithstanding a fair supply
realized rather more money ; the former closed at 30s'
per sack, the latter at 23s., with something beyond for
any extra fine qualities, such being scarce. Town flour
has kept to the former price of 40s. for the best make
ite imports into London for four weeks were 76 091
sacks English, 4,372 sacks 30,804 barrels foreign
against 85,338 sacks English, 11,006 sacks 7,506 barrels
in looy.

Maize, which was unduly depressed in January, has
been steadily rising ever since, so that, from the lowest
point, 5s per qr. has been gained, 2s. of which were made
in the last four weeks. But the final market, though not
oppressed with arrivals, exhibited symptoms of dulness
or possible reaction ; but as the best white is only worth
31s to 32s and yellow 30s. to 31s., there is little pro-
bability of its dechmng much more, which increases the
value of Springcorn. The supplies for the month were
26,101 qrs. agamst 38,554 qrs. in 1869; and, as prices
in America are much higher than here from the failure of
the crop, nothmg from that quarter can be expected.

1 he malting season drawing to its close, the best qua-
lities haye been in very limited demand, at uaaltered

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

461

rates, and indeed prices have become nominal ; but the
increased supplies of grinding foreign have not prevented
a rise of about 6d. to Is. per qr. ; good qualities can still
be had at 22s. 6d. to 24s. The imports into London for
four weeks have been 6,178 qrs. British, of which very
little was from Scotland and 44,227 qrs. foreign; against
b,d^b qrs. British and 24,580 qrs. foreign in 1869

Of oats we have this month, as well as the last, been
without a single shipment from Scotland or Ireland and
a mere bagateUe of home growth has come to hand • but
the foreign supplies since the opening of the Baltic 'have
trebled the previous quantities. On the fii-st market the
increase, when no fear of drought was entertained, re-
duced values 6d. per qr. ; but they have since recovered
ully Is 6d per qr., leaving the gain quite Is. per qr.,
though the last market, showing the heaviest arrivals
was comparatively duU, from the fact that dealers were
.niV '"^ 'J°''^- ^^^^- ^^^^^^ were then worth 20s and
401b per bushel 21s. The imports for four weeks 'were
1,757 qrs English, 153,977 qrs. foreign, against 1,743
qrs. English, 114 qrs. Scotch, 3,480 qrs. Irish, 100 617
qrs. foreign, for the same period in 1869. Future rates
must be governed by the weather. Should plentiful rains
come down, and further heavy arrivals appear simulta-
neonsly. we may see a decline of Is. ; but there seems
more room for an advance than otherwise

Beans have been rather hardening in value, farmers'
stocks being pretty well exhausted, and foreign arrivals
not tree ; so prices have risen for the month about Is per
qr., Egyptian being worth 36s., and good French Vss
It maize should further advance, the value of this pulse
would also be enhanced, though the demand naturallv
falls off in warm weather. The arrivals into London for
four weeks were 2,491 qrs. English, 5,356 qrs. foreign
agamst 1,636 qrs. English, 2,097 qrs. foreign, for the
same period in 1869. & > ^'■

Peas, though not much inquired for, have fully main-
tamed their previous value, from the falling-off in the
supplies good white being worth 35s. to 36s., and grey
6Zs. to 33s. ° •'

The supply of linseed has been very short, and values
have improved about Is. But very little is now expected
trom Kussia, the growth having been short, and crops in-
terior ; so there is no chance at present of its returning
to the easy rates which ruled many years ago.

The value of linseed cake has also been increased about
5s. per ton, the want of herbage for the lambs and cattle
greatly increasing its use.

The cloverseed trade this season has been disappoint-
ingly small ; but values have been well maintained, from
the deficiency of our own crop and light foreign supplies,
ihe late very rough and cold weather materially delayed
the commencement of sowing; and, now much has been
sown, farmers are waiting for showers, when doubtless a
resh demand would spring up both for this seed and
tares, the latter being only partially planted

Rapeseed, from reported failures abroad, has been
almost daily rising in value.

OOMPAICATIVE AVERAGES.

WHEAT
Years. Qrs. i
1866... 72,215
1867... 61,016^
1868... 38,958
1869... 65.9601
1870... 62,016J

d.
44 9
61 4
73 8
46 8
42 10

BARLEY.

Qrs.

14,817i
11,608|
8,780i
12,0831
14,615|

37

43 10

44 6
35 2

OATS
Qrs.

3,4551
4,3181
3,653^
3,095
3,566

d,

24 8

25 5
29 0
27 7

21

FLUCTUATIONS in the AVERAGE PRICE of WHEAT
Peice. Mar. 12. Mar. 19.|Mar. 26. April 2. April 9. April le!

42s. lOd.
42s. 8d.
42s. 6d.
41s. ed.

^LJ

«:-/■

-™J

462

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

CURRENT PRICES OP BRITISH GRAIN AND FLOUR
IN MARK LANE.

ShiUlngB ppr Quarter.
WHEAT, Essex and Kent, white ... old 45 49 new 39 to 48

„ „ red old 43 45 new 37 44

Norfolk, Liucolnsh., and Yorksh. old 44 45 new 37 44

BARLEY 26 to 30 Chevalier new 31 40

Grinding 25 23 Distilling 30 34

MALT (nominal), Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk 61 69

Kingston, Ware, and town-made 61

Brown 48

RYE.

OATS, EngUsh, feed 20 to 22 Potato.,

Scotch, feed 00 " "

Irish, feed, white 17

Ditto, black 17

BEANS, Mazagan ...34

Harrow 36

PEAS, white, boilers.33

00 Potato,

19 Fine 20

20 Potato 20

35 Ticks 31

38 Pitfcon 40

36Maplo 38to39Grey,new 31

FLOUR, per sack of 2801bs., Town, Households 34

Country, on shore 30 to 32 ,, 33

Norfolk and Suffolk, on shore 30

FOREIGN GRAIN.

Shillines per Quarter.

WHEAT, Dantzic, mixed 45 to 47 extra 50to53

Konigsberg 44 45 extra 46 43

Rostock 43 45 fine 46 48

Silesian, red 40 42 white.... 41 46

Pomera., Meckberg., and Uckermrk. ...red 43 45

Russian, hard, 36 to 38. ..St. Petersburg and Riga 33 40

Danish and Holstein, red 40 42 American 39 43

French, none Rhine and Belgium 00 00

Chilian, white 48 ... Californian 50 ... Australian 49 62

BARLEY, grinding 22 to 21.. ..distilling and malting 29 32

OATS, Dutch, brewing and Rolands 19 to 21 feed 17 19

Danish and Swedish, feed 19 to 21.... Stralsund... 19 21

Canada 17 to 18, Riga 18 to 20, Arch. 18 to 20, P'sbg. 19 22

TARES, Spring, per qr small 37 40 large 50 56

BEANS, Priesland and Holstein 36 38

Konigsberg 32 to 35. ..Egyptian 34 37

PEAS, feeding and maple.. .33 35. ..fine boilers 33 35

INDIAN CORN, white 29 31. ..yellow 28 30

FLOUR, per sack, French..32 34.. .Spanish, p. sack 00 00

American, per brl 19 20...extraandd'ble, 21 23

BRITISH SEEDS.
MusTABD, perbush., brown lis. to Us., white 12s.tol63.

CiNABT.per qr 52s. 6l3.

Clotbesbed, red 683. 823.

CoBiiNDBE, per cwt 21s, 223.

Takes, winter, new, per bushel 7s. 8s.

Tbbfoil 36s. 38s.

Ryeoeass, perqr 28s. 303.

Linseed, per qr., sowing 708. to72s., crushing 59s. 6l8.

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 10s. to £10 15a.

Rafesebd, per qr 64s. 743.

Rape Oakb, perton £5 10s. to £5 158.

FOREIGN SEEDS.

CoBiANDBB, per owt 2l8.to22s.

Caebawat ,, 48s. 6O3.

Cloveksbbd, red 528. to648., white... 74s. 92s.

Hempseed, small Its. to 4os. per qr.... Dutch 488. 4Ss.

Tbbfoil ?U. '^s^.

Rteqbass, per qr ius. 30a.

Linseed, per qr., Baltic 57s. to 593. ..Bombay 60s. Bis.

Linseed Cakes, per ton £10 10s. to £10 168.

Rape Cake, per ton £5 10s. to £5 153.

Rapesebd, Dutch 663. 70s.

HOP MARKET.

Mid aud East Kents £7 0 £9 5 £12 13

Wealds.

Sussex

Bavarians

Erencli

Americans

G 0

5 12

G G

5 0

4. 5

Yearlings 1 10

7 0

6 G

7 7
5 15
5 5
2 10

8 0
G 13

9 0
G 10
G 0
3 15

POTATO MARKETS.
SOUTHWARK WATERSIDE.

rorkshire Flukes llOs.tolWs.

Ditto Regents 110s. to 140s.

Lincolnshire Regents 100s. to 110s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 100s. to 140s.

Perth, Eorfar, and Fife do 90s. to 100s.

Do. do. do. Rocks Sos. to 100s.

Do. do. do. Reds 85s. to 90s.

French and Belgiau whites 75s. to 90s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALPIELDS.

English Sliaws 110s. to 120s. per ton.

„ Regents 120s. to 140s. „

Scotch Regents lOOs. to 140s. „

„ Rocks 90s. to 110s. „

PEIOES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &c.

BUTTER, per cwt. : s. s.

Dorset 130 to 110

Friesland 116 118

Jersey 104 122

Feesh, per doz. ... 14 18
BACON, per cwt :

Wiltshire, green... 72 76

Irish, f.o.b 71 75

CHEESE, per cwt. :

Cheshire 70 to 90

Dble. Gloucester... 61 78

Cheddar 80 94

American 54 76

HAMS: York, old... 90 112

Cumberland 90 112

Irish, new 86 112

POULTRY, &c., MARKETS.— Goslings, 6s. to 8s. ; Duck-
lings, 3s. 6d. to 5s. Od. ; Surrey Fowls, 3s. to Gs. ; Sussex ditto,
3s. to 4s. ; Boston and Essex, 2s. Gd. to 4s. ; Irish, Is. Gd. to
3s. ; Rabbits, tame Is. to 2s., ditto wild Gd. to Is. ; Pigeons,
Gd. to Is. ; Guinea Fowls, 3s. to 4s. ; Leverets, Is. to 3s.
Eggs Ss., seconds Gs. per 120; Plover Eggs, 2s. Gd. per dozen.

CORK BUTTER MARKET, (Friday last)— Ordinary,
first quality, export 135s., country 132s. ; second, export 130s.,
country 127s. , third, export 98s., country 95s. ; lourth, ex-
port 80s., country 77s. ; fifth, export COs., country 57s.
Mild-cured: first quality, export 120s., country 123s. ; second
export 126s., country, 133s. ; third, export 101s., country 98s.
Currency : Ordinary Butter 10s. per cwt. less ; mild cured,
10s. ditto ; sponged, 2s. ditto ; thirds, fourths, fifths, and
Gths of kegs, 4s. less.

s. d. s. d.

OJi

tol

1

3

4

3

3*

0

1^

2*

34

4

^

2^

»

1

2

0

Oh

3

3t

1

1^

11

0

4

i^

u

2k

0

a

0

ENGLISH WOOL MARKET.
CuBBENT Prices of English Wool.
Fleeces — Southdown hogs per lb.

Half-bred ditto „

Kent fleeces ,

Southdown ewes and wethers ... ,,

Leicester ditto ,,

SoETS— Clothing, picklock „

Prime ,

Choice ,,

Super „

Combing, -wether mat ,,

Picklock ,,

Common ,,

Hog matching ,,

Picklock matching

Super ditto ,

LEEDS (English xsd Foreign) WOOL MARKET,
(Friday last). — The demand for English wool runs parallel
with tiie actual lequirements of the manufacturers, and, iu
tlie face of an early clip, should the weather be favourable, no
one is disposed to buy old wool on speculation. Prices for
most qualities are maintained with difilculty. The demand
for colonial wool is expending itself mainly at the public sales
in London. Prices are quite up to last sales, but the strength
and soundness of wool from Victoria is defective. For worsted
1)111 poses this is a serious matter, and also for some kinds of
ciotliing.

PRICE CURRENT OP GUANO, &c.
Peruvian Guano direct from the Importers' stores, £13 10s. to £13 163.

per ton.
Bones, £7 us. to £7 153. per ton.

Animal Charcoal (70 per cent. Phosphate) £5 per ton.
Coprolite, Cambridge, whole £3, ground £3 10a. per ton.

Sutrolk, whole £2 10s., ground £3.
Gypsum, £1 10s. Superphosphates of Lime, £5 5s. to £6 5a. perton.
Sulphuric Acid, concentrated 1845 Id. per lb., brown 1'712 O^d.
Sulphate of Ammonia His. lOd, to 19s. lOd. Salt (in London) 25s. per ton.
Blood Manure, £ti 5s. to £7 los. Dissolved Bones, £7 Da. per ton.

E. PoBSEB, London Manure Company,

116, Fenchurch Street, B.C.

Guano, Peruvian £13 7 6 to£0 0 0 Cotsd.Cake,deoor£6 15 0 to£7 0 0

Bone Ash 5 10 0

Phosphate of Lime 0 0 llj
Linswed Cake, per Lon —
Amer..thin, bgs. y 10 0
Linsd.Bomby,p.qr.3 U G
Rapeseed,Guzerat 3 4 0
Cottonseed, Egypt. 0 0 0

0 0 0 Cloverseed, N.Ara.

0 10 red, newpercwt.2 5 0 2 10 0

Niger 2 7 0 2 80

9 15 CI Nitr.of Soda, p.ct.O 16 6 0 16 9

3 1 0 Brimstone, 2d&3rd 7 0 0 7 12 6

3 5 OTallow, 1st P.Y.C. 2 6 0 0 00

0 0 0! ,, super. Norths 2 3 6 2 4 3

SAMUEL DOWNES and CO., General Brokers,
No. 7, The Albany, Liverpool.

Agricultural Chemical Works, Stowmarket, Sulfollc.

Prentice's Cereal Manure for Corn Crops „ „ per ton £8 0 0

Mangold Manure _. „ 8 0 0

Prentice's Turnip Manure „._.„.„ „.„ „ 6 10 0

Prentice's Superphosphatie of Ijirae_____„.„_„„„ ,, 6 0 0

Printed by Rogersou aud Tuxford, 265, Strand, London, W.C.

EEES & CO.'S BIPHOSPHATED PERUVIAN GTJANO

(REGISTEHBD TRADE MARK, FLYING ALBATROSS).

Is now ready for delivery, in quantity and in fine condition. It is beUeved
to be the best artificial manure yet produced Its base is Peruvian Government
Guano. It contains 21 per cent, of soluble pliosphates, 6 to 7 per cent, ot
Ammonia witb Salts of Potash. See reports of Dr Voelcker Dr. Anderson
- TRADE MAr^. Professor Way, Mr. Ogston, Mr. Sibson. Delivered in 2 cwt bags, each of

which is secured by a leaden seal, bearing the Company's Trade Mark. The analysis is guaranteed so long as
the seals remain unbroken. ,,..,, ,r t. -i t. n^ w,,!!

Agents tor the North of ENGLAND.-Messrs. KeiglUey, Maxsted, & ^o- ^^^i^- ^ Liverpool

Agent for Lancashire and neighbouring Counties.-W. S. Gladstone Esq., 23, Old HaU Stieet Liverpool.
Agents ?(XR ScoTLAND.-Messrs Eichard Connon & Co., Glasgow and Aberdeen; Messrs. Allan Edwards &

Agents fbl Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and PiFE.-Messrs Breysig and Co. Leith.

Agents for the South West of ENGLAND.-Messrs. Wm._ Smith & Co., Bristol.

Agents for Ireland.— Messrs. R. F. Gladstone & Co., Dublin. „ _ , ^ _ o nn T„-m,.^ T at^^ah

Agent for Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Herts, and MiDDLESEX.-Mr. John G. Barry, 8, Old Jewiy, London.

Price £11 per ton, delivered free to Rail or Wharf in London.
REES & CO.'S BIPHOSPHATED PERUVIAN GUANO COMPANY

(LIMITED),

32, KING WILLIAM STREET, LONDON, E.G.
Peruvian Government Guano •• £13 10s per ton.

Report and Analysis by Dr. A. Voelcker, consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England :

« Analytical Laboratory. 11. SaUsbury Square Jleet^S^-e^B^^^^^^ ^^^^_
•' SiB,-Enclosed you will find the results of a careftil analysis of a sample of fo^ ^jhosphated Pera^ These

^'^"^•"The secretary. ^^^^^ "^^' ^^'' =^°(Ved) OA^STUS VOELCKER »

"Rbbs & Go's Biphosphated Peruvian Guano Company, Limuea,
" 32, King William Street, London, E.C."

BEFENSIO NON PBOVOCATIO.

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS" TEA ASSOCIATION,

Chief Offices and Warehouses.— Southwark Street, S.E,
City Offices.— Mincing Lane, and 39, Fenchurch Street.
Paris Depot. — Rue Mont Thabor, No. 6.
Bankers.— National Provincial Bank of England, and Branches.
Secretary.— Augustus Folkard, to whom all Post-Office Orders, Cheques, and BiUs are to be made payable.

TERMS;— CASH ONLY.

This Association, founded in 1867, and omng its origin to the irregular competition of the Grocers in the

Sale of Wine, has agents (Licensed VictuaUers and Wine Merchants only) in every town in England, of whom

the Teas can be obtained in sealed packets of 1 lb., ^ lb., \ lb., and 2 oz. , , n

The Teas are very strong and very wholesome, are guaranteed pure and of uniform quality, are used by aU

classes, and universally pronounced the best at the prices in the kingdom.

Tae-Ping Finest Black Tea 2s. 6d.

„ „ Mixed Tea 3 0

„ „ Green Tea 3 6

Caravan, an exquisite Tea 3 6

A sample parcel of Eight lbs. forwarded carriage free on receipt of Post-oface Order. A Revised List Of

Agents win shortly be published.

PRICE'S BENZODYNE.— Cough ; Consumptive Chronic Cough— Bronchitis, &c., immedi-
ately relieved and permanently cured by Price's Benzodyne, an etherial extract of Benzoin, the healing
properties of which are time-honoured. Price's Benzodyne possesses a peculiar mechanical power of putting a
sudden stop to all wasting diseases as Cholera and Dysentery, and should be in every Hospital, Surgery, and
Rectory throughout the world. Prepared only by Mr. Price, Analytical Chemist, 2, Lower Seymour Street,
Portman Square, London, W.

HALF A MILLION

HAS BEEN PAID BY THE

AS

COMPENSATION FOB

ACdDENTS OF ALL KINOa

(RIDING, DRIVING, WALKING, HUNTING, &c.)

An Annnal Payment of £3 to J6 5s. insures ^1,000 at deatlu and ai
allowance at the rate of £6 per week for injury.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS ALON

MAY BE PROVIDED AGAINST BY

INSURANCE TICKETS FOR SINGLE OR DOUBLE JOURNIES. ,

For particulars, apply to tho Clerks at the Railway Stations, to th<
Local Agents, or at the Offices,

64, CORNHILL, and 10, BEGENT STREET, LONDON.

WILLIAM J. VIAN, Sbcretam.

aJtlU UM. (inruA^

U ■ - \'. \iu '

No. G, Vol. XXXVII.] JUNE, 1870. Thihd Series.

THE

FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

AND

MONTHLY JOURNAL

OF

THE AGRICULTURAL INTEREST.

TO THE

FARMERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BYROGERSON AND TUXFORD, 265, STRAND.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS,

BOGEBSON AND TUXFOBD,] [PBINTERS, 266, STI

Ear-.i^TTT-iv. .a,<ii 1 1. ii.j.La'n»iii

THE ROYAL FARMERS' INSURANCE COMPANY,

3, NOEFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.
CAPITAL. — Persons insured by this Company have the security of an extensive and wealthy proprietary
as well as an ample Capital always applicable to the payment of claims without delay.

LIFE DEPARTMENT.— BONUS.— Insurers of the participating clasa wiU be entitled to four-fiffchs

of the profits.

FIRE DEPARTMENT,-

1st Class — Not Hazardous , Is. 6d. per Cent.

2ud Class — Haisardous ... ... ... ... ,,, 2s. 6d.

3rd Class — Doubly Hazardous 4s. 6d. „

BUILDINGS and MERCANTILE Property of every description in Public or Private Warehouges.—
Distillers, Steam Engines, Goods in Boats or Canals, Ships in Port or Harbour, &c. Ac, are Ineured in this
Office at moderate rates.

SPECIAL RISKS.— At such rates as may be considered reasonable.
NEW INSURANCES.— No charge made for Policy or Stamp.

FARMING STOCK.— 5s. per cent., with liberty to use a Steam Thrashing Machine without extra
charge. Nearly FIVE MILLIONS Insui-ed in this Office.

SEVEN YEARS' INSURANCES may be effected on payment of Six Years' Premium only.
LIGHTNING and GAS.— Losses by Fire occasioned by Lightning, a»d Losses by Explosion of Gas
when used for Lighting Buildings will be allowed for.

RENT.— The Loss on Eent while Buildings remain untenantable through fire may be provided against.
HAIL DEPARTMENT.— (Crops and Glass.)

PoHcies to protect parties from Loss by the destruction of Growing Crop« or Glass, by Hail, are granted on
Moderate Terms.
LOSSES.— Prompt and liberal settlement.

AGENTS WANTED.

Apply to JOHN REDDISH, Esq., Secretary and Actuary.

IMPORTANT TO FLOCKMASTERS.

THOMAS BIGG, Agricultural and Veterinary
Chemist, by Appointment to His late Boyal Highness
The Prince Oonsort, K.G., Leicester House, Great Dover
Street, Borough, London, begs to call the attention of
Farmers and Graziers to his valuable SHEEP and LAMB
DIPPING COMPOSITION, which requires no Boiling, and
may be used with Warm or Cold Water, for eflfectually
destroying the Tick, Lice, and aU other insects injurious to
the Flock, preventing the alarming attacks of Fly and Shab,
and cleansing and purifying the Skin, thereby greatly im-
proving the Wool, both in quantity and quality, and highly
contributing to the general health of the animal.

Prepared only by Thomas Bigg, Chemist, &c., at his Manu-
factory as above, and sold as tollows, although any other
quantity may be had, if reqtiired: —

4 lb. for 20 sheep, price, jar included £0 2 0

61b.

81b.
101b.
201b,
301b.
401b.
601b.
601b.
801b.
100 lb.

30
40
60
100
150
200
250
300
400
600

(cask and measure 0 10 0

included)

0 16

1 0
1 3
1 7

1 17

2 6

Should any Flockmaster prefer boiling the Composition, it
will be equally effective.

MOST IMPORTANT CERTIFICATE.
From Mr. Heeepath, the celebrated Analytical Chemist :—
Bristol fjaboratory. Old Park, January 18th, 1861,
Sir,— I have submitted youi- Sheep Dipping Composition to
analysis, and find that the ingredients are well blended, and
the mixture neutral. If it is used according to the directions
given, I feel satisfied, that while it effectually destroys vermin
it will not injui-e the hair roots (or "yolk ") in the skin, the
fleece, or the carcase, I think it deserves the numerous
testunomals pubUshed. I am. Sir, yours respectfully,

rr^ HT rpv^^''"4¥ Hbeapaih, Sen., F.C.S., &c., Ac,
To Mr Thomas Bigg, Professor of Chemistry

Leicester House, Great Dover-fctreet, Borough, London

He would also especially call attention to his SPECIFIC,
or LOTION, for the SCAB or SHAB, which wiU be found
a certain remedy for eradicating that loathsome and ruinous
disorder in Sheep, and which may be safely used in all
climates, and at all seasons of the year, and to all descriptions
of sheep, even ewes in lamb. Price FIVE SHILLINGS per
gallon— suflacient on an average for thirty Sheep (according
to the virulence of the disease) ; also in wine quart bottles.
Is 3d 6SiCli

IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL,
" Scoulton, near Hingham, Norfolk, April 16th, 1855.

" Dear Sir,— In answer to yoiu-s ot the 4th inst., which
would have been replied to before this had I been at home, I
have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the efllcacy of
your invaluable ' Specific for the cui-e of Scab in Sheep.' The
600 sheep were all dressed in August last with 84 gallons of
the 'NoN -POISONOUS Specific,' that was so highly recom-
mended at the Lincoln Show, and by their own dresser, the
best attention being paid to the flock oy my shepherd after
dressing according to instructions left ; but notwithstanding
the Scab continued getting worse. Being determined to have
the Scab cured if possible, I wrote to you for a supply of your
Specific, which I received the following day; and although
the weather was most severe in February during the dressing,
your Specific proved itself an invaluable remedy, for in
three weeks the Sheep were quite cured ; and I am happy to
say the young lambs are doing remarkably well at present.
In conclusion, I believe it to be the safest and best remedy
now in use. " I remain, dear Sir,

"For JOHN TINGEY, Esq.,

" To Mr. Thomas Bigg," "R. BENNBY.

1^" Flockmasters would do well to beware of such pre-
pai-ations as "Non-poisonous Compositions:" it is only
necessary to appeal to their good common sense and judg-
ment to be thoroughly convinced that no " Non-poisonous "
article can poison or destroy insect vermin, particularly such
as the Tick, Lice, and Scab Parasites— creatures so tenacious
of life. Such advertised preparations must be wholly useless,
or they are not what they are represented to be.

DIPPING APPARATUS... jei4, £5, £4, & £3,

1

^

a

1

i«.

s.

^^ '

^

^^

s^

^

^^-

1.

■V

^

Co

1^

I i

y

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1870.

PLATE I.

HOGARTH THE SECOND; a Prize Shorthorn Buli,.

THE PROPERTY OF MR. KERSEY COOPER, OF EUSTON, THETFORD.

Hogarth 2ad (24148), a roan bull, calved August 30,
1866, and bred by the Rev. \V. Holt Beever, of Pencraig
Court, Ross, Hereftrdshire, is by Royal Butterfly 17th
(22774), out of Rue by Rex (16833), her dam Heart's
Ease by Hogarth (13036)— Snowdrop by 4th Duke
of York (10167)— Science by Sir Thomas Fairfax (5196)
— Starville by Young Sea Gull (5100) — Young Clarinda
by Crusadar (934)— Clarinda by Sultan (1485)— Young
Cherry by White Comet (1582)— by Son of Chilton
(136)— by Bolingbroke (86).

Royal Butterfly 17th (22774), roan, calved October
13, 1863, the famous 200-guinea calf, at the Towneley
sale, in March 1864, and bred by Col. Towneley, is by
Royal Butterfly (16862), out of Vestris 3rd by Valiant
(12253), her dam Veuilia by Tom of Lincoln (8714) —
Venus by Belerophon (3119) — Verbena by Renown
(2525)— Venus by Tartar (2738)— Miss Camidge by Col-
ton (1849)— Cornforthby Pioneer (1321)— Coy by Mar-
shal Beresford (415) — Cordelia by Cecil (120) — Cora by
Favourite (252) — Countess by Cupid (177) — Lady by
Grandson of Bolingbroke (280) — Phccnix by Foljambe
(263)— Favourite by R. Alcock's Bull (19)— by Smith's
Bull (608)— by Jolly's BuU (337).

Rue, a white cow, calved March 2, 1861, was bred by
Earl Spencer, at whose sale in 1865, when Mr. Carr offi-
ciated for the first time in the place of poor Captain
Spencer, Mr. Beever purchased her, being complimented
by that good judge, Mr. Drewry, on having bought the
best barreled cow of the lot. Fortunately she " nicks in"
well with Royal Butterfly 17th, all her produce having
the same attractive character. Of her lineage it was
writen under the head of " Shorthorn Intelligence," in
Bell's Weekly Messeiiger. " Rue is by Mr. Troutbeck's
fine Gwynne bull Rex, from a cow by Colonel Towneley's
Hogarth, the grand-dam by Fourth Duke of York." Her
dam Heartease was a show cow in the district, and took
several rosettes to Althorpe.

As a young one Hogarth 2nd followed implicitly in
the steps of his sire, being a grand, rich-coated calf to
begin with, then becoming somewhat slack and leggy, but
furnishing again gradually but surely, until he was pro-
nounced to be " a grand heavy-fleshed bull," and exhi-
bited, as a two-year-old, so strongly the familiar traits of
Old Sxries.]

his fashionable progenitor, as to win from the Mark Lane
Express the complimentary designation of " the stylish
Hogarth."

He has been only locally shown as yet, with the follow-
ing results :

1868. Norfolk Show, Downham Market. — As a year-
ling, second prize of £3, Lady Pigot's Rosolio beating
him.

1868. Suff'olk Show, Framlingham.— First prize of £4.

1869. Essex Show, Colchester. — Bulls open to all
England, prize of £20, as well as the " Town prize" £20,
with cow and off'spring ; beating Mr. Lynn's Grand Sul-
tan, Sorcerer, Charles Le Beau, General Hopewell, &c.

1869. Norfolk Show, Attleborough. — First prize for
bulls, £10, and £10 10s. Challenge Cup.

1869. Suffolk Show, Ipswich. — Bulls not under two
years. First prize of £10 and Challenge Cup £10 10s.

Hogarth 2nd was purchased by Mr. Kersey Cooper
just before the Smithfield Show, in the Cattle-plague year,
and went up to London with an ox for exhibition ;
whereupon bis life became at once forfeited to the great
amusement of the shrewd purchaser's many friends. It
was not, however, in Mr. Cooper's nature to surrender so
readily, and it came about eventually through some leger-
demain process upon a farm that was both in and out
of the proscribed boundary that poor Hogarth managed
to make his escape. He is now in training for Oxford,
where it is to be hoped that he may maintain something
of his early distinction, when he comes to break a lance
with such celebrities as Bolivar, &c., in competition for
University honours. " I have not seen the bull since I
sold him," Mr. Beever writes, " but expect to view a
striking likeness of him as he is now, unless Mr. E.
Corbet has, which is unlikely, lost the quick eye that
enabled his pencil, some years since, to faithfully, and
almost as it were by magic, as I watched him, represent
on canvas the pet members of my own herd ; sketches
which now I find often most useful on rainy days, when
with the plethoric volumes of the ' Herd Book' alongside,
one gets occupied in that most delicious of day dreams,
the compounding in imagination of future animals, which
are, of course, to be distinguished. Heigh ho ! What
would this world be if it were not for Shorthorns ?"

I I

[Vol. LXyil.— No. 6.

m

THE FABMEE'S MAGAZINE.

PLATE II.

JENNY LIND; a Prize Hackney Maee.

THK PROPERTY OF MR. HENRY OVERMAN, OP WEASENHAM, NORFOIK.

Jenny Lind is no doubt Norfolk bved ; but neither her
breeder nor pedigree can be ascertained. She is a chesnut
mare, with a white face and a white heel, standing just
fifteen hands high. She has capital shoulders, quite free
from lumber or loading, a good middle, great quarters,
and is altogether a smart, lengthy mare, on a short leg,
She has very quick grand action, and the way in which
she brings her hind legs under her is something extra-
ordinaiy to look on.

At the Bury St. Edmunds Meeting of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society in 1867, Jenny Lind took the first prize
of £30 in the class for mares in foal or with foal at foot,
suitable for breeding hackneys, and not less than fourteen"

two or over fifteen hands high. She was then sold to gc
to France, but was brought back by the late Sir John
Thorold, and has again found her way to Weasenham,,
where Mr. Overman has another or two of much the
same stamp.

Jenny Lind is entered for the Norfolk Society's show
at Harlestone dwing this month, where , with a foal at
foot, she will compete for Lord Leicester's premium.
Mr. Overman is a tenant of Lord Leicester's, and he him-
self, as his father before him, holds a prominent position
amongst those eminent agriculturists who have made the
farming of Norfolk so famous.

THE POTATO.

BY CUIHBEET W. JOHNSON, F.E.S.

There is hardly any cultivated field crop that has made
less advance in its produce than the potato. Indeed it is
doubtful if the average yield has not been for some years
decreasing. Our imports from foreign countries are cer-
tainly enlarging. In the year ].854 we imported 16,446
owts. : this had gradually increased to 1,374,323 cwts.
in 1867, and to 2,041,474 cwts. in 1868. This was
equal to .07 of a pound for each head of our population
in 1854, and to 7.52 lbs. in 1868. And yet the acreage
devoted to this crop is on the increasci In the years
1867 and 1868 there were planted :

1867. 1868.

In England 289,611 acres ... 327.173 acres.

In Wales 45,077 „ ... 47,431 „

In Ireland 1,001,781 „ ... 1,034,853 „

In Scotland 157,539 „ ... 166,939 „

It is true that the population of our island has long been
steadily increasing : but still it is very doubtful if the
rate of that enlargement equals the increase of the impor-
tation, and the extension of the acreage devoted to the
cultivation of this invaluable root. It is then of great
importance that we should inquire into the best means of
restoring the deficient supply of home-grown potatoes.
We may here again refer with advantage to the hints
which Dame Nature gives us. We learn from her that
the potato plant delights in fresh soils ; that the yield
from land long devoted to pasturage, or the site of an
old wood-yard, is commonly at first very good, and that
the tubers are fine. But that, if a succession of crops
are taken, this produce gradually diminishes. This would
jreasonably lead us to the conclusion that something is
abstracted from the soil by the plant, which even our
prdinary dressings of manure fail to restore. Now, what
hints have we lately received that may lead us to extend
our experimental inquiries ? In the last number of the
" Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society," Professor
Voelcker has suggested the trial for potatoes of the salts
of potash, combined however with other fertilizers. Be-
fore we consider these valuable suggestions, we may use-

fully refer to the chemical composition of the potato,
tubers, and hence learn the nature of the various earthy
and saline matters which the plant extracts from the soil.
An analysis of the potato was made at the instance of the
Highland Society of Scotland by Professor Anderson
{Tmus. Hiyh. Hoc,, 1863, p. 38; 1864, p.291). He found
in the tubers of two varieties :

Regents.

76.32

12.31

2.75

3.16

Water

Starch

Sugar, &c

* Soluble album, compounds.,

Insoluble

Fibre

Ash

0.21
5.53
0.88

Dalmal'oys
75.91 ,
13.58
3.93
2.10
0,15
5,21
0.81

100.06
0.397

*Nitrogen

The ash was composed of per cent.

Regents.

Peroxide of iron 0.31

Lime 1.79

Magnesia 5.75

Potash 50.52

Chlor. of potassium 5.39

Commoa salt i 3.07

Phosphoric acid 11.49

Sulphuric acid 7-08

Sihcicacid 0.98

Carbonic acid 11.30

Charcoal 3.65

99.69
0,360

Dalmahoys.

0.35

2.04

4.56
49.63

6.58

3.93
11.31

6.57

1.25
10.26

4.53

100.33

99.89

We may here note the large proportion of potash which
the ash of the tuber contains. And it is from this fact,
and from the results of a variety of experiments by Pro-
fessor Voelcker, that the foUowiog experiments are speci-
ally recommended by him on light soils ; each plot to be
one-twentieth of an acre {.Tonr. Moij. A(j. Soc, vol. vi.,
N. S., p. 145):

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

465

Plot
1

i

No manure.
Mill, superpliosphate
Crude potash salts . . .
Sulphate of ammouia

3 Good rotten dung ,

' Min. superphosphate
[.Crude potash salts...

No manure. —

r Min. superphosphate 22

Crude potasli salts... li

[Nitrate of soda 11

Peruvian guano 22

' Miu. superphosphate 23

!_ Common salt 22

ton.

Good rotten dung ... 1

No manure ... —

lbs. cwts.

22 or at the rate of 4 per

11 „ 2 ,

11 „ 2 ,

ton. tons.

1 „ 20 ,

lbs. cwts.

22 „ 4 ,

23 " 1 '

2
2

» 4

4 ,

4 ■
tons.
20

" The artificials should be first mixed with ashes, burnt
clay, or dry earth, and then dug or ploughed iu quite early
in the spring, when the dung is put on the land and when
the potatoes are planted."

Various successful experiments when the potato crop
was dressed with the salts of potash lead to the conclu-
sions which our chemical examinations appear to support.
The report of the experiments, carried on under the
direction of Professor Voelcker by Mr. J. R. Hethering-
ton, at Carletou in Cumberland in 1866 {Ibid., vol. iii.,
N.S., p. 517), well deserve to be carefully studied by the
potato-grower. In these experiments the potatoes (rough
whites) were planted on the 23rd of April, on a piece of
light land that had formerly been a beech plantation, and
had only had one previous crop, namely potatoes. The
manures used and the produce per acre will be found in
the subjoined table, which gives the weight of large,
second, small, and diseased potatoes :

Name of Manure.

No manure

Dissolved bone-ash,
4 cwt

Rotten dung, 20 tons

Dissolved bone-ash,
4 cwt., and crude
potash salts, 4 cwt.

No manure

Crude potash salts,
4 cwt

Common salt, 4 cwt

Dissolved bone-ash,
4 cwt., and com-
mon salt, 4 cwt....

Rotten dung, 20 tons

No manure

Large.

tn.cwt.qr.

1 2 1

2 3 0

3 11 1

3 18

1 15

2 10 1

2 13

3 3 1
3 19 1
1 18 3

Second.

cwts. qrs.
10 1

18 1
16 2

18 1

15 0

13 1

14 1

15 0
19 3
15 3

Small.

cwts. qrs,
15 3

10 1
13 2

9 0

15 0

15 3

11 3

14 0
3 3

19 2

Diseased.

tn.cwt.qr.
1 1 1

1 1 1
19 3

110
0 14 3

0 7 2

0 4 1

0 3 3
0 13 0
0 3 0

It was at a meeting, a few months since, of the Western
Ross Farmers' Club {Farmer's Hat/., vol. Ixiv., p. 66)
that, during a valuable discussion on top-dressings, Mr.
Sims, a large potato-grower, remarked, after speaking of
the great importance of using a ynixtnre of manures,
"Of all crops, the most marked results of top-dressing
are produced on potatoes. He found last year, by actual
experiment, that it increases the crops by one-fifth ; and,
in talking the other day to a farmer, who has been a
regular grower of potatoes for years, as to the quantity he
gave to his potatoes, he told me he never used less than
6 cwts. per acre of a mixture of fertilizers, and he believed
it would pay to give more. He found Peruvian guano
1 cwt., potash 1 cwt., and best dissolved bones 2 cwt., to
suit him best ; 2^ cwt. put down when planting, and 1 J
cwt. when earthing up." We may here remark that the
amount of the salts of potash iu the ash of the potato

appears to vary with the manure employed. Professor
Anderson found in 100 parts of the ash of the tuber of
the Dalmahoy Potato, grown on land dressed with different
fertilizers {Trans. High. Soc, 1865, p. 396) :

Manure employed. Potash.

5 cwt. superphosphate of lime 52.23

25tonsof dung 43.51*

35 tons of dung 57-01

* And 7.85 chloride of potassium.
The ashes of sea weeds have long been employed in the
Channel Islands; but they apply these as a manure,
which they call vraic, to the wheat crop. In Cornwall,
sea-weeds are equally valued. Now it is noticeable that
the ashes of these weeds yield, according to Mr. Hodges,
about eight per cent, of potash. They contain also
several other saline matters. In two sea-weeds, analysed
by M. Gaultier de Claubry, he found, in the Fucus
saccharuius and in the Fucus dic/itatus, which is much
used in Scotland as a manure, the following substances :

Hydrlod. of potash
Silica

Phosphate of lime
Phosphate of mag-

Saccharine matter
Mucilage

Vegetable albumen
Oxalate of potash
Malate of potash
Sulphate of potash
Sulphate of soda

Sulphate of mag-
nesia
Muriate of soda
Muriate of potash
Muriate of magnesia
Carbonate of potash
Carbonate of soda

nesia
Oxide of iron
Oxalate of lime.

The use of sea-weed as a manure, in the isles of Jersey
and Guernsey, has been very extensive from time imme-
morial. Thus, in a work upon Jersey, by the Rev. Philip
Falle, published iu 1694, he observes that "Nature hav-
ing denied us the benefit of chalk, lime, and marie, has
supplied us with what fully answers the end of them in
husbandry : it is a sea-weed, but a weed more valuable
to us than the choicest plant that grows in our gardens.
We call it vraic {varec), in ancient records veriscum, and
sometimes wrecum, and it grows on the rocks about the
island. It is gathered only at certain times appointed by
the magistrate and signified to the people by a public
crier on a market day. There are two seasons for cutting
it, the one in summer, the other about the vernal equinox.
The summer vraic, being first well dried by the sun on
the sea-shore, serves for fuel, and makes a hot glowing
fire ; but the ashes are a great improvement to the soil,
and are equal almost to a like quantity of lime. The
winter vraic being spread thin on the green turf, and
afterwards buried in the furrows by the plough, it is in-
credible how with its fat unctuous substance it ameliorates
the ground, imbibing itself into it, softening the clod, and
keeping the root of the corn moist during the most parch-
ing heats of summer. In stormy weather the sea does
often tear up from the rocks vast quantities of this weed,
and casts it on the shore, where it is carefully gathered
up by the glad husbandman."

As to the soils best adapted for the growth of potatoes.
It was at a meeting of the members of the Borough-
bridge Agricultural Association, that a considerable
grower, Mr. Appleyard, of Easingvvold, observed {Farm.
Mag., vol. lix., p. 218) -. "The warp of the Humber and
Ouse and of the Trent is acknowledged to possess the
properties most requisite for their successful cultivation,
as during a series of years the quality and quantity ai'e
very little deteriorated. Other kinds of soils will grow
potatoes quite as well, but they require changes oftener ;
a loamy soil, or, as it is sometimes called, hazel earth, is
next best to warp, and has been known to produce ou
some occasions a larger quantity per acre ; and sandy soils
will yield, if well tilled and properly treated, as many as
four to seven tons, A piece of old sward, broken up be-
fore the winter and ploughed deep, so as to have the sod
well rotted, generally grows a very deep crop, and a very
desirable one. as their cultivation has a peculiar tendency

I I 2

466

THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

to free the fresh lands from grubs and wireworms, with I
which it is generally infested. Any kind of land which
can be ploughed a sufficient depth, and which is well
drained, can grow a crop of potatoes occasionally to ad-
vantage. The preparation of the land generally for pota-
toes should be begun immediately after harvest, if it is
intended to grow them after a grain crop." The warp of
which these excellent potato soils are composed, was
analysed by Mr. Herepath {Jojir. Boj/. Ag. Hoc, vol. xi.,
p. 101). He found in an imperial gallon of warp-water

Grains.

Organic matters 16.334

Carbonate of Lime 22.813

Carbonate of Magnesia 3.547

Potash and Soda 0.199

Lime 2.111

Maguesia 6.640

Peroxide of Iroa ... ... ... 10.419

Alumina 10.487

Perphosphate of Iron 0.215

Silicic Acid, Sand, &c 160.605

233.380
The reader will here note the presence of potash, and of
variety of other saline matters, all more or less valuable
for the growth of this root.

The size of the sets, and the kind of potatoes are very
important considerations. The question of the compara-
tive produce of large and small sets, has been laboriously
examined by Mr. G. Maw, of Benthall, near Broseley,
who not long since, in the Gardener s Chronicle, re-
marked : " My experience convinces me that from one-
fourth to one-third of the natural produce of the potato
crop is lost solely from insufficiently large potatoes being
planted ; and that by a proper selection of sets an in-
creased crop, representing a clear profit of several tons
per acre, can be obtained. On the 16th of February I
planted in rows 2 feet apart, and 1 foot from set to set in
the rows, sixty uncut sets of early prolific potatoes, viz. :
20 sets weighing 3 oz. each.
20 „ „ 4oz. „
20 „ „ 8 oz. „

20 sets of 2 oz. each (2ilb.) produced 211b. 5J- oz,
20 „ 4 „ (5Ib.) „ 291b. Oioz.
20 ,. 8 „ (101b.) „ 351b. 3i oz.
In the case of the twenty 4-oz sets, the extra 2 Jib. over and
above the weight of the twenty 2-oz. sets produced a gross
gain of 71b. lOf oz. ; and a net gain, alter deducting the
difference in the weight of the sets, of 51b. 2f oz. of pota-
toes on the 40 square feet of ground, or at the rate of 2
tons 5 cwt. 1 qr. 1 lb. per acre net profit. In the case of
the twenty 8-oz. sets, the extra 7ilb. over and above the
weight of the twenty 2-oz. sets produced a gross gain of
I31b. 14 oz., and a net gain, after deducting the extra
weight of the sets, 61b. 6 oz. of potatoes on 40 square
feet of ground ; or at the rate of 8 tons 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 261b.
net gain per acre over and above the extra weight of seed.
It will be observed that there was a large profit on each
advance in the weight of the sets, viz, on the 8-oz. sets
over those of 4-oz., as well as on the 4-oz. over the 2-oz.
sets. Another experiment was made with second kidneys,
planted at intervals of a foot, in rows 2 feet apart, on the
the 31st of March, viz. :

20 sets of 1 oz. (Ijlb.) producing 151b. 9 oz.
20 „ 2 oz. (2ilh.) „ 16ib. 15 oz.
20 „ 4 oz. (5 lb.) „ 191b. 15 oz.

Although the result in this case is not so striking as that
of the early prolific, each advance in the weight of the set
produced more than an equivalent increase in the crop,
leaving a clear profit on the extra seed. On the 31st ot
March I also planted four lots of fluke potatoes, in rows
2 feet apart, each lot occupying 40 square feet of ground,

20 sets, 1 foot apart, of 1 oz. each (l^lb.), producing 151b.

2 oz.
20 sets, 1 foot apart, of 2 oz. each (2^1b.), producing 151b.
20 sets, 1 foot apart, of 4 oz. each (5 lb.), producing 181b.

12 oz.
16 sets, 1 foot 3 in. apart, of 8 oz. each (81b.) producing

301b. \1\ oz.

In the experiments with the second kidneys and the
flukes, it will be observed that there was little or no dif-
ference in the produce of the 1-oz. and 2-oz. sets, a small
profit in favour of the 2-oz. early prolific sets, and a trifling
loss in the flukes ; but in the advance from 2-oz. to 4-oz.,
and from 4-oz. to 8-oz., the result is quite consistent
with the other experiments, and exhibits even a
greater profit in the planting of large potatoes of 8-oz.
each. The twenty 4-oz. flukes (51bs.) produced 31b. 12
oz. of potatoes more than the twenty 2-oz. sets (2 Jib.),
leaving a net gain of l^lb. of potatoes on 40 square feet of
ground, or at the rate of 11 cwt. 3 qrs. 14 lb. per acre
clear gain, after deducting the extra weight of seed. The
sixteen 8-oz. flukes planted at intervals of 15 inches in
rows, 2 feet apart, produced 301b. 12f oz., so that the
5 Jib. extra weight of sets over those 2-oz. in weight in-
creased the crop in the 40 square feet of ground by 151b.
12f oz., and after deducting the extra weight of the seed,
left a clear profit of 101b. 41 oz., or at the rate of a trifle
over 5 tons per acre gain. The 31b. extra weight of sets
in the sixteen 8-oz. sets over the twenty 4-oz sets in-
creased the crop on 40 square feet of ground by 121b.
f oz., and left a clear profit of 91b. \ oz., or at the rate
of 4 tons 8 cwt. 0 qr. 27 lb. per acre clear gain, after de-
ducting the extra weight of seed. This question is in no
way related to that of thin seeding. The distance at
which the sets should be placed is another matter. I
think when small sets are planted they are not put nearly
thick enough in the rows. My experiments prove that
the ground is capable of bearing a much greater weight
of tubers than can be generated from 2-oz. or even 4-oz.
sets, planted a foot apart, and I believe that such small
sets, if placed at 6-inch or 8 -inch intervals, would pro-
duce nearly as much to a root as if at a wider distance,
and, of course, a much greater weight per acre."

The cultivation of the early potato, so extensively
carried on in Cornwall and the Channel Islands, has re-
cently been described by Mr. C. P. Le Cornu in his
prize essay {Jonrn. Bay. Ag. Hoc, vol. vi., N. S., p. 136).
It was when describing its cultivation in the Island of
Jersey that he remarks (and the cultivation may be profit-
ably extended in many of our southern districts) :

" The prepai'atiou of the plant intended for sets is of
the utmost importance. Kidney potatoes as a rule are
planted whole, and the round varieties are planted in
strong sets, with eyes from the crown of the plant. The
kidney varieties commonly planted are the Ashleaf, the
Prolific, and the Winford, alias Early Pluke. The round
varieties most esteemed are the Cherbourg ' Trois Mois,'
the Dalmahoy, and the Early Regents. Potatoes in-
tended for plant should be dug before the haulm is en-
tirely dried up ; when dug they should be allowed to
harden by exposure to the air and sun, occasionally turn-
ing them. Then at the fall of the year, if they are stowed
away singly in layers on wooden floors it will retard too
early a vegetation, which otherwise is frequently the case.
By a little attention the tuber in this way is checked in
its habit of early growth, and when the moment arrives
for planting it can, if required, be forced ; but it is not
often that any forcing is reqviired, the eyes will break out
into vigorous shoots, and when they are fully developed,
say about half an inch in length, the tubers may be
planted, taking care to place the shoots uppermost. In
this manner one month at least may be gained in bring-
ing the potato out of the ground. The preparation of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

46?

the sets must be viewed as of pi'imary importance, taking
care always to select plants of good and of early habit ;
this, together with a suitable and well-manured piece of
ground, forms in fact the only secret in the culture of the
early potato.

" The planting commences in January, and is usually
all finished by the end of the next month. The next
operation is the forking-up, or loosening of the ground
between the rows ; this is performed when the plants are
fairly out of ground, either with the prong, the crook, or
with a small implement in the form of a horse-hoe,
usually drawn by two men. The soil being thus well
opened, if not checked by frosts, which unfortunately is
sometimes the case, the plants will grow quickly, so that
by the middle of April they are all hoed up. In the
early sheltered places some are much more forward, while
in the later ground others are less. The first lot of any
importance is usually sent up to the London markets
abound the end of April. As time advances the
business rapidly increases, so that by the end of May, or
the commencement of June, in ordinary years great
activity prevails in connection with this trade. There is
no season throughout the year in which the farmer is so
busy as during the sale of his early potatoes. A day is
frequently of the greatest importance in the market
value of the goods, and therefore no sooner do they ap-
proach maturity than all hands are fork in hand at the
work. IMany consign their produce to salesmen in Lon-
don ; the goods are packed in baskets or barrels, and for-
warded by the steam-vessels which daily ply between this
island and the English ports, and thence on by railway
to their destination. Others sell to the merchants here,
who also export in the same manner, but on a larger
scale. These, with the rest of the community, have the
advantage, by means of telegraphic communication, of
knowing hourly, if necessary, the state of the London
markets.

" So much said respecting the time, the mode of cul-
ture, and the sale of the potato, let us look back at the
fields whence the potatoes have been dug, and see what
is there being done. Another crop is being sown to fol-
low. It may be, if ou a piece of ground which was
cleared oft' early, that a late crop of potatoes is being set;
this certainly is only the exception, the rule is to have a
succeeding crop of either swedes, mangolds, or turnips ;
we have also seen barley sown, but rarely with advan-
tage. It will now be understood that the heavy di'essing
of manure used for the potato is again to be called upon
to supply nourishment to the succeeding crops, and what
splendid produce of roots do we often see. During our
experience in these matters we have invariably noticed
that some of the heaviest and best returns of roots
have been in immediate succession to early potatoes.

" In our remarks on the manure employed we have
mentioned guano ; we wo>dd observe that this article, so
valuable to the farmer, was first brought to this island
from Ichaboe in 1844, when its worth was much ques-
tioned and its use very little known ; it is indeed com-
paratively only of late years that it has been extensively
employed : its effects are surprising ; we have seen ou
the same piece of ground two plots, one dressed with
good farmyard manure, the other dressed and treated
precisely in the same manner, but with the addition of
guano at the rate of BOOlbs. per vergee, and the two
planted in fiuke potatoes, when a ditt'erence or more than
50 per cent, resulted in favour of the piece where guano
had been applied. We have also observed that where the
potatoes were allowed to remain long in the ground, the
haulm on the plot where the guano had been applied
continued longer to vegetate than on the other; and
finally, the haulm dried up somewhat in the manner be-

fore described. lu 1867 there were imported to this
island 379 tons of guano, and in 1868 the quantity
amounted to 496 tons. It will be seen by this how
muchguano is now valued, andas its particular employment
is for the culture of the potato, some approximate idea
can be made of the quantity used for the crop. At the
same time we must guard against drawing definite con-
clusions hastily on this point, as we know that guano is
coming greatly into favour, and is being used by many for
grass land in lieu of seaweed; and in a general way, if
the farmyard cannot produce a sufficient supply of manure
to meet the farmer's wants, he has frequently recourse to
guano to make up the deficiency.

" By reference to the returns made here last year for
the information of the Board ef Trade, we learn that
potatoes occupied 5,129^ vergees of our land; andas
the whole superficial area of the island is calculated at
64,613 verge'es, it follows that nearly one-twelfth part of
the island's surface was devoted to the crop. Let us
next see what has been the quantity of the produce ex-
ported from the island, and endeavour to compute what
is the gross amount returned to the growers of potatoes
by the export of the last year, 1868.

" From the collective statements kindly placed at our
disposal by the custom-house authorities, the agents of
the steam-packet companies, and merchants, we find the
exports to have been as follows :

" In packages, by steam-vessels to Southampton, Wey-
mouth, and Littlehampton, 5,458^ tons.

"The first package left the island on the 19th of
March. This was followed by another on the 24th, by
four more ou the 26th, by two on the 7th of April, by
forty-three on the 21st of April, when the season may be
said to have opened. Ou the 30th of the month the
number swelled up to one hundred and forty-three
packages.

" In loose cargoes by sailing vessels there were
shipped for the following ports :

Tons.

31

276i

100$

469^

Plymouth . . .
Newport ...
Southampton
London ...

Cardiff ...
Lymington
Swansea . . .
Liverpool ...
Caernarvon
Gloucester
Sercq
Barbadoes...

505

10

917i

24-

6

32

1

80

2,431i
" Thus giving a total of 7,890 tons, the value of
which we deduce from statements of returns to have
been as follow :

£

Produce shipped in packages 4i,131

Produce shipped in loose cargoes ... 11,442

Total...

... 55,573"

The potato-grower may derive considerable benefit
from the careful study of these facts. It is a hard con-
clusion that, when the amount of produce of our cereal
crops has for ages been on the increase, the potato crop
must be an exception to the rule. When, however, we
remark what abundant crops are produced year after year
on certain soils, such as the Warp, we may be well led to
the conclusion that the potato plant may, by more careful
attention to its cultivation and by the use of a mixture of
artificial fertilizers, be restored in its produce and to its
former freedom from disease.

468

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

LOCAL TAXATION AND THE TENANT FARMEB.

There is an effort just now being made in certain quar-
ters to awaken the attention of the tenant-farmer to the
fact that Local Taxation is, above everything else, his
especial grievance. It is against this abuse that he is
instructed to go in ; while his support, that is to say his
subscription, is very earnestly solicited towards the main-
tenance of such an agitation. The wider the rateable
area can be extended, the more people that can be caught
within the meshes of the collector's net, proportionately will
the individual burdens be reduced, and precisely so much
the better will it be for the occupiers of land. And some-
thing in this fashion is the argument put. This, how-
ever, as it will at once strike every one who knows any-
thing of the business of rural life, is but a very superficial view
of thecase,and itmaybeaswell to come at something a little
more definite from the best available authority. It would
be, then, very unfair to ignore all that Mr. Genge Andi-ews
has already done in this direction. He has, or at least
so we had imagined, been of late most indefatigable in
his endeavours to see the farmer righted ; as it was, we
take it, in his office of the champion of the agricultural
interest that he attended the other day as a visitor at the
dinner of the Yeovil Board of Guardians. But once ar-
rived here, to our no little astonishment, Mr. Genge
Andrews gradually shifted his ground. As it now ap-
pears, he is in this matter of Local Taxation by no
manner of means the particular champion of the agri-
cultural interest. As he himself puts it at Yeovil —
" They would recollect that the question as he had set it
before them was one between the owners of real property,
great and small, down to the very smallest, and the own-
ers of income arising from personal property. That was
the question at issue. Even if they could say the tenant-
farmer as a tenant-farmer had no interest in it, it would
not alter the justice or the injustice of the exemption of
personal property from the poor-rate." And, again, he
declared with still more emphasis, towards the con-
clusion of the proceedings, how "he wished to repeat that
he advanced this question, not as one between tenants
only, or between tenants particularly, but as between the
owners of real property and the owners of income arising
from personal property. That was the ground he had
taken ; and he had only taken the tenant collatei'ally."
Very good, as this is all intelligible enough. But then if,
as Mr. Andrews would seem so ready to admit, the
tenant-farmer as a tenant-farmer has no particular interest
in this matter, why should he be called upon to make
himself so busy about it ? Let us say that real and
personal property should each pay its due share of the
rates and taxes ; and let us say further that the more
who pay the less will be each man's individual share.
And then, what will the tenant-farmer benefit from this ?
According to the tone of the meeting the Yeovil
guardians did not seem to think much could come of
it. Mr. Shore " was at a loss to see, and would
pointedly ask Mr. Andrews v;Jiere the tenant farmers
ioere going to get the advantage ? " To this Mr.
Andrews replied at some length, as wiU be gathered from
the full report we give ; and having done so, Mr.
Marden, addressing Mr. Andrews, said, " I think you
'have avoided Mr. Shore's question altogether, as to what
you thought the tenant-farmers would gain by this;" as
Mr. Raymond confessed that " he did not think the ques-
tion had been answered ; he did not think they had been
assured how the tenant-farmer was to be benefited by

this change of the incidence of taxation." In fact, Mr.
Andrews could not answer, for he had no explanation ready ;
and so, as we have already intimated, he was gradually
driven to allow that it was not a question in which the
tenant-farmers had any particular interest.

In plain truth, attempt to disguise it as we may,
rates and taxes with the farmer are all very much a
matter of rent. There is nothing so susceptible, no-
thing so buoyant as rent. Only once free it from its
burdens, and up it goes in a moment, like a
balloon. When on the strength of the position he has taken
Mr. Andrews was recently called before the Commons'
Committee he said, speaking as a landowner, that if £90
a-year in the rates were reduced " I should get
£90 a-year more; that is very clear." A Tenant
Farmer quoted this answer in our own columns last
week, and of course it was brought iip again at the
Yeovil dinner. The first question a land-agent asks on
going over a property is not so much "What is the
rent?" as ""What are the rates?" The one, in a word,
goes far to determine the other. Nevertheless, it is
only right to say that Mr. Andrews made something of a
point when he spoke to the gradual increase of rates, and
the effect of this on tenants who had long been in pos-
session : " Let them take the case of a man who entered
upon his occupation in 1842, when the new Poor-law
came first into operation, and that he had continued in
his occupation under a good landlord ever since. Now
the first thiug that the new Poor-law regulations ordered
to be done was to make an assessment upon the rack-rent,
to build workhouses in every union ; and since then they
knew that a large number of charges had been added to
the poor-rate assessment by Parliament, such as police
and other rates ; many charges which he need not here
enumerate had been thrown upon the poor-rate. Now he
should like to know whether a tenant in that position,
when he was not often interfered with by his landlord as
to advance of rent or otherwise, whether he had not for
thirty years paid the whole of the increase of the rates
without receiving any corresponding reduction in his rent."
Here, no doubt, is a hardship, but it is one which requires
very delicate handling, and that it would be rather danger-
ous to make much noise about. There is a kind of recog-
nized understanding that a man who has been in undisturbed
possession of his farm for twenty or thii-ty years can by
the end of that time, if he have done his duty by the land,
afford to submit to some rise in his rent. But should
the landlord be inclined to leave the tenant alone, it may
be only politic that the tenant should not trouble the land-
lord. Otherwise, the remedy is direct enough by a
representation to the agent, showing that the rates have
increased so much and that a proportionate reduction
of rent should follow. Still, a tenant who is always
going grumbling to his landlord is not a very wel-
come guest, and the relations between the two are
very easily disturbed. Indeed, Mr. Andrews' illus-
tration would look to be best met by the course to
which it is said the Government is favourble, and
that Captain Dashwood, amongst his brother farmers,
has advocaed so ably: "That the half-rating be made the
basis — the occupier, as in Ireland, being responsible for
the rate in the first instance— the half being recouped him
at the payment of his rent." Here the tenant would get
some proper consideration, not on the strength of any
beggar's petition, but from a properly recognised claim.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

469

Mr. Grey, the younger, of Dilsloil, tas, indeed, in recom-
mending a similar principle, assumed precisely such a
case to be encountered as that which Mr. Andrews has
drawn : " We have a precedent for this in the payment of
poor rates in Ireland and other local rates in Scotland,
where the plan worts successfully. In support of the
justice of this proposition numberless instances could be
brought forward in this county where the rates on farms
during the present leases have risen considerably, very
much from causes over which the ratepayers had no
control — such as county rate, contributions to turnpikes,
&c. I think, therefore, that landowners should partly
share in the fluctuation of local rates, as they are equally
interested in the prosperity and peace of the district, and
in the condition of its highways."

As we stated previously. Captain Dashwood has given
evidence, of course agreeing iu its tone with his published
|)aper, before the committee now sitting; while, if we are
io trust a summary which we have just seen in a Nor-
folk paper, Mr. Sewell Read has testified as
■directly against the adoption of such a plan ;
" Halving the rates would be no 'ppciaiuiry hrnefif what-
ever to the tenant ; landlords would recoup themselves,
and in order to be safe, might in future agreements add
rather more than half the existing rates to the new rents.
Yeomen, owners living in their own houses, and the
clergy, would remain in exactly the same position." Of

course it is something hke a truism to say that people who
live in their own houses would have no rates to divide with
their landlords ; but surely there would be some pecuniary
benefit to the tenant in obtaining half any extra charge
until a future agreement be made, when the same prin-
ciple would still continue. Tiie chief or indeed only par-
ticular evil which, as Mr. Andrews shows it, the tenant-
farmer suff'ers, is the increase of rates that arises inciden-
tally as it were during a term, and by half-rating the bur-
den would be divided between the two, instead ot
as at present, fixing itself upon the one class. Could all
rates, like rents, be permanently settled at the outset, there
would be no grievance, because men would make their
bargains with their eyes open ; whereas it is this sliding-
scale that, on the part of the tenant, we have specially to
prepare against. Let it, however, only slide the other
way — let only rates come down, and rents will most
assuredly go up. As Mr. Andrews said in London, if
there be only £90 instead of £180 to pay for taxes, he
will get £90 a year more as a landlord. But then if
this, as he says, is veri/ clear, it is by no means so clear
what it is that the tenant-farmers are to agitate for, or
to what end their subscriptions are to be applied. The
thing has been for some time past iu a fog, which the
Somersetshire farmers, at any rate, do not come to quite
see through, even after the elaborate explanation at
Yeovil.

LOCAL TAXATION.

At the dinner of the Yeovil Board of Guardians, Mr. Joujj
TR.iSK, the Chairman, said : No doubt those who lived ten
years hence would see vast alterations in the administration of
the poor-law. He need not enter into that. But Mr.
Andrews liad endeavoured to lay himself out, at a very great
cost on his part, and very great labour indeed, to ameliorate
the injustice of the expenses whicli were now borne by the
agriculturist and the small householder. He (Mr. Trask) lield
that the small househclder in towns was as hardly borne upon
as any man. A man who now rented a house, say from £10
to £25 yearly rent, was assessed upon that liouse, tjiough he
might not have £50 in the world besides ; whilst his neigh-
bour, with i£60,000 in the bank, paid nothing for all that
money, and was only assessed on his real property or occupa-
tion similarly to the poor man. He said that system Ijore
hard upon that class, and he would give them an instance in
the case of a very poor man, which came under liis notice in
the parish of Montacute — a man about eight or ten years
older than himself. Years ago this man was an independent,
hard-working fellow, who would have nothing from nobody,
but would work for his own bread and earn it. He married
a careful wife, and he put liimself into a friendly society and
his wife into another. Presently he saw that 2s. a-week for
house rent made a great hole in his weekly wages, and, being
of a most independent spirit, he resolved that he would get
himself a house. Well, he laboured on and he bought himself
a cottage. Now for many years the cottages at Montacute
were not rated — not until the Small Tenements' Act came
into operation. Then this man's house was assessed ; they
could not make the rate without. He came to him (Mr.
Trask) in great trouble. " It is tlie law, Hugh," he told hira.
" Well, sir, but I have to pay more for my house than you do
yours." " Yes," he said, " you occupy your own. If I pay
for those who rent my house there is a deduction for me, but
there is none for you because you occupy your own." The
poor man stamped and swore, and he didn't know if he didn't
pull out some of his hair. He declared that he would sell the
house. That went on some time, and by and by he actually
did sell his house and spend his money, and he was now a
pauper ! He asked them what made that man a pauper ?
Why, the injustice of the poor rate.

Mr. H. Genge Andrews said -. They were endeavouring
in every county to combine, not particularly the board itself,

but the members of evel'y board of guardians in England and
Wales, as ratepayers in one combination for endeavouring to
get the poor-rate assessment based on its original principle.
That every Englishman should contribute his fair proportion
according to his abiUty to pay ; that was the pure and simple
object of the combination of which the speaker had the honour
to be a member. Now they knew very well that originally
the poor-rate assessment was nothing more nor less than
voluntary charity. The whole of the charge upon the rates —
or the money, he would say, tliat was raised for the relief of
the poor — previous to the Act of Ehzabeth, depended upon
the voluntary contributions that could be raised for the relief
of the poor. That was found to be utterly inadequate, and
Parliament then passed an Act making the relief of the poor a
compulsory charge upon every inhabitant of England and
Wales, " according to his ability." They (tlie associations)
therefore only sought to restore the poor-rate assessment to
its original principle of everyone paying his fair charge of a
public duty which was originally a voluntary one. And he
thought their object was one in whicli every man who had
anything to pay to a tax ought fairly to endeavour to combine
with them. He was sure that no real honest man — he didn't
care what his position might be, whether he were a money-
holder or a landowner — would shirk that duty, if he could see
that it was' a right and general principle to charge all persons
according to their ability.

Mr. Marden said one thing he was going to ask Mr.
Andrews to explain, that he had read. How was it that Mr.
Andrews proposed to transfer all the responsibility to the
owner and shelve the poor tenant ? The tenants were not to
have a voice in those affairs ; the boards of guardians would
consist only of gentlemen ; and they would never have a ten-
ant farmer or a manufacturer ? He could not reconcile that
with what had fallen from Mr. Andrews now, because, you see,
you would have many owners who would reside away — in
London, perhaps, or in Scotland ; and would they know a
pauper in the parish ? He believed the printers must have
made an error ; Mr. Andrews never said it, or if he said it he
never meant it (A laugh).

Mr. Andrews said witli regard to the point which
occurred in his examination before the House of Com-
mons' committee, as to owners administering the poor-rate,
Mr, Marden had quite misunderstood his meaning. He must

470

TtiB FARMEB'S MAGAZINE.

recollect tliat when you were before a Parliamentary committee
you had to answer shortly and briefly the questions which were
asked of you ; you were n t allowed to go into long explana-
tions. Now he said, he believed, that if the present system,
the present incidence of the rating, was to continue, that
owners, who were really the payers of the rate, ought to be
compelled to coUect the money and to administer the rate ; but
he did not mean for a moment what Mr. Marden thought he
mean — viz., that the owners alone should administer the rate
("No, no"), or that owners should be even much more pro-
minent at boards of guardians than they were at present.
Wnat he meant was, that at the present moment owners were
represented at the boards of guardians in the first place by the
e-c-officio members of the board, /. e., the magistrates in the
division ; in the next place, as owners they had a cumulative
vote Hp to six votes, which might be exercised by proxy, in
the election of elected guardians. In the event of the rate
remaining as at present — and they had paid the whole rate
themselves — he would give them a further power in the election
of guardians. Where they were non-resident, and where there
were only one or two occupiers in the parish, they should
have the power of nominating as their representative at the
board their tenant or representative in the parish. And that
every money-owner — for he was speaking of money-owners as
well as land-owners — should have the opportunity of having
his full share in the election ot guardians. But in the scheme
which they (the associations) proposed the tenant would pay
his fair share of a far lower rate than now existed ; and he
would be entitled to have the same share in the administration
as he had now. So Mr. Marden would see it was not as words
were spoken, but they were taken differently from what was
intended. Everyone would find that in all matters consider-
able explanation was required where you had always to make
a direct and short answer; otherwise, it would be misunder-
stood by many people. He was quite sure himself that no
alteration could ever be made in the administration of the
Poor-law which would exclude a representative from every
parish, however small it might be. It was utterly impossible,
too, the Poor-law could be administered except by a resident
guardian. But he didn't care how large an influence you had
from any other class at that board ; for he was quite sure
that, whether the law were administered as now from the
union fund, or by a common fund for England and Wales, he
had confldence enough in his brother farmers and representa-
tives of parishes to believe tiiat it would not have an atom of
influence on them as to their mode of dealing with the poor
or with the ratepayers. He was not one of those wlio believed
that they were of such a degraded character that they would
throw away public money because it came out of a larger area
than a union. Why, he should like to ask, what private in-
terest could any guardian have, when it was a common fund
for the union, whether a pauper received 2s. 6d. or 2s. 9d.
per week? The individual interest now we had a common
fund for the union was so very small that he could see no
difference in the principle on which the law would be adminis-
tered, whether it were a common fund for England and Wales
including all property, or whether it were as now with a local
union-rate.

Mr. Heney Parsons said that there would be very great
alterations before many years as to rating generally ; but how
and in what way that was to be done he was rather at a loss
to know. He should not quite like to see the rates dispensed
by Government, which would be the case ultimately if all
property were taxed. No doubt there would be paid men
sent down here, and we should not have the least supervision
over it — he didn't think, he couldn't see, that we should.
Looking back at what we had seen before, he thought we
should not have the least local supervision. And, of course,
strangers would not be as well fit for it as we who were living
in the parishes (Hear, hear). There was no class of men that
could be so well acquainted with the different cases transpiring
in the parishes as the present guardians. Depend upon it, if
the Government dispensed the poor-rates, we should have very
little supervision. As he had said before, he felt quite satisfied
that before many years — they knew that things were moving in
all sorts of quarters, friend Andrews and lots of other people —
we should see a great alteration.

Mr. Shore said ; This was the first opportunity he had ever
had of meeting Mr. Andrews in public ; and he should like to
ask him one qiiestiou. Mr. Andrews had oftentimes very

prominently brought forward this local taxation questioil
before the boards of guardians and tenant farmers ; but the
speaker was at a loss to see — though he quite agreed with the
principle enunciated — he should be glad if Mr. Andrews would
elucidate this : Where the tenant farmers were going to get
the advantage of it. If he would explain that satisfactorily
he would figiit for him through thick and thin (Hear, hear,
and a laugh).

Mr. Andrews observed that they were all aware that it
was very much easier to ask questions than to answer them.
One ol the great objections arising out of the including of
personal property in the poor-rate was that to which Mr.
Parsons had alluded connected with local administration —
local control. Now he should just like to analyse, as it were,
what control they had at present in the amount that they
should expend for the relief of the poor, as authorised and in
fact enforced by the law. In a union it was a matter of
course, as he took it, that their expenditure must be limited
by the demands which were made upon the board by the
claimants for relief. Now they knew very well that the Poor-
law Board had at the present moment the most entire and
complete control of the administration of the poor relief, and
that they (the guardians) were at present only the agents and
the tools of the Poor-law Board (Hear, hear, "Just so").
They dared not alter the diet of their unions, they dared not
alter any one thing ; but the Poor-law Board could imme-
diately come down upon them and direct them what they
should do. Now he wished to know how that power was to be
extended, when they knew that at present every order of the
Poor-law Board must be obeyed by the guardians, even in the
smallest as well as in the largest amount of administration.
Where the Poor-law Board required it they had to alter their
unions ; where it was ordered they had to build new ones ;
they had to do everything they were told. Now the only
control the guardians had in the amount spent by the Poor-
law unions was that very small difi'erence wiiich they might
make in out-door relief, and they all knew that every board
of guardians had a sort of standard of the maximum and
»i/;.'i//»«« of the amount of relief to be given to an out-door
pauper. Having had their legal control reduced to that
very small portion, did they suppose that any board of guardians
in England or Wales was going to submit to pay three times
the amount of relief they ought to pay for the sake of the
control and option of giving a pauper 2s. Cd. or 2s. 9d. ? If
they supposed that, he should suppose that boards of guardians
in England and Wales had lost their senses. Now with
regard to the question just asked him, as to the benefit which
the occupier would receive from the extension of the area of
the poor-rate from real property to personal property, he
should make this explanation : Let them take the case of a
tenant who entered upon his occupation in 18i2, when the
new Poor-law came first into operation, and that he had con-
tinued in his occupation under a good landlord ever since.
Now the first thing that the new Poor law regulations ordered
to be done was to make an assessment upon the rack-rent, to
build workhouses in every union ; and since then they knew
that a large number of charges had been added to the poor-
rate assessment by Parliament, such as police and other rates ;
many charges which he need not here enmuerate had been
thrown upon the poor-rate. Now he should like to know
whether a tenant in that position, when he was not often
interfered with by his landlord as to advance of rent or o'her-
wise, whether he had not for 30 years paid the whole of the
increase of the rates without receiving any corresponding
reduction in his rent (Hear, hear) ? All of them could deter-
mine that fact for themselves.

A GuAKDLVN : I have for one.

Mr. ^LvRDEN : They have not increased (" Yes, yes").

Mr. Andrews : They have increased since ISi^ from
£6,000,000 or £7,000,000 to £11,000,000 or £12,000,000!
He hoped they would put those facts in their pipes and smoke
them. Questions were often asked, and often they were
answered fallaciously on purpose to lead them off the scent.
He believed that whatever increase might take place in the
future, as well as in the past, it would ultimately fall upon
the occupier, both town and country. And he believed it was
to the interest of the occupier of land in the country and of
houses in the town that every income in this country of any
considerable amount should pay its fair share to the relief of
tlie poor, and all the other charges which were paid out of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

471

the poor-rate. That was his opinion, and he believed, as far
as he could gather, that it would be the opinion of every
board of guardians in England, if they were fairly called
together, and had the question fairly placed before them.
That was liis answer to his friend on the right, as to how the
tenant was interested. But that was not all the extent to
which they were interested. Let them suppose that a tenant
went and took a farm for 21 years, and it was in a very
inferior state of cultivation : he was an owner of money, and
he made up his mind to invest £3,000 or £4,000 for the pur-
pose of putting the farm in a first-rate state of cultivation,
with the view, of course, of reimbursing himself his capital
at the end of the 21 years. Now a number of those now
present were members of the assessment committees. Sup-
pose that after two years that money had been expended on
the farm, and some neighbour then said : " Your land, which
was only worth 25s. an acre when you entered upon it, is now
worth 40s., and I don't see why you should not be assessed
accordingly." If he was brought before tlie assessment-
committee, what was the result ? They were bound by the
law to assess him according to the then value of the land
which he occupied. (" Just so.") Was not the tenant-
farmer interested in that question ? It was for them to judge ;
he did not wish to persuade them if they could not see it. It
seemed to him that the tenant-farmer was in such a case very
deeply interested, because he was assessed on his outlay of his
personal property at the same rate as he was assessed on the
land which was originally worth 25s. an acre. That was
another instance. But he went beyond that. He had never
placed this question in any other position than this : that it
was a question between the owner of real property — i. e.^ land
and honses, land and anything upon it — and the owners of
money. That was the ground on which he had always placed
the question, and he had only placed the tenant as interested
in it deeply but collaterally, on one side, as it were, of the
principal question. He could not understand why the owner
of houses in this town, for instance, should be assessed at
3s. 6d. in the £ for poor-rates, and Is. or Is. 6d. for town-
rates— (Mr. Raymo:^!) : 2s. 8d.)— while the owner of money
escaped altogether. He couldn't see any equity in that,
£100 received as rents was certainly no better than £100
received from bank-shares or interest on mortgages or any
other capital whatever invested. Go into the market, and
£100 from one source would not buy more potatoes than £100
from any other source. If there was one principle dearer to
Englishmen than another it was that they should be equally
taxed and equally bear all contributions to the State, and all
matters of pubhc duty. Now if there was one public duty
particularly and specially incumbent upon every man it was
the relief of the poor and the administration of our criminal
jurisprudence, and they must recollect it was not only the
poor but the maintenance of lunatic asylums, county gaols,
administration of justice, registration, vaccination, police, and
so on. He would include even highways, which must come
upon us by and by. He said that every man who had an
interest in money or in the public welfare of this country was
as much called upon to contribute to aU these objects as was
the owner of a house or a field. The poor-rate had its origin
in Christian charity. Did money-owners mean to say that
they were not Christians, and were not called upon to con-
tribute towards the relief of the poor as well as the owners of
real property ? He didn't believe that even a money-owner,
when he saw the equity of that, would resist a question which
they (the associations) were determined to pieserve in agitating
until they had received that redress to which they were
entitled.

Mr. Mahden : I think you have avoided Mr. Shore's ques-
tion altogether, as to what you thought the tenant-farmers
would gain by this. You told the committee that if you paid
£180 on the rates of your farm, you should take care and charge
the tenant for it.

Mr. Andrews : I thought I had answered Mr. Shore in
showing how the tenant is interested. My answer has refer-
ence entirely to a continuance of the rate in its present state.
The committee was not dealing with the question which I ad-
vocate of an extension of the area of the rate to. all England ;
they were not dealing with that question at all.

Mr. Mabden : Then they were speaking to you personally,
of your own

Mr. Andrews ; Exactly. Well, personally, do you expect

that, if the rate were divided between owner and occupier,
that the owner would pay that which he has paid before ?

Mr. Raymond : No, I should think not.

Mr. Andrews : Therefore I say it is an absurd proposi •
tion to attempt to divide the rate between the owner and oc-
cupier, when I should immediately charge the occupier with
that which he did not pay, and which I was obliged to pay be-
fore. But the question I advocate works totally different. It
would work in this way : Reduce the rate to 6d. in the £ in-
stead of 2s. 6d., and the tenant would be only too glad to pay
3d. aud the landlord 6d. The tenant would say to the land-
lord, " I am charged for the capital invested in this concern ;
you are charged for the capital invested iu the estate. Both
are equally taxed. If you think my farm is too cheap, raise
the rent ; for I do not object to a rise in the rent while I am
assessed at 3d. in the £ and you at 6d." That is quite a dif-
ferent question to that asked of rae in the committee. You
can see for yourselves thot, if the rate were reduced to an
average of 6d. in the £ throughout the union, all capital would
be assessed ; the tenant would pay 3d. in the £ on his income,
and the landlord 6d, and both would be equally assessed. The
rising or falling of rents does not depend entirely upon the
rates (Oh ! oh !) Yes, if that question arises between owner
and occupier whether the landlord could raise the rent would
depend upon the state of prices and the state of agriculture at
the time. If things were dull the tenant would say, " I can-
not pay higher rent." On tlie other hand, if things were
going upwards, the landlord may raise his rent whatever may be
the state of the rate. These things depend on competition as
well.

Mr. W. Raymond must confess that he should like to have
heard that question of Mr. Shore's answered more distinctly.
He didn't think that question had been answered ; he didn't
think they had been assured how the tenant-farmer was to be
benefited by this change of the incidence of taxation.

Mr. Andrews was sorry that Mr. Parsons or the gentlemen
present should misunderstand that point with which he started.
They would recollect that the question as he had set it before
them was one between the owners of real property, great and
small, down to the very smallest, and the owners of income
arising from personal property. That was the question at
issue. Even if they could say the tenant-farmer as a tenant-
farmer had no interest in it, it would not alter the justice or
the injustice of the exemption of personal property from the
poor-rate. But, if their scheme were agreed to that all in-
come should be assessed to the relief of the poor, then the
landlord would pay the whole tax on his part, and put it on
the tenant if there were an increase of the rate. He would
have to get the increase if he could back from the tenant.
At the present time, and in the time past, the tenant had got
to get it back from the landlord — but had he ever done that ?
(No, no.) No, nor it never would be ! That was the real
answer to the question.

Mr. Parsons said the question in his little experience if he
liad a house to let, say £20 rent, and if there were two or
three applications, nearly always the first question was, " What
are the rates?" (Hear, hear.) Then he said if the rent was
£100 and the rates were £20, of course the applicant would
take that into account ; but he did not see that it affected him
(the tenant) in any other way. He knew a landlord who did
not wish any of his tenants to pay church-rates if they had
any conscientious objection ; but they who did not pay church-
rates, lie would pay it for them, and charge it on the rent !
(Hear, hear, and laughter.)

Mr. Andrews replied to Mr. Parsons' objection, that a
house would let for more if it were free from poor-rates.
Exactly so. He would take the case of a man in this town
who laid out his money in building a house. He expected to
receive a certain interest for his outlay — the capital invested
in the building. Now before he could receive liis interest,
the tax levied upon the house for poor and town rates must
be paid. If the poor and town rates were a matter of 6d. iu
the pound, instead of 2s. 6d., the renter could either have a
better house for his money, or the builder could have a larger
profit on his investment ; but as it is, investment in building
will be kept down. Mr. Parsons had referred to what he had
said about the increase of rates after they had taken their
farm, and the new charges laid on it — burdens which they
would have to pay in the future as they had had to pay in the
past ; but, leaving out all that, independent of those two

472

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

points, which were very important cues, he said that a tax of
eleven or twelve per cent, upon a business in which any man
embarked capital— for he took it that the owner embarking
his capital in the land, and the occupier embarking his capital
in its cultivation, were in effect one person engaged in one
business — was a heavy tax, which could not fail to be a great
discouragement if it were put on any other business (Hear,
hear). One of the greatest aims of the present age had been
to relieve raw material and certain classes of productions from
taxes. Now he wished to kuow whether they (the agricul-
turists) had uot been deprived of all advantages, and whether
all tlie charges upon them had not at the same time been con-
tinued and increased, and whether it was possible that it
could be any other than a relief to have those taxes reduced
by a proper extension of the area on which they bore P
(Hear, hear, and applause).

Mr. Majiden thought Mr. Andrews had not answered
exactly what they wanted. Supposing his scheme were carried
out, and the tax reduced to 6d. in the £, didn't he think that
would be added to the tenants in the shape of rent ? As to
the increase of poor and highway rates, Mr. Marden testified
to that by the figures in his own case ; and then proceeded to
inform the meeting how his mill and premises became included
within the borough, so that he had also to pay £17 extra
yearly on that account. When the meeting was held at the
Town Hall he was not present, but Mr. Harbin, his landlord —
and there could not be a better landlord (hear, hear) — was
there, and suffered Mr. Batten to draw the boundary-line of
the borough so as to include his occupation. The first intima-
tion he received of it was the visit of the borough rate collector.

When he next met the 'squire he told liim he hadn't expected
that ; and the 'squire very good-naturedly replied, " Well, I
think our agreement was that you were to pay all parochial
impositions " (Laughter). And so he had paid it from that
time to this. Now he did not think that his 'squire, if he
were lowered 2s. in rates, would put it on him in the rent
(hear, hear) ; but he believed that landlords ia general would
do so at once (Hear, hear, and no, no).

Mr. Andrews considered that Mr. Marden had advanced
one of the strongest cases possible in confirmation of what he
had said, tliat all the rates, past, present, and to come fell and
would fall unquestionably upon the occupier (Hear, hear).
But he wished to repeat that he advanced this question, not as
one between tenants only, or between tenants particularly, but
as between the owners of real property and the owners of in-
come arising from personal property. That was the ground
he had taken ; and he had only taken the tenant collaterally,
and Mr. Marden's instance confirmed what he had said as to
the increase of rates falling upon the tenant. But if their
(the association's) plan were carried out, it would fall in the
first place upon the owner. The great iufluence of money was
in the House of Commons ; and, once put it upon the owner,
they would take care that no new burdens on the poor-rate
and no increase of the poor-rate were made if they could help
it. Therefore, although uot primarily interested, the tenants
were very deeply collaterally interested as well as the owners.

Mr. Andrews could only assure them that the examination
he had undergone here had been almost equal to the examina-
tion he underwent in the House of Commons (Hear, hear, and
laughter).

THE EXHAUSTION OF THE SOIL IN RELATION TO LANDLORDS' COVENANTS.

Two most important questions have been recently considered
by the Central Farmers' Club, " The Exhaustion of the Soil
in relation to Landlords' Covenants," and " Tenant-Right" as
applicable to payments for unexhausted improvements. _ The
first of these subjects was introduced by the distinguished
experimenter, Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamsted, and the sub-
ject of " Tenant-Right" was introduced by Mr. Corbet,
Secretary of the Club, who is well known for his able advocacy
of those agricultural questions with which the interests of
tenant-farmers are intimately associated. The reading of Mr.
Lawes' instructive paper on the exhaustion of the soil took
place at the meeting proceeding that at which Mr. Corbet's
paper was read ; and the latter may be regarded as a sequel of
the former. In considering Mr. Lawes' paper, we may remark
that the experiments which have been conducted for a long
series of years at Rothamsted are now generally regarded,
from a scientific and practical point of view, as the most
instructive of any which have hitherto been undertaken by
scientific observers in Europe. We have more than once
taken exceptions to some of Mr. Lawes' deductions from his
experiments, especially his under-estimating of the important
par t which the mineral constituents of plant life perform
in the building up of vegetable growth, more particularly of
those plants which are utilised for the support of man and the
domesticated animals.

Every one who has bestowed attention to the cultivation of
the soil knows that there are extensive tracts in both hemis-
pheres which have never been subjected to cultivation, and
the plants which grow on them are not utilised by man ; while
countries which were at one time most productive in corn are
now comparatively waste. Some of the wild animals which
are supported by the spontaneous vegetation are preyed upon
by a thinly-scattered population. The unreclaimed tracts of
the world, particularly those of North America — which are,
however, every day being rendered more accessible by railways
— and of the lands in Europe, Asia, and Africa, accessible by
the Mediterranean, are being gradually brouglit under the
plough, and both wild animals and their hunters are giving
way before the .advancing pioneers of these unreclaimed
lands.

As the ports of Great Britain are generally regarded as the
ultimate destination of the surplus grain produce of both

hemispheres, the British farmer has yearly to compete with
an an increasing number of foreign producers of corn, which
corn is imported to meet the consumptive demands of the
British Islands. It appears from Mr. Lawes' experiments that
the acreable produce of wheat from lands unmanured during
the course of twenty-sis years — wheat being grown in succes-
sion without an intervening green crop — equals that obtained
from manured and unmanured lands in France and North
America, as ascertained by the French and United States Go-
vernments, viz., between 15 and 16 bushels of wheat per acre.
There is no statistical information of the lands annually under
wheat in Great Britain. It has been estimated by some writers
that 28 bushels, and by others, that 31 or 32 bushels are the
average acreable produce of wheat in this country. The acre-
able produce being so much dependent on the condition of the
land and the growing of prolific varieties, there is no reason
why it should not be raised beyond the highest estimated
average. What applies to wheat appUes still more strongly to
the other grain crops — barley, oats, and beans. It is chiefly
by these meaus that an increased amount of produce from
British soils is to be derived. The British farmer, in order to
compete successfully, has to bestow increased attention on im-
proving and maintaining the condition of the lands he occu-
pies ; and to do this he requires greater security than he has
at present for the outlay of capital, with greater freedom of
action than is generally accorded to him by the conditions in
landlords' covenants.

Mr. Lawes proves that such changes would not involve any
injury to the landowners, as the productive powers of land
are not so dependent upon a rotation of crops as is generally
believed.

Mr. Lawes graphically describes the changes which have
taken place in the condition and practice of agriculture since
the commencement of the present century. Previous to the
use of bones as a manure and the introduction of guano,
nitrate of soda, and auxiliary manures generally, the fertility
of the soil was mainly dependent upon farmyard manure,
which, being necessarily limited in amount, could not be
apjdied in extra quantities to lands without the comparative
impoverishment of adjoining lands.

The questions submitted by Mr. Lawes were : "1st, Whe-
ther, in order to preserve the soil from exhaustion, it is neces-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

47c

sary to enforce a fixed rotation of crops ? 3nd, What are the
best, or most generally applicable means at our disposal for
the estimation of the value of unexhausted manures ? As
an illustration of the condition of land, he gave the result of
a number of experiments conducted over a long period at
Rothamsted. These experiments, to which we have already
referred, conclusively prove that the condition of land cau be
maintained either by farmyard manure or by artificial manures,
as was evidenced by the produce of grain crops and permanent
meadow grasses. They further prove that the effects of
farmyard manure are apparent for longer periods than those
of the artificial manures he experimented with. These were
mixed mineral manures and aramoniacal salts used together
and separately. Mr. Lawes infers that the expenditure of
capital in the purchase of cattle food, or direct manures,
should be reckoned the property of the tenant ; consequently
on the termination of his holding, the tenant sliould be paid
the value of the unexhausted mauurial substances employed
by him to raise the fertility of the land, whether these sub-
stances liave been manures used on the lands or cattle food
consumed by stock, the manures so produced having been
applied to the lands. This system of payment for unexhausted
manures is acted upon in some parts of England, cliielly in
the county of Lincoln, and has been productive of great
benefit to the occupying tenants, landowners, and the country
generally. ^Vithout pursuing Mr. Lawes' paper further, or
entering upon tlie points brought out in the discussion which
followed the reading of it, we commend both to the conside-
ration of all persons interested in the progress of agriculture
and improved farm management, and still more to landowners
and agents acting for them. Mr. Lawes' paper, with the
discussion, appeared in last week's issue of the North British
Arjrialturist.

Mr. Corbet's paper on " Tenant-Eight," with the discussion
to which it gave rise, will be found in another part of to-day's
impression. The subject of Tenant-Right has been for many
years before the public. The late Philip Pusey, one of the
most thoroughly practical agriculturists which ever sat in the
House of Commons, zealously advocated the legalizing of a
system of Tenant-Right, especially as regards the payment, at
the temination of the tenant's occupancy, of the value of
buildings erected at his own cost during the period he occu-
pied the lands. Mr. Pusey three times successfully carried
through the House of Commons his Bill, which provided for
payment to the tenant of the value of buildings erected by
him, the consent of the landlord to erect the buildings having

been first obtained. The House of Lords having on the three
several occasions thrown out Mr. Pusey's Bill, he desisted from
introducing it a fourth time into the House of Commons.
Since then the law of landlord and tenant, as regards the
erection of buildings, has been somewhat altered in England,
and rendered more favourable to the tenant who erects
buildings with the consent of the owner of entailed
lands.

Since the introduction of tlie Irish Land Bill into the House
of Commons, and the debates to which it has given rise, public
opinion has made rapid advances towards the recognition by
lav/ of the claims of the occupying tenant of lands for pay-
ment of improvements eflfected by him during the period of
his occupancy, whether these lands are situated in
Ireland or Great Britain. The discussion which fol-
lowed upon the reading of Mr. Corbet's paper may
be taken as evidence that in England the occu-
piers of land may soon agitate for an English
Land Law Rill. In Scotland the attention of farmers is at
present occupied with the Game-laws, and they are disposed
to wait until they see the ultimate fate of the Irish Land BiU,
which Bill, or a similar one, will doubtless become law during
the present or next session of Parliament. It should be ob-
vious to landowners in Scotland, that while they have reaped
the greater part of the Ijenefits arising from the intelligence
and enterprise of the tenant-occupiers, they have not generally
bestowed much attention upon the claims of the improving
tenants upon the termination of their leases, for repayment for
any part of the improvements they have effected, whether in
the erection of buildings, the reclamation of waste lands, or
amelioration of the condition of lands which were reclaimed
previous to their entry into their farms.

Hitherto a lease for the period of nineteen years has been
held as a sufficient security in an agreement for the tenant
indemifying himself for the improvements he has effected, and
that whatever these may be he shall give up the houses
and lands to the landlord at the termination of the lease
without any claim whatever for compensation. With the
more general use of auxiliary manures and feeding stuff, how-
ever, the question is being forced upon farmers, should there
be no payment for the manurial value of unexhausted manures ;
apart from the question. Should the landowner not reimburse
the outgoing tenant for the value of any buildings erected by
the tenant, and which are calcidated to enhance the rent of the
lands when in the market to be let to another tenant ? — Ilie
North British Ac/ricutturist,

THE AGRICULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES.

Professor Voelcker has delivered a lecture at Derby to the
members of the Derbyshire Agricultural Society on this subject,
special reference being made to those manures most suitable
for grass lands.

Dr. HiTCioiAN presided, and, in introducing the lecturer,
said : Like almost all men possessing great knowledge, Dr.
Voelcker is most cautious in induction and modest in state-
ment, and is ever ready to receive with courtesy and thank-
fulness any facts which may be communicated to him by
practical and observant men. Tacts from such a source are
always most acceptable, provided they are facts, for it is a sad fact
that there are many things alleged to be facts, and given in
all good faith by the commmiicant as facts, which are nothing
less than illusions, mistakes, part-truths, or entire blunders,
and which, taking the place of facts, act as barriers to pro-
gress, prevent or retard discoveries, act, indeed, like sand-
shoals in the ocean of truth, until their true nature has been
revealed, and the alleged ftict is found to be a phantom, what
Lord Bacon would have named an idol, called into existence
by false perception or erroneous induction. To observe accu-
rately is a valuable quality, and one by the acquisition of
which the most humble of us may contribute something to
that great storehouse of knowledge, from which things new
and old are beiug daily called forth by scientific minds for the
benefit and instruction of mankind. I have watched with in-
terest and admiration the career of Dr. Voelcker for more

than twenty years ; and I confess that his industry, honesty,
caution, practical sagacity, and inductive skill have excited my
reverence and esteem. He has never been fond of indulging
in " sensational" theories, has not emulated the brilliancy, the
scientific romance, of some other great chemists, has never
longed to " o'erstep the modesty of nature ;" but with child-
like docility he has sat at her feet, and with inexhaustible pa-
tience awaited her teachings, and then placed them in calm,
clear language before his own auditors and readers ; and if he
has not dazzled us with the splendour of his genius, neither
has he led us into quagmires by its delusive coruscations. I
am, unfortunately, old enough to remember the hopes whicli
were excited in the miuds of ardent agriculturists by the
earlier writings of Liebig and his imitators. Enthusiasts
began to think that agricultural chemistry was an Aladdin's
lamp, to conjure up corn crops from a deal board ; and even
soberer men expected that any number of crops might be suc-
cessively raised from any plot of ground by substituting a few
pounds of potash for the crops removed. Persons talked in
such a manner of manuring a large field with a mere hatful of
salts as to call forth the satirical remark that, when that took
place, they might bring back the produce in the waistcoat
pocket. Those days have passed ; and practical chemists like
Dr. Voelcker know that tliere is a wide ditTerence between
chemical compounds subjected to the influence of soils, of
wind, of light, of moisture, cold, and warmth, in variable and

474

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

varyiug quantitiea, iu the external air, and to the added
influence of the special vital qualities of the growing plant,
and the same compound obediently complying with the
wislies of the chemist in the scales and retorts of his
laboratory. Dr. Voelcker has conferred great benefits
on the cultivators of arable soil, by his valuable analyses,
by his description of fertilising earths, by his exposure of tlie
frauds of dishonest manufacturers of cattle food and manures,
and by the information he has imparted on the manures best
adapted for special soils and seeds ; and he has now, under the
kind auspices of that wise and estimable friend of the farmer
(and indeed of all classes) the right hon. Lord Vernon — now
come among us, to tell us soraethiog of artificial manures and
the agencies best adapted for the fertilization and sustentation
of our grass lauds.

Dr. Voelcker in commencing his address said : He
must be allowed, before commencing the actual subject
of his lecture, to make a slight digression to congratu-
late all the members of that influential society who had
taken so deep an interest in the establishment of the
Cheese Factory in the town, that the undertaking had been
placed iu a position which gave every assurance of success.
He was extremely gratified that the men of Derbyshire, who
were not alwy proverbial for being in the front rank of
agricultural iraproveraeut, had taken the wind out of the sails
of other counties, and were certainly the leaders in what he
could not but call a great national improvement, which must
very materially influence the social, and, from the high price
he hoped they would secure, the economic position of the
farmers of the country. He had been delighted that day to
find in Derby, iu actual and successful operation, what he re-
commended so long ago as teu years — the Cheddar system of
making cheese. It was about ten years since he investigated
the subject of cheesemaking, and the result was that he came
to the conclusion that the only method which admitted of
being carried out successfully, on an extensive scale, was the
Cheddar. The adoption of the factory system would relieve
farmers' wives from much of the drudgery, not to call it the
slavery under which the wives of dairy farmers at present
suflered. It was a plan which, when strictly carried out in all
its details, not by guess work, but according to definite rules,
must give as definite results as to the observance of those
rules would naturally imply. He had scattered those notions
abroad ten years ago, and strange to say they were first taken up
in America, and long before his papers were, he believed, much
read in this country, the suggestions they contained were prac-
tically applied in America, and were sent back to us in the
shape of a system which contained in it all the elements of
success. There could not be a shadow of doubt that if they
proved successful in their endeavours to carry out the Ameri-
can system, that they would see small factories springing up
through the length and breadtii of the land in all the dairy
districts of England, and he most heartily wished them success
in a project in which he had always felt the deepest interest.
Coming now to the subject of Artificial Manures, he need
hardly say that it was a subject of annually increasing im-
portance, for where five or ten years ago men spent their tens
of pounds in the purchase of artificial manures they now
spend their hundreds, and those who spent their hundreds now
spend their thousands. To see how important the question
was becoming they need only look at the many manufactories
of artificial manures which were springing up everywhere, and
at the keen competition which existed between rival dealers ;
indeed, the dealer in artificial manure had become one of the
greatest bores in the market. They could not go into a market
without being pestered by some agent for an artificial manure
manufacturer, who praised his wares often to the detriment of
those of his rivals. There were now makers who produced
from thirty to forty thousand tons per annum ; others twenty
and ten thousand, and some a thousand or five hundred. Very
large sums were invested in the manufacture, and it was un-
necessary to say that large sums were paid annually for these
nianures by agriculturists who must, in the present day, if
tiiey would successfully cultivate their laud, spend a good deal
of money for the purchase ot these manures ; for the present
state of agriculture necessitated the application to the soil of
more fertilizing agents than could be conveniently obtained
from farm-yard manure. Seeing that so large an amount was
spent on these manures, it was of the greatest importance to
the farmer that he should lay out his money to tlie greatest

advantage, and how could he do this unless he possessed some
knowledge of the fertilizing constituents which enter into the
composition of the manures offered for sale? The time was
long past when the fertilizing powers of certain materials were
ascribed to a certain unknown force, and they now knew
pretty well on what substances the value — both economical or
money value, and the fertilizing or practical value — of the
manures depended. It was not by any process of cooking or
of turning over that they could obtain good manures ; they
could only secure them by incorporating the right materials.
There was a time when a mistaken notion prevailed that farm-
yard manure should be turned three times, and that it got
better every time. Now there was, as was generally the case,
a little truth mixed up with the error involved in that idea.
To turn manure helped to make it rotten, and rotton manure
was better than fresh, bulk for bulk ; but by its standing ex-
posed it was apt to lose a great deal of its fertilizing properties,
and the more economical plan was to cart the dung to the
field as soon as possible, and then they avoided the risk of
losing a portion of its valuable properties by evaporation or
by drainage. They knevv well that the value of animal manur
depended very much upon what they put into the animal's
belly, and that it would be very different if they used plenty of
oil cake, or other rich food, than if they gave their stock an
insufticient amount of poor food. So with artificial manures .
Their value depended on the materials put into them. They
might concoct a manure of the sewage matter of London, or
Birmingham, or Derby, by sifting out its solid parts, but its fer-
tilizing value would be very little, and it would largely consist
of soil, clay, or sand, with some organic matter of no great
value. They must not expect to get much fertilizing matter
from town sewage, unless they incorporated with it a good deal
of Peruvian guano, or good bone dust, or nitrate of soda. The
fertilizing value of manures depended mainly on the nitrogenous
matters, phosphates, and salts of potash they contained. Ni-
trogenous matter was derived from animals, and existed largely
in blood, flesh, skin, hair, and other refuse animal matters.
Dried flesh contained almost as much nitrogen as Peruvian
guano. As a rule ammoniacal salts produced bulk, and
phosphates produced quality, and his aim would be to get
both. He would now direct their attention to a few of
the moie commonly used artificial manures. The fertilizing
value of guano depended essentially on the amount of nitro-
genous matter, which was measured by the amount of am-
monia it yielded. The fertilizing value of guano was declining.
Formerly it would ofter contain 19 per cent, of ammonia, but
that was a great rarity at present. A few years ago they
might fairly have expected 16 per cent., and often 17 or 18
per cent., with very little insoluble silicious matter, which
was only a long name for their old friend sand. Dr. Voelcker
then directed attention to a diagram showing the composition
of four samples of guano, and of which the following is a
copy :

I. II. III. IV.

Phosphates of lime 35.07 ... 19.31 ... 30.98 ... 43.93

Organic matter : —

Ammoniacal salts ... 52.98 ... 59.11 ... 33,94 ... 19.79

Insoluble silicious matter 1.50 ... 1.45 ... 14.50 ... 9.36

Yield of Ammonia 17.31 ... 19.30 ... 11.80 ... 4.35

This showed that whilst two specimens of Peruvian guano
contained about one-and-a-half per cent, of sand, another,
which was evidently adulterated, contained 14| per cent., and
another nearly nine-and-a-half. The last had once been Peru-
vian guano, but it had suffered from the action of the weather
and the sea water, and its valuable constituents had been
washed out. Whilst the first yielded upwards of 17 and the
second upwards of 19 per cent, of ammonia, this yielded only
4g per cent. The ammonia was easily removed by the expo-
sure and washing of the sea, but this specimen contained a good
deal of the phosphatic materials, wliich were not so valuable,
and were not so easily affected by the water. It was really
guano no longer. Peruvian guano was getting less and less
valuable, and if they could this year get it from the Govern-
ment directors' stores to yield 15 per cent, of ammonia, they
would have no reason to grumble, and they would have a good
chance of getting only 13 per cent. The manufacturers knew
well the difference in the value according to the yield of
ammonia. Each per-centage of ammonia in a ton was
worth 13s. to 15s., so that the difference between 13 per

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

475

cent, aad 16 per cent, would be at least 36s. in value. If
they paid £14 per ton for guano yielding 16 per cent, of am-
monia, which they might fairly expect to do, they ought to
pay 36s. less, if the yield was only 13 per cent, all the otlier
circumstances being equal ; and he had no hesitation in say-
ing that many a farmer had paid too dearly for Peruvian
guano. The importers could always sell the good guano to the
manufacturers, and he was not sure whether farmers could not
now often buy prepared artificial manures more cheaply than
Peruvian guano. At any rate it was manifestly unjust to
charge the same for Peruvian guano yielding 13 per cent of
ammonia, as for that which yielded 16 per cent. It was the
interest of the farmer to put the screw upon the dealers in
this matter. An inferior guano was perhaps the dearest thing
the farmer could buy. Genuine guano was light in colour ;
it had not a pungent but an aromatic smell, and a cheesy
flavour when tasted, which was derived from the undigested
fish on which the birds fed, and which disappeared when it
had been washed by the sea. The inferior guano was
discoloured, and was generally of a darkish brown, somewhat
like the colour of varnished oak when neither very new nor
very old, and invariably lost the peculiar taste to which he had
referred. Inferior guano always weighed more in proportion
to the bulk than the best. It should not exceed 68 or 70 lbs.
per bushel. By applying those tests every farmer could tell
whether the article was genuine or not, or whether it was of
inferior quality or not. He had had many samples of guano
uirect from the importers, and from respectable dealers, which
contained 12 or 14 per cent, of sand. It had not been mixed
with it purposely, but the guano had been scraped too near
the rock, aud some of the rock had found its way into it.
The sand should not exceed two or three, or at most four per
cent., as it was dear at £14 a ton. He Would strongly urge
them, as practical men, to agitate the question of the purchase
' of guano being so regulated that they might buy it to pay
only for what valuable properties they actually received, and
not to pay alike for good and bad. Nitrate of soda was often
used with great advantage, especially for cereals, and it was
useful as a spring dressing for wheat, but like many other
manures of high value it was often adulterated, and often a
large quantity of common salt was mixed with it. Not long
ago a Worcestershire dealer in manure went to him, and asked,
" What are we to do this season ? The price of nitrate is
going up so frightfully that we cannot sell it unless it is mixed
with salt. If I don't do that my customers won't buy at all."
He mentioned that as an example, and all the cases to which
he referred had come undar his own experience, or were
vouched by correspondence. They were not the creations of
fancy. Now as the retail price of nitrate of soda was £17
per ton, aud that of common salt 16s. to £1, it was plain that
a mixture of ten per cent, of common salt would pay very
well. Whilst all manures were very much adulterated, none
were so much adulterated as bone dust. It was extremely
difficult to get genuine bone dust, as bones were getting
sjarcer and scarcer. People had learnt to appreciate their
value as manures, and they had also learnt to appreciate the
comparative value of bone phosphate, in comparison with
mineral phosphate, which was used extensively in the shape of
coprolite. The superior value of bone phosphate arose from
its containing a large proportion of nitroijen, and genuine
bone dust yielded from 4^ to 5 per cent, of ammonia. For
pasture land he preferred steamed bones to boiled bones,
because in steamed bones the fat, which was naturally con-
tained in a large proportion in bones, was removed. Pat, as
an element in bones, had no fertilizing qualities whatever.
It consisted of carbon and hydrogen, and tliey need not trouble
themselves to supply those elements to the plants. Fat was
decidedly injurious in its effects, for it prevented tlie decom-
position of the bone dust, and fresh bone would be in the land
for many years before it came into active play, tlie fat pre-
venting the rain from affecting it. Bone dust put into a heap
especially when it was a little wet, heated ; aud the effect was
to cause the ammouia to combine with the fat and to make
what was called ammonia soap, which would not prevent the
rain obtaining access to the bone phosphate which was then
rapidly brought into operation. Superphosphate was another
kind of manure on which he would offer a few remarks. He
was often asked to give the composition of a good super-
phospliate, and also what was a fair price for it. The general
answer to th« second question was, " As much as it is worth."

The determination of the value of a superphosphate was not
easy. It could not be ascertained by merely looking at it, or
handling it, or smelling it. It might be necessary to handle
it to see its condition, whether it was dry, and so on ; but
they could not test its value by smelhng at it. Pointing to a
table showing analyses of eight specimers of superphosphates,
Dr. Voelker said the value of a superpliosphate of lime de-
pended on the amount of soluble phosphate of lime it con-
tained, and the amount, in comparison, of insoluble phosphate.
The former would be greatest in the case of bone dust, the
latter in the case of mineral phosphate, and that made all the
difference. Coprolite, which was a mineral phosphate, had
hardly any practical value. In the next place the value of a
superphosphate depended upon the amount of organic matter
it contained, and a very good test of that was the amount of
ammonia it yielded. Speaking generally, the value was regu-
lated by the amount of soluble phosphate of lime. The
quantity varied from 10 per cent, to as much as 40 per cent.
It was entirely a question of what they would pay. They
might say, " I pay, say £6 per ton ; what sort of manure
should I get for it ? " or they might say, " Here is a manure,
what ought I to pay for it ? " His advice was that it should
be bought at a rate fixed according to the quantity of soluble
phosphate it contained— so much for each per centage of
soluble phosphate— say 3s. 4d. to 4s. per cent. There was a
class of manures termed phospho-guanos, some of which were
very good. They were a mixture of phosphates with
ammoniacal salts, and combined the good qualities of super-
phosphates and of guano. They were sold under various
names. Their value depended on the amount of soluble or
insoluble phosphates, and the amount of ammoniacal salts which
were present. Another class was that of nitro-phosphates, which
was only another name for a description of superphosphates.
These often did not contain nearly so much nitrogenous matter
as ordinary bone superphosphates. Fraudulent mixtures, he
was sorry to say, were very frequently sold in England. There
was one which had almost gone the round of every county, for
after being exposed in one place it was sold with vigour in
another district. It was not improving. One sample he had
analysed yielded six-tenths per ceut. of ammonia, a later one
a third per cent., and the last not a trace. It consisted of
gypsum, salt, and vitriol, and was of no value whatever. It
was true that the proprietor got many testimouials, and no
doubt most of them were genuine, but it was not difficult to
see how they were obtained. Small specimen bags were sent
gratis to a number of persons with a request for a statement
of the results, and the maker wisely advised that only a small
quantity should be used, not exceeding 1 cwt. or 1^ cwt. per
acre, and for the simple reason that if used in anv quantity it
would seriously injure the land. Every one knew that the
result of the best manures was peculiarly affected by the sea-
son, and that a crop which had been treated with the best
manure would sometimes look worse than one badly manured.
Hence a certain number of crops to which this stuff was ap -
plied would turn out pretty well, and as all the worst results
went into the waste-paper basket, in the course of a few years
(with a liberal distribution of samples) a good many testi-
monials were obtained. It was impossible to form a decided
opinion of the value of manures without repeated trials under
different circumstances, there was so much variety in the
seasons ; and he would advise them not now to spend any
money in top-dressing, the season was far too much advanced
for it, and it would do more harm than good. Nitrogen
existed in organic matters, in the sliape of ammoniacal salts,
in the shape of nitrates, which consisted of nitrogen and
hydrogen, and as nitric acid, which consisted of nitrogen in
combination with oxygen. The next in value to nitrogenous
compounds as fertilizing elements were phosphates, which
were compounds of phosphoric acid with another substance,
often with lime, and were very important elements in many
artificial manures. The third class of fertilizing substances
was salts of potash, aud the value of an artificial manure,
speaking generally, depended on the quantities it contained of
nitrogenous matters, phosphate of lime, or potash salts. Of
course there were other matters essential to the growth of
plants, but they were of minor importance because they either
existed naturally in abundance in the soil, or if not they could
be readily supplied in a cheap form. Gypsum, for instance,
was a useful fertilizer on many soils ; but it would be better to
apply it directly to the land requiring it than to buy it in the

470

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

shape of artificial manure. Lime was very valuable on some
Jand, and especially pasture land, and also on some arable
land ; but lie need not say that it answered infinitely better to
lime the land than to buy lime in the shape of artificial
manure. So common salt was another useful fertilizer, and
mixed with lime was the means of renovating many poor pas-
tures ; but tliey could use those materials in their ordinary
form. He would name a few constituents that should not be
present at all, or only in the smallest possible quantities, in
artificial manures. They did not want vegetable matter
in the shape of peat, or sawdust, or rotten straw, or such
cheap substances, which he was sorry to say sometimes
entered very largely into the composition of artificial ma-
nures. Peat had been called one of the best friends which
artificial manufacturers had ; and he knew that sawdust,
impregnated with sulphuric acid, often did duty for super-
phosphate. Superphosphate was an acid substance, and was
often cleverly simulated by acid sawdust. There was a manure
called bone phosphate, which did not contain bone or phos-
phate in any shape or form. Sand was a substance which
should exist in artificial manures in as small a proportion as it
was possible to obtain it. It was impossible for any com-
mercial product to be chemically pure, and substances could
not be dealt with for the purpose of manufacture without a
little sand being introduced into them, and it was found in
small quantities in the best artificial manures, but the quantity
should be as small as jiossible. So far as the value of manures
depended on the matters employed in compounding them, it
could be ascertaned by analysis, but their value depended also
on the form in which the elements of fertility existed in them.
In certain combinations nitrogen acted much more rapidily on
vegetation than in others. Nitrate of soda when properly
washed into the soil showed its effects in the course of three or
lour days, by imparting a darker colour and a healthier appear-
ance to the grass. But this would not be witnessed in dry
weather, and it was only fit to be applied in showery weather,
or it would be lost. It was the most powerful form in which
they could apply nitrogen to the soil, was most easily taken
up by the plant, and the quickest in its efi^ects ; but it
readily disappeared from the soil, and those substances which
were quickest in their operation most readily passed away in
drainage and otherwise. Ammonia in the shape of ammo-
niacal salts was not quite so active as nitrate of soda, so that
it could be applied with less risk of being lost. They might
top-dress the land with manure containiug aramoniacal salts
in the autumn, but it would be a bad plan to top-dress with
nitrate of soda. It was a remarkable fact that the soil pos-
sessed a special power of laying hold of ammonia in the form
of ammoniacal salts. That constituted, he considered, the
second stage in which nitrogenous matters were presented to
the plant, an intermediate stage between tlie crude fertilizing
material, such as they found in fresh manure, or in dried blood
or flesh, which entered into fermentation readily, and was
changed into ammoniacal salts. The soil readily laid hold of
these ammoniacal salts, and during the winter months
converted them into nitric acid, which was, he believed, the
form in which nitrogen was taken up by the crops. That was
a lesson from Nature that time should not be lost, but that
the farmer should make good use of his spare time, and cart
his manure to the laud as soon as his leisure would admit of
it. It would never do to apply fresh manure, as they well
knew, in the spring. It would have very little efl'ect com-
paratively on the root crops, llotten dung answered a great
deal better, for the simple reason that it had undergone the
necessary change, that the nitrogenous matter existed in it in
the appropriate form. In considering the value of artificial
manures they must consider, not only the value of the mate-
rials which entered into them, but also the form in which they
existed in the manure. They might have nitrogenous matter,
for instance, in the shape of nitrate of soda, Pe.iivian guano,
or dried blood, iu which case it readily became effective ; or again
in the shape of shoddy or wool refuse, which re([uircd a long
time before it came into action, unless specially prepared.
Ammonia existed in shoddy or wool refuse, but it was
impregnated with greasy or fatty matter, which prevented its
decomposition ; aud this greatly detracted from its value.
Again, nitrogen occurred in leather ; but do what they xvould
with leather, let them reduce it to the finest powder, the
nitrogen would remain inactive. Some manufacturers knew
well how to compound a maunre, wlnVh on analvsis would

show a large per-centage of nitrogen ; hut it made all the
difference whether it was in such a form as leather powder, or
as Peruvian guano, in which latter shape it was readily taken
up by the soil. He would rather have one per cent, of nitrogen
in the shape of sialphate of ammonia, than six per cent, in the
shape of powdered leather. They must not, therefore, too im-
plicitly trust to analyses, which were sometimes made for sale
as much as the manures themselves. A mere number of figures
of per-centages would not put them into a proper position 1o
judge of the true value of manures, but they would show
in what force the various constituents figured in the analysis
were present in the manure. Another point was the mechanical
condition of the manure, whether dry or wet, whether finely
powdered or lumpy, which had a material influence on its
value. Dryness and fineness of division could not be obtained
without expense, but the farmer was well repaid for paying
something like 7s. 6d. or even 10s. per ton extra for a manure
in a dry and finely powdered condition. Again the fertiUzing
value of manure depended very much on the use the farmer
made of it. Certain manures answered best for cereal crops,
and others for root crops ; some were adapted for one kind of
soil aud some for another ; and their value also depended on
their being applied at the right time of the year, and in right
manner. Some years ago he made a series of experiments
with a variety of artificial manures as applied to grass land,
and the result of those experiments, carried out on a tolerably
large scale in several counties in England, was to lead him to
the conclusion that the most economical and most efficient
manure which could be applied to grass lands was good farm-
yard manure. No manure produced so good a result, if they
could get plenty of it, as good stable dung on grass land ; but
as they could not always get enough they must get the next
best, or the land, instead of becoming richer, would become
poorer and poorer. In determining what was the best substi-
tute they had to consider what was the character of the land.
If,' as was the case with most of the Derby pastures, the land
required lime they should lime it well, and having doue so
leave it for a couple of years without putting any manure at
all upon it. His experience showed that in most counties
of England it was desirable to apply bones to grass land, but
bones never did well on newly limed land, and in many cases
where it had been so applied he had not been able to see even
where the bones went to. It was very important to settle the
point whether the land needed lime. If the herbage looked
unhealthy or deathlike, as people said, they might take a little
of the soU, and pour upon it weak spirits of salt, and if there
was an effervescence that would be an indication that there
was enough lime. If they tested the land in that locality,
they would find that by far the larger part of the pasture land
required lime. The effects of liming might be regarded as
permanent, and after its application they should adopt other
means. Supposing the lime to be thoroughly incorporated
with the land, the next thing to decide was whether bones
would answer as a manure. There were no general rules
which would hold good under all circumstances. On some
descriptions of land bones had little effect, on others the effect
was perfectly marvellous. Speaking generally on heavy soils
fresh bone dust, at any rate, did not show so well as on light
and more porous soils ; and as bone manure was rather ex-
pensive at the present time it was well to make an experi-
ment ou a small scale before applying it extensivly. The
result of his inquiries went to show that all good artificial
manures for grass lands should contain a certain propor-
tion of phosphatic materials, if possible in the shape of
bonedust ; and light land should also be supplied with
salt of potash. Pasture lands, to yield a good crop, must
be also supplied with a considerable proportion of nitroge-
nous matter in the shape of ammoniacal salts, and he would
recommend for light pasture lands mixtures of manures, whieli
should include potash — a good deal of which was now got
from Germany, where it had been discovered in a state called
kainit. They ought to pay for that something like £3 to £3
10s. per ton retail. It was imported into England for something
like £3 10s. It was retailed at £4, which was rather too much
profit, aud the farmers should insist upon getting it for less,
aud the dealers could well aflord to reduce the price. He
would recommend for light marly grass land one cwt. of
superpliosphate, which would cost 6s. ; 2 cwts. of bone dust,
which at 7s. 6d. would be 15s.; 3 cwts. of potash salt at 4s.,
which would be 8». ; and 1^ cwt, of Peruvian guauo, which

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE,

477

would be £1 or 31s., making a total of £3 10s. per acre. He
would not advise them to lay out less than that, if they wished
to apply artificial manure to grass lands at all, as he thought
it would be like wasting away powder by dribbling it into
the breech lock of a gun, where it would produce no effect.
Two cwt, of bone dust, and the same quantity of Peruvian
guano, and | cwt. of nitrate of soda made a very good dress-
ing for light grass land. On heavy soils they might leave out
the potash salts, more especially if they contained a fair pro-
portion of the better description of the more unctuous kinds
of red clay. In buying artificial manure they should first
ascertain what would suit the land, and they could ascertain
that for themselves, if they were not ashamed of being called
experimenting farmers ; and every farmer should be that, for
observation and experiment were essential to progress. He
would advise them to deal with respectable men, who had a
reputation to lose, for in buying cheap manure from some one
who went on for a short time and then failed, they would, in
the long run, not gain any advantage. He would advise them
not to be led astray by statements of analytical results, for, as
he had stated, nitrogen might be present in the form of leather,
or phosphate in an insoluble mineral, like coprolite, which
would have very little eff'ect. He would not, on the whole,
advise them to deal with their brother farmers, who made a
little manure, and chopped a few horses, and so on ; as gene-
rally speaking they would get an inferior article. He would
not recommend them to buy cheap manures, and he showed
by reference to analyses that mauy of the cheap manures were
by far the dearest. Some of these manures consisted mainly
of dried night soil, which was perhaps worth about 5s, for a
good cartload, and which were sold at £3 or £4 per ton. If

they bought superphosphate they should buy l)y analysis, and
when they were certain that they had got what they wanted,
they must give the price for it. In buying nitrate of soda
they should have a guarantee stating the amount of impurities
it contained — 5, 6, 7, or 8 per cent. This, was called " refrac-
tion," and deducting it would show the amount of nitrate it
contained. He should have liked to have spoken on the
question of Supply Associations, for the purpose of ensuring
genuine manures, but could only recommend the question to
them for discussion. Such associations were springing up in
various counties in England, and some were carried on in a
very profitable manner.

In reply to Mr. Robinson, of Melbourne, Dr. Voelcker said
there was no better easy test of guano than weighing, filling
the bushel lightly, and sweeping it oif level ; and the weight
as above stated should not exceed 68 or 70 pounds. Any
material mixed with guano weighed heavier, and they would
find some weighing 73, 73, and even 74 lbs. The test of the
apphcation of quick lime with a view to determine the amount
of ammonia could not be relied upon, as a small quantity of
ammonia would produce a good deal of effervescence, and
cause a strong smell. Hence dealers in inferior manures were
fond of putting that test forward.

Col. WiLMOT proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Voelcker
for his lecture.

The Hon. E. K. Coke in seconding the vote of thanks
observed, that whilst that large audience was there full of
practice. Dr. Voelcker was there full of science, and the
combination of the two was what they wanted.

Dr. Voelcker returned thanks, and the meeting broke
up.

ROYAL AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.
PIALF-YEAKLY MEETING.

The half-yearly meeting of this Society was held at
noon on Monday, May 23, in Hanoyer Square,

In the absence of the President, his Grace the Duke
of Devonshire, the chair was taken by Lord Walsingham,
The attendance was very small, owing probably, in a
great degree, to the circumstance of the meeting happen-
ing to fall this year upon a Monday, under the provision
of the Charter relating to the period for holding it.

The Trustees and Vice-Presidents were re-elected.
The House-List of Members of the Council submitted to
the meeting was adopted. There was only one new
member elected, namely, Mr. William Earle Welby, M.P.,
Newton House, Folkingham, Lincolnshire.

The Secretary, Mr. H. M. Jenkins, then read the
Report of the Council, which was as follows :

Since the last general meeting in December 4 Governors
and 69 Members have died, and the names of 199 Mem-
bers have been removed from the list ; on the other hand
1 Governor and 212 Members have heen elected, so that
the Society now consists of

74 Life Governers

74 Annual Governors
1,511 Life Members
3,764 Annual Members, and

15 Honorary Members,

making a total of 5,438. The half-yearly statement of
accounts to the 31st December, 1869, has been examined
and certified by the auditors and accountants of the Society.
This statement was published in the last number of
the Journal together with the Manchester country
meeting account, and a balance-sheet for the whole
year 1869. The last-mentioned document shows that
independently of the financial results of the country

meeting at Manchester, and after charging on income the
cost of all additions to the permanent country meeting
plant, the receipts of the year exceeded the expenditure
by a sum of £675. The funded capital of the Society
remains the same as at the last half-yearly meeting,
namely, the permanent fund of £20,000 New Three per
Cents., and the Reserve Show-fund of £4,612 7s. 8d.
New Three per Cents. In addition, the sum of £3,800
lies on deposit with the Society's bankers, and the balance
of the current account on the 1st instant was £3,583
Os. lOd. The Council have granted a sum of £500 to
the Manchester Local Committee, in aid of the extra and
exceptional expense occasioned by the compensation
awarded to the tenant of the trial-ground. Mr. Charles
Whitehead, of Barming House, Maidstone, Kent, has
been elected a member of Council to fill the vacancy
caused by the election of his Grace the Duke of Devon-
shire, K.G., as a vice-president. At the first anniversary
meeting of the English Agricultural Society, held thirty-
one years ago it was stated that the prizes offered for
stock to be shown at the then approaching Oxford meet-
ing would amount altogether to £740, besides £50 for
extra stock, implements, roots, and seeds, £50 for drain-
ing plough, and two prizes of 50 sovereigns each for the
best specimens of white and red seed-wheat. At the
forthcoming Oxford meeting the prizes to be competed
for amount to £3,130 for live stock, and £395 in addi-
tion to ten silver medals for implements. A contrast of
these figures will enable the members to realize the
growth of the Society's operations during the interval ;
and to estimate the nature and extent of its influence
on the progress of British agriculture. The interest
thus attaching to Oxford, where the first country
meeting of the Society was held, promises to invest the
forthcoming show with unusual attractions, The show-

478

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

yards for implements and live stock comprise nearly sixty
acres. The entries for implements, machinery, &c., which
closed on the 1st instant, prove that in this respect the
display will be quite as extensive as the remarkable col-
lection exhibited last year; while it is confidently antici-
pated that certain classes of live stock will be extremely
well represented. Another element of instruction and
interest will be found in the competition for the prizes
offered last year by the then High Sheriff of Oxfordshire,
and the Society, for the two best managed farms in the
district round Oxford. A list of the competitors (21 in
number) and the names of the judges appointed by the
Council have already been published ; and it is hoped
that the awards of the prizes may be made known at the
general meeting of members held in the showyard. The
Council resolved last year, that the society's country meet-
ing for 1871 should be held in the division comprising
North Wales, and the Counties of Cheshire, Shropshire,
and Staffordshire. Invitations having been received from
the authorities of Shrewsbury, Stafford, and Wolverhamp-
ton, a committee was appointed to inspect and report
upon the various sites and other accommodation offered
by the competing localities. After duly considering the
report of this Committee, and after a conference with de-
putations from the three towns, the Council have decided
that the Country-meeting for 1871 shall be held at
Wolverhampton. The Council have also to announce
that the Country-meeting for 1872 will be held in the
district comprising South Wales and the counties of
Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth, and Worcester. The
President and Council of the Societe des Agriculteurs de
France have invited the Royal Agricultural Society of
England to take part in an International Agricultural
Congress to be held next year in Paris, and to furnish a
report on British agriculture. They also request sug-
gestions as to any of the subjects of interest which
should be discussed at the Congress. The Couucil
have determined to accept this invitation, and have sug-
gested the following as subjects worthy of discussion, and
affording opportunities of illustrating the present position
of English agriculture :— (1) Drainage, (2) Implements
and Machinerv, (3) Manures, (4.) Rotation of Crops, (5)
Fattening of Cattle and Sheep, and (6) the Labourer. In
accordance with the resolution mentioned in the last half-
yearly report of the Council, the Society's consulting che-
mist has presented two quarterly reports on samples of
guanos and bone manures forwarded to him for analysis
by Members of the Society. The immense increase in the
manufacture of artificial manures and feeding stuffs, and
the competition amongst dealers and manufacturers, have
introduced into the "market low-priced and inferior
articles, which often tempt purchasers by their apparent
cheapness. It was hoped therefore that the publication
of analyses of different manures and feeding stuffs sub-
mitted to the consulting chemist might render purchasers
more cautious in their dealings, and prevent that disap-
pointment which follows the purchase of inferior or
adulterated articles, and the Council have reason to believe
that the publication of these quarterly reports in the
Agricultural Journals has already been productive of good
results. The Council have re'solved that in future, the
annual grand of £200 to the Royal Veterinary College
shall be divided under two heads : (1) That £150 shall
be paid to the Royal Veteriuary College, for the general
advancement of veterinary science in reference to cattle,
sheep, and pigs, as heretofore ; and (2) That £50 shall
be retained under the control of the Council for the pur-
pose of being applied to experiments on the diseases of
cattle, sheep, and pigs. The Council have directed their
attention to the desirability of improving the society's
library, by the purchase of recent works bearing on the
practice and science of agriculture .together with such

Parliamentary papers and reports as refer to agricultural
subjects ; and they confidently anticipate that a useful
library of reference will shortly be at the command of the
members.

Lord CxTMCART said he felt great pleasure in proposing
that Lord Vernon should be the president for the ensuing year
adding that his lordship had worked very well m the cause of
the Society.

Mr. Freebody seconded the motion, which was then
adopted unanimously.

Mr. BoTLEY, in moving the adoption of the report, re-
marked on its satisfactory character, shewing as it did what
vast progress had been made since the meeting held at Oxford
31 years ago. He particularly congratulated the meeting on
the paragraph relating to the International Agricultural Con-
gress at Paris, and he expressed his beHef that England would
more than hold her own on that occasion, and that the ga-
thering would tend to the advancement of agriculture all over
the world.

Mr. Roberts, in seconding the motion, entered into some
elaborate remarks in reference to the future of the Society.
As regarded implemeuts, he considered that, however desirable
it might have been to give prizes many years ago, it was not
so now, as inventors and manufacturers obtained an ample
reward without any of the money of the Society. As to
the improvement of agricultural or farming operations,
he maintained that the Society had not carried out its motto,
" Science with practice," and that Mr. Lawes of Rothamp-
stead had done more for agriculture in that respect than the
Royal Agricultural Society. As regarded the important
question of agricultural education, he expressed regret that
the examinations mast be considered a failure this year,
there being no mention of them in tlie report, and expressed
his conviction that this failure was owing to the limitation of
age to 21.

Mr. Freebouy said, occupying as he did the position of
No. 11 in the list of life-members, he regretted to say that
be agreed very much with those who thought that the
Society had not falfilled its duty or its mission. He
disapproved of the Society's keeping such a large balance,
instead of employing it for the improvement of a",riculture ;
while as respected Mr. Mason's prize for the best farm in the
Oxford district, he urged that the competition ought not to
have been clogged as it was with pecuniary conditions. He
afterwards criticised the manner and matter of the Journal,
and the unsatisfactory result of the inquiries with respect to
cheeseraaking. He intimated that at a future meeting, he
should propose some such resolution as the following :—
"That a committee, to consist of 3 governors, 3 life-
members, 3 annual subscribers, and 1 honorary member ; not
heretofore in any way employed by this Society, be appointed
to inquire and confer with its present honary and official
Staff, in order to report at the next general meeting what
measures this Society can best adopt in order that some of
its accrued founded capital should become of greater practical
service towards the general advancement of English Agricul-
ture, than of being invested in the New Three per Cents."

Mr. Dent, in replying, contended that the reports issued
from time to time on the authority of the Council on practical
ao-ricultural questions, were very valuable, instancing those
relating to the growth of cloverseed and of mangold wuizel,
and the experiments of Professor Voelcker upon various
kinds of manures sent by farmers for analysis. He was
surprised at Mr. Freebody's comments on the Journal, as
it was generally admitted that it exhibited great improve-
ment, especially the two last numbers (Hear, hear). The
Society's balance would soon be exhausted if it kept an
experimental farm with an expensive manager and staff.

After some farther remarks by the Chairman, Sir Massey
Lopes and Mr. Wells, M.P., the latter of whom stated that
only two candidates had presented themselves for examination
in agridnlture.

The Report was adopted, and the meeting terminated with
some formal votes of thanks.

TITB FAHMER'S MAGAZINE.

479

KINGSCOTE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

FARM-YARD MANURE.

At the last monthly meeting for the season, Mr. H. Hay-
ward read the opening paper, iu which he said : When I com-
menced my agricultural education— which, as my grey hairs
indicate, must have been a good many years ago— Cirencester
College was not thought of, and chemistry as applied to farm-
ing was in its infancy ; consequently I had not the advantage
ol receiving the instruction in that brancli of the science of
agriculture which is now so generally taught, and which insti-
tution no doubt has very good results when not, as is some-
times the case, carried too far— for, at the same time that I
admit a scientific education to be very important, I am bound
to confess that I have not unfrequently observed considerable
losses sustained by its taking precedence of practical know-
ledge, and my advice to young men learning farming is to
acquire a thorough knowledge of the practical part fiml, and
study the scientific as much as they like afterwards. The
manure subject, as a whole, embraces so extensive a field, that I
have thought it best to confine the few remarks I am going to
make this evening to the value and management of real manure
and only to allude to other varieties when finding it necessary
to do so for the purpose of comparison. So much is written
and said by scientific men of the present day about artificial
manures, that I feel disposed, as an old practical farmer, to
stand to ray colours, and say all I can to support our truly con-
servative friend— the dung-heap ; for unless it found some such
supporters in men of the old school, like myself— judging from
what IS too often seen— it would, I fear, be less thought of and
become more neglected than ever, thus necessitating its place
being filled by its more fashionable artificial relations. I'arm-
yard manure, properly speaking, is the residual produce of all
vegetable substances employed iu the feeding aud littering of
the various kinds of live .«tock kept within tlie precincts of a
larm-yard. It therefore contains all the elements of the food
and htter consumed by live stock, excepting those which are
converted into flesh, bones, milk, &c., and it is scarcely neces-
sary to say that the better the catdeare fed, the better will be
their manure ; indeed, I consider nothing to be more profitable
than giving store cattle a moderate quantity of linseed
cake with their rough fodder when a sufliicient supply of
roots is not obtainable, as not only benefiting the animals but
greatly improving the dung-heap, and thereby economising the
use ot artificial manure. Of all the kinds of manure known
and used, I beheve it is the general opinion that that coming
under the denomination of " farmyard manure" is the most
eflicient ; and containing, as it does, all the food upon which
plants thrive, it must necessarily be of the greatest importance
to the farmer that it should be managed in the best possible
way. Owing to neglect, great waste of this valuable article
IS by tar too general ; one writer goes so far as to sav " Good
management will produce double the amount obtained under
neglect —and I am disposed to agree with him. Inconve-
niently arranged yards and buildings are very frequently an
obstacle But this evil, which can only be rectified by the
landlord, should not be made an excuse for mismanagement •
on the contrary, then is the necessity the greater for care and
economy. In alluding to bad practices, too generally in use,
1 wiU mention that of allowing manure to accumulate in open
yards, or in heaps thrown out of feading stalls and stables
much too long, before removing it to the dung-heap : thus
exposed to the washing of the rain and to the water which
runs off unshooted buildings, a valuable portion is carried away
and consequently lost. There is, of course, a time when it is
in the most advantageous state to be carted away aud made up
into a well- constructed heap, that time depending upon how
thick the cattle have been kept in the yard, and the amount of
litter supplied ; but it should not remain long enough to get
too rotten, or a loss will be sustained bj the liquid manSre
running from it; just before that would take place I conceive
to be the best time, instead of its remaining the whole winter
then to be turned up in tiie yards where it has been made!
independently of other losses, it is not easy in this way to
make the heap of equal quality throughout, seeing that round

the cribs and under the sheds it will be much better than over
the other parts of the yard ; and seeiug that as turned up so
it will go to the field, an unequal manuring will be the result ;
whereas if taken away at proper intervals to some other con-
venient place, and the carts drawn over the heap in forming,
waste from over-heating and other causes will be prevented!
and the dung will be equal in quality throughout. Another
bad practice which I will mention as being frequently seen in
this neighbourhood is the way in which heaps are formed by
the roadside, or iu waste places, for weeks or perhaps months
together, by shooting up a few loads occasionally, and these
not even thrown up into form, as if the object were to get rid of
a nuisance instead of husbanding a valuable commodity— one
end perhaps being good rotten dung, the other inferior, or mould
or road-earth, wliich is valuable no doubt as a mixture, but can
only properly be made so by putting it under or carting it over
the heap in regular layers. A dung-heap got up in this manner,
and remaining a long time without having been consolidated
by pressure, will not only lose in quantity and quality, but be
uneven in value, one end of tlie heap proving good, aud the
other bad, so that when spread on the land the same uneven
dressing will be the result as when heaped in the yards. There
is another method very general upon the Cotswold Hills, cer-
taily superior to that I have just described, but still wasteful,
and which may be greatly improved upon : I mean the making
heaps through tlie autumn and winter— at ceitain distances
apart, in the fields where it is to be applied for roots in the
spring. The plan no doubt is convenient so far as that it pro-
vides the manure near at hand when required to be ploughed
in at a busy time ; but the loss from evai)oration aud the wash-
ing of a winter's rain must be very evident, and far out- weighs
the economising of labour ; I believe if any person would count
the loads carted out, and count thein again when used, he
would find the loss to be so great that lie would be induced to
alter his system to that of forming larger and more con-
solidated structures. Still, I see no objection to later-made
dung, required for alost immediate use, being made upby backing
the carts against the heap instead of driving over; it then lies
more loosely together, fermeuts more rapidly, and, if frequently
turned aud separated, will soon acquire that rotten mixture
which enables it to be easily ploughed in. Horse-dung sliould
from time to time be spread over the cattle yaids, and not re-
main as thrown out of the stables until in a state of fermen-
tation, being more valuable so mixed, at the same time doing
the cattle good, and preventing loss by evaporation. I doiilit
whether there is any operation upon a farm of greater impor-
tance tiian that of clearing out and re-littering yards. It is,
therefore, my opinion that no other work should be allowed to
interfere with heaping your manure at the proper time. 'J'licre
are many who think nothing of expending money upon guano,
superphosphate, and various concoctions of the present day,
and begrudge the labour that might be so profitably expended
upon the natural article. It is not easy to explain the exact
time at which an open yard should be cleaned out and re-
littered ; but I think it should be as soon as possible alter the
liquid begins to drain from it in a discoloured state. Liquid-
manure tanks, which promised to become very general some
years ago, appear to have been more valued in tlieory than iu
practice, as we hear but little about them now, and those who
adopted the plan seem in most cases to have relinquished it,
proving that it did not pay. The best method therefore must
be to prevent as far as possible the loss of this valuable part of
the manure, which, I hope to show, may in a great measure be
done by the proper construction of the dung heap. Dung made
by cattle fed in boxes is fit for immediate use, and cannot be
more economically treated than by carting it direct to the field
and ploughing it in at once : not "so witii regard to long dung
from the open yards, for, although the practice is often fol°
lowed by good farmers, I believe it to be wrong, especially upon
the light soil of the Cotswold hills. There is, however, a
prevailing opinion that box feeding is not so healthy as the
ordinary fatting stalls ; so it is to be feared that this excellent

K K

480

THE FAEMEK'S MAGAZINE.

method of preparing uatunal mauure cauuot become so general
as could be desired. Having given you my opinion upon
wasteful management, I must endeavour to prove the most de-
sirable method of preparing and preserving farmyard manure.
This greatly depends upon the proper construction of the
dung-heap and the condition of the materials of which it is
composed, which materials no doubt most practical men know
as well as myself. In heaping manure (unless intended for
immediate use) the carts should always be drawn over it, and
be constructed upon an inclined plane, on either side, so that
horses could draw up on one side, and down on the other, as
the more it is trodden down by horses and wheels by its being
drawn up load upon load the better : it will rot quite rapidly
enough when so compressed, and there will be very little loss
by the dissipation of gases from over-heating, even if it should
be required to remain for a long time ; and once well turned
about a fortnight before using will generally be sufficient to
produce the proper consistency for ploughing in. Mr. Law-
rence, of Cirencester, says of the plan which he has adopted—
" Some three or more spots are selected according to the size
of the farm, in convenient positions for access to the land
under tillage, and by the side of the farm-roads. The sites
fixed upon are then excavated about two feet under the sur-
rounding surface. In tlie bottom there is laid some three or
four inches of earth to absorb any moisture, and upon /his the
manure is emptied from the carts. This is evenly spread and
well trodden as the heap is forming. As soon as this is aboiit
a foot above the ground level, to allow for sinking, the heap is
gradually gathered in until it is completed in the form of an
ordinary steep roof, slightly rounded at the top by the final
treading. In the course of building this up about a bushel
of salt to two cartloads of dung is sprinkled amongst it.
The base laid out at any one time sliould not exceed that re-
quired by the manure ready for the completion of the heap
as far as it goes; and within a day or two after such portion
is built up, and it has settled into shape, a tliin coat of earth
in a moist state is plastered entirely over the surface.
Under these circumstances decomposition does not take place
in consequence of the exclusion of the air, or at any rate, it is
to so limited an extent that the ammonia is absorbed by the
earth ; for there is not a trace of it perceptible about the
heap, though when put together without such covering this
is perceptible enough to leeward at a hundred yards' dis-
tance. The base may be ten to twelve feet wide, and
the roof about nine feet from the base, which settles down
to seven feet." I think, instead of three or four inches of
mould laid in the bottom, Mr. Lawrence's plan might be im-
proved upon by having a foot to fifteen inches ; and a covering
of ten to twelve inches over a level surface when the heap is
about four feet high would answer the purpose quite as well as
gathering in the top to form a roof, if the mass be well con-
solidated by the pressure of horses and carts. There is an-
other kind of manuring tliat it may not be out of place shortly
to allude to, which I have seen practised, with very good re-
sults, in some parts of the country, though not often adopted
in this neighbourhood. I mean green-manuring, or ploughing
in green crops, such as vetches, mustard, &c., of which Morton's
Cydopadia says — " Vegetable substances in their green and
succulent state are powerful fertilizers when thoroughly incor-
porated with the soil. A great portion of the bulk of green crops
is obtained from atmospheric sources ; and after a green crop
is ploughed in, the soil necessarily contains more of the organic
elements essential to vegetable nutrition than it did before that
crop was grown ; it is richer, in fact, by the carbon, oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen, which the green crop has obtained
from sources independent of the soil. In like manner, the
crop grown after a green crop has been ploughed in has the
advantage of a regular supply of mineral elements, whicli
have been worked up by the roots of the fertilizing crop from
the soil and subsoil, and which in many instances, owing to
their sparing solubility, are with difHculty obtained under
ordinary circumstances." The value of green crops so applied
is thus scientifically described, and I can bear practical testi-
mony, upon ample experience, of its being most efficient. I
should be very sorry for it to Ijr inferred from any remarks
that I have made that I wish to depreciate the importance of
the use of artificial manures, especially guauo, bones, blood,
&c. But I am of opinion that a vast amount of rubbish is
manufactured nov^-a-days. It >!i(nj have the elfect of exciting
{})§ soil to produce f, crop of roots— though I have no faitli in

it with regard to white-straw crops — and it may be an advau^
tage for the time being. But the important question is, how
long will land answer the whip to this treatment ? We know
tiiat land will get sick of certain crops if repeated too fre-
quently, and it strikes me rather forcibly that the time will
come, and in some instances may have already arrived, of land
being artificiallv manure sick ; and I hope this evening to
hear from those' who have been using light manures for some
years whether they do not find that a more liberal dressmg is
required now to produce the same result than when first
applied. If so it is to be feared that the soil must be deterior-
ating rather than improving. I have alluded to artificial
manures for the purpose only of proving the importance of
paying greater attention to the preparation and preservation
of that manufactured in farmyards and stalls, of which there
is no danger of land ever getting sick. I will conclude by
quoting, as nearly as my recollection serves me, the words of
some one speaking upon the subject which I have introduced
for this evening's discussion at an agricultural meeting in
Ireland, and which came under my notice two or three years
ago : " It is by the preparation and application of manure that
good crops can and will be produced, and just in proportion as
it is largely applied so will the farmer be enriched. If you want
a large crop ol turnips, prepare manure and apply it ; if you want
abundant crops of fiax, prepare mauure and apply it ; if you
want large potatoes, manure ; if you want plenty of oats, ma-
nure ; in a word, if you want plenty of money, I would say
prepare manure properly, and apply it."

Mr. HOLBOUOW, the Chairman, said they had been going
on contentedly with our system of managing manures, but
that he did not doubt they liad yet much to learn in this as m
other branches of their business. His practice, he said, was
to make as good dung as possible through the winter. Some
of his animals were fed on hay, and some on straw and cake.
He often mixed the two manures together by putting them
into one heap, which he hauled out on the ground, after his
wheat crop had been taken off, into heaps of sixteen or twenty
loads each, to be applied to the root crop in the following
year. He did not consider he could get his green manure
made into a suitable condition for the swede crop the same
year ; neither did he think there was so much loss by keeping
dung as some people imagined, if the dung was only turned
up into a good large heap. The plan Mr. Hayward had re-
commended of drawing the horses and carts over the dung-
heap was practised on a farm he now held, when he was a
boy ; and although that system had been discontinued, he was
at a'loss to know why, as he believed it a means of preventing
too much decomposition. Having plenty of straw, he kept
his animals well littered ; and therefore he did not think the
loss from washing by rain was anything like so great as in
many other instances. The many hints which Mr. Hayward
had thrown out might be a source of much profit, if they could
be practically adopted.

Mr. T. Price said he was not one of those large farmers
who could put aside old dung, and have a store. He apphed
his manure to his roots for the same reason that he made it.
His system was to have all his dung made from his horses and
cattle in the same yard ; and when a frost came, and he could
do nothing else, he hauled it out, and threw it up loose in a
heap • and, by liaving it once turned before using, lie never
found any difficulty in getting it in a fit state to produce a
good crop of roots. He felt sure there was a very great loss
from the washing of the rain on the manure which lay in the
yards a long time.

Mr. Garn said he could speak from experience in regard to
green and rotten dnng when applied to grass land. Last
season he manured one portion of a field with green dung out
of the yards, and the other with rotten ; and while by far the
heaviest crop of hay was made from the former, the herbage
of the latter was superior. This year he hoped the herbage
of the portion manured with the green dung would be much
improved.

It was unanimously resolved : " That it is of the greatest
importance to pay more attention to the management of farm-
yard manure; and we fully agree with the system recom-
mended by Mr. Hayward of managing it in such a way as not
to produce decomposition long before using."

Votes of thanks to Mr. Hayward, and to Mr. D. Holboro^V
for presiding, concluded the proceedings,

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE,

481

ABOUT HENS.

THE EXPERIENCE OF HEN -'WIVES.

Only a few jottings of my own experience concerning
tliem, and of the experience of suildry old women whose
brains I have picked of their poultry-lore — nothing pretending
to be a complete treatise ou the subject, though I begin by
going back to their origin.

Hens come from tlie Far East ; but we do not know at
what period they joined the great procession of civilisation
that has been moving eastward round the world ever since
man came upon it. They were probably brought to Tyre and
Sidon by Pliajuiciaa mariners, and introduced by them after-
wards into Europe. They may have come to Judaea in the
fleet which once in three years brought gold and silver, ivory,
apes, and peacocks to Solomon ; but the historian of his
glory has not recorded the arrival of the sober-suited birds,
nor has the royal naturalist himself made any mention of
their quaint ways, which might well have illustrated a pro-
verb. There is nothing in the Old Testament which can cer-
tainly be said to refer to them ; familiar to every one are the
solemn, pathetic passages of the New which speak of the
crowing of the cock, of the hen's maternal love.

The oriental origin of these birds is a fact of the more im-
portance, that they cannot be said to be thoroughly acclima-
tised. No amount of care will make chickens do well with us
in wet years ; and though the old birds are not injuriously
affected by moisture as the young, they thrive much better in
dry, airy situations than they do upon damp soils, near water,
or where trees or walls hinder free ventilation. Chaucer
knew this well, when he made

^ •'' A yerde enclosed all about

With stickes, and a drie ditch without,"
the dwelling of his cock Chaunteclere, whose "voice was
merier than the mery organ," truer to time " than is a clok or
any abbey orloge" (sure signs these of a well-couditioned
fowl), and who for his fine points might get the prize at a
modern poultry show :

" His comb was redder than the fine corall,
Embattled as it were a castle-wall :
His bill was black, and as the jet it shone :
Like azure were his legs and his toen,
His nailes whiter than the lily-floure.
And like the burned gold was his colour."
The comparison between the battlements of a castle and
the cock's indented comb is perfect as comparison can be.
But the game cock, before he was allowed to fight, was
usually deprived of this ornament of valour, lest, hanging
down torn and bleeding, it should blind him, it being the fa°
vourite point of attack for the beak and claws of his adver-
sary. Thus trimmed, cocks were said to be " dubbed ;" they
were also, like ancient knights, girt with spurs of s'teel or
silver. Sufficiently cruel, so might any one think that has
ever seen them fight, are the blows that they give with their
own weapons, using the wing as a mallet to drive the spur
home.

Natural aristocrats game fowl are, excelling all others ol
their kind as much in elegance of form and beauty of plumage
as in pride and courage. Their eggs and flesh are delicate
in flavour. The hens are good layers and careful mothers,
but it is seldom possible to rear more than half the chickens'
of a brood, they fight so fiercely, hens as well as cocks, when
once they are feathered.

Very different from these are the big, gentle, helpless Cochin
Chinas. Too stupid to care for rambling, too lazy to find
their own lood, they are just the birds to be happy in a
poultry-yard. The hens are excellent layers ; the chickens
sturdy, long-legged, young ragamuffins with scarcely a feather
to their backs. They are not, however, very valuable for
early broods notwithstanding their extreme hardiness, for they
are slow in coming to maturity, and until they are fully grown
it IS impossible to cover their big, ill-shaped boues decently
With meat ; coarss sapless meat it is too.

Dorkings, on the other hand, have quite a talent for keep-
ing themselves in condition, and they are so well shaped that
a moderate amount of flesh makes them look plump and sightly.
But Dorkings, living or dead, are the very pinks and patterns
of poultry perfection. Tiieir chickens, indeed, are not quite
so hardy as the young Cochins, but with ordinary care there
is no difficulty in rearing them, and their mothers bestow
extraordinary care upon them ; no hens are to be compared to
them either for affectionateuess or for cleverness.

Nothing can be more elegant than the Spanish hen's
person, nothing in better taste than her costume : a rich black
robe, reflecting in its glossiness every rainbow hue, white
drapery about the small shapely head, high scarlet comb sur-
mounting it, down to the dainty feet and legs— the donna all
over ; and her lord is as stately as she is graceful. Him I like
rather better of the pair: one is as proud, as unsocial, as un-
tamable as the other ; but these are qualities that somehow
become a hen's character worse than they do a cock's. Besides
she is a bad mother. Her chickens, poor things, are rather
delicate ; indeed, the whole race seems deficient in vital force,
a stock of Spanish fowl often without any apparent cause
dwindhug away and dying out. Their eggs are larger than
those of any fowls, and they, as well as the flesh of the birds
themselves, are of delicate flavour and of snowy whiteness.

It would not be easy to make a choice between the white-
crested sable-tinted Polish fowls and those dressed out in cloth
of silver or cloth of gold all twinkling with jet spangles.
Very charming both kinds are, with their plump, compact
persons, their gentle dispositions, and the brisk motions to which
those big head-dresses of theirs give such an odd emphasis.
It was, it will be remembered, these top-knotted fowls whose
coftjpany was such a solace to the Italian girl in George
Eli ot's " Scenes of Clerical Life ;" it is of them the author is
speaking when she says that "in certain sorts of mental
trouble more relief is found in looking into the ways of
poultry than in listening to the songs of nightingales."

I must pass over the Malays, the Brahma Pootras, the
Hamburgs, the Bantams, the Crevecceurs — the description of
their perfections and the story of their triumphs, are they not
written in the shilling handbooks ? here I have hardly space
to touch upon them. But for a piece of advice about them I
must find room. Give them as much liberty as possible ; keep
but one sort if you must have purity of breed, for then they
may, by taking great pains, be made to do tolerably well in
the separate compartments of a poultry yard ; they can never
be as healthy and vigorous as they would be if allowed to range
at large. Hens of mixed race (not the old unimproved sort
of fowls, but crosses between them and the new breeds) lay
more eggs than do the blue-blooded feathered gentry that
make a figure at poultry shows ; their eggs produce more
cliickens, and their chickens are more easily reared. But of
whatever sort of fowls a stock be composed, it is essential to
its well-being that the individuals composing it are healthy,
that they be chosen from spring broods of chickens, and that
Ti^'fi blood (fowls not akin to the rest) be often introduced into
it. A favourite will of course be kept till she drops off the
perch from age and fat ; but, as a matter of business, it is
better to put hens away when they are three years old ; after
this, they seldom lay well — only for a little while in spring,
when eggs are plentiful, and so of small value.

Gentleness cannot be too much recommended in the manage-
ment of the poultry yard. A pet hen generally makes a good
mother (the best I ever knew nestled in a doll's bed in the days
of her chickenliood, and was fostered by a cat) ; but a wild
timid one is perpetually making herself and her chickens
miserable about something or other, besides often trampling
them to death from mere flurry and nervousness. And besides
the profit that there is in making friends with them, there is
a great deal of amusement. To know one turkey, goose, or
duck is to know all ; but hens, like otlier highly civilized races,
manifest eadless diversities of character. One is always get^i

'<83

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tiu^' into tantrums, liysterica of fear, auger, maternal aU'ecliou,
or all three together. Another, though a good sort of body
in the main, is such a manager, that there is no doing any-
thing with lier. Siie is so jealous of interference, that she
will keep her chickens out in the rain rather than allow any-
one but herself to put them up, and she will call them oif from
their dinner, if she be not allowed to scatter it on the ground,
and manipulate it after her own fashion. The cliickens of a
third are always hungry, draggled, and cross ; wherever
she has been, a couple of lost ones may be heard crying after
her; while her neighbour's family will be plump, clean, and
merry in the most unfavourable circumstances. Some hens
peck strange chickens to death ; others steal them from
their mothers and adopt them. One of this last kind I have
known to fake very kindly to a pair of nestling hawks that
were half fledged before ever she saw them. When a hen
wishes to sit she lies upon the nest, not rising when meddled
with, but scolding vehemently, angry at the disturbance of her
sweet maternal dream. This same peevishness of temper of
hers is often taken advantage of when it is thought advisable
to check the brooding inclination ; a crib is provided wherein
all such patients are confined together, and there they soon
forget all softer wishes and fancies in striving to torment each
other, and in longing to be rid of each other's company. A
less cruel way is to feed them highly, which will induce lay-
ing. Sometimes a hen forsakes her eggs after sitting for a few
days on them, so it is well, especially in early spring, to test
her constancy by giving her at first a few of small value ; food
should also be left near, that wandering too far may not make
her forget them. The heu's natural nest consists of a hollow
rudely scratched in the ground under cover of weeds or shrubs,
a few dry stalks of grass or dead leaves surrounding the eggs,
not under them. The best artificial one is a box half full of
earth, with a little well rubbed straw over it. She likes to sit
where she has laid, but she is much better away from the
other hens, she being made to sit any where by giving her
the eggs at nightfall, when she has just ligh enough to see
them and arrange them to her satisfaction before she goes to
sleep. A wearisome task indeed is before the poor bird.
Think of sitting still for three weeks without as much as a
novel to read or a bit of knitting work to do, and then, per-
haps, after all she is flung disregardfully . ofl' her nest that her
chicks may be added to the brood of some hen that began to
sit at the same time, for a large flock gives no more trouble
than a small one to us, and they, though they cannot well
cover more than twelve eggs a-piece, can rear twenty chickens
a-pieee, or more in warm weather, and when well supplied
with food for thera.

The hen, though she will hatch the eggs and bring up the
young of other fowls, is not without her preferences. She is
visibly discontented when they are smaller than her own, but
they cannot be too big for her taste. Her delight in goose
eggs and goslings is something to see. Every one knows that
chickens must not be reckoned before they are hatched ; now-
a-days only a wise old woman here and there knows that it is
most unlucky to count them after ; that if the number of a
flock be known, so surely will it be diminished. Is it not
strange in how many forms that old superstition meets us ?
the belief, I mean, that the superior powers are envious of
the prosperity of man, But it is hardly worth while to count
chickens at ilrst, such numbers of them are cut off by pip,
inflammation of the throat tliat is, or gapes, as the disorder is
called in its worst stage, when the bird's throat becomes full
of strange double bodied worms. A very dreadful disease pip
or gapes is to unfledged chickens especially; older ones it often
attacks, but it seldom kills them after they are six weeks old.
Of remedies for this disorder 1 could tell dozens ; some surgi-
cal, such as the extraction of the worms with a little feather ;
some medicinal, such as the administration of a drop of tur-
pentine; some utterly absurd, sucli as the removal of the little
horny membrane which all chickens, sick and well, have at
the tips of their tongues ; all alike useless. Warmth, fresh air,
nourishing food, cleanliness, these are the only things that I
have ever known of the least service. For chickens with
pip, for fowls that from any cause are out of order, there is no
tonic at all to be compared to wheat ; and they should from the
first be trained to eat it, for it is still more admirable as a pre-
ventive of indisposition than as a cure. Grains of wheat, it is
true, are ratlier unwieldy morsels for tlie tender beaks of baby
cliicks, l)ut wonderfnlly soon they learn liow to send them

doun as grist to those hard worked little gizzards of theirs ;
once they can do this they prefer wheat to any food ; too much
of it makes them quarrelsome. Chickens bomctimes get jiip
in dry weather, but cold and rain arc sure to bring it on ;
above all, poor little early birds that they are, they get worms
in their throats because their mother clucks them out of their
warm beds as soon as there is light. Her instinct, admirable
as it is, was intended to be used in a dry climate, and it cannot
always be depended on in a damp one for the prudent manage-
ment of her young. Prom rain she saves them well ; calling
them into shelter, and hiving them under her wings, regardless
altogether of herself; and nothing makes a hen so uncomfort-
able as rain, but against dew, which is almost as hurtful to
them, she is not on her guard. At nine of summer, at ten of
spring and autumn mornings, is quite early enough for un-
fledged chickens to leave their dormitory ; the hen will bring
them back to it bet\?een three and four in the afternoon, but in
damp cold weather they must not be left out so long.

Newly .hatched chicks should be fed with bread (by the way
it is generally crumbled so finely that they can hardly pick it
up) . After they have '.earned to eat there is no better, no
cheaper food for them than maize meal, either boiled into a
stiff, rather dry mess (chickens hate tough clammy food), or
else moistened with milk or water. At first they must be fed
almost every hour of their working lives (their breakfast to be
left with them over night) ; by degrees they are to be reduced
to three meals a day, or to two, according to their opportunity
of foraging for themselves. The hen is a snapper up of un-
considered trifles, and if she have good range she will find
fully half the food required by herself and her i^iunily. Upon
heaps of rubbish she may be seen, in dry trenches, under
plantations, scratching up corn, fir needles, small stones, and
clods of earth ; in search of worms, earwigs, beetles, mille
pedes, and such small deer ; many a good bit she picks up in
the stable and cowhouse — many a grain of corn at the barn
door and in the stackyard : she rambles a field in
search of seeds, green-meat, and insects ; and if she can get
into the garden she is quite sure that the beds were dug and
raked so trimly that she may the more easily turn them over.
And the cock caters almost as assiduously for the hens as they
do for the chickens ; very hungry he must be when he eats
anything of which he does not call them to take share. Tliere
is not much danger of these suffering from sameness of food ,
but poor jail birds, that can do nothing to supplement their
rations, must have them varied. Carrots, turnips, lettuces, or
cabbages, thrown whole into the poultry-yard, give a useful
change of diet besides a great deal of amusement to its in-
habitants. Meat should be given occasionally (they do not
require prime joints, livers and lights will do), and the chickens
should now and then get hard eggs chopped small, curds and
milk. Winter chickens must always be supplied with animal
food ; because of the cold this is necessary, because there are
few insects for them to eat, and above all because high living
makes them soon fit for the table, which is the chief thing
aimed at in the rearing of those very early broods.

On the banks of the lower Mississippi chickens live almost
entirely on buffalo gnats, blood huckers more terrible even than
the mosquitoes of these parts ; from morning till night they
are picking them off the cattle that crowd around the wood-
smokes that are made to mitigate the pest, and this food —
essence of meat in natural capsules — so stimulates their growth
that at less than two months old they are eaten in their turn.
Quite the best use it is too to make of over precocious bird ; such
are seldom either large enough or healthy enough to make it
advisable to recruit from thein the store flock.

Potatoes, when they are in season, may be the standing
dish, boiled and mixed with meal, both for laying and fatten-
ing fowls. Other excellent articles of provision for them are
grain of all sorts, including buckwheat, maize, and sunflower-
seeds, oatmeal and maize-meal either raw or boiled, and boiled
rice. They thrive better when supplied v/itli grain and soft
messes than they do upon either alone. Their feeding-troughs
should have moveable lids, pointed and barred like the raftered
roof of a house before the laths and slates are put on ; they
destroy more food than they eat when they are allowed to
scatter it about and trample it under foot.

Chickens under three months old must not be coop-fed.
For pullets it is not necessary at all ; they are quiet, small-
boned, and acquire flesh readily, but it is much the best way
of preparing cocks for the table : and they mast not have

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

483

much hglif, else iuste;ul of i,novviiig fat they will light and
crow eveu more incessantly than they did outside. Give them
twice a day as much potatoes and meal as they can eat ; let
them have a little corn now and then ; do not forget to supply
them with gravel, without which their gizzards are like mills
w it/iout millstones, and they will grow fat enough in all con-
science, though certainly nothing produces such enormous
fowls as the odious practice of cramming.

Ileus, though haters of water, are great lovers of cleanliness,
a heap of sand, of dust, of ashes, or a dry bank of crumbling
clay, serves them for dressing-room and toilet apparatus. Of
line days tliey are sure to be found basking in such places-
nestling and fidgeting in their bath of dust, aud working them-
selves into it feet foremost, so as to force it under every feather.
Theu rising, they shake it smartly off, and adjust their ruffled
plumage ; and so again and again they go through the whole
process, looking as solemnly self-satisfied all the wliile as so
many Turks. By the way they, too, use sand for their daily
purifications — but only in default of water.

liens confined in a poultry yard must by all means be pro-
vided with a dusting-place. Another essential requisite for
them IS material for egg-shells— lime rubbish or chalk ; for
want of tins they often peck the mortar out of their houses as
far as they can reacli all round. And, besides these real
wants, hens have a fanciful one which it is well to bear in
mind : they delight to lay in places that they are not accus-
tomed to ; and if they be not occasionally provided with new
nests in their houses they will if at liberty lay abroad.

If air be excluded from newly laid eggs, which may be done
by rubbing them over with oil or butter, or by dipping them
for a moment iu boiling water, they will retain their first milky
freshness for a month. In a mixture of lime and water, of
about the thickness of batter, they will keep for six mouths or
more, fresh, but with a sliglit taste of lime. It must, how-
ever, be borne iu mind that these and all other methods of
preserving eggs destroy the principle of life that sleeps so
mysteriously within.

The seeds of plants and the chrysalides of butterflies are the
emblems of the resurrection with which we arc most familiar ;
eggs were a more popular type of it than cither, anciently ; and
still the custom of giving and receiving them at Easter lingers
in remote corners of Great Britain and Ireland. In llussia it
is in full force ; there the humblest peasant, presenting to the
highest lady in the laud an Easter egg, with the salutation,
" Christ is risen," received in return the kiss of peace, with
the answer, " He is risen, indeed." Etling tansies at Easter
was an old English fashion. They were a sort of omelets,
made of eggs and the herb tansy {nZ/ia/nn-ia), the immortal
herb.

Tanties and Easter eggs are customs out of date, but the
thought which they symbolised is one that may well come in
to the mind of any one upon finding a nest, where yesterday
were but eggs, discoloured and dead seeming, full of pure,
lovely, bright-eyed creatures all joyous lile.

POPULAR ERRORS CONNECTED WITH VETERINARY MEDICINE.

At a meeting of the Breconshire Chamber of Agriculture,
Mr. Eerris, veterinary surgeon, read the following paper :

These errors are connected both with the agriculturist and
the owners of domestic animals generally. Your assistance is
solicited to eradicate them, aud to establish just and true prin-
ciples in all their requirements. Just think for a moment of
the vast quantity of valuable animals in the county, and which
form a considerable portion of the county wealth. Think of
the splendid herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and horses—
scarcely better to be found in any other part of the United
Kingdom. The time is not very long since when there was
not a single veterinary surgeon in the county — when the pro-
prietors of those animals had no other aid, if disease attacked
them, than the farrier or blacksmith, and to him alone was
entrusted their care. These people, ignorant of all principles
which should guide them, and many of them often half drunk,
groped their way without the least shadow of knowledge, and,
as a rule, did much more harm than good. I am convinced
that it would be better for the owners of the soil, one and all,
rather than trust them in the hands of such men, to let nature'
have her own way, and not to pervert her laws by cruelty and
ignorance. The darker days of farriery were remarkable only
for ignorance and cruelty. Then boiling lead was poured into
sinuses, and iron pointed and made white hot and thrust into
the tissue of living animals for the cure of disease, aud their
bodies cut and hacked as if the poor creatures possessed no
feeling. Then the remedies resorted to constituted a mass of
incompatible substances, the one counteracting the effects of
the other, and the whole forming a compound which might or
might not, according to chance, prove of benefit, or lie tlie
means of assisting nature iu the removal of disease, adminis-
tered without the slightest idea whether they would do good
or harm. The employers were often as ignorant as the em-
ployed, and could not have valued science had it been witliin
their reach. During the last few years agriculture has per-
haps made more rapid progress than it e'ver did before in a
similar time. The progress of veteriuary science has done
much toward the amelioration and prevention of many diseases,
which formerly devastated the property of the stock owners!
The public have benefited largely by its advancement in the
treatment and prevention of diseases, though at the pecuniary
cost of the profession. The advancement is seen by compar-
ing the diseases of the present day with those that were pre- I
valent formerly. How seldom do we now see glanders, farcy, !
pole evil, fistulous alTections, &c. They now appear seldom' j

j bcciuse our increased knowledge enables us to fathom not
only the nature but the cause of disease. We have now, as it
were, suddenly emerged from the times of superstition and
ignorance, and are expected to give a reason for all we do on
true principles, aud to ensure the proper medical care of our
patients. Still, errors even in this period are committed, and
of such grave magnitude that it has already cost, aud will con-
tinue to cost, veterinary practitioners of the present day almost
endless application to eradicate them. These errors are the
more frequent because the long continuance of them has
caused stock-owner tto be confirmed that they are undoubtedly
correct, when they are mere shadows and delusions — nay
more, superstition, ignorance, and cruelty. I would have you
this day consider some of these erroneous opinions, which I
shall hereafter point out to you as such, to weigh and balance
them in the scale of reason before you apply them. Professor
Varnell, in alluding to tlie subject of veterinary surgery, says
it is the preservation of the health of our horses, flocks, and
herds, and when they are invaded by disease to bring to bear
as much skill aud attention as we possibly can, wit' ' ,w to
remove it : and in all our operations, or in any other treat-
ment we may have occasion to resort to, we are bouud to be as
humane as possible, and not to put any creature to unuecessary
pain ; nor shall we allow in our presence or to our knowledge
any animal to be mis-used or ill-treated. In this respect we
may, with much- consistency, consider ourselves the guardians
of domestic animals. Now, if I neglect this opportunity to
point out to you the follies and errors which are daily practised
by ignorant men on our valuable animals, I certaiuly should
abuse this trust. Can anyone think for a moment that the
days of charms and charlatanism have not passed, and that
this grave ignorance and superstition is still in operation ? I
feel persuaded that no one here expects a veterinary surgeon
to charm away the disease of their patients, and yet such
quackery and superstition appear not to be entirely eradicated
by science even now. I am sorry that I have to invite you
gentlemen, who attend here, who have regard for science, to
use your influence to scorn such practices whenever an
opportunity offers. The man that has his animal charmed
with a view to remove disease must be extremely ignorant, and
the person that practices such deception and dishonourable
conduct is not worthy to treat animals, because he must know
that disease will not listen to him. It is common to find such
men charming a horse for something in the shoulder, and
keeping the animal in torture for days,'and even months, when

484

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the foot has heen the seat of injury, wliereas if proper treat-
ment liad been resorted to at the beginning of the injury
the animal might have been relieved almost immediately.
From neglect of proper treatment the foot often be-
comes diseased to an immense degree, sinuses form
in all directions, rendering the animal a cripple
during his lifetime. This cruelty is frequently the effect
of charming. However dazzlingly brilliant for a time may be
the reign of false doctrine in veterinary science, or in any
other science, the truth must come out, the mask fall, and the
rotten building must crumble. Is it not a cruel operation to
cut open the belly or abdomen of an animal supposed by the
ignorant to have twist or gut-tie, when no such thing exists,
thereby rendering the lite of the animal in jeopardy ? Not
long since I was called upon to go some four miles to operate
on a bullock which had tlie twist or gut-tie, and bring such
instruments as were required for the operation. On my arrival
I found that I was only second, as the owner had sent for an
old practised hand, who was sure it existed, aud declared that
he had operated on scores in the manner mentioned above. I
told him if he had operated on scores the same he had tortured
the poor dumb creatures enough, and that it would be wisdom
on his part not to do so any more, and a very great saving to
the owners, because the supposed disease rarely existed in
cattle. In this case the bullock was suffering from mere con-
stipation, and treated by me accordingly, and in a few days
after the little animal quite recovered, without having his
belly cut through, and his intestines roughly handled. Is it
not unwise thus to treat animals in an economical point of
view in performing such unnecessary operations which fre-
quently destroy the life of ths animal ? Ought it to be legiti-
mate for the ignorant pretender to cut and hack the poor
creatures in such a manner, and is it not wrong for no one to
take their part ? These tortures have never been turned to
any other account than that of provoking unexpected manifesta-
tions, which serve to build up artificial theories, only made to
be overthrown by the experience of judicious practitioners ;
aud they are repulsive to all feelings of humanity, Christianity,
and civilisation. Another error is cutting the tail of cattle
supposed to be diseased, which supposed disease is known by
various names, such as tail slip, tail ill, notch in tail, &c. It
is thought to consist in a softening of the substance of the tail
some few inches from the end downwards, wliich can he
easily doubled back upon itself ; also, that at the place where
it is capable of being doubled it has a soft relaxed or elastic
kind of feel. Now, this imaginary diseased state is a natural
condition in the tail of cattle ; but when an animal is weak or
suffering from almost any debilitating disease, this softening is
more perceptible : hence it has led many to believe that it is
the tail which is diseased, when in reality it is only a symptom
of sickness. This injurious and cruel operation is performed
by making a longtitudinal incision into the substance of this
soft ])art of the tail, aud then tilling it up with some irritating
nostrum. Many a poor cow, even while suffering from some
real constitutional disease, has been subjected to this torturing
operation, and thereby has got added to her other complaints
a foul, sloughy, carious sore, frequently causing a portion of
the tail to rot off. Another error is cutting or burning out
thelampas and flaps, as they are called, in young horses, in
which the front teeth, as a rule, are short, and, in consequence,
the palate prominent. Wlien they evince a loss of appetite
in addition to this appearance, they are said to have the lampas,
and if a sensible practitioner refuse to cut or burn them, the
horse is taken to a farrier or blacksmith, wjio is ready with
his hot iron to perform this useless and cruel operation. Flaps
are supposed to be on horses, and more [especially pigs that
do not feed well. An absurd aud cruel operation is performed
hy cutting out some of the loose tissue that connects the lips
to the jaw. AVhoever will thus treat animals ought to be
severely punished. I may here observe the error of amputa-
ting animals' tails. Nicking, fortunately, is almost forgotten,
and it would be well if docking were so too. 1 think it might
be stopped if agricultural societies would not award prizes to
any animal that has been mutilated. It is said that the crop-
ping of dogs' ears and tails is vivisection with a vengeance,
and ought to be taken notice of by the Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals. But think of the poor horse, how
many a one has suffered torture for days with that formidable
disease lock- jaw or tetanus, caused chiefly by docking. Many
have died from its effects, others have been less severely injured,

and have a partial contraction of some of the muscles of the
quarters, and have lost that beautiful bending action, and drag
their legs throughout life as a consequence. The French vi-
visection, cruel though it be, is scarcely more so than the
daily mutilations which take place in our town and neighbour-
hood ; yet the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals sent a committee to have an interview with the
Emperor of the French some few years ago to complain of
such practices. Would it not be well if the society put an
end to vivisection in our own country first ? I will now give
you a few of my reasons for considering the docking of sheep
an act of cruelty. AVhen any portion of an animal is ampu-
tated the cold always affects that part sooner than any other.
If, therefore, you cut off a sheep's tail, you not only deprive it
of a natural protection, but you also make the unguarded part
tender as well, so tender that when this operation has been
performed in cold weather animals have often died in conse-
quence. Again, by seeing a sheep's tail it is often much easier
to tell its breed — a fact which has hitherto often been over-
looked, even by large stockowners, and I think it will be
admitted by any impartial man that an animal with this
appendage has a much more pleasing appearance than one
without. Surely no gentleman will be bold enough to assert
that he can improve upou Nature by mutilating it. Who
would think if an improvement to his appearance to have his
nose or hand cut off. Many farmers have told me that after
dockiug sheep always grow bigger. If this is true, I can only
say that the increase in size takes place the very moment they
have lost their tails. The fact is that the increase is only
apparent, which is ovviug to the eye being entirely taken up
by the sheep instead of, as before, its attention being claimed
by a woolly tail as well. I have been told too, that docking
is advisable for reasons of cleanliness, the tail being apt to he
covered with excrement. This, though seemingly a more sen-
sible reason than the last, will not stand criticism, for unless
the sheep has diarrhcea its tail will not get dirty, and when it
has this affection it is quite as effectual to cut off a portion of
the wool as to cut off the tail itself. A very serious error is
that of riding and driving a horse about hurriedly when
suffering from an attack of colic, or gripes, and inflammation
of the bowels. There is a fixed opinion that this is the best
remedy for the disease, whereas, though occasionally it effects
a cure, in nine times out of ten it causes the death of the
animal. The following is the reason : When the functions
of digestion are arrested from distention of food and gas, the
belly becomes tympanytic, and the subject consequently ex-
hausted. If at this time it is violently exercised, of course
the exhaustion is increased, and at one time we have rupture
ofthe stomach or intestines, and then death ; at another, the
minute blood-vessels giving way, and an immense exudation
of dark, jeIly-like|blood taking place, which covers the mucuous
surface of the intestines, the end is equally fatal. In this
case, we have been speaking of a horse suffering from a
combination of colic and enteritis. When the disease is
simply one of colic, I admit that the treatment just condemued
is often successful, though attended by considerable risk, and
very brutal. Lastly, I may observe the errors of periodical
bleeding and physicking, which, however, are not so common
as formerly. Tlie continual giving of diuretic balls and pow-
ders is very erroneous, because such medicines weaken the
animal, and more than that, they not unfrequently bring on
disease. A horse or other animal in good health requires no
medicine of any kind, and all balls, or powders, whether con-
dition, alterative, cordial, or any other sort, are to be con-
demned, as they only tend to fill the pocket ofthe apothecary,
and destroy the health of the animal that receives them.
Although not an advocate for giving medicine when in health,
when disease occurs the case is quite different, for it becomes
our chief means in assisting nature to bring about a restoration
to health ; and when it has been applied early and judiciously,
it has been the salvation of many animals. Those who use
medicine for the cure of disease must have a thorough know-
ledge ol the action and use of such medicine before it can be
applied judiciously, and aluo a knowledge of the complaint for
which it is used, otherwise they are groping their way in utter
darkness, and their medicine becomes reduced to a mere lottery
and empiricism. From a want of this knowledge, many an
animal has been lost : hence to gain it is one great object of
our science. Many of the modern discoveries made, and the
doctrines promulgated, are worthy of admiration, in the setting

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

485

aside as erroneous opinion once lirmly maintained to be right,
and the explanation of the phenomenon of liealth and disease.
Before couchiding, I wish to say a few words on a subject
which was introduced by Mr. D. Downes at the last meeting.
I allude to the scab in slieep. It is really an extraordinary
thing that some farmers will not look after their own interest,
but from sheer laziness are contented to suffer the value of
these animals to be lessened to an almost inconceivable extent
by so loathsome a disease. This aflfection is one of the most
contagious to which the sheep is liable ; so much so, that one
scabbed slieep is sufficient to alTect the whole county. No
punishment can therefore be too severe for a man who allows
such an animal to stray ; yet I constantly see sheep about the
roads one mass of scab, helping to spread over the neighbour-
hood a disease which, by proper care, might be wholly exter-
minated.

The Chairman said with all due deference to Mr. Ferris
and to his skill as a veterinary surgeon, he still thought there
was yet much to be learnt with regard to the diseases of
animals and tiie way of curing them. It was a humiliating
thought that when such a disease as the cattle plague came
into the land, with the knowledge before us that it had
re-appeared from time to time, yet the only remedy for the
evil — if remedy it could be called — was what was termed
" stamping it out," which was simply a euphuistic phrase for
wholesale slaughter. So far back as the early times of the
Roman empire the poet Virgil described this very cattle
disease, and recorded that the only remedy was to slaughter
all the herds that were infected with it. He had seen it
stated that the diseases of pigs were manifold, and the remedy
very uncertain ; and we were told to make bacon of them at
once or give them medicine. Now he thought that those who
possessed animals were greatly to blame ; for he did not con-
sider that sufficient attention had been given to this important
question. They had not, in his opinion, given the encourage-
ment to science which they ought to. It was incumbent upon
them to do a great deal more in the way of encouraging men
like Mr. Eerris, who was actually the only veterinary surgeon
for miles round. That gentleman in his paper had alluded to
blacksmiths' doctoring. He (the Chairman) could never
understand why because a man happened to be a blacksmith,
he should be endowed with the power of curing diseases, or
why he should be invested with the robe of ^Esculapius. He
should never forget the utter horror he felt on one occasion
when he saw an attempt by an unskilful practitioner of the
art of dentistry to extract a tooth. He placed the patient's
head between his knees, and tugged away until he succeeded
in puUing out a portion of the jaw and two or three teeth
with it. If they would employ ignorant ' men, they must
naturally expect to be imposed upon ; and in fact it was not
the fault of these people that they should do so. For
instance, there was a class called bone-setters who were still
believed in ; and not only were people credulous enough to
believe in blacksmiths' doctoring, but even the children of
such persons were to be found practising their so-called
curative art. They ought seriously to take this matter into
consideration. The population was rapidly increasing, and in
the progress of years we had found artificial means of aug-
menting the crops and produce of the soil, and we ought in
the same degree to look to the better care and treatment of
our Hocks and herds, and do our best to find the means of
preserving those animals which God had entrusted to our
care ; for to men tliis was quite of as much importance as it
was to raise good crops of corn and good crops of hay. He
had no wish to be too hard on the blacksmitlis, for there were
very many good ones ; but he did contend that it was most
unwise to leave the treatment of cattle to unskilled and
ignorant men instead of encouraging science. Tiie demand
would create the supply, and if they valued more highly the
medical skill of those who were properly taught and took an
interest in the development of science, we should get more
knowledge a great deal than we possess now, for it could
only be learned by searching for, and finding it out ; and
among other things that would result from this knowledge,
would be the discovery that blacksmiths were not able to save
life. There was no better sign of the growing interest of
farmers in this kingdom than the discussion of such topics at
assemblages like the present, which were held in every county
throughout the land, and surely there was no subject that
more required their careful consideration than the best means

of preserving and improving the food of the people. It
behoved them therefore to press this great subject forward
upon the attention of those who were chiefly interested. But
he thought Mr. Ferris would agree with him that the subject
was still in its infancy. Look, again, at the simple fact of
there being only one such man as Mr. Ferris in an enormous
district where there were thousands of persons and animals
around. He quite believed that had there been more men of
this class, and a greater knowledge of the treatment of the
disease, the scab in sheep might have been stopped at the
beginning. In conclusion, he would only reiterate his hope
that the matter would be dealt with in earnest.

Mr. Smitk remarked that it was mostly the poor sheep
that were attacked with tlie scab ; the fat ones very rarely
caught the disease. He believed that many of the sheep so
attacked might be cured if only the proper remedies were re-
sorted to in time. He thought that sometimes it was as well
to kill or " stamp" them out ; for it was a shocking disease,
and one scabby sheep would affect a whole flock.

Mr. Ferris, in answer to a question with regard to cutting
off sheep's tails, said he did not approve of the practice, which
he considered to be cruel as well as unnecessary. The tails of
animals were never intended to be cut off. As to the scab, if
fat sheep took it they became poor ; and poor sheep were more
liable to it than fat ones ; and the disease being highly conta-
gious, a whole flock wouJd soon become infected.

Mr. Bendaij, said that during twenty- two years he had lost
from one to three per cent, of his sheep through cutting their
tails off. The disadvantage resulting from this practice was
considerable.

Mr. WiLLiAJis thought it was the last speaker's own fault ;
the proper plan was, when the tails were cut off to tie a piece
of string round the end of them.

Mr. IIees Williams believed that he should have lost
many of his sheep if he had not cut their tails off.

The Chairman inquired what was the best time for cutting
the tails.

Mr. Smith : The sooner the better.

The Chairman said it appeared a logical conclusion that if
a farmer lost a certain number of his sheep by cutting their
tails it would be better not to cut them.

Mr. CoEJCisii said he had not lost a sheep by doing so.
Did Mr. Ferris, he would ask, advocate animals being alto-
gether left alone in this respect ? It was generally understood
by men of wide experience to be the best plan. He knew that
in Somersetshire, for instance, they always cut off the tails ;
and he had never heard until to-day that lambs were lost in
consequence. All his were cut, and ho never lost any.

Mr. Handley could fully bear out Mr. Cornish in what he
had just said, for he had never lost any ; and he apprehended
that when they were lost it was in consequence of the tails
being cut late.

Mr. Ferris was of opinion that the practice of cutting the
tails off" sheep did not improve, but rather deteriorated, the
stock. His desire was to improve the breed, and he could see
no advantage in this habit.

Mr. Thomas Williams observed that there was a differ-
ence between cutting the tails too short and cutting them too
long. ,

Mr. David Williams supposed it would not do to cut the
tails of lambs in frosty weather.

Mr. Cornish remarked that as Mr. Ferris had never been a
shepherd it was to be presumed he could not understand the
management of slieep ; and as to the question put by the last
speaker, he could only say that no man in his senses would
ever attempt to cut the tails off lambs in frosty weather.

Mr. Ferris replied that he had been brought up with sheep
all his life, and his father was a farmer.

Mr. Downes believed that more young lambs died from con-
gestion of the lungs than any other cause.

Mr. Ferris knew that very well ; but they were still more
likely to die from that cause if their tails were cut.

Mr. Cornish said in Scotland they never cut the tails off
the highland sheep ; and the long-tailed sheep of the mountain
breed were very prolific.

The Chairjian said whether they were agreed or not as to
the desirability of this practice, he was sure they were all very
much obliged to Mr. Ferris for the interesting and able paper
which he had read to the meeting.

486

THK FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

QUARTER-ILL IN CATTLE.

At A iiieetiug of the Newcastle larmers' Club, Mr. IEekdee-
sox, of White Lea, read the following paper: I make no pre-
teotiou to veterinary-surgery, hut I have saved a great number
of young cattle attacked by the quarter ill, and some of them in
the last stage of the disease. The prevention and cure of this
disease are so simple, that any intelligent and active person can
easily carry out the instructions! have to offer in this matter,
and my experience warrants me in saying that if these instruc-
tions are carefully attended to, they will be very seldom unsuc-
cessful. But, first of all, I must endeavour to explain the nature
of the stomach. The first stomach is the great belly, which
receives the food after it has been slightly chewed. The second
is called the honey-comb, and is so closely connected with the
oilier that it may be said to be a part of it. I have had seve-
ral young cattle that have died of the quarter ill, and the last
three that died I opened. In the first case, there were, before
death, no symptoms of wind contracted in the bag ; it was
hard to the touch, as if over full, and when I opened the
stomach I found the first stomach so tightly wedged that there
was no room to get my finger between the membrane and the un-
chewcd food ; and in the strait or narrow passage between the
first and second stomachs, the food was so dry and hard that I
could crumble it into dust between my fingers. When skinned
there was not much discolouration in the hind-quarters ; the
reason of that is, that it had not commenced to fill with wind,
or it had got the wind passed ; but about the neck and
shoulders there was a complete gore of black blood. The other
two were in a different state before tliey died : they were
swollen in the bag to a large size, and the hips were hoven up
and in a crackly state when touched with the fingers. After
death I opened them, and found them the same as the other,
with full stomach, and pressed tightly against the artery and
lungs. And when skinned, between the skin and flesh, all
over the body was in a state of gore and frothy blood. This
frothy blood is the blood and wind working together beneath
the skin, and that is the cause of the crackling you find in the
hips. I need not tell a farmer what will overload a beast's
stomach. Young cattle will take it at any season of the year,
and it depends greatly upon the farmer himself how he feeds
and looks after his cattle. It is four years since I discovered
the cause of this disease, and although there may be many
farmers who know this cause as well as I, yet there are some
who do not, and to such I cheerfully offer the results of ray
experience. Many persons think that this disease is infec-
tious, but after I was satisfied of the cause of death in the
worst of the three cases before-mentioned, I laid the carcase in
the field, where all the young beasts were going and smelling
at it every day, until the dogs picked its bones, and none of the
cattle took the infection. When you ask a farrier what is the
cause of the quarter ill, he will say it is a stagnation of the
blood ; but he does not tell you what it is that stagnates the
blood ; and any one knows that when a beast is found in the
state above described, there is then no time to get a doctor, for
the beast may be dead before he arrives. I need not say any-
thing more as to what will stop the action in a beast's stomach,
for any sort of dry food will do so when the animal does not get
water sufiicient along with it. The great injury is done when
the stomach being full of dry food, the beast takes too much
water upon it after fermentation has commenced. When you
find your beast in the state already described — that is, when it
looks dull, sticks out its head, moves stiflly, is afraid to turn
round, and is swollen — you may be sure, from these symptoms,
that there is something wrong in the stomach. Suppose it is
not swelled, the first thing for you to do is to give a plentiful
supply of oil, not over large a hornful at a time. You may
give as much as a quart bef3re it will dissolve the contents of
the stomach, and then, immediately after the oil, give to a large
beast fib. salts, 2o7,. salts of tartar, and rub tlie chest and neck
with mustard and turpentine, or the receipt No. 1 lotion.
When the beast is swollen, the first thing to be done, before
you begin to tease it with putting the drink into it, is to stick
it in the bag, the same as you wonld stick a cow wlirn she has
a turnip in her throit— that is, half-way between the luick and

rib, and about three inches below the loin ; then give the
medicine above mentioned. When I find that the salts of tartar
do not take the wind down quick enough, I give the following:
1 pint of water, then 1 drop sulphuric acid into the water till
it becomes of the acidity of vinegar — say, twenty or thirty
drops, ; then I put it into the horn or bottle, and when
ready to put it into the beast's mouth, add Joz. volatile salts
powdered, or spirit of sal ammoniac, and give immediately
whilst effervescing, and rub all the quarters with turpentine
and mustard, or the lotion No. 1. About five days after, if the
beast is stiff and sore, use the mustard again, or No. 1 lotion ;
keep the animal warm, and give linseed jelly, adding to every
quart about a teaspoonful of gentian, root powder. Afterwards,
if the beast seems to be dry in the skin, rub it along the back
with Galipoli oil. This oil is also a perfect cure for lice on
cattle. Some may say they they have had a beast that died of
quarter ill, and it did not ail anything in the stomach ; they
will say that it started in the leg or some other part ol the
body. It is very natural for them to think so, because they
have never observed it in the first stage of the disease. Some,
indeed, think very lightly of a beast standing swelled ; they
think it is over-full — it will soon go (jff. Perhaps it may go
off ; but in the meantime the heavy pressure on the artery
forces a superfluity of blood beneath the skin — in fact, in goes
all over the body and congeals in the weakest parts, and if
allowed to remain in that state for a few days mortification sets
in. As soon as this is discovered, use the remedies described ;
but if you find the beast lame and sore to the touch, put setons
in the hips and chest. The common packing-needle threaded
with a woollen cord will answer the purpose. Run it through
under the skin ; tie the cord into a loop, and wash it every day
with turpentine or any stimulant, and rub well along the back
with blister No. 1 or mustard lotion, and keep the beast well
wrapped up. I append a few useful receipts, the ingredients
for which every farmer should constantly have by him : Receipt
No. 1. — To make black oil or sweating lotion : 1 pint of lin-
seed oil, 1 gill of turpentine, 2oz. sulphuric acid, to be dropped
in till it boils ; add the turpentine and oil together, then drop
in cautiously the acid ; mix in a strong vessel, as it boils very
violently. No. 2 is adapted for any swelling or to rub on cows'
udders, or any sprains: ^ pint of spirit of wine, ^ pint of
vinegar, 2 oz. of oil of regnuni, 2 oz. of crude ammonia or spirit
of ammonia ; dissolve the ammonia in a gill of warm water,
then add the whole together in a bottle, and keep tightly
corked. No. 3. — Ointment for foot-rot in sheep or file in the
foot : 3 oz.of tar, 3 oz. of lard, 1 oz. of bees' wax ; melt them
together, and, when nearly cool, add two grains of corrosive
sublimate. No. 4. — To make green ointment, or what is com-
monly called " Stobart's Ointment" : 3 oz. of sweet butter with-
out salt, or lard ; 2 oz. bees' wax, 2 oz. Venice turpentine, ^ oz,
red nitrated quicksilver, 1 oz. verdigris ; stir in the two last
when the other is melted and nearly cold. If over stiff, add
more butter or sweet oil, or if too thin add more wax, and melt
them over again. No. 5. — A drink for scooring in either calves
or sheep, or for the flux in any animal : ^ lb. of tormental root
boiled in a quart of water, or, if tormental cannot be had, the
inner rind of oak bark, 2 lb. to a quart of water (tormental if
it can be had), and add the following : 1 oz. of Armenian bole,
1 oz. of magnesia, 1 oz. of rhubarb in powder. If the calf is
very weak give a teaspoonful of black oil. No. 1, twice-a-day
for a day or two, an4 if the above mixture stop the purging
too quickly, give castor oil as required.

The Chairman said many gentlemen would have experi-
enced this disease in their cattle. He had seen many instances
himself; and it was always considered most doubtful whether
the animal attacked could be recovered or not. The general
opinion was that the disease arose in the stomach from too
suddenly giving rich food after having been kept in a poor
condition for some time previously, and was more of the nature
of inflammatory fever as it arose np to the stage in which
Mr. Henderson described it. Sometimes he had seen his
neighbours remove their cattle likely to be affected from a
rich field of clover, for instance, where tliey were likely to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

487

get too nmcli rich food, into a bare pasture, wUicli had a very
good effect iu reducing the surplus of food wliich they had
had. As Mr. Henderson said, the disease seemed to begin in
the stomach : tlie quarter seemed only the seat of tlie disease,
and tlie real seat was probably in the stomach. Wliat sort of
oil did Mr. Henderson give them ?

Mr. Henl)erso:n : Any sort of oil. The case last Friday
was brought on by a yoving beast eating very much heavy dry
turnip tops. Mr. lleid sent for him. Tlie beast was swollen
most fearfully, and rubbing it along the back sounded like
paper crackling, and also down its hips. The air and the
blood were working together under the skin and tlesh ; that
was wliere the quarter ill was. If you got the stomach clear
and the frothy blood away, that was all you wanted.

Mr. AuMSTKONG had sehlom heard of any beast being
cured.

Mr. Hendekson : I liavo cured seventeen decided cases.

Mr. Akmstrong : I am very glad to hear it. It will be
tlie most useful thing wc have had for a long time.

Mr. Jacob Wilson : What proportion of patients have
been cured ?

Mr. Henderson : I have cured every animal yet. I have
not lost one. I will tell you of one case. I lost a beast for
two days. It was a long way advanced in the disease. It
was lost in the wood, and it had got liome probably with the
other beasts, and was lying at the outside when I found it.
The whites of its eyes were turned up, and it was blown so
full that it could not move one way or another. It was blown
in the hips, aud when I cut it in the hip with the needle
there was nothing but black blood came out. He worked all
night with it ; but it was worth £5. He would not like to
say he could cure another so far advanced ; but no farmer
needed to let his cattle get that far if he watched them
properly. If he saw them every day he could cure them by
the instructions in that paper, and then by stimulants. He
considered that common sal ammonic was quite sutficient to
carry off gangrene. It was only in the skin, not in the flesh.

Mr. Armstrong: It would generally seem to affect the
flesh.

Mr. Little (Vigo House) : It is generally confined to
young cattle ; but if the reason assigned by the reader of the
paper be a correct one, cattle at all stages _of their existence
will be liable to take it.

The Chairman : Occasionally they do.

Mr. Little : Very seldom.

Mr. Henderson ; I have had beasts from a month old.

A Member : I had one three years old, which died of it.

Mr. Henderson : They are very exceptional cases.

Mr. Jacob Wilson said he had gone there that afternoon
rather by accident, and simply as a listener, and one who
wished to gain some instruction, which necessarily would fill
from a paper of that importance. He must say that the
matter contained on tliat paper was of considerable value to
the agriculturist generally, although he should be rather pre-
pared to express his doubt as to proving a panacea for all the
evils represented in it. It was a question which he had per-
sonally given some attention to, because in his young and
aspiring days — (laughter) — rather imagining that one could
go before the common times, he thought he could cure this
disease, and he had a try at it. He took a young bullock,
eighteen months old, which was about the usual age at which
the disease might be said to make its attack — from 12 to 18
months. There was no doubt he took the animal at a stage when
tlie symptoms were the most marked, and, perhaps, in the
most chronic stage, that was, when the quarter itself gave
way. Like the gentleman who read the paper, he sat up all
night also (laughter). He used remedies in the shape of hot
fomentations, and he actually succeeded in driving the disease
from that quarter ; but it was simply to drive it to another.
There was no doubt that, although the direct symptoms of the
disease lay in a local part, and exhibited themselves to the eye
in some quarter of the animal, yet the seat of the disease was
the stomach. He perfectly agreed with Mr. Henderson on
that point ; but as to the cause, he thought they would gene-
rally notice that the disease occurred either in the autumn or
the spring, most frequently, probably, in a clover fog, shghtly
frosted, or perhaps in the case of young cattle grazing out on
turnip tops. But he thought, with all due deference to tlie
gentleman who had introduced the subject so ably, that the
experience of this country would go to teach us that it was

not a disease which was usually cured (Hear, hear) . He quite
admitted that there was a possibility in everything. There
was a possibility that the information contained in that paper,
which possibly up to the present time had been withheld from
the public, might hereafter furnish receipts which might be of
advantage to the farmers of this country, and might prove a
panacea for the disease. He had his own doubts upon that
point ; but he believed that most practical men would tell them
that they might take for dead any animal attacked with the
disease.

Mr. Henderson : Well, you have the prevention there.

Mr. Wilson thought that a very great deal of the import-
ance of cattle management upon improved systems would also
furnish them with the means of preventing this diseace. He
believed that no better general principle could be observed
than the use of something which kept the stomach in a uniform
way ; he referred to a healthy good oilcake, or linseed, which
kept the stomach uniform and not constipated. He made
these remarks simply to encourage discussion, iu which he was
glad to lend a helping hand. He simply said that in this par-
ticular case prevention was better than cure.

Mr. Henderson : You are left at liberty to think whether
this is a prevention or not. I know I have not lost one since
I used it .

Mr. Wilson added that he took this precaution every
autumn or spring to physic all his young animals, and to seton
them all.

The Chairman : I was not aware of that.

Mr. Wilson : The seton is a precaution ; if they happen
to get ill with wind below the skin they may get vent
there.

The CHAIRM.VN : Do you apprehend that particular dis-
tricts are liable to it ?

Mr. Wilson ; It looks very like it.

The Chairman : Is it epidemic or infectious ?

Mr. Wilson : I think not either. It is very much con-
fined to districts, and probably to districts which may at-
tract a large amount of moisture, and, therefore, a large
amount of hoar frost.

Mr. Henderson : In dry seasons I have had most quarter ill.

Mr. Wilson : There is always most moisture in the atmos-
phere in a dry season.

Mr. Henderson : A dry season overloads the stomach.

Mr. Weeks (Ryton) said he had lost several cattle by
quarter ill, but it was always in the spring — neverin the autumn.
He had two farms within 300 yards of each other, and the
disease was on one and not on another. Last year he put
setons, and they died.

Mr. Henderson : How did you feed them ? Perhaps in
one place on straw, aud in the other a plentiful supply of tur-
nips ?

Mr. Weeks : There may be something in that.

Mr. Henderson : If the beasts get a plentiful supply of
turnips, they never would have quarter ill.

Mr. Weeks : At one place we have ; there may be some-
thing in the field.

The Chairm^uv : What do you attribute it to ?

Mr. Weeks : Whenever I hear of one of the young beasts
being ill, I have always considered it a dead animal, and it lias
always proved so.

The Chairman : I hope a brighter day is coming.

Mr. John Robinson (New Town Hall) said he was not
very much experienced in agriculture, but he should state his
experience. The farm which he had now was before in the
possession of a person who was in the habit of turning his
cattle into the fields in the spring to roam about. They very
often get starved, and suffered very much from the cold at-
mosphere. He had several died from it, and he (Mr. R.)
told him that it was from letting them go out too much into
the cold : being so young, they could not stand it, and should
be kept in the folds. He adopted the advice, and had not near
so many casualties. He (Mr. R.) had now had the place for
two years ; he had had as many as 100 young cattle, and he
had been very particular in keeping them warm, and in
feeding them well; and they had never had a single case of
quarter ill.

Mr. Henderson : Keeping them properly fed is a great
point.

Mr. Armstrong ; But curing them after they have
the disease is a greater point. Prevention is better than cure.

488

TSE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Henderson : There is only a road breadth between
me and Mr. Weatherspoon, and there they have thera dying
continually. He has had 14 died in two or three years. He
has fed \iath nothing but straw and hedge backs. Nothiug but
dry food causes quarter ill. It accumulates in the stomach,
and the beast will not drink water.

Mr. Little (Vigo House) thought local formation had
something to do with it. On the old red sandstone he had
never lost one, whereas a tenant going to a place where there
was free sandstone lost some every year. He had also ob-
served that down one side of a river's bank cattle were never
affected with it; while on the other it frequently happened.

He referred to the river Till. He could also endorse the
sentiment of Mr. Wilson that prevention was better
than cure. With all deference to the person who had
read the excellent paper, the great cause was that young
cattle got a check in their progress, and then afterwards made
blood too fast when they got on to improve more rapidly.

Mr. Bell (Cramlington) moved, and Mr. Armstrong
seconded a vote of thanks to Mr. Henderson for his paper,
and it was carried unanimously.

On the motion of Mr. Weeks, it was resolved that the
paper be printed and circulated among the members ; and a
vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting.

AGRICULTURAL CUSTOMS,

At a general meeting of the Midland Farmers' Club,
held in Birmingham, Mr. W. Fowler said : " Customs of
the country," in the ordinary acceptation of the term, by which
is understood that traditional custom which must regulate the
mode of quitting a farm when no written agreement exists to
the contrary, might safely be pronounced a delusion and a
snare. It resembled an ignis faii/i/s, which, when we almost
seemed to grasp it, suddenly disappeared, and left us
floundering in doubt and darkness. Not only does tlie custom
itself vary, in the most perplexing manner, as between one
county and another ; but even adjacent parishes, and some-
times even private estates have customs of their own, all more
or less obscure, known only to few, and to them imperfectly,
always more or less involved in doubt, depending upon endless
collateral circumstances, and always moditied and governed by
the one invariable custom, that in the absence of an agreement to
the contrary a tenant is entitled to quit on the same principle as
that upon which he entered. Even this one well-known princi-
ple, thougli universally admitted, and recognized in courts of law
and elsewhere, is constantly misunderstood and misapplied. It
is a very common mistake to suppose that, assuming a man
may leave as he enters, after having occupied a farm for a long
series of years, during which time, if he is only a very ordin-
arily decent tenant, he cannot fail to have got his farm into a
good state of cultivation, however wretched may have been its
condition when he entered, he is nevertheless justified, in the
last years of his tenancy, in as far as possible reducing every-
thing to the same state of desolation as that in which it may
have been left by the previous tenant. He apprehended that
this universally recognized principle would bear no such
unreasonable construction. He understood it to mean
simply this : that if a man enters upon his farm at Lady-day,
at Lady-day he shall leave it ; that if when he
entered the previous tenant took the whole or any given
proportion of the wheat crop, on the same terms shall he quit ;
that if the hay and straw were taken to by him at a consum-
ing price, so he shall leave them for the in-coming tenant ;
that if at the commencement of his tenancy he was permitted
to enter, say at Candlemas- day, to plough and sow the spring
crops, so shall he grant the same privilege to the in-coming
tenant, and so on in regard to other similar matters. But to
suppose that, because the previous tenant left the land foul,
and the whole farm in a desolate condition, a tenant would be
justified, after years of occupation, in quitting the farm under
precisely similar circumstances, was utterly unreasonable.
There was, moreover, this further diflSculty — that nineteen
times out of twenty, after a moderately long occupation, no
living man, except tlie tenant himself, knows the circumstances
under which the tenancy commenced. Even the time of entry
upon the farm — a most important circumstance, in the absence
of a written agreement— is frequently a matter of doubt ; and
the out-going tenant is often in a position to set up almost
any kind of claim that his conscience will allow him to make.
These difficulties might all be obviated by the simple expe-
dient of having a written agreement which shall specify the
time of entry, the amount of rent, and the terms on which the
tenancy shall be terminated ; and these were, in his opinion,
almost the only real uses of an agreement. No covenants on
earth, however stringent, would make a man farm well ; but if
an agreement were carefully drawn, it would at least prevent

the possibility of any serious dispute at the termination of the
tenancy. The custom of relying upon the " custom of the
country," instead of a written agreement was, in his opinion,
" a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance."
Having said so much upon the general aspect of the question,
he proceeded to the local customs prevailing in the immediate
neighbourhood. On the Staffordshire side of Birmingham
what was generally known as the " Staffordshire custom" almost
universally prevailed — that was to say, the tenancies nearly all
terminate at Lady-day ; the out-gp'ng tenant taking away two-
thirds of the fallow wheat and one-third of the turf wheat, and
being paid for cloverseeds, winter ploughing, carting, and
spreading manures, pleaching hedges, &c., and also the con-
suming value of any hay, straw, or roots which may be left on
the premises. This was, upon the whole, a convenient and
equitable mode of quitting, and it was one that he introduced
wherever the opportunity occurred ; and where it was com-
bined with a written agreement which required the off-going
wheat crop to be taken at a valuation, and paid for by the in-
coming tenant, it appeared to him to be almost entirely free
from objection. He could not approve of any agreement or
custom which did not give to the in-coming tenant the abso-
lute and sole occupation of the farm from the day on which his
tenancy commenced. Where this arrangement did not exist,
difficulties and .lisputes were liable to occur. When the off-
going wheat crop is not purchased by the in-coming tenant,
the out-going tenant must reap the whole crop, and then the
stocks of corn must be divided in the relative proportions
belonging to each person respectively. Sometimes the out-
going tenant will claim as fallow wheat two-thirds of that
which may be grown after turnips. This he always resisted,
because the turnip ground ought to be left for the in-coming
tenant to sow with barley ; and unless it should have been
quite necessary to sow some portion of the turnip ground, in
order to make up the proper off-going quantity of wheat, he
would only allow seed and labour, and even that unwillingly.
The off-going tenant would sometimes claim to be allowed the
consuming price of the straw of the off-going wheat crop, and
this might become an extremely difficult question, because if
he could show that he paid the consuming price of the wheat
straw when he entered he would be entitled to the same allow-
ance on quitting ; and it must be borne in mind that if he is
entitled to be paid the consuming price of the straw, it followed
tiiat he is entitled to consume it on the premises, if the in-
coming tenant will not consent to give the price demanded for
it. In his opinion the straw of the off-going crop should
always be deemed the property of the in-coming tenant. Then,
again, the wheat crop is held to be until harvest in the pos-
session of the out-going tenant, who may lock the gates of the
fields, and refuse to allow the in-coming tenant to hoe the
wheat, even at his own expense. All these difficulties might
be avoided by a written agreement. - He was not aware of any
special custom in Staffordshire \rith reference to a Michaelmas
quitting. Customs, he believed, were much less common in
that county than in Warwickshire or Worcestershire. In North
Warwickshire there was, so far as he knew, no well-defined
general custom. A man always leaves as he entered, and
there were hardly two cases exactly alike. The majority of
tenancies commence at Lady-day, but many also at Michael-
mas. In the former case, when the Staffordshire custom is

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

489

not adopted, the out-going tenant generally takes the whole of
the fallow wheat, paying sometimes a year's and sometimes
only half a year's rent, tithe, and taxes upon the land on which
It was grown, and receiving also the cost of seed and lahour
lor the brush wheat. In other respects the conditions of quit-
ting would be very similar to the Staffordshire custom. Some-
times the straw is left without compensation, and sometimes it
is paid for at a consuming price. In the case of a Michaelmas
quitting, the out-going tenant generally has the use of a room
in the house, and in some cases the whole of the house, till the
following Lady-day. In that part of Worcestershire lying near
to Birmingham, there was a local custom, extending over per-
haps five or sis parishes, where the out-going Lady-day tenant
takes the whole of the wheatcrop,payingto the newtenant 6s. 8d.
per acre for the fallow wheat, and 13s. 4d. per acre for the
brush wheat. Sometimes the out-going Lady-day tenant pays
the half-year's tithe rent-charge to Michaelmas on the wheat
land ; but this is only where it is clear that his predecessor
did the same. In fact, half the questions connected with the
quitting, here and elsewhere, were determined rather hy tiie
alleged mode of entry in each particular case than in accord-
ance with any recognised general c istom. This was one of
the great objections to relying upon custom for the manner of
quitting a farm. It was almost a necessary result that in
dealing with an out-going tenant who happens to be a trouble-
some or unprincipled man, the in-comiug tenant is forced to
pay him on quitting far more than he is really entitled to,
because, in most cases, the out-going tenant alone knows how
he entered, and may allege anything he pleases, which would
be generally very difficult to rebut, however unreasonable or
improbable it might be. It is, of course, just as possible for
the in-coming tenant, or the landlord if there be none, to be
awkward and unreasonable too. Having referred to existing
customs, it would perhaps be expected that lie should offer
some suggestions on the possibility of amending them. He
felt this to be very tender ground ; but he should bring the
paper to a very lame and impotent conclusion if he did not
venture to give some kind of an opinion upon this, the most
important feature of the question. Ue would state at the
outset that he did not desire to see the " custom of the
country"— meaning thereby the unwritten custom— extended
beyond its present limits. Any allowances for improvements,
of whatever kind they may be, should be the subject of a
carefully-written agreement, or great difficulty and mischief
may arise. With the proviso that no man shall be entitled
to such allowance by virtue of any alleged custom, he should
be glad to see, within reasonable limits, a general practice
prevail of compensating an outgoing tenant for any outlay on
his part from which he has not derived a fair and adequate
return. It was obvious, however, that the details of such an
arrangement must be carefully considered, aud the limits
accurately defined. It must not be forgotton that the land-
lord had some rights in the matter ; and, moreover, there was
the incoming tenant, whose interests were as much entitled
to fair consideration as those of the tenant who was quitting
the farm. "With regard to permanent improvements of all
kinds, such as new buildings or draining, these should, if pos-
sible, always be done by the landlord, the tenant paying an
increased rent by way of interest on the outlay. Where a
landlord is either unable or unwilling to expend money on
such objects, permission in writing should be asked and given
to the tenant to execute these works, with the understanding
that the outlay shall be considered as spread over a given
number of years, and that, if the tenancy shall terminate
before that time has expired, a proportionate part of the cost
shall be paid by the incoming tenant. Such permission would
of course not be given unless the necessity or advantage of the
proposed outlay was apparent ; but if a tenant desired to
erect buildings which to the landlord did not seem necessary,
there could be no reasonable objection to give permission to
remove them at the end of the tenancy if the new tenant de-
clined to pay for them. A legal difficulty might arise in
certain cases where the landlord, being only tenant for life,
could not bind his successor ; but this might be easily remedied
by legislation. With regard to any allowance for purchased
manures, or oilcake, or other food consumed by cattle, this
was a question purely between the out-going aud in-coming
tenant; and he saw no objection to making it part of the
ordinary agreement for letting a farm that, under certain con-
ditions, and within defined limits, a reasonable allowance

should be made to the away-going tenant on quitting his
farm. It was essential, however, that this system should not
be carried too far, and that such allowances should be carefully
restricted, so that the in-coming tenant might not have to pay
for anything from which he would not derive a clear and
palpable advantage. Any allowance for manures ought to be
strictly confined to such as are used not in lieu of, but in ad-
dition to that which arises from the consumption of the pro-
duce of the farm. No manure should be allowed for, under
any circumstances, which has been used upon corn crops ;
aud the allowance, whatever it may be, should be confined to
the last year, or at most the last two years of the tenancy,
except in the case of bones applied to grass land, the advan-
tage of wliich would extend over a period of several years.
It would be necessary also that the character of the manures,
and the proportion of the cost thereof to be allowed for, as
well as the kind of crops on which they may be used, should
be carefully specified. With regard to cake and corn con-
sumed by cattle, he was willing to admit that some allowance
might fairly be claimed, but the proportion allowed for
ought to be small, and the allowance should not go back
further certainly thau two years, and he was rather inclined
to think only for the last year of the tenancy. Let it be
clearly understood that the object of such allowances was
not merely to enable an off-going tenant to put a large sum
of money into his pocket when he quits his farm, but rather to
promote a better system of cultivation, and to provide that the
in-coming tenant shall pay his fair proportion, but no more,
for the advantage which he will undoubtedly derive therefrom.
Such a system, however, if carried to an undue and unreason-
able extent, might entail an unfair burden upon the in-coming
tenant, aud ultimately involve the landlord in most unpleasant
consequences. It was every man's duty, and ought to be his
pride, on quitting a farm, to leave it in such a state that he
would not himself object to take it ; for in farming, as in every
other vocation in life, '■ Do as you would be done by " was the
truest principle of action ; and' the soundest maxim, " Honesty
is the best policy."

Mr. I3.V1DWIN said the reason why agreements were not
more general in times gone by was that the farmers were pos-
sessed of so little education that they did not know how to
draw one up, and could not understand it when it was drawn
up. But they were now better informed ; and he was con-
vinced that no interest would benefit more by the diffusion of
knowledge than the agricultural interest. I'armers meant for
the future to have their fair share of the profit arising from
the cultivation of the soil — not in an offensive sense, but in
order that all might strive together to promote their mutual
interests. He was satisfied that a written agreement was
necessary between landlord and tenant in every case ; and that
it should be simple and fair to the in-coming as well as to the
out-going tenant, and also to the landlord.

Mr. Lowe said the mauagement of farms was a subject of
great interest, not to one, but to three classes — namely, the
landlord, the tenant, and the public. The landlord was, gene-
rally speaking, the most favoured party. This was attributable,
not to the selfishness of the landlords, but to the good-nature
of the farmers themselves, who in times gone by had not suf-
ficiently exerted themselves for their own benefit, and in their
own particular interest. They had taken things for granted
more than, as men of business, tliey were quite justified in
doing ; but with the spread of education they would, he hoped,
become wiser. Some twenty years ago a Iloyal Commission
was appointed to inquire into the subject the club was then
discussing ; and the suggestions which were contained in their
published report were in a great degree similar to those which
Mr. Powler had advanced in his paper. The great desideratum
was a thoroughly mutual and equitable agreement between
landlord and tenant, nothing being left to custom.

Mr. Ford could not agree with Mr. Lowe and those who
thought that the public had any right to interfere in ques-
tions as to the relations of landlord and tenant. He was
fully impressed with the importance of having agreements.
The chief consideration, however, was not the agreement, but
the terms of it. If an agreement were clogged with all kinds
of old-fashioned restrictions as to the amount of acreage under
different crops, the succession of crops, and such-like, he
thought it had better not exist at all. The object should be,
not to instruct the tenant how to farm his land, but to tell
him how he must leave it.

490

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. HoRi.EY said that, in regard to compensation loi- uu-
cxhaUsted improvements, the consumption of cake, kc, a'l
average of several years should be taken, and not the last year
only. The outgoing tenant, too, should not be allowed to
spend more during the last year of his occupancy tluui his
previous average. Nothing would do so much for the farm-
ing interest as the establishment of a fair system of compensa-
tion to an outgoing tenant for any outlay of wliich he had not
reaped the benefit. In Lincolnshire this kind of agreement
was almost universally the rule ; and he attributed the very
superior cultivation of that district to the beneficial working
of such agreements.

Jilr. Wright thought that Club was pretty much in the
same position with respect to the subject then under discussion
as it was on its formation live years ago. They appeared to
hira to be only doing what, as had been admitted those
philanthropic persons who were anxious to lessen the poverty,
ignorance, and crime to be found in our great towns were
doing — simply scratching the surface. No sclicme of com-
pensation for unexhausted improvements would, he believed,
be found sufficient fully to develop tlie agricultural resources
of this country, or to place the farmers in a position which
would induce them to employ in the cultivation of the soil
that amount of capital which was necessary if its productive
power was to be increased to the fullest extent of which it was
capable, and which it was most desirable should be done, not
only for the benefit of the farmers themselves, but of the whole
community. He could not agree with those gentlemen who
contended that questions of this nature did not concern the
towns. On the contrary, he maintained that the towns were
interested in a great degree, not only in the means necessary
to ensure the increased production of the soil, but in regard
also to the employment of labour in agriculture. He coincided
in the opinion expressed by Mr. Bright some time ago, to the
effect that the land does not, and has not, employed its fair share
of the labour of this country. The consequence of tliis had
been that large numbers of the labouring classes were driven
from country districts into the towns, where the cond'.tion of
masses of the population, as some gentlemen present well
know, was wretched almost beyond lielief. We were now
legislating on the tenure of land in Ireland, and proposing to
give the sanction of law to some of the customs already
existing there ; and, where no customs existed which afforded
protection to the tenant, to impose a penalty for arbitrary
eviction. In the course of last year attention was drawn to a
case which would hereafter be known as the Mansfield case,
in which, owing to circumstances to which he would not on
that occasion further allude, a highly respectable tenant had
notice to quit. lie had occupied two large farms for a num-
ber of years, and the loss in the value of his stock, in conse-
quence of the forced sale which necessarily took place, was
estimated at at least £1,500. Now he (Mr. AYright) would ask
any farmer present whether, if he were compelled to leave his
farm at six months' notice, and, having no other farm to go
to, his stock had to be sold, he would not be very much in
the position of the farmers in many parts of Ireland ? A
farmer without a farm was almost as helpless as a fish out of
water. No compensation on the principles suggested by Mr.
Fowler would meet the case to which he had alluded, and no
system under which it could occur was likely to attract suffi-
cient capital to tl\e cultivation of the soil. In discussions of
this kind it was all very well to talk of the application of the
commercial principle, as his friend Mr. Lowe did ; but it must
be borne in mind that ttie state of tenants in town and country
was widely different. In towns, a man had usually the choice
of a number of shops, offices, or manufactories ; but in the
country, if a farm were vacant, there were a dozen or more
applicants for it. At the same time, a farmer could not make
his own terms, for, as ^Ir. Fowler would bear him out in say-
ing, on nearly every estate there was a special form of agree-
ment to which the applicant for a farm must bind himself if
he became a tenant. No form of agreement at present in
existence, he repeated, was sufficient to justify a farmer in
Using increased capital on his farm ; and, while he did not
ask for fixity of tenure, he contended that, either by leases or
in some other way, the position of the tenant farmers of Eng-
land must be rendered more secure and satisfactory than it had
hitherto been.

Lord LtcUFir.l.n agreed with every word of Mr. Fowler's
paper so far as it went; but he was a little disappointed at

finding that that gentleman had not iiad sufficient time to
enable him to prepare a paper which should touch, not merely
upon the customs in the immediate neighbourhood of Bir-
mingham, but those existing throughout England. At this
time, when the whole question of land tenure was occupying
so much attention, such a paper would be most valuable.
There was no doubt that, in regard to the question of com-
pensation for unexhausted improvements, a very strong feeling
was prevalent amongst tenant farmers, and sometimes amongst
landlords, that some system, as nearly uniform as possible,
should be generally adopted. He thought all present would
coincide in this ; but the question was as to how it could be
brought about. Many suggestions upon this point had been
made. Some persons advocated legislation ; but legislation
upon this subject he had always maintained to be a very
difficult matter, although to a certain extent he was in favour
of it. If thry were to legislate, the first step was to ascertain
whether they had any customs existing in any part of the
country, and then to combine them in such a manner as to
secure something like a practical measure. But in dealing
with Mr. Gladstone's attempt at legislation with regard to
Ireland, the House of Commons were going to work with
apparently the utmost possible ignorance on the whole
subject ; and they were legalising — at least they thought
they were legalising — a variety of customs, none of
which anybody could define, none of which anybody attempted
to understand, and none of which anybody expected to see any
legislation affect. He protested in the strongest terras against
the way in which this Irish legislation was being carried out,
because it showed what he considered a want of intelligent
consideration for those upon whom they were going
to apply it. He had listened with attention both
to the paper and the discussion, and had not
heard a single practical suggestion. The tenour of the re-
marks which fell from Mr. VVright was evidently in favour of
legislation ; but they did not point out the manner in which
it should be applied. So far as agreements were concerned,
he had done his best to procure the adoption of one which
was reasonable, and suited to the requirements of the country
at large. He was only sorry that more interest had not been
taken in the subject, botli by landlords and tenants ; for if
such had been the case, a tolerably uniform agreement would
by this time have been in operation. Mr. Fowler had said
that an agreement should be as simple as possible. It must,
however, be remembered that if you had an agreement, which,
after all, was to be interpreted at the end of the tenancy by
arbitrators, you must have something in that agreement to
show the arbitrators how to act. So long as agreements pro-
vide that the tenant during the continuance of his occupation
shall bo free to make the best use he can of his land, you
could not be too particular in laying down the principle upon
which the arbitrators are to act when the tenancy ceases. His
own agreement had been very much discussed ; but he had
never heard that any practical amendment of it had been pro-
posed. He had told his own tenants to try to pick a hole in
it ; and it had gonethrough the ordeal so satisfactorily that he
had seen no reason to make any alteration. He wished Mr.
Wright had intimated what other course ought to be pursued.
What that gentleman evidently wished for was fixity of tenure,
either by leases or some other means. To give complete fixity
of tenure the leases must, of course, be compulsory, which en-
tailed the further question of Government valuation. He
thouglit, however, they would all admit that any attempt to
make leases compulsory would be simply a farce, unless the
rent was also fixed by Government. He knew of no way out
of the difliculty except the one he had always suggested as
being really sufficient, provided the landlords and tenants
throughout the country would agree thereto — namely, to adopt
a system which shall give such ample and full compensation
under the agreement for everything that the tenant can in
justice ask for that it could not possibly be the object of the
landlord to turn him out so long as his farming was good. .

Mr. Masfen, the Chairman, regretted that Mr. Fowler had
not gone more deeply into the subject, and said he would
especially have liked to hear his opinion upon the agreement
to which the prize of the Royal Agricultural Society was
awarded. A twenty-one years' lease meant, in his opinion,
seven years of improvement, seven years of keeping up to the
mark, and seven years of deteiioration. He thought nothing
was more fair than that the in-coming should pay tiie out-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

491

going teiiaut for auy imjirovcmcnt the latter might liavc made
diiriug his occupaucy. All rcstrictious as to rotation of croj)-
ping were very irritating ; aud the greater the freedom allowed
to the tenant in these matters the better. In order that the

subject might be thoroughly discussed, lie should wish [the con-
sideration of it to be adjourned to some future time, when he
would be prepared with a schedule of what he thought was
lair compensation from the in-coming to the out-going tenant.

FARMING IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Mr. E. W. Loggia-, brother of the Secretary of the Mcl-
plaish Agricultural Society, who has had some experience in
Uruguay, recently read the following paper :

The repubic of Uruguay is not an agricultural, but a grazing
country, but yet graiu is grown there to a small extent.
Wheat, Indian corn, and barley are grown, but oats do not
thrive well. The land having been for so many years used
simply for grazing, does not require manure. The climate is
very variable, sometimes a great deal of rain falls in summer,
and at other times none at all. The winter is also subject to
some changes. It is also very hot in summer, and for months
together, but never very cold in winter, the glass seldom going
below freezing point, and even tben I have never observed ice
to last after mid-day. The land is ploughed by oxen and a
plough " of which I have made a rough imitation for your
inspection," aud I really believe that Adam, if ever he used a
plough, must have used a very similar one (laughter). Of
late years English aud American ploughs have come greatly
into use, but it is astonishing how diliicult it is to persuade
some of the natives of their advantages over their own.
Horses are but seldom used to plough. They are very small
and have not suflicient weight to throw into the collar, and
further are found not to stand the same amount of work, day
after day, that oxen will. The crop is reaped with a hook and
stacked as in England, but it is afterwards thrashed iu a very
primitive way. A circular space is enclosed by large posts,
very high aud rather close together, and these posts are secured
one to the other by a wooden border, running all round the
fence. The corn is then placed on the ground and a troop of
mares, which are bred in great numbers there, and arc quite
unbroken, are then driven in, and the gate being closed are
driven round and round, treading out the corn. This is evi-
dently a very old way of thrashing, as one of the command-
ments to the Israelites was, " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
that treadeth out the corn." The only difference from the
commandment being mares instead of oxen. Oxen are also
used for the purposes of draught, where heavy loads are re-
quired to be taken, being yoked to a cart running on two
wheels, six oxen to a team. These carts are, if possible, even
more clumsy contrivances than a Dorsetshire waggon. The
oxen will travel with tliese carts containing a ton and a half to
a load, at a rate of 20 miles a day, for weeks together, resting,
of course, on Sundays, and cross rivers and streams, and all
descriptions, without bridges. I will now come to a more
important branch of farming in that country, viz., cattle
farming. A farmer there rents or buys his land by the square
league, and, in order to stock it, buys any quantity of cattle
he may require by the lot, consisting sometimes of several
hundreds, or even thousands, which are worth, one with
another, about sixteen shillings a head, the seller being allowed
to draw off a certain portion of fat cattle for market. These
cattle are all branded with a red hot iron, each farmer having
his own particular brand, for which he had to take out a certi-
ficate, and on purchasing these cattle they are all shut into a
large enclosure, or co/rfi/, as it is called in Spanish, the fence
consisting either of wood or stone. Each animal is then
lassoed by the horns by a native, another lassoing it by the
legs, and throwing it down. It is then rebranded by the former
owner. This is called " countermarkiug," and is equivalent
to uo mark at all. The purchaser then places his own brand
on. When they are all branded they are generally left shut
up all night, and the following morning are taken home, where,
when they have fed a few hours, they are again shut up for
the night, and let out in the morning to feed, being watched
by men on horseback, to prevent their escaping. This is con-
tinued for two or three months ; after that, instead of shutting
them up at night, they are gathered every evening on the
same spot, and watched until they lie down, and are then left

until the following morning, wlieu they are again collected for
a short time. After a few mouths they are considered suffi-
ciently accustomed to the ground to stay without much further
trouble, being gathered once or twice a week, at the option of
the owner. A fat cow will fetch about 32s. and a fat ox 40s.
They are either sold, if very fat, for market, or if only
moderately so, are sold iu large troops to make jerked beef of,
a sample of which came to England a few years ago, and I
heard it fetched 3d. a pound. It is very dry and hard ; very
like old shoe leather, with less flavour and far uglier to look at
(much laughter). Beef in the towns is worth l^d. a pound.
Mares are kept much in the same manner, but are never
ridden, being kept entirely for breeding purposes, and more-
over it is considered a disgrace to ride a mare. There is one
curious fact I have often observed, and it has also been noticed
by others, that a stallion will frequently drive all the lillies of
his own getting out of the troop as soon as they are furnished,
thereby instinctively preventing that in breeding so ruinous to
all stock. I will now give you a short description of the
manner in which sheep are fed. They are run iu large flocks
of from one to three thousand, and are taken care of by a man
on horseback. They are gathered on one spot at night, and
are, by constant watching for a mouth or so, taught to stay
there, and are not allowed to go off to feed iu the winter until
the devv is quite off the grass, as it is supposed to make them
very thin. The rams are put into these flocks (which gene-
rally have a considerable per centage of wethers) early in
October, thereby briugiug the laming on in March and April.
Eorty per cent, of lambs to a mixed flock is considered very
good, Ijut a flock consisting entirely of breodiug ewes will give
front 70 to 00 per cent. The custom was to have two lamb-
ing in a year, one in March, being the autumn lambing, and
one in September, being a spring lambing, the 25th of De-
cember corresponding to the 24.th of June here, or iu plainer
terms summer here being winter there, but it is now generally
allowed that one lambing is more advantageous, bringing as
large an increase, in the long run, and the sheep keeping in
better condition. The sheep are a cross of the original sheep
of the country, a very loose loug woolled sheep, soinethiug
like the Black-faced sheep in Scotland, regarding the fibre of
the wool, but I should say inferior in every other respect,
being almost impossible to fatten. These' sheep were crossed
with the English Lieccster and Southdown and the pure
Merino, but the English blood being found so liable to scab,
the Ilamboilett took their place, producing a very fine, al-
though not a very long wool, and plenty of it, an average
flock, "shearing all the shears can be got into, both small aud
great," yielding an average of ^Ib. a fleece. These sheep, ten
years ago, were worth 12s. a head after shearing, but to-day
would, I dare say, fetch 12 pence. Saxouy rams have been
introduced of late years, and have proved very remunerative,
being very fine and close in their wool, and shearing up to'
151b. a fleece. Ten years ago fine wool was greatly in demand,
and good mestzo wool (" Mestzo is half-bred merino ") fetching'
iu Monte Video lOd. to Is. a pound, but this class of wool is
not nearly so much in demand now, a longer staple being pre-
ferred, and consequently wool has fallen to 5d. per pound.
Shearing costs about five farthings a sheep, a ram twopence
but the farmer has to keep the shearers during the shearing'
and find men for catching, tyeing, and bagging or baking, as'
the case may be. A fat ewe will fetch 2s. Od., and a 'fat
wether about 3s. 4d., for market ; a good average wether
reaching to about 14.1b. a quarter, I should say, although I
have seen them reach 171b.

Mr. Loggin then exhibited the plough to which he made
reference in his paper, and illustrated the manner in wliioli it
was used.

492

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

STAINDROP FARMERS' CLUB

At the last meeting, Mr. T. T, Scarth, the president, in the
chair,

Mr. Neasuam read a paper on " The Hiring of Farm Ser-
vants, and tlie mode of Paying them." He said : Most of you
will, I think, agree with me that the time of changing our
servants in this district — that is, at May-day, is attended with
some inconvenience, as the turnip season is then at its height,
and every hour lost at that season is of great consequence, not
only in the labour of the man, but his wife also, who cannot be
expected to leave her house and family just when they have
removed into a strange neighbourhood, and have various wants
to supply. In the Lothians, I believe, the 29th of May is the
time at which the change is made, and in many parts of the
country Michaelmas or Martinmas, which is not generally so
busy a time, and when the labour of both man and wife can be
better spared for a day or two. To change tlie custom of any
country is always a matter of much difficulty, for farmers can-
not at all times be brought to act together, when it is even for
their interest that they should do so ; and whether Chambers
of Agriculture may not, after more important matters are dis-
posed of, be the means of altering this state of things, and
taking up such subjects as this, is, I conceive, well-worthy tlie
consideration of their members. There is another class of
farm-servants — to the hiring of which I must allude — and
that is of young unmarried men and women who are usually
boarded and lodged in the farmer's house, and these, for tlie
most part, are to be found at the ordinary statute hirings a few
weeks before the term — a mode of hiring that has been
strongly denounced by some people as tending to vice and
immorality, I cannot, however, see how it could be otlier-
wise arranged, so long as the changing from one master's
service to another is at one and a fixed time in any dis-
rict ; for, if you adopt the plan of a register-office, which
many recommend, their names should be put down some con-
siderable time before the term-day, to admit of anything like
adequate attention being given to the many applications tliat
would have to be made, or for the masters to make inquiries
as to their characters and qualifications. To many farmers,
particularly those of a higher standing, this mode of lodging
their men in the house cannot but be a source of constant
annoyance and inconvenience, inasmuch as their house, under
such circumstances, can scarcely be called their own . In
many counties it is no uncommon practice in hiring their
foremen, to require them to lodge so many young men in their
houses, paying them a sum per week to be agreed upon ; but
this, of course, can only be carried out where the farms are
large, and the dwellings on tliem sufficiently commodious.
Mucli has been said and written of late on the subject of
educating the farm labourer ; and uone of us, I pre-
sume will deny its great advantages so long as that
education is directed to their moral and practical, as well as in-
tellectual improvement. The mistake, I fear, is often
made of confounding it with learning, and education
proper is, for the most part, if not entirely, lost sight
of; for if an agricultural labourer's boy is taught to
read and write well, and to keep a correct and honest
account in figures of what may be entrusted to him, that is, I
maintain, in ninety-nine cases out <jf a hundred, all that will
ever be required or of use to him. It cannot be doubted that
in the present time, when new and improved implements, as
well as steam, and machinery of various kinds, are annually
introduced into the practice of agriculture, a few labourers are
required possessing a more extended knowledge of mechanics
and other sciences ; but a boy whose mind takes a turn in this
direction, will sooner or later show the bent of liis inclination,
and discover the means of improving himself therein. I' will
now pass on to the secoud part of my subject, viz., " The mode
of Paying our Parm Servants," and in doing so would more
particularly iuvite your discussion as to the relative merits of
our own system, as regards the payment of our hinds in money
(weekly or fortnightly, as the case may be), or of that adopted
in other districts, of paying mostly in kind, and a part only in
jnouey, Our plan is doubtless attended with less trouble, and

affords tlie labourer the opportunity of going, money in hand ,
to supply his wants in the cheapest market ; but I question
very much weather it supplies us with as strong and healthy a
servant as when he is paid monthly in kind. This year, cer-
tainly, on the score of economy, those districts which adopt the
latter mode have had a decided advantage, seeing that all
cereal produce, upon which they chieffy subsist, is selling at
a low figure in tlie market. It will be admitted, I think,
that farm wages have within the last 20 or 25 years ad-
vanced here something like fifty per cent. ; and, with all
this, we have not, it may be said, so contented, willing
or industrious a class of men as formerly, nor one
among which so much providence and self-denial is
practised, for it is no uncommon thing now to find that, Mdth
wages averaging from 16s. to I8s. per week (including, I
mean, such privileges as potatoes and a house, rent free), the
cliances are, the servant has to apply to the parish for relief if
sickness or other casualty befal him for awhile, as there is
seldom anything laid by, the M'liole of his wages having, in
many instances, tieen spent, and that perhaps extravagantly, as
soon as received ; besides, when the men are earning so much
hard cash, the wife cares little whether she goes out or not.
I have made some inquiries respecting their system in
Northumberland and other parts north of this, and really, in
many respects, their hinds may be said to have little farms or
menageries. 13iit, with your leave, I will transcribe an in-
stance or two. Prom the neighbourhood of Alnwick a friend
of mine, who farms largely, writes: "The wages in this dis-
trict are paid most in kind, with part money — a method pre-
ferred generally by both masters and men. The wages which
a fair, good man receives in this neighbourhood are about as
follows : 1-i Winchester bushels of wheat, Zi bushels of
barley, 12 of beans or peas, and 30 of oats ; a cow kept on grass
during summer, three single horse-loads of hay (two tons),
with oat straw ad lihitiim ; an outrake during the winter ; in
addition to these, men who have a cow get £4 in money ; those
vfho have no cow get 5s. per week without the £4 ; their
liouse free, and coals led, but the coals themselves they pay for ;
a suitable garden and land provided to set 1,000 yards of pota-
toes ; but since the disease most of them set only 500 yards,
and receive £2 in money for the other half. A pigsty pro-
vided to keep a pig, a privilege of which most of them avail
themselves, by keeping two or three during the year. The
hind is expected to find a worker, who is constantly employed
(weather permitting), and generally a female, who gets Is. a
day throughout the year, except in harvest, when they receive
from 2s. 6d. to 3s. per day. In instances where men prefer to
be paid in money, they receive 15s, or 16s. a week, with
house." With regard to the worker here mentioned, he is,
1 presume, though my friend does not say so, paid the
ordinary wages of a casual or " datal " man. The money
value of these privileges is something like equal to 15s. per
week. Another correspondent, from Roxburghshire, where
the labourer was paid in kind, stated that the sum total of
what he received was equal to £33 8s. id. per year, or 13s.
per week. One of the items was the keep of a cow, put down
at £6, and 100 stones of oatmeal at £9 3s. 4d. Turning our
attention southwards, we find in a late issue of the Royal
Agricultural Society's Journal, from reports by Mr. H. M.
Jenkins, that on Mr. Torr's farm, in Lincolnshire, the labourer
gets from 13s. Gd. to 15s. per week in money, with the pri-
vilege of cropping a plot of potato ground ; the superior
workmen are paid equally well in proportion — a part of their
emolument, however, being a good cottage, rent free, which
may be valued at 2s, per week. Mr. Torr has three farms in
adjoining towusliips, and his foremen get from £32 to £39,
with other privileges, such as cottage and garden, rent free,
malt, pig, poultry, worth in all from £42 to £47 lOs. per
annum. The shepherds' wages are a little lower, being, I
suppose, older men. Then again, in Norfolk, on Mr. Hudson's
farm, at Castleacre, the bailiff", Mr. Jenkins reports, gets a
guinea per week ; the yard or cattle man 14s. 6d. per week ;
engine-driver 8s, per day ; and the ordinary farm labourey

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

493

from 10s. to 12s. per week ; lads 8s. to 9s. ; and boys 4s. Gd.
to 5s. ; wliile women get from lOd. to Is, per day. All these
payments are made in money, there being no privileges in
addition to the wages. Cottages with gardens are paid for by
the men at the rate of from Is. 3d. to Is. 6d. per week. Mr.
Jenkins adds, a considerable amount of field work is paid for
by the piece. These wages appear somewhat the same as we
are paying ; but in Wiltshire, Dorset, and other counties, they
are much lower. Mr, Jos. Whitwell Pease, in a letter of his
I saw to the Editor of the Notihern Echo (quoting from a
Parliamentary return), says that in the Bedford and
Woburn Union the wages are lis, a-week ; in Suffolk,
in the Stowmarket Union, 9s. to 13s ; in the Sampford
Union about lis. ; at lilything 10s. ; in Devonshire
in the Axminster Union, 8s. to 9s. a week ; in Dorsetshire, 9s.
Gd. a week ; and, with these lower wages, longer hours are
exacted and cheerfully given. Whether more work is done I
have often heard it doubted ; but, as far as my own observa-
tion goes, I don't see but what it is, and often of a better qua-
lity. There is no doubt that, as we approach nearer to the
large manufacturing centres, wages are generally higher,
though their work is not so certain or regular as that of the
agricultural labourer. It has always struck me that the hours
of our " datal" men are very short in comparison to their
wages, or to the hours given in other districts, and that they
should be required to give ten hours of absolute work at the
least. With draughtmen it is ditferent, they having other
work to attend to after their horses are unyoked ; and, if
ploughs are kept going steadily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an
hour or so for dinner and rest, it is quite as much as one can
expect them to do and keep them up to their work. In busy
times, such as the turnip season, hay time, and harvest, hours
cannot be limited, though I know of a case, which occurred in
tills district a few years ago, where some of the men refused
to load any more corn after five o'clock. Happily, we are not
often troubled with "strikes," though it were well, I think,
that the law of " master and servant" were somewhat altered,
seeing that as it now stands, the remedy, in the case of a re-
fractory servant, is worse than the disease.

Mr. W. T. ScARTH advocated labourers' children having all
the educational advantages they could possibly obtain. The
hiring at statutes he did not altogether approve of — though it
was a diificult thing, perhaps, to substitute other means in a
district where it had been habitually the practice to effect en-
gagements in that manner. In reply to what Mr. Neasliam
had said, he regarded hinds as a very provident class of men.
He thought they did wonderfully. Having large families it
was surprising to see how they educated and clothed them,
and got them out in the world. They were men who indulged
in few luxuries ; and he thought they would compare with any
class of men in the country. He had been a great deal in the
southern counties — Dorsetshire, AViltshire, Bedfordshire, &c.
— and in these places the men had mostly an allowance of
drink besides the 9s. 6d., 10s., or lis. in weekly wages which
they received. The master found the man a small barrel of
beer, which he took into the field with him, in Shropshire, and
he was besides that receiving 10s. per week. They never
heard here of a farming man drinking anything but water
or milk whilst at work on the farm. He believed that our
labourers in the North of England were equal in point of in-
telligence and ability to carry out the work entrusted to them
even better than the labourers in tlie soutli, who, though able-
bodied men who did their work, had no " head" in comparison
with the north-country man.

Mr. Brodie said the plan they had of paying farm servants
in money was much better than payment in kind. With re-
ference to "Bondagers," farmers in Northumberland, with
600 or 700 acres had nine or ten hinds on the farm. They
were found all in kind. They were, however, obliged to keep
a " bondager" — a woman, but their wives did not go out to
work. Their wives were, he was told, obliged to stay at home
to make butter from tlie cow they kept. He thought, there-
fore, that there was no advantage in the hinds having to keep
a " bondager." He thought it would be better for the wives
to go out to work.

The President : There is one thing, it allows the wife to
take care of tlie family,

Mr. Brodie remarked that these " bondagers" worked in
the fields from six o'olock in the morning to six o'clock at uight,
ftnd sometimes helped in the house at night,

Mr. Brunskill thought the farm-servants very well cared
for in the district, but was in favour of their being better
educated.

Mr. Smurthwaite, jun., said his experience led him to
think that hinds were better paid in this neighbourhood than
further south. He approved of money payments to hinds.
He thought the statute hirings falling in May was a very in-
convenient time indeed. On the Yorkshire Wolds there was
only one hiring at Martinmas. In Worcestershire he had
found that labourers were generally paid 9s. to 10s. per week,
and they had no house. AYliether it was from drinking their
cider that they did not spend so much money on beer as the
men in the North he could not say, but they appeared re-
spectable at church on the Sunday, and the wives of labourers
did not work tliere as they did here.

Mr. Haavdon, jun., said that if a less busy time were
selected for the period of hiring, it would be better. He
thought the payment in kind tempted the men to take things
on the farm,

Mr. MiDDLETON thought May-day the best time to hire
married men, and Martinmas the unmarried. The tendency
now was to pay in money and not in kind ; but he did not
think it so much to the advantage of the labourer. The
southern labourers, he thought, could not push ou at a busy
time as they could here.

Mr. HoDGSOJf thought the hiring longer before the term
than should be the case ; the later statute hirings would be
better at Christmas, when there was less doing than at
Martinmas.

Mr. Sutton agreed that the hirings on the first Monday
in March was too early. It would give great trouble to have
to pay in kind. The men here were more active than in
either the south or in Scotland,

Mr. Hawdon thought they ought always to require a cha-
racter from the previous masters, which was not now done at
the hirings. If they adopted this course, and each master gave
an honest character, it would be a great advantage. House
rent, estimated at £3 or £2 10s., was much too low. It stood
the master, including taxes, at least as high as 2s, per week.
The wages were 15s. per week, and perquisites of all sorts
made nearly 20s. a week. They could not very well do with-
out women labourers, thougli they could obtain Irish labour
on the whole as cheap. It was an advantage to a labourer
and his family that the woman should work. " Datal " men
ought to work longer hours. They often did not work more
tlian seven hours and a half.

Mr. Bell continued the discussion, referring to the Northum-
berland system, aud tlie plan adopted in Scotland. He agreed
that young men m the farmhouse were a great nuisance ; and
spoke of children being better brought up in isolated hinds'
houses on a farm than in villages. He agreed that "datal"
men worked too short hours.

Mr. Kay said he strongly objected to payment otherwise than
in money. To have married men living on the farm was the
most satisfactory to the master. He thought the children, as a
rule, should not be sent to work till they were 13 years of age,
but should be sent to school. Female labour was not half so
much wanted, as they now got machinery instead. Men went
off to the ironworks oftimes ; but it was, he thought, on the
whole, not much better pay than farm-labourers got.

Mr. Graham approved of payment of money for labour.
He wished tliere were schools to educate girls how to conduct
the liouse, and be careful, as many a good servant was brought
to beggary by the improvidence of his wife. He did not
agree with hinds keeping cows, but they should be paid in
money. Writers in the south seemed to overlook the wages
paid in Yorkshire and Durham.

Mr. Neasiiam in reply said that the opinion seemed pretty
general against the system of payment in kind. He thought
the Scotch labourer did better on oatmeal than ours did on
slops and tea.

After votes of thanks to Mr. Neasham, and to the Presi-
dent, the meeting separated.

494

THE FARMER'S HAGAZII^E.

THE INGREDIENTS OF A TURNIP CROP.

At a meeting of the Stewartry Parmers' Club in Castle-
Douglas, Mr. Skirving of Croys, president of the Club in tUe

''llr M'MiLL.vN said: Of aU the crops we cultivate in this
Stewartry, turnips take the precedence. The improving ot
the quantity and quality of this class ot roots may therefore
be looked upon as the key stone of our system of husbandry ;
and as the whole rotation of our farms is, in a great measure,
dependent on the success for this crop, it is consequently a
matter of vast importance to us farmers to know wha their
natural constituents are, so that we may become masters o
our profession. This can only be done by becoming acquainted
with all the essential constituents of the plant, especiaUy the
inorganic. Whenever we acquire this knowledge, along with
the relative quantities of each inorganic material an acre ot
turnips abstracts from the soil, we will then be in a better
position to understand how their organic compounds are
elaborated and converted into nutritious substances to support
the organism of animals. Brassica rappa and brassica cam-
pestris belong to the order crucifersc. All parts of these
plants contain inorganic matters, along with a pungent sulpliu-
rous volatile oil. Their seeds also yield a copious amount ot hsed
oil (Schtcdler). Their leaves evolve both phospluirelted and
sulphuretted hydrogen (Petzholdt) ; and it has been calcu-
lated that turnips, through the agencies ot their spongiolcs
and leaves, wiU abstract from the soil and atmosphere an
amount of matter equal to one million times their own weight
(Wilson). To enable them to achieve this end successtully, it
IS the farmers' interest to secure for them all those conditions
that expe-ience and science have found to be necessary, the
principles that govern the chemical reactions taking place in
the inorganic ingredients in soils to support the vitality o
plant life should guide the agriculturist in the purchase and
application of manure. And I say without hesitation that
we as farmers, have hitherto very imperfectly understood these
principles ; and it is to be feared that until agricultural educa-
tion is more advanced and farmers become more intimately
acquainted with the soils they cultivate and the crops they
grow, the same random system will prevail. All tliat seems
to have been necessary to be done for the furtherance ot this
object is to have, year after year, a number of experiments
with different kinds of manures applied to root crops without
relation to the soil ; and hence there is seen, in the details ot
these competitions, very great variations as to results. lou
may see a manure that produced the largest crop of turnips on
one kind of soil, that may be placed in the lowest scale ot
valuation when applied to another. This, to my mind, dis-
tinctly proves how faUacious, audi should say disastrous, such
experiments are to the interests of agriculture, as manures
applied indiscriminately. There is another very expensive
practice prevalent in many localities, viz., that ot purchasing
several kinds of fertilisers, and then incorporating them so as
to apply all the constituents required by this crop. 1 ask
what kind of opinion would we form of men who foUow other
professions if they were to adopt the same pohcy ? i'or in-
stance if we had occasion to consult our medical adviser ana
that gentleman could only tell us that there were certain kinds
of inorganic constituents which overruled the chemical powers
of our bodies. lie might say that he did not exactly know the
one we required, and it would be necessary for him then to
give us a mixture of all kinds of medicine. Might we not
then consider tlmt such a practitioner had rather soon et
the portals of the class room ? Tlie inorganic ingredients that
support the functions of turnips are fixed upon a sure and
unalterable basis. It is, therefore, much better for the farmer
to prefer accurate figures in estimating for the purchase ot
manures to supplement the deficient ingredients of the soil 'or
the crop intended to be grown, than mere guess work. \\ hen
we adopt such prudence, the farms of this county will not only
be kept in good condition, but there v.i\\ also be an increase in
their fertility. All writers on agricultural science are as one
in regard to the inorganic materials contained in each
kind of farm crop, and it is wonderful how close

their estimates approximate to the practical results.
When carefully taken it has been found that thirty tons of
swede turnip bulbs have the following quantities of inorganic
materials-viz. : 127 pounds potash, 100 pounds soda 7d
pounds lime and magnesia, 16 pounds oxide of iron and silica,
23 pounds chlorine, 86 pounds sulphuric acid and oO pounds
phosphoric acid (Anderson) ; and if one-third more is found
in the roots and tops, thus an acre, if producing a crop ot
thirty tons of turnips, will lose over COO pounds of the mineral in-
gredients just named. Farmers, before they replace these
constituents for future crops, should know what their so.l con-
tains, and a close approximation may be come to by knowing
the mineralogy of the rocks that have formed them, i or in
some soils there are only two or three ingredients of the nine
above named that are necessary to be returned to the land by
the farmer, while on other soils overlying a different class of
rocks it may be requisite to replace four or five of them.
Thus soils disintegrated from pluionic rocks generally abound
in potash, while many soils on the lower transition (Grey-
wacke) formation contain only minute quantities ot this alkali.
Hence turnips have been classed as potash plants because tins
alkaline earth forms their largest inorganic constituent, there
is one important consideration to bear in mind— viz., that in
the production of a turnip crop the growth and quality is
not so much governed by the maximum proportions of their
essential inorganic ingredients as by the minimum, ihus as
nine constituents are required for their healthy develop-
ment, eight of these may be in excess of their wants, and
only one of them in less proportion than they require.
The production and value of the crop will Hen be alto-
gether determinated by the producing powers of tins minimum
constituent. It is true that plants have an elastic and yielding
constitution. For example, turnips can appropriate, to a
limited extent, one kind of inorganic food material for another,
such as soda for potash, and magnesia for lime, and an extra
(Uiantity of phosphoric has been taken up when nothing but
Teruvian guano was applied. But 1 have never seen it re-
corded that they will absorb a phosphate in place of a sulphate.
Whenever this class of plants is subjected to unnatural varia-
tions in their inorganic ingredients, they cannot assimilate and
convert their carbonaceous substances into so valuable tood as
when properly constituted. Tor instance, when turnips arc
grown with a perfect manure, such as farmyard dung, they are
found to contain one-half more oil and gum with nearly four
times as much sugar as turnips raised from the same seed and
soil by means of Peruvian guano. There is also an important
diiference in the relative proportions ot the valuable constitu-
ents of tlieir ash. Thus, the dung turnips contained eleven
per cent, more potash and soda, with one per cent, more sul-
phuric acid, while the ash of the guano turnips contained
ueariy twelve per cent, more phosphoric acid, the \alue oi
these turnips, when tested for feeding purposes was lound as
follows • viz 2H- tons of turnips grown with dung increased
the weight of animals as ranch as 36^ tons of those raised
witli nothing but guano. When tiie same amount of nutri-
tious substances contained in the 36^ tons is concentrated into
21i tons of this root, the difference of weight is w;ater and
other useless compounds, requiring to be raised at least litty
degrees in temperature, at the expense of the carbon and liydro-
geu of the animal system. This experiment shows the fallacy
of comparative trials with dilferent manures, and until these
competitions have for their basis the supplementing ot the sou
with those essential ingredients that turnips require, the largest
may be the most unprofitable crop for the feeding ot stock
1 luive no doubt whatever that an application of undissolved
ground coprolites would produce a fair crop of turnips on
tome kinds of virgin soils where the mineral bi-sulphide of
iron predominates, and were not the effects of insoluble phos-
phates in ground bones wonderful when first applied to turnip
croDo in this Stewartry ? If their efforts had continued it
3d have been'an ea'sy matter indeed for the husbanjn^n o
the present day, for we could purchase at P™ .as much
phosphoric acid in bone material as would supply all that 6J

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

495

tons of turnip bulbs, and two crops of 40 bushels of oats and
straw require for thirty-two sliilliugs per acre. But circum-
stances have now much altered in regard to the removal of in-
organic materials from the land. Formerly our principal
crops were oats : they are now turnips. A crop of 50 bushels
of oats, along with the straw of this cereal, requires ouly
about 10 pounds of sulphuric acid to form the necessary
sulphates ; whereas a crop of turnips of 30 tons is estimated
to take at least 140 pounds of this acid for all its requirements.
Whenever it became apparent that crushed bones did not pro-
duce their former good effects on some stratas, it surprised aud
puzzled many farmers to know the cause of their inaction.
But fortunately the chemist, by his researches, was enabled to
make known that this class of roots removed from the soil
several ingredients which are not again replaced by an applica-
tion of insoluble bone material, aud therefore recommended
that they should be dissolved by means of sulphu-
ric acid. This process alters them both chemically
and mechanically in such a manner that a tender
plant can be immediately supplied with its neces-
sary food. It is also of importance for farmers
to know the action of sulphuric acid with the organic matters
of animal phosphates (Johnston). This acid not only dis-
solves and decomposes these matters, but also converts a por-
tion of them into urea, and a sweet substance termed gelatine
sugar, for the nourishment of the young turnip. And will not
the lignine of decaying grass roots and other carbonaceous
substances in the soil be converted into grape sugar for the
same purposes by the catalytic action of this acid, as is
brought out by experiments in the laboratory when applied to
starch or the lignite of linen ? When these chemical changes
were established, experiments and trials followed, and the first
I find recorded was with bones dissolved with muriatic acid.
In 1841 they were applied to oats on a moss soil. The report
was that the straw appeared stiff and shining, and the ears
were as well filled as if they had been grown on a stiff loam.
In 1842 10 cwt. of this superphosphate was tested against
16 cwt. of dry bone-dust for a turnip crop. The result was
nearly 4 cwt. per acre in favour of those that were dissolved
And a Mr. Tennant, in Ayrshire, found that 2i bushels bones
prepared with sulphuric acid was equal to 2 cwt. Peruvian
guano. In 1843 a premium was offered by the Morayshire
Farmers' Club to test the value of dissolved bones, which led

to numerous experiments, and the conclusion arrived at were

that 4 bushels bones dissolved with sulphuric acid will pro-
duce as good a crop of turnips as 10 or 20 bushels applied in
the usual form. At Gordon Castle 2 bushels bones
were dissolved with 83 pounds sulphuric acid, and then diluted
with 400 gallons water, at a cost of lis. 6d. per acre. These
produced a better result than 3 cwt. of guano, at a cost of 37s.
per acre. In consequence of the belief that the inorganic part
of bones was alone useful to vegetation, several persons have
been at the trouble to burn them. Thus, 600 pounds of burnt
bones were reduced to a fine powder, afterwards moistened and
dissolved with only 60 pounds sulphuric acid. A portion of
this superphosphate was tested more than twenty years ago
by a Kirkcudbrightshire farmer, who found it equal to its own
weight of guano. A comparison was made in England with
the same superphosphate as a top-dressing for wheat, when 6^
cwt. increased the yield 24 bushels per acre, while 3.^ cwt.
Peruvian guano increased the yield only 11 bushels per acre.
In 1868 I was an eye-witness of the good effects produced by
dissolved animal charcoal on a portion of a field of oats (Island
of Arran), where the crop had been sickly and appeared as if
affected with wireworm. The farmer had been advised to pur-
chase refuse bone char and vitriol, and after mixing them, he
applied them to that portion of the field. The result of this
application was that it resuscitated the crop from its sickly
state, and made it far superior to the other portions of the
field. And to prove that sulphuric acid was a manurial agent.
Colonel Lindsay of Balcarres applied this agent diluted with
water to an experimental field on his home farm. Although
the crop of turnips was inferior to those manured with both
dung and guano, they were far superior to those on that por-
tion of the field where nothing was applied. Tinzmann, when
experimenting in Silesia, found that barley steeped six hours in
sulphuric acid diluted in forty waters gave one-fourth more
grain and straw ; and Prince Salm Tlorstmar found that when
a soil was destitute of this acid to form the necessary sulphates,
the plants remained feeble and produced no fruit. Whenever

sulphuric acid is applied to bone materials it changes their
carbonates into sulphates, and appropriates two atoms of the
lime held in combination by the phosphoric acid of the in-
soluble phosphate, and converts it into a useful salt, while the
remaining atom of lime and phosphoric acid forms that bi-salt
commonly designated bi-phosphate of lime. Whenever a
superphosphate is applied to the soil a series of reac-
tions takes place according to the nature of the soil,
the unneutrahsed phosphoric acid contained in it being solu-
ble will combine with the alkalies to form other salts by which
the young plant soon finds all its necessary inorganic food.
It is much to be regretted that there is a diversity of opinion
among the members of this club as to the mechanical condi-
tion ot our soils in regard to the application of manures in a
soluble or insoluble condition. I ask, did not our chemist, in
the paper he read to ns last spring, state " that we need not
be alr.aid of drainage water carrying off soluble manures, as
t le soil had the power of retaining them and parting with
them only to the plant ?" And such may be further confirmed
when It appears that about 90 per cent, of the farms of this
btewartry overlie trap and syenite formations. Their soils
may therefore be classified as argillaceous. The greater pro-
portion of them are what may be termed cold with retentive
subsoils, and it has been calculated that an acre of soil nine
inches in depth, disintegrated from granite syenite and green-
stone rocks, will contain at least forty tons alumina (Alonzo
Lrray), and if only one-fourth of this earth was soluble it
would be capable of retaining for the use of plants double the
quantity of salts that are applied in manures, although all their
ingredients were in a soluble condition. The farmers of this
Stewartry, therefore, require fertilizers that will supplement
all the essential ingredients of their farms, so as to keep up
their fertility. It is also requisite to have an immediate
return from the land we cultivate, to enable us to fulfil
our engagements with the landlord, and not those
kinds of manures that are inert in their action, and require
an indefinite period to dissolve in the soil— these being both
uncertain and expensive. Therefore, in so far as either prac-
tical or theoretical investigations have gone iu respect to the
development of a crop of turnips, they are in favour of easily
decomposed phosphates aud sulphates as the proper kind of
salts to apply to the soils of this Stewartry. The more cor-
rectly we supplement the loss created by the previous crops,
the more profitably will we be able to conduct our farm opera-
tions, in the meantime. And until farmers become scientific
agriculturists, they should be more especially guided by the
disinterested investigations of the chemist than by the inte-
rested opinions and friendly suggestions of the manure maker.
In conclusion, I may state that this paper has for its basis the
experimental trials and minute calculations of the most ad-
vanced writers on agricultural science.

Mr. James BiGGiE, jun. (Chapelton), asked— first, "Do I
understand Mr. M'Millan to say that most of the arable land
of this county consists of a retentive soil, with a cold bottom,
rather than of a light, friable, porous soil P" and, second, " Do'
I understand Mr. M'Millan to say that the chemist, in bis
report last year, recommended soluble manures as more profit-
able for the soil of this county than insoluble ones ?"

Mr. M'Millan referred Mr. Biggar to the paper that Mr.
Stewart read to this club, where he would find the statement
he had made. He further said that soluble phosphates and
sulphates were the most suitable application for all soils that
contained a sufficient quantity of aluminous earth.

Mr. Mackie (Dunjarg) said that it was a matter of little
importance, as the farmer should know himself whether or not
his soil was sandy or gravelly.

BREACH OF THE CATTLE PLAGUE REGULA-
TIONS.—At the Dorchester Shire Hall, James Cake, of
Bhompston Farm, was charged with neglecting to report'the
existence of the foot-and-mouth disease at his dairy at Duddle
In a herd of 46, 17 were attacked by the complaint, which the
police discovered. The defendant, who had rendered himself
liable to £68 penalty, was fined £5 and cautioned.— Thomas
Kingsbury, cattle dealer, was fined 50s., or in default two
months' imprisonment, for gross cruelty to three calves.

L L

m

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINI3,

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

Monthly Council : Wednesday, May 4. — Present
the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., President, in the chair ;
the Duke of IMarlborough, K.G., the Earl of Lichfield,
Viscouat Hill, Lord Chesham, Lord Kesteven, Lord
Tredegar, Lord Vernon, Lord Walsingham, the Hon. H.
G. Liddell, M.P., Sir Watkia W. Wynn, Bart., M.P. ;
Mr. Amos, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Barnett, Mr. Booth, Mr.
Bowly, Mr. Cantrell, Colonel Challoner, ]Mr. Clayden,
Mr. Davies, Mr. Dent, M.P. ; Mr. Druce, Mr. Edmonds,
Mr. Bfandreth Gibbs, Mr. Hassall, Mr. Holland, Mr.
Hornsby, Mr. Wren Hoskyns, M.P. ; Mr. Jonas, Colonel
Kingscote, M.P., Mr. Lawes, Mr. Leeds, Mr. Milward,
Mr. Pain, Mr. M, White Ridley, M.P. ; Mr. Rigden,
Mr. Sanday, Mr. Shuttleworth, Mr. Stone, Mr. Thomp-
son, Mr. Torr, Mr. Turner, Mr. Webb, Mr. Wells,
M.P. ; Mr. Whitehead, Mr. Jacob Wilson, and Dr.
Voelcker.

The following members were elected :

Allcock, Thomas, Ratcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham

Armstrong, John Knight, 'W insford, Chester

Baskelt, Nathaniel, Brames Hall, Wetheringsett

Beeston, Thomas, Goldston Manor, Market Drayton

Berridge, Samuel, Crougliton, Brackley

Berridge, Thomas Edward, Pimlico Farm, Tasraore, Bicester

Bickerton, Samuel, Shotatton, Ruyton, Salop

Birch, James, Pearse Hay, Peukridge

Birchall, Edward, Willaston, Nantwich, Cheshire

Chillingworth, John, Horsepath, Oxford

Chillingworth, William, Cuddesdon, Wheatley

Crawhall, George, 4, Queen's Parade, Cheltenham

Crompton, John George, Derby

Decanville, M., Petit Bourg, Corbeil

Deeanville, M. Paul, Petit Bourg, Corbeil

De Kergolay, Count, Camisy (Manche)

De Monicault, Edouard, 127, Boulevard Hausman, Paris

Derham, James, St. Thomas Road, Chorley

Elwell, Charles James, Compton, Wolverhampton

Fielden, John, Dobroyd Castle, Todmordeu

Fitton, Samuel, Willaston, Nantwich, Cheshire

Foljambe, Francis J. S., Osbertou, Worksop

Gammon, H. M., Frewin Court, Oxford

Game, Thomas, Broadmoor, Northleach

Gartside, Henry, Wharmton Tower, Greenfield, Saddleworth,

Yorkshire
Giles, F. Thresher, Marsh House, Bentley, Farnham
Harcourt, Rev. W. Vernon, Nuneham Park, Abingdon
Hargreaves, Edward Henry, Kirkham, Preston
Hughes, James, Oxford
Jones, William, Baschurch, Shrewsbury
Lett, John, Stone Court, Kidderminster
Lister, Edward, Cefn Ila, Usk
Lloyd, John, Bod Lloyd, Ruabon
Mansell, Andrew, Little Ness, Baschurch, Salop
Mather, Daniel, Cliipping Norton, Oxford
Milner, John, Myerscough, Preston
Nelson, John, Wyham House, Louth
Page, Francis, Uttoxeter
Pennel, Charles, Westwell, Burford
Roberts, John, Wellhouse, Saltney, Chester
Rowland, Samuel, Grimsditch Hall, Whitley, Northwich
Russell, John, Sutton, Dartford, Kent.
Scott, Lawrence, Moor End, Ruddington
Seymour, Richard Arthur, Kinivarton Rectory, Alcester
Smith, R. C, Parkfield, Swinton, Manchester
Sollora, Francis, Pennfiolds, Wolverhampton
Stapley, Frederick Arthur, East Lavant, Chichester
Symonds, Frederick, 35, Beaumont-street, Oxford
Symonds, Horatio P., Oxford
Taunton, George, Oxford
Toiplinson, J. H., The Parkey Farm, Wrexham

Vaiighan, Edmund, Lapley, Penkridge
Warner, Robert, 8, The Crescent, Cripplegate, London
West, Richard Thornton, Streatham Hall, Exeter
Wright, John, 30, Broad- street, Islington, Birmingham

Finances. — Colonel Kingscote, M.P., presented the
report, from which it appeared that the Secretary's receipts
during the past month had been examined by Messrs.
Quilter and Ball, and were found correct. The balance
in the hands of the bankers on April 30 was
£3,583 Os. lOd., £3,800 remaining on deposit at interest.

Journal. — Mr. Thompson (chairman) reported that
the committee recommended the offer of a prize of £20
for the best account of the prepai'ation, preservation,
and use of sprouted grain as food for horses, cattle, and
sheej), competing essays to be sent in to the secretary
not later than the 15th of July. The committee also re-
commended that the invitation of the " Societe des
Agriculteurs de Prance" to the Royal Agricultural
Society to take part in an International Congress to be
held in Paris next yaar, be accepted ; that the request to
furnish a report on British Agriculture be complied with,
such report to be prepared under the auspices of the
Journal Committee ; that it be suggested to the " Societe
des Agriculteurs de France" that the time of holding the
Congress which would be most likely to secure a good
attendance of representatives of British Agriculture, would
be Whitsun week : and that in compliance with the invi-
tation in one of the letters on the question, the following
list of subjects for papers or discussion be suggested,
viz. : Drainage, Implements and Machinery, Manures,
Rotation of Crops, Fattening of Cattle and Sheep, and
the Labourer. The committee also gave notice that at the
next monthly Council they will move for a grant of £100
towards defraying the cost of an autumnal tour of
inspections similar to that of last year. That report was
adopted.

General Oxford. — Lord Kesteven reported that the
committee recommended that the Finance Committee
be given power to obtain the assistance of some members
of Council, in place of any Stewards of Finance who
may be unable to attend the Oxford meeting. The
arrangements for the supply of refreshments to the show-
yard at Oxford, and the programme recommended for the
Oxford meeting, were reported. — This report was adopted.

Judges Selection. — Mr. Milward (chairman) pre-
sented a list of gentlemen who had accepted the inv'ita-
tion of the Council to act as judges at the Oxford
meeting, and reported the recommendation of the
committeethat they benow elected. This report was adopted.

Education. — Mr. Holland (chairman) reported that
neither of the candidates who had entered to compete for
the Society's certificates and prizes had satisfied the ex-
aminers, and that the committee, therefore, coitld not
recommend any award This report was adopted.

Selection. — Mr. Thompson (chairman) reported the
recommendation of the committee that Lord Vernon be
invited to accept the office of President of the Society
for the ensuing year, and that the house list be printed
in the usual manner. This report having been adopted, it
was moved by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mr. Dent,
jM.P., and carried unanimously, " That Lord Vernon be
recommended to the general meeting as President for the
ensuing year."

House List, — In conformity with the bye-laws the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

497

Council then arranged by ballot the following election
list, to be recommended by them for adoption at the
ensuing general meeting on the 23rd inst :

ATTEIfDAirCES (lEOlI THB AuQUST MBETINB, IS 1868, TO IHB

Peesbni Time).

Namea.

Amos, Charles Edwards, 5, Cedar's

Road, Clapliam Common, Surrey

Barthropp, Nathaniel G., Haches-

ton, Wickham Market, Suffolk
Booth, Thomas Christopher, War-

laby, Northallerton, Yorkshii-e
Bowly, Edward, Siddington House,

Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Olive, George, Perrystone, Ross,

Herefordshire
Davies, David Reynolds, Mere Old

Hall, Knutsford, Cheshire
Druce, Joseph, Ejiasham, Oxford
Edmonds, Wilham John, Soutlirop,

Lechlade, Gloucestershire
Gibbs, B. T. Brandreth, Halfmoon

Street, Piccadilly, London, W.
Hassall, "William, Bubnej', Whit-
church, Salop
Hesketh, Sir T. G., Bart., M.P.

(elected Feb. 3, 1869), Rufford

Hall, Ormskirk, Lancashire
Holland, Edwd., Dumblcdon Hall,

Evesham, Worcestershire
Hornsby, Richard, Spittlegate

Grantham
Hoskyns, Chandos W., M.P., Hare

wood, Ross, Herefordshire
Kesteven, Lord, Caswick, Stam

ford, Lincolnshire
Lawes, John Bennet, Rothamsted

St. Albans, Herts
Lichfield, Earl of (elected Aug. 4,

1868), Shugborough, Staffordsh
Macdonald, Sir Arch. Kcppel, Bt.,

Woolmer Lodge, Liphook, Hants
Randell, Charles, Chadbury, Eves

ham, Worcestershire
Sanday, AVilliam, Radcllffe-on

Trent, Nottinghamshire
Shuttleworth, Joseph, Hartsholme

Hall, Lincoln
Statter, Thomas (elected Feb. 3,

1869), Stand Hall, Whitefield,

Manchester, Lancashire
Welby, William E., M.P., Newton

House. Folkingham.Lincolnshire
Wells, AVilliam, M.P., Holmewood,

Peterborough, Northamptonsh.
Whitehead, Charles (elected Dec.

8, 1869), Banning House, Maid-
stone, Kent

1

7
8
9
6
13

13

8

14

o3

^^ o

Com-
mittees,

24

4

30

22

42

22
9

54

3

74
34
59
17
8
14
11
64
38
34
11

66

11
3

62

1

35

15

25

11

1

4

7

22

7

17

35

County Meeting of 1871. — The report of the com-
mittee appointed to inspect the sites offered to the So-
ciety by the local authorities of Shewsbury, Stafford, and
Wolverhampton, having been read, the Council were
favoured by the attendance of the following gentlemen,
as deputations from the competing towns :

Shrewshury. — Introduced by the Right Hon. Viscount
Hill: the Viscount Newport, M.P. ; Gen. the Right
Hon. Sir Percy Herbert, M.P. ; J, R. Ormsby Gore,
Esq., M.P. ; the Mayor of Shrewsbury (Henry Fenton,
Esq.), Edmund Wright, Esq. ; Messrs. Thomas Groves,
Thomas Southam, Thomas Mansel, William Brewster,
and J. Bowen Jones (Town Clerk of Shrewsbury) Hon.
Sec.

^/a/Tor^.— Introduced by the Right Hon. the Earl of
Harrowby : Lord Saudon, M.P, ; Captain the Hon. Re-

ginald Talbot, M.P, ; Col. Dyott, M.P. ; the Mayor of
Stafford ; W, Blount, Esq. ; W, Sylvester, Esq., J.P. ; J.
Pilling, Esq., Stafford, J.P. ; W. H. Gibson, Esq., J.P.;
Captain Morgan, H, Woodhouse, Esq., C.E. ; F,
Greatrex, Esq. ; R. Sylvester, Esq. ; J» Darlington, Esq.,
and H, Gillard, Esq., Hon. Sec.

Wolverhampton. — Introduced by the Right Hon, C.
P. Villiers, M.P. ; the Mayor of Wolverhampton, the
Town Clerk, T. M. WegueUn, Esq., M.P. ; Sir Jon Mor-
ris, W, Fryer, Esq., J.P. ; Alderman Ironmonger, Alder-
man G. L. Underbill, John Moreton, Esq., J.P. ; R. H,
Masfen, Esq. ; Councillor John Lees, Councillor Sollom,
and Mr, Barnett,

These gentlemen having laid before the Council the
facts and arguments in favour of their respective districts,
and having answered the inquiries made of them by the
Council, the President expressed to them the thanks of
himself and the Council for their interest in the Society,
their anxiety to promote its objects, and their kindness in
attending the meeting that day.

The deputations having withdrawn, and his Grace the
President having vacated the chair on account of an im-
portant engagement elsewhere. Lord Tredegar was nomi-
nated to preside during the remainder of the meeting.

It was then proposed by Mr. Milward, and seconded
by Mr. Jacob Wilson, '"That the Council do first
decide as between the counties of Salop and Stafford."
An amendment was thereupon moved by Mr. Thomp-
son, and seconded by Mr. Wren Hoskyns, " That the
voting should be taken for the three towns, and that
the decision between the two having the majority of
votes should be decided by a second vote," After some
discussion, the amendment having the greater number of
supporters, the original proposition was withdrawn, and a
division taken in accordance with the terms of the amend-
ment, as follows : Shrewsbury (proposed by Lord Hill,
and seconded by Sir W. W. Wynn), 17 votes ; Stafford
(proposed by Mr. Dent, and seconded by Lord Vernon), 1
vote ; and Wolverhampton (proposed by Mr. Milward,
and seconded by Mr. Baldwin), 22 votes. A second di-
vision having been then called foi*, it was decided, by 18
votes against 13, that the Society's country meeting for
1871 be held at Wolverhampton. It was then moved by
Mr. Torr, seconded by Mr. Wren Hoskyns, M.P., and
carried unanimously, after some discussion, that the So-
ciety's country meeting for the year 1872 be held in the
district comprising South Wales and the counties of
Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford.

On the motion of Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mr.
Turner, the question of the rotation of districts was I'e-
ferred to a committee, to consist of the Committee of
Selection and Lord Tredegar, Mr, Wren Hoskyns, M.P.,
and Mr. Jacob Wilson.

The draft of the report to be pi-esented to the general
meeting was discussed, amended, and ordered to be
printed.

Letters were received from Mr. A. Hansen on the cul-
tivation of potatoes, and from the Rev. W. W. Jones,
rector of Summerstown (Oxfoi'd), in reference to Divine
service in the showyard at Oxford, and the latter was
referred to the honorary director.

A communication from the Foreign Office, relating to
the disease among cattle known as the " Mai de Rate,"
or splenic disease, which had been received from her
Majesty's Minister at Copenhagen, and of which the fol-
lowing is a translation, was referred to Professor Symonds :

" The mal de rate is a disease which attacks man equally
with other warm-blooded animals. It develops itself spon-
taneously in herbivores, and is communicated by contagion.
The contagious principle is transmitted by the contact of
either solid or liquid (blood) particles, or even by eating the

■U h 2

498

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

flesh of infected auiiuala ; but it is not commanicated by the
agency of the atmosphere. The malady is especially dangerous
in warm climates, and in Soutliern Europe. In Denmark it is
somewhat rare, and only exhibits itself under a mild form
(erysipelas), the anthrax, or burning scabs {charhon\, being
there nearly unknown. It is there observed only occasionally,
iu isolated cases, amongst cattle, but is uot propagated eveu iu

the herd attacked, and it still more rarely acquires an epi-
demic character. Within the last few years it has shown
itself in pigs, under the form of erysipelas, but without acquir-
ing any great extension. The losses sustained by the country
through the mal de rate are consequently very insignificant ;
but this result must be chiefly attributed to the excellence of
the measures which have beeu taken to contend agaiuat it."

THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

On Tuesday, May 3, the monthly meeting of the council was
held, at the Salisbury Hotel, Salisbury-square, Colonel Tom-
line, M.P., presiding.

A communication was read from the East Kent Chamber,
embodying a resolution in favour of assessing to the property
and income-tax on the rateable instead of the gross estimated
rental. This was referred to the Local Taxation Committee.

Sir Masset Lopes read the following report from that
committee : " The Local Taxation Committee, in presenting
their report, beg to state that the executive committee have
met regularly since the last general meeting on the 4th April.
The coramitee cannot help expressing their great regret that,
owing to the absorbing interest felt in Irish legislation which
has hitherto during the session monopolized the time and
attention of Parliament, many other important measures are
in danger of being indefinitely postponed. They deem it their
duty, under such circumstances, to urge upon the chambers
the necessity of renewed efforts to obtain from the Legislature
a ratification of its promises with respect to local taxation. A
special committee of the House of Commons is at present
engaged in investigating the subject of local taxation, but the
very limited scope of their inquiry precludes your committee
from anticipating any very material results from tlieir delibe-
rations. Meanwhile, they will carefully watch the proceed-
ings, and neglect no opportunity of advancing the cause they
have in view, lour committee most strongly deprecate the
dealing with tliis important subject in a piecemeal, instead of
a comprehensive and statesmanlike, manner. The committee
feel that it is all- important that steps should be taken to sus-
tain the public interest in this question, and to arouse a still
stronger feeling in favour of a reform. They would, there-
fore, suggest that at the forthcoming meetings of the Royal
Agricultural Society at Oxford, and of the Bath and West of
England Society at Taunton, it might be advisable to hold
meetings at which the present incidence of local taxation
might be discussed, and opinions taken as to the best mode of
inducing the Government as promptly as possible to fulfil the
pledges which they have repeatedly given with reference to
this important matter. The meetings of these societies are
numerously attended, and any views expressed there are certain
to be widely circulated and considered ou their merits. The
report went on to acknowledge subscriptions received or pro-
mised since the last general meeting.

The report was adopted, and ordered to be printed and
circulated ; and arrangements made for holding the meetings
proposed. It was also agreed that meetings of the council
and members of provincial institutions on the subject of local
taxation should be held during the week of the Bath and West
of England Agricultural Society's Show at Taunton in June,
and at the Royal Agricultural Society's Sliow at Oxford in
July, the arrangements with regard to each being left to the
Executive Committee of the Council.

The following resolutions were submitted by the Business
Committee :

" (1). That tliis Council repeats its protest against the
present unjust Exemption of Personal Property from con-
tributing towards the various objects for which funds are
now raised by Local Rates, and challenges iuvestigatiou into
the truth of the assertion that Real Property is compensated
for this grievance by bearing a much smaller share of Imperial
burdens than Personalty."

Mr. Staktim said, in moving this, that exemptions from
any kind of taxation were objectionable ; for as Mr. Glad-
stone had once said the exemption of one man meant the
taxation of another. It was also a remark of that right
hon. gentleman, however, that it was exceedingly convenient

to be able to put your hand upon personal property, it
being visible and easy to be got at. Weil, it might no doubt
be a convenient proceeding to put one's hand into his neigh-
bour's pocket, but it was nevertlieless contrary to all our
notions of morality and justice. It was said that real property
was conpensated in some way or other for the exemptions
which were at present given to personalty. For example it
was said that the farmers' horses were exempted from taxation,
and that real property did not contribute its fair share towards
the succession duties. These allegations might or might not
be true, and if they were at all doubtful, let them be inquired
into. If real property did not contribute its fair share towards
the public burdens, by all means let additional taxation be
placed upon it. If, on the other hand, there were no counter-
vailing charges upon real property, it should be remembered
that both in houses and lands, it paid upon the full rack rent
value to the income tax, without taking into account the
other charges upon that property. The fact was that real pro-
perty was taxed to the utmost amount of the rack rental
and the personal property under schedule D did not contribute
upon £57,000,000 a year as stated in the report of the Inland
Revenue Commissioners themselves. Again, when real pro-
perty was transferred an enormous amount had to be paid for
stamps ; whereas in the case of a transference of personal
property a penny stamp would cover any amount. In conclu-
sion, he was of opinion that our system of taxation, imperial
and local, was a bungling and complicated system, and that
the whole subject required investigation.

Mr. HODSOLL seconded the resolution, and said that in
a village in the county of Kent there resided a general
shopkeeper, and in the same parish a farmer, both of
whom were assessed at the same amount to the income-tax ;
but for the purposes of the poor-rate the farmer was
assessed at £450, whilst the shopkeeper was assessed at only
£18. This showed the immense difference there was between
the valuation of the property of persons occupying shops and
gentlemen employed in agriculture.

The resolution was put and carried unanimously.

Professor Bund moved the next resolution : " (2) That the
order in which tlie Government have indicated their intention
of considering the subject of local taxation is irregular and
inexpedient, and that no re-adjustment of the present system
will be acceptable which is not preceded by a thorough in-
quiry to determine whether the objects now locally provided
tor, or in contemplation (such as the proposed charge for ele-
mentary education), ;ire of local or national obligation." Tliis
motion, he remarked, came with peculiar force from a cham-
ber which, like this, was constituted of both landlords and
tenants. The Government admitted that local taxation pressed
hardly upon the tenant, and then they said, " we will examine
the question and see what portion of it we can remove from
him and put on the landlord." That, however, was not what
the Chamber required. What tliey wanted was that the
whole subject of local taxation and of the burdens upon real
property should be inquired into ; and the question was not
whether the owner or the occupier paid tliem, but whether
they were placed upon real property. The fact was that the
proposal of the Government was intended to create dissension
amongst tlie classes interested in the land, and thereby to get
the thing shelved and out of the way. The question who was
to pay the rates, as between the owner and occupier, was one
no doubt requiring adjustment, but iu itself it was notwith-
standing of secondary importance. When it had been settled
what rates were to be paid would be time enough to decide
who was to pay them.

Mr. Turner, in seconding the resolution, urged that every

TH]e FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

'4S9

obstacle should be thrown in the way of the Goverument in
imposing additional burdens upon real property that the Cham-
ber could fairly resort to.

Captain Craigie spoke in support of the resolution, and
expressed his disappointment at the Chamber having to dis-
cuss, not a Goverument measure, but the absence of one, al-
though they had been assured that Ministers would introduce
a scheme for the amelioration of the present state of things.
Without having a formal measure before them, however, the
Chamber were fully aware of the Ministerial views from the
declarations made by the Prime Minister and the President of
the Poor Law Board in February last. But, first, what did
the Chamber ask for, and how had they been met by the Go-
veinment ? What they wanted was a thorough inquiry into
the whole incidence of local taxation before considering the
measures necessary for the amendment of the system. In
other words, they desired to show where the shoe pinched, and
in what direction it would be most statesmen-like to effect re-
form. In the course of his election tour through Lancashire
in October, 1S68, Mr. Gladstone called particular attention to
the question of local taxation, and admitted that the system of
local rates was far from being symmetrical. In Tebruary,
1869, too, he told a deputation from this Chamber that he
thought the subject entitled to tlie gravest consideration, and
that he was very anxious to assure them that the Government
were sensible of the imperative obligation which rested upon
them to give their best attention to a matter of such import-
ance. These declarations he had repeated on subsequent occa-
sions, lie had then evidently no intention to dismember the
subject ; and the question in his view was the whole question
and uot the petty branch of it which had been referred to a
select committee of the House of Commons. In the Queen's
Speech, moreover, at the opening of tlie sessioij, the subject
constituted the sixth " omnibus," but whilst the horses had
been put to all the otlier " omnibuses" all that could be seen
of this was the bare poles. What did the proposals of the
Government tlius far consist of ? They declared that it was
necessary to make inquiries, and a select committee had been
appointed with the view of finding out some means of effecting
legislation in the matter ; but the situation was not at all
satisfactory, for they had discovered that the question had two
branches, a higher and a lower, and that the former was far
too high to reach with the information they possessed. Con-
sequently they only contemplated dealing with the latter.
This included tlie extent and influence of rating, the collection
of rates, the persons from whom they were to be collected,
and the bodies who were to administer them. The last two
points had been referred to a select committee. On the others
the Government had undertaken to produce measures which,
however, had not yet appeared ; and he objected to and
condemned the order in which these questions were to be
treated.

Mr. CoRRANCE, M.P., did not often present himself in the
character of a ministerial apology ; at the same time he was
scarcely able to concur in tiie remarks of the last speaker,
because two years ago he himself had moved for the appoint-
ment of a committee similar to the one which was now sitting.
He thought then, and still thought, tliat the first branch of
the inquiry must be into the rates as they at present exist, and
not as to how they ought to exist. For until tliey had some
more accurate data than they now possessed with regard to
what the rates were, on whom they fell, and how their re-
adjustment could be effected, he did not see how a satisfactory
conclusion was to be arrived at as to how they were to be
arranged, and who ought to bear them. From that point of
view, therefore, he thought the committee now sitting were
effecting a useful object. He had always considered that the
rates were far from being symmetrical, that they were in fact
in a sad state of confusion, and the result of the committee
inquiries so far had gone to confirm him in that opinion.
There were two heads before them, the collection and the ad-
ministration. The collection was dealt with by Mr. Ayrton's
committee last year, so that the committee now sitting need
not take evidence upon that point. When they came to the
question of administration they would find themselves in some
difficulties, for before they could decide who should administer
it must be decided upon whom the entire burden should rest.
If the rates were divided between owners and occupiers, some
plan must be devised for their being equally represented in
the administering body. Again, if any portion of the burden

were to be made an Imperial charge, another question which
would arise was how far their proceedings should be submitted
to the supervision of a Government officer. As to the resolu-
tion before the Chamber he could not say that the order in
which the Government had indicated their intention to con-
sider the matter was either irregular or inexpedient ; but he
agreed in thinking that it did not provide a sufficient inquiry
into the large subject referred to in the latter part of the
resolution.

Sir M. Lopes, M.P., said that the propositions of the Go-
vernment had not, up to this time, fulfilled the ministerial
pledges of last Session : and whatever might be decided with
regard to the division of the rates between owners and occu-
piers, that would not settle the main question at issue, which
was, whether or not many rates now local ought not be treated
as imperial ; and whether, too, income arising from personal
property should be exempted from liability to such rates. For
himself he could not agree that the inquiries of the Govern-
ment were regular. Tlie first point to be investigated should
be what rates they ought to pay ; and next, who ought to pay
them; but the Government had inverted this order of things,
and put the cart before the horse. The appointment of the
committee rather assumed that the agricultural community
were satisfied with the present charges ; but he took upon
himself to enter his emphatic protest against that. He could
not admit for a moment that there was not to be a very great
alteration, whereas the appointment of the committee seemed
to assume that things ought to be perpetuated in their present
state. In his opinion the objects of the Government appeared
to be to embarrass the advocates of a change, to postpone this
higher branch of the inquiry indefinitely, and to rivet the
fetters on agriculture more securely than ever ^(Hear, hear).
They were trying to lead them off the scent. Their proposal
was an insidious one, calculated to act detrimentally, and create
dissensions between owners and occupiers. It could not effect
any diminution of rates, and the same rates would have to be
levied on the same property as heretofore (Hear, hear). The
first effect of putting half the rates on landlords and half on
tenants would be to disturb the existing arrangements between
the two classes ; and he doubted very much whether the
change would be of any advantage to the occupiers. Whether,
indeed, owners or occupiers paid, it would make little differ-
ence in the long run ; it would be simply " Robbing Peter to
pay Paul."

Mr. T. Baker (Somersetshire), as a renting farmer, saw
with much regret the proposal to divide the rates between
landlord and tenant. The idea prevailed that an evil existed
and that investigation was necessary. If as the result of that
investigation it turned out that the occupiers did not pay
enough, they would sit down and content themselves with
being laughed at. But would it benefit them to divide the
evil and create a number of squabbles ? He did uot believe
there was a single renting farmer in the country whose opinion
was worth anything, who considered that it would be of any
advantage whatever. They did not want to see their land-
lords' burdens augmented, for if that were done the result
vi'ould be increased rents. What they demanded was that,
being taxed to excess, the saddle should be put on the right
horse.

The second resolution was then put and agreed to.

Mr. AValker (Nottinghamshire) proposed the concluding
resolution as follows : " (3) That, although in view of such
taxation as must always remain strictly local, it may be advis-
able to widen the limits of the rateable area by including
woods, mines, and Government property, or may be found ex-
pedient to charge some portion of the rates on the owner, this
Council protests against any such measures being accepted as
a settlement of the grievance to which both land and house
property are now subjected." He contended that the care of
the poor was the duty of the nation and uot of the individual ;
that their support should, therefore, be treated as a national
charge. Further, that the suppression of crime should be
provided for out of the wealth of the nation. To place the
burden entailed by these things upon one sort of property
alone, or upon rental, was, therefore, an injustice which
tended to increase the number of unemployed and lessen the
wages of labour. The only remedy, in his view, was to tax
the entire income of the country for these purposes. In no
other way coiild they get a proper rate for the relief of the
poor.

500

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. J. Turner (West Kent) seconded tlie resolution, and
spoke strongly in favour of assessing all personal as well as
real property to local rates.

Mr. C. S. Head, M.P., observed that besides woods, mines,
and Government property there was another description of
property which escaped local taxation, and that was " game."
He was quite aware that game itself could not be rated ; but
in the county of Norfolk, and no doubt in many others, the
presence of game upon land depreciated the rent, and conse-
quently the rateable value. He considered it to lie essential,
therefore, whenever a revision of taxation took place, that
land should be assessed at its true value, irrespective of any
reservation which the landlord miglit make, whether in the
shape of timber or game. He proposed, then, to insert the
words " right of sporting" after " mines."

Mr. Smythies seconded the amendment, and observed that
when the game was in the hands of the landlord, nothing was
paid for it ; but if the tenant took it with tlie land, he was at
once rated for it. Thau that nothing could be more unfair ;
and if game were rated at all, the landlord ought to be liable as
well as the tenant.

The amendment was supported by Mr. Pell, M.P., who gave
the following illustration of the manner in which the present
system of rating operated, in so far as it affected game : On a
property with which he was acquainted, the shooting, with a
small house, was let to an outsider, a gentleman who came
from a considerable distance, for £370 a-year. The tenants
on that estate had offered to pay £270 a-year extra rent if
they might enjoy what attached to their holdings in the shape
of the rights of sporting ; but he would not say whether the
offer had been lefused or accepted. If accepted, however, the
Assessment Committee could fairly set the hereditaments at a
letting value of £370 more than they did when the rights of
sporting were let to the stranger, and so the ratepayers of that
union would benefit to that extent. But so long as these
rights of sporting were let off to an outsider, and separate from
the estate, the Assessment Committee could not put the value of
the hereditaments at their full and natural amount; thus an
additional charge was thrown upon tlie Union. If then, the
amendment to the resolution had legislative force given to it,
that anomaly would at once disappear

Mr. Bakrow, M.P., supported the amendment, although he
beb'eved that, as tlie reservation of the right to game was not
one of the things that might be deducted, the Assessment Com-
mittee miglit now assess the tenant at tlie full value. That
committee had nothing wliatever to do with tlie arrangements
betiveen landlord and tenant ; but to remove all doubt on the
question he approved of the amendment that the Assessment
Committee miglit assess the land and the rights of sporting se-
parately.

After some remarks from Mr. Masfen, Mr. Startin, and Mr.
ArkeU, Sir M. Lopes, M.P., observed that he went further
even than Mr. Read, and was of opinion that everything ought
to be rated ; that even Kagged Schools should not be exempted ;
for if everything were rated, there would be fewer grievances.

Mr. Genge Andrews spoke hopefully of the progress which
the question of local taxation was making in public opinion,
and took credit to the Chambers of Agriculture for the present
position of the question. It was now upon everybody's lips.
It was constantly talked of in every board of guardians.
Thanks to the energy, ability, and perseverance of Sir Massey
Lopes, it,had also.been introduced and debated in the House of
Commons, where large admissions had been made, and the
Premier on behalf of the Government had promised that it
should be dealt with in the present session of Parliament ; and
any one who walked down the corridor of the House of Com-
mons would see a door of one of the committee rooms labelled
with the words, " Local Taxation Committee."

Mr. CoRRAKCE : 'f Limited" (Loud laughter).

Mr. A:vDREWs : This showed, however, that an immense
stride had been made by ministers since last year ; they re-
fused Sir Massey Lopes a Royal Commission (Hear, hear),
btill it seemed to him as if the Government were endeavour-
ing to solve the profound problem of " How not to do it."
And they had partly succeeded by discovering that two halves
do not make one whole, and that, if you pay your poor-rates,
half out of one pocket and half out of the other, you must be
greatly relieved. As to the proposal to divide the rates be-
tween the landlord and occupier, it was simply absurd ; and
tie was confident that they would not find any number of

intelligent farmers whose opinions were worth anything who
would accept the proposition as in any sense a measure of relief.

Mr. H. LiDDELL avowed, on the other hand, that although
inadequate, he should be prepared to accept such a measure.
He was sorry to observe in the members of the Chamber a
disposition to disparage the proposals of the Government,
There were two distinct branches to the question — one related
to the ratepayers as against the public generally, and the other
affected peculiarly the ratepayers themselves. The subject had
been discussed as if the rate feU entirely upon real property ;
but it did not. Mr. Andrews' illustration was, no doubt, a
forcible one ; but if he reflected, he would find that what he
took out of one pocket he paid as occupier, and what he took
out of the other he paid as owner. What the tenant paid,
indeed, must be in respect of his personal property, his un-
exhausted capital employed in cultivation — in short, his stock
in trade. As to the question of inequalities amongst rate-
payers, the tenant-farmer who paid upon his personal pro-
perty was rated at his rent, which was very much in excess of
— probably nearly double — his income. All other personal
property was rated merely at the rent of the house or ofiices
occupied, therefore a small proportion of the income. Thus
the tenant-farmer paid on twice his income, and the profes-
sional man on one-tenth of his. With respect to the division
of the rate between owner and occupier, that he thought might
be accepted, certainly as inadequate, but not altogether un-
satisfactory. It tended to recognise the principle of spreading
the rate over all descriptions of property, to define the inter-
ests of the landlord, and, so far from separating owner and
occupier, he believed it would rather bring them together, and
conduce to a better and more judicious administration of the
rates than at present. The Boards of Guardians were principally
composed of occupiers ; and the county finance was mainly
administered by magistrates. K both funds were administered
by magistrates, owners, and occupiers combined, he believed
they would be better managed and more decided efforts would
be made to reduce the expenditure. He hoped, therefore, the
Chamber would not altogether reject the advantages wliichthe
Government were prepared to offer, but accept them, as, if in-
adequate, not utterly unsatisfactory.

Sir G. Jehkinson condemned Mr. Read's amendment re-
specting the assessment of sporting rights as a " monstrous
proposition," because it would interdict the country gentleman
from living on his own estate and encourage absenteeism.

Major Paget thought there was considerable danger of the
Government proposal drawing away people's minds from the
real question. It was like asking an architect to repair and
alter windows in the top storey of a house of which the founda-
tions were rotten. It began, in fact, at the wrong end. True
it might prove on investigation that the division of the rates
betyi^een owner and occupier would be absolutely light and ad-
vantageous ; but at the present moment \vitli the rate existing
as it was, he deemed it unadvisable, and intended to check the
useful agitation in which the Chambers of Agriculture were
engaged, and which seemed to hold out some hope of realising
good fruit. At all events any settlement until the area of the
rate had been extended would not satisfy him.

The amendment of Mr. Read to insert the words " rights
of sporting," was then put and negatived.

Sir G, Jenkinso:* proposed as an amendment "That,
although in view of such taxation as must always remain
strictly local taxation, it is undoubtedly advisable to widen the
Hmits of the rateable area, by including woods, mines, and
Government property, as proposed by the Government, and
even supposing it to be not expedient also to charge some
portions of the rates on the owner, nevertheless this Council
still rules their protest against any such measures, taken alone,
being accepted as a settlement of the grievance to which both
land and house property are now subject, and which grievance
will remain a standing injustice until all property is made to
contribute a fair share towards local taxation."

The amendment, which Sir George admitted was in its
essence an echo of the original motion, only " marking the
sense of the Chamber a little more strongly," was seconded by
Mr. Webb, opposed by Mr. Read and Mr, Pell, and ulti-
mately rejected.

The original resolution was then agreed to ; and on the
motion of Mr. D. Long, seconded by Captain Craigie, the
resolutions adopted by the Chamber were directed to be sub-
mitted to the Government.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

501

The discussion of the Educatiou Bill, which stood adjourned
from the last meeting of the Council was further adjourned
until the meeting in June, at the instance of Professor Bund.

Mr. C. S. Read proposed the following petition to the
House of Commons on the subject of game certificates and
game licences. " That your petitioners are extensively en-
gaged and interested in agriculture, and are obliged to use
guns for the protection of their crops from the ravages of
birds and vermin ; that your petitioners consider it undesirable
to abolish the existing duty on game certification, and tliat
the proposal to charge with tlie cost of a licence those who
are compelled to use firearms in the prosecution of their im-
portant business on the same scale as those carrying guns for
sporting purposes is unreasonable and unjust ; and your pe-
titioners, therefore, pray that the duty on game certificates
may be retained, and that the contemplated exemption in
favour of firearms kept within the house be extended to those
used upon the land and premises in the occupation of the owner
of such guns." The proposal of the Government to impose a
duty on guns was, in his (Mr. Read's) opinion, an open ques-
tion with which the Chamber need not meddle ; but they might
make a respectful protest against throwing away £150,000 a year
which he had never yet heard anybody complain of. The
game certificates were paid for by a class of men who could
well afi'ord it, and who did not complain of it as an unnecessary
burden upon them. The exemption asked by tlie petition was
precisely in the same direction as the exemption which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had submitted to the House ;
that was to say, when guns were kept in a house, and within
the curtilage thereof; and if it was necessary to protect the
house with these firearms, surely itwas equally or even stiUmore
necessary for farmers to have a gun for the protection of their
growing crops (Hear, hear). If they had this exemption, and
there was also a tax upon guns, it would perhaps stop
what it was supposed necessary to stop, the constant

popping at small birds upon roads by cockneys and other
sportsmen, who, instead of hitting the birds, were more
likely to hit themselves or somebody else ; it would
not only prevent accidents but might be the means of
bringing in a considerable revenue. The Norfolk Chamber of
Agriculture had aubmitted to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
a memorial altnost identical with this petition, except that it
stated that if it should be thought right to impose a tax upon
fire-arms they considered it would be better to charge so much
per barrel of every gun and so much for chamber of every re-
volver. So far as this Chamber was concerned, however, he
thought they should attend more especially to the subject as it
aff'ected them as farmers ; and if possible get the exemption
which Mr. Lowe had himself intimated it would be well
to give extended still further in the direction now proposed.

Mr. T. Willso:n having seconded the motion, after a short
conversation it was put and agreed to.

At the instance of Mr. T. Horley, junior, seconded by Mr.
D. LoJNG, a petition was also adopted against the abolition of
hawkers' licences ; a measure which was condemned as a cloak
for vagrancy, a temptation to servants to rob their employers,
and a means of disposing of stolen property.

Mr. J. J. Burberry in calling attention to the Coroner's
Bill introduced by Mr. Goldney, the member for Chippenham,
which provides a superannuation allowance for coroners, stated
the objection of the Warwicksliire Chamber to the measure.
That Chamber, he said, did not see the necessity for any such
allowance, and particularly they objected to its being paid out
of the county rate.

Mr. Read suggested that the chairman might take an op-
portunity of saying a word or two against the bill in the House
of Commons, when it came on for discussion there ; and

Col. ToJiLiNE having intimated that he would consult Mr.
Goldney on the subject, the matter dropped, and the Chamber
separated after passing a vote of thanks to the Chairman.

THE GAME LAWS.

At a meeting of the Hampshire Chamer of Agriculture at
Eordiugbridge, Mr. W. W. B. Beach, M.P., in the chair, Mr.
Ridley read a paper on this subject. In the discussion that
followed,

Mr. Haunen, as neicher a farmer nor sportsman, but an
estate agent, thought the farmers in tliat parish had nothing
to complain of in respect to game. The system adopted there
worked very well, he thought, and to deprive gentlemen of
sport would, he thought, be one of the greatest evils that
could befall this country by driving the aristocracy out of it.
If the farmers had the right to tlie ground game, he thought
they would have little to complain of, nor did he think they
would object to keep up a good amount of winged game for the
enjoyment of their landlords, and if farmers pressed the
matter a little more closely he thought they would secure the
right to kill rabbits, and perhaps hares too. In that neigh-
bourhood they reserved the game on the farms they let, and
the landovvner not being a sportsman, he let the shooting to
the Most Noble the Marquis of Anglesey (loud cries of " oh").
He believed that aU spoke well of him as a nobleman and a
sportsman. If he allowed the tenant to be overstocked, the tenant
had at once to complain to the speaker, and he gave the Mar-
quis notice, and if he failed to reduce it the tenant had the
right to kill. This had worked so satisfactorily that for ten
years he had never a case of complaint from a tenant, and if
that course was adopted more generally throughout the coun-
try he thought these questions would be avoided. He thought
game should be assessed to the poor, and bear its fair share of
the burdens on the land, and he thought proprietors would not
object to it.

Mr. Trask thought they must be in a peculiarly happy
state in that neighbourhood. Although he was happy to bear
testimony to the general high principle of land agents, he
■would not take the word of one of them in this matter of
game (loud cheers). Itwas perfectly true that the law gave
the game to the tenants, but what gentlemen owning large
estates offered them without reserving to themselves the game,
thus practically upsetting the law ? As the Most Noble had

been mentioned, he Could only say that lie had had somsJ
experience respecting him, and he pitied any man who had a
farm of which the J\Iost Noble had the game (loud cheers).
He had the shooting over about 2,000 acres which the speaker
held, and he was obliged to go to the agent, and was bound to
have permission and kiU because the Most Noble would not.

Mr. Hansen was glad that they were better off.

Mr. Trask said he had already told them they were
peculiarly happy. It appeared to him that the proposal to
make game property would be found to be rather difiicult in
practice, and he fancied if the winged game were given to the
landlord and the ground game to the tenant satisfaction might
result. Without some such plan — the tenant having the sole
right to do what he would with the hares and rabbits — he did
not think they would arrive at a satisfactory solution of the
question (cheers).

Mr. Ridley moved — " That, in the opinion of this Chamber,
the time has arrived when, in consequence of the completely
altered circumstances of the country, some means should be
adopted for checking the great evil of the over-preservation of
game."

This Mr. Spooner seconded, and on its being put to the
meeting it was carried.

Mr. Trask proposed — "That this Chamber is further of
opinion that in any future legislation ground game should be
declared to be the property of the tenant, and vringed game
that of the landlord, any agreement to the contrary notwith-
standing."

Mr. Reeves seconded this motion, and it was carried, three
hands only being held up against it.

The Chairman confessed he could not quite accede to Mr.
Trask's resolution, because, in his opinion, it was a violation
of the contract entered into between landlord and tenant,
though he was not surprised that there was a very strong ex-
pression of opinion on the subject, for the evil was very great,
and required checking by some strong and authoritative
means.

602

l-HE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

"SADDLE AND SIRLOIN."*

[i'liOM THE TIMES.]

Our agricultural aud sporting readers will pardon us, we
are sure, if before attempting to give a sketch of the contents
of Saddle and Sirloin, we say a few words concerning the
author, who quitted this world on the 16th of March last, at
the age of 47, after a most laborious and indefatigable literary
career. Mr. Henry Ilall Dixon, better known under his
pseudonym of " ihe Druid," was a native of Cumberland, aud
was educated at Rugby aud Trinity College, Cambridge, at
both of which places liis natural genius and his untiring
industry would have probably gained him high honours, but
for the persistent ill-health which pursued him from childliood
to the hour of dissolution. Upon quitting the University he
read for the law, and was subsequently called to the Bar, but
after receiving a few briefs he ceased to pursue the profession,
although his book on the Law of the Farm, which is regarded,
especially in the northern counties, as an invaluable compen-
dium, sutBcieutly proves the solidity of his legal acquirements.
From his earliest years he took an intense interest in all do-
mestic animals, but his fondest worship was reserved for tlie
noblest of all the creatures which are devoted to the service
of man — namely, the horse. His enthusiasm in this direction
is attested by the various scarlet-covered volumes which he
published, such as the Post and the Paddock, Silk and Scarlel,
Scott and Sebrif/ht, in all of which the British horse appears
as the grand central figure, surrounded by an attendant body
of satellites, trainers and jockeys, huntsmen and masters of
hounds. As a proof of the purity of Mr. Dixon's equine en-
thusiasm, we may observe that he never made a bet in his life.
Beside the above works, he wrote an immense variety of
articles on sporting subjects in numerous magazines and news-
papers. To the readers whom we are now addressing, " The
Druid's" quaint, terse, original style is well known, and per-
haps it was never better exemplilied than in his biography of
the Marquis of Hastings, transferred to these columns. Of
late years Mr. Dixon's sporting enthusiasm somewhat cooled,
and he devoted all his energies to su'ojects more exclusively
agricultural. He wrote a series of articles on celebrated
English herds in the Mark Lane Express, and then made a
three years' tour in Scotland for a similar purpose. The
greater part of this journey was performed on horseback, and
often in the most inclement weather, and the hardships which
he underwent induced the illness which terminated his labo-
rious career. The volume now before us. Saddle and Sirloin,
treats of similar experiences in Northern England.

Scattered up and down the pages, and especially in the foot-
notes oi Saddle and Sirloin there is a large amount of technical
information, which will be of much value to breeders of stock ;
hut we shall refrain from looking at the book in this aspect ;
we shall regard it rather in the light of a picture gallery,
abounding in faithfully-sketched portraits of quaint and inte-
resting characters. At the opening of his volume, Mr. Dixon
still lingers on the Scottish side of the Border, evidently re-
luctant to quit the Land o' Cakes, and pauses to tell us some
new anecdotes of Mr. Campbell of Dalgig, famous for his
coursing dogs, and for the strange names which he gave them.
Being annoyed to tind that other coursing men in various
parts of the island unintentionally gave their dogs the same
names as his, he determined to avoid all confusion by invent-
ing an entirely original nomenclature, and such words as
Coomerango, Canaradzo, and Coodareena attest his talent in
this direction. He was wont to take much pains over the
manufacture, and said that it often relieved him from severe
fits of toothache. Mr. Campbell preserved an old-fashioned
hospitality towards the beggars and tramps who wandered
across the adjacent moors to Dalgig. They were always pro-
vided with a night's shelter and plenty of porridge and milk.
The host made a point of asking each of them his name, and

" Saddle and Sirloin ; or, Enijlish Farm and Sportiny
n-orlhicsr by " The Druid " (II. H. Dixon). London : Roger-
sou and Tuxford. 1870.

strangely enough it always proved to be Campbell. His
generosity caused him to be very popular among the travelling
fraternity. A fellow was once overheard saying to his child
behind a hedge, " Nab what you can, laddie, but no at Dalgig
for yer life." On one occasion two married couples who had
enjoyed his hospitality from Saturday till Monday, occupied
their barn leisure in negotiating an excliange of wives. The
arrangement was carried into effect, and " old Dalgig" was so
scandalized when he heard of it that for a long time he housed
no beggars but aged ones. Readers of Field and Fern have
already met Dr. Grant of Hawick, the master of the Teviot-
dale, so we will merely direct their attention to a spirited
description of his encounter with an otter related in the
present volume, and pass on to a characteristic sketch of the
late Lord Glasgow. He went to sea at a tender age, and
never lost the salt flavoui. After he settled to life on shore
he soon began to "plunge," winning or losing his tens of
tliousands with the utmost coolness. " Be the issue what it
might, no one could tell by his features whether he had won
or lost." This stoical indifference is always commended by
turf memoir writers. " Combined with all his off-hand
daring," says Mr. Dixon, " there was the fine simple faith of a
Jack Tar, and the most rugged honesty." His personal ap-
pearance is amusingly described: —

" He never appeared in such modern knick-knacks as
knickerbockers. To tlie last he stood hy the side of the cords,
with low shoes a world too wide, white trousers in which T. P.
Cook himself could have conscientiously danced a hornpipe,
and not unfrequently in a blue coat with gilt buttons. See
him when you might there was the same nervous irritation
which ruined all natural rest, and made his span of nearly 77
years, eked out as it was nightly by chloroform or laudanum,
very little short of miraculous."

Mr. Dixon goes on to style his Lordship " a grand Turf pa-
triarch whom no defeat could quench," and says that " he had
spent hundreds of thousands during nearly half a century of
racing life." ,

There can he no doubt that Lord Glasgow was one of those
sportsmen who by his straightforward conduct tended to keep
Turf morality from sinking into that ahyss of degradation from
which Sir Josepli Hawley is now striving to rescue it ; but we
hope that the improved aspirations of some future generation
will regard such a career as utterly unworthy of a wealthy
nobleman. A man with £fiO,000 a year might, without wast-
ing a penny of his substance, do so much good among his fellow
men that it excites, or ought to excite, a feeling of indignation
to see him descending into a gambling arena, where, if he does
not cheat, he is sure to be cheated. The best thing we read
about Lord Glasgow is that he once fed half Paisley in a time
of distress, and we commend the fact to the attention of those
noblemen and gentlemen who, while emulating Mr. Wright in
their gambling transactions at Tattersall's (without incurring
Mr. Wright's punishment), never found time to drop a six-
pence into the contribution-box of St. George's Hospital.

With far higher interest we turn to the portrait of the late
Sir James Graham of Netherby, a fine specimen, both physi-
cally and mentally, of the old Border lineage. Mr. Dixon
naturally views him rather as a country gentleman than as
a Cabinet Minister. He was an enterprising landlord, road-
making, draining, building, and tree-planting with great
energy. As a significant fact of the change that has come
over Border farming, Mr. Dixon tells us that in the old
Netherby leases, dated before 1824, sheep were prohibited
because they destroyed the fences. No county in England
excels Cumberland in manly beauty, and few Cumbrians could
compete in this respect with Sir James Graham. Mr. Dixon
cannot recall a finer election sight than when Sir James and
Mr. Blamire were borne, side by side, through Carlisle, one in
a dark blue, and the other in a light-blue chair ; and old Car-
lisle inhabitants still recollect how in a ball-room the dancer
would cease their movements, and crowd round to look on at *

THE FARMER'S MAGAZms.

503

quadrille in which Sir James and Lady Graham, Sir Frederick
aad Lady Vane, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, of Walton House,
Captain Campbell, and the present Duchess of Somerset
formed a rare assemblage of comeliness.

Mr. Dixon's next reminiscence is of a cricket match in the
old days at Carlisle, between the 34th Regiment and the
county. He grapliically narrates how Private Allen, a splendid
batsman, but rather a disorderly soldier, was taken out of tl\e
Black Hole to play, and how Colonel Lowther delivered his
slow round-handers. Colonel Lowther, who died in 1S6G, is
another north-country worthy well deserving of commemo-
ration, [u his youth he saw active service in the rcniusula,
uuder Sir John Moore and the Duke. During the retreat of
Coruuna lie was exposed to sleet and snow for nearly 16 days
without shelter, and on one occasion he rode a horse 80 miles
with despatches witliout either change or rest. Afterwards he
became lield-master of the Cottesmore hounds. He was a rare
sportsman, and never fell in with the modern style of hunting ;
loving, like Sir Charles Knightley, to see hounds puzzle it
out without being over-ridden. Not the least wonderful of
his achievements is the fact that he sat for fifty-five years in
Parliament (he became father of the House after Lord Pal-
merston's death), and yet his speeches during the whole period
would not fill two columns of an ordinary newspaper. Sir
James Graham described Jiis politics as of the " old long-
horned breed."

Compensation is a law of nature : every imprOTcment
brings its drawbacks with it, and railways, in exchange for
speed and comfort, have robbed us of a world of picturesque-
ness. Mr. Dixon sadly contrasts the modern assizes in Car-
lisle, where tiie judges descend from their first-class carriages,
and robe in tlie waiting-room, with tlie olden meeting of the
judges, when they approached from Newcastle, heralded by a
cloud of barristers in post-chaises, were met in state by the
sheritl's and their posse comifatm, and lunched and robed at
a farm-house six miles out of the city. This part of Mr.
Dixon's book abounds in characteristic anecdotes. Speaking
of the endurance of the postboys, he tells us how Jack Story
of the Crown, at Penrith, once rode at a pinch 108 miles —
— twice to Carlisle and back, and once to Keswick — in a day,
when he was past 70. Here is another reminiscence of the
old Crown Inn. Some barristers dining there were shocked
to discover that the wild ducks, contrary to all gastronomic
precedent, had been stuffed with sage and onions. The ruler
of t lie feast indignantly rang for a kettle of water, scooped
out the birds' interiors, and sent them down to be re-dressed.
The waiter afterwards bade the cook be of good cheer, in-
forming her that the legal gentlemen, in spite of their delicate
appetites, had eaten all the ejected stufiing and a small loaf of
bread along with it. Jemmy Anderson was another character
among the post-boys. He was once driving a carriage be-
tween Sliap and Penrith, when the hirer roared out, " Postil-
lion, I shan't give you a farthing for your horses or yourself;
you've driven like a snail." Jemmy quietly replied, " You
won't pay me a farthing, won't you P Then Pve come far
enough for nowt," and, swiftly descending, began to take out
his horses. The oifending passenger had to pay down a hand-
some doiwcur before Jemmy would consent to put them in
again. A south-country postboy here deserves a word of
remembrance — namely, Tom King, of Amersham, who once
drove " Parmer George," after hunting with the lloyal stag-
hounds, from Amersham to Windsor. Tom always kept the
anniversary of that day as a close hohday. And how do our
readers suppose he kept holiday ? By sitting all day in the
very seat occupied by his sovereign in that identical yellow
post-chaise, playing " God save the King " on his key bugle,
and refreshing himself with occasional pulls at a pot of ale
and a pipe of tobacco.

Mr. Dixon has some curious information on the subject of
the Gretna-green runaway marriages, the abolition of which,
by the way, was a grievous blow to the sentimental novelists.
As the post-horse tariff grew higher and higher the nearer
the lovers approached the goal, the post-boys established
a sort of private clearing-house, so that all who aided
in conveying the happy pair were equally remunerated. A
certain post-boy, named Jack Ainslie, stationed at CarUsle,
was a famous ally to eloping couples. He was perpetually
signing his name as witness to marriages ; and " to have
him," says Mr. Dixon, " in his yellow cord jacket, on the
near-wheeler, was worth as many poinls to the lovers as it

was to an attorney for the plaintiff to retain Garrow or Fol-
lett. If he was pushed hard. Jack knew of cunning by-lanes
and woods to hide them in, and had lines of gates across farms,
and all that sort of geography, in his eye, for an emergency."

Our author next indulges in some north-country coaching
reminiscences. The new generation who fly from Preston to
Carlisle in half-an-hour can have no conception of the weari-
some journey by coach on a snowy winter's night across Shap
Fells and Stainmoor. Coachman, guard, and passengers
battled along in the blast, or bore a hand with the snow-
shuvels, and then looked out anxiously for that tavern sign of
" Welcome into Cumberland," which told of deliverance from
the wilds of Westmoreland, and that snug little Penrith was
nigh. Here is a specimen of the ordinary misadventures of
those days : —

" The coachman had not only to gallop at all the snow-
drifts but to put a post-boy and pair on in front. The pole-
hook broke, and the hand of Jim Burns, the guard, was
almost frozen to the screw-wrench, when lie brought out a
spare pole-hook and fastened it on. The snow fell in flakes
large enough to blind them, and the only comic bit was the
voice of a heavy swell issuing from beneath a perfect tortoise-
shell covering of capes and furs on the box-seat, ' What are
you fellows keeping me here in the cold for, and warming
your own hands at the lamp ?' "

Then we are told of Parson Bird, a famous amateur driver,
who was such a good-hearted fellow, that when the regular
coachman from Keswick to Kendal broke his leg he took his
place for six weeks, and collected the fees for him. A lady
gave the parson half-a-crowu, and going to a ball at Kendal
that night, was introduced to her coachman of the morning,
who at once asked her to dance. She was highly indignant,
but on the matter being explained to her she grew so gracious
over it that she ultimately became Mrs. Bird.

We must pass by a great deal of information about the
coachmen, their incomes, their various idiosyncracies, and their
mode ot managing sulky horses, and content ourselves by al-
luding to another old-world source of excitement of which the
electric telegraph has effectually deprived us — we mean the
competition between the newspapers to supply the latest intelli-
gence when exciting events were going on. For example,
when Sir Robert Peel spoke at Glasgow, the outer form of the
SiiiL was printed off and taken down to Kendal, where the re-
porters from Glasgow met it, with their speech notes all ready
written out. The inner form was printed off there, and thus
the people in Glasgow read the speech printed in a London
paper before it had time to reach London. When Bolam was
tried for murder, one London reporter left Newcastle by the
•nail witliout the verdict, while another waited for it, and
caught up the mail by hard galloping, after bribing the post-
boys to hold their tongues. The two reporters went on side by
side all the way to London, but the last comer never disclosed
his precious secret.

From feats of coachmanship Mr. Dixon turns to the Turf,
and gives us some lively sketches of the race meetings in former
days on Carlisle Swifts, when Mr. Daley, a good-natured
Irishman, was clerk of the course. Mr. Daley had been a
professional actor in his youth, and still " took to the hare-
foot," as our author expresses it, when any good local cause
required a benefit. In this connexion Mr. Dixon recalls a well-
remembered Carlisle anecdote of a certain gentleman more de-
voted to sporting than polemics, who, after listening over his
pipe for fuUy six weeks to discussions about Lord John's
famous "Durham Letter," asked a friend in confidence
" Whose this 'ere Colonel Wiseman they've been a talkin'
about?" Next we have a careful account of Cumberland
wresthng, with a list of the winners of the All Weights
wrestling for the last 40 years. The catalogue opens with
Robinson ofRenwick, and closes with Jameson of Penrith,
who has just been trying his conclusions with a famous Frenili
athlete at the Agricultural Hall. North-country wrestling is
a much gentler and more scientific sport than the rude play of
Devonshire and Cornwall, where kicking is permitted, and
where the blood of the combatants is consequently apt to wax
savage. Here is a specimen of a west-country challenge from
Abraham Cann, a noted proficient :

" Polkinghorne, I will take off my stockings and play bare-
legged with you, and you may have two of the hardest and
heaviest shoes you like that can be made of leather in the
county of Cornwall, and you shall be allowed to stuff yoursell

504

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

as high as the armpits, to any extent not exceeding the size
a Cornish pack of wool, and I will further engage not to kick
you if you do not kick me."

There isaWestCumberland pig-enthusiast who nearly equals
Campbell of Dalgig in his eccentric nomenclature. A prize
pen of three sows at the Carlisle show were labelled " Faith,
Hope, and Charity." " And pray which of these three is
Charity ?" asked an old lady. " Which is Charity, Marm ?"
said the attendant, " of course the biggest on 'em is Charity."
"My dears," said the old lady, turning to her daughters, " I
never saw it just put iu that practical way before." Another
trio were severally labelled " We — Shall — Win." An opponent
lapsed into vulgarity wheu he christened his triplet of pork
" Aint — We — Stunners ?"

Next we have an interesting dissertation on a peculiar breed
of sheep called the Herdwicks, which are confined to Cum-
berland, Westmoreland, and the northern extremity of Lanca-
shire. Tradition reports that their progenitors swam ashore
from a Spanish ship wrecked in Jlorecambe Bay. Their
nimbleness and hardihood fit them admirably for the scant
pastures of a wild rugged country, with a bleak and stormy
cUmate. In spite of tlieir agility many of them tumble over
the crags, but when they survive such perils they have been
known to live to eighteen, and even beyond. Their great
merit lies in their abihty to tide through the severest winters.
" Sometimes they are so snowed up on the hill-side that it is
impossible to get at them, and they cau do little more than
scratch for a bit of dead bracken. In a storm they are excel-
lent generals, forming themselves into solid squares on the
most exposed part of the hill until it sweeps past, and then
trying to trample down the snow by a combined movement."
They need to be hardy, for winter begins about Martinmas and
it is often the middle of June before the first bite of grass is
ready. On the higher fells the ewes have no lambs until they
are three years old.

Mr. Dixon displays an amusing afi'ection for the Newcastle
and Carlisle Railway, on account of its venerable age and
other peculiarities. It is one of the oldest lines in existence
between two important towns ; there are no express trains ;
every train, bar one, stops at every station, and does its punc-
tual 20 miles an hour. For years its up and down trains ran
on the reverse side to every other railway. Lastly, it engaged
as its guards and porters the coachmen and guards whom it
had thrown out of work, aud allowed them to wear white hats
and scarlet coats. " A neighbouring railway elected a police-
man with a wooden leg, but our old friend was not to be out-
done, as it had, years before, selected a man with no legs as
station-master, and when the train arrived he rode about the
Blaydon platform on a donkey collecting the tickets." Eccen-
tric characters abound in this region. When John Hodgson,
the parish clerk of Wetheral, appUed to the railway directors for
a gate-keeper's place, he took care to remiud them of his
professional sta/its by writing thus, " I and my stout sons
can not only keep, but carry the gates ; yea, even the gates of
Gaza."

Mr. Dixon supplies some interesting details concerning John
Grey, of Dilston, of whose career a notice has recently ap-
peared in this journal. " To sit with the fine old man," he
says, " was indeed like ' converse with Old Time,' but we only
once had that happiness, and although we often corresponded,
we never met again. It was something even for that short
space to quarry in such a rich mine of thought and experi-
euce." A vignette of John Grey's noble head fittingly adores
Mr. Dixon's title-page. Then we have an amusing sketch of
Lord Althorpe, who cared nothing for politics in comparison
with his shorthorns. Like John Law, of Mississippi notoriety,
who kept a whole posse of Parisian notables iu his ante-
chamber while he dictated a letter to his gardener in Scotland
about planting cabbages. Lord Althorp always welcomed an
agricultural visitor in Dowuing-street. Recognizing John
Grey, of Dilston, the messenger said with a little dry laugh,
i"You've come about the cows, sir, so you'll not have to wait
long." And sure enough he finds the Minister with his herd-
book before him. " There's a letter from Carnegie," says his
lordship, as Grey enters ; " he admires my poUtical course, and
he writes from the Lothians to say I shall have the first refusal
of his bull. I've written to thank him for his poHtical confi-
dence, but I've told him there's a flaw in his bull's pedigree."
Of course Mjv Dixon pays a visit to the famous herd of wild
cattle at Chillingham. He says ;

" Their sense of smeU is exceedingly acute, and a cow has
been seen to run a man's foot like a sleuth hound, when he
has run for his life to a tree. While Sir Edwin Landseer was
taking sketches for his celebrated picture, the herd went into
action, and he was glad to fly to the forest as they passed by."

We have not said a word about Shorthorns, altliough they
form the main topic of Mr. Dixon's book, and when he is dis-
cussing famous breeders now departed, his style nses to a lofty
yet chastened eloquence. Thus of Mr. Bates he writes :

" His heart was with horn and hoof to the last, and there
was no ' cruel Phyllis ' to cross him in f/int love. Those who
have strolled with him in his pastures can recall how the cows
and even the young heifers would lick his hand and seem to
listen to every gentle word and keen comment, as if they
penetrated its import ; and even when the last struggle was
nigh, aud he could wander among them no more, he reclined
on some straw in the cowhouse, that his eye might not lack
its solace."

And how solemn are the enthusiastic breeder's words when,
speaking of one of his best " Duchesses," he says to Lord
Althorp, " Tlie destiny of Shorthorns depends on this calf —
this slender thread of a calf." Lastly Mr. Dixon sums up his
character with the dignified impartiality of a Hume :

" To dairy properties, a thing too often overlooked, he paid
great attention, and very few of his cows were deficient iu this
respect. He was a man of warm feelings, and either a strong
friend or a bitter enemy. Though most acute and observing,
he was liable to prejudice, and a splendid dogmatizer, but
none have left a more decided mark on our Shorthorn history."

T\'^e have not as yet got more than a tiiird of the way
through Mr. Dixon's portrait gallery, but our limits forbid us
to travel any further. We can only tell our readers that they
will find plenty of entertainment as well as solid information
in his pages, and w? especially recommend his life-like por- '|
traitures of such men as John Osborne, John Jackson, Sir
Tatton Sykes, Mr. Gully, aud Thomas Godwin. Well worthy,
too, of attention are his sketches of Mr. Waterton, the natu-
rahst, at home ; of Cheshire cheese-making, and the trials it
has undergone through the cattle plague ; and of the great
agricultural implement factories at Boston and Lincoln. We
shall look forward with interest to the succeeding volume on
the southern division of the kingdom, which was beiug care-
fully prepared by its author within a few days of his death.

CULTIVATION OF BEET-ROOT IN IRELAND.—
A letter, giving the result of some experiments in beet-root
cultivation, has been addressed to the Kilkeivnj Moderator
by the Hon. L. Agar Ellis, M.P. Mr. Duncan, of Mincing-
lane, London, having sent him some sugar-beet seed
last spring, he had it sown in different localities in the county
of Kilkenny, and the roots when grown were sent to Professor
Voelcker, who made an analysis of their constituents. The
crops were sown under unfavourable circumstances incidental
to a first experiment. It is necessary that the soil should be
heaped up to the top of the root in order to preserve its sac-
charine properties. A considerable portion of the sugar is lost
by exposure to the atmosphere. The proper weight of the
roots is from 2^1bs. to 31bs. Some useful information upon
this aud other points connected with the treatment of the
crop are given in the letter. Sugar-beet is pronounced to be
the least exhaustive of all root crops, provided the refuse pulp
is consumed by live stock on the farm. The white Silesian
beet is considered the best for this country. The result of
the experiments in Kilkenny establishes the fact that sugar-
beet can be grown in the county of a quaUty which will re-
munerate the manufacturer. It is calculated that a proportion
of 8'5 of crystallizable sugar will pay, and in some instances
comprised within the range of experiments there was a yield
of 10-91 and of %-M. Mr. Ellis observes, that to make the
crop worth growing, either the present sugar-refiners of Ireland
must put up machinery for "converting" it, or difl'erent dis-
tricts must erect the necessary works. The climate of the
south-east of Ireland is suitable for the growth of such a crop.
Some years ago the manufacture of beet-root sugar was at-
tempted at Mountmellic, but, owing to explainable causes, the
speculation failed. There is an opportunity now of renewing
the effort to establish this branch of agricultural manufacture
under more favourable conditions,

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

505

THE LOED ADVOCATE'S GAME BILL.

A.t a special general meeting of the Haddington Farmers'
Club, Mr. Scot-Skirving, the Chairman, stated that the
meeting had been called for the purpose of discussing the
Game-laws and the Game Bills before Parliament. Of the
bills before Parliament, by far the most prominent was the
bill brought before the House of Commons by the Lord
Advocate. In regard to this bill, he felt no hesitation and no
difficulty in expressing what he had to say, and he believed
that the meeting would be unanimous on the subject. When
he first saw that bill, which appeared alone in the congenial
pages of the Scotsman, and read it, he became more and more
convinced that he was reading a hoax. He did not know
whether the editor was hoaxed, but he knew that the public
were hoaxed, by one of the most ridiculous bills that ever was
framed. There were some stories about old friends with new
faces ; but this was an old bill with au old face. It was
Lord Elcho's bill — the bill which his friends so deeply
regretted, but which had at least the excuse that it was a bill
proposed by a private member — a bill to assimilate the laws of
Scotland to tliose of England, and place the tenant in as
auspicious circumstances as he could be in making a bargain
with his landlord. Lord Elcho's biU had been before the
country for a great many years ; it had been discussed again
and again by almost every agricultural society in Scotland, and
he believed it had been unanimously condemned by the whole.
This being the case, he confessed he was astonished on finding
that the bill of the Lord Advocate, which appeared in the
Scotsman, was no hoax. It appeared to him very much as if
the Lord Advocate said something like this : " Here is a bill
for you, and if you do not like the bill yoa may go to — he
would not say the devil — but the law." And what way were
they to go to law ? not by arbitration to the Sheriff ; but it
seemed as if the Lord Advocate wished to show grace to the
briefless barristers he had left behind him. If a large farmer
suffered damages to the extent of £300 or £300, and chose to
restrict it to £35, he might bring the matter before the
Sheriff ; but if the sum was £50, he must go to the House of
Parliament at Edinburgh, and then, he presumed, to the House
of Lords. He believed he might say that bad as present
circumstances were, the Lord Advocate's bill would make them
worse should it come upon them, and he moved that the Club
should petition against the bill in toto. Briefly referring to
Mr. Loch's bill, he said he would not advocate it that day, but
he thought it the best.

Mr. Shepherd (Gleghornie) seconded the motion, saying
that he had no hesitation in agreeing with every word wliicli
had been uttered by the chairman in regard to the Lord
Advocate's bill. He disagreed with that bill as cordially as
their chairman could do. He thought that it was an extra-
ordinary thing that the bill which was so unanimously rejected
in Lord Elcho's name should have been introduced by this
man, who had the vanity to suppose that it would be accepted
in his name. He (the Lord Advocate) seemed to have got
giddy with conceit at the height to which he had got up.
He (Mr. Shepherd) had no doubt that over Scotland the bill
would be disapproved. Lately they had received plenty of
advice from the various departments of the press. Prom the
editor of the Scotsman they received abundance of advice.
No later than yesterday, he had stated distinctly that he did
not see how landlords could tyrannise over tenants by means
of the Game-laws. There was nobody so blind as those who
would not see, and he thought the editor had been winking
very hard yesterday when he wrote that. He (the editor)
further told them that legislation could do nothing, and he
begged leave to say that he agreed with the editor very much.
He said that settlements and arrangements between landlords
and tenants should be everything, and he agreed with him
there. Mr. Kussel of the Scotsman had long been telling
them, as he had been saying, that legislation could do no
good, and that the ^removal of the Game-laws could do no
good. It might be invidious to quote the words which he
had uttered years ago in criticising a pamphlet written by
himself (Mr. Shepherd) upon the Game-laws; but he held

that since that time the editor had changed his opinions upon
the subject. They had had a great deal of writing from him
lately, but he thought it was a great pity they had to mourn
over the change in Mr. Russel, who had taken up a position
very much against the tenant-farmer.

Mr. Elder (Bearford) thought there could be no doubt
about the fact that there was a desire on the part of farmers
in Scotland to see this game question settled, and if the land-
lords would only show a corresponding desire they would very
soon see an end of this game agitation. But if there was to
be a settlement of the game question at the present time, he
thought it must be of the nature of a compromise. On the
one hand they must not ask too much, because they would not
get it ; and, on the other hand, the landlords would not re-
quire to be too tenacious of their privileges, but give way to
tbeir reasonable demand, Tlie farmers must recollect that the
House of Commons was composed of men many of whom were
game-preservers themselves. On the other hand, farmers must
recollect that there was such a thing as public opinion, which
sometimes could bring the House of Commons to reason. But
what he thought would be a fair settlement of this game ques-
tion would be for the tenant to get full control over the ground
game, leaving the winged game to the landlord. It was hares
and rabbits which did the damftge, and if the tenant had the
power to keep these animals in check, he did not think they
would complain about partridges. What he would say was
this : Get the landlords by all means to give the tenants some
interest in game, and they would never have cause to rue it ;
not only would they find hares and rabbits enough to do their
turn, but they would get plenty of partridges. If the tenant
had an interest in the game it would go a long way to put an
end to poaching. As to the Government Game Bill, he con-
sidered it would do them very little good, and he thought it
did not deserve the support of the club. The bill proposed to
assimilate the game laws of Scotland to those of England, but
he thought it was the duty of any Legislature, when they
sought to adopt a law from another country, to go into that
country and inquire how the law they sought to adopt had
wrought. If the English farmers were no worse, at least he
thought they were no better, than the farmers of Scotland ;
but so great was the competition for land now-a-days that they
would get men to sign almost anything, so that virtually they
might put anything on the law ; it was not worth one rap.
As to the clauses of the Government bill relating to damages,
he disapproved of them, and thought the bill was not one they
should support.

Mr. Hope (Fentonbarns) was very much disappointed and
not a little ashamed of the Game bill which had been produced
by the Lord Advocate of the Liberal Government. If their
friend John Bright had been in his usual health, and able to
take his seat, no such futile measure would have been before
the House of Commons. It commenced by stating that it as-
similated the law of Scotland to that of England, and as Mr.
Scot-Skirving had remarked, this had been proposed before by
Lord Elcho, and had been treated with scorn. Mr. Hope then
proceeded to criticise the various clauses of the bill, and con-
cluded by saying that he cordially agreed with the motion
which had been made, that they utterly condemn the bill.

Mr. DuKiE (Barney Mains), said that the total abolition of
the Game-laws would be a great misfortune. There would
not be the slightest protection to the farmers, and he would
go dead against anything like their abolition. The chairman
had stated that he preferred Mr. Loch's Game Bill, but he
thought of all the Game Bills Mr. Loch's was the most ridicu-
lous and absurd which bad been heard of and he hoped it had
been disposed of permanently (Cries of "' No, no"). Noticing
the Lord Advocate's bill, he said that in eases where damage
was claimed he thought they should be confined to the Sheriff
Court entirely, and not go to the Court of Session. He would
say if the claim was for £500, that they should go before the
Sheriff", and before the Sheriff alone ; but he would ten times
rather take the Lord Advocate's bill as it stood than the present
law as it stood (Cries of " No, no"). The present law declared

606

THE FAKMBR'S MAGAZINE.

that hares and every kind of game belonged entirely to tlie
landlords, and that the tenants had no'right to them. He
thought this portion of the law was too bad, but he also was
of opinion that the Lord Advocate's bill went too far. The
landlord and tenant should have an equal right to the game.
He moved — " That this Club think the Lord Advocate's bill
is an improvement on the present law, but a bill giving the
owner and the occupier equal right to the game would be
better, and also transferring the trial of game offences from
the justices to the Sheriif."

The CiiAiKMAN asked if any one wished to second the
motion, but as no one did so, it was rejected.

Mr. Paton (Staudingstone), said that many were expecting
to get a good bill from his Lordship, considering his practical
knowledge and sound sense — a bill that would satisfy every
reasonable man, though as for others, there was not a bill that
would satisfy them. He was thoroughly disgusted with the
Lord Advocate's bill. He was convinced it would not satisfy
either landlord or tenant, and it would give a great deal of
work for procurators, gentlemen of the long robe, and agents.
He thought that was the most of it. He was convinced tiiat
all who said they wanted reform in the Game-laws did not
desire it, but wished to carry on the game cry as an agitation.
Many M.P.'s would be sorry to see it settled, he had no doubt ;
and many persons would like it for a hustings cry. But what
liad the Liberal Government offered them ? He was convinced
that iiad the bill beeu brought in by tiie Tories it would liave
been much more liberal. It was a pity that there sliould be
any bad feeling between the landlord and the tenant, aud he
thought the first thing to allay that feeling was to give the
tenant a large interest in the game. For liimself, nothing
would give him greater pleasure than to be allowed to have a
little interest in tiie game, and to take care of it and keep off
poachers.

IVIr. Stevfns (Gullane) thought that the Lord Advocate
had a sympathy with the farmers, but that the exigencies of
the Government had compelled him to bring in a bill which
the farmers could not accept. He considered the bill the
sham of a bill, and said that the club should memorialize
Government to go into the whole questions of the Game Laws,
the Law of Lease, and the Law of Hypotliec.

The chairman's motion was then agreed to.

Mr. HorE (l?"entonbarns) said that from a Parliamentary
return it appeared that 1,340 individuals had been convicted

of poaching under the game laws of England alone, and that
all this had happened for the sake aud the support of a few
individuals, for it appeared that there were only £150,000
collected for licences. He thought the club should express
their opinion in favour of the principle of Mr. Maclagan's bill
— that hares and rabbits should be taken out of the game
laws ; and he moved accordingly.

Mr. SiiEPiiERD seconded the motion, remarking that such a
measure would be the very thing to diminish poaching.

The Chairman stated that the last deliverance of the club
had been in favour of Mr. Loch's bill, aud he moved the pre-
vious question.

Mr. Wylie (Polton) seconded the motion.

A vote was then taken, when the previous question was car-
ried by a majority of 10 to 9.

The meeting then adjourned.

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE GAME-LAWS.

The following is the text of a petition of the Haddington
Farmers' Club to the House of Commons :—
" Unto the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, the
petition of the Haddingtonshire Agricultural Club,
" Humbly Shewcth—

"That a bill has been introduced into your honourable
House by the Lord Advocate of Scotland, and Mr. Secretary
Bruce, entitled ' A bill to amend and assimilate in certain
respects the law of Eugland aud Scotland relating to game.'

"That your petitioners observe with regret that these ob-
jects are sought to be obtained by vesting in the occupants of
laud in Scotland the whole primary right of killing and taking
game upon the lands they occupy, and by providing, infer alia,
that in case of disputes between landlords and tenants, all
claims for damages on account of game exceeding £50 shall »
be carried to the Court of Session.

" That the competition for land in Scotland is such that
occupants are not in a position to retain the right to game
which the bill proposes to give them, and your petitioners do
not see that the assimilations of the laws of Scotland to those
of England in this respect could be of any advantage, whilst
they look with dismay upon the prospect of litigation which
several of the provisions of the bill open up.

" May it therefore please your honourable House not to
pass this bill into law, and your petitioners will ever pray."

AYRSHIRE FARMERS' CLUB.

At the third annual general meeting of this club held at
Ayr, Mr. Robert Dalgleish, Templand Mains, President,
occupied the chair.

The Secretary said he had received from Sir David Wed-
derburn, M.P., a copy of the Lord Advocate's Game-law
(Amendment) Bill. In answer to a question the Secretary
said he had received a copy of Mr. Loch's Bill and others,
but all these he thought would be laid aside till the Govern-
ment measure was disposed of. He read the rubrics of the
several clauses of the Government bill to indicate its pro-
visions.

Mr. Young, Kilhenzie, said he wished to make a few re-
marks in regard to the bill. He did so with considerable
regret, as he was sorry to think the Lord Advocate had seen
fit to bring in such a bill, and he would be surprised if it did
not receive the united liostility of the farmers and people of
Scotland. It appeared to him that the Lord Advocate Young
was the only person in Scotland who did not know the amend-
ments required on the Game-laws. His bill leaves it in the
power of landlords to bind tenants to preserve all kinds of
game as heretofore. In short it is worse than existing Game-
laws, bad as these are. Under this bill a landlord will be
enabled to put clauses in a lease and fine farmers £50, £100,
or £500 for killing a rabbit, a hare, or a pheasant. In short
game may be multiplied <id injhiitiim. That was sufficient to
convince them that the bill should receive their warmest hos-
tility. It appeared to him, and had long done so, to be a
most iniquitous and unjustifiable law which prevents a man

from taking such measures to protect his property as he might
think necessary. The present Game-laws amount to some-
thing like this : you may see your crops destroyed before your
eyes from day to day, and yet you dare not lift your hand to
protect them. Nothing short of this will satisfy not only
farmers, but the people of Scotland : they must, under all cir-
cumstances, and at all times, have the right to defend their
crops which are their property from ground game. If the
bill of the Lord Advocate were passed, it would not stop the
agitation for a single day. If Mr. Young had led the Govern-
ment to believe that the biU would be a settlement of the
question, they must be undeceived. He hoped that farmers
everywhere, as he had no doubt would be the case with the
farmers in the north of Scotland, would give him such a warn-
ing as he could not help acknowledging. He ventured to say
there was not half-a-dozen members representing Scotch con-
stituencies would find their seats safe if they supported such a
bill as that. Next to the Irish Church question, there was
none which excited more public feeling and interest at last
election than the Game-laws. He was glad to say that the
farmers of Ayrshire were so far advanced in opinion on the
question that they did not consider it a question betwixt
landlord and tenant, but one affecting the whole community.
One of the worst effects of the laws was their injurious and
demoralising influence upon large secttons of the working
classes, inducing them to become poachers and then criminals.
They were thus the means of filling our jails and poorhouses.
He concluded by proposing that they petition the House of

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

507

Commons against the Lord Advocate's Bill, and that the
petition be sent to Sir David Wedderburn for presentation.

Mr. H. C. Gray said it would not be difficult to show
that they in the town had as deep an interest in the question
as farmers in the country. He took it for granted that this
would be admitted. He was astonished that the Lord-
Advocate should have introduced such a measure. Mr. Youug
seemed to want the tact, courtesy, and forethought of his
learned predecessor, the Lord Justice Clerk ; otherwise he
might have known that this measure, instead of being con-
ciliatory, would evoke more hostility than tlie measures
brought in by Mr. Loch and others. He greatly mistook the
feeling of farmers if they did not wish the Legislature to give
them power to protect their crops. What they complained of
was that their crops were eaten before their eyes; yet when
they sought damages, they got no redress whatever. He
thought the game fed by the crop of the tenant belonged to
the tenant, and his landlord ought to remunerate him if he
wanted to have the privilege of shooting over his lands. He
could not say whether Mr. M'Lagan's or Mr. Loch's bill was
the better of the two ; but either of them is preferable to this
of the Lord-Advocate. He quite concurred with Mr. Youug
in his views, as from all he had heard, the bill would create a
feeling of hostility ; and that county members would not be
safe in their seats if they gave it their countenance.

Mr. Smith seconded Mr. Young's motion.

Mr. M'Ilwr.vitii wished, when the subject was before the
Club, to mention a case illustrative of the operation of the
present game laws, and which showed the utter inability of
any measure giving landlords the power to reserve game, to
remove existing grievances. A farmer not very far from Ayr
entered upon a lease of a farm along with his father. When
they inspected the farm there was very little game on it, and
no appearance of damage being done. There was a clause in
the lease reserving the game, which the present tenant's father

did not object to. During the currency of the lease, however,
the game began to increase, and did increase to such an extent
that it became a very great nuisance. The farmer suffered a
heavy loss annually, and at last, unable longer to submit to the
injury, he applied to the factor, who gave him no redress.
Things went on without the grievance being attended to by the
representative of the laird, till again the tenant went to him.
The factor received him rather sharply, stamped and fumed ,
and asked him why he came there pesteriug him about game ;
that he had taken the farm with his eyes open, and must just
abide the consequences. Determined not to suffer injury with-
out adopting such remedies as lie thought were within his
reach, the tenant asked the factor to name a practical man, and
he would name another to value the damage done, in order to
allow of remuneration for loss being given. No attention was
paid to this offer. The tenant got two persons of skill who
went over the fields, and they assessed the damage at £40.
He sent in an account for that amount. Then the factor sent
one man who calculated the damrge at £10. Nothing, how-
ever was done ; the arbitration did no good. Determined to
protect his own property, the tenant then set traps and snares
to kill the rabbits. Of course the game-keeper caugbt him, and
word was sent to the factor next day: Letters passed between
them, and the result was he was interdicted from killing.
However, while tliey were greasing the wheels of the law-
engine in Edinburgh to make it turn out an interdict, the
tenant was busy killing tlie rabbits, and the result was that,
though the case cost him £10, he made more than that out of
the vermin, besides gaining considerable relief from the re-
duction of their overwhelming numbers.

The motion was unanimously agreed to.

Mr. Young afterwards moved that the Club petition in
favour of Mr. Loch's game bill, which was seconded by Mr.
Murdoch, and unanimously agreed to.

SCOTTISH CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.
THE GAME-LAWS.

At a special general meeting of the Chamber held to con-
sider the Game Bills now before Parliament, Mr. Paterson,
Meadowfield, a Vice-President, in the Chair, there was a large
and influential attendance.

The Secketary, Mr. Curror, S.S.C, having stated that
the meeting had been specially called to consider the Bills
affecting the game-laws at present before Parliament, read the
following letter on the subject from Mr. Wilson, President of
the Chamber :

" Eddingtou Mains, 2Gth April, 1870.

" My Dear Sir, — I regret that it is not iu my power to be
present at the meeting of tlie Chamber to-morrow, as lam
still obliged to keep the house although convalescent.

" I would not like to allow myself to think or say that this
Bill of the Lord Advocate's has been drawn with the view of
treating the complaints of the farmers of Scotland with
mockery. But I do say that it seems to me to make it evident
that he has utterly failed to appreciate the reality and great-
ness of the grievance which give rise to these complaints.
Bad as matters at present are with respect to game, I would
very much rather see things remain as they are than see this
bill become law. It will do nothing towards reducing the num-
ber of hares and rabbits (the real cause of all the mischief), and
the unhappy tenant who shall seek redress in the way which it
proposes, will simply add law pleas and open feud with his
landlord to his game grievance. I trust that the Chamber
will be unanimous in petitioning f)rits total rejection ; and
also that it will fall back on the ground which it first took up,
by asking to have hares and rabbits removed from the game
list. As long as we held to that, our position was strong and
hopeful, and the sooner we resume it the better.

" I trust the Chamber will also take action with regard to
the gun tax. If this cliauge is persisted in, it will be entirely
of a piece with the change on the dog tax — viz., the wealthy
classes relieved from a most legitimate tax at the expense of
the farmer.

" I have never yet been able to concur with those who seek
for a total repeal of the Game-laws, but I know of nothing
so likely to drive men into that course as the thrusting upon
the country of such measures as the Lord Advocate's Game
Bill, and this tax upon crow herds. — Yours most truly,

"Jno. Wilson."

The Secretary next read the following letter from Mr.
Nicoll, Littleton, who had moved a resolution at the last special
meeting of the Chamber on the subject :

" Littleton, Kirriemuir, 25th April, 1870.

" My Dear Sir, — I regret tliat au engagement previously
entered into will prevent me from being present at the meet-
ing on the 27th, when the Game Bills now before ParUament
are to be discussed. The Lord Advocate appears to me as
simply a burlesquer, and I regret that it should have been on
any motion that the Chamber of Agriculture requested him
to prepare a bill on the subject. I sliould, on the other hand,
be sorry to think that there was occasion for such a sweeping
measure as Mr. Taylor's. It would in many instances under-
mine, if not altogether destroy, the relationship presently sub-
sisting between landlord and tenant.

" The Whigs at last election dangled the hare-and-rabbit
question before our eyes, and under promise of a fair, reason-
able, and equitable settlement brought about the almost total
extinction of the Tory party in Scotland. We have been
lamentably and treaclierously deceived ; but the day of reckon-
ing will come, and this sham measure of tiieirs, were an
election now to take place, would, 1 believe, be the foundation,
so far as the agricultural constituencies are concerned, of a
decided Conservative reaction.

" failing help from the Tories, might we not hope that the
Scotch landlords — our natural allies after all — would step for-
ward and aid us in this emergency, in this deadlock, and pro-
claim that their eyes are now open to the fact that the preser-
vation of ground game is incompatible with modern agricul-
ture, and that for the future they would place it at the com-

:;o8

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

mand of the tenantry? Had I been able to be present at your
meeting, I should have availed myself of the opportunity of
pleading, as a member of the Chamber of Agriculture, with
the landlords of Scotland to do so.

" Failing that, so strongly am I convinced of the utter an-
tagonism between high and liberal farming and the preservation
of ground game, that I shall, however unwillingly, ally myself
with the party which clamours for total abolition of all laws
relating to game. — I am, believe me, yours sincerely,

" Thos. Nicoll.

" D. Curror, Esq., S.S.C."

The Secretary next read resolutions on the subject which
had been passed by members of the Chamber residing in the
county of Aberdeen, and the following communication from
Ayrshire :

" Shields, Monkton, Ayrshire, 20th April, 1870.

"Dear Sir, — The Counties' Committee of the Scottish
Chamber of Agriculture for Ayrshire beg to request that the
Chamber do petition the Commons' House of Parliament
against the Lord Advocate's Game Bill, they being of opinion
that it will prove a most unsatisfactory measure towards
settling that sore grievance as it afi'ects tenant-farmers.
" I am, dear sir, yours truly,

"R. M. CUNINGIIAJIE,

" D. Curror, Esq." " Co. Representative.

Mr. A. E. Macknight (advocate) said he did not think
there was any likelihood of their succeeding at the pre-
sent time in successfully pressing the question of the
total abolition of the game-laws. He did not think the
state of public opinion was ripe for that ; and there was
no practical chance of their succeeding in the meantime,
if they made the attempt. He asked them as practical
men to view this question in a practical way, and he sug-
gested that they should be content in the meantime if
there was legislative effect given to a plan by which hares and
rabbits might be altogether removed from the game list, and
the tenants allowed to do with them what they choose. If
the Cliamber were adopting this course, they would do a viise
thing, and a thing tliere would be some chance of carrying.
If they could get a proper act passed, they could render it
utterly incompetent, on the part of owners of land,
to enter into contracts regarding hares and rabbits,
and to make such agreements utterly nuU and void.
He would go farther, and make it criminal, and
in the case of any landlord who should attempt to
make such a contract, he should be liable to a penalty. If
they could carry that tliey would have a combination of both
the game bills of last year. If a majority of this Chamber
took that view of the question he thought it would have a
great influence in the country. This bill of Mr. Young was
an indication of how public opinion was running in high quar-
ters. He could not support or approve of the bill in the least.
He would propose the following resolutions on the subject,
wliich he thought would effectually meet the grievance :

" 1. That the over- preservation of game is absohitely incon-
sistent with modern high farming.

" 2. That were hares and rabbits struck out of the game
list, and Parliament to enact that all contracts preserving
these animals are illegal, great benefit would arise to the agri-
culture of the nation.

" 3. That the law of England gives no practical benefit to
Enghsh farming, and would give as little to Scotland ; and
hence the bUl of the Lord Advocate assimilating the Game-
laws of England and Scotland does not ameliorate the existing
grievances under which admittedly Scotch agriculture labours,
but, on the contrary, would lead to litigation and disputes, and
embitter the relations between landlord and tenant, and would
result in a state of matters worse than the present, and there-
fore tliat the Chamber should petition against the bill of the
Lord Advocate.

" 4. That the other game bills, in so far as inconsistent
with these resolutions, be also petitioned against."
He tliought the bill should be rejected entirely. It was a bill
proposed apparently in the interests of the tenant, but in
reality it was a landlord's bill. It did not remove the evils ;
at least it proposed to remove them in such a cumbrous and
tedious and expensive mode that the remedy would be almost
as bad as the disease. If they were satisfied that Government
had failed in their attempt to remedy the grievance they ouglit

to point out to the Government what measure this Chamber
considered would be a real and honest measure. He expressed
his opinion that Mr. M'Lagan's Bill would not remedy the
grievance ; but he thought that if these resolutions were em-
bodied they would be an effective mode of dealing with this
grievance. He did not think that in the meantime they
should insist upon any measure for the total abolition of the
Game-laws.

Mr. RiDDELL (Houndlee) moved : " That this Chamber is
of opinion that the Game-laws are most injurious to agricul-
ture. That they tend to demoralise alike landlords, farmers,
and labourers, being productive of crime, thereby adding to the
I'.eavy rates under which all classes suffer, and that every legi-
timate means should be taken to obtain a repeal of these laws."
I do not intend to take up the valuable time of the meeting by
entering into a discussion on any of the game bills at present
before Parliament ; neither do I mean to enter into a history
of the Game-laws. I only crave the indulgence of the meet-
ing for a very short time to say a few words in support of the
resolution I humbly propose for your acceptance. The Game-
laws are injurious to agriculture in many ways, on account of
the food for the people being destroyed and consumed by game.
In proof of this, I beg to refer to evidence taken before a com-
mittee of the House of Commons in the year ISiG. A witness
stated the injury to a field of 40 acres of wheat to be £150.
Other witnesses assessed the damages at from £2 to £6 per
acre. The damages on a farm of 200 acres at £105. On a
farm of 1,100 acres, the wheat crop alone was damaged to the
amount of £172. On another farm of 900 acres, rent £610,
the game valuators gave the damages at £416 8s. These
cases are aU in England, and everyone knows that the injury
to crops are not by any means diminished since 1846,
I will only give one case in Scotland. On an J<
estate in Fifeshire in 1844, the damages amounted to
nearly £1,000. Number of acres about 1,060. I need not
tell you how they act as a bar to the proper cultivation of
arable land. Go where we will we find most enlightened and
crack farmers saying that if they had known that game and
rabbits would have been preserved to such an extent, they
would not have taken their farms, or at least would not have
improved them to same extent. The game laws are one of
the main obstacles in preventing the breaking up, and other-
wise improving of waste land. Of late years sheep and
cattle, and even great numbers of human beings, have been
forced, evicted, and depopulated to make room for deer, a
quadruped of small national value. Game may justly be said
to be a monopoly for the landed proprietor and the wealthy at
the expense of the poor. Would an enlightened and equitable
landlord require a tenant to subscribe to such conditions as
the following ? " Reserving to the proprietor all flsh, game,
including hares and rabbits, and game of every description ;
the tenant renouncing all claim of damages occasioned by
hares and rabbits, or game of any sort. The tenant shall not
break up any sheep pasture or meadow without the permission
of the landlord in writing. By the infraction of this clause
the tenant will incur a penalty of £10 per acre. No lurchers
or greyhounds to be kept without the permission of the pro-
prietor. There shall not be on any farm a greater number
of dwelling-houses than are absolutely necessary for the ac-
commodation of workers constantly employed on the farm ;
and the tenant shall not have power to let any house or
cottage upon the lands to any person obnoxious to the pro-
prietor ; and the tenant binds himself to remove from off
the farm any person who may be so reported at the first
term after intimation is given them to that affect." There are
leases entered into this present year, 1870, by tenants in Rox-
burghshire not materially different from these just referred to.
As to the labourer, many an honest and industrious man has
become a deep-dyed criminal in consequence of having been
tempted to take a hare or rabbit on going to or returning from
his employment, caught in the act, convicted on the evidence
of a gamekeeper, sent to gaol from inability or unwillingness to
pay the fine — there meeting with company anything but safe
or conducive to improvement in either health or morals.
Follow him a little further, and it will be found that tlie man
released from prison cannot find employment, is forced deeper
and deeper into the abyss of crime ; and should he have a
family, by and by tliey are thrown on the parish, making the
already heavy rates more burdensome still. The temptation is
so great to a working man to make a good day's wage in a,

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

j09

short time, the wonder is that greater numbers are not tempted
and turned from honest labour to that of poaching. I make
bold to say that the game laws do not prevent poaching, that
they tend to make poaching almost a necessity. I notice
that Sydney Smith quotes evidence given by a London
salesman before a committee in 1823. He says : " I could
supply the whole city of London any fixed day once a week
all the year through, so that every person might have game
for his table. I would be bound to procure ten thousand
pheasants a week, and I would send to Scotland to say that
every week the largest quantity that could be procured to be
sent. Being but a petty salesman, I sell a very small quantity,
but I have had about 400 head thrice direct from one man."
By making game the property of the man who owns land
when found there, and by allowing anybody to buy and sell
what is now called game when lawfully come by — in other
words, abolish the game-laws — there is no fear of the amuse-
ments of the rich being interfered with ; but I feel satisfied
that the temptations of the poor would be greatly diminished.
" Do the country gentlemen imagine that it is in the power of
human laws to deprive the 3 per cents, of pheasants ; that
there is upon earth, air, or sea, a single flavour (cost wliat it
may) that mercantile opulence will not procure? Increase
the difficulty, and you enlist vanity on tlie side of luxury, and
make that to be souglit for as a display of wealth which was
before asked only for the gratification of the appetite. The
law may multiply penalties by reams ; squires may fret and
justices commit, and gamekeepers and poachers continue
their nocturnal wars — there must be game on Lord Mayor's
table. You may multiply the crimes by which it is procured,
but nothing can arrest its inevitable progress from the wood
of the esquire to the soil of the citizen" (S. Smith's Works).
When we look to England we find there a growing desire to
F have the game-laws abolished. And let us turn to the north
of Scotland ; we find there also great progress making towards
the views I have now expressed. T now humbly submit that
nothing short of the absolute repeal of the game-laws will
meet all the evils that the community suffer from. I now
beg that every friend of humanity and every man
who has the well-being of the great mass of the popu-
lation of these lands at heart,unite and do what he can to have
these laws removed from the Statute -Book. In conclusion, he
might say in regard to tlie resolutions proposed by the previ-
ous speaker, and in reference to Mr. Loch's Bill, his opinion
was that they would not answer the purpose they expected.
The necessity of the case was not so great as in his opinion, to
demand the interference of Parliament or the Legislature of
, this country between the tenant-farmer and his landlord in
the matter of contract. If the Game-laws were just and
equitable let them be continued, but if unjust and inequitable,
depend upon it they could not be one moment too soon
abolished. He had strong hopes that the repeal of these ob-
noxious laws was not far distant. He did not agree with Mr.
Macknight that there was no hope for their repeal.

Mr. Macknight : I said in the meantime,

Mr. RiDBELL did not agree even with that, for he thought
the day was not far distant, and he considered thatthe Lord Ad-
vocate's Bill and Mr. Loch's Bill would go far to convince
men that there was no cure short of the total and uncondi-
tional repeal of the Game-laws.

Mr. Bethune (Blebo) agreed in the main with Mr. Mac-
knight's motion. It was idle to waste words on the Lord
Advocate's bill, as it looked very like killing a dead dog. The
BUI was too clever by half, and would utterly fail to meet the
wants of Scotland. He thought the game nuisance of Scot-
land was confined to a comparatively small number of estates.
He was of opinion that Mr. M'Lagan's Bill, if it was ever to
meet the real evils of Scotland, would require to be altered in the
way pointed out by Mr. Macknight. The right to kill game, he
held, was the inalienable right of the owners of the soU. He
had great faith in the sound sense of the practical agricul-
turists of Scotland, and if tlie Chamber could induce them to
come half way towards the settlement of the question he thought
an amicable settlement would be arrived at. The great evils
were the existence of over-preserved estates, which evils they
could reach by Mr. M'Lagan's bill. So far from wishing to
see the Game-laws done away with, he should like to see cer-
tain birds, which he believed to be the true friends of agricul-
ture, more protected. From the over-preserving of game they
had to a great extent destroyed the balance of nature, He

was of opinion that they should give up to the proprietors the
right to the winged game, and entirely abolish their right to
these pests of the farm — viz., hares and rabbits. He was certain
that the opinion of this Chamber would be listened to some
time or other on this subject, but he warned them against
taking any action rashly. As to Mr. Loch's biU it might be
that it was an honest biU, but, if so, it appeared to him that
it was an honest bill introduced for the purpose of doing a
dishonest thing. As to the bill of the Lord Advocate, he
looked upon it as too clever by half ; yet it was well enough
seen through, and it betrayed a total want of knowledge of prac-
tical agriculture. The effect of its provisions would be to leave
the tenant-farmer in as bad a position as he had ever been in,
with reference to that subject. He believed it would yet be
said of the Lord Advocate that he had made a grand mistake
in his political career, in having introduced a bill on the game
question before lie brought in a bill for the abolition of the
law of hypothec, for that was the thing that would have set-
tled the whole game question. He concluded by seconding
Mr. Macknight's motion.

Mr. Scot Skirving said he believed the Chamber would
be unanimous in condemning the bill of the Lord Advocate.
Its leading provision put Scotland on an equality with Eng-
land as a starting point, and already they had seen, from the
example of the great country, how utterly inefficient the work-
ing of the law there had been. The people of Scotland would
be worse with that provision, because it would become an im-
perative duty on every writer in Edinburgh to see that the
tenant-farmer had a thoroughly stringent clause in his lease
about the game ; whereas at present, though some of tlie leases
had bad clauses, some of them were lenient, and others had no
clause at all. Since addressing the meeting recently at Had-
dington, he had thought over one of the clauses of the Lord
Advocate's bill, which said that the tenant was not to be pro-
secuted as a poacher if, in spite of the clause in his lease, he
killed hares, but that he might be prosecuted under his agree-
ment. Now one part of that agreement was that whoever
did not adhere to the terms of that lease, sliould be subject to
pay a large sum of money — generally £500. Now, for his
own part, he could see no reason why a man who had pro-
mised in his lease not to do a certain thing and did it,
in violation of that condition, should not be held liable
in a penalty of £500, under the Lord Advocate's Bill. In
regard to the motion of Mr. Macknight, it seemed to him to
be a union of the principles of Mr. M'Lagan's and Mr. Loch's
bill ; it was by such a combination that he seemed to be in-
tending to attain his object. His learned friend was a
bachelor, and as people changed after marriage, perhaps he
thought if he made a union between Mr, Loch's bill and Mr.
M'Lagan's bill they would agree better. Any little aversion
might after marriage be done away with ; but really lliere
was too much aversion between these two bills to pull quietly
through. He adverted to the paper by Mr. Riddell, and said
it appeared to show that landlords were to be allowed to make
such dreadful conditions in leases, that they would not allow
dogs to be kept up, a gun to be kept, or too many houses to
be kept ; and it struck him (Mr. Skirving) he was going to
advocate Mr. Loch's bill, but lie was astonished that in Mr.
Riddell's concluding remarks it was said that the panacea for
this dreadful thing was to do away with the game-laws, which
would leave the landlord to make any bargain he liked. He
would propose the resolutions of the Aberdeen Chamber,
which were as follows : " That any attempt to redress the
grievances suffered by game based on compensation for
damages to crops cannot be satisfactory either to the public
or to farmers, (1) because compensation for the direct damage
(even if it could be satisfactorily ascertained) would not in-
demnify the farmer for the indirect loss arising from injury to
his system of cultivation ; (2) because claims for compensation
would form a constant source of dispute, irritation, and dis-
content between landlord and tenant ; and (3) because crops
being still liable to damage by game, this insecurity would
continue to deter farmers from investing in the soil the capital
they otherwise would in the endeavour to increase the pro-
duction of food. Second, that the Game Bill introduced by
the Lord Advocate, proposing redress by increasing the facili-
ties for obtaining compensation, is therefore unsatisfactory.
Third, that any measure promising a settlement of the game
question must at least confer on the tenant the inalienable
right, either by himself and others having his authority, to

>10

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

kill hares and rabbits ou the land occupied by him." These
resolutions embodied everything in the motion of Mr. Mac-
knight, with tlie exception of tlie question of dropping hares
from tiie list, whicli called in third parties to redress evils that
they were quite able to redress themselves. Mr. Macknight,
he believed was in error as to rabbits being in the game list.
This was not the case, so far as the occupant was concerned ;
but they were in the list so far as the public were concerned.
Unless there was a special clause to the contrary, rabbits were
given to the tenant.
Mr. RiDDELL : By the Act of 1863 rabbits were put in.
Mr. Macknight said th.it by the Act rabbits were smug-
gled in. By the law of Scotland rabbits were held as vermin,
and but for the Act of 18G3 they would have continued to be
so regarded.

Mr. Skirving said that Mr. Maeknight's resolutions com-
bined Mr. Loch's and Mr. M'Lagau's bills, and he could not
see how one man could support both, and he therefore begged
to submit the Aberdeen resolutions to the Chamber.
Mr. Dun (Dunning, Perthshire) seconded the motion.
Mr. Hope said he objected to that part of the re-
solutions proposed by Mr. Macknight which made contracts
regarding hares and rabbits illegal. He was inclined
to go almost the length with Mr. Riddell, but he did
not think tiiere was any likelihood at present of such a
measure as that gentleman referred to being carried ; and
therefore he thought that they should return to the original
motion, which was that hares and rabbits should be taken
from the game list. He was not inclined to go any further at
present, for he was afraid that they might have a very strin-
gent trespass law, which would make matters worse than at
present. He had no doubt that the time would come when it
would no longer be seen that for the sport of a few indi-
viduals they should have ten thousand convictions, as they in
England last year, for the infraction of these laws. He moved
that no settlement of this question shall be considered satisfac-
tory unless hares and rabbits were withdrawn from the game list.
Mr. DURIE proposed—" That no bill attempting a settle-
ment of the question can be satisfactory unless it declares all
game on let land be the mutual property of landlord and tenant,
with mutual rights therein. That the jurisdiction in poach-
ing cases should be removed from the justices to the Sheriffs,
and that all questions arising out of the game damage be only
competent before the Sheriff Court ; and that the decision of
the Court be fmal." The total abolition of the Game-laws, he
held, was most undesirable, and it would prove particularly
unfortunate to farmers living in the neighbourhood of
large towns. Farmers in such circumstances would
be inundated with poachers. At present he was very much
annoyed by poachers, and was at considerable trouble in |
keeping them off. Mr. Macknight seemed to take Mr. Loch's
Bill altogether. He objected to any proposal which would ]
prevent bargains between landlord and teuaut. \

Mr. Elder (Berelbrd) supported this motion. !

Mr. Betuune suggested that Mr. Macknight should put
into his motion a proposal that deer-forests should be fenced
and taxed. They might depend upon it that that question
would come up eventually.

Mr. Macknight said, if it were the general feeling of the

Chamber that that question should be taken up in his motion,
he would be quite willing to include it.

Mr. Riddell (llowford) thought the motion of Mr. Mac-
knight was a very reasonable one, and, if carried out, he be-
lieved it would satisfactorily settle the matter. Mr. Riddell's
iiiotiou to do away with the game-laws was simply nonsense.
Por iiis part, he did not see anything wrong about the game-
laws. The question should be one of arrangement between
the landlords and the tenant-farmers. There were two classes
the farmer wished to get rid of— the game-preserver and the
poacher. The po.acher did no good either to himself or any
one else, but broke the laws of the country, and should be put
down ; while the game-preserver, on the other hand, was
guilty of acts of meanness that even a poacher would despise.
If the question were left as between the landlord and tenant,
it would have the effect of doing away with both, because,
without the game-preserver, the poacher could not exist. He
thought Mr. Maeknight's proposal was a sound one- that it
should be rendered illegal to make any contract that would
have the effect of preserving hares aiid rabbits. Mr. Scot
Skirving was following in the right direction ; but he hoped
he would not press his motion so as to lead to a division in
the camp. It was highly desirable that the Chamber should
be unanimous.

Mr. Macknight, in reply, explained that if a bill was
passed in the terms of Mr. M'Lagan's bill to-morrow, if there
was nothing further said it would be utterly useless. It would
not give them any relief, because all the landlords would take
care to preserve the game ; they would be just where they
were. Mr. M'Lagan's bill would be an utter sham ; but if a
bill were passed in terras of his resolution it would be a vastly
ditlerent thing, as it would give effectual relief. He thought
that they were substantially as one in this Chamber upon both
sides as to the grievance, and that some fair and honest
measure should be taken to remedy that grievance. In some
other remarks he pointed out that the Aberdeenshire resolu-
tions and those he was proposing were virtually the same, and
he showed that, even though Mr. Durie and his seconder were
to support his resolution, they would still make a present of
the game to the landlord.

Mr. Scott Skirving pointed out that the difference be-
tween Mr. Mackuight's motion and the one he proposed was
that Mr. Macknight unfortunately adopted the dropping of the
hares. For his part, he meant to follow the county of Aberdeen
ratiier than another Edinburgh lawyer. They had had enough
of that in the Lord Advocate's bill (Hear, hear, and applause.)
Mr. Shepherd, Gleghornie (who now occupied the chair),
ill the course of a few remarks, expressed his opinion that the
Chamber should just now be very much united in the object
they had in view. He counselled that there should be no
division, as then their opinion would carry ten thousand times
more weight.

The vote was afterwards taken. There voted for Mr. Durie's
amendment only 3 members ; for Mr. Shirving's motion, 10 ;
aud for Mr. Maeknight's motion, 12. Mi. Maeknight's motion
was therefore declared carried.

In a short conversation which followed it was endeavoured
to get the meeting to be unanimous for Mr. Maeknight's
motion, but no practical result followed.

THE GAME LAWS AND GUN TAX.

A meeting of the Aberdeenshire members of the Scottish
Chamber of Agriculture was held within the Corn Exchange,
Aberdeen, to consider the Lord Advocate's Game Bill and the
proposed Gun-tax. Mr. Copland (Ardlethen) acted as Chair-
man.

Mr. J. W. Barclay stated that he had received a letter
from Mr. M'Corabie, M.P., expressing regret at his inability to
attend the meeting in consequence of arrangements prepara-
tory to his leaving for London to resume his Parliamentary
°"J'65' and declaring his approval of the resolutions, which he
(Mr. Barclay) had drawn up in regard to the Lord Advocate's
Ijame-law Bill. He took this opportunity of expressing, on
the part of the agriculturists of Aberdeenshire, and of Scot-
lana generally, their sense of obligation to Mr. M'Combie for

the course which he had taken in the game question. He had
no doubt but the views expressed by Mr. M'Combie to the
members of the House of Commons and several members of
the Government went far to make the Government frame the
Bill of the Lord Advocate in the way they did. It
was of great importance that they should have a man
with practical knowledge representing them in Parliament
when such an important measure as this came up.
The Lord Advocate's Bill was, he said, in theory
an excellent measure, but when viewed practically it
would come far short of removing the great grievances of which
the farmers complain. The first provision in it began very
satisfactorily by making hares aud rabbits the property of the
occupier of the soil; but then when tlie clause goes on to say

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

511

" ualess the landlord reserves such right to himself," it nulli-
fies the clause entirely, so far as the farmers were coucerned.
There was not an estate in Aberdeenshire, he believed, on
which tlie game was not strictly reserved for the proprietor,
and when the landlords had tbis still in tiieir power would
they not continue to do it ? Though the game would thus be
in theory the tenant's, they would in practice belong to the
landlord. The conditions were entirely in the landlord's
power. A tenant, it might be said, should demand his rights
when he was taking his farm ; but if a tenant made any such
reference in regard to game when he was taking his farm, tlie
chances were that he would forfeit all his prospects of it. One
of the best features in the bill was the ostensible proposal to
abolish the game laws so far as the farmers were coucerned ;
but then, if the game were reserved by the proprietor, the
tenant could not touch them without the landlord having re-
course to prevent him by action of damages. Mr. Barclay then
went on to condemn the compensation clauses of the bill as
altogether unsatisfactory. No measure based on compensation
for damages would be attended with a successful solution
of the question. They all knew very well that a farmer need
not go to his landlord in regard to any arbitrary question
between them, unless he is prepared to dispute with his pro-
prietor ; and how many of them could afford to do that ? The
bill in practice proposed to hand the rabbits to the proprietor
as well as the hares, and that was making matters worse. So
Ion" as these grievances existed farmers would not invest their
capital fully in the soil, not knowing whether they were to
reap the returns, or whether they were to go to feed the
landlord's game. If the Game-laws were abolished a stringent
Trespass Act would he necessary to secure the tenant against
damages to crops through the trespassing of poachers. Of the
two questions he should prefer the food of the people to the
extermination of the game ; but the latter was not necessary
to bring about redress to the farmers.

Mr. Campbell (Blairton) said the bill of the Lord Advocate
did not touch at the root of the evil at all. The Government,
he said, must surely have been regardless of the agitation
going on for some time on this subject throughout tiie country
when they introduced such a sham measure as they had done.
Every grower of crops should have full liberty to protect the
same. The remarss of Mr. Gladstone on the subject last

year led them to expect that some such measure as that pro-
posed by Mr. Loch would be brought forward by the Govern-
ment. If that had been done it would have been more satis-
factory as Mr. Loch's bill was the best measure that had yet
been before them of the kiud. The Lord Advocate's bill
would practically be of no use to the farmers. The Govern-
ment would find that the Scottish tenant-farmers were rather
an acute class to be caught in such a slim trap. What was
it but the efftcts of the Game-laws that was driving so many
of the lobouring classes in misery into the towns ? In the
interests of tlie coramuBity, as much as those of tlie farmers,
he condemned the Lord Advocate's bill in even stronger lan-
guage than Mr. Barclay did.

The Chairman agreed with what had been said by both
speakers, except that he thought Mr. Barclay might withdraw
his resolution calling for the entire abolition of the Game-
laws, as it had nothing to do with the Lord Advocate's bill,
to consider which the meeting was called. He condemned the
clause compelling the fanner to raise oi.ly one action for
damages in the year, and within three months of the date pa
which the acts were committed, while the landlord might raise
365 actions against the tenant. That showed how much the
measure was one-sided.

Mr. Barclay, desiring complete tfnanimity, withdrew his
last resolution, and the others were adopted unanimously, and
ordered to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Scottish
Chamber of Agriculture for submission at their next meeting.

Mr. Barclay then called attention to the Gun-tax proposed
by the Chancellor of ihe Exchequer in lieu of game licences.
That was like taxing tools of trade so far as the farmer was
concerned, for he could not shoot a crow without a licence for
himself and another for a servant, if he employed such to
preserve his potatoes, wheat, and other crop from vermm.
He thought a farmer should be permitted to use a gun on his
own farm for shooting vermin to save his crops without being
taxed ; but if he went beyond his own bouudries he should be
liable 'to pay the same as others. He thought they should
call the attention of the county members to it, and also make
a representation to the Chamber of Agriculture against the
tax on farmers within their own farms.

This was seconded, and agreed to unapiraously ; and the
meeting adjourned.

KELSO FARMERS' CLUB.

At the last monthly meeting, Mr. Usher, Stodrig, in the
chair, the subject for discussion was " The Game Bills before
Parliament."

Mr. PURVES (Lintonburnfoot) said it was a very difficult
question, there being so many intricate points about it. There
were no fewer than three or four different bills on the subject,
which all differed from one another, and it was difficult to tell
which was best. In some of these bills there was, in his opi-
nion, a great deal of nonsense, as, for instance, in the Lord
Advocate's bill, which proposed to assimilate the law of Scot-
land to that of England, so that the whole of the game would
belong to the tenant, the landlord being allowed to bring it
back. He did not agree with that provision. He thought no
tenant in Scotland should complain of the landlords having
some sport, and it was very aggravating to the landlord for
the tenant to get the whole of the game. He thought the
best way would be for hares, partridges, and pheasants to be
divided equally between the landlord and tenant. Kabbits
were not game, and they were by far the greatest nuisance
tliat the farmer had to contend against. If the tenants got
one-half of the game, it was as much as they were entitled to.
There might be a difference as to the sharing of it, but he
thought that might be settled by a regular account being kept
of the game killed, and each receiving an equal share. He
wished particularly to secure possession of the rabbits, because
they multiplied so quickly and were so destructive. With re-
gard to the other kinds of game, partridges were a harmless
sort of bird, and did little ill on a farm ; pheasants, when they
got to excess, eat up a great quantity of corn, and destroyed a
great deal with their feet ; and hares, when they were unwar-

rantably numerous, became exceedingly destructive, and were
not much better than rabbits. With regard to rabbits, they
were not in the game list, but landlords took good care to in-
sert a clause in the lease reserving to themselves the privilege
of destroying them. He could give a number of instances
where tne tenants were not allowed to kiU the rabmts, which
were kiUed by the landlord and sold for his benefit. ISow- he
thought that was a great hardship— tliat a tenant, after feeding
all the rabbits, should be restricted by his lease from kiUing
one of them. He held it was most rigid ; and how were the
tenants to pay their rents except by keeping stock ? And it
was a fact that on some farms rabbits were so destructive that
a very small stock could be kept. He knew an instance where
a great many sheep had died owing to the excess of rabtiits.
The Cheviot hills were swarming with them, and tenants dare
not touch them because they are restricted in their leases. He
knew another case equally as bad as the one he had mentioned,
where the tenant was overrun with them, and many ot Ins
sheep died. He employed a man to destroy them, and tiie
man killed upwards of 5,000 on a COO-acre farm in about a
year and a-half. The tenant, thinking they were exterminated,
gave over killing them, but in about a quarter of a year they
ao-ain became so numerous that he had to employ another
man, but the landlord then said that if he did not refrain from
killing them he would take legal measures against him. He
(Mr. Purves) thought that was the worst case he had ever
heard of. He hoped the question would soon he settled, so
that there might be peace. It was a very disagreeable thing
when the landlord and tenant were at variance, and they could
surely be united in the bonds of mutual trust and friendship.
Rabbits were so prolific that a pair in less than a twelvemonth

M M

512

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

bred at least forty young ones. Partridges and pheasants only
bred once a year, and liares thrice.

Mr. ScoTX (Spylaw) said his idea of the question was that
the game-laws should be abohshed altogether, and he did not
think that there would ever be a satisfactory understanding
between landlord and tenant until that was done.

Mr. BoiiTiiwiCK (Cowbog) thought the tenants should have
an equal right with the landlord to the game.

Mr. Burn (Ednam) thought the game was the landlord's
aud not the tenant's ; and the question just came to be whether
a person in taking a farm would like to have the game on his
farm or not. If he wished the game, then he would just pay
the more for his farm.

Mr. Douglas (Riddletonhill) approved of the proposition
of the Aberdeen branch of the Chamber of Agriculture, that
the tenants should have au inalienable right to the hares and
rabbits, either solely by themselves or along with tlie landlord,
bflt in such a way that the landlords could not deprive them of

that right ; but he would by no means make hares and rabbits
the property of the pul)lic.

Mr. Jack (Leith) thought the tenant should have the ground
game, and the landlord the winged game.

The Chairman said he could not say very much for the
Lord Advocate's bill, as the assimilation of the Scotch law to
that of England did not seem to alter the case much, because
at the present time tenants had a right to kill hares and rab-
bits on their farms by obtaining the consent of their landlords.
If the game was handed over to the tenants just now, when
they came to make a new lease the landlords would bargain so
as to reserve the game to themselves, and they would be in
much the same position as at present. The Lord Advocate's
bill would make it a simpler matter for the tenants to get com-
pensation for damages caused by game, and it was an advan-
tage to be able to bring a case before the Sheriff. It would be
an excelleut settlement of the question for the landlords to re-
serve tlie winged game, and callow tenants tlie ground game.

ROTATION OF CROPS AND THE APPLICATION OF CAPITAL TO AGRICULTURE.

At a meeting, of the Banbury Chamber of Agriculture,
the Rev. C. "VV. Holbeacli in the chair, Mr. Cother
said : I proceed, in the first place, to give you my own
experience and information on the subject of a' light, sandy
soil; secondly, to consider the better mode relative to tlie
cultivation of retentive stone-biash ; aud thirdly, to make a
few remarks on the kind of soil wliich prevails generally in
this district. In the first place, I propose that the first-named
soil, being sandy, shall be farmed on a five-course system ;
the second, or retentive stone-brash, on a three-course system;
and the third on a five-course system, the details of which I
propose to enumerate thus. The sandy soil to be cultivated
on the following rotation : first, fallow ; second, barley ; third,
peas ; fourth, rye, seeds, mangolds and swedes, with a liberal
dressing of manure previously supplied ; fifth, barley. This
is a course by which the land may be kept from tendril couch,
by the occasional application of the fork, which can be best
applied during the crop of mangolds and swedes, both before
and after they are raised or consumed. The second or stoue-
brash soil to be formed on a three-course system ; viz., first,
wheat ; second, barley or oats ; third, every kind of green
crop known, or to be known, as a preparation for wheat.
What I mean by the green crops already known as a prepara-
tion for wheat are these : rye, beans, peas, trifolium, Italian
ryegrass, or a mixture of Italian and trefoil, and the various
kinds of clover, or any others that may be introduced. The
third kind of soil already named, or that which generally
abounds in this district, I propose should be farmed on a five-
course system ; viz., first, turnips ; secoud, oats ; third, barley;
fourth, beans and seeds in equal proportions; aud fifth, wheat.
The reason for naming the oat crop after turnips is this. On
the highest-farmed land in Norfolk, this is preferred, because
the succeeding barley crop is not thrown or lodged ; the bar-
ley is of superior quality, the seeds are not injured by lodging
of the barley, and the seed crop is superior either for mowing
or grazing. I shall now proceed to consider the summary of
these courses on a farm of 250 acres. First, there will be 150
acres of corn, 50 acres of rye, and 50 acres of mangolds, and
swedes on the sandy soil. Secondly, there will be 166 acres
of corn and S3 acres of green crop ; but by the addition of an
indefinite number of acres of beans, the 166 acres may be in-
creased. The third course will comprise 175 acres of corn aud
75 acres of swedes and beans. This will give an idea ; from
the various courses I have named— at what rent the different
soils should be taken ; but the further consideration of this
question may be better left for a future paper in detail, by
some person more competent than myself to decide on such a
question. There are still two other kinds of soil to be alluded
to ; but they do not abound in this immediate neighbourhood,
and are of a directly opposite character to each other, viz.— a
very thin brash soil, such as is found on the Cotswold hills ;
the other being a very heavy clay. The first of these, as I
gather from the best authorities I have met with, should be
tarmed upon a six-course system, viz. : 1st, turnips ; 3nd,
*^mty ; 3rd, sPPds : 4th, seeds again ; Stii, wheat : and 6th

oats. And here I should observe that preceding the oat crop
there should be a liberal application of cart manure, and that
the turnip crop succeeding should be thoroughly well manured
with super-phospate of Hme. This is a system, as will be
observed, by which each crop of corn will be kept at a con-
siderable distance from the others of a like description. With
regard to the clay, having lived in a clay district, the old system
would perhaps be best adhered to, thorough draining having
done much to improve such soils ; and here from the most
experienced farmers I gather that the better rotation as a pre-
paration for wheat is vetches or clover consumed by sheep
early in the summer, a fallow made, wheat succeeding the same
year, to be followed in the next by beans, and in the following
year by barley. T would here, as a rider, if I may be per-
mitted the term, say that I recommend mangolds and swedes
mixed, because I believe and feel almost certain that mangolds
have the nature of taking that from the soil which is prejudi-
cial to the successful growth of swedes, and inducing a
healthy state, the swede crop being almost free from the dire-
ful disease known as " finger and toe." I would here remark
that in using the drill for planting mangolds and swedes, the
seed should be in proportion of 36 ounces of mangolds to 16
ounces of swedes, the seed to be thoroughly mixed in the box of
the drill, in the proportion of 9 oz.of mangolds to i oz. of swedes,
and that the hoe should be applied immediately on the appear-
ance of the plants, as sandy land produces so many annual
weeds. There now arises a very grave question, and one which
requires very carefully handling. It is what is the most satis-
factory arrangement that can be come to between landlord
aud tenant ? My own opinion is that there is a very simple
basis on which that conclusion may be come to, viz., to graft
on the present agreements the customs of Lincolnshire,
admitted to be not only the most improved, but one of the
best cultivated counties in the kingdom, quite equal to Norfolk,
where leases are prevalent. In the former county the teuants
are protected by equitable tenants' compensation. This
tenants' compensation in Lincolnshire is twenty-five per cent,
upon the last two years' outlay for oilcake, to be paid by
the in-coming to the out-going tenant, wholly irrespective of
the landlord. This compensation from the in-coming to the
out-going tenant is based upon the production of just bills ;
but in the event of erroneous or unjustly made-up accounts
being introduced, the out-going tenant forfeits his claim to
compensation under this head. In reference to other draw-
backs, I am not sufficiently informed to place before this
chamber any information, but I believe that it may be found
that there are others, and to a considerable extent. With
these observations, it is better for me to conclude that the im-
provement of agriculture may be unlimited under wise and
careful provisions ; and here allow me to say that this is no
less an agricultural than a consumer's question, the well-being
of every individual consumer of agricultural produce being
concerned therein, and therefore the improvement and perfec-
tion of agricultural science and practice is a subject which
concerns the interest of all. There still reroajqa one of the

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

513

most tender subjects to be touched on that can possibly exist
between landlord and tenant, viz., the question of game — a
subject that I would not have interfered with had it not been
that so many tenant-farmers are greatly injured by its over-
preservation, which I am happy to say does not prevail in this
neighbourhood to any great extent. At the same time I would
wish to remark that the practice of letting mansions with the
right of game-preservation has frequently proved not only
inimical to the interests of the tenantry on tJie estate, but has
also led to the severance of the ties between landlord and
tenant. This might be avoided by the adoption of such reason-
able arrangements and concessions as are granted by such
noblemen as Earl Ducie and the Earl of Jersey, and now to
be added Lord Leigli, who have set an example well worthy of
imitation, and one which has not only proved most satisfactory
to the tenantry, but also protective of pheasants and par-
tridges. I have now to thank this chamber for its patient
coasideration of the question which I have feebly brought
before it, hoping tliat it may induce a liberal and not heart-
burning discussion on the various topics to which I have
but cursorily alluded. I hope, at the same time, that I have
not in treating upon this or any other subject made a single
enemy, and that none such is anywliere to be found. In con-
sideration of tliese Lincolnshire f ustoms, I would suggest that
a committee be formed to take this subject into consideration,
such committee to consist of the chairman, the vice-chairman,
and secretary, three lauded proprietors, and three tenant-
farmers, as you will then have a preponderance of tlie landlord
element in the committee ; that they shall well consider the
question and report to a future meeting of the chamber.

Mr. ScRivEN said that there was one thing in which he
had to differ with Mr. Cother, and it was this. He found that
on his farm he could not grow wheat well after fallow, and he
thouglit it was much better to have oats or beans.

Mr. Cother : Your land is not old enough.

The Chairman : (to Mr. Scrik-en) : How long is it since
the land at Wormleighton was broken up ?

Mr. ScRiVEN : About twenty-five years.

Mr. Westover said his experience of stiff land was that a
great deal depended on the seasons, over which, of course, they
had no control. If the season was good, he sometimes found
a very good crop after fallow, especially of vetches. If they
had a succession of wet and frost, it injured the wheat ; but he
had had good barley from stiff land.

Mr. ScRiVEN : On strong land I have tried to grow barley,
but it was only fit for pigs. It would never make malt, and
the malsters would not buy it.

Mr. Westover : Don't you find it affected by the seasons.
On a retentive soil I liave grown much better-priced barley
than I have grown on other land.

Mr. ScRiVEN : It might be an exceptional year, like the
last.

Mr. Dun said that in the management of thin, poor clay
soil, which at present was the least paying portion of the area
of this island, a great deal depended upon how it was treated.
Its fertility could be raised very rapidly by a liberal growth of
vetches. On the clays that lay down near Shipston aud its
neighbourhood, and also in a large portion of Staffordshire,
vetches wei e cultivated, and they fertihsed the soil, and kept it
thoroughly clear for the growth of wheats of all kinds. From
some little experience in the management of clay farms, he
found that by growing vetches upon them for the feed of sheep
—and allowing them cake and corn besides — it raised the
fertility of the soil more rapidly and economically than by any
other means that could be adopted (Hear, hear). In the culti-
vation of poor clay land it was the want of fertilising materials
rather than the superabundance of them that they had to com-
plain of.

Mr. Garrett did not agree with Mr. Cother as to the stone-
brash soil. He thought that a five-course system would be
better than a tiiree under such circumstances, and would con-
duce more to the fertihty of the soil.

Mr. Cother said that he had referred to thin stone-brash,
and he did not think that Mr. Garrett's soil was such.

Mr. S. Berridge said that Mr. Cother had given them a
very good idea of the rotation of cropping, but they could not
get crops if their land was not in condition. He would have
much preferred it, if Mr. Cother had gone a little further into
the subject of the application of capital to agriculture. Cer-
tainly he should like to have heard from him what treatment

he thought would be best in the management of the different
soils he had a knowledge of. It was certain that the applica-
tion of artificial manures liad a great deal to do _ with
the treatment of the soil and the rotation of cropping —
(Hear, hear) — and he thought it preposterous to think that
they would have good crops if their land was not fit for them.
A man might act on a certain system which might be very
well and good on certain land ; but they knew that there was
land in that neighbourhood that required the application of
lime, and it would be a great benefit to them if Mr. Cother
would inform them as to the application of lime and the dif-
ferent kinds of artificial manures to be used, so that they might
grow better crops by their application and secure the rotation
of cropping most to be desired. He would be pleased if Mr.
Cother would inform them what treatment the land had
received from him to the benefit of himself and agriculture
generally, and of his use of corn, cake, and artificial manures.

Mr. Cother : I know nothing about science.

Mr. Dun said that the concluding portion of Mr. Cother's
paper ought to have been discussed first, for, from the agree-
ments between landlords aud tenants, very often sprang the
system of management of farms, and the rotation to be
adopted. The details, such as the rotation of crops, had
hitherto been left rather too much in the hands of landlords
and agents and too little to the discretion of the intelligent
tenant. He thought hitherto in a large portion of this
country, that agriculture had languished owing to miserable
interference on the part of landlords, and who, although
singularly incompetent to give advice, had yet at-
tempted to impart it to their tenants, who were very often
bound down by the most absurd arrangements. Very often
landlords introduced into their leases and covenants clauses
which, if faithfully carried out, led to an uneconomical system
of management. In many leases there were clauses which
prevented the tenant from cropping up the land around his
fences, which therefore afforded great harbourage not only
for game, but also for weeds of all descriptions. Very often
there were clauses which prevented the tenant from culti-
vating two successive good crops, and in Lincolnshire and
elsewhere, although it would have been profitable enough to
grow a barley crop after a wheat crop, tenants had had
to grow roots. Then again, owing to prejudice, in many parts
of the country there was an absurd embargo against the
growth of potatoes, which might be made very profitable,
and which he had known to realise from £30 to £4'0 per
acre. Illustrations of that kind might be multiplied, and, if
it was not for those restrictions, they would have a greater
amount of capital applied to the cultivation of the soil. He
believed that the reason tenants had not laid out very much
capital hitherto was through these restrictions, and also that
they had not that security which leases gave them. He was
perhaps trenching on ground that was not quite prepared to
be discussed ; but matters of this kind must commend them-
selves to the common sense of practical agriculturists. If
a farmer in ordinary circumstances invested a few thousand
pounds on a farm of 250 acres, he did so entirely upon the
faith of his landlord. This was so in most localities, and, if
the tenant was without a lease, or some other form of
agreement, he must entirely depend upon the landlord's good
faith and fair deaUng. Life they all knew was extremely un-
certain, and a landlord's successor might not have the
same feeling towards a tenant, and might not carry out
arrangements in the precise manner that his predecessor
had promised verbally to do. They would have a much
better system of farming ; they would have a greater amount
of enterprise, industry, and energy ; and they would have
more capital applied to the cultivation of the soil, if a
system of leases or tenant agreement, such as Mr. Cother had
referred to, was more general amongst them. The land would
be found much better cultivated if they had a tenant agreement,
such as was the practice in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. It
would encourage the tenants to lay out all their available
capital, which they would never do under the existing arrange-
ment of from year to year. The best farming, as a general
rule, he did not say invariably, was to be found in localities
where leases had been used for a number of years. He was
quite aware that in some instances the landlords objected to
give up their right to the soil for a considerable number of
years, but it would only make landlords a little more careful in
the selection of their tenantsj and they would select only men

M M 2

.^14

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of approved education, skill, and intelligence. Looking at it
I'rom the landlord's point of view it would do a great deal of
good, and not only raise the statues of agriculturists, but
bring a large amount of capital to the soil, and also eventually
very materially improve the value of the soil, because at the
end of the lease the land would be iu a much better state of
cultivation, and of more value, than at the commencement of
such lease. If landlords selected the right men they would not
require to bind them down in the matter of cultivation, except
perhaps during the last year or two, when they might grow
two green crops, or two white crops, or even three white
crops, as was done in some parts of England. In a lease for
eighteen or twenty years it would be necessary to introduce
one or two clauses with reference to the system of cultivation
during the last two or three years, to make sure that there
would be a certain proportion of the land in condition to raise
a crop, and that it be in such a condition that the in-coraiug
tenant might enter upon it and be able to carry it on profitably.
He quite agreed with what Mr. Cother said about the in-
coming tenant paying so much for manure and artificial
foods, but the ditticulty in doing so was that it might increase
very materially the cost of entry to the tenant, who generally
required every available shilling that he had in his possession ;
but by paying for unexhausted improvements, the in-coming
tenant got the benefit of them in the ordinary cultivation of
his soil.

The Chairman observed, as had been said, the subject of
landlord and tenant was a little tender, and had there been
other landlords present perhaps they would have said more
than he would ou the matter. He was not bred a landlord,
and only became one late in life, and it had never been other
than his wish to be what a landlord ought to be to his tenants.
These questions with regard to landlord and tenant were new,
and therefore some allowance must be made to landlords who
who had been brought up under the old system, which in
many respects he hoped was not a bad system. Tliat old sys-
tem was looked back to with respect, as it had been the system
of their father and grandfathers, but whatever the system was
he was sure that they meant to do and wished to do a good
part by their tenants. He hoped that never for a moment
would anything exist between landlord and tenants there ex-
cept the most cordial feelings, and ratiier than it should not
be so he would leave the room and never enter it again. He
hoped there would never be anything like estrangement be-
tween landlords and tenants, and if there was a right feeling
on both sides, it appeared to liim that all their diifcrences
might be fairly and amicably settled. 'J'here were one or two
things mentioned by Mr. Dun that he would like to say a word
or two about. Mr. l)un said that leases would make landlords
more careful in the clioice of tenants. But iu many cases
there was an old attachment existing between landlord and a
family on his estate, and in the case of a tenant dying he
might have sons thot would be eligible to succeed him, and he
must say that he never wished to break ott' the connection
with an old family. Probably in such cases if he were
to go farther, he might get a well-educated man, a more
intelligent man, and a man who desired to go forward in the
management of the farm, but still he preferred not to sever
his connection with an old family. In the changes of
tenants that had occurred with him, in the majority of cases
he had carried on with the old families ; although he might
have gone further and found a tenant who would have done
better for himself and better for him (the speaker) in the end.
He thought the landlords should have a remedy against the
neglect of tenants. If a landlord gave a lease for twenty-one
years, as suggested by Mr. Dun, the man might be active and
energetic enough the first half of the lease, and the other half
he might let the land go down so as to be quite worthless, and
he thought the landlord should be protected against such
neglect.

Mr. Dun : Clearly, |there must be a remedy on both sides.

Mr. Walton said there must surely be some cause operating
in this district that prevented the application of capital to
agriculture, when the farmers of Scotland and Lincolnshire
could give from £3 to £5 per acre for land, while they in the
Midland Counties could only give from £2 to £3. If
they compared the system of tenure adopted in Scotland with
that of this locality, the camparison was greatly in favour of
the former. In Lincolshire they had the system of compensa-
tion for unexhausted improvements, and if a tenant increased

the value of his holding during his occupation he was compen-
sated for it. He quite agreed with the Chairman that there
should be protection for the landlords, for he knew that land
had been robbed by out-going tenants; he maintained that the
man who robbed the land robbed the landlord, as it was capi-
tal taken out of the land. The present system of rating dis-
couraged the application of capital to agriculture, and if a land-
lord erected commodious farm buildings — which were certainly
much wanted in the Midland Counties of England — the laud
was raised in value in consequence, the rateable value of the
land was increased, and both the tenant and the landlord had
more to pay (applause).

The Chairman asked if the land cultivated by landlords
who were at perfect liberty in the matter of cultivation pro-
duced any better crops than that cultivated by tenant farmers ?

Mr. Cother : You have the advantage of the argument.

The Chairman : A landlord can lay out as much capital as
he likes, but does he turn out better crops than his neigh-
bours ?

Mr. Dun : But does he lay out the capital? Does he not
follow out the system that he finds practised at his own door.

The Chairman : Then he follows a bad example.

Mr. Dun : He follows in the groove of the locality. Pro-
bably it is his farm bailiff who manages his farm for him, and
he follows out the system pursued in the locality.

Mr. C. Simmons (the Secretary) thought that as a rule
they did not see much difference on farms occupied by
owners and on those occupied by tenant farmers, unless on
farms occupied by small enterprising owners. Of course a
gentleman occupying his own farm could afford to spend more
money on cake, corn, and artificial manures than a tenant
would be expected to do. He considered that a great deal of
difficulty arose from the want of some protection to the ten-
ant, and in his opinion a Landlord and Tenant-right Bill
would be much better than a system of leases — (Hear, hear).
A bill protecting the interests of landlord and tenant would
do more to encourage the application of capital to agriculture
than leases would, and they could not shut their eyes to the
fact that there were bad tenants as well as bad landlords, and
the only way to guard against difficulties that might occur on
both sides was by a Tenant-Riglit Bill. He did not think
that leases would do, as tenants evaded some of the clauses of
them, and he cited the case of a man who occupied a large
farm in Wiltshire on lease and during the last two years of his
occupation he did not keep a horse, sheep, or pig on the place,
and left no manure or straw. A claim of £650 was made for
breach of covenant. It was submitted to arbitration, and
£350 were awarded ; and the straw that was sold off the farm
made more money than the whole amount received as com-
pensation. When a man set to work to beggar a farm he
could so reduce it that it would not be worth 5s. an acre to
anybody. Wlien a landlord once had a tenant of that descrip-
tion they could not be surprised if he was cautious as to the
terms on which he let his land. He thought the best system
was that pursued at Earnborough, where there had never
been a lease granted. There were only yearly agree-
ments there, and as long as a man did what was right he had
no cause to fear.

Mr. Hill : That's the best way, where it can be carried
out.

Mr. Dun : Doubtful.

Mr. Simmons : I certainly think a tenant ought to be paid
for improvements in the soil. It is better for a man to pay
£300 more when he goes into a farm in good condition, for
many a man going into a poor farm has been ruined before he
could turn round (Hear, hear). In reference to the rotation
of crops, he must say that he was somewhat of a latitudina-
rian. They could not get good crops if the land was not iu
good condition, and he never sowed a crop on land unless he
felt sure that it would bear a good one. There were times
when the land wanted rest, and no man would ever get any-
thing by taking three white crops in succession.

Mr. Westover was in favour of a Tenant-right Bill, but he
would be sorry to see the pressure put on here that had been
put on on the other side of the Channel to secure it.

Mr. Walton said that in Scotland, where there were leases,
there was a greater amount of capital invested in land than
there was in this part of England, and the difficulties that had
been pointed out by the Secretary with regard to leases would
be obviated if it was provided in the lease at the end of it

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

515

that the tenant should be compensated by the capital he left
in the land. An enterprising tenant under a good landlord
would endeavour to do his best and try and get another lease
of the farm (Hear, hear). As to proprietors farming their
own land, he believed they were the worst farmers in the
country (laughter), and they did not see the man who farmed
his own land invest more capital in it than the tenant-farmer
did. If they wanted to see the best farming they must look
for it amongst the tenant-farmers.

Mr. Dun ; Quite right.

Mr. Walton : I saw, in the report of the proceedings of
one of the Chambers, it stated that the reason why tenant
farmers did not invest more money in the land was because
they had not got it. I consider that no argument at all.
There are plenty of farmers who arc investing capital in other
ways, and why should they do so ?

Mr. CoxhER here urged the appointment of the committee
mentioned in his paper, and

Mr. UuN said that the committee would need to sit a week
and take evidence. They would need to examine landlords,
agents, and tenant-farmers.

Mr. CoTHER : Not at all. They would only make in-
quiries.

Mr. Walton : What weight will your conclusions have if
you don't do as Mr. Dun has said ?

Mr. Westover proposed that Mr. Cother's paper be printed
and circulated amongst the members, and then they would be
in a better position to appoint a committee after they had read
it for themselves and given it their careful attention. The
question altogether was rather a delicate one, and after they
had considered it it might be brought up again and a com-

mittee appointed to endeavour to bring about a better state of
matters between landlord and tenant.

The Chairman said that he did not think there was time
for any legislative action just now, and for the present a good
deal must be left to the good feeling of landlords and tenants,
and such a discussion as they had had that day would help to
promote that feeling. He had been informed that Mr.
Cother's paper would appear in the Banbury Guardian, and
perhaps that would meet Mr. Westover's suggestion.

Mr. Walton suggested that they should pass a resolution
to the effect that, in order to encourage the application of ca-
pital to agriculture there should be an agreement between
landlords and tenants for a number of years, with compensa-
tion for unexhausted improvements.

The Secretary : That would be a lease.

Mr. S. Berridge : We have leases now.

Mr. Dun : You have no leases.

Mr. Simmons : They are going out.

Mr. Dun : They are coming in, and are being adopted all
over the North of England.

Mr. Walton : When a man has a lease he has got some
security for money that he may lay out.

Mr. Dun : If a man goes into a farm for twenty years does
it not stand to reason that he will bring all the money he can
to improve it ?

The following resolution was ultimately agreed to — " That
in order to encourage the application of capital to agricul-
ture, tenants be allowed greater security and permanency of
tenure, with compensation for unexhausted improvements."

A vote of thanks was given to IMr. Cother for his paper,
and a similar compliment was awarded to the Chairman.

THE LABOURER AND HIS HOME,

At the last meeting of the Newbury Farmers' Club the
Rev. C. W. Everett, Vicar of Woolharapton, read the follow-
ing paper :

We have read a good deal about the agricultural labourer,
and both he and his employer have received many hard knocks
from those who assume to be well versed in the subject on
which they undertake to treat. We have at different times, at
our own meetings in this room, considered the question of
education, and the moral and industrial training of the
labourer, as well as the responsibility of his master to see to
his well-being and comfort. Nor has the cottage accommoda-
tion been forgotten, and the necessity of providing good and
sufficient dwellings for those on whose conduct and efficiency
your own success, in the path of life you have chosen, so much
depends. But 1 do not think the subject has been exhausted.
At all events, I am sure that you will agree with me that it is
one of absorbing interest, and of immense importance ; and
if I can add but little that is new, the short time now at ray
command will not, I hope, be wasted, if I stir up again some
half-formed, but, it may be, dormant resolution to exert your-
selves actively in a cause so well deserving the attention of
the philanthropist and the Christian. I have joined together
" the labourer and his home" because it is, T believe, through
home intluences that he can be made to assume that position
in society vihich will render him happy in himself, exemplary
in his social duties, a real help and useful servant to his em-
ployer, and a valuable member of the community. But how
often is his cottage not his home ! How little does it, in too
many instances, deserve that sacred name, which awakens in
the minds of those who have tasted of its sweets so many
and such pleasing recollections ! The labourer's cottage is
too often only his nominal abode, but scarcely his home.
After spending his evening at the public house, he come there
to sleep otf the effects of his intemperance ; and with the
early dawn returns only half-rested to his daily work. He
knows but little of his children, and from the slight ex-
perience they have of a fatlier's fostering care, they derive but
small advantage. Sometime, alas ! the mother's example is
no better ; her presence at home is unfrequent, and the hungry
children cry themselves to sleep, as the only comfort which
their untidy, crowded resting-place affords. This, I am thank-
ful to say, is not always the case ; nor so much the case as it

vvas some years ago ; but it ought never to be the case. It is,
however, no over-strained picture of what was once very
common, and is now not in some places unusual. The
labourers' dwellings within my recollection are vastly im-
proved. I remember some in the early years of my ministry
tiuit were really not fit for human beings to dwell in. One
bedroom was a maximum provision for a family to sleep
in, where persons of all ages, and of either sex, were
huddled together, sometimes the bedsteads having not
only beds on them, but under them too. Nor had
those who occupied these dormitories always the ties of
blood relationship to lessen the evils (if indeed this can
be said) of such close contiguity. Sometimes a place vias
found for a lodger, and a flimsy curtain across a portion of the
room was rather an excess of decency and refinement. That
typhus fever should have have been very commonly prevalent
at the time, and in the places I speak of, you will not be sur-
prised to hear ; nor that the morals of the labouring classes
were at a very low ebb. AVhatever may be said of the im-
provement still required in labourers' cottages, there can be no
doubt but that within the last thirty years a great deal has
been done, and a great deal is still doing. The great object now
is to improve the feelings and habits of the labourers, that
they may appreciate and thankfully avail themselves of what
has been done for their good. 1 need scarcely tell you that
all care is thrown away, and a decent home provided in vain
when the only use made of increased accommodation is to let
out what are considered as extra and spare rooms, to strangers,
and where the family are satisfied with their old crowded style
of occupying one sleeping room. Indeed, the intrusion of
lodgers into the family circle increases the evils of over-crowd-
ing ; and in the common sitting room, around the common
supper table, intimacies are formed, and an opening to tempta-
tion exists, which often lead to disastrous consequences. The
farmers have been held answerable for a great deal of the
drunkenness and sensuality that prevails amongst the poor,
because they do not, it is said, sufficiently provide for the
decent lodging of the young lads they employ, and do not keep
them enough under control during those evening hours when
their services are not required. Now I believe that masters
may do much to improve the moral training of their servants.
But to say that they are the sole cause of their turning out ill

516

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

is, as a rule, neither true uor fair. I believe that some give
themselves a great deal of trouble, often in vain, to reclaim
those who come under their charge. There are others, no
doubt, who are too careless in this particular. But it must be
acknovvleilged that very many of those who come fresh from
their homes, have been breathing a morally vitiated atmos-
phere from early childhood. If religion were excluded from
our village schools, you would in too mauy cases find no high
sense of duty, no thought of responsibility to God, to which
you could appeal with any prospect of being understood, much
less of making an impression ; and what is very sad to reflect
upon is this, that tlie lesson taught to the child at school,
is too often practically untaught at home. AVith the not very
promising material brought together under your roof, it is not
to be w ondered at that even with the best intentions, you often
fail of doing the good you would wish ; that you become dis-
heartened, then callous, and at length suffer the torrent of evil
to rush on its way unheeded that you fancy you cannot stem ;
and yet, if the lower stratum of society is to be regenerated, it
is vyith these young persons that you must begin. By them is
a higher tone of morals to be initiated, and in time, I hope, per
fected. Towards effecting this, mere secular education will do
but little, whilst a good Christian example will do much. But
example will not do everythiug, and, indeed, will effect nothing
if it is immediately counteracted by the evil influence of com-
panions, who are perhaps hardened in vice ; and, therefore, I
cannot insist too strongly upon what I have heard advocated
in this room — the necessity and the advantage of a farmer
always reguiriag a character when he hires a servant. If this
were insisted upon, a young man would know that
he must behave himself with propriety, or else be thrown
out of employ. I think too, that much influence for
good might be exercised over these carter lads by making
them feel that tliey form a part of a well-conducted
family ; that they are not external to their master's
household, but for the time blended with it ; that if they are
lodged in the house, they are in fact as much a part of tlie
family as the domestic servants are ; and that from them the
same amount of decorum is required. I may mention, I hope
without offence, that where the habit of family prayers pre-
vails, it would be very desirable that these lads should join
before retiring to rest. In those cases where they are not
taken into the house, a decent and comfortable lodging should
be considered a necessary adjunct to the requisite farm build-
ings ; it should be required by the tenant, and provided by the
landlord, and this should be presided over by a tlioroughly
steady man and his wife, who should be required to enforce
rules, an infringement of which will bring punisliment, and
eventually dismissal. A common reading-room, and a place
for healthful recreation in parishes, I have on a former occa-
sion mentioned as most desirable, to establish and to keep a
sound mind in a sound body. I think that one great mistake
in the management of the poor, which law and custom have
established, is the treating in them those faults as crimes,
which in their superiors in education are looked upon as mere
pardonable breaches of good manners. Thus the son of a la-
bourer is sent to prison for that breach of discipline which
would bring upon the young man at the University some tri-
fling imposition, or perhaps only a reprimand from the tribunal
to which he is amenable. I have taken the two extreme ends
of the social scale, to show you that the same remedy which
is found eflectual in the one case, might, I believe, be apphed
with equal success in the other. I would introduce into our
country villages, something of the proctorial authority— a
court that should take notice of moral delinquencies, and treat
them as such. It seems hard to send a young man of the la-
bouring class to prison for an offence which, if committed by
his betters, would be termed a lark ; and harder still, that a
mark sJiould be affixed to his name, which will stick to him
through life, and which may be brought against him to in-
validate his testimony, even should he, on some future occa-
sion (perhaps a reformed and respectable character), appear
simply as a witness in a court of justice. A prison is, and
should be, a place of punishment, but it is not often, I fear, a
place that leads to reformation. When a young man is sent
there for a trifling offence he is quite as likely to come out
hardened and careless about his future character, as he is to
come out a better man. I believe that by a somewhat different
JL°^''se there would be more probability of reclaiming him.
I he tribunal that I would propose, before which I would in

the lirst instance bring breaches of morality and good man-
ners— cases wliich are an annoyance to the peaceable, and dis-
graceful to the perpetrators of them, but which have nothing
strictly criminal in them — might, I think, be composed of the
clergyman and churchwardens of the parish. They should
have power to admonish, and to fine to a limited amount, pro-
portionate to the nature of the offence, and if tins fails of
effect, or the fine is not paid, the case must then go, as at
present, to the bench of magistrates. But I believe that in a
majority of cases the course that I have ventured to recom-
mend would be effectual. I am aware that the composition of
my tribunal may by many, in these days, be objected to. I
answer, let such recommend a better. I may add that I would
have no costs (beyond the fine inflicted), no fees, no counsel
employed in these village courts ; the attendance of the offender
should be voluntary. If he prefers going to the Petty Ses-
sions, let him go. An evil arising from the present mode of
punishing trivial offences, is, I think, this : the expenses of
going into a magistrates' court are considerable. These are
very generally and kindly taken into the account in awarding
the penalty, and a lighter fine than would otherwise be im-
posed ; and it not unfrequently happens that a young man
goes to prison for the costs of his prosecution, and not for his
offence. This irritates his mind, and prejudices him against
the law. I believe that by attending to the religious and
moral training of the young, by accustoming them to decency
and comfort, by making them feel the advantages of a home,
you wiU raise in them a desire for something better than the
dwellings with which their forefathers were satisfied, and
which I believe have tended more than anything else to pro-
duce the low morality which we have had so much reason to
deplore. Nor need the wish for an improved dwelling be an
illusory one. Both landlords and tenants appear to be
awakening up to the importance of the subject, and cer-
tainly in all the parishes with which I am acquainted (or
nearly all) I see a marked advance in the right direction.
There are some miserable hovels built by squatters on wastes,
and by the road side, in which the residents claim an
ownership, and others built solely as an investment, that it
may be diflieult to know how to deal with. But the cot-
tages that are attached to the estates of lauded proprietors
are very much better than they formerly were, and from
the general feeling that now prevails, will, I have no
doubt, go on improving. But when I speak of the desire
of a young man to settle respectably, we ust not forget that
according to the original law of nature that " it is not good
for man to be alone," he will have to seek out an help
meet for himself, and that on the training, the discretion, the
good sense, and the piety of the partner he may choose will
mainly depend whether his cottage becomes his home, or
whether he is driven from family comforts to seek for society
and excitement at the public-house. If the overcrowding of
former days has been detrimental to the character of our
male population, how much more has it been so to that of the
female. With a greater share of naturally implanted delicacy
of feeling, when that delicacy becomes by circumstances
blunted, and at length subdued, its recovery is more hopeless,
and its loss more detrimental to the interests of society. For
after all, the first impressions in good or evil are generally
imbibed from the mother. Now let us consider what is the
training of our country girls, and what are the expectations
for good that we may form from it ? They, generally speak-
ing, get more school education than the boys do, unless it is in
the case of the eldest girl remaining at home in a large
family, who is often wanted to mind the younger children
whilst the mother is at work in the field. They are not, as a
rule, required to go to work so early as their brothers are. I
cannot here enter at any length into the assumed demoralizing
effects of field work as compared with other employments for
women. I can only say that, with care, this need not be so.
I fear that in most cases, whatever may be the after-employ-
ment, the seed of mischief is sown at home, and that the
crowded dwellings are answerable for much of the evil which
occurs afterwards. For this reason it certainly seems desir-
able that young girls should be got out to household service
so soon as they are of a sufficient age to make themselve
useful. But here agaiu it must be remembered that they
often enter a respectable family with the mind already tainted
to an extent, wliich those who have been brought up apart
from the evil influences to which they have been exposed,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SlV

cannot easily image. A prettj' long residence in country
places — a knowledge of the blots wliich our parish registers
reveal, does not enable me to give that pre-eminence in virtue
to household servants, over those who seem to be less advan-
tageously situated, that I would wish to do, and in some re-
spect tills may be accounted for with a feeling of pity rather
than of censure. They are, no doubt, more commonly the
prey of the heartless and the profligate. If we consider the
advantages enjoyed by female servants in the present day, we
cannot but regret that so little real benefit is derived from
them. Look at the wages they receive. These are from 50
to 100 per cent., and in some cases even more, above what the
same places were worth some 30 years ago. They might lay
by from half to three-fourths of their earnings, and yet be
able to dress themselves with the quiet neatness wliich so
became the servants who lived with our fathers till they
seemed to become a portion of the family : and who loved
Master Tommy, Blaster Richard, and sweet Miss Mary as dearly
as if they really were their own kin, and continued to ad-
dress them as cliildren even after they had perhaps themselves
become parents. But what use is made of the larger wages
which our female servants now receive ? The close imitation
of their betters in the frivolities of a luxurious age too plainly
declares. And then this finery must be seen ^aud admired.
This leads to Sundays out ; to a "craving for amusement, to
a restless discontent with and neglect of duties, to impatience
of reproof, however mild, and to a fondness for perpetual
change. We cannot look to these, I fear, to regenerate the
class from which they spring, to be the wives of an improving
peasantry, the mothers of a socially better race ; and yet the
question I would wish to propose is. Cannot we make them
so ? Are not we, are not the masters and mistresses of Eng-
land very much to blame for those errors which in our ser-
vants we see and deplore ? Are we not too easy and careless,
and too little thoughtful of our responsibilities ? The higher
we ascend in the social scale, the greater is, I believe, this
carelessness. The under-servants in a large household are
left to the management and control of the upper ones, who
too seldom, perhaps, think of anything beyond their efficiency
in their particular departments. Even where there is a sense
of responsibility, and a real desire to do what is right, there is
often much mistaken, and an erring kindness. Now, I should
like to see opportunities for the healthful and harmless recrea-
tion of the labouring classes multipUed. But when we re-
member that most of their revels, as at present constituted, end
at the public-house, if they do not commence there, it becomes
a serious question whether masters and mistresses standing for
the time in the place of parents, are not bound to exercise
the same controlling influence over the young women in their
employ, which natural affection points out as their duty to-
v»ards their own daughters. We know the education and
home training that these servant girls have for the most part
received, and surely we should try to elevate their feelings,
and not throw them back on that pollution from which a little
care of ours may perhaps rescue them. I have dwelt, you
may some of you think, at undue length, and entered with
unnecessary minuteness into this subject, but when I consider
the immense influence for good that may and must be exer-
cised by a virtuous woman ; the utter deterioration of character
to all who associate with her, of either sex, that follows from
the example of a depraved one, I feel that the education and
training of the women of the labouring class are chief ingre-
dients in establishing virtuous homes. I will only further add
on thLs subject, that I think a great deal of good might be
done, and provident habits established if it was insisted upon
at hiring, that a certain sum out of the wages agreed to be
given, should be put every year into the savings' bank. If this
was not at first very readily acquiesced in, I believe that as tiie
bank book showed the small increasing fortune, the advantage
would be acknowledged, and the rule become generally ac-
ceptable. I had intended to have entered with some minute-
ness into the construction and arrangement of labourers' cot-
tages, but time will scarcely admit of this ; and, perhaps it is
more a question to be laid before landlords, than those who
are, for the most part, tenants. I will only say that where a
tenant is willing to pay a lair interest upon the outlay for im-
proved dwellings, a landlord ought, as a rule, to be willing to
build them ; at the same time, it is no advantage to any one
to over-build in a rural parish, it is more likely to lead to
poverty, and to increased burthen upon the poor's-rate, than
to any beaeficia,l result. It is better, in my opinion, either

to enlarge existing cottages, or entirely to remove them,
and build others in what may be a more convenient situation,
utilizing, as far as possible, the materials that are obtained
from the houses that are pulled down. Wherever there is a
large family there should be three bedrooms; but as less
accommodation may be sufficient for those who are recently
married, and for the aged and single people, and may better
suit their income, I would have some cottages with two, and
a few with only one bedroom, taking care to insist on the
removal of a family to a larger dwelling who have outgrown
the one which might previously have been suilicient. Gardens
or allotments are essential to the well-doing of the labourers,
and for these I have always found them thankful. I should
put the size of these at from ten to forty poles, according to
the means of attending to the required work that each in-
dividual may possess. I have necessarily touched upon the
dark side of the labourer's cliaracter in much that I have ad-
vanced in this paper ; but I have not lived for nearly a life-
time in country villages without being able to say, with thank-
fulness, that there is a Ijright side, and one that will repay the
trouble of drawing it out and improving it. Where the cha-
racter has not been deteriorated by that curse of the labourer,
the beershop, and the whole temper soured and changed by
straitened circu instances, too often cauSsed by his own vice and
improvidence, the labourer who has been well brought up pos-
sesses qualities which are as genuine and as honourable to
him as any which distinguish his betters in rank and edu-
cation. He becomes much attached to a master who treats
him well, and is as careful of his property as if it were his
own. He is loyal to his Queen, a lover of his country, and a
respecter of order. He has very generally a religious bias,
and is more likely to become a fanatic than an infidel. I have
hardly ever read a letter written by one of this class to his
friends at home from some distant colony to which he may
have emigrated without finding a distinct recognition of a
superintending Providence. AVith respect to the honesty of
the labouring class, when we consider the immense amount of
property which is left unprotected, and sometimes very care-
lessly, at the mercy of our indoor and outdoor servants, it is
really doing them but justice to say that they are, as a class,
particularly honest. Nor should I omit among their distin-
guishing characteristics, their charity to those who are worse
off than themselves. Most of their faults may be traced to
the brutalizing effects of overcrowded dwellings and abounding
beershops. Until this last evil is removed, I despair of any
decided benefit being effected by any other remedial measure.
But, whilst denouncing in the strongest terms the low beer-
houses, I should be glad to see the day when a jug of whole-
some beer was the general accompaniment to tlie supper-table
of every labouring man. This last subject to which I have
referred, and perhaps a few others, are the only ones on wliich
legislative interference is required in order to introduce a
higher state of morality among the poor. On most other
points, individual exertion and individual determination to do
what is right, combined in one long, strong pull together, wLU,
I believe, effect what we all so much wish to see, an improved
tone of feeling in the labouring classes. We h-ave a higher
code of morals to refer to than was ever propounded by the
greatest wisdom of a national Parliament or the most paternal
government. The one short and simple rule, to do to others
asyou would they should do to you, will, if carried out in its
true and honest sense, secure all that is required to make us a
happy, united, and a prosperous nation.

HEREFORDSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.—

The adjourned general meeting of Wie members of this Society
was held at Hereford, to receive the report of the committee
and to arrange generally for the annual show to be held in
October next. Mr. J. Jancey presided. The report of the
committee states " That the season is too far advanced to con-
template any alteration in the time for holding the show for
the present year ; the show to be held on the day before and
day of the Hereford October fair ; and that, looking to the
finances and other matters connected with the Society, the
salary of the secretary shall lie considered as a full remunera-
tion for his services, and no extra payment be made to him
that is not sanctioned by the committee. The city authori-
ties have given a free grant of the Cattle Market for the
annual show ; for which a vote of thanks was passed to the
Mayor and Corporation,

)18

TSE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE CENTEAL FAEMEES' CLUB
ENGLISH T E N A N T - R I G II T .

The concluding monthly meeting of the Farmers' Club for
tlie present season took place on Monday evening, May 2nd, in
Salisbury Square; the chairman for the year, Mr. James Howard,
M. P., presiding. The attendance was very good. The subject
iixed for coasideration was " English Tenant-fiight," the in-
troducer being Mr. Henry Corbet.

The CiiAiioiAN said : When the Committee selected the
subjects for the present year, the month of May was purposely
left open, on the supposition tiiat some measure might be in-
troduced by the Government atfecting the interests of agricul-
ture, which it might be desirable for the Club to discuss. Up
to the last monthly meeting no measure had been proposed
which the Committee thoushtit necessary that the Club should
discuss. At this juncture it was somewhat singular that Mr.
Clare Sewell Read and himself, without communicating with
each other, wrote to the Secretary, urging the desirableness of
introducing the subject of English Tenant-right to the notice of
the Club, and asking the Seer -tary himself to introduce it
(Hear, hear). Their respected Secretary at fitst demurred to
take this course, urging that it might be thought he had been,
of late, sufficiently often before the Club; but when they re-
minded him that he was the author of the prize essay upon
Tenant Right, which to this day remained the standard work,
if not the only work upon the subject, and that therefore, he,
above all others, was the man to bring the matter forward, he
at once consented to prepare a Paper (cheers).
Mr. Henry Corbet then read the following paper :—
At our last annual dinner in December, I ventured to say
tliat many of the members did not appear to know what the Club
had really done in times past. I said so much when referring
to the discussion of the previous evening, which had brought
the relations of landlord and tenant once more under con-
sideration. Indeed, during the last half year or so the duties
of landlords and the rights of tenants have been continually
cropping up again all over the country. It is probable that
the introduction of the Irish Land Bill has tended to direct
more general attention to the question ; and, at any rate, this
affords me an opportunity, in the outset, of drawing the
strongest possible distinction between Irish and English
Tenant - Right. I profess to speak with no especial
authority on the Irish claim, but it seems to me to work very
commonly something in this way : In the first place, the out-
going tenant expects to be paid very liberally for every improve-
ment he has made ; in the next, to receive a very handsome sura
as "goodwill" for giving up possession; and then— he thinks it
a very great shame that lie should have to leave his farm !
English Tenant-Rigiit does not go quite so far as this;
and if I now attempt to define to you what this English right
actually aims at, and in so doing, necessarily travel over some
well-worn ground, my reason for doing so must be the misappre-
hension which still continues to exist on the subject. At that
very meeting in December one of our members stated that " this
question suffered through being overshadowed by a cloud of
vague generalities. They constantly heard such phrases as
'unexhausted improvements' — 'custom of the country' — 'duties
of landlords,' and so on. AVhat did they mean ?" It will be
my object to endeavour to answer that question, and to show
what unexhausted improvements, customs, and duties do mean.
In setting about this, I shall have to take you back to the
earlier history of the Club, and to something of what it has
done, as I have said, in past times.

The first year,then,inwhich the Club held any regular series
of discussion meetings was in 1845,and in the December of that
same year the following subject stood in the name of my much
valued friend tlie late Mr. Wm. Shaw,of the Strand : '^Tenants'
Kigbtsas between Landlord and Tenant." In introducing this,

■ Iff 'I ^^"'- "^ ^'^""''^ '^^fi°<' Tenant-Right to be the
right ot the tenant to require compensation legally for outlay
in the improvement of the soil or buildings when the period
ot his occupation has not been of sufficient duration to enable
)um to reimburse that outlay. I need scarcely remark that

the portion of the outlay which should be reimbursed is that
which remains after making due allowance for the benefit he
has derived. I consider Tenant-Right as a question purely be-
tween landlord and tenant, and wholly distinct from the rights
between incoming and outgoing tenants, commonly called
' tenants' rights,' or dues. The payments made by the in-
coming to the outgoing tenant vary according to custom, and
although embracing certain other items, are little more than
payments for labour, frequently used as a means of drawing
heavily upon the purse of the incomer, absorbing his capital,
crippling his means, and preventing him from managing his
farm to advantage." This passage embodies not only
a very good definition, but a very nice distinction between
acts of improvements and acts of husbandry. The meeting,
which may be said to have gone altogether with Mr. Shaw,
concluded by adopting his opinion, that " A system of Tenant-
Right would promote the interests of both landlord and tenant,
and must materially conduce to the advancement of practical
agriculture." In the succeeding month another or an ad-
journed discussion on the same subject followed, when a
Tenant-Right committee of the Club was appointed. In the
January of 18i7 Mr. Shaw took up the subject from the land-
lords'point of view, when the Club went with him in de-
claring " That a well regulated system of Tenant-Right would
be beneficial to the landlords of this country." Upon this
Mr. Pusey brought in his Bill, on which he specially asked
the opinion of the committee of the Club, which was given
accordingly in the following report:— "The committee of the
Farmers' Club on Tenant-Right have perused the draft of a
Bill for the improvement ot agricultural Tenant-Right in
England and Wales, forwarded to them by the kindness of Mr.
Pusey ; and, after suggesting some alterations in the various
clauses, do recommend that all items respecting buildings,
roads, and fences, be left out of this Bill, and that a clause be
added on a supplementary Bill be prepared to afford tenant
farmers those privileges in the removal of buildings erected
by themselves which manufacturers and tradesmen now
enjoy, the landlord having, in the first place, the option of
taking all or any by valuation." Then we prepared and
presented petitions in favour of the Tenant-Right Bill, and a
deputation from the Club waited on Lord John Russell, the
Prime Minister of the time, who, in answer, said that inquiry
would be the best means of showing the justice of the cause,
and of diffusing information on the subject. In the summer of
this same year, 1847, a local Farmers' Club offered a prize for
the best essay " On the necessity of some legislative enactment
to secure the tenant farmer the benefit of his improvements ;
and the great national advantages that would accrue there-
from." Being by that time tolerably familiar with the ques-
tion, I was in the face of some competition fortunate enough
to write the prize paper. As I said in the preface to this when I
published it as a pamphlet : " When it is remembered that the
Tenant-Right claim, if not entirely originating with, has been
mainly supported by, the proceedings of the London Farmers'
Club, tlie advantage of being associated with the business of
that institution is at once apparent. The effect of this con-
nection has been, to induce the writer to give his arguments
with more force and decision than he might, perhaps, have
ventured to do on his own unsupported liability. As it is,
there is not a case assumed, nor an opinion broached, but for
which he could name the very highest authority and example."
I feel that I am thus relieved of any charge of egotism when
referring to this Essay, which has been quoted or read again
and again, with and without acknowledgment ; while I am
happy to add, that in a review of its proceedings, as taken
two or three years since, the VVenlock Farmers' Club consi-
ders their Prize Essay on Tenant Right to be " standard autho-
rity to this day."

In the spring of the following year, 1848, the Pre-
mier fulfilled his promise, and a Committee of the
House of Commons was appointed to take evidence on,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

519

aiul inquire iuto the Agricultural Customs of England and
Wales ill respect to Tenant Right. And after some very care-
ful study of the evidence thus collected, I iiave no hesitation in
saying, that the Tenant-right 131 ue Book contains more va-
luable aud more reliable information on the practice of agri-
culture than any vfork that ever was published iu our time. Of
course we had a hand in it. Mr. Philip I'usey, the Chairman of
the Committee, came again to the Farmers' Club for witnesses,
and we called for him some fifty or so otthe picked men of all
England — landowners and land agents, tenant-farmers, mem-
beis of the Club, and others, whose reputations had reached us.
It was, however, by no means a one-sided inc^uiry ; at least
half of the members of the Commons' Committee were dead
again st the principle, and everything that could be urged
against it was brought up. Nevertheless, a Blue Book is at best
but dry reading, while this was kept back in a somewhat suspici-
ous manner, after having been partly circulated ; and at the
request of Mr. Pusey, Mr. Shaw and myself undertook to pre-
pare a Digest or proper arrangement of the evidence. I was in
those days a very sanguine energetic young man, and I may
tell you, what was then no secret, that I had the lion's share
of the labour, aud hard work it was, too; although, as is gene-
rally tiie case with hard work, when you are in a condition to
stand it, this did me a deal of good. Mr. Clement C'adle, I see,
in his prize essay on Earming Customs and Covenants,
states, handsomely enough, that he is something indebted in
the compilation of his Customs to the " Law of the Earra,"
a work in which not merely the general arrangement but
actually some of my introductory remarks are taken, without
any such acknowledgment, from the Tenant-right Digest.
And it is from this Digest, or like Hercules by the aid of his
own Club, that I propose to clear off the cloud of vague gene-
ralities, and to interpret those hitherto mystic phrases known as
" unexhausted improvement," "custom of country," and "duties
of landlords."

There is, then, in certain parts of Lincolnshire more
especially, a certain custom which recognises payment for un-
exhausted improvement ; or, in the words of the Report of the
House of Commons' Committee, " Li some parts of the country
a moderii usage has sprung up, which confers a right on the
outgoing tenant to be reimbursed certain expenses, incurred
by him in cultivation, other than those of ordinary hus-
bandry.— That among such expenses are included the pur-
chase of food for stock, the purchase of certain kinds of
manure, and th(! draining, chalking, and marling of the soil ;
the result of all which outlay is, to effect an improvement of
the soil, more or less lasting, and requiring more or less time
to elapse before the increased productiveness, thereby obtained,
reimburses the expenditure incurred. — That this modern usage
appears to have grown out of improved and spirited systems of
farming, involving a large outlay of capital, and to have been
promoted by forms of agreement between landlord and tenant,
whereby the former covenanted to give compensation for such
outlay ; which forms have been from time to time altered and
enlarged, and are still extending themselves with the continued
advancement of agriculture. — That these uses have gradually
grown into general acceptance in certain districts until they
have ultimately become recognised there as the custom of the
country. — That, in practice, the compensation agreed to be paid
by the landlord to the outgoing tenant, is paid by the incoming
one. — That its amount is found by valuers, who ascertain the
cost of the several improvements, spread that cost over a cer-
tain number of years, within which each kind of improvement
respectively is supposed to repay itself, and then deduct from
that number the time during which the tenant has enjoyed the
benefit of the improvement." This usage is distinguished in
the Commons' Report from the more ordinary practice ot pay-
ing the outgoing; tenant for " the preparation of the soil for
crops by tillage, for the straw, hay, and dung left on the farm,"
aud so forth. We then come to see which are properly the
landlord's duties, and which the tenant's, in this good work of
improvement. Briefly then the permanent, such as building
and draining more particularly, should properly be the duty of
the landlord, while the femporari/, such as the due use of lime,
bones, guano, oil cake, and ashes should be the business of the
tenant. With regard to buildings, the House of Commons'
Committee reported very much as the Earmers' Club Com-
mittee had done : " The law, with respect to things affixed to
the freehold is different and more beneficial as regards those
annexations made for the purposes of trade, than those made

for the purposes of agriculture, an outgoing tenant being per-
mitted, in many cases, to remove the former, when erected by
himself, but not the latter. — That this distinction does not ap-
pear to be supported by any sound reason, and your Committee
are of opinion that the tenant's privilege of removal, with
respect to fixtures set up for trading purposes, should be ex-
tended to those erected for agricultural objects." This recom-
mendation has been carried into effect, and by an Act passed
in July 1851, a tenant has now the power to remove
buildings which he has erected with the landlord's consent, if
the latter decline to take tliem at a valuation. In fact his
right so far is secured by law, but no further. The Report of
the Commons' Committee admits '' That the improvements
(already mentioned) which are very generally required through-
out the country, in order to develop the full powers of the soil,
are greatly promoted by this system of compensation, and
therefore it is highly important that all difficulties should be
removed which stand in the way of its extension by the volun-
tary act of landlord and tenants." This is encouraging enough.
The next clause, however, declares "That any attera])t to
make its general introduction compulsory would be met by
great practical ditticulties, and your Committee rely for the
general and successful adoption of the system on mutual ar-
rangements between landlords and tenants." Although this
was only carried on a division, still the feeling against
legislation has been very strong at times and places ;
and the landlords of Lincolnshire actually petitioned
against the custom being enforced by law on the very good
but rather selfish showing that in their own case the custom
had the force of law already. Then Mr. Caird went further
still, and as The Times' Commissioner could hardly say any-
thing too bad about Tenant Right, as towards the end of his
book he thus sums-up against it : " It must be plain that it is
not the interests of the landlords, if the decision is left with
them, to adopt this system. To legalize it by Act of Parlia-
ment, so as to render its operation general over the kingdom,
it would be necessary to prove that it would promote the
public welfare. We have seen iu the counties where it exists
that llie Agrlcnlliire is on the whole inferior to that of other
districts (the Italics are his own), and iu no cases, even under
the most favourable circumstances, superior to other weU-
conditioned counties which do not possess this TE:NAJ!fT
Right. In every county it has led to fraud in a greater or
less degree. It perpetuates bad husbandry, by stereotyping
costly practices which modern improvements have rendered
obsolete. It absorbs the capital ot the entering tenant, thus
limiting his means for future improvement. It unfairly de-
presses the letting-value of the land. Perhaps it may be urged
that we dwell on the abuses rather than on the fair and legi-
timate uses of the system. But it is not easy to see where the
line of demarcation is to be drawn."

It is easy enough here to see what it is the writer does not
wish to see. Instead of attempting to draw any demarcation
line, he is, on the contrary, very careful throughout the whole
ofthis passage to confuse the payment for actsof iiusbandry with
that of the payment for acts of improvement. Holding him to
the latter — to the Tenant Right we go in for, payment, that is,
for nnexhausted improvements — I am prepared to contradict on
evidence every one of his statements. I say that it wo/itdhe to
the interests of the landlords generally to adopt this system. I
say that where it already exists the agriculture is on the whole
not inferior but superior to other districts and to other well-
conditioned counties which do not possess this Tenant Right.
I say emphatically that its effect is \q perpetuate — the word of
aU others — not bad but good husbandry, by stereotyping not
ot)solete but modern improvements ; and I say that it raises not
depresses the letting-value of the land. I have promised
that this contradiction should be made on evidence, and the
first witness I will call shall be Mr. Caird himself. It is thus,
writing in 1850, aud still as a Times' Commissioner, that he
speaks of Lincolnshire : " Till the reign of George III. the
county remained in a neglected state, the fee simple of the
now cultivated wolds and heaths worth little more than their
present annual rent; the fen districts an unwholesome reedy
waste, prolific of ague and aquatic birds. Till even a more
recent period the improvement was slow. In the parish of
Limber, sixty years ago, four tenants renting 4,000 acres of
land at £125 each, or 2s. 6d. an acre, became bankrupts. The
same land is now yielding its owner upwards of £4,000 a year,
paid by prosperous tenants. Lincoln Heath, whose improve-

h20

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

meat had beguu in Arthur Youug's time, excited liis astonish-
ment tliat farmers in prosperous circumstances could afford to
pay 10s. an acre for laud which a few years before had yielded
nothing, or next to nothing to its owner. For the same land
they now pay double, and at Blankney several thousand acres
were let as rabbit-warrens in his time at 2s. to 3s. 6d. an acre,
for which Mr. Chaplin now receives 30s., the increasing rent
being accompanied in both cases with the increasing wealth of
the tenants. The transition has therefore been very rapid and
striking, perhaps more so than in any other county in England.
It was very fortunate that when the time for this transition
arrived, the leading landlords were Hberal and enHghtened
men. Among these may be named the late Earl of
Yarhorough and Mr. Chaplin of Blankney. They saw
the advantage of encouraging their tenants to embark
their capital freely, and as leases were not the fashion
of the county, they gave them that security for their
invested capital which is termed Te:«aj«t Right, or com-
pensation for unexhausted improvements. Though this
Tenant Right may not be strictly a legal claim, it is universally
admitted in Lincolnshire, the landlord paying it when the
farm falls into his own hands, and refusing to accept a tenant
Avho declines to comply with the custom. It varies, however,
considerably in different parts of the county, and appears to
have enlarged in its obligations with the greater development ol
agricultural improvement. In North Lincolnshire the usual
allowances claimed by the out-going from the in-coming tenant
include draining, marling, chalking, claying, lime, bone, guano,
rape-dust, and oil-cake. The following is the scale," &c., &c.

Why what in the face of this, his own testimony, does
Mr. Caird mean by saying that it is not, or has not been to
the interests of the landlords to adopt the system ! That where
it exists the agriculture is inferior, and that it depresses the
letting value of the land ! Why every line he writes, every
figure he gives, proves that the system //as raised the value of tJic
land and bettered the condition of owner and occupier. This
extraordinary and unwarranted autiputliy would be altogether
inexplicable but for one signiRcant fact — Mr, Caird is a
Scotchman ; and so surely as a Scotchman comes to teach us
farming, so surely does he start with the infallible dogma that
there can be no good farming witiiout a lease. In concluding
his labours as a Commissioner, Mr. Caird says prophetically of
the English farmer that " The wishes for leases will increase
when the tenant-at-will discovers that security for his
capital by Tenant Right is neither possible nor desirable " —
so far about the very worst prophecy that ever was made.

Mr. Caird, in his description of Lincolnshire, as just
quoted, makes mention of the Chaplins of Blankney. Let
me, then, call the present owner of those fertile lands as
iny next witness. It was thus that Mr. Henry Chaplin spoke
in the House of Commons but a few weeks since, not merely
as one of the members for, but as one of the landlords of Mid
Lincolnshire : " In England, especially in those parts of the
country where agriculture was carried to the highest perfec-
tion, there was something which was entirely wanting in Ire-
Iand--namely, a marked, distinct, and accurate system, capable
of being enforced at law, assuring the tenant that he would
be amply repaid for everything that he had laid out in the
cultivation of the soil in the event of his being ejected from
his farm. He would take as an instance the custom that pre-
vailed in the county which he had the honour of representing
—and he did not think he should be accused of undue par-
tiality when he asserted that his county stood pre-eminent for
the excellence of its cultivation. In no county was the science
of farming carried to such peifection, or capital more liberally
expended upon the soil, and nowhere was the identity of in-
terest between landlord and tenant more fully recognised, or
were more cordial and kindly feelings entertained between
them. And yet this was a county where leases for a term of
years were practically unknown, or, at all events, were very
rare. It w ould merely weary the House were he to enter into
details with respect to the various arrangements. They were
many, and necessarily so, because in themselves the operations
of farming were of a very multitudinous character. Under
those arrangements compensation was amply provided for
everything that could be laid out in fair farming, the amount
of compensation to be paid being fixed by a valuer or valuers,
and a third party being called in to act as umpire if necessary.
So simple was that operation, and so well known its results,
that an appeal to law or a dispute scarcely ever arose ; and

not the least advantage of the system was that it applied with
equal effect to small or large farms. By this means security
of tenure and its attendant beneQcial results were attained ;
and, although no man could more heartily acknowledge than
he did the cordial and kindly feelings mutually enter-
tained with respect to each other by the landlords and
the tenants, yet in his judgment those feelings were
mainly due to the uniform operation of the just and effectual
system of Tenant Right to which he had referred."
Mr Chaplin is known to be a rising man in the House, but
this speech alone might make him a reputation. It will be ob-
served that he does not depend upon cordial and kindly feelings
between landlord and tenant — very good things, no doubt, as
far as they go and as long as they last— but he looks at the
matter in a really business-like light, and speaks to a system,
marked, distinct, and accurate, capable of being enforced by
law, and assuring to the tenant ample repayment for every-
thing he has laid out. And against this, and such results,
how can M r. Caird, I say, maintain his monstrous assertion
that it is not to the interests of the landlords to adopt such a
system? Only go to the heart of the landlord's interest in
the question, and see how his rents would rise or fall by the
establishment of Tenant Right. According to the too preva-
lent custom, a tenant, if only duly and Jciir/i/ forewarned of
his going, does all in his power to leave the land as low and
exhausted as, without directly infringing on any rule or cove-
nant, he possibly can. Let Tenant Right have the
sanction of the Legislature ; let the good farmer work
under its protection, and it would be his interest to farm well
well up to the day of his departure, for this very simple
reason — Instead of, as in an unprotected state, gradually
drawing in the use of h is money, and staying the force of
his ability, he would have confidence to make the most of
every minute on every acre as long as he held it, knowing
that just compensation would await him for what he left be-
hind. Now take the matter of rent here. Ask any agent or
any tenant what dilfercnce is made in rent to a man entering
on land in a good or in a bad state of cultivation ? Hear
how the incomer will, in the one case plead the time
he will have to wait, and the sums he will have to find
before he can count on the least return. Attend to this,
and only mark the effect it must of course have on
the estimate. In the other case the talk is all the other way.
Here is the land in a condition fit to repay as readily as that of
the oldest inhabitant on the estate ; and if one hesitates at the
price per annum, depend upon it there are plenty of others
more than anxious to take it at almost any rate of rent a man
of business could put upon it. Keep up the cultivation and
you keep up the rents. Lower the one, and there will be a
scqtntiir in the other as inevitable as unprofitable. The time
spent by a tenant in enriching at his entry,and in impoverishing
at his exit, is so much time lost to himself, so much income lost to
his landlord, and so much food and wealth lost to the country.
I will call but one witness more to clear up any " vague gene-
ralities," and this shall be as appropriately following a Lin-
colnshire landlord, a Lincolnshire tenant who has himself often
been engaged in making these valuations according to custom.
I quote from a letter by " Lincoln," who says : " The great inte-
rest felt at the present time in farm agreements, leases, and
Tenant Right, and the frequent mention of the Lincolnshire
Tenant Right system induces me to give you the leading features
of that system, which has made those parts of Lincobshire where
it is adopted one of the best, if not the very best farmed district
in England. Let me first mention that tenancies, as a rule,
commence and expire on the 6th of April, six months' notice
being required, and that leases are quite the exception. When
a tenant quits his farm (and I now speak of the custom where
no private agreement exists) he will be allowed for all under-
draining done with tiles on the five years', and, in some cases,
on the seven years' principle, including labour of leading tiles
and putting in ; on liming he will be allowed on the five years'
principle, including carriage ; half the last year's Unseed and
cotton cake bill will be allowed him, or one-sixth of the last
three years ; the whole of his last year's artificial manure bill
will be allowed if used for roots ; and all buildings made of
wood and resting on brick or stone will be taken at their full
value. The manure and the straw are the property of the
landlord. These are the foundations of a system which, in
Lincolnshire, has in one generation raised the rental of hun-
dreds of acres of land from 6s. per acre to 30s., and the fee

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

621

simple from £10 per acre to £50 and £55." There is one
sentence in this letter to which 1 would call your especial at-
tention. This is where the writer speaks to a custom under
which coiiwensadon can- be claimed where no private agree-
ment exists. There is no doubt but that the continued dis-
cussion of the Tenakt Right principle and the gradual
spread of information on the subject have done immense good,
as more than anything else to root out the frowsy fusty old form
of agreement that too long held something like sove-
reiga sway in agents' and solicitors' offices. Landlords and
land-stewards, as they come to be more enUghteued, come
more readily to introduce liberal or compensation clauses
which encourage the tenant's exertions, and recognize his
riglit to his own.

And here some would stop ; but I would not. Like the
Lincolnshire landlords, men who have the sense to see
the advantage in, and avail themselves of the custom,
need, of course, no Act of Parliament to induce them to do so.
But any such argument as tliis is offered in defiance to the
first principles of legislation. Laws are made not so much to
bind over tlie good as to keep in order the bad, and to mete
out equal justice to all ; as it is clear enough that if tenants
holding only under liberal landlords or enlightened agents can
feel secure iu this way, that equal justice is not meted out to all.
In fact, we propose to stop just where and when the pressure
is most repuired. Moreover, the elaborate agreement which
minutely defines what improvements the tenant shall make
and what rotation of crops he shall take, is fast going out of
fashion. If a man be only to lime, bone, or chalk his laud
after a special contract to that effect with the owuer or
agent, he might just as well turn farm-bailiff forthwith, or
hold under the last model Welsh agreement, which
directs him how to burn his weeds and how to ask
permission of his landlord if he should think of leaving
liome for a month or two. Eut then it is urged, further, that
the law has no right to interfere in any private bargain made
between man and man, or to put it more directly between
owner and occupier. Why the, law is always interferiug in
the bargains made between man and man. The law ratifies
the agreement between the citizen and his apprentice ; the
law looks jealously enough to the hiring between master
and servant, and the law is ready enough to throw its
protection over any unfortunate man who, in any private
transaction with his fellow man, has made a bad bargain in
buying a horse, a house or a business. Why should it not
afford its protection to the tenant-farmer ?

Again, the relative positions here of the two con-
tracting parties are, as Mr. WeUer said of his grog,
"unekal, and that's just the fault of it." Let the agree-
ment run as it will, let there be agreement or no agree-
ment, a landlord has always " a case" against an outgoing
tenant for dilapidations, should the man have not acted fairly
by the land. But, on the other hand, should the tenant have
laid out capital on the land without full opportunity of reaping
the benefit of it, he, as any lawyer will tell him, has " no
case," unless this be in the bond. Thus, you see, there is a
sense of equity for the one side and not for the other. But, it is
said, it would be difficult or dangerous to attempt to legalise
any particular custom. Why, half the statutes in the law
books are little more than legalised customs, which, having
been found to work well merely from force of custom, have
been further emphasised by the force of law. And this is what
I ask here ; as agamst this the Tenant-Right Committee of the
House of Commons says, " any attempt to make these allow-
ances compulsory would be met by great practical difficulties,"
and so would not recommend it. Now if it were proposed to pass
a law of details by which compensation, say for the use of bones,
should be made to extend over so many years in this district,
and so many the less in another, then I say with the House of
Commons' Committee there would be great practicaldifiiculties
in the way. One might as well attempt to draw up an agree-
ment that should suit all the world over. But I would propose
to do nothing of the kind. I would simply have the law recog-
nise and support the justice of the principle, which would
enable a man to claim his rights, even where, as " Lincoln"
puts it, no private agreement exists.

Mr. Caird said twenty years back that tlie wishes for
leases amongst English farmers would increase ; since when,
I believe, there has been scarcely any perceptible increase
in such a direction. I wiU not say why it is, but so it is,

neither landlords nor tenants iu England would seem to
care about leases, as some of the best farmed land in Eng-
land is cultivated without any such security of tenure. But
I care not which it may be, a lease like a shorter agreement
cannot stand alone. In the evidence taken before the Parlia-
mentary Committee the advocate for leases invariably stipula-
ted for some provision towards the end of the term, as he
was always ready to admit that without a proper system of
compensation for unexhausted improvement even this most
orthodox system of tenure could not be properly carried out.
One word more and I have done. Often as this subject has
been previously discussed by the Club, I cannot but think that
it comes on very opportunely just now. If I tried to read the
signs of the times, I should say it was by no means impro-
bable that the present Government took up in turn the
Land Question in England ; and I feel very confident that
much good might follow from further inquiry. Mr.
Philip Pusey, our steadfast champion, has long since departed
from amongst us ; but I look with even greater hope to a
Parhament wherein I can find men like our present chair-
man, Mr. Howard, and our past chairman, Mr. Sewell
Read. When that first inquiry into Agricultural Customs came
on, one of the witnesses called was Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns,
then described as a barrister-at-law, but now more distinguished
as one of the members for the bucolic city of Hereford-
And we have a promise of further aid here, for it was thus that
BIr. Wren Hoskyns, as a witness, answered one of the chief
questions put to him as an agricultural lawyer : " Do you think
that legislation could compulsorily direct compensation to be
given by the landlord to the tenant for those improvements ?
— It would be very difficult to make it an act of direct legisla-
tion ; but it appears to me that powers might be intrusted to
those who should direct the arm of legislation in enforcing the
claim of the tenant for improvements of that kind, that had
been made ; not that legislation should dictate what the allow-
ance or compensation should be, but merely that there should
be a power given by the legislature, in order to authorize their
decision upon such a subject, whether it be the arbitration of a
single referee or umpire, or the arbitration of a board or
court." I am happy to be able to agree so much with so dis-
tinguished an authority as " TALPA," who, I trust, will have
an early opportunity of saying again in the House that which he
said so well in the committee-room. Customs vary very much--
Yes. There are some customs that are very pernicious in their
effects — Yes. Customs are often hazardous or uncertain in
their action — Yes. But suppose from all this variety, uncer-
tainty, and mediocrity, we are able to cull out some custom
that is particularly good, what shall we do with it ? Why,
make the most of it, of course ; as this I contend we should
best do by sanctioning its extension. In the claim we urge, as
I hope I have in some degree succeeded iu showing, there is
nothing obnoxious, nothing impertinent, and nothing encroach-
ing. It is an argument grounded and maintained on those
wholesome ethics Reasojm and Right (cheers).

Mr. R. Leamon (Whitwell) said that there was no question
more important than the one under discussion, and he was
certain it would have weighed considerably more with them
and with the public at large if the paper had been read by any
other person than Mr. Corbet, the editor of the Mark Lane
Express. Tliat a body of members connected with the Club,
after reading the various articles in that paper, should think
Mr. Corbet a fit and proper person —

The Chairman: 1 must protect Mr. Corbet from any per-
sonal remarks.
Mr. Leamon ; I have said all I wish to say (hisses and laughter) .
Mr. J. Smyth, jun. (Baldock), thought they were in duty
bound, if they liked, to express their feelings.

The Chairman : But not to descend to personalities.
Mr. Smyth : There was not the slightest personaUty in any
way ; but so long as he was an Englishman he should sup-
port his rights. He wanted Mr. Corbet to tell them how they
could grow corn at 5s. a bushel, and behave loyally towards
their Queen and Constitution? He asked for information
from their worthy friend Mr. Corbet how they were to do it ?

The Chairman : Mr. Corbet didn't rise to give any such
information.

Mr. Smyth owned he was vrrong there, but he asked for
information.

Mr. Thomas (Bletsoe), who said he felt very much in-
debted to Mr. Corbet for coming forward in the handsome

522

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

nianner he liad done with so able a paper. As a tenant-
fanner lie entirely agreed witli it. Land agents might object to
the opinions which had been expressed ; but the paper contained
nothing that should be oijjectionable to a tenant-farmer, lou
could not expect a tenant of capital and skill to embark in a
farm, and make a considerable outlay upon it, unless he had a
Tenant-right agreement or a lease. A lease, no doubt, was pre-
ferable, notwithstanding what the reader of the paper had
said; but some objected to a lease, and in that case Tenant
Eight should be supplied. He could fully endorse Mr. Corbet's
views as to the payment of the farmer for unexhausted im-
provements made upon the farm. The land would then be
farmed at the end as at the beginning of the agreement, which
would, of course, be a benefit to the incoming tenant, the
owner, and tlie community at large. It might be all very well
to lay down some sort of covenant, as was often done by the
land agent ; but while there were many good men amongst
these agents, there were a great many who had no business to
presume as they did to dictate to the tenantry of the country
(Hear, hear) . Many land agents jiresumed to lay down clauses
of which they knew absolutely notliing, and when this was the
case, it was impossible that satisfactory agreements could be
made for the tenant (Hear, hear).

The liev. E. Sjiytiiies said Mr. Corbet began his paper
by some disparaging terms as to some remarks made at the Club
last December, and reference was made to the question suf-
fering from beiug overshadowed by a cloud of vague generalities.
The original expression, he begged to say, was " vague and
vapid generahties," and lie did not at the present time see any
necessity to withdraw that second epithet, because the generali-
ties from which the question suffered were as vague and vapid as
ever. The Club had been told that due allowance should be
made to the out-going tenant, and that an alteration should
be made in the present system. He maintained these expres-
sions were of no good whatever. What farming men wanted
was to know exactly what the out-going tenant was to receive
— what proportion of the whole. The first departure from
vague and vapid generalities which he had heard was the
Lincolnshire tenant's letter, wherein was sketched out the
money proportion and value of certain jiractical things to be
allowed to the out-going tenant. Let the Club be told whether
the out-going tenant was to have the whole of the last year's
bill for artificial manure, half of the last year's bill for
oilcake and other artificial foods, a third for the pre-
ceding year, and a certain proportion precisely defined for lime,
&.C. These statements would be valuable, and would guide
landlord, tenant, and agent in coming to a satisfactory con-
clusion ; but when we were told time after time that " what
is right between man and man must be done," and that " due
allowances must be made," and so on, nothing whatever was
said that would assist two men in coming to an agreement
upon a matter where agreement was desirable. One man
would consider " right " and " due allowance " to be very
different from the views of another, and the custom of the
country, though defined enough in one part, was very undefined
if we took the whole country through. Let proportions and
figures be placed before them, and all that remained would be
a simple question of arithmetic which the landlord and tenant
could settle between themselves without any alteration or need
to call in a third party. Supposing it were possible to make
an agreement, it would be very difticult to frame it so that it
would suit all parts of the kingdom, for even Acts of Parliament
would be of no use if they merely embodied vague expressions.
Mr. Williams (Baydon, Hungerford) quite agreed with Mr.
Corbet that, taking all circumstances into consideration, the
Lincolnshire Tenant-right was the best that could be adopted
for the tenant farmers of England. This opinion was founded
upon practical observation of the working of the system. Tenant
Hight, admitting there were certain interests in the soil, should
define what was occupation as distinct from ownership. No
doubt this was an intricate subject, because, except in Lincoln-
shire, there were very few landlords who would take the sub-
ject in hand. In the county he had named there was no
objection, but in the West of England the landlords looked
several times before they would have anything to do with
Tenant Right. In his neighbourhood they said that Tenant
Rigiit would be landlord wrong. They could not yet be
brought to see that they would sulfer no injury by granting to
the tenantry that which he believed every English farmer had
the right of demanding. He, himself, held that a great good

would he done if the law were simply altered on the matter of
notice to quit. The law of the land at present was that six
months' notice would send any tenant about his business, let
him spend wiiatever he might in improvements. A strict
Tenant Right would alter this law so that no man should
be turned out of his occupation without two years' notice to
quit. Nothing short of that would do, and that was a very
good idea of Tenant Right. The tenant had to pay all the
local burdens imposed upon the country, and it was an agree-
ment between landlord and tenant that this should be so, and
the consequence was the tenant never knew what he had to
pay. Carrying his memory back 40 or 50 years he could
remember a continual accumulation of burdens upon their
shoulders— county police, lunatic asylums, military stores, and
a host of other things. Was tliat Tenant Right? These
local burdens were about to be increased again by an educa-
tional rate, and no man can see an end of what the tenant-
farmer would be called upon to pay, and to which he never
gave his consent. He suggested that tlie tenant-farmer should
pay a proper amount of rent for the occupation of the soil,
and tlien, in addition to that, in the same way as he paid the
income and land-tax, he should be annually called upon to pay
for his landlord all the other local taxes, the landlord reim-
bursing him as in tlie case of the income-lax. This was his
definition of Tenant Right.

Mr. Hamilton (Acton), as a new member of the Club,
attending his first meeting, wished to join in the thanks
that had been expressed to Mr. Corbet for his paper. As a
small owner of property in Hertfordshire, he had for -ZQ, years
adopted the Lincolnshire system of Tenant Right. He had
only had two tenants daring the whole of that time, and the
second paid the outgoing tenant what the custom required, so
that as landlord he had notrouble whatever in the business;
and he had every reason to believe that the tenants had been
satisfied with the ^^ hole arrangements. The compensation *
clause he agreed to was that unexhausted improvement was
paid for by the landlord or incoming tenant. The result was
that the land was kept in perfect condition always. The first
tenant had a 21 years' lease; but he unfortunately did not
carry on the farm as well as he ought to liave done, and he
(tlie landlord) gave him notice to quit at the end of 1-i years,
and the tenant then went on for seven years as a yearly tenant.
The present tenancy was yearly with six months' notice to
quit. The tenant was perfectly satisfied, because if he laid
out ever so much money upon the land it must come back to
him in accordance with the Lincolnshire compensation
clause. If this systen, or a system modelled upon its principle,
could be carried out throughout the entire country, it would be
much better for the land and there would not be that six years'
loss which was now suffered by the outgoing tenant neglecting
it for three years before he left, and the incomer having to wait
three years before he got it back to its proper condition. The
adoption of Tenant Right in England, would therefore, not
only improve the relations between landlord and tenant, but
would increase our produce, and thereby tend to the welfare of
the general community (Hear, hear).

Mr. Leeds (Castle-Acre), differed from the last speaker, who
thought six months' notice to quit was sufficient. Suppose a
person had occupied his farm for twenty years, and had spent
a good deal of money for improvements, which the landlord
repaid him, no doubt during that time he had formed friendly
connections, and to be called upon in six months to sever all
the ties he had formed would be a hardship which it would be
difficult to satisfy by compensation.

Mr. Meciii thouglit the question before the Club was the
very simple and distinct one — whether it was for the advantage
of the landlord and tenant and the country at large that there
should be a Tenant-right for improvements. All were no
doubt agreed that ou the question of leases Government could
not interfere ; and that if Tenant Right be for the national
good our legislature had the power, if it had the will, to enact
that unexhausted improvements by the tenant should be paid
for to him. It was equally plain that it would be impossible
for the legislature to define exactly all the circumstances of
compensation according to the various soils and necessities of
particular counties in England. Once let the main principle be
asserted, and there would be very little difficulty in ultimately
arriving, through a proper commission, at a clear notion of
what agricultnral improvements in this country meant. The
necessity for legislation was important indeed, because, Vfhile

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

323

raucli had been said about Lincoluahire, and the liberality of
arrangements made there, and the custom which had now be-
come a basis accepted as law, in the county of Essex, and
many others, such a system was not in operation, and could
not be with present discrepant views of the various valuers in
different parts. A man might spend £5 or £6 an acre in
draining his stiff clay, and another £5 in chalking it — two very
essential elements of improvement, and if he went out or died
to-morrow, not a shilling would be allowed by the custom of
Essex for that teu pounds of valuable farm improvement. This
state of things, to his knowledge, could be multiplied all over
the country. Therefore he wanted the Government by Act
Parliament to define and lay down the general principle, and
that, as Mr. Corbet had pointed out, should include remuneration
to the tenant for unexiiausted improvements. Much as he
admired the intelligent paper Mr. Corbet had read, he (Mr.
Mechi) agreed with Mr. Caird, tliat for the comfort and hap-
piness of the farmer the lease must be the first consideration.
When a man took a farm with capital and means to stay upon
it he did not merely give his attention to the improvement of
his land, but he improved his premises, added to the
minor comforts of liis home and grounds. Were tliey
to be told that farming was merely lo be a blun-
dering occupation, and that there were to be none
of the refinements of comfort and society as was the case with
manufacturers and traders ? The lease must be the basis of
all confidence in the investment of capital, and without it, ex-
cept under certain exceptional circumstances, capital would not
flow into the land. With the 19 years' lease in Scotland enor-
mous sums had been invested in draining the land, erecting
buildings, &c., the tenant knowing that at the end of 19 years
his rent would be raised or his farm pass to another. No
man, however, should be compelled to grant a lease against
his will. There were many noble owners who made it a point
of honour to regard fixity of tenure, and succeeding genera-
tions in one family reaped the benefits of their improvements.
But men with capital, and men with strong feelings with re-
gard to politics did not feel comfortable on going into a farm
and investing money without the security of a lease. The
lease therefore should be the basis of agreement, and that
could not be enforced by legislative enactment. Unfortunately
the liberal arrangements of Lincolnshire were the exception
and not the rule, and throughout the 3G counties of England
there was a lamentable want of improvement — an enormous
scope for it, and there was on the part of both landlord and
tenant a comfortable attacliment to old and very imperfect
customs very far from approaching anything like the Lincoln-
shire practice, which was so much to be admired, and which
was so good to the country and to agriculture.

Mr. Harper (Bury, Lancashire) also could testify from
experience that the Lincolnshire custom was a good one,
but it would niH be good unless it were founded upon
reason and truth. The great difficulty in dealing with
the question of Tenant Right was the correctly ascertain-
ing the difference between the value of the farm wlien the
tenant entered upon it, and the condition in which he left it
when he gave up his tenancy. Whatever an outgoing tenant
expended in the due course of his husbandry of which the in-
comer received the benefit, was in his opinion Tenant Right,
unless on his original entering tlie tenant received a like benefit
without paying for it. On some farms it was the custom for
an outgoing tenant to leave all the manure without any pay-
ment, and in that case when the incoming tenant came to an
end of his occupation he ought to leave his manure in the
same manner. This was not a satisfactory arrangement per-
haps, but it was based upon the sound principle that as a ten-
ant entered upon land, so ought he to leave it. The Lincoln-
shire Tenant Right had simply arisen from a long course of
practice and observance of the old rule of giving and taking
— of doing unto others as you would that men do unto you.
It was very desirable that this most excellent custom should
be better known in various parts of the country where Tenant
Right was most required. He would like to ask Mr. Mechi
apropos of liis remarks upon leases whether he was really
well acquainted with what was done in Scotland, and whether
he was not aware that with all our diflicnlties of tenancy, and
defective Tenant-rights in England, and rabbits, and liares, and
game, we had not on the whole longer tenancies and a greater
number of generations living upon the same estates than in
Scotland? In Scotland they had universally the 19 years'

lease, and in the best parts of Scotland one rule which pre-
vailed was, that about three years before the expiration of the
tenancy, the tenant, unless he could make a satisfactory bar-
gain with his landlord, began to take out of his farm all he
could, which certainly was neither satisfactory nor beneficial.
Possibly the law of hypothec, which gave the landlord a prior
claim upon all the property of his tenant lor payment of rent,
might give an undue advantage and be an encouragement to
the landlord to take an inferior set of, and not quite solvent
tenants. lie did not like to liear leases compared with a
satisfactory Tenant-right like that existing in Lincolnshire
and the south-east parts of Yorkshire. Let people once un-
derstand the difference between the two and he was sure tliis
satisfactory Tenant-right custom would be carried out by
agents and valuers, to the great benefit of agriculture and to
improved relations between landlord and tenant. It would
certainly be more beneficial to agriculture than when a lot of
leases are put up to auction (" No, no.") Yes, in Scotland
they were put up to auction. The laudlord was protected by
the law of hypothec, and he could tell them of some friends of his
who had been lately dispossessed and turned out by strangers
from a distance who offered a few more shillings rent per acre.

Mr. Mansell said he thought a well-digested lease
should contain covenants for the protection both of the
landlord and tenant — covenants wiiich would protect the land-
lord at the end of the tenancy and the tenant at the beginning
of the tenancy. No reasonable man, whether farming 1,000
or 500 acres, would lay out his money unless he had some such
protection for iiiijirovements for being recouped the money
laid out. The basis of such a lease should be some well de-
fined clauses to carry out a mutual arrangement between land-
lord and tenant. Such clauses could be as well deftued in the
lease of a farm as in the lease of a house. Therefore there
ought to be no difficulty about it. Under a liberally con-
structed lease, a tenant taking a farm for twenty-one years,
should feel himself free to make any number of reasonable im-
provements he might think proper. If he did so in the form
of drainage, or manure, clauses protecting the tenant at the
expiration of the lease ought to be inserted, and the landlord
sliould be bound to recoup the tenant at the expiration of
the lease for any outlay he might make for such improvements.
He submitted that the mutual arrangement spoken of by Mr.
Corbet between landlord and tenant would be better defined
in a lease by a clause giving Tenant Right.

Mr. S. SiDXEY said if he took the opinions of the farmers of
England from the feeling he saw displayed, he should come to
the conclusion that the farmers thought themselves exceedingly
ill-used, and that tliey thought they ought to have security of
tenure and compensation for unexhausted improvements (Hear,
hear). But he confessed he did not think tliat these were the
opinions of the farmers at all. He did not mean that that
was not what they said, but he did not think that it was what
the farmers meant. The farmers of England were a numerous
and powerful body, and if tliey chose to make up their minds
as to what they wanted there would uot be the slightest diffi-
culty in obtaining it ; but the fact was — and here he expected
to be received with a liowl of indignation — the farms of Eng-
land were under-let, and let exceedingly cheap (laughter and
' Oh !") — and there was an implied bargain between the land-
lord and tenant in those counties where there was no compen-
sation for unexiiausted improvements — where there were no
leases at all — those leases which some people thought so much
of. The real meaning was that the landlord said : " You
take my farm. I can turn you out at six months' notice.
.You won't trouble me about my game. When there isi
general election you will vote in my favour. If my wife's
health is proposed at dinner, though you don't exactly like
her, you will driuk it with cheers. If you do that I will not
disturb you (laughter) — you shall not be troubled about the
way in which you farm your land." That was the plain
truth. The farmers might shuffle here and there, but that was
the real thing. When he was young he attended a farmers'
dinner, and he heard one toast with great indignation. It
was proposed and received with great cheers. It was " Liberal
landlords and grateful tenants." As long as there were grateful
tenants they would not be able to make a bargain with their
landlords. If they were now discussing whether or not farmers
ought to have security of tenure, there could be no two
opinions about it. It was perfectly absurd to suppose that
a farmer should expend a large amount of capital unless he

524

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

knew that whether lie lived or died, whether lie
remained ou the farm or left it, he should have restored to
him the money that he had put into it. It was uo use dis-
guising the fact ; the farmer was no different from the shop-
keepers and tradesmen of London : unless they have
confidence in laying out their money, it would come back
to them ; and if they were disappointed, they had only them-
selves to blame, because they would place confidence without
having sufficient security for so doing. Comparisons had been
madebetweenthe farmersof Englandandthose of Ireland. There
was no comparison at all. Unless a man in Ireland could get
land, he could get no living at all. Then in Ireland they were
not in a position to make a bargain, but in England the
farmers were in that position, because 20 years ago they said
they were all going to be ruined, but they were still existing,
and yet they had accepted tenns of their landlords. Under these
circumstances Mr. Corbet had rendered an essential service by de-
scribing exactly the legislative course of events since that period
and if there had been a series of grievances, the farmers
would long since have banded themselves together to redress
them. He was astonished that one of the first speakers ob-
jected to the manner in which Mr. Corbet put the subject for-
ward. Why, Mr. Corbet ought to be treated as the Prodigal
Son — the fatted calf ought to be killed for him (laughter) ;
for this was the first time he had heard him read a paper in
which there was not some exceedingly ill-natured remark
made about somebody (renewed laughter). The Chairman
had, as a professional matter, to watch the course of public
opinion ; and he thought the Chairman would agree with him
in thinking that the present was a time of great change — a
time when the farmers would not feel themselves bound to
follow the opinions of their landlords so much as they were
at present. Whenever that time came — whenever the votes
of the farmers were not the property of the landlords, they
would be able to carry compensation for improvements, or
establish leases — whichever they pleased.

Mr. L. A. CoussMAKER said he remembered hearing in that
room that the man who farmed his own land had a fool for his
landlord. If so, he must be a fool himself, for he had farmed
his own farm for thirty years (laughter). His remarks at the
Club had always been made, not in the interest of landlord or
tenant, but in the interest of agriculture ; and he hoped the
observations he might in future make woukl always be to that
effect. The question of tenant-right appears to be a very
simple one. No doubt tenant-right, properly defined, would
be most useful in this country, and might supersede, to a
certain extent, what was generally called " the custom of the
country." He did not think it could supersede the custom
entirely, because custom differed so much in different locali-
ties that certain customs at one place would not be appli-
cable at another place ; but it would be a most useful
thing if a good tenant-right could be established iu com-
bination with the customs of the country, so as to form
a basis upon which all future leases should be granted.
To upset existing leases would be unfair and unjust.
All improvements made by the tenant might not be
considered improvements by the landlord, and it would be
very hard for the landlord to be pledged to a Tenant Right in
respect of them. Tiie landlord should have fair play as well
as the tenant. If any tenant wished to have any improve-
ments carried out the landlord should give his consent in
writing ; and when that had been done the improvements
should be made, and the tenant paid ; but the tenant ought
not to be entitled to compensation on leaving the farm in
respect of improvements to which the landlord had not con-
sented. Those were his notions, and he spoke for both
parties— landlord and tenant. As the basis of an agreement,
he thought it would be a most useful thing ; but at the same
time no Tenant Right ought to upset an agreement between
two parties. Before an agreement was made both parties
were free — the landlord to let his land to tlie best tenant he
could get, and the tenant was free to get the best farm he
could obtain. Let them be careful in making an agreement,
but after it was made no Tenant Right in the world ought to
upset it. What he asked for was, make a fair Tenant-right,
define properly what the Tenant Right was, and then let the
agreement take place between the two parties, the Tenant
Right being the basis of the agreement ; then after that both
parties should keep to their agreement.
Mr. W. J. Edmonds (Lechiade) said it would be natural

for landlords to ask why they were discussing a subject which
thirty or forty years ago would not have been considered of any
consequence. He would remind them that thirty years ago the
farm implements used were only ploughs, harrows, and rollers,
but that now the farmer spends £100 where he formerly spent
£1 upon implements. It was the same] with mannre, where
the farmer formerly spent pounds he now spent hundreds of
pounds ; and with regard to oil-cake also, years ago the
farmer only spent £10, where now he would spend £100.
It was for these reasons that they thought it necessary that
the farmers should have Tenant Right, but if they did not get
Tenant Right they must have instead of six months' notice a
two years' notice. They might be laughed at for talking of
two years' notice, but gentlemen who had leases had prac-
tically twelve or fifteen years' notice. If instead of taking a
lease for twelve or fifteen years, they took it for three years,
with two years' notice, the farmer would go on in his occupa-
tion probably his whole lifetime at the very same rent ; but
with a fifteen years' lease they might expect, at the end of that
time, that the landlords would call upon them for increased
rent, on the ground that the land had considerably increased
in value to what it was fifteen years before ; so that he con-
sidered the three years' lease with two years' notice pre-
ferable. He certainly was in favour of leases. With their
present machinery, with the outlay farmers were called upon
iu the present day to make, there ought to be leases, because
though a common year's tenancy with six months' notice to
quit might be very convenient under a good landlord as long
as he lived, there might be a death, or a change of circum-
stances ; and he, therefore, did not think it businesslike to
have a yearly tenancy with six months' notice. He thought a
Tenant Right might be preferable to a two years' notice to quit,
because there would then be no temptation to run out the
farm at any time,

Mr. Masfen (Pendeford) said that, referring to the last
speeches, a twelve months' notice to quit would be called by the
lawyers a two years' lease. Mr. Sidney appeared to come to the
meeting as their catechiser, chastiser, and adviser ; and he quite
agreed with a good deal he had said, but he thought he began
rather upon the wrong tack. He said it was the farmers' own
faults, but he (Mr. Masfen) said it was not so. The area of
Great Britain was limited, and there were more applicants for
farms than there were farms for them. That was the same in
most agricultural districts, but the farmers had not only to con-
tend against that, but they also found that gentlemen who had
made fortunes in business, and who could afford to lose money
over fiirming, occupied many farms because farming was a
gentlemanly occupation. Mr. Harper said that a man might
go on living on his farm on the same terms. That was just
the very point they were discussing that evening. It was
from the very fact of men going into bad farms and leaving them
iu a good state, that made the English farmers dissatisfied.
A farmer on going in might probably iind two-thirds of his
straw in stacks or heaps about the field and not worth 5s. an
acre, and he would have to provide his manure which ought
already to have been in the ground. How did that arise ?
From the fact of the introduction into the agreement of
clauses providing for the retention of the straw, so that when
it came upon the land as manure it was not worth Is. 6d. a
ton. He believed that was really the system that had been
pursued from the ignorance of men in many districts who had
had the management of estates entrusted to them. An old
member of the Club made the very trite remark at a recent
meeting that those gentlemen ought to undergo an examina-
tion before they were allowed to manage an estate, just the
same as the learned professions. He thought so too. Mr.
Sidney had made some wholesome remarks. It was not
pleasant, however, to be condemned. It was more pleasant to
be flattered ; but he cared not for that. He (Mr. Masfen) did
not look upon Tenant Right as a tenant's question, but as a
landlord's and a national question too. A Tenant Right would
increase the produce of tlie country, and give to the landlord
a class of tenantry we did not see now where liberal covenants
did not exist. He believed they were doing that which would
be to the farmers a great security, and to the landlords an
additional security, and to the community an advantage.
It was one of those questions in which the whole
community were directly interested. The tenant farmers were
not more interested than the community generally. It was
ridiculous to suppose that a landlord was going to have his

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE,

525

rights infringed upon when he was asked by the tenant for au
agreement. If any idea of that sort was in existence, Mr.
Corbet had dispelled tlie illusion by his reference to Mr. Chap-
hn's speech in the House of Commons on the 12th of March
last, in which it was shown in as plain language as was ever
used that the Lincolnshire custom had as greatly benefited the
landlords as the tenants and the community at large. So well
was that custom defined, that very seldom were the services of
an umpire required ; and the landlord had rarely very little to
do with the arrangement, except that he secured to himself a
better class of tenant; and, as regarded putting his hand in
his pocket to pay for it, he did not do so. That was what the
farmers wanted the landlords and the community at large to
know thoroughly. He did not think there was any fear of
the farmers complaining that they should be ruined. Mr.
Sidney, he knew, referred to the repeal of the corn laws ;
but the farmers had struggled through that, though only with
tlieir necks just above water. He did not believe that the ear
which had appeared so deaf to the farmers would be held in
the same position as it had been heretofore. In his own
neighbourliood there was a greater determination of the land-
lords to listen to the entreaty, and in several cases agree-
ments have been brought forward and accepted by the landlord
of a nature bearing very favourably upon those of some fifteen
or twenty years ago.

Mr. F. SiiEKBORN (Bedfont) said Mr. Corbet had come forward
in a handsome manner on the subject of Tenant Right, for which
the Club were all indebted to him. He was very much pained to
hear such unseemly dissension as was exhibited in the early part
of the meeting. Discussions of this sort should be of a friendly
character. As regarded Tenant Right, he looked upon it as the
right of the tenant to fulfil his engagement to the landlord,
and the right of the landlord to fulfil his engagement to the
tenant. He thought the law would be a sufficient protection
to all parties to such a bargain.

The Chairman : The time has now come when we must
draw this discussion to a close. I really think, gentlemen,
that some of the speakers in the early part of the evening
could not have heard distinctly the remarks of Mr. Corbet, or
they would not have accused him of dealing in vague gene-
ralities, such as " the custom of the country," " due com-
pensation," and other such phrases. Mr. Corbet, whilst
alluding to the stock phrases and, as I understood, condemned
them, vi'onnd up with a description of the Lincolnshire tenant-
right, which he strenuously, as I understood him, advocated
for adoption throughout the country. I believe, gentlemen,
that his paper delivered here to-night will live as long, and
will do as much good, as his prize essay on the same subject.
Mr. Corbet has not, to my mind, mis-read the signs of the
times when he gave expression to the opinion that the time
is not far distant when the Legislature of this country will
entertain the question of English Tenant-right. I know that
there is a very growing impression amongst the members of
the House of Commons that the Irish Land Rill must be fol-
lowed by an English Land Rill — indeed, that the one is a
corollary of the other. Mr. Corbet, however, drew a dis-
tinction between the Irish Tenant-right and the English Tenant-
right ; and he fell into one error, or, at all events, there was
one serious omission in his description of the two systems.
The English law recognizes the established custom of any
county in England, and the Courts enforce those customs ; but
in Ireland the law takes no cognizance whatever of such cus-
toms. The Irish tenant, however he may have improved his
farm, notwithstanding it may be the custom of the country to
give compensation, cannot go into a court of law and enforce
the custom ; even the Ulster custom cannot at present be en-
forced in any court of law. It was this broad distinction
between the two countries which led to so much animosity
on the other side of the Channel, and finally to the
Legislature undertaking to deal with the question. When
a custom is estabhshed in England, like the Lincolnshire
Tenant-right for instance, the Lincolnshire tenant can go to
our English Law Courts, and those Law Courts will enforce
that custom. Therefore there is that very palpable difference
between tenant-right in the two countries. I believe, gentle-
men, we are not very far, it may be some years, but no very
long time will elapse before the legislature must be called
upon to deal with this question of Tenant Right in England.
Things cannot remain in their present unsatisfactory position.
A landlord may sue his tenant for dilapidations, but the tenant,

no matter how great the improvements he may have made,
cannot sue his landlord for compensation. The law, therefore,
in one-sided. Mr. Edmonds has referred to the great change
of circumstances which high farming, and other considerations
have produced. High farming alone must eventually compel
the recognition of the rights of the tenant-farmers in England.
It has been said by some speakers that the compensation to be
given to the tenants should be defined. Now, I think this Club,
or the legislature, would find it difficult to define the amount of
compensation to be paid to a tenant. A uniform scale appli-
cable to the variable conditions and circumstances of the various
parts of England is impossible. Mr. Mechi alluded to this diffi-
culty. The Government in drawing up the Irish Land Bill had
also experienced the difficulty in fixing any uniform scale of
compensation, and they wisely left it to be decided by local
arbitrators. Mr. Coussmaker raised a very important question,
and that is the right of a tenant to make improvements with-
out the consent of liis landlord, and he advocated that the land-
lord should not be called upon to make compensation for such
improvements. In the interests of the public, it would be in-
tolerable that the tenant should have uo claim for compensation
under those circumstances, because a landlord may be a very
ignorant person. He may not only not know what is to the in-
terest of his tenant, but he may be ignorant of his own interests ;
and what the public is most concerned with is that he should
not stand in the way of the general advancement of the coun-
try. It is one of the fundamental principles of law to afford
protection to the weak against any undue exercise of power on
the part of the strong ; and, I think, seeing the circumstances
of this country, as alluded to by ilr. Masfen, where three
tenants are looking for one farm, the State is perfectly justified,
in the interests of the public, in stepping in to protect the inte-
rests of the tenants. I have often heard it remarked of late, that
the rights of property are not held so sacred as they were
in times past, and great evils are foreboded of that growing
feeling. Now I believe that the rights ot property in this
country were never better understood or more fully recognised
than they are at present. Time was when it was an accepted
doctrine in this country that a man had a right to do as he
liked with his own ; but I believe we have outgrown that, and
the people of England now take a very much broader view of
the rights of property. They believe that there are certain
duties attaching to property, as well as rights to be exercised.
If a man, or a class of men, so manage or control their property
that the liiU benefits are not derived from it by the community
— if, for instance, a landlord stocks his tenants' farms with
game, or avails himself of improvements made by a tenant
without recognising the right of the tenant to the advantages
which he has created himself, or if for insufficient reasons he
evicts the tenant from his holding — I say, then, that the State
is perfectly justified in stepping in, and putting the law in such
a form that the tenants and the public shall not be damaged
by such arbitrary course of conduct on the part of any owners
of property. I believe, gentlemen, that nofhiug would tend
more to the advancement of agriculture in this country, and
that nothing would tend more to the benefit of the landlords
than a well-considered Tenant-right ; and I believe that the
paper we have heard read to-night, and the discussion that has
taken place, will hasten that desirable end.

Mr. Corbet, in reply, said it had been alleged in the outset
that he was not the proper person to bring this subject for-
ward. He had introduced it at the urgent request of two of
the chief members of the Club— the Chairman, Mr. Howard,
and Mr. S. Read. He wrote and asked Mr. Read to bring it
on, and Mr. Read rephed, in a letter, that he considered he
(Mr. Corbet) was the proper person of all others to bring it
forward. He might go further and say with regard to the
paper, as it would go to the country, that if ever he did his
duty to the Club he had done it that night. He had told
them what the Club had done towards obtaining Tenant Right
in times past, and he had told them how they had worked
and gone before the Government. One of the speakers said
that he (_Mr. Corbet) could not define those vague generalities
— that he could not say what the " custom of the country"
was, the " duties of the landlord," and " unexhausted improve-
ment." He would refer again not only to his paper but to the
book which he held in his hand, which enabled him to define
any custom in England. He could tell all the varieties and
forms of custom and valuation, where custom was recognised,
&c., hut he did not go into all those c|uestions, he took one ei-

526

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

pecirtl custom — that custom liaJ been defined by Mr. Caird,
wlio objected to it — it had been detined by Mr. Chaplin, a
landlord, who had advocated it — it was defended by Mr.
Pusey. Then did they mean to say that Tenant Right was
wrong, and that he (Mr. Corbet) was not a proper man to
speak to it ? He would speak to it in the face of any man in
England (applause). lie might pass over three or more
speeches, and come to an essential point raised by Mr. Mechi.
who said that leases were very good things, and defended Mr.
Caird. He (Mr. Corbet) had been particularly careful to say
nothing against leases, the agitation for which had been going
on for the last thirty or forty years, although liltle had come
of it. Tiiere might be mauy reasons, as Mr. Sidney had said,
tlie farmers should be willing to take whatever the landlords
chose to give them. Tliey must do this and do that, and drink
the health of the landlord's wife, and so on ; but even at the
end of Mr. Sidney's speech he came to admit that there was
something coming — some change looming in the future. Why,

if the paper he had read had anything in it, it spoke to that
change. The whole tone of the speeches was also to that
(■fleet, aud he believed they were on the advent of a change.
As regarded the Chairman's observation as to his omission in
drawing a distinction between the Tenant Right in Ireland
and England, he would only remark that the Irish Laud Bill
if passed would sanction the Ulster principle ; and it was as-
sumiug thus much that he drew liis definition (applause).

Mr. Bradsiiaw proposed a vote of thanks to Mr.
Corbet.

Mr. T. HoKLEY (The Fosse) in seconding the resolution,
said the meeting was very thankful to Mr. Corbet for his
paper ; and liowever some of them migiit difl'er from Mr. Corbet,
yet they all knew that whatever he said was said honestly aud
straight forwardly.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

A vote of thanks to tlie Chairman concluded the business.

THE TENANT-RIGHT QUESTION IN ENGLAND.

At a recent meeting of the Institution of Surveyors a
paper was read on Farming Covenants, and at the May
meeting of the Fanners' Club a discussion took place on
English Tenant Eight. It may be interesting to compare
these demonstrations the one with the other, the more
particularly as the two Societies may be assumed to re-
present two classes in the State. A surveyor, as we take
it, if properly qualified to speak to the nature of Farm
Covenants, should be something of a land valuer or agent ;
and at the Farmers' Club on Monday evening Mr.
Thomas, of Bletsoe, said : " It might be all very well to
lay down some sort of covenant, as was often done with
the land agent ; but while there were many good men
amongst these agents, there were a great many who had
no business to presume as they did to the teuantry of the
country. Mauy land agents presumed to lay down clauses
of which they knew absolutely nothing, and when this
was the case, it was impossible that satisfactory agree-
ments could be made for the tenant." This brings us at
once to the point ; but Mr. Squarey, for the engineers or
agents, had in some measure anticipated an answer,
as the opening sentence of his address sounds sufficiently
encouraging : " The principle which ought to govern
farming covenants would seem to be, that the tenant
should have the freest and most unrestricted use of the
lands and premises, consistent with the maintenance and
yielding up of the freehold at the end of his tenancy in an
unimpaired and uninjured condition." Here we see that
the most desirable system of Farming Covenants is that in
which there are as few covenants as possible. Something
of the same kind was advanced at the Farmers' Club,
when it was declared that "the elaborate agreement which
minutely defines what improvements the tenant shall
make, and what rotation of crops he shall take, is fast
going out of fashion." Still, however, with any such
liberty of action, the Institution of Surveyors stipulates
for something that shall insure the freehold" being yielded
up at the end of a tenancy in uninjured if not, in-
deed, in improved condition. And how is this to be
arrived at ? At the Farmers' Club, as might have been
expected, there was an almost unanimous expression in
favour of the English Tenant-right principle ; aud it is
satisfactory to say that the Institution of Surveyors goes
very much in the same direction. Mr. Squarey " thinks
that the cultivation and production of farms under these
shorter tenancies may be greatly improved by the con-
cession of a Tenant Right for oilcake and artificial manures
applied to green crops within a reasonable period of the
termination of a tenancy : I do not suggest the de-
tails of such Tenant Right, but the experience of Lincoln-

shire and other counties would be a valuable reliable
foundation for the extension of the practice over ou-
country."

This is precisely iu accordance with the preponderance
of opinion at the Farmers' Club, where the opening
paper was against going into details ; whilst Mr. James
Howard, the chairman of the evening, said : " I think
ihis Club, or the legislature, would find it difficult to
define the amount of compensation to be paid to a tenant.
A uniform scale, applicable to the variable conditions and
circumstances of the various parts of England, is impos-
sible." And Mr. Mechi maintained, " It was plain that
it would be impossible for the legislature to define exactly
all the circumstances of compensation according to the
various soils and necessities of particular counties in Eng-
land. Once let the main principle be asserted, and
there would be very little difficulty iu ultimately arriving,
through a proper commission, at a clear notion of what
agricultural improvements in this country meant."

A more " tender" question or phase of the question is
that which would broach broad legislation to establish
the principle. A Lincolnshire landlord, when upholding
Tenant Right in the House of Commons recently, defined
this as " a marked, distinct, and accurate system, capable
of being enforced by law ;" whilea Lincolnshire tenant has
lately in our own columns referred to the custom by
which the tenant is repaid for his outlay " where no
agreement exists ;" and the Institution of Surveyors, with
Mr. Squarey for its mouthpiece, is manifestly in favour
of making custom as strong as possible, altogether inde-
pendent of agreement : " Where the land on which a
crop of turnips has been consumed is given up to an in-
coming tenant, as an entry for his wheat crop, custom
has, during the last few years, established the payment of
half the value of the tillages and artificial manure of such
preceding crop to be paid by the incoming tenant. It is
a matter of regret that the value of oilcake, or other
artificial food, does not, without special agreement, come
into the same category." Mr. Squarey adds that custom
iu this direction is being quietly but certainly esta-
blished ; but is it extending as fast as it should do ?
To epitomise the argument as offered to the Institution of
Surveyors it eoi-ncs to something of this. There should
be covenants, if any, so liberal as to afford the tenant full
liberty of action until towards the close of his term, when
restrictions as to cropping and so forth should be balanced
by allowances for improvements not worked out. And
so Mr. Squarey is " certain of great general increased pro-
duction of all farm produce, from the conviction that, with
perfect liberty of action, a farmer will only sow bis land

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

527

when it is in the fittest and ripest condition for perfecting
a crop ; the conditions incident to such fitness involving
the growth of large proportions of green crop, and the
consequent maintenance of a great stock of sheep or
cattle." Whereas, at the Farmers' Club, the Chairman
thus summed up the case : " I say that nothing would
tend more to the advancement of agriculture in this
country, and that nothing would tend more to the
beuefit of the landlords than a well-considered Tenant
Right."

All this we say is sufficiently encouraging. For
many years now we have continued to advocate a
principle with which this Journal, we are proud to say, is
and has been especially identified. Throughevil and through
good report, in the face ot impotent abuse or cold neglect,
we have maintained the justice of a claim that is at
length coming to be generally admitted. The proceed-
ings at the Farmei's' Club speak significantly to this ; but
the proceedings at the Institution of Surveyors more

significantly still. There was a time when Societies of
land-agents and others met together rather to retard than
advance the English Tenant Right principle. Their atti-
tude was then one of opposition, while it is now one of co-
operation. But we may go further still. Much good,
no doubt, has already been done by discussing the subject;
but it will not end now in the mere talk of tenants one
with another, or, as Mr. Thomas would put it, in
teaching agents their business. " I know," said the
Chairman of the Farmers' Club the other evening, " that
thei-e is a very growing impression amongst the members
of the House of Commons that the Irish Land Bill must
be followed by an English Land Bill ; indeed, that the
one is the corollary of the other." We have ourselves
more than once of late ventured to hint at what was
coming as a step for which the country was quite pre-
pared. There is no matter that needs more looking into,
and there is none, where from improving the condition
of the tenant-farmer, more general good would follow.

THE LAW OF HYPOTHEC.

The monthly meeting and dinner of the East Lothian Agri-
cultural Club took place at Haddington. There was a good
attendance, with Mr. Scot Skirving, Campton, in the chair.

The Chairman said that the motion of Mr. Harvey, of
Whittingham Mains, authorising the standing committee to
call a special meeting of the club, if they thought that neces-
sary, with reference to the game laws and the promised mea-
sures in Parliament in reference thereto, should remain in
force until the BiU of tlie Lord Advocate was brought before
Parliament, which he thought would be very shortly. He
thought it would be unnecessary to go into a discussion on
the subject at present. It was no doubt true that, if they
did, the Lord Advocate would get a good deal of information
from the reports of the discussion. But he doubted his lord-
ship had been studying the discussions of the club very care-
fully for the past year; and it would therefore be unjust in
them to tliink that lie had not framed his Bill in accordance
with the opinions of the East Lothian Agricultural Club,
especially as he could not have a better opinion on which to
found it. In these circumstances, he (the Chairman) pro-
posed that they should postpone the discussion of this subject
till next monthly meeting, by which time the Government
measure would be before the country.

The suggestion was adopted.

Mr. Hope (Fentonbarns) said there was another question in
which he felt even a deeper interest than he took in the question
of the game laws — that w as, in reference to the law of hypothec .
In regard to the legislation that should take place on that
subject, the East Lothian Agricultural Club was unanimous ;
and he regretted that there was so little prospect of anything
being done in Parliament this session in regard to it. The
fact was that Parliament seemed so intent on doing justice to
those that made the greatest noise, that there was no likeli-
hood of auy measure on that subject being introduced this
session. He had, however, a letter in reference to it, which
he thought it would be right to read to the meeting, from the
Hon. Charles Carnegie, M.P. for Forfarshire, with whom he
had had frequent communications. The letter was in the
following terms :

" House of Commons, March 28, 1870.

"My dear Sir, — You will observe by the papers that, in
reply to a question of mine, the Lord Advocate has stated that
' Government are not prepared to bring in a biU on the sub-
ject of the law of hypothec in this session of Parliament, but
have promised to consider the subject in the course of the
autumn, and on an early day next session to announce whether
they are prepared to legislate upon it.' I regret much that
they have come to this decision, as I had sooner that they had
prepared and brought in their measure tliis session, even had
it avowedly been only in order that it might be printed and
discussed during the recess. It is quite impossible, in the

present state of public business, for me to have any chance of
carrying our measure in this session. Such is not only my
own opinion, but that of all those members known to hold
opinions similar to ours on this subject that I have had an
opportunity of consulting. I therefore do not mean to at-
tempt it. Had I not been informed on good authority that
the Government had it in conteraplatinn to deal with this
subject in this session, I should have introduced my bill on
the first possible day after the meeting of Parliament ; and I
had even prepared a notice to that effect, but was induced not
to go on with it on the ground that to do so might be in-
jurious to the cause. I have some hope, however, that the
discussion of land questions in the two Houses of Parliament
will rather clear the ground for us, and that the delay may
prove beneficial to the ultimate success of the measures that
you and I have advocated on this most important subject. —
Believe raeyours very sincerely,

(Signed) "Charles Carnegie."

He (Mr. Hope) could only add that he very much regretted
that no measure had been introduced on the subject, while he
could not see that the/ could do anything to obviate that in
present circumstances.

Mr. Harper (Snawden) thought that they could not do less
than express their cordial thanks to Mr. Carnegie lor the
trouble he had takeu in connection with this question, and for
the information he communicated regarding it, through Mr.
Hope, to this club (loud applause). He lioped that the Scotch
members of Parliament would not forget that there were two
great questions which agitated the minds of the farmers of the
country during the last election, and on which a large number
of their members were pledged to urge the Government to in-
troduce measures with a view to lepislation — he meant the
amendment of the game-laws and the law of hypothec

Mr. Hope : Tiie abolition of the law of hypothec ?

Mr. Harper : Yes ; the abolition of that obnoxious law.
The Scotch members were remaining remarkably quiet on
these subjects at present ; but he hoped that they and the
Government would not forget that the representatives of the
agricultural interest in Scotland were just as earnest and
anxious to liave these laws considered and dealt with as they
were during the last election (applause) . Many of tlie farmers
had made preat sacifices in returning Liberal members to Par-
liament (" Hear, hear" from the Chairman). He hoped the
meeting would not misunderstand the ironical " Hear, hear"
of Mr. Scot Skirving (cries of " Hear, hear"). If the Chairman
had been in Perthshire or in Dumfriesshire during the election
contests in these counties, he could not have failed to become
aware of the fact that there were many farmers there who
had made great sacrifices in returning Liberal members
to Parliament. While they desired to see justice done to Ire-

N N

528

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

land, tliey at the same time expected to see justice done to
themselves in regard to the operation of these laws ; and if
that were not done, he believed the country would cry "'shame"
to those Scotcli members who were remaining quiescent in
Parliament on the subject.

Mr. DuRiE asked wliat was the nature of the justice to
Ireland to which Mr. Harper referred P He would ask what
had the Irish done more than the English or Scotch that the
landlords in Ireland were to be deprived of the management

and control of their property ? He could not see that ; but
It that were regarded as giving justice to Ireland, they might
soon have the same justice extended to Scotland

Mr. Harper : At the time of the last election contest, the
great question before the constituencies was that of the Irish
Church. It was the measure on that subject to which I
referred.

The vote of thanks to Mr. Carnegie was then passed unani-
mously.

THE CARRIAGE OF SHEEP.
LINCOLN COUNTY COURT, Monday, May 9th.

Williams v. M. S. and L. Railtvay Company— This
was an action to recover the sum of £49 10s. 2d. for loss sus-
tained by the non-performance of a contract of certain sheep
trom Lincoln to Dublin. A jury was empanelled to try the
case. Mr. Toynbee, in opening the case, said the plaintiff was
Mr. Lharies Wilhams, of Salisbury, who also 'had a farm at
Larlton-le-Moorland, near Liacoln. The defendants were the
Mauchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Company
Ihe action was to recover £49 10s. 2d., the loss alleged to
have been sustained in consequence of the defendants not
having fulfilled a contract made on the 3rd September last for
carrying twenty rams from Lincoln to Dublin. Mr. Williams
was a ram breeder of great eminence, his sheep having at-
tained a great reputation, not only in England, but in Ireland.
UnUie cSrd September, he had twenty rams which he was
anxious should be sent to Dublin as soon as possible, and he con-
tracted with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railwav
Lompany for them to be carried from Lincoln station to Dub-
Jin, by way of Brunswick station at Liverpool, and for their
carriage he paid £7 5s. 9d. The contract, which was in
writing, did not say anything about the conveyance of the
sheep from Liverpool to Dublin, but it was for the defendants
to provide for the same. The shepherd brought the sheep to
Lincoln on Friday, the 3rd September, and they were sent off
by the first train. They reached Liverpool at half-past four
0 clock in the afternoon, and then one of the Company's ser-
vant_s went with the shepherd to within one hundred yards of
the Dublin Steam Packet Company's boat, the Manchester,
&netlield and Lincolnshire Company being connected with that
Packet Company. The shepherd tendered the sheep to the
Packet Company, who refused to forward them. The sheep
had had to walk three miles from the Brunswick Station to
Uie Dock, and in consequence of the refusal by the Packet
Company to take them, the shepherd was obliged to take them
back and provide a place for them. They had to be kept at
Liverpool until the shepherd could communicate with the
auctioneer in Dublin, who was going to sell them. In conse-
quence of the Company's refusal to take the sheep, the shep-
herd was compeUed to take them round from Liverpool to
Holyhead, where they were put on board a vessel and sent to
Uublin. Instead of the sheep being only twenty-four hours
on the jouniey they were ninety-six hours, and when they
arrived at Dublin they were perfectly exhausted, it being im-
possible to get sheep to eat while in a railway carria^-e or on
such a journey The consequence was the animals only fetched
f™"^, f,ll .^0 f 12 a-head. The plaintiff now claimed under
the following-^ heads: £4 13s. 8d. for extra carriage from
Liverpoo to Dublin, via Holyhead ;-£l 5s. for extra expenses
incurred by the shepherd ; £3 for extra food required for the
sheep ; a loss of £2 a head ; and his (Mr. Williams') expenses
atteiidant on the delay ; making a total of £49 10s. 2d —
Richard Simms, shepherd for Mr. Williams, was then called

^Ir n 'ir^'^f'^o '"^ ^'^^ ^'^^'^ °f t^^'-^'ug 1"^ sheep to
Dublin. Oa the 3rd September I brought twenty rams to
Luicoln station. They were to be carried from Lincoln to
Dublin, and I paid £7 5s. 9d. for the carriage. The condi-
n°?n7fl ^t"'?^' were read over to me.-Tl.e note was handed
to'rir! iP T^^l^^ °,"* *^^^* ^^'"^ restriction as to damage
ihpirlfi ' ^} ^-^'^^' ""'^^^ ^ declaration was signed as to
their value and an insurance paid upon them.— IMr. Toynbee
snbinitted that the Railway Company must satisfy the^Jury

that the conditions named were reasonable.— The Judge said
that was a point for the court and not for the jury.— Simms
was further examined and said : We went by the first passenger
, o'n .r *'^'' •^,"''^y morning, and we reached Liverpool at
*.dO the same day. 1 was then three miles from the wharf
where the Dublin steamer was going from. I travelled the
sheep down there. One of the Railway Company's servants
went with me to within 100 yards of the steamer. He pointed
out to me where I was to go, and I then told bun I could find
my way.. I went to the Captain of the steamer, but he re-
fused to take the sheep. I was there half-an-hour before the
time of the packet's departure. The only reason the Captain
gave for refusing to take the sheep was that the foot-and-
mouth disease was bad in England and cattle were not allowed
to go over. When I found I could not get the sheep taken, I
spoke to a man who was going over to Dublin, and asked
liim to name the matter to Mr. Guylan, the auctioneer. I

1 n ?,fu*^/ P^'^'^® ^°^ ^^^ ^^^^''P as «oo" as I could, but it was
lU.dO before I found one. The next day I took train for Holy-
head, and went from thence to Dublin in a vessel. I did not
get into Dublin until Tuesday afternoon, and the sheep were
then in bad condition. I paid ,64 13s. 8d. for their carriage
from Liverpool to Dublin, and the food I had to give them
was worth £2. I was kept on the road three days. When I
brought the sheep to Lincoln, they were sound and active,
and in good health. If I had got them over to Dublin in 24
hours, they would have been all right.— By Mr. Hayward • I
had not been on the direct route from Liverpool to Dublin
before. I had before gone round by Holyhead.— Mr. Wil-
hams, the plaintiff, said ; I live at Salisbury, and also occupy
a farm at Carlton-le-Moorland. I have twice sent sheep to
Dublin. The sheep in dispute were active and in very good
condition when they left my place. I sent them on Friday,
the 3rd September, and they were advertised to be sold on the
following Friday. Had they been properly forwarded they
would have had six days' rest. They had only three days to
recover from a journey of 96 hours, instead of six days for 24
hours. I saw them in Ireland on the Wednesday morning.
Ihey were then m an exhausted state, and I could scarcely
recognise them— Mr. Charles Clarke, of Scopwick, a cele-
brated breeder of rams, said he had heard the evidence given,
and in his opinion the sheep would deteriorate at least £2 a-
head --Mr. Toynbee said he had further similar evidence.—
Mr. Hayward thought it was not necessary.— Mr, Toynbee, on
being pressed by the Judge, admitted that he could not obtain
^T ri^^' ^^' '^^ainied by the plaintiff as personal expenses.
—Mr. Hayward said he would submit to a verdict for the ex-
penses incurred, but not for the deterioration, as he held there
was a determination of the contract by the plaintiff's shep-
herd taking the sheep away from the Company and forwarding
them by Holyhead.— On Simms being interrogated, he said
that the officials at Brunswick station told him they could not
forward the sheep to Dublin by their route.— The Judge sug-
gested that a verdict for £27 18s. 8d. should be taken on the
ground of the condition of the note.— Mr. Toynbee argued
against the same, but his Honour held that the condition was
not unreasonable, and he therefore directed the jury to return
a verdict for the plaintiff for £27 18s. 8d., being at the rate of
£1 a-head for the deterioration of the sheep, and £7 18s. 8d.
for the extra costs incurred.

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

529

THE PRICE OF WHEAT IN AMERICA.

Letters from New York complaining of the low price
of wheat continue to be received here, lamenting the
almost fatal influence this depression exercises upon the
agriculture of the United States. We have on various
occasions endeavom-ed to show the farmers of that, country
that the principle on which they are acting must neces-
sarily produce a fall of prices on the markets to
the supply of which their shipments of wheat are des-
tined ; and although the exaggerated estimates of both
what they do and what they could do for that purpose
are little to be depended on, we see enough to be con-
vinced that any extraordinary efforts on their parts or
any superabundant produce of the land under culture
must seriously affect the European markets. The
farmers have no other outlet for the excess over the home
demand, and the sale of the surplus is what they look to
as the only source of the remuneration of the year's work.
Some of their statisticians assure us they would be able to
supply the whole of Europe with bread-corn ; and we will
agree with them if they will allow us to add the Jword
if to the boast, there being two impediments to its
fulfilment, under which anything approaching to this is
simply impossible. The first is the want of hands to cul-
tivate the soil; the second, that whilst the expense of
production would indefinitely increase, the return price
would in an inverse proportion decrease as indefinitely.
These two obstacles woidd effectually frustrate the object
of raising the produce — namely, a living profit — which is
the only aim of the producer.

We have had a small taste of what any operation of the
kind would have, both here and in America ; but small
(comparatively) as the experiment is, it is quite sufficient
to justify us in saying that the farmers of the United States
cannot increase their wheat culture to any considerable
extent without so reducing the price in Europe, and con-
sequently in their own markets as well, as to render its
culture impossible. jThe entire amount of wheat and
flour imported herein 1869 was 10,416,159 quarters, of
which 3,588,984 quarters, or upwards of one-third, was
from the United States, being more than double what was
shipped thence to the United Kingdom in 1868. A
large proportion, too, of this was sent during the last
four months of the year, which, coupled with increasing
shipments fi-om other countries, caused the unnatural de-
pression on the corn markets, both here and in all foreign
countries. In the United States the effect was felt more
powerfully than even with us. The price of wheat at
Chicago, on the third Monday in April, 1869, wasl dol.
47c. per bushel (or 6s. l^d.), and in January, 1870,
it had fallen to 76c. per bushel (or 3s. 2d.). " It would
be useless," says one writer on the subject, " to seek for
the causes that have concurred to produce such a reduc-
tion ; but I ought to point out at least the influence that
the exchange of gold, which has fallen to 120 (114?),
has exercised upon the movement by destroying the con-
fidence of the holders, and rendering loans difficult to
those merchants who, having hope in the future, wish to
continue holding their wheats. Thus, they were com-
pelled, under the most unfavourable circumstances, to
overstock the markets with large quantities of wheat and
flour ; but the principal cause of the decline is ' specula-
tion for a rise,' in which they engaged on the ground of
the very deficient retm-ns of the previous harvest in
Europe. We must no longer charge speculation with
producing the price of 3 dols. 10c. (12s. lid.) per

bushel, paid in April, 1867, but with reducing the price
to 1 dol. 20c. (5s.) per bushel, which lately has been the
price of the same wheat."

Former speculation may have had something to do
with the very high price of 1867, and a similar operation
has certainly contributed to the present very low one ;
but, on the other hand, the American writers wholly
ignore the fact that it is on account of the over -supply of
the European markets that in both countries the farmers
are complaining that the price of wheat is unremuuerative.
There is a third reason for this result, which, indeed, we
have too frequently urged for the reader to be ignorant
of it. Taking Chicago for our stand-point, the expense
of getting grain to the eastern seaboard cannot be reduced.
On the contrary, every mile the cultivation is di-iven
farther westward increases the expense both of cultivation
and of transit ; whilst the sparseness of the population
renders the local demand so small as to make it a mere
trifle in comparison with the production. The growers,
therefore, must depend almost whoUy on the exportation
to Europe, to get rid of the surplus of their wheat ; and
should the increase with which the markets of Europe are
threatened take place, it wiU very soon destroy itself, for
to a certainty such an increase would produce, while it
lasted, a permanent depression in prices in Europe. This
would, in tm-n, react upon America, and thus the only
object of such over-production would be defeated, namely,
a living profit ; and if this is rendered permanently im-
possible, production must necessarily cease beyond the
extent of supplying a legitimate demand.

A French gentleman. Count Fouchet de Careil, has re-
cently returned from the United States, and brought with
him some alarming ideas on this subject. From what
he has seen and heard, he thinks that the European
markets are threatened with a future inundation of Avheat,
to the utter ruin of the agriculture of France and England
in particular, and low prices in the exporting countries of
the continent. He speaks of new settlements m the Far
West threaded with -railways, which facilitate and expedite
the conveyance of agricultural produce to the eastern
shippins; ports. This is all very true ; but it is equaUy
true, in" America as in England, that railways are expen-
sive'modes of conveying merchandize when they have a
monopoly, and no competition. All the efforts of the
merchants of Chicago and the other lake ports of the
north-west have failed in prevailing on the railway
authorities to lower the charges on wheat from thence to
New York, which are found to be too heavy, to enable the
merchants to ship at that port to advantage. The con-
sequence is that no wheat is forwarded thither by rail,
except on an emergency, when the price at New York is
so much above that at Chicago, as to make it remu-
nerative. .

After all, so far as regards the immediate future, the
stocks of wheat at the two depots— New York and
Chicago— are not so overwhelming as to threaten Europe
with a surfeit. It appears that on the sixth of March
last there was certainly not more than 7,000,000 bushels,
or 875,000 quarters of wheat in stock at both places.
A large portion of this will be required for home con-
sumption. That portion of it at Chicago destined for
the United Kingdom will not reach us before June, at
which time our stocks will begin to run short, as they do
at the present moment. For it must be taken into ac-
1 count that the crops of wheat of 1869 were very defi-

N N 2

530

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

eient, and would require an importation for the season of
not less than ten million quarters to meet the consump-
tion. There is a considerable amount of wheat daily
expected from San Francisco, which, however, cannot
much affect prices in the present state of the trade, al-
though, if the shipments are large, it is probable that,
for the moment, it may i)roduce a depression on the
market. What may come from New York when the
supplies from Chicago have arrived there it is impossible
to say ; but it is stated by some correspondents that the
financial difficulties of many of the holders of wheat,
who accepted bills, or borrowed money otherwise, upon
the security of their stocks, and are now called upon to
refund, will probably compel them to send considerable
supplies to Europe.

There is another circumstance, relating to the season,
that will have some influence on prices, namely, the late-
ness of the harvest here, which, in consequence of the
ungenial weather of the spring up to the present moment,
accompanied, as it is, with a severe drought, cannot be
but backward, 'even if no accident otherwise happens
to the crops. This will add probably nearly a
month to the requirements of the consumption be-
tween harvest and harvest, by which the stocks of both
native and foreign wheat will be proportionately reduced.
Both, in fact, have already been considerably trenched
upon during the first four months of the present year.
The deliveries of English wheat were much greater
than in the corresponding period of last year; and
the stocks of foreign wheat are also largely reduced.
la fact, the price of wheat has for some time been

lower in Mark Lane than at moat of the country
markets, so that the millers have found an advantage
in purchasing here, of which they have availed them-
selves to an unusual extent, and this in spite of the larger
delivery of English wheat at the country markets. It
appears that at 150 markets (about one-tenth of the
kingdom) the return of sales of wheat from the 5th
March to the 16th April 1870, exceeded those for the
same period in 1869 by 75,500 quarters ; so that, if this
be a fair estimate of all the markets, by multiplying it by
ten, it gives an aggregate excess of delivery for the whole
kingdom of 755,000 qrs. over that of 1869 in six weeks.

Returning again to the American side of the question,
we would say, that we have no fear that the ship-
ments from that country will persistently exceed our
requirements. For the present, perhaps, the embarrass-
ments of the speculators will compel them to force the
market at any price, in order to meet their engagements.
" But," says one writer from New York, " the serious
losses sustained during the last few months have destroyed
the spirit of speculation, and this circumstance is unfavour-
able to an advance in price, and besides, we expect large
arrivals (at New York) in the spring, as well as financial
difficulties, in consequence of the largeness of the stocks
on hand. All this renders the future of the trade very
doubtful, and it is impossible to form a safe conclusion.'"'
But whatever may be the present result, if the American
farmers are wise they will take warning from this mis-
adventure, not to extend their production beyond the
probable demand. The merchants know how to take
care of themselves.

THE CENTRAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,— I am surprised to see that there are some few
farmers who appear annoyed at the course you have taken
in reference to the proceedings of the Central Chamber
of Agriculture.

Permit me to say a few words on the one question
above all others which that body so persistently advocates,
viz., the great injustice, as they allege, of the exemption
of personal property from contributing towards the re-
lief of the poor, &c.

I need not, I am sure, remind your readers of the in-
numerable resolutions that the Central Chamber has
passed on this subject ; but, at their last meeting, finding
the Government does not accede to their demands, they
pass a number of protests :

(1). "This Council repeats its protests against the
present unjust exemption of personal property from con-
tributing," &e., &c.

(2). " That the order in which the Government have
indicated their intention of considering the subject of
local taxation is irregular and inexpedient," &c., &c.

The third winds up thus :

" This Council protests against any such measures be-
ing accepted," &c.

Now, it is a very sorry thing to be driven to protest-
ing after this fashion ; but I am astonished that any
tenant-farmer will give his time and money in support-
ing the Central Chamber on this question.

See ^what .Mr. Andrews himself savs in his evidence
before the Committee now sitting on the matter. To Mr. I
It (the Rate) has diminished the profits in pro-

Pell

portion, and many a man has gone down to ruin quietly
through the increased burden of the poor-rate." lii
answer to the Chairman, Mr. Andrews said that " he
should think the rates represented quite one-third of the
profits ;" and in reply to this further question, " And still
you hold that if you paid only £90 instead of £180, you
would not be able to get more rent from anyone bidding
for the farm ?" A. " Certainly I should : / should f/et
£90 a year more ; that is very c/ear."

Notwithstanding, therefore, many a tenant " has gone
down to ruin quietly through the increased burden of the
poor-rate," by whatever amount his rate is to be reduced,
by so much is his rent to be increased. " That is very
clear," says Mr. Andrews, the grand mover in this mat-
ter at the Council of the Central Chamber of Agricul-
ture. I trust the eyes of the tenants will soon be opened
to the way in which they are being befooled by that
body.

In conclusion allow me to thank you for the course
you have taken, and, at the same time, to record my
" protest" against any idea that the Central Chamber of
Agriculture may be taken as representing the

Tenant Farmer.

P.S. I am pleased to see that the Government has
taken up the inquiry from the point of view which Mr.
Dashwood brought forward in his excellent paper on
local taxation, read at the Farmers' Club in April, 1869.

[Mr. Dashwood has recently been called as a witness
before the Local Taxation Committee. I

THE l^ARMER'S MAGAZINE.

331

THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURER ON THE CONTINENT.

The official reports as to the tenure of land, in
foreign countries, to which we have already alluded,
furnish some interesting details as to the condition and
usages of the agricultural lahourers on the Continent,
which may be usefully cited for comxiarison with the
condition of our own labourers, and which will go far to
prove that there are many advantages here in favour of
our own agricultural labourers, as regards food, wages,
and dwellings. We pass over some of the less important
countries of Europe, considered in an agricultural point
of view, confining ourselves to those which may be con-
sidered the most prominent and noteworthy.

If wc take first the Prussian monarchy, out of a purely
agricultural population of about 9,500,000, fully 2,000,000
are agricultural labourers, and their families and de-
pendants more than another 2,000,000. A very con-
siderable portion of these arc either owners or tenants of
land, who work as day labourers at harvest and other
times. The day wages are apparently higher than the
wages of the farm and field labourers who are employed
by the year ; but if allowance be made for the risk of
want of work, and for other incidents of the day labourers'
earnings, they are not really higher, but, on the con-
trary, he probably is in a worse position than the regu-
larly engaged farm labourer. This difference is his
payment for his independence and family life. It is
seldom the custom to ])ay all the wages in money;
very frequently the farm-servants are boarded at the
farm-house. In other cases the payment is chiefly made
in kind.

The rate of a day labourer's wages is of great econo-
mical importance. In Prussia the wages of the farm
labourer by the year are, for a man, as a rule, 60s. to
90s., up to, in some manufacturing districts, 105s. ; for
a girl 36s. to 60s. a-year, and in better neighbourhoods
75s., and even 90s. In the smaller peasant farms the
general farm-servant has a smaller wage, but an allow-
ance in clothing and linen. The board of a general
farm-servant consists usually of four meals in summer
and three in winter; in the morning, milk, flour-
porridge or grotes, and dried peas and potatoes ; at
midday vegetables and dumplings, sometimes with meat,
and sometimes without ; at vesper-time, milk -porridge,
or clotted milk, with bread, and a little brandy ; in the
evening, potatoes with herrings, and porridge, and on fete
days roast meat, with white or fancy bread. Half-a-
pound or three-quarters of a pound of meat is given at
dinner two or three times a week ; on the larger farms it
is not unusual to substitute for board a payment in kind.
Thus for a man, lOi- bushels of rye, the same of barley,
3 of peas, 18 of potatoes, 3i bushels of corn, one-quarter
of an ox as meat, or 21s., half a lean pig, or 15s., and
12s. for herrings, salt, and pot-money. In winter a
pint, and in summer a quart, of milk, daily, firing free,
and on fete days beer and brandy. The varieties of this
plan are numerous.

Free labour is taking the place of contract labourers
bound to the farm, and paid in kind for the most part.
The labourer now receives a house free, potato-land, pas-
turage for a pig, and medical attendauce. The man is
bound to work throughout the year at a daily wage of 6d.
to Is., the women in the summer at 5d. to 7d. I'or
piece-work the pay is, mowing 13d. to 21d. the acre, for
digging potatoes O^d. to lid. per bushel ; dressing with
marl 13s. 6d. per acre, with mould 27s. per acre.

In Pomerania the wages vary much, the lowest rates
for a man are 54s. to 75s. the year, the highest 120s. to
150s., with board. The instances cited will suffice to
indicate the modes and details of paying the agricultural
labourer, but a few striking variations maj be cited as
regards other provinces. In Posen the farm servant
receives a computed annual value of £10 10s. to £13 10s.
Meat is seldom allowed. The married farm man receives
£18 to £20 a year. In Silesia the man receives a com-
puted annual value at the lower rates of £9 to £10 up to
£15 the highest, half a pound of meat is allowed twice a
week. In Westphalia the wage is high, and the board
very good. Meat is generally allowed every day, and on
many farms beer is given. Coflee is allowed on morning and
afternoon. Men's wages are from £3 to £7 10s. a year,
and women's £3 to £1 10s. On the smaller peasant
properties the wage is rather less, but the man gets a pair
of boots and three shirts, and the woman a pair of shoes
and linen for two or three chemises. As it is the local
custom to wash linen only two or three times a year, each
person requires a good stock. Hence also this is a reason
for payment in kind taking the form of shirts.

In all parts the agricultural labourer appears to be con-
tented. Often two or three families live in the same
small dwelling— sometimes with only one small room for
sleeping, living, and cooking in. The labourers arc
seldom thrifty. They live from hand to mouth. The
humble prosperity of tlie family depends upon the kind
of wife, other things being equal. If she be not a good
manager, the wolf is always at the door.

In the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, the day labourer,
who lives in the house and is fed, receives £5 5s. to £7
10s. a year ; a woman £2 14s. to £3 15s. Some day
labourers also live with and are fed by the landowners, iu
which case a man receives 6d. a day, a female 3d. to 4d.
If not fed, lid. to Is. 2d., and females 7d. to 9d.
Generally speaking, a day labourer with a family is far
from well off, if he does not possess a house and sufficient
garden, or hired ground to enable him to grow potatoes
enough for his family, and for feeding a pig. Notwith-
standing the pitiful state of such people, it is seldom that
they blame or reproach their employers ; their only wish
is to give up agricultural life, and find work in some
other branch of industry.

The labourer in Denmark receives from 7s. 6d. to 9s.
a week, the hours of labour being twelve or thirteen in
the summer, and while daylight lasts in winter. When
the employer provides the food, the wages may run from
2s. 6d. to 5s. a week. He is not much worse fed than
the Somersetshire labourer, although wheaten bread and
bacon must in themselves be more nutritious than rye-
bread and cold salt pork. The Danish master is far
worse clothed than the English peasant, and above all far
worse housed. The charges for the relief of the agrieul-
tuial poor are on the increase iu Denmark, being about
2s. per head for the country population.

I a Belgium the day labourer earns about Is. per day,
and pays about lOd. a week rent for a cottage. In some
parts of the kingdom the wages of the agricultural la-
bourer reaches Is. 8d. a day, without food. When fed
by his employer, he is content with rye-bread, potatoes,
and curds, with occasionally a bit of bacon or salt meat.
At his own cottage his food is still worse.

In France the farm-servant mostly lives under the
same roof and eats with the master, and in fact forms part

632

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of his family. They are, however, comparatively few in
number. Their wages now average from £10 to £12 a
year for meu, and from £5 to £7 for women, lodged and
fed at a cost of about £10 a year per head. The hired
day labourers receive from Is. to 2s. per day, and women
from 6d. to Is. They are fed at a cost of about 8d. per
head per day. Female labour is much employed, more
especially in the northern departements, and this would
seem to be a natural consequence of small holdings. On
an average the wages of the female labourer are one-half
those of the male. The emigration of the country popu-
lation to the great towns is daily increasing, and has ad-
vanced the price of day labour. It may be said that the
wages of the day labourer have increased one-third within
the last thirty years, and he can earn on an average 2s.
6d. to 3s. a day.

We conclude with a few words on the condition of the
agricultural labourer in Portugal. Here, the vigour and

growth of the rural population are stated to be stunted by
the large quantities of vegetable food (especially pulse)
which they are compelled to consume, in order to obtain
the quantum of nitrogenous substances essential to life.
Pot-herbs, a little rice, chestnuts, and scanty rations of
fish constitute, with the vegetables, the maintenance and
sustenance of the rural classes. Meat is never eaten, ex-
cept perhaps on a few holidays of the year. The people
live and labour — or it may be more correctly said that
in many parts of the country they only vegetate — and are
too weak and too little energetic for the physical efforts
demanded of them. The average wages of hired labourers
throughout the country may be stated at Is. 3d. a day
for men, and 5d. for women.

The data we have cited from this Parliamentary Re-
port will serve to convey a fair average idea of the con-
dition of the agricultural labourer in the chief countries of
Europe, as compared with England and Wales.

THE TRANSIT OF STOCK,

At a meeting of the Council of the Central Chamber
of Agriculture, in the autumn of last year, a circular
letter from the Privy Council oflSce, on the transit of
animals, came uud<er consideration. In reply certain
points were taken up which Colonel Tomliuc, M.P., the
Chairman, characterized as " very good resolutions," al-
though " in his opinion they would not have the slightest
effect upon the Government or upon railway companies."
But then this gallant gentleman has clearly not formed
any very high estimate of any " effects" that may follow
from the proceedings at his Chamber, as only a month or
so siace in opening the business he declared with all
sufficient emphasis that " practically they had done no-
thing," and "that they had not advanced one step."
We confess that we are inclined to give the Central
Chamber more credit than is allowed by its own Presi-
dent, if only in this matter of the transit of stock. As
we showed at the time the resolutions of the Chamber
came in support of, as they were in fact but an echo of
the answer agreed to at the Farmers' Club on the pre-
vious day. Some original notions of some of the mem-
bers of Council were very dutifully struck out, as in the
end nothing could well be more unanimous than the re-
plies sent in to Mr. Tennant from the two Societies.
Now, we are by no means here prepared to maintain
that the Chamber of Agriculture was, as its Chairman
would have it, working "without the slightest effects."
In backing the opinion of the Farmers' Club it is pro-
bable enough the demonstration from the Central Cham-
ber really had some weight with the Government, how-
ever little inclined a Minister may be to pay any atten-
tion to its curious complications over the adjustment
of local burdens, its impractical substitutes for the malt
tax, or its do-nothing policy as regards the game abuse.

But we differ even further with the Chairman of the
Central Chamber. From the first we have maintained
that the present Government, liberal though it might be,
was not altogether indifferent to the claims of agriculture ;
as we have repeatedly expressed our conviction that more
might be expected of it in certain directions than even
from oar own County Party. Over such questions
as the cattle plague, or the rabbit evil, the farmer
looked to be in good hands, although it has been the
fashion in some quarters to say otherwise. In dealing,
in fact, with the diseases of stock, we felt that Mr.
Forster was as much to be trusted as Lord Robert
Montagu himself, even if he had not " |bound him-

self down to any one very particular spot as the site
for a foreign market. At the solution of this difficulty
we have not yet arrived, although the business is fast
ripening ; but in the interim something has been done in
other ways. Colonel Tomline said, as Chairman of his
Chamber, that any representation to the Government on
improving the cari'iage of stock would not have the
slightest effect, and it may be interesting to see how far
this impression has been confirmed.

As a merely second-hand Society, at least in this
business, we may set aside the Centi-al Chamber of
Agriculture, and compare the new Orders as they
appear in The Gazette with the resolutions for-
warded from the Farmers' Club to the Privy Council
Office in October. The first recommendation from
the Club ran thus : " That,' all trucks for the con-
veyance of animals u])on railways should be fitted with
spring buffers." And the Lords of the Council now order,
as the first condition for the better transit of animals by
railway that, " From and after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand eight hundred aod seventy,
every truck used for carrying animals on a railway shall
be provided with spring buffers, and the floor thereof
shall have proper battens or other foot-holds thereon."
The second point taken by the Club was, " That, in order
to prevent the injurious effects upon the animals by the
shunting of the trains and from other causes, the trucks
should be divisible iuto compartments ;" and, " That
the vessels should be divided or divisible into compart-
ments in the same way the Committee has recommended
for railway trucks." It is right to say that some mem-
bers of the Committee of the Club were not so clear as to
the advantage which would follow from such divisible
compartments, and the recommendation is only adopted
so far as regards vessels where, in the places used for ani-
mals, the follov/ing regulations shall have effect : " Every
such place shall be divided into pens by substantial
divisions. — Each pen shall not exceed nine feet in
breadth, or fifteen feet in length. — The floor of each pen
shall have proper battens or other foot-holds thereon."
The Committee of the Farmers' Club proceeds to advise
" That, animals should not be upon a railway for more
than twelve hours without water ; and that railway com-
panies should be compelled to provide means for the pro-
per watering of cattle before loading." — And " That, any
appliances for the watering of animals should be attached
either to the carriages, or troughs should be so placed at

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

633

the stations, that auimals travelling for more than twelve
consecutive hours can drink from such troughs without
being removed from the trucks." And the Lords of Her
Majesty's most honourable Privy Council " do hereby
direct that the Railway Companies working the railways
named in the Schedule to this Order shall, at each of
their respective stations named in that Schedule, provide
water for animals carried or about to be or having been
carried on the railway of the Company." The list of these
watering stations, which we give in another part of our
Paper, runs already to over three hundred. With re-
spect to the feeding of cattle travelling by railway, the
Committee of the Club was " of opinion that there are
great difficulties in the adoption of any plan, and is not
sure that the feeding is necessary or desirable ;" and no
mention or Order is given for providing food for beasts
moving inland. The Club report says, " That, all vessels
for the conveyance of cattle should be licensed for the
purpose ; and that the number of animals such vessels
should be laden with be defined on the same principle
as is adopted with emigrant sliips;" and the new Or-
ders that, " From and after the thirty-first day of October,
one thousand eight hundred and seventy, animals landed
from a vessel shall, on a certificate of an Inspector ap-
pointed by the Privy Council in that behalf certifying," &c.
Finally, the Club states " That pleuro-pneumonia and
other diseases are no doubt engendered by the exposure
to which animals are subjected on landing, and that
sheltered accommodation should be provided on their
disembarking;" and the new Orders provide that " At
every place where animals are landed from vessels, provi-
sion shall be made, to the satisfaction of the Privy
Council, for the speedy and convenient unshipmcnt of
animals, and for a supply of food for them." It will be
thus seen that there is not a single recommendation
emanating from the Farmers' Club but that has had its
weight with the CouncU, while some further provision is
made for the cleansing and disinfecting of vessels, pens,
and vehicles. If the new Orders show any want or
weakness, it is that the overcrowding, as the Club
puts it, is not sufficiently defined, as this would seem
to be a matter left almost altogether to the judgment and
discretion of the Inspector.

"The action of the Irish Government has probably
saved those who are engaged in exporting cattle from
Ireland from the possibility of being placed in a very
disagreable dilemma ; and it is to be hoped therefore that
all concerned wiU unite in assisting the Government to
carry out the provisions of the recent order in the most
effectual manner. It is in this way we shall give our
customers on the other side of the Channel the best
guarantee of our earnestness, and there is no doubt but
that in a very short time the beneficial results of such a
coui'se will be sufficiently evident." So says the Irish
Tarmers' Gaxetie of only Saturday last, when referring
to the orders recently issued for the suppression of
pleuro-pneumonia in the Sister Kingdom. We would
thus seem to be making some progress in every way ;
and yet to what continual misrepresentation, if not
something worse, has the present Government been
subjected ! The Chairman of the Central Chamber of
Agriculture, although sitting on the same side of the
House, has no confidence in the Ministry as regards the
claims of Agriculture ; while the Home Cattle Defence
Association is always indignantly protesting about some-
thing which the Government has, or has not done. But
a foreign cattle market may follow, and then even that
curiously-constituted body should be satisfied. There
are, however, some Societies that have been inclined to
give the Government credit for better intentions. On
introducing a deputation from the Farmers' Club, in the
spring of last yeai*, Mr. James Howard, M.P., said,

addressing the Vice-President of the Council, " The
deputation, sir, does not come before you with any hos-
tile feelings towards the measure which you have intro-
duced in Parliament; on the contrary, they see in it much-
that is wise and good. I feel, and I believe the members
of the Club generally feci, that the Government has
acted wisely in bringing in a measure of consolidation.
We also think you have acted wisely in introducing
clauses dealing with other diseases besides rinderpest,
whether they be of home growth or of foreign production."
Whereas the mouth-pieces of the Chamber of Agricul-
ture have put it all the other way. They would have led
the country to believe that Mr. Lowe was going to repeal
the malt tax, and that the Government would pay no
heed to any suggestions on the carriage of stock. Surely
such cross-readings as these are calculated to do a deal
more harm than good.

[From the London Gazette, Friday, May 13.]

At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 12th day of May>
1870, present, Lord President, Mr. Secretary Bruce, Mr-
Forster,

The Lords and others of Her Majesty's most honourable
Privy Council, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in
them vested under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act,
1809, and of every other power enabling them in this behalf,
do order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows : —

Pretumnary. — 1. This order may be cited as the Transit of
Animals Order of May, 1870. 2. This order extends to Great
Britain only. 3. In this order words have the same meaning
as ill the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1869, save that
the term " animal" extends to all ruminating animals and to
horses. 4?. Article 21 of the Contagious Diseases (Animals)
Order of August, 1869, is hereby revoked.

Transit of Animals I)i/ Sea. — 5. With respect to places used
for animals on board vessels, the following regulations shall
have etfect from and after the thirty-first day of July, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy : — (1.) Every such place
shall be divided into pens by substantial divisions. (2.) Each
pen shall not exceed nine feet in breadth, or fifteeu feet in
length. (3.) The floor of each pen shall have proper battens
or other foot-holds thereon. (4.) Every such place, if
inclosed, shall be ventilated by means of separate inlet
and outlet openings, of such size and position as will se-
cure a proper supply of air to the place in all states
of weather. 6. Between each first day of November and
the next following thirtietli day of April (both days inclusive),
freshly shorn sheep shall not be carried on the deck of a vessel.
7. When sheep are carried on the deck of a vessel, proper
gangways shall be provided either between or above the pens
in which the sheep are carried. 8. From and after the thirty-
first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy,
animals landed from a vessel shall, on a certificate of an
inspector appointed by the Privy Council in that behalf, certi-
fying to the effect that the foregoing regulations, or some or
one of them, have not or has not been observed in the vessel,
be detained, under the supervision of the Commissioners of
Her Majesty's Customs, at the landing-place, or in lairs adja-
cent thereto, until the Privy Council otherwise direct.

Cleansing and Bisinfecting of Vessels. — 9. Every vessel
used for carrying animals shall, after the close of each voyage,
and before any fresh cargo is taken on board, be cleansed and
disinfected in manner following; (1.) By the sweeping out
of the hold and every other part of the vessel used for animals,
and the effectual removal therefrom of all dung and litter,
and of all ashes, sand, sawdust, and other matter with which
animals or their droppmgs have come in contact : (2.) Then
by the thorough washing of the same parts of the vessel with
water : (3.) Then by the application to the sides, floor,
and ceiling of the hold and to every other part of the
vessel with which animals or tlieir dropping have come
in contact, of a coating of Hraewash made by mixing
good freshly-burnt lime with water, and containing in each
gallon of limewash either one-fifth of a pint of commer-
cial carbolic acid, or one-fifth of a pint of commercial cresylic
acid, or four ovmces of fresh dry cliloride of lime, such lime-

S34

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

wasli to be jirepared iiuraeJiately before use. The sweepings
of the vessel shall be well mixed with quicklime, and effectu-
ally removed from contact with animals.

Shipping and Vnshippiiig Plitces. — 10. At every place where
animals are put on board of or landed from vessels, provision
shall be made, to the satisfaction of the Privy Council, for a
supply of water for animals; and water shall be supplied
there gratuitously, on request of any person in charge of
any animals. 11. At every place where animals are
landed from vessels, provision shall be made, to the
satisfaction of the privy Council, for the speedy and
convenient unshipment of animals, and for a supply
of food for them ; and food shall be supplied there, on request
of any person in charge of any animals, at such price as the
Privy Council, from time to time, approve.

Transit of Animals by Railway. — 12. From and after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and
seventy, every truck used for carrying animals on a railwav
shall be provided with spring buffers, and the floor thereo'f
shall have proper battens or other foot-holds thereon. 13.
From and after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight
liundred and seventy, a railway company shall not allow any
truck used for carrying animals on their railway to be over-
crowded so as to cause unnecessary suffering to the animals
therein. 14. Between each first day of November and the
next following thirtieth day of April (both days inclusive),
trucks used for carrying on a railway sheep freshly shorn and
unclothed shall be covered and inclosed so as to protect the
sheep from the weather, but shall be properly ventilated.

Cleansing andBisinfecling of Pens and Vehicles.— lb. Every
pen, carriage, truck, horse-box, or vehicle used for carrying
animals on land shall, on every occasion after any animal is
taken out of tlie same, and before any other animal is placed
therein, be cleansed and disinfected in manner following:
(1.) By the sweeping out ol the pen, carriage, truck, horse-
box, or vehicle, and the effectual removal therefrom of all
dung, sawdust, litter, and other matter : (3.) Then by the
thorough washing of the pen, carriage, truck, horse-box, or
vehicle with water : (3.) Then in case of a pen, carriage, or
truck, by the application to the floor and to all parts above
the floor with which animals or their droppings have come in
contact, of a coating of limewash made by mixing good freshly
burnt lime with water, and containing in each gallon of lime-
wash either one-fifth of a pint of commercial carbolic acid, or
one-fifth of a pint of commercial cresylic acid, or four ounces
of fresh dry chloride of lime, such limewash to be prepared
immediately before use. The sweepings of the pen, carriage,
truck, horse-box, or vehicle shall be well mixed with quick-
lime and effectually removed from contact with animals.

Penalties. — 16. If anything is doue or omitted to be done
in contravention of any of the regulations of this Order, the
owner and the master or person having charge or command of
the vessel in which, — and the owner and the occupier of the
place where animals are put on board of or landed from vessels
at which, — and the company carrying animals on or owning
or workinsr a railway on which, — and also in case of the
overcrowding of a truck on a railway, or of the carrying on a
railway of sheep freshly shorn and unclothed, the consignor of
the animals in respect of which, — (as the case may be,) such
thing is doue or omitted, shall severally be deemed guilty of
an offence against this Order. 17. Provided, that no person
shall be liable to a penalty under this Order in respect of
sheep as freshly shorn, where it is proved that the sheep have
not been shorn within sixty days before the time of the com-
mission of the alleged offence.

Arthur Helps.
At the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 12th day of May,
1870; by the Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable
Privy Council. The Lords and others of Her Majesty's most
Honourable Privy Council, by virtue and in exercise of the
powers in them vested under the Contagious Diseases (Ani-
mals) Act, 1869, and of every other power enabling them in
this behalf, do hereby direct that the railway companies work-
ing tlie railways named in the Schedule to this order shall, at
each of their respective stations named in that Schedule, pro-
vide water for animals carried or about to be or having been
carried on the railway of the company.

This Order may be cited as tiie Transit of Animal (Water)
Order of May, 1S70. Arthur Helps.

SCHEDULE.

Name of Station. Name of Railway.

Aberdeen Caledonian

Accrington Lancashire and Yorkshire

Alford Great Northern

Almond Bank Caledonian

Alyth Caledonian

Ampthill Midland

Annan Glasgow and South-Western

Arbroath Caledonian

Ardler Caledonian

Ardrossan Glasgow and South- Western

Arundel London, Brighton, and South

Coast

Ashbourne North Staffordshire

Ashton Lancashire and Yorkshire

Aspatria Mary port and Carlisle

Auchterarder Caledonian

Aylesbury (Junction with Lon- Aylesbury and Buckingham
don and North - Western
Railway) ...

Ayr Glasgow and South- Western

^='cup Lancashire and Yorkshire

Balfour Forth and Clyde Junction

Banbury Great Western

Barnet Great Northern

Barnsley Lancashire and Yorkshire

Barrow Furness

Beattock Caledonian

Bedford London and North- Western

Bedford Midland

Birkenhead (New Station) ... Great Western

Birkenhead (Joint Station) . , . London and North-Western

Birmingham Great Western

Birmingham London and North-Western

Birmingham Midland

Bishops Strotford Great Eastern

Blackburn Lancashire and Yorkshire

Blackford Caledonian

Blairgowrie Caledonian

Bletchley London and North-Western

Bly the Bridge North Staffordshire

Bolton ... ... ... Lancashire and Yorkshire

Bolton London and North-Western

Boston Great Northern

Bradford Lancashire .ind Yorkshire

Bradford Midland

Braintree Great Eastern

Brechin Caledonian

Bridge of Dun Caledonian

Bristol Great Western

Bristol Midland

Brockholes Lancashire and Yorkshire

Broughty Ferry Caledonian

Builth Mid Wales

BuUgill Maryport and Carlisle

Burton Midland

Bury Lancashire and Yorkshire

Bury St. Edmunds Great Eastern

Buxton Midland

Callander Caledonian

Cambridge Great Eastern

Cambridge London and North-Western

Cardiff Rhymney

Carlisle Caledonian

Carlisle Loudon and North-Western

Carlisle Maryport and Carlisle

Carmarthen Llanelly Railway and Dock

Carnoustie Caledonian

Ca.stle Douglas Glasgow and South- Western

Chatburn ... ... ... Lancashire and Yorkshire

Chelmsford Great Eastern

Chester (Joint Station) ... London and North-Western

Chesterfield Midland

Chichester London, Brighton, & S. Coast

Chippenham Great Western

Cleckeaton Lancashire and Yorkshire

Clitheroe Lancashire and Yorkshire

Colchester \ Great Ea.stern

Cougleton North Staffordshire

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

535

Cooper Bridge
Corweu
Coupar Angus
Creetown
Crewe

Crieff

Croston

Denny

Derby

Dereham

Dewsbury

Didcot

Diss ...
Doncaster

Doncaster

Dubton

Dumfries

Dumfries
Dunblane
Dundee
Dunmow
Dunning
Ecclefechau ...
Edinburgh ...
Elstree

Ely

Eppmg

Errol

Evesham

Fakenham ...
Falkirk Tryst Sidings
Fleetwood

Forfar

Glasgow

Glasgow

Gloucester ...

Gloucester ...

Goole

Grantham

Greenock

Guthrie

Gwyddelwern

Hadleigh

Hailsham

Halifax

Harlington ...

Harlow

Harrow

Harwich

Heckmondwike

Hendon

Hereford

Hereford (Joint Station)

Hertford

High Bridge...

Highlandmau

Hindley

Hitchiu

Hitchin

Hoghton

Holloway

Holyhead

Horsham

Huntingdon ..

Ipswich

Kendal

Kentish Town

Kettering

Kib worth

Kilmarnock ...

Kinbuck

Knottingley ...

Lancaster

Larbert

Laurencekirk

Leeds

Leeds

Leeds

Leeds

Leek

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Western

Caledonian

Caledonian

London and Nortli-Western

Caledonian

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Caledonian

Midland

Great Eastern

London and North-Western

Great Western

Great Eastern

Great Nosthern

Midland

Caledonian

Caledonian

Glasgow and South- Western

Caledonian

Caledonian

Great Eastern

Caledonian

Caledonian

Caledonian

Midland

Great Eastern

Great Eastern

Caledonian

Midland

Great Eastern

Caledonian

Lancashire and Y'orksliire

Caledonian

Caledonian

Glasgow and South- Western

Great Western

Midland

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Northern

Caledonian

Caledonian

Denbigh, Ruthin, and Corwen

Great Eastern

London, Brighton, & S- Coast

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Midland

Great Eastern

Londonn and North- Western

Great Eastern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Midland

Great AVestern

London and North-Western

Great Eastern

Somerset and Dorset

Caledonian

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Northern

Midland

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Nortliern

London and North- Western

London, Brighton, & S. Coast

Great Northern

Great Eastern

London and North-Western

Midland

Midland

Midland

Glasgow and South- Western

Caledonian

Lancashire and Yorkshire

London and North-Western

Caledonian

Caledonian

Great Northern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

London and North-Western

Midland

North Staffordshire

Leicester

Leith

Lichfield

Lincoln ... ,,,

Lincoln

Littlehampton

Liverpool

Liverpool (Canada Dock)

Liverpool (Stanley)...

Liverpool (AVaterloo)

LlandOo

Lockerbie

Long Preston

Luton

Lynn...

Lytham

Macclesfield ...

Maiden Lane

Manchester ...

Mansfield

March

Market Harboro'

Maryport

Masboro'

Meigle

Melton

Melton

Methley Junction ...
Methven

Milford

Montrose
Morecambe ...
Newark

Nevvbridge-on-Wye ...
Newcastle
Newhaven ...

New Milford

Newport (Mou.)
Northampton
Nortliampton
Norton Bridge
Nottingham ...
Nottingham ...
Norwich (Trowse) ...
Norwich (Victoria) ...

Oldham

Ongar

Ormskirk

Oswestry

Oxford

Paddington ...
Paisley

Penrith

Perth, North

Perth, South

Peterboro'
Peterboro'
Peterboro'

Piel

Pimbo Lane ...

Plymouth

Portpatrick ...

Portsmouth (Lancashire)

Preston

Preston (Maudlands)

Preston (Oxhey Market)

Radcliffe

Ramsbottom ...

Rawtenstall ...

Retford

Rhayader

Rlmddlan

Rhymney
Rocester

Rochdale

Romford
Rotherham ...

Rugby

Saffron Walden

St. Albans

Midland

Caledonian

London and North-Western

Great Northern

Midland

London, Brighton, k S. Coast

Lancashire and Yorkshire

London and North-Western

London and North-Western

London and North-Western

Llanelly Railway and Dock

Caledonian

Midland

Midland

Great Eastern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

North Staffordshire

London and North-Western

London and North-Western

Midland

Great Eastern

Midland

Maryport and Carlisle

Midland

Caledonian

Great Eastern

Midland

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Caledonian

Great Western

Caledonian

Midland

Midland

Mid Wales

North -Eastern

London, Brighton, & S. Coast

Great Western

Monmouthshire Rail. & Canal

London and North-Western

Midland

North Staffordshire

Great Northern

Midland

Great Eastern

Great Eastern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Eastern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Western

London and North-Western

Great Western

Glasgow and South- Western

London and North-Western

Caledonian

Caledonian

Great Eastern

Great Northern

Midland

Furness

Lancashire and Yorksliire

S. Devon, Corn., & W. Corn.

Caledonian

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Lancashire and Yorkshire

London and Nortii- Western

London and North Western

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Lancashire and Y'orksliire

Great Northern

Mid Wales

Loudon and North-Western

Rhymney

North Staffordshire

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Eastern

Midland

London and North-Western

Great Eastern

Midland

536

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

St. Ives

Salford

Sheffield

Shoreham

Shrewsbury ...

Shrewsbury (Joint Station) .

Sirhowy

Skipton

Snaith

Southall

Sowerby Bridge

Spalding

Stafford

Steyning

Stirling

Stoke...

Stone...

Stonehaven ...

Stowmarket ...

Stranraer

Stratford

Sudbury

Swansea

Great Eastern

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Midland

London, Brighton, &S. Coast

Great Western

Loudon and North-Western

Sirhowy

Midland

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Western

Lancashire and Yorkshire

Great Northern

London and North-Western

London, Brighton, & S. Coast

Caledonian

North Staffordshire

North StafTordsliire

Caledonian

Great Eastern

Caledonian

Great Eastern

Great Eastern

Llanelly Railway and Dock

Syston
Talgarth
Thames Haven
Todmorden . . .
Tottenham . . .
Tredegar
TuUibardine ...
Tutbury
Uttoxeter
Wakefield (Kir;
Wakefield (W
Warrington ...
Watford
Welliiigboro' . . .
Wellingboro'...
West Hartlepool
Whitehaven ...
Wigton
Wisbeach
Wolverhampton
Wolverton
Worcester
York

Midland

Mid Wales

London, Tilbury, & Southend

... Lancashire and Yorkshire

... Great Eastern

... Sirhowy

... Caledonian

... North Staffordshire

North Staffordshire

e Station) Great Northern

e) ... Midland

London and North-Western

... London and North-Western

... London and North-Western

Midland

North-Eastern

... Eurness

... Maryport and Carlisle
Great Eastern
Great Western

... London and North-Western
Midland

... North-Easteru.

THE STATE OF THE VETERINARY PROFESSION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK. LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — As the state of the veterinary profession is a subject
of general interest to agriculturists, perhaps you will have no
objection to insert the enclosed, which forms the Appendix to
my pamphlet on Medical Reform, just published iot pru^ate
circulation. Yours obediently,

Edwards Crisp, M.D.

39, Beaufort-street, Chelsea, May 10, 1870.

This question is so intimately connected with everything
that concerns the progress of medical science and the good of
the profession, as I hope to show hereafter, that I make no
apology for introducing it as an Appendix to this essay. We
can scarcely be said to have any efficient mode of instruction
for our veterinary students in the United Kingdom. Up to a
late period those who examined them were members of the
medical profession, and at the present time, to use the language
of one of the few reformers among the veterinarians, Mr.
Fenwick (" Veterinarian," July, 1829) : " A joint-stock com-
pany where gentlemen send their horses at the cheapest rate,
and where human surgeons, ignorant of the anatomy and dis-
eases of horses, are the examiners."

Eor thirty-seven years, only one member of the veterinary
profession was allowed to be on the examining board. The
college receives £200 a-year from the Royal Agricultural
Society, the members of which society and other sub-
scribers have the liberty of sending diseased animals free of
cost.

There is one advantage this college has over our medical
corporations, viz., that the representative system is fiiUi/
adopted ; ladies and members of Parliament being allowed to
vote by proxy, a kind of constituency not becoming a scien-
tific body. I am unwilling to make an ill-natured remark, but
it must be apparent to all that, like many of our medical cor-
porations, this body is very far behind similar institutions on
the Continent — that the system of education and instruction
is very inefficient. A new charter is now prayed for, one ob-
ject of wliich is to prevent those calling themselves veterinary
surgeons who are not members of the college. If this charter
is granted it will only add another piece to the patchwork, and
effect but little scientific good. The members of this college
are about 1,000 ; a very inadequate number for the supply of
the United Kingdom, as was fully shown during the late out-
break of cattle plague. In Scotland, the veterinary college,
under the Highland Society, is in a more nnsatisfactory s*ate ;
and in Ireland Ihere is no vetenminj insirudioii of any kind.
A friend in Dublin tells me " that Mr. Peele was the last
veterinary professor in Ireland, 1827."

The Government should at once establish a veterinary college
in Dublin upon a liberal basis, with an annual grant of money

to make the institution entirely independent of annual sub-
scribers. The same should be done in England and Scotland ;
there is no other means of making this body efficient and re-
spectable. A college so instituted might, as in France, Austria,
and Germany, go hand-in-hand with our medical and surgical
institutions, and thus effect great good.

The State or the Veterinary Profession in Ekance.
— I will now place before the reader, by way of contrast, the
state of the veterinary profession in France. Here, there are
three veterinary colleges, as there are three schools of human
medicine — Alfort, founded in 1765 ; Lyons, 1762 ; and Tou-
louse, 1761. During three recent visits to Paris, I have made
it ray duty to visit the school of Alfort, and to inquire into
the course of study and mode of examination of the students
of this college. The regulations are the same at Lyons and
Toulouse.

All appointments, as at the medical schools, up to the grade
oi (lyf/ref/u wee, competitive (hy coiicoiirs). The student are
boarded and partly provided for by the Government. At the
present time (October, 1867), there are about 260 students at
this school, besides those of Lyons and Toulouse. Each
student on admission must be between 17 and 25 years of
age ; he must produce certificates of birth and good conduct.
Tliose only are admitted who can pass a satisfactory examina-
tion in the French language, arithmetic, geometry, geography,
with a written narrative of some subject treating of geography
and history. For his board, the student pays 4!50 francs yearly ;
he remains at the school for four years, the only holidays being
Sundays and fete days. In addition to his board, he finds his
drdss (blue clothes .with gilt buttons), and his under-clothing.
The diploma is fixed at 100 francs. Besides the ordinary
students, 40 military students are maintained by the Govern-
ment, who must be the sons of persons in the army, and re-
commended by the Ministers of War. No student leaves the
establishment, which is surrounded by extensive grounds, with-
out permission from the director.

At the three veterinary schools, 178 rewards {clenubourses)
are yearly given to the most deserving students, and the half-
yearly reports {notes semeslrielles) of progress, are the only
documents consulted by the minister for the distribution of
these rewards.

The course of study is as follows : First year, anatomy,
natural philosophy, mechanics, chemistry, botany, and histo-
logy ; second year, anatomy, physiology, zoology, chemistry,
materia medica, botany, histology, and the structure of the
different domesticated animals ; third, pathology, hygiene, and
agriculture ; fourth year, breeding of animals, anatomy, physi-
ology, and pathology (theoretical and practical).

Several lectures are given daily by the professors (paid by
the Government), who liave obtained their appointments by

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

537

fottcours, and who have distinguished themselves by their vari-
ous vrritings and discoveries. I need scarcely say that the ex-
aminers at the medical and veterinary schools have no pecu-
niary interest in the examination.

I will not offend the reader by asking him to contrast this
state of tilings iu France with that which I have described in
the United Kingdom, but I ask him if a veterinary surgeon
in France is required to be examined in botany, zoology, and
hygiene, why should these important subjects not of ne-
cessity form a part of the examination of medical students in
England ?

It must be" observed that these student are educated at the
expense of the Government. They pay nothing for attendance
upon lectures, as the professors are remunerated by the State,
and that when time is taken into account, the period, com-
pared with that of the medical students in England is one
year longer ; for our medical session is only about nine
months. When I passed the London College of Surgeons, it
was necessary that a student should be twen/y-itvo years of
age, and that he should have been engaged for six ycurs iu the
acquirement of professional knowledge ; but now the age is
twenty-one years, and the period of acquiring professional
knowledge limited to /o/^;'_y<?(f*\y, so much for the progress of
science in England in this the 19th century ! 2,173 persons in
the United Kingdom, iu the army, navy, and in the colonies,
are practising with this non-medical diploma only, although
more than nineteen-twentieths of the practice of every medical
man, civil, military, or naval, is medical.

But let me return from this vital digression to the state of
the veterinary profession in the United Kingdom. As I have
recently said in Ireland there is not a single teacher of veteri-
nary science ; let us suppose cattle plague appears in Ireland
(a very likely circumstance), and is undiscovered until the poi-
son is disseminated iu various parts of the country, where are
the veterinary surgeous to carry out the requirements of the
Privy Council ? During our late visitation in England, the
want of proper inspectors (from the neglect of veterinary
science by tlie Government) was fearfully felt, but what would
be the condition of things in Ireland with the horse-leech and
the cow-doctor ? I have good reason to believe that if Ire-

laud had been provided with an efhcient class of veterinary
practitioners, pleuro-pneumonia would not have made the
ravages it has done among cattle in many parts of Ireland, and
that the importations of the disease to England would have
been less extensive. This is a question that concerns every
well-wisher of his country, and the sooner the Irish people
begin to stir in the matter the better. It is one of the many
grievances of this part of her J\Iajesty's dominions.

I have, however, another motive for introducing this question
of the state of the veterinary profession in the United Kingdom in
this appendix, viz., the great bearing it has upon the progress
of medical science. In France, Belgium, Germany, and Aus-
tria, where veterinary surgeons are well instructed, many sub-
jects of great physiological and pathological importance are
referred to certain professors of the veterinary profession, who,
from their greater knowledge of the structure of our domesti-
cated animals, are better able to decide. Many of these vete-
rinary professors, too, have made important discoveries in
auatomy, physiology, and pathology. To give a practical il-
lustration, let me quote an investigation now going on at the
Academy of Medicine in Paris. M. Villemin, as shown iu his
work, " Etudes sur la Tuberculose, I'reuves Ratiouelles, Ex-
perimentales, de sa Specificite, et de son Inoculabihte, 1867,"
has shown that tubercle, or something very much allied to it,
may be conveyed from man to the rabbit and to other animals ;
he believes that " tubercle is a zymotic and contagious disease."
His book is now before the Academy of Medicine, and for the
proper investigation of this important matter — one of the most
important as regards human mortality that could come before
a body of scientific men — the Academy appoints certain per-
sons who are thought to be most competent to investigate the
subject and make their report. Among these is the well-
known and laborious experimentalist, M. Colin, the Pro-
fessor of Pathology at Alfort, the school I have just
described.

When will a Faculty of Medicine of England, Ireland, or
Scotland appoint a veterinary professor to investigate any sub-
ject connected with human pathology P When will aU our
laedlral students be examined upon subjects that are thought
necessary for a horse-doctor iu France P

THE INTERNATIONAL DECIMAL ASSOCIATION.

A conference on international measures, weights, and coins,
was held at the Society of Arts, Earl Fortescue in the chair.

Professor Leone Levi read the twelfth annual report of
the Council, in which the following resolutions were repro-
duced :

1. That it is advisable for international purposes that a
single standard for coins should be adopted in all countries,
and that that standard should be gold.

3. That, for facilities of exchange, the degree of fineness in
the standard should in all countries be nine-tenths.

3. That considering the extensive and growing use of the
decimal system, and the time and labour which it saves in com-
putations of money value, and in aU commercial transactions,
the unit of money value in every country should be decimally
subdivided.

4. That, in the opinion of this association, the greatest ad-
vantages would result to the country if Great Britain were to
join the Monetary Convention, concluded the 38th December,
1865, between France, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgiam, by
Art. 13 of which convention the right of accession is, under
certain conditions, reserved for other States.

5. That, in the opinion of the association, in order to make
the sovereign iuterchangable for international purposes, it is
desirable that the quantity of pure gold contained in it should
be reduced to the precise equivalent of the gold piece of 35
francs.

6. Tliat in order to bring the British system and the system
of the convention into closer contact, it is desirable that the
sovereign so altered should be divided into 350 new pence.

7. That whilst recognising the increased facilities which
would result by the establisjiment of a simple and clear rela-
tion between such leading units as the sovereign, the dollar re-
duced to the level of five francs, and the franc, the Council of
the International Decimal Association, anxious to promote one

common universal unit of money, strongly recommend to Her
Majesty's government to consider the advantage of adopting
the ten-franc piece in gold, consisting of 100 new pence as be-
fore defined, as an international unit, and to submit the same
for the adoption of the nations parties to the Monetary Con-
vention of December, 1865.

8. That it be recommended to her Majesty's government to
take the necessary steps for convening or joining another in-
ternational monetary conference for the purpose of settling the
details of a complete system of international coinage.

The report ran on tlius :

Your council are convinced that the establishment of a uni-
form decimal system of weights and measures based on the
metric system, and a system of coinage likewise simple, deci-
mal, and international, would confer a decided boon on all
classes of society ; that the economy of time and labour which
it would introduce would greatly promote the increase of
wealth ; whilst any system which shortens the processes of
elementary instruction must tend to advance the education of
the people, and give greater opportunities for the teaching
of physical and natural science in the schools of the United
Kingdom. For the last teu years we have seen one country
after another introducing measures for realising the desired
uniformity in these most practical instruments of exchange ;
and as it is given to Great Britain to exercise a commanding
influence, not only by her internal legislation, but by the action
of her colonies and dependencies, your council earnestly trust
that that influence will be exercised in tlie direction of pro-
moting the ol)ject of this association — one uniform decimal
system of measures, weights, and coins in all countries.

Sir Charles Adderley, M.P., moved the following reso-
lution : — "That the great inconvenience to agriculture, manu-
factures, and commerce, as well as to science, resulting from
the numerous complicated and anomalous weights and mea-

538

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

sures now in use, whether by law or custom, in the British
empire, demands the attention of the legislature at the earliest
practicable time, with a view to the establishment of some con-
venient uniform decimal system thronghout the United Kino--
dom." °

Capt. Craigik said he attended from the Central Chamber
of Agriculture, and he had to apologise for the absence of the
chairman and vice-chairman. His principal duty was to state
how the Central Chamber of Agriculture had regarded this
question, and how tliey stood in relation to it, rather than to
make any remarks of his own. The council of that associa-

tion, in November last, past resolutions to the effect that all
agricultural productions should be sold by the decimal system
the cental of 100 lb. being the standard. This resolution had
been submitted all over the country to various provincial
chambers, from a great many of wliich replies have been re-
ceived, stating that they were favourable to such a proposed
change ; and at the request of the Central Chamber, Colonel
iomline had just presented a petition praying for a select
committee to inquire into the sulyect.

The resolution was seconded by Mr. Baii^ks, M.P., and
adopted. '

SALE OF THE LATE MR. G. S. FOLJAMBE'S SHORTHORNS.

AT OSBERTON. WORKSOP, ON APRIL 27th,

BY MR. JOHN THORNTON.

This event, which had been anticipated for some time past
in the North and Midland counties, came off with great suc-
cess on Wednesday. The high honours that had attended the
Osberton Shorthorns at the Royal and Yorkshire meetino-s for
the past few years, drew many visitors to see the herd before
the sale took place. On the sale morning, however the
popularity of the late owner, Mr. George S. Poljarabei and
the fame of the stock attracted an enormous number of people
from Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire. It was
computed at the beginning of the sale that between twelve and
fifteen hundred people were present. Before luncheon it was
a diiHcult thing to get near the cows at all, which, beino- tied
up in a cowhouse, allowed only a limited number to move in
and out. The yearlings and calves were in small straw-
yards, and could be much better seen ; several of them received
the greatest praise for their line hair and symmetry and
splendid condition. Goody-two-shoes, out of the first cow
undoubtedly one of the best animals sold, and a roan
heifer calf, out of Lily of Windsor, with an immense back
and well-packed quarters, were first favourites all along. Soon
after twelve a large floral tent, in which luncheon for 250 was
set out, began to fill. Lord Galway, M.P.,took the chair and
Mr Torr, of Aylesby, acted as vice-chairman. On certain
tables the prize cups were displayed, and the medals and
portraits of several prize animals were hung on the tent just
behind the chairman, who, as soon as the hungry were filled
proposed that the health of his late friend, George Savile
Toljambe, should be drunk in solemn silence. The health of
Mr. Prancis Poljambe, with success to the sale, was after-
wards given, the chairman saying that he hoped he would
walk in his father's footsteps and keep up an excel-
lent herd of Shorthorns. Mr. Foljambe, in responding
hoped to see a new herd rise up from the remnant which
he proposed reserving. Mr. Torr gave Lord Galway's
health, who in responding proposed Mr. Woods, the
larm bailiff. Mr. Hodgkinson replied, in Mr, Woods'
absence; and as soon as the auctioneer's health was
given, and responded to, the company adjourned to the rin-^
Ihe tent was immediately refilled, and everjthing eatabfe
demo ished. Whilst the second party were at lunch, the three
Knights were paraded; and, soon after two o'clock Mr
Ihornton in opening the proceedings, spoke to the condition
in wliich the animals were brought out, which was hiirhlv
creditable to Mr. Woods and the herdsman, John George
Ladys Slipper, rising eleven years old and descended
trom Mr. Booths Farewell, paced round the large oval
ring, and was a splendid lot to begin with. Of great
size, in fine condition, a lovely roan colour, full of fine
hair, and beautiful quality, she walked as gaily as a heifer and
was put up at 50 gs. Several bids were made, and ultira'atelv
Mr. Bnerley, of "Bolivar" fame, and Mr. Robinson, an old
breeder, near Leyburn, closed and fought it out from 75 gs. to
iOOgs., at which price she was sold to Mr, Robinson. The
next lot, newly calved, did not look so blooming ; nor did the
third, a white one, elicit many bids. Gipsy Queen, the first ,
prize yearling at Newcastle Royal was more in demand •
although m fine trim her slack back and bad horns were
against her as a show cow, though she had bred some capital I

heifers and she went cheap to Mr. Chaloner, Ireland, at 62 gs
Lily of Windsor and Rose of Windsor, own sisters and both
remarkably line cows, were only newly served and sold accord-
ingly ; whilst May fly, dam of the reserved bull. Knight of
the Bath, was a doubtful breeder. Mrs. Page, however, was one
of the most level and stylish looking cows, and was admired as
much as any lot offered. Although newly calved shewas soon up
at 80 gs., and then Capt. Pryer, Lord Bolton's agent, and Mr.
Oliver opposed up to 165 gs.,at which, amidst much cheerin"-
she was sold to Mr. Oliver. Queen Oak, a roan, was a very
inferior looking animal, and Flageolet, a better and larger cow.
Glee, with two crosses of Booth bulls, not three years old, had
been served at a very early age, and produced a heifer calf
before she was two years old : this had not detracted from her
appearance, though many thought her a little small. A young
Cumbrian, Captain Fryer, went at 5 guinea bids in a very
short time to a hundred ; and directly the glass went up the
opposition ceased, and she goes to Bolton Hall. The prize
heifer Flora did not come out so handsome as she had done in
the bhow-yard, and Lord Bolton got her cheap enough at 74 es
Queen Bee had died a fortnight before the sale from a hair
ball and the young heifers next came on. As in most sales these
went very high, and there was great competition for them
Jlr. Murray, Lord Fitzmlliam's agent, and Mr. Locke, of Hull
bid tor Castanet at single guinea bids from 40 to 99 gs., when
Mr. Locke got in, amidst roars of laughter, but no persuasion
would induce Mr. Murray to give lOOgs., and she was sold at 99
gs. Mistress Ford was a very thick.longheifer, small of her age
and tremendously fat; she was bought by Mr. Gibson for
Messrs. U alcot and Campbell, New York, U.S.A. The next
lot, quite the gem of the young things— a beautiful deep
red, with a good skin, fine head, and a thorough-bred look-
was eagerly sought, and eventually secured for Mr. Cochrane
Canada. Ihe calves were let loose and galloped round the'
ring, selling remarkably high. Red Ribbon, the only calf by
Knight ot the Bath, was quite fit to enter a showyard and
altliough only six months old, made almost double the cost of
her dam, only just over six years. As soon as the cows and
heilers were sold, the prize cups went round filled with claret
and there was a little delay in this and also in getting in
Robin, who had to be blinded. Although a good bull and
not in very high condition, he only made a few guineas
over market price ; and the White Knight of the Thistle

f. -T^. ^,? .,'^","' ^""'^ ^°^"- Knight of the Whistle,
third at Wetherby and Manchester, was fancied the most-
but the competition was very languid, and he was at last
bought by Mr. Cruickshaiik for his huge herd at Settyton.
Kniglit of the Crescent, the second prize calf at Leicester, and
cup buU at the Yorkshire show in 1868, went very badly on his
forelegs and was immensely fat ; although warranted service-
able he made but 6Igs. Bardolph,afive months good-coated calf
out of the reserved cow Mrs. Quickly, was full of promise, and
many wanted him— he made 8Igs.; and the last calf, a very
good deep roan, sold for a guinea over half that price.

The site of tlie sale could not have been better; situated
on Scofton Green, andwliat with the yard and buildings on one
side, the neat cottages and trim hedgerows on the other, the
large gay-looking tent in front, and the neat stacks in the rear,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

539

it formed quite a picturesque scene, and a local photographer
endeavoured to turn it to a profitable account. The average
for bulls and cows were — unusually enough — within a lew
shillings of each otlier ; and considering that 13 out of the 35
head were calves under a year old, the £66 average may well be
considered a very excellent result.

COWS AND HEIFERS.

Lady's Slipper, roan, calved June 3, 1859, by May Duke
(16553), out of Cenerentola by Foig-a-Ballagh (8082)—
H. Robinson, Leyburn, Yorkshire, 100 gs.

Concertina, red and white, calved April 26, 1861, by May
Duke (16553), out of Seraphine by Mouarcli (1334.7)— E.
Paddison, Ingleby, Lincoln, 43 gs.

Florence, white, calved Sept. 9, 1862, by Imperial Windsor
(18086), out of Mrs. Fry by Man Friday (14893)— P.Browne,
Glentworth, Lincoln, 51 gs.

Gipsy Queen, roan, calved Oct. 17, 1862, by Imperial Wind-
sor (18086), out of Sybil by May Duke (16553)— R. Chaloner,
King's Fort, Ireland, 62 gs.

Lily of Windsor, white, calved Dec. 1, 1863, by Imperial
Windsor (18086), out of Blanche by Monarch (13347)— J.
Greethara, Stainfield, Lincoln, 44 gs.

May Fly, red, calved Aug. 24, 1864, by imperial Windsor
(18086), out of May Duchess by May Duke (16553)— C. W.
Brierley, Rochdale, 36 gs.

Rose of Windsor, roan, calved Oct. 31, 1864, by Imperial
Windsor (18086), out of Blanche by Monarch (13347)— J. R.
Kirkham, Audleby, Lincolnshire, 70 gs.

Mrs. Page, red, calved Aug. 9, 1865, by Archduke (19239),
out of Miss Niglitingale by May Duke (16553)— R. E. Oliver,
Sholebroke, Northamptonshire, 165 gs.

Queen Oak, roan, calved Feb. 19, 1866, by Archduke
(19239), out of Queen of the Forest by Imperial Windsor
(18086) — J. Beard, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, 45 gs.

Flageolet, roan, calved Feb. 28, 1866, by Archduke (19239),
out of Clarionet by May Duke (16553)— Capt. Webb, Staf-
fordshire, 60 gs.

Prima Donna, red and white, calved April 6, 1866, by Arch-
duke (19239), out of Concertina by May Duke (16553)— J. R.
Kirkham, 40 gs.

Archduchess 2nd, red, calved Aug. 10, 1866, by Archduke
(19239), out of Gipsy Queen by Imperial Windsor (18086)—
W. Knapton, Beverley, Yorkshire, 90 gs.

Glee, red and white, calved Oct. 29, 1867, by Knight of the
Garter (22062), outof Serenade by Imperial Windsor (18086)
— Lord Bolton, Bolton Hall, Yorkshire, 100 gs.

Flora, roan, calved Nov. 12, 1867, by Falstaff (21720), out
of Florence by Imperial Windsor (18086) — Lord Bolton, 74 gs.

Queen of the Fairies, roar,, calved July 10, 1868, by Robin
(24968), out of Queen of the Forest by Imperial Windsor
(18086)— J. White, Australia, 92 gs.

Florentine, roan, calved Sept. 31, 1868, by Lord Lyons
(26677), out of Florence by Imperial Windsor (18086)— Col.
St. Leger, Park Hill, Yorkshire, 38 gs.

Castanet, red, calved Dec. 17, 1868, by Lord Lyons (26677),
out of Clarionet by May Duke (16553)— T. B. Locke, Hessls,
Yorkshire, 99 gs.

Mistress Ford, roan, calved Dec. 15, 1868, by Lord Lyons
(26677), out of Mrs. Quickly by Prince of Windsor (22638)
— R. Gibson, for Wallcott and Campbell, New York, America,
75 gs.

Goody Two Shoes, red, calved May 29, 1869, by Lord
Lyons (26677), out of Lady's Slipper by May Duke (16553)—
M. H. Cochrane, Canada, 110 gs.

May Queen, red, calved July 4, 1869, by Lord Lyons
(26677), out of May Duchess by May Duke (16553)— Earl
Fitzwilliam, Coollattin Park, Ireland, 36 gs.

Grafinn, red, calved July 29, 1869, by Lord Lyons (26677),
out of Archduchess 2nd by Archduke (19239)— Earl Fitz-
william, 52 gs.

Madrigal, red, calved Aug. 30, 1869, by Lord Lyons
(26677), out of Glee by Knight of the Garter (22062)— J. V.
Machin, Gateford, 35 gs.

Oboe, red, calved Sept. 30, 1869, by Knight of the Cres-
cent (26547), out of Flageolet by Archduke (19239)— Hon.
H. Littleton, Australia, 40 gs.

Firenze, roan, calved Oct. 20, 1869, by Knight of the Cres-
cent (26547), out of Florence by Imperial Windsor (18086) —
R. Sneyd, Keele Hall, Staflfordsbire, 28 gs.

Red Ribbon, roan, calved Oct. 29, 1869, by Knight of the
Bath (26546), out of Lily of Windsor by Imperial Windsor
(18086)— Rev. P. Graham, Lancashire, 72 gs.

Spring Flower, red, calved Jan. 22, 1870, by Knight of the
Crescent (26547), out of Flora bv Falstatf (21720)— H. F.
Smith, Hull, 21 gs.

Ann Page, red, calved F"eb. 14, 1870, by Knight of the
Whistle (26558), out of Mrs. Page by Archduke (19239)—
G. Hargrave, Lincolnshire, 42 gs.

Harmonium, red and white, calved Feb. 26, 1870, by
Knight of the Whistle (26558), out of Concertina by May
Duke (16553)— H. F. Smith, Hull, 38 gs.

BULLS.

Robin (34968), roan, calved Sept. 34, 1864, by Imperial
Windsor (18086), out of Miss Nightingale by May Duke
(16553)— T. Stafford, Nottinghamshire, 48 gs.

Knight of the Thistle (26555), white, calved April 14,
1867, by Knight of the Garter (32062), out of Queen of the
May by May Duke (16553)— W. Askew, Nottinghamshire,
43 gs.

Knight of the Whistle (36558), roan, calved Aug. 8, 1867,
by Knight of the Garter (22062), out of Blanche by Monarch
(13347)— A. Cruickshank, Aberdeen, 100 gs.

Knight of the Crescent (26547), red, calved Aug. 12, 1867,
by Knight of the Garter (33062), out of Miss Nightingale by
May Duke (16553)— Earl Brownlow, 61 gs.

Chorister (25775), roan, calved April 29, 1868, by Robin
(24968), out of Concertina by May Duke (16553)— Heanley,
Lincolnshire, 70 gs.

Bardolph, roan, calved Nov. 30, 1869, by Knight of the
Crescent (36547), out of Mrs. Quickly by Prince of Windsor
(33638)— Rev. P. Graham, Lancashire, 81 gs.

Herr Joel, roan, calved Dec. 19, 1869, by Knight of the
Whistle (26558), out of Prima Donna by Archduke (19339)
— Colonel Ayres, Nottinghamshire, 42 gs.

Summary. £ s. d.

28 Cows averaged £65 18s. 6d 1,845 18 0

7 Bulls „ £66 15s. Od 467 5 0

Total £2,313 3s. Od.

35 head averaged £66 Is. 9d

SALE OF MR. CHARLES HOWARD'S SHORTHORN HERD,

AT BIDDENHAM, BEDFORD, MAY 3rd.

BY MR. HENRY STRAFFORD.

The Shorthorn sales of the season had, so far, gone off
with sucli comparative tameness, that a dull trade, in commer-
cial phrase, threatened "to rule." Neither averages nor
attendances have been up to high water mark ; and, at the
first flush, it did not look as if the dispersion of tlie Biddenham
herd would go to mend matters in this way. The very day,
that of the race tor the great 2,000 gs. Stakes in a neighbour-
ing county, was thought to be injudiciously selected ; while,
beyond entries at his own local meeting, Mr. Charles Howard

has not attempted much of late by any advertisement of show
stock. Nevertheless, as himself a good judge of a Shorthorn,
Mr. Howard was known to have been cultivating very care-
fully some of the best strains of blood, and the Gwynnes, the
Spencers, and the Sweethearts, stood out conspicuously in his
catalogue. Moreover, any inspection of it conveyed the assu-
rance that never had a herd been offered for sale iu better
condition, and we say so much in the first sense of the phrase.
There was not a pampered beast amongst them ; but, the

540

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

several lots were sent into the ring, wholesome and useful to
the eye, and really fit for breeding purposes. Some of the
old cows, like tlie sweet stylish Fatima Gwynne, had
worn wonderfully well, and if some of the figures sounded
high for such dowagers, they came out so fresh that the bid-
dings looked to be tlioroughly justified. Every now and then
an announcement would be made as to how much milk this
or that one was giving ; and they had all promise of dairy
cows, what with their kindly heads, light necks, good bags,
and store order. Here then was an opportunity not always
available — the foundation was very orthodox, the crossing with
more modern tribes quite in fashion, and the quality about as
good as it could be ; wliile associated with such recommendations
there was the most satisfactory warranty, as offered by the
animals themselves, that the purchase of a lot would be not so
much of a speculation as a certainty of fulfilling the object
for which it was intended. Some knowledge of all this
must have got about, as there was as good a Qompany assembled
together at Biddenham, on Tuesday, as has been met with
for many a long day. In saying so much we would not infer
the largest, but rather the most business-like. A glance
round the ring, on the occasional announcement of " the
buyer," served to show how sti-ongly the Shorthorn fancy was
represented. Mr. Bootli, of Warlaby, returned thanks at
the luncheon for the breeders ; Lord Dunmore bid
in person, and exchanged civilities with the auctioneer ;
Captain Oliver drew his hunting-cart alongside, with a spare
seat for Colonel Kingscote, while Mr. Mcintosh steadily
watched the proceedings from an adjoining waggon. Mr.
Clayden, too, would seem to be fast replacing his lierd at Little-
hury ;', and Mr. Lynn, of Stroxton, ever on the look out for
someting substantial, was thought to have " tlie bargain " of
S^e day in Gipsy Gwynne, a heavily fleshed heifer. Then Mr.
Foster, of Kilhow, was prompt enough with his biddings from
the box, and Mr. Gibson, from the United States, of course
gave the top price, as our American cousins will do. This was
250 gs. for Orange Gwynne, a three-year-old heifer, neat
enough in her character, but that scarcely looked her worth,
and the pedigree, no doubt, went far to sell her. Lord Skel-
mersdale from the north, and Lord Longford, from Ireland,
were also entered as purchasers, and at every other turn you
encountered such well known men as Mr. Ladds, of Ellington,
Mr. Gamble, or Mr. Aylmer from the east, or Mr. J. K. Eowler,
who took a spicy keepsake back with liim into the Vale.
Mr. Bowley looked to be acting as vice-chairman in the
tent; Mr. Pawlett and Mr. Wytlies were handy home for
anything they fancied ; and the Masters of the Oakley and
the Cambridgeshire, with a member for the county and a bro-
ther member for the borough, gave tlieir countenance to the
proceedings. The Thomas', the Taylors, the Iliggins', and
almost all the best men " hereabouts " mustered in force ; and
Mr. Thornton, with a critical eye on his old tutor, saw the
glass run out, so far, to the best average of tlie year. This,
however, was mainly due to the great merits of the cows and
heifers, as the bulls were but a plain lot of animals, and the
prices were, with an exception or so, in no ways remarkable ;
but of the two wliich reached to over a hundred the bull-calf
Famous Gwynne is outward bound as far as Australia.

Deservedly successful as the sale went this was not alto-
gether without hitch or hindrance. There were, as there will
be, two or three disputes, and of these Mr. Stratford, with
some want of tact, made the most rather than the least. He
entered into arguments or made speeclies, when it would have
been far better to have put the lot up again, or have ordered
it out of the ring. When a sale is going well tliere is nothing
like keeping it going. " I am come here," said Mr. Pain,
from Messrs. Tattersalls', the other day, when opening husi-
ness in the Midlands, " not to make long speeches, but to sell
some hounds and horses. What will anybody give for lot 1 ?"
From the gossip going on by the ring-side, we gathered that
Mr. Booth has just sold his famous cow Patricia for a thou-
sand guineas, the buyer being Mr. Gibson, and her destination
the States. It will be remembered that, as two-year-olds at
the Leicester Royal Meeting, and further on, there was con-
tinual difference of opinion amongst the judges and others as
to whether Patricia or Lady Gaiety, both from Warlaby, were
the better ; but their rivalry has now ended, for the Lady is
dead, and Patricia about to become a banished maid. Then
the bull-calf which Lord Dunmore recently purchased from
the Duke of Devonshire for five hundred guineas \vas not, it

now appears, really taken at a day or a week old, but on the
condition that he is to be delivered in six months' time— of
course, a very material modification of the terms.

COWS AND HEIFERS.

Orphan Gwynne, red and white, calved May 2, 1855, by Duke

of Glos'ter (11382), out of Daphne Gwynne by Conserva-
tive (34.72).— Mr. Slye, 4.5 gs.
Grace Howard, red and white, calved April 1, 1859, by Mar-

maduke (14897), out of Graceful by Loyalist (10479).—

Mr. Holland, 31 gs.
Golden Gwynne, loan, calved November 1, 1860, by May Duke

(13320), out of Sylvia Gwynne by Duke of Cambridge

(12747). — Withdrawn by leave.
Faustina Gwynne, roan, calved December 16, 1860, by May

Duke (13320), out of Flora Gwynne by Young Benedict

(15641).— Mr. Dormer, 95 gs.
Fatima Gwynne, white, calved July 20, 1862, by Second Duke

of Thorudale (17748), out of Frances Gwynne by Captain

Hardinge (10023).— Mr. Foster (Kilhow), 85 gs.
Lady Sophia Spencer, roan, calved February 15, 1863, by

Second Duke of Thorndale (17748), out of Lady Salome

Spencer by Harry of Glos'ter (14674). — Mr. Barnard,

52 gs.
Fanny Gwynne, roan, calved January 12, 1864, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Faustina Gwj'nne by May Duke

(13320).— Mr. Hetherington, 100 gs.
Goody Gwynne, roan, calved June 6, 1864,'^by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Golden Gwynne by May Duke

(13320).— Mr. Dormer, 65 gs.
The Sort, roan, calved March 10, 1864, by Fifth Grand Duke

(19875), out of Specimen by Mameluke (13289).— Captain

Oliver, 50 gs.
Day Lily, roan, calved December 18, 1863, by Second Duke of

Thorndale (1774S), out of Day's Eye by Young Fourth \

Duke (9037).— Mr. Fenton, 33 gs.
Lady Susan Spencer, roan, calved October 16, 1864, by Second

Duke of Airdrie (19600), out of Lady Selina Spencer by

Second Duke of Cambridge (12743).— Mr. Dormer, 61 gs.
Fawsley Fourth, red and a little white, calved March 4, 1865,

by Fourth Grand Duke (19874), out of Aichduchess of

Cambridge by Archduke 2nd (15588). — Lord Dunmore,

160 gs.
Fairy Gwynne, roan, calved September 3, 1865, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Fortuna Gwynne by Duke of

Leinster (17724).— Mr. Sharpley, 57 gs.
Syrup, red, calved November 4, 1865, by Fifth Grand Duke

(19875), out of Sylph by Londonderry (13169).— Mr. Ad-
kins, 51 gs.
Oleander Gwynne, red and white, calved May 10, 1866, by

Fifth Grand Duke (19875), out of Ophelia Gwynne by May

Duke (13320).— Mr. Foster, 100 gs.
Flossy Gwynne, roan, calved July 4, 1866, by Twelfth Duke of

Oxford (19633), out of Fanny Gwynne by Fifth Grand Duke

(19875).— Mr. Blundell, 71 gs.
Fancy Gwynne, roan, calved March 13, 1867, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Fatima Gwynne by Second Duke of

Thorndale (17748).- Mr. Sharpley, 54 gs.
Fawsley 7th, red and a little white, calved December 8, 1866,

by Fourth Grand Duke (19874), out of Coquelicot by Duke

of Cambridge (12742).— Not offered.
Orange Gwynne, roan, calved May 9, 1867, bv Fifth Grand

Duke (19876), out of Ophelia Gwynne bv May Duke

(13320).— Mr. Gibson (United States), 250 g's,
Fawsley IMclntosh, red, calved July 20, 1867, by Baron Oxford

(23375), out of Fawsley 4th by Fourth Grand Duke (19874).

— Lord Dunmore, 185 gs.
Fauna Gwvnne, roan, calved July 25, 1867, by Fifth Grand

Duke (i9S75), out of Faustina Gwynne by May Duke

(13320).— Mr. Hardy, M.P., 61 gs.
Fleda Gwynne, red, calved August 3, 1867, by Lord Claret

(24376), out of Fanny Gwynne by Fifth Grand Duke

(19875).— Mr. G. Pain, 5G gs.
Lady Semele Spencc, red, calved August 18, 1867, by Lord

Claret (24376), out of Lady Sylvia Spencer by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875).— Mr. Fenton, 61 gs.
Lady Selina Spencer, red and white, calved September 23,-

1867, by Lord Claret (24376), out of Lady Sophia Spencer

by Second Duke of Thorndale (17748).— Mr. Martin, 33 gs.
Grace Darling, red, calved October 28. 1867, by Lord Claret

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

541

(34376), out of Grace Howard by Marmaduke (14897).—

Mr. Booth (Barnet), 32 gs.
Lady Sonora Spencer, red, calved December 18, 1867, by Lord

Claret (34376), out of Lady Susau Speucer by Second Duke

of Airdrie (19600).— Mr. Dormer, 43 gs.
Daisy, roan, calved January 24, 1868, by Lord Claret (24376),

out of Day Lily by Second Duke of Thorndale (17748).—

Mr. Barnard, 36 gs.
Florence Gwynne, roan, calved June 19, 1868, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Faustina Gwynne by May Duke

(13320).— Lord Skelmersdale, 155 gs.
Frisky Gwynne, roan, calved August 15, 1868, by Thorndale

Knightley (23065), out of Fanny Gwynne by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875).— Mr. Pain, 80 gs.
Lady Sonsie Spencer, red and white, calved October 12, 1868,

by Fifth Grand Duke (19875), out of Lady Sophia Spencer

by Second Duke of Thorndale (17748).— Mr. Barnard,

61 gs.
Flavia Gwynne, roan, calved October 22, 1868, by Oxford

Gwynne (24711), out of Flossy Gwynne by Twelfth Duke

of Oxford (19633).— Mr. Fenton, 57 gs.
Flora Gwynne, red, calved January 3, 1869, by Oxford Gwynne

(24711), out of Fairy Gwynne by Fifth Grand Duke (19875).

— Mr. Pain, 50 gs.
Fama Gwynne, red and a little white, calved June 12, 1869,

by Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Fancy Gwynne

by Fifth Grand Duke (19875).— Mr. Foster, 43 gs.
Ora Gwynne, red and a little white, calved July 9, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Orange Gwynne

by Fifth Grand Duke (19875).— Mr. Foster, 110 gs.
Gipsy Gwynne, red and a little white, calved July 24, 1869,

by Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Goody

Gwynne by Fifth Grand Duke (19875).— Mr. Lynn (Strox-

ton), 85 gs.
Spicy Lightburne, roan, calved August 16, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of The Sort by 5th Grand

Duke (19875).— Mr. J. K. Fowler, 47 gs.
Fawsley Belle, red and a little white, calved Nov. 2, 1869, by

Fifth Grand Duke (19875), out of Fawsley 4th by Fourth

Grand Duke (19874).— Dr. Mcintosh, 155 gs.
Lady Sylvia Spencer, red, calved December 30, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Lady Susan Speucer by

2nd Duke of Airdrie (19600).— Mr. Bearle, 30 gs.
Fleecy Gwynne, red, calved November 9, 1869, by Spectre

(27545), out of Fleda Gwynne by Lord Claret (24376).—

Mr. Dickers, 26 gs.
Flighty Gwynne, roan, calved February 2, 1870, by Grand

Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Fairy Gwynne by 5th

Grand Duke (19875).— Mr. Foster, 45 gs.

BULLS.
Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), red and a little white,
calved June 8, 1867, by Sixteenth Grand Duke (24063), out
of Red Rose 4th, by 4th Grand Duke (19874).— Captain
Webb, 90 gs.

Spectre (27545), roan, calved August 15, 1867, by Patriciaa

(24728), out of Sorceress by Mocassin (18406).— Mr.

Wythes, 42 gs.
GranvUle Gwynne, red and white, calved July 7, 1868, by

Lord Claret (34376), out of Goody Gwynne by Fifth

Grand Duke (19875).— Mr. Pain, 120 gs.
Lord Knightley, red, calved September 20, 1868, by Thorn-
dale Knightley (33065). out of The Sort by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875).— Mr, S. K. Welt, 54 gs.
Duke of Fawsley, red, calved November 13, 1868, by Fifth

Grand Duke (19875), out of Fawsley 4th by 4th Grand

Duke (19874).— Mr. Playne, 71 gs.
Stanley Spencer, red, calved January 25, 1869, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Lady Susan Spencer by 2ud Duke of

Airdrie (19600).— Mr. Booth (Barnet), 27 gs.
Sydney, roan, calved January 30, 1869, by Oxford Gwynne

(24711), out of Syrup, by 5th Grand Duke (19875).— Mr.

S. K. Welt, 70 gs.
Famous Gwynne, roan, calved June 30, 1869, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Faustina Gwynne by May Duke

(13320).— C. Irving (Australia), 110 gs.
Father Gwynne, roan, calved July 26, 1869, by Fifth Grand

Duke (19875), out of Fatima Gwynne by 2nd Duke of

Thorndale (17748).— Mr. Smith, 47 gs.
Squire Spencer, roan and white, calved October 14, 1869, by

Fifth Grand Duke (19875), out of Lady Sophia Spencer by

2nd Duke of Thorndale (17748).— Mr. Armstrong, 27 gs.
Sara Spencer, red and white, calved October 25, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Lady Selina

Spencer by Lord Claret (24376).— Mr. Coleman, 23 gs.
Foster Gwynne, red and a little white, calved November 1 ,

1869, by Grand Duke of Lightburne (26390), out of

Flossy Gwynne by 12th Duke of Oxford (19633).— Mr.

Blundell, 32 gs.
General Darling, red, calved November 9, 1869, by Grand

Duke of Lightburne (36390), out of Grace Darling by Lord

Claret (34376).— Mr. Brown, 22 gs.
Otho Gwynne, red and white, calved November 22, 1869, by

Grand Duke of Lightburne (26290), out of Orphan Gwynne

by Duke of Glo'ster (11382).— Sir W. Broke, 30 gs.
Syphon, red, calved January 6, 1870, by Grand Duke of Light-
burne (26290), out of Syrup by 5th Grand Duke (19875).

—Not well.
Senator Spencer, red, calved March 1, 1870, by Grand Duke

of Lightburne (26390), out of Lady Sonora Spencer by

Lord Claret (24376).— Mr. Thorpe, 21 gs.

Summary.

£ s. d.

38 Cows 77 13 6 .

15 Bulls 54 19 0 ,

£ s.

3,951 11

824 5

53 Averaged 71 4 10 3,775 16 0

26 Gwynnes averaged £81 18 10

SALE OF MR. MURTON TRACY'S SHORTHORN HERD.

AT EDEN BRIDGE, KENT, MAY 5.

BY MR. H. STRAFFORD.

A sale of a fashionable bred herd of Shorthorns, when
within a easy reach of London, never comes to the hammer
at a better time than on a May morning, and Mr. Tracy had
a most successful sale. The catalogue was unique in its way,
containing forty-seven animals, fourteen of which were bulls.
It consisted of only three tribes, and the bull Patrician
(34728), but of these three tribes, one, the Sweethearts, the
great attraction of the sale, numbered 39 animals ; four were
Cleopatras, and three Surmises. The rapid growth of the
Sweetheart family is something wonderful. Mr. Tracy bought
the first lot, Sweetheart 3rd,when seven years old, at the Milcote
sale in 1860, for 91 gs., and she was the " herd matron" of the
whole thirty-nine, of which nine were her own daughters and
sons ; in all she had produced seventeen calves, several being
twins. Some of these twins had also produced twins, and al-

together the cattle had been so fruitful that Mr. Tracy's small
farm was overstocked, so he cleared them all out. Only one
female had been sold privately, and that was a heifer pur-
chased last year by Mr. Thornton to go to Australia, indeed
two were selected, but one. Sweetheart 19th, being too far
gone in calf, had to be left, and this same heifer now brouglit
220 gs. !

It may not be uninteresting to relate how these Sweethearts
were bred. It is supposed that Colonel Trotter bought the
family originally from Mr. Robert Colling,andafteraddingtwoor
three generations it was sold into Northamptonshire, probably
to Mr. Tibbets ; from him it passed to the Right Hon. Charles
Arbuthnot, whom it is said bred Sylph by Sir Walter (2637)
in 1831. This cow was sold to Sir Charles Knightley, and
afterwards to Earl Speucer, who thought very highly of her.

542

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Arbutlmot bred a heifer, Graceful from Sylph, and she
produced Charmer by Little John, which Mr. Adkins, of
Milcote, bought in 1843, and bred Sweetheart, a white' by
Accordion (5708) the dam of Mr. Tracy's cow Sweetheart Srd
in 1847.

Tt is the custom to call these animals Knightley's, but in truth
Sir Cliarles Knightley bred neither male nor female in the
pedigree; moreover it has been considered that Bates blood
)s the only cross suitable to them, but in all Mr Tracy's
Sweethearts there was scarcely a drop of Bates blood ; in fact
they are full of Booth. Accordion (sire of Sweetheart) was
by a son of Mr. Booth's Cossack, out of Lady Fairfax by
bnowball, who was out of Mr. Booth's Lady Sarah. Then
Daybreak (11338), sire of Sweetheart 3rd, was by Earl of
-Uubhn, a bull of pure Princess blood, from Starliglit by the
same Snowball, so that the same strain of blood flowed through
the veins of both dam and sire. Sweetheart 3rd was bought
lu calf and produced twins. Sweethearts 5th and 6th bv
Mameluke (13289), which is the only animal bred by' Sir
Lhas. Kmghtley. These two cows were lots 3 and 4 in the sale
and certainly remarkably fine animals, especially the 5th, whose
portrait Mr. Strafford gave in vol xvi. of the Ikrd Book. Mr
Iracy used, m order ^ preserve the fine loin, ribs, and shoulders
The Baron (13833), got by Mr. Booth's Baron Warlaby, from
Bon Bon, a daughter of Sylph, bred by Earl Spencer. Mr
Barnes s Duke of Leinster (17724), from the noted Mantalini
tamily was hired a sliort time, and then the sous of these bulls
trom Cleopatra and Sweetheart cows, followed until 1868'

.^ A?,"'"''^^'''^/*""^"' o*" Sy'pli and Princess blood',
at Mr. Adkin s sale for 170 gs. Thus in selecting sires Mr
Iracy has always gone on an in-and-in principle, though not too
closely combining the Sylph tribe with an admixture of fresh
blood either through the sire or the dam. The result was a
most prolific race of cattle, of great excellence and singular
uniformity. Although Sweetheart and Sweetheart the 3rd
and her sire too, were white, not another animal was white ■
indeed they were all remarkably fine deep roans, or reds with
a very little white ; they had a sweet docile expression of
countenance, with very small « snail" horns, frequently in-
clining different ways; neat shoulders falling well on
to the ribs, which were deep and round like barrels
loins broad and well covered, but hind-quarters often short
and thin, and very patchy. Still, there was the unmistakable
likeness and fine rich quality of flesh all through the stock.
Sweetheart 3rd was led in first, and, although so old, was al-
most a model of good form, and a heavy milker also. At Mr
iracy s special request slie was allowed to pass without com-
petition ; the second lot, Cleopatra 3rd, was dead, and then
entered what many considered the finest cow in the herd-
Sweetheart 5th, who, although ten years old and down calving,
realized the enormous sum of 245 gs. She was put up at 50 gs^
Mr Thornton bid a hundred, then Mr. Foljambe and Mr.

ntSTn°foln''"''r*;°^ ''''"'' Cumbrians, opposed each
other up to 240 gs., which was bidden by Mr. Foljambe and
instantly covered by Lord Dunmore's five. The quality and
sweet looks of this cow, with her fine form and rich pile of
^P.'l^"'''^''-ir'"*'^''^ *° see, and some foreigners present
eemed never willing to come away from her. Her twin sister

Immfl 'lir '" hm' ^°'"' ""'■ '"^ '"^«''^°^ «° handsome
still made 120 gs. Then came a deep massive cow of the

Cleopatra tribe, which went into' Lincolnshire, and

she was followed by four daughters of the Baron

The youngest, the 11th, was the best,°but had a swollen knee"

and went lame. The eldest, a red, i'n-calf, was next best and

w„ oS' V?"^'' ^^ ^l ^''T''- Sl>e was purchased, 'w' tli
two other heifers by Mr. Thornton, for Mr. Chaloner in
Ireland who bred (he Baron. A succession of high pr ces

pi! 1 ' T['' '7 S^'^''^"*^ ^y ^'"°" °f I^athcool (21233)
entered; although these animals were so closely related to
the^^rest. they had none of their good looks, and sold aceord-

w^nfLri'Tft ^f " .^^' ^"""'^« °^ S^<='-et family,
7tl pure Bates blood, and consequently was bought by Mr
i'oodLr°ll " TT',- '^i"^''"Sh a fine rich roanfand^wit
ff the SwpI' ''\' ^"'^ neither the si.e nor the good shoulders
ot he Sweethearts; nor was her back covered so well with
flesh Sweetheart 19th, by Count Leinster out of the 1
was by many thought the plum of the sale. There was great
competition between Mr. Oliver, Mr. Foljambe, Mr. WhiTe of
Australia, and Mr. Foster, of KiUhow, who eventually got he

at 220 guineas. A pair of beautiful in-calf twin
two-year-olds were also great favourites. Mr. White
bid strongly for both these, and got the last, considered the
better of the two, at 200 gs. A very fine red heifer, by Count
Leinster, out of the 11th, a Baron cow, went to Mr. Foljambe
at I5U gs. Hebe s daughter, a red yearling by Patrician, was
a great favourite, and Sir Curtis Lampsou, who bred her dam
secured her after some strong competition. One blacknosed calf-
would have been better kei>t out of the sale, but it made 23 gs
and some of the younger ones sold well. '

There was a great falling off in the bulls, the tribe being
clearly far from a bull breeding family. Patrician, a fine
headed bull, with rather strong upright horns and deep body
brought but a little over butcher's price ; and the best young
buU, a very nice roan yearling, Reginald, fetched but 65 gs
Hebe s bull calf, a red hairy little fellow of great promise,
went for 52 gs., and concluded this extraordinary sale, the
prices of which are subjoined. The company, however was
not large, but composed of men, many of whom have hitherto
been associated with Bates' stock, but who were evidently
disposed not to let fine animals of good blood go without pur-
chase, and we hail this excellent sale as a healthier state of
things, a beginning of the end of that prejudice for a " favourite
sort, and the demand that there is likely to be for fine-lookino'
horough-bred cattle of any strain. " °

COAYS AND HEIFERS.

^Ti'^oIJo^'"'^ ^^''' '■^'^'^ "■"a"' ''^^^^^ Oct. 1, 1860, by Mameluke
(13289), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338) —
Earl of Dimmore, 245 gs. j \ j-

^^i^ioon^,* ^'''' ™'y°™' '^^'^''^^ Oct. 1, 1860, by Mameluke
4. ^T?)',,","^^ °^ Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338).—
Mr. W. W. Slye, 120 gs. ^ J k J

Cleopatra 5tli, red and white, calved Oct. 27, 1862 by Duke
^iQ^Qo^'^^^P^?"^^' °"* °f Cleopatra 3rd by The Baron
(13833).— Mr. John Thornton (for Mr. W. Torr) 52 gs

Afooo*;* ^^''' ''.^'^' '^'''''''''^ ^"g- ^' 1863, by The Baron
(lrfh33), out of Sweetheart 6th by Mameluke (13289) —
Mr. John Thornton (for Mr. R. Chaloner) 51 gs
7^^iooo^^ ^'''' '■°'*''' "^^^^"^ Oct. 29, 1863, by The Barou
(13833), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338).~Mr
(j. Paine, 105 gs.
Sweetheart 10th, red roan, calved April 15, 1864 by The

^Qo°Qn^^^^fP^','n ^"* °^ Sweetheart 5th by Mameluke
(13289).— Mr. T. Conolly, 80 gs.
Sweetheart 11th, rich roan, calved Nov. 27, 1864 by The
Baron (13833), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak
(11338).-Mr. R. E. Oliver, 105 gs. ^

Sweetheart 12th, red and white, calved Nov. 14, 1865 by Duke
?, ooio^"""]? (21560), out of Sweetheart 8th by The Baron
(13833).— Mr. R. E. Oliver, 115 gs.
Sweetheart 1.3fli, red, calved Dec. 18, 1865, by Baron of Rath-
cool (21233), out of Sweetheart 7th by The Baron (13833)
—Mr. G. Barton, 34 gs.
Sweetheart 14, roan, calved Jan. 9, 1866, by Duke of Albe-
marle (21560), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338)
Mr, G. Paine, 72 gs. .- v y

Sweetheart 15th, rad, calved Aug. 11, 1866, by Baron of Rath-
cool (21233), out of Sweetheart 6th by Mameluke (13289)
Mr. R. Betts, 33 gs. v ;•

Hebe, roan, calved Oct. 3, 1866, by Rowfant 1st (22767), out
of Surmise by Duke of Glo'ster (11382).— Mr. F. Lenev
260 gs.
Sweetheart 16th, red and little white, calved Feb. 14 1867 by
Duke of Albemarle (21560), out of Sweetheart 8th by The
Baron (13833).— Mr. John Thornton (for Mr. R. Chaloner)
81 gs. ^

Sweetheart 17th, roan, calved Feb. 18, 1867, by Count Lein-
ster (23638), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338)
—Mr. J. Fawcett, 96 gs. ^ ■/ \ j

Sweetheart 19tli, roan, calved March 22, 1867, by Count Lein-
ster (23638), out of Sweetheart 5th by Mameluke (13289)
—Mr. J, P. Foster, 220 gs. ^

Sweetheart 21st, roan, calved Feb. 5, 1868, by The Corsair
(25291), out of Sweetheart 9th by The Baron (13833) —
Mr. G. Paine, 120 gs. ^'

Sweetheart 22nd, red and white, calved Feb. 13 1868 by The
?,°olVL ^^IV'^^^ *»"^ °^ Sweetheart 8th by The Baron
(13833).— Mr. John Thornton (for Mr. R. Chaloner)
61 gs.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

543

Sweetheart 23rd, rich roan, calved Feh. 24, 1868, by Last of

the Barons (22081), out of Sweetheart 5th by Mameluke

(13289).— Mr. J. Hetherington, 53 gs.
Sweetheart 24th, roan, calved Feb. 24, 1868, by Last of the

Barous (22081), out of Sweetheart 5th by Mameluke (13289).

—Mr. F. Bamford, 105 gs.
Sweetheart 25th, roan, calved March 5, 1868, by Count Lein-

ster (23638), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338).

—Mr. F. Bamford, 170 gs.
Sweetheart. 26th, roan, calved March 5, 1868, by Count Lein-

ster (23638), out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338).

—Mr. J. White (Australia), 200 gs.
Sweetheart 27th, roan, calved March 16, 1868, by The Corsair

(25291), out of Sweetheart 13th by Baron of Rathcool

(31233).— Sir C. M. Lampson, 45 gs.
Sweetheart 28th, red, calved Dec. 17, 1868, by Count Leinster

(23638), out of Sweetheart 11th by The Baron (13833).—

Mr. F. J. S. Foljarabe, 150 gs.
Sweetheart 30th, red, calved Feb.7, 1869, by Patrician (24728),

out of Sweetheart 12th by Di^ke of Albemarle (21560).—

Mr. J. K. Fowler, 71 gs.
Hebe 2ud, red and little white, calved April 9, 1869, by Pa-
trician (24728), out of Hebe by Rowfant 1st (22767).— Sir

C. M. Lampson, 270 gs.
Sweetheart 31st, rich roan, calved June 6, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 10th by The Baron (13833).—

Mr. G. Moore, 74 gs.
Sweetheart 32nd, roan, calved Nov. 25, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 9th by the Baron (13833).—

Mr. C. C. Dormer, 62 gs.
Sweetheart 33rd, roan, calved Jan. 7, 1870, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 14th by Duke of Albemarle

(21560).— Captain J. J. Robinson, 23 gs.
Sweetheart 34th, red and little white, calved Jan. 16, 1870, by

by Patrician (24728), out of Sweetheart 13th by Baron of

Rathcool (21233)— Mr. J. K. Fowler, 21 gs.
Sweetheart 35th, roan, calved March 13, 1870, by Patrician

(27428), out of Sweetheart 11th by The Baron (13833).—

Mr. W. W. Slye, 37 gs.
Sweetheart 36th, red and little white, calved March 31, 1870,

by Patrician (24728), out of Sweetheart 12th by Duke of

Albemarle (216C0).— Mr. R. R. Sewell, 29 gs.

BULLS.

Last of the Barons (22081), roan, calved Dec. 20, 1864, by

The Baron (13833), out of Cleopatra 3rd by The Baron

(13833).— Mr. Mold, 29 gs.
Patrician (24728), roan, calved Nov. 10, 1865, by Chanter

(19423), out of Princess by General Havelock (17952).—

Mr. G. Barton, 42 gs.
Major (26793), rich roan, calved Jan. 4, 1868, by Count

Leinster (23638), out of Sweetheart 11th by Tlie Baron

(13833).— Mr. R. Betts, 42 gs.
Reginald (27265), rich roan, calved July 3, 1868, by Last of

the Barous (22081), out of Sweetheart 10th by The Baron

(13833).— Mr. F. Bamford, 65 gs.
Sportsman, rich roan, calved Feb. 14, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 13th by Baron of Rathcool

(21233).— Not sold.
Red Gauntlet, red, calved Feb. 15, 1869, by Patrician (24728),

out of Sweetheart 14th by Duke of Albemarle (21560).—

Mr. J. Denchfield, 24 gs.
The Earl, roan, calved April 28, 1869, by Patrician (24728),

out of Sweetheart 3rd by Daybreak (11338).— Mr. J. B.

White, 34 gs.
Rob Roy, red and little white, calved May 8, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 16th by Duke of Albemarle

(21560).— Mr. Wise, 25 gs.
Patrician the Younger, roan, calved May 11, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Sweetheart 19th by Count Leinster (33638).

—Mr. Tindall (Australia), 41 gs.
The Kaisir, red, calved July 17, 1869, by Patrician (24728),

out of Sweetheart 6th by Mameluke (13289).— ]Mr. J.

Denchfield, 41 gs.
Wrestler, red and white, calved Nov. 17, 1869, by Patrician

(24728), out of Cleopatra 5th by Duke of Leinster (17724).

—Mr. H. Gorringe, 25 gs.
Champion, red, calved Dec. 21, 1869, by Patrician (24738),

out of Sweetheart 15th by Baroa of Rathcool (21233).—

Mr. R. Betts, 15 gs.

Forester, red and white, calved Dec. 25, 1869, by Last of the
Barons (22081), out of Sweetheart Sth by the Baron
(13833).— Mr. Taylor, 15 gs.

Belvedere, red and white, calved March 28, 1870, by Patrician
(24728), out of Hebe by Rowfeut Ist (22707).— Mr. W. W.
Slye, 52 gs.

Summary :
£ s. d. £ s. d.

31 Cows 107 0 0 3,316 19 o'

13 Bulls 36 7 0 472 10 0

44 Averaged £86 3 0 £3,789 9 0

SALES OF STOCK IN SHROPSHIRE.

BY MR. W. G. PREECE, OF SHREWSBURY.

THE REVEREND J. BECKWITH'S SHORTHORNS

AT EATON CONSTANTINE.

COWS.

Bonne Bouche, calved May 1st, 1800.— Mrs. Sankey, 30 gs.
Little Hope, calved April 7, 1863.— Mrs. Saukey, 31 gs.
Misletoe, calved December 24, 1864. — Mr. J. Stannier,

32 gs.
Ellie, calved December 13, 1865.— Mr. Hortou, 63 gs.
Azalea, calved April 1, 1866.— Mr. R. L. Burton, 44 gs.
Lizzie, calved April 5, 1807.— Mr. W. F. Provis, 37 gs.
Nora, calved February 11, 1867.— Mr. Fox, 44 gs.
Ouida, calved April 19, 1867.— Mr. J. Bather, 25 gs.
May Flower, calved May 1, 1867.— Capt. Bulkeley, 42 gs.
Christmas Rose, calved December 15, 1867. — Mr. J. Bather,

36 gs.
Spot, calved December 27, 1867.— Mr. Fox, 37 gs.
Adela, calved April 3, 1868.— W. F. Provis, 33 gs.
Magnolia, calved April 7, 1808. — Capt. Bulkeley, 31 gs.
Lady Hope, calved April 9, 1808. — Mr. Stannier, 29 gs.
Kalmia, calved May 2, 1808.— Mr. Acton, 32 gs.
May Blossom, calved May 20, 1868.— Mr. Jefferson, 31 gs.
Rosanna, calved December 12, 1868. — Mr. Fox, 30 gs.
White Azalea, calved April 16, 1809.— Captain Wingfield,

26 gs,
Kate, calved April 24, 1869.— Mr. Jefferson, 20 gs.
Hebe, calved May 5, 1869. — Captain Wingfield, 23 gs.
Alberta, calved May 9, 1809.— Mr. Stannier, 36 gs.
Cigarette, calved January 28, 1870.— Mr. J. Bather 8 gs.
Two three-day's-old calves.— Mr. J. Bather, 11 gs. each.

BULLS.
Leander, calved Oct., 1863.— Mr. E. Burton, 43 gs.
Gourmand, calved Feb. 1, 1868.— Mr. Edwards, 28 gs.
Overplus, calved March 11, 1868.— Mr. Adney, 23 gs.
King David, calved June 16, 1868.— Rev. E. Warter, 31 gs.
Banterer, calved March 20, 1869.- Mr. Acton, 52 gs.
Tommy Dodd, calved March 28, 1869.— Mr. Watson, 36 gs.
Thady o'Flinn, calved April 25, 1869.— Mr. Brown, 38 gs.
St. Martin, calved Nov. 3, 1869.— Capt. Sladen, 17 gs.

MR. W. G. PREECE'S HEREFORDS AT
SHREWSBURY.

Rose, calved 1867, with her bull calf.— Mr. Calcott, 19 gs.
Countess, with her heifer calf.— Mr. Miller (The Court), 22 gs.
Pink, calved, 1867, with her bull calf.— Mr. Angus, 21 gs.
Ruby, calved 1864, with bull calf.— Mr. A. Burd, 23 gs.
Miss Windsor 3nd, calved 1860, with heifer calf. — Messrs.

Crane, 40 gs.
Duchess, a grand fat cow. — Mr. Curzon, 25 gs.
Planet, a fat cow. — Mr. Curzon, 25 gs.
Bracelet, calved 1803. — Messrs. Crane, 29 gs.
Calf by Baron Halston (2943), dam Bracelet, calved Sept. 1,

1869.— Mr. E. H. Davies, 15 gs.
Verbena, calved Nov., 1863. — Mr. Preece, Cressage, 25 gs.
Kempton Lily, calved 1864, with heifer calf. — Mr. Instoue,

36 ga.
May Flower, calved Aug., 1804. — Mr. Preece, 27 gs.
Melody, calved 1865.— Mr. Morris, 34 gs.
Stately, calved 1865. — Mr. Angus, 40 gs.
Patch, calved 1865, was not offered,

0 O

KU

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

Strawberry, calved 1865.—Mr. Lewis, 81 gs.

Blanche, fat, 20 gs.

Lady Cow, calved 1865. — Messrs. Crane, 29 gs.

Lady Stow, calved 1866.— Mr. Whitfield, 16 gs.

Ringlet, calved 1866— Mr. A. Burd, 24 gs.

Belle of the Court, calved 1866.— Mr. Lewis, 35 gs.

Courtier, calved Oct. 1, 1869, by Erodesley, dam Belle of the

Court. — Mr. J. Bridgman, 30 gs.
Lily of the Valley, calved 1866.— Mr. ■Williams, 2G gs.
Minx, calved Dec, 1866.— Mr. A. Burd, 15 gs.
Verbena 2nd, calved 1866, with bull calf.— Mr. Morris, 26 gs.
Silver 3rd, calved 1866, with heifer calf.— Mr. Chorlton, 17 gs.
Lady Halston, calved July, 1867. — Mr. Lewis, 24 gs.
Peggy, calved 1867.— Mr. R. H. Masfen, 19 gs.
Venus, calved 1867.— Mr. WUliams, 27 gs.
Gay Lass, calved 1867. — Mr. Lewis, 15 gs.
Baroness, calved 1867. — Mr. Preece, Cressage, 27 gs.
Water Lily, calved 1867. — Mr. Preece, Cressage, 27 gs.
Purity, calved 1867.— Mr. E. H. Davis, 20 gs.
Pansy, calved 1868.— Mr. A. Burd, 17 gs.
Victress, calved 1868.— Mr. Calcott, 13 gs.
Mermaid, calved 1868. — Mr. Acton, 14 gs.
Pearl, calved 1868.— Mr. Charlton, 13 gs.
Purity 2nd, calved 1868.— Mr. Hawkins, 14 gs.
Star, calved 1868.— Mr. Hawkins, 16 gs.
Curl, calved 1868.— Mr. Calcott, 12 gs.
Bertha, calved June, 1869,— Mr. Crane, 9 gs,
Lily Queen, calved 1869. — Mr. Lewis, 15 gs.
Baron Halston, calved August, 1866.— Mr. Ainsworth, 28 gs.
Pattern, calved July, 1868.— Mr. Williams, 50 gs.
Lord Hereford, calved 1869.— Mr. Masfen, 31 gs.
May Duke, calved April, 1869.— Mr. Angus, 32 gs.

SALES OF STOCK.

The late Mr. Whliam Shipman's and Mr. Snodin's
Shorthorns.— These herds came to the hammer on the 11th
inst., in the midst of a delightful rain. Although several of
the pedigrees were ineligible for the Herd Book, yet good
prices were obtained. Perseverance, a seven-year-old cow,
sold for 41 gs. (Mr. W. Gentle, Beds.) ; Adeline, six years old,
42 gs. (Mr. W. Cox) ; Michaelmas Maid and Folly, both
young cows, went (to Mr. Siittou, Derby) at 30 gs. each;
Industry, a prize winner, fetched 70 gs. (Mr. W. Gentle) ;
Melody, three years old, 60 gs. (Mr. G. Murray^ ; Julia 10th,
a yeariing, 50 gs. went to the hon. H. Littleton, for Australia ;
Melodious, a calf, was bought for 36 gs., by Mr. J. H. Cass-
well, who also gave 70 gs. for Royalist (27370), the red
three-year-old stock bull. The 39 cows and heifers averaged
£27 5s., and the bulls, mostly calves, £22 12s. The combined
herds realised a general average of £26 7s. Sd. Mr. John
Thornton was the auctioneer,

Mr. J. Angell James' Shorthorns, at Bridgetown,
Stratford-on-Avon.— This herd was sold on Wednesday,
May 18th, when a large company assembled. The cattle were
of the Knightley and Charmer blood, and those of full pedigree
had been bred from Mr. Adkius' Rosamond and Mr. Harris'
Snowdrop. They were brought out in very nice condition,
and the arrangements were everything that could be wished.
After a luucheou in the barn, the company went to the ring-
side, and paid the following as the chief prices : Strawberry,
8-years-old cow, 33 gs. (Mr. J. N. Korman) ; Rosemary, 8
years, 40 gs. (Mr. Cottrell Corbet) ; Rosalind, 6 years, 47 gs.
(Mr. H. Moore) ; Spangle, 5 years, 35 gs. (Mr. Lett) ; Ro-
salie 2ad, 31 gs. (Mr. W. Strickland) ; Rosa, 3 years, 40 gs.
(Rev. H. Beckwith) ; Sunshine, 3 years, 37 gs. (Mr. T.
Harris) ; Sarah, 2 years old, 47 gs. (Mr. Jas. Webb) ; Sprightly,
a yeariing, 37 gs. (Mr. J. Baldwin) ; Rosebud, 13 mouths old,
■55 gs. (Mr. Puriay Dun). The young stock were mostly after
the wlute aged bull Lackey, who went to Mr. Harris at 31 gs.
A large proportion of the animals were white. The entire
^00 S^*° '^*^^^ averaged £25 15s., aud the 27 full pedigrees
*28 2s. Mr. Thornton was the auctioneer.

?"J^ i-'^te Countess de la Warr's Southdowns.—
i Ins flock, brought into the maiket out of season, and low in
condition, realized neveriheless some good prices at Knole
i-ark. Seven Oaks, on Friday, May 20. Some of the ewe tegs sold
*9 high a« O&S: each^ aud the ewes ranged from JOs, to 03s,

each. The sum total of the sale was about £1,500 for 580
sheep. Mr. Thornton was the auctioneer.

Sale of Stock to go Abroad. — We stated a fortnight
since that Mr. Booth had sold his prize cow, Patricia, for
1,000 guineas. Messrs. Walcott & Campbell, of New York, who
are the buyers, also purchased Bride of the Vale for 1,000
gs., from Warlaby, and have now taken the heifer-calf. Minaret,
as a companion for Patricia, at 250 gs. Col. Towneley's
Baron 0.\ford's Beauty accompanies them] at 500 gs., as also
two heifers from Mr. Torr, of the Waterloo tribe,' at 250 gs. ;
with Orange Gwynne and Goody Two Shoes, recently bought at
the Biddenham and Osbcrton Sales, and Charming Rose from
Stroxton. An Ayrshire bull and a cow and a heifer, winners
at tlie Glasgow meeting, go out with these Shorthorns, as weU
as some longwoolled sheep from Mr. Marshall, and Berkshire
pigs from Mr. Bailey, of Swindon, They left the Thames on
Tuesday last by the " Daniel Webster," a sailing vessel, and,
with them, Mr, Thornton sent out two pure. bred young bulls
from Capt. Aveling and Mr. Pawlett, and two in-calf heifers
from Mr. Blundell and Mi^Gamble, as well as some long-
woolled Cotswold and Southdovm sheep for Mr. Bell, of
Colorado.

EDINBURGH TOWN COUNCIL.

At a meeting of the Edinburgh Town Council, the Clerk
submitted a report from the Lord Provost's Committee, re-
commending the Council to take no action with reference to
(1) the Game Laws Abolition Bill, brought in by Mr. Taylor,
and (2) the Poaching Prevention Act Repeal Bill.

Mr. HowDEN moved the adoption of the committee's re-
commendation, which was duly seconded.

Mr. RoiiAJMS moved, as an amendment, that the Council
petition the House of Commons in favour of Mr. Taylor's
bill. He held that every man who was a tenant of land^
whether it was merely a " kail-yard" or a tract of ten thou-
sand acres — if he paid a rent for it, should have a perfect
right, without let or hindrance, to kill every wild animal that
was on or above it. Anything short of that, he held, would
not put an end to the immorality that arose out of the opera-
tion of the present Game-laws.

Mr. Wilson seconded Mr. Romans' amendment. While
admitting that much might be said in favour of the Game-
laws, on the ground that there must be some pastime aiforded
to country gentlemen, he held that the operation of the Game-
laws was the cause of many evils, and he beheved that the
country would be much the better of their being entirely
abolished.

Mr. WoRMALD, in supporting the amendment, said he re-
garded Mr. Taylor's bill as being more in accordance with the
popular wishes of the country than any that had ever yet been
introduced into the House of Commons. AU previous bills
had been of the nature of a compromise ; and though they
might yet require to agree to a compromise on tliis as they had
just done in regard to the famous Annuity-tax question, he
thought their best course in the meantime would be to petition
generally in favour of that bill.

Mr. RowATT said he would be in favour of a compromise
that would exclude hares and rabbits from the game list.
That was the only means by which he thought a settle-
ment satisfactory to the members of the agricultural interest
could be effected.

Mr. Macknigut supported the recommendation of the com-
mittee.

Bailie Lewis held that it vfas unfair that the proprietors of
land should have the power of diverting it so much from the
great purpose which it should serve — that of producing food
for the people. He agreed with Mr. Rowatt that the winged
game should be separated from the hares and rabbits, which
were the principal cause of destruction to the farmers' pro-
perty. He thought to put hares and rabbits out of the game
list would be the most practicable compromise at present, and
one that would be most satisfactory to the agricultural com-
munity (Hear, hear).

Mr. Romans then agreed to modify his amendment, leaving
it as follows : " That the Council petition in favour of Mr.
Taylor's bill so far as it applies to hares and rabbits."

On a division, the amendment was carried by a majority of
20 tQ 7.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

tu

THE GAME LAWS AND GAME BILLS.

At a special meeting of the Kincardineshire Farmers' Club,
Mr. Taylor (Cushnie), the President, in the chair, said: I
shall only make a few remarks, and take the Bills in the order
they have been introduced and ordered by the House of Com-
mons to be printed. Mr. Loch's bears date 10th February, and
would confer the inalienable right on the tenant to protect his
crops from destruction by hares and rabbits, without whicli any
game reform would be of no value to the farmer. I think the
•Ith clause in Mr. Loch's Bill, conferring this right, might be
better expressed, as it is objectionable that a contract or cove-
nant should be entered into with the knowledge that it is
illegal and may be broken. It also provides for compensation
for damage done to crops by game coming from neighbouring
preserves, and for the abolition of cumulative penalties — for
(he transfer of all game cases from justices to the sheriffs.
These provisions will commeud themselves to your sense of
justice and the demands of necessity. Mr. Taylor and Mr.
M'Combie's Bill, printed by order 16th March, is a very short
and simple one, and provides for the total aboHHon of the
Game Laws, on and after 14th February 1871. I know that
many of you have come slowly to the conclusion that
total repeal is the only solution of the difficulty ; but although
the Game Laws we abolished to-morrow, the farmers would
have no protection against the reservation of hares and rabbits
by the landlord. And our legislators make no secret that, if
tJie Game Laws were abolished, the abolition would be ac-
compauied by a stringent Trespass Act, which would shut up
Scotland not from the poacher, but from the mass of the
people. Perhaps *the most important, because backed by the
might and influence of Government, is the Lord-Advocate's
Bill, printed 11th April. That Bill has been received with
great favour generally at all the county meetings over Scot-
land, except at our ovi'n in Kingcardineshire, where a disap-
proval of it was carried by nearly three to one. But just in
proportion to its welcome acceptance by the landowners has
been its all but unanimous and emphatic condemnation by the
tenantry. Its provisions appear fair and plausible to the laud-
owner, or the inexperienced reader, but would be utterly in-
effective in giving protection. To assimilate the Game Laws
of Scotland to those of England and call that reform is a sham,
and discreditable to Government ; and I warn our rulers that,
if they attempt to pass such a Bill, they will endanger the
Liberal interest in half the counties of Scotland. The battle
was fought aud won at last election on the questions of game
and hypothec, in the faith that a Liberal Government would
redeem the pledges given by its members and supporters on the
hustings ; but, so far as the Government Bill is concerned,
the farmers of Scotland are in the meantime doomed to bitter
disappointment ; but there is one good it has done — it has
for once produced union among them, for it has been received
from one end of Scotland to the other with one universal
burst of indignation and disapproval. The other remaining
Bill — that introduced by Mr. Hardcastle and Sir Wilfred
Lawson, and printed on 2nd May, the last and worst of the
series — adds rabbits aud foxes to the game list, makes game
property, aud the party intermeddling with it a thief and
felon, subject to imprisonment with hard labour, or to a fine of
£20. At the banquet to Mr. Parker at Perth, I heard Mr.
Hardcastle say he had nothing to say personally against Sir
William Stirliug Maxwell, " but his politics I abhor." I would
say the same ot his Game Bill, that " I abhor" it. These pro-
visions are so repugnant to common sense, and in the opposite
direction of the reform that is required and demanded, that I
cannot believe the House of Commons — or, at all events,
its leaders — will seriously entertain them ; but, be that as it
may, our duty to-day is to give a clear expression of opinion
as to what we approve and what we disapprove of. My late
worthy proprietor. Captain Burnett of Monboddo, had in-
serted in some of his leases a game clause, which is worthy of
imitation, and I shall read it to you — " You are to protect the
woods, and keep down rabbits and all other vermin which
destroy the crops." Mr. Taylor here read the resolutions,
and it was agreed that the meeting consider them seriatim.
The first resolution was :

" That the Game Laws as they at present exist are iniquitous
in principle, tyrannical in administration, aud in all parts of
the country lead to increase of local taxation, impoYerishment

of tenant-farmerg, demoralisation of the people, and debase-
ment of the aristocracy, landowners, and game tenants."

Mr. Greig (Harvieston) said he quite agreed with this
resolution, and moved its adoption.

Mr. Alexander (Bent) seconded, aud the resolution wa»
agreed to.

The second resolution was :

"That the Bill introduced into the House of Commons by
the Lord Advocate will not mitigate any of those
evils, but will greatly add to the already tremendous
power of the landlord by increased inducement to litigation
in the higher Courts ; and the owner being the richer party,
such litigation, without limit except the Court of last resort,
would often be more ruinous to the tenant claiming compensa-
tion than the original loss; therefore, this meeting is of
opinion that the Bill is altogether unworthy of a Liberal
Government, and ought to be opposed by every legitimate
means."

Mr. Greig said he lately came in contact with a good many
English farmers, aud had had conversations with them on the
Game Laws, aud he found that the abuse existed as much
there as in Scotland. An assimilation of the laws of the two
countries would not give relief.

Mr. Mitchell (Burnton) moved, and Mr. KiNNEAR(Milton
or Mathers) seconded, the adoption of the resolution, which
was unanimously agreed to .

The terras of the third resolution were :

" That tenant-farmers ought to have the inalienable right of
defending their crops from destruction by wild animals, wheMier
known by the designation of game or by any otlier term ; and
such inalienable right would be no greater interference with
the liberty of contract than contained in the Irish Land Bill
now under consideration of Parliament, or, with tiie rights of
private property than under the Cattle Diseases A.ct, which
authorizes the slaughter of the farmer's stock for the public
good."

The resolution was agreed to.

The fourth was in the following terms :

" The Game Laws are a fertile source of crime, pauperism,
and of increase of local taxation. By a Parliamentary return
for 1869 it appears there were 10,34.5 convictions under these
laws in England and Wales alone, which must have been the
means of reducing at least 20,000 individuals to pauperism, to
be supported at the public expense ; and in a previous period
often years there were 42 convictions for homicide and mar-
der, representing 68 lives lost: therefore, this meeting is of
opinion that these laws ought to be made less sanguinary, less
oppressive, and more in accordance with the spirit of the age."

Mr. Alexander thought the last clause should be left out,
and the words " The Game Laws ought to be abolished" in-
serted. , ,.,

The Chairman did not agree with this proposal, as he did
not go the length of total abolition.

The vote was then taken for Mr. Alexander's proposal of
total abolition, as against the Chairman's resolution for modi-
fication, when the amendment was lost by two votes — the
numbers being 11 and 13.

The fifth resolution was in the following terms:

" That a Liberal Government, fully aware of the deplorable
amount of pauperism, homicide, and murder caused by the
Game Laws in England aud Wales, and also of the enormous
destruction and check to production of the food of the people,
the impoverishment and ruin of tenant farmers, from Uia
ravages of game, ought not to have cast contempt on the just
complaints of the tenant farmers and people of Scotland by
proposing to assimilate the Game Laws of this country to
those of England."

Mr. Middleton (Balnakettle) proposed that the word
" Liberal" be deleted (laughter).

The Chairman said he wanted to make a strong condem-
nation of the Government.
Mr. Middleton. — Just strike out that one word (laughter) ,
Mr. Greig.— Put it in Italics (laughter).
The resolution was agreed to as proposed.
The sixth resolution was as follows :

" That Mr. Loch's Bill would confer on tenant farmers the
inalienable right of defending their crops from destruction
by hares and rabbits, provides for compensation for injury done
to crops by vermin coming from neighbouring estates, for

9 Q 2

546

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

transfer of all Game Law cases from the Justices to Sheriff
Courts, for abolition of cumulative penalties for the same
offence, and iu so far this meeting approves of the BiU, and
resolves to petition in its favour ; but it does not give protec-
tion to the Highland farmer against the vast herds of deer
and paclis of grouse which in late seasons come down from
the higher grounds and devour their crops, and in that, and
other respects, might be amended."

Mr. ALEXA.NDER decidedly objected to this resolution, and
suggested that consideration of it he delayed till the eighth
resolution was read.

This was agreed to.

The seventh resolution, which was agreed to, was in the
following terms :

" That were farmers enabled to protect their crops from
injury by game, the Land Laws amended, the ' false and evil
Law' of Hypothec and the oppressive Law of Distraint
abolished, so as to render it safe for farmers and those who
deal with them to lend their capital more liberally to land-
owners in the cultivation of their estates, there is good rer.son
to believe that in a few years, instead of the 11 millions quar-
ters of grain now grown in the United Kingdom, the ~2
millions required annually for consumption CJuld easily be
produced at home."

The eighth resolution was thereafter read, and was as
follows :

" That seeing almost all landowners are preparing to set
legislation at defiance, by the insertion of stringent clauses,
new leases for reservtition, including rabbits, notwithstanding
any change in the law which may take place, the total
abolition of the Game Laws, as proposed by Mr. Taylor, Mr.
Jacob Bright, and Mr. M'Combie's Bill, would fail to give
relief from the evils complained of, unless a provision be in-
troduced rendering it illegal for parties to enter into covenants
for the reservation of ground game."

Mr. Alexander proposed the following amendment, which ,
he said, was more consistent with the general tenor of all the
resolutions put together :

" That, as no satisfactory amendment of the Game Laws
has hitherto been devised, this meeting approve of the Bill
introduced by Mr. P. Taylor, I\Ir. Jacob Bright, and Mr.
M'Corabie for their total repeal; but, seeing that certain
landowners are already preparing to set legislation at defiance
by insertion of stringent clauses iu new leases for reservation
of game, including rabbits, notwithstanding any change in the
law which may take place, tliis meeting instruct their Com-
mittee to correspond with Mr. Taylor to have such clauses
made illegal by his Bill."

jMr. DuRiE seconded.

Mr. KiNNEAR moved that it remain.

Mr. Greig seconded.

On a division, six voted for and twelve against striking out
the resolution.

The resolution as proposed was therefore agreed to.

The eighth resolution was also agreed to.

The ninth resolution was as follows :

" That the Bill introduced into Parliament by Mr. Hard-
castle and J\[r. Wilfred Lawson is both tyrannical and Jesuitical.
By making foxes game the highland farmer defending his fiock
would be branded as a felon ; it declares that no one shall be
criminally prosecuted for killing game, and in a subsequent
clause makes game to be private property, and all who inter-
meddle with it thieves and felons. Any child witliiu the
kingdom who may put its hand into a bird's nest to break or
take an egg, or school boy who may catch a wild rabbit or
kill a tame one of his own, would be liable to six months' im-
prisonment with hard labour, or to a fine of £20. Therefore,
this meeting look upon the Bill as brutalising, and 'abhor' it."

Mr. Greig thought the meeting should agree to say that
the Bill was too ludicrous to be worthy of consideration.

Mr. DuRiE proposed that the meeting petition against Mr.
Hardcastle's Bill altogether, and said he would not send out a
resolution to the public iu the form proposed.

Tlie meeting agreed to strike out the words " brutalizing"
and " abhor," and to add " the meeting consider the Bill so
absurd as to be unworthy consideration."

The Chairman was authorised to sign a petition in terms of
the resolutions adopted ; and, after he had been thanked for
presiding, the proceedings terminated.

THE GAME LAWS,
TESTIMONIAL TO LORD LEIGH.
The following address has been presented : —

"To the Right Honourable the Lord Leigh.
" We, the undersigned tenants of your Lordship's Stoneleigh
Estate, take this opportunity of tendering our greateful recog-
nition of your Lordship's liberality in granting to us the
privilege of killing hares on our respective firms — a privilege
the more valued because it has been unsolicited. Ever ready
to perform all the duties of a landlord, your Lordship has
again been foremost in discouraging the preservation of game
to the injury of the tenant. The example which your Lord-
ship has set will, we earnestly hope, be extensively followed by
other landowners, and will remove a frequent source of irri-
tation and discontent. We fully appreciate your Lordship's
kind consideration, and wishing you many years of health and
happiness, we subscribe ourselves your Lordship's obedient
servants,

William Campbell E. B. Twycross

William T. Wakefield Josh. Shakespear

Jos. W. Jenaway William Jones

Edward Swinnerton Geo. Darlinson

John Lee James Dormer

Thomas Hands James Harris

Thomas Harris John Burbery

William Norman William Jaggard

Joseph Jaggard John Hiorns

Richard Robbins Henry Judd

Thomas L. Umbers Edward Judd

Samuel L. Simpson William §ammons

A. M. Harborne Thomas Jones

H. P. Adcock

TENANT EIGHT.

We last week had the pleasure of recording that our highly
respected neighbour, the Lord Lieutenant of tlie county (Lord
Leigh), had practically abolished the Game Laws on his
estates, by allowing his tenants to kill the hares and rabbits
on their respective holdings. We have now to chronicle
another instance of discernment of the signs of the times on
the part of his Lordship, which is worthy of imitation through-
out the land. We believe the following circular has just been
distributed among the tenantry on Lord Leigh's estates by
Mr. Geo. Jones, his Lordship's steward: —
Estate Office,
Stoneleigh Abbey, Kenilworth,

27th April, 1870.

Dear sir, — I am directed by Lord Leigh to draw your at-
tention to the fact that should you, from n/iy cause whaterer,
quit the farm you now hold under him, every unexhausted im-
provement, made at your expense, on the farm will be paid to
you — the value to be .ascertained by two persons, one chosen
by you and one by his Lordship, they appointing an umpire,
whose decision (in case they differ) shall be final and con-
clusive.

Of course you will see that before you commence improve-
ments they must be sanctioned by Lord Leigh (through the
agent), to whom applications, stating the nature, cost, situation,
&c., of the work (with plans when necessary) must be made.
When sanctioned, a written authority will be given by the
agent. This must be carefully preserved ; it will evidence
your cl.aim and prove the date of permission.

So few cliauges of tenants have taken place on the estates
(except from deaths, when relations have succeeded) that hardly
a case has arisen (indeed I do not know one) during his
Lordship's possession of the estates that this dealing with a
just claim could be recognized.

Your very obedieul servant,

George Jones.

•^Coventry Slanchrrd.

DEATH OP STOCKWELL.— The Sjjorihig Gazette an-
nounces the death of the celebrated racing sire StockweU,
whose success at the stud obtained for him the title of " The
Emperor of Stallions." The cause of death was inflammation
of the inner coating of the intestines. With a view of liaving
his skeleton set up hereafter, StockweU has been buried in
lime in Hooton Park,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

•547

BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND
SOCIETY AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES
ASSOCIATION.

A meeting of the Couucil was held on Tuesday, the '26th
April, at tlie Wliite Lion, Bristol, E. S. Drevve, Esi]., Vice-
President in the chair. There were also present : Tlie Hon.
and Rev. S. Best, Colonel 11. Brent, Colonel H. A. F. LuttrcU,
Major 11. Trood, Rev. T. Phillpotts, Rev. A. C. T jnne, Messrs.
R. Bembridge, C. Bush, 11. H.Bush, Thomas Danger, J. Daw,
C. Edwards, M. Earrant, H. Fookes, John Gray, Jonathan
Gray, J. D. Hancock, J. II. Holley, J. H. Kenuaway, M.P.,
J. Webb King, Meade King, J. E. Knollys, J. Lush, II. St.
John Maule, H. Middleton, J. C. Moore Stevens, R. Stratton,
W. Thompson, H. Williams, "W. Wippell, II. Spackman
(Official Superintendent), W. Smith (Official Accountant), and
J. Goodwill (Secretary and Editor).

It was reported that the entries of Stock and Implements
for the Taunton meeting were numerous, ranking next to
Bristol and Southampton, and exceeding those at any other
meeting of the Society, notwithstanding the absence of local
prizes. The annual meeting of members was announced for 12
o'clock on the Wednesday in the show week.

Messrs. Gibbs aud lline, the Society's contractors, were
authorised to supply refreshments m the implement trial fields,
under the direction of the stewards.

It was ordered that for the future only one number of the
Society's Journal be published annually, but that the reports
of the Taunton meeting be brought out in a separate form as
soon as possible after the Show.

The Earl of Cork was nominated President of the Society
for the year 1870-1.

Mr. E. B. Willyams, M.P., was nominated a vice-president
of the Society.

The new members elected were : AV. Brock, Temple Meads,
Bristol ; Chillcott and Gardiner, 5 and C, Nelson-street,
Bristol; H. Denton, St. Peter's Works, Wolverhampton ; J.
Dredge, Holt Earm, Pilton, Sliepton Mallet ; A. R. C. Drewe,
The Grange, Honiton ; G. Game, Churchill Heath, Chipping
Norton; C. Hodge, Burleigh, Devonport ; J. C. King,
Exeter ; Rev. G. Lamb, Moss Cottage, St. Austell ; E. Legg,
Coombe Down, Beaminster ; A. Malet, Pyrlaud Hall,
Taunton ; A. Mason, Dorchester ; J. Pope, Pennsylvania-road,
Exeter ; W. E. Surtees, Tainfield, Taunton ; C. B. Stiby,
Tyfield, Pewsey ; R. Sawnwick, College Earm, Cirencester;
Wallis and Stcevens, Basingstoke; R. Woodman, Southease,
Lewes, Suss3x.

THE BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY.—
It will be seen that at the last meeting of the Council it was
very judiciously determined to revert to the plan of issuing
only one number of the Society's Jonnial during the year.
This will, no doubt, enable the Editor to bring the work again
up to its previous worth. Reports of the Shows are, how-
ever, to be published in a separate form immediately after the
Meetings.

THE REPEAL OF THE MALT TAX.
PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL ASSOCIATION.
Mr. Joshua Fielden, M.P., unable from Parliamentary duty
to take part in the agitation commenced by the Yorkshire
Association, has addressed the president, Mr. E. S. Cayley, of
Wydale Hall, on the subject. Mr. Fielden says, " If tlie
farmers and landed gentry would take this matter up and form
a National Association for the repeal of the Malt Tax, to be
composed of delegates from every Chamber of Agriculture in
the country, I am sanguine in my belief that the Malt Tax
would soon be repealed, aud a licence to brew substituted.
The gradual reduction of the duty would then be a matter
which we may fairly look forward to. If you will look through
the recent debate in the House of Commons you will find it
was admitted that the tax is 70 per cent, on the price of barley
in the first instance, and even Mr. Gladstone himself dared not
contradict my statement that the consumer of public-house
beer pays a tax of at least 1-iO per cent. The subject is now,
therefore, in a very ditt'erent state to what it was when we had
our Anti-Malt-tax Association in existence. The recent re-
duction in the sugar duties makes the injustice of the Malt

Tax still more apparent. It caunot too often oc repeated that
sugar is now taxed about 25 per cent., tea 25 per cent., cham-
pagne 5 jicr cent., while malt is taxed 70 per cent., and in
such a way that before the beverage, which malt is made into,
readies the consumer, he has to pay a tax of 110 per cent, at
least, and often much more. The tax, too, is taken off when
malt or beer is exported, so that the foreigner gets malt and
beer duty free, while the Englishman has to pay this heavy
duty on a product of his native land. Can anything be more
monstrous ? I need not, I am sure, tell you how glad I shall
be to take part in any national movement for the repeal of this
unjust and inquisitorial tax." At Malton, on Monday, the
executive of the Yorkshire Anti-Malt-tax Association agreed
upon the following form of petition to I'arliament :

To the Honourable the Commons of Great Britain and

Ireland in Parliament assembled.

The petition of the undersigned inhabitants of , in

the county of ■ , humbly slieweth.

That your petitioners grow barley and other grain in the
said county. That they have lieard with amazement that it is
proposed to reduce the duty on sugar, and not to touch the
duty on malt. Tliat the value of malt depends on the sugar it
will produce. That one cwt. of sugar, a foreign production,
which is equal for brewing purposes to one quarter of malt, is
to be taxed 5s. That one quarter of malt is to be taxed 21s.
Sd. That this is a protective duty of 16s. 8d. in favour of the
foreign article as against the British production. That cham-
pagne, a foreign production, aud the rich man's drink, is taxed
at 5 per cent., and that beer, a home production, aud the drink
of the people, is taxed at least 70 per cent. Your petitioners
therefore pray your honourable House to repeal or reduce the
duty on malt, the home-grown article.

And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.

A public meeting jwas held at Malton on Saturday after-
noon on this subject.

THE DUMBARTONSHIRE AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY.

The annual show of the Dumbartonshire Agricultural So-
ciety was held at East Bridge-end, Dumbarton. The day was
fine, although a rather chilly wind blew from the west. Dum-
bartonshire has for many years been notable for the excellence
of the Ayrshires reared on the southern slopes of the county ;
and these were the principal attraction on Tuesday. There
were upwards of a dozen classes for the breed. The competi-
tion was lively, and the animals shown were of excellent
quality. The cows in milk were particularly good, as were
tlie aged bulls. The first and second prizes iu the class for
the best cow in milk, were secured by Mr. Martin, Auchen-
froe, with the pair of animals which were awarded similar
honours at the Glasgow Show last week. The whole com-
peting were a more than average lot ; but some judges
thought that Mr. Martin's second cow had a decidedly High-
land look, especially about the horns. In the next class, for
three-year-old cows in calf, or near calving, the premium
for the three best cows in milk was awarded to Mr. Martin.
The two-year-old queys in milk or calf were below the aver-
age. The first prize was awarded to Messrs. Turnbull, Bon-
hill Place. There were six entries for aged bulls. Mr.
M'Farlane, Torr, was placed first with a brown-and-white
bull of great substance. The second prize was awarded to
Mr. Leckie, Gooseholm ; while the tiiird honours went to
Mrs. Mather, Crosslett. In the two-year-old bulls Mr. Snod-
grass secured the first award. Mr. Howie, Middleton, stood
second, with a brown-and-white bull. The third prize was
won by Mr. M'Lachan with a small, lively, dark-brown bull of
great symmetry. The yearling bulls were a very good class,
as were also the two-year-old heifers. The show of horses
was capital. The four brood mares competing for first ho-
nours would have held their places at larger shows. The
three prizis given were accorced to Mr. YuiUe, of Darleith.
The blackfaced sheep were a numerous show, but they were
lean in condition. There were very few Leicesters, the year-
ling tup which was awarded the prize belonging to Mr. P.
Lennox, Kirkton. The judges were — Cattle and Horses : J.
M'Adam, Blairoer, Drymen ; G. Pendar, Dumbreck, Kilsyth;
J. Pollock, Raws, Kilmarnock. Sheep; R. Begg, Blarnyle,
Luss ; aud A. Jardine, Fintry.

548

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE HIGHLAND AND AGEICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

The monthly meeting of the directors of this Society was
held in Edinburgh. Mr. Russell (Pilmuir), occupied the chair.
T.he half-yearly general meeting of the Society was fixed for
Wednesday June 22nd.

_ Mr. F. N. Menzies was instructed to visit Dumfries, with a
view to making arrangements for the erection of the showyard;
to Bpcure tiie accommodation required for the deputation of
director3, judges, &c. ; and to ascertain whether suitable parties
can be found in the district to undertake the refreshment rooms.
The Committee of Superintendence was appointed.
Mr Meazies reported as to the show of 1871, that he had
attended the county meeting at Perth on Saturday, when the
subject of the auxiliary subscription was brought forward, and
a voluntary assessment proposed. All assessments in the
county being laid on at the Michaelmas meeting, the matter
was delayed. He also reported a letter from Mr. Young of
Cleish, convener of the county of Kinross, to the same effect ;
and stated that he understood that the counties of Forfar and
Fife would also give the Society the usual support.

The report of the annual examination of the students at-
tending the Edinburgh Veterinary College was submitted. Out
of thirty-six cancliuates who presented themselves for the So-
ciety s veterinary diploma, thirty-one were successful. The
usual silver medals given by the Society were awarded to those
students who passed the best examinations in the various de-
partments.

The reports lodged in competition for premiums offered for
the reclamation of waste land by tillage, and on the im-
provement of natural pasture without tillage, were remitted to
a committee to read and report on their merits before the ge-
neral meetiug in June.

A later was read from Mr. G. St. Clair Stevenson, the
secretary acting consul for France, stating the intention of his
Government of holding an international show at Lille (de-
partement du Nord), from the 18th to the 26th of June, 1870.
Mr. Stevenson forwards some copies of the regulations for
admission to the show, which comprise— 1st, agricultural in-
Btruraents, machiuery; 2nd, agricultural produce and matters
applied to the culture; 3rd, horses.

.. i*^""- Menzies laid before the meeting a pamphlet, entitled
Suggestions for Increasing the Supply of Spring Water at
Mai a, and Improving its Climate," by David Milne Home
. ,„' flhairmanof the Council of the Scottish Meteorolo-
gical Society.

THE GAME LAWS.

At the adjourned discussion of the East Suffolk Chamber
of Agriculture, Mr. M. Biddell in the chair,

Mr. Everitt re-opened the proceedings in a lengthy speech,
and he was followed by Messrs. W. Kersey, T. Hawkins II
Haward, N. Garrett, and others.

The CHiiRMAjf then proceeded to take a show of hands on
the various resolutions. The first was No. 1 of Mr. Garrett's :

"That the present game laws are injurious to the best in-
terests of landlords, tenant-farmers, and the country at large •
and that their influence is demoralizing to all classes." '

To this Mr. Deck moved an amendment —
^ " That the over-preservation of game is injurious to the best
interests of the landlords, tenant-farmers, and country at large."

On a show of hands the amendment was carried unanimously.

Mr. Garrett's second resolution was—

" That the game laws add greatly to the heavy rates, the
payment of which is yearly becoming more irksome and dis-
tasteiul to the whole community, and to the judicious reduc-
tion of which each government in its turn professes to accord
Its most hearty approbation."

To this Mr. Deck's amendment was —

"That all lauds and hereditaments should he assessed at
their proper lettable value."

The amendment was carried unanimously.

The next resolution of Mr. Garrett's was

" That hares and rabbits ought to be excluded from the opera-
^Tu ^.'j^K^'n^iaws; that their preservation, being incom-
?W .V f &«°'^/arming, is contrary to the public good, and
ervati^rn^i!' '^^ contracts, having for their object the pre-
servation of hares and rabbits, ought to be declared illegal.

The resolution was lost by a narrow majority,
Mr. Garrett withdrew his fourth resolution, and his fifth,
which ran thus—" That this Chamber of Agriculture is un-
animous in hoping that the hon. members for EastlSuffolk will
use their influence both in the House of Commons and out of
it for the thorough investigation and for the reform of these
laws," was carried.

Mr. Everett's motion, " That this chamber desires to see
game efficiently protected from poachers, and as far as prac-
ticable by the same means as are used for the protection of
ordinary property," which was seconded by Mr. Hawkins, was
carried, as was Mr. Everett's further motion, " That in all
cases where the tenant cedes the right to game to his landlord
he should be compensated — otherwise than by rent — for all
injuries which the excessive preservation of game may cause."

ENGLISH TENANT RIGHT.— The paper on "English
Tenant," which is given in another page, was received by the
Farmers' Club on JNIonday evening with much applause. Mr.
Corbet is familiar with the subject in all its local variety of
details, and did well to select the Lincolnshire system as a
practical illustration of the question,— 77;^ Gardeners' Chroni-
cle and Agricultural Gazette, May 7- The introduction of the
Irish Land Bill has drawn more general attention to the rights
of tenants and the duties of landlords in England than the
subject has hitherto received ; and the paper lately read by
the Secretary of the Central Farmers' Club before that Society
has embodied what seems to be the fair view of this vexed
question. — The Field, Mav 7.

A SUGGESTIVE FACT.— It will be seen from our report
that at the meetiug of the Farmers' Club Mr.Leamon attempted
to make an attack on this Journal, when he was at once stopped
by the Chairman. A distinguished Norfolk agriculturist has
recently forwarded to us a circular letter addressed to him,
asking support for another agricultural journal, so tliat " fuller
reports may be given," and so forth. This circular is signed
Robert Leamon, who in a postscript would he much obliged by
your "forwardlug me your name as a subscriber." Is this the
same Mr. Leamon who was stopped by the Chairman at the
Fanners' Club on Monday ?—Mark Lane Eu-press.

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT FACT.— At the last monthly
meeting of the members of the North of England Chamber of
Agriculture, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Mr. Bell, of Hedley Hall,
in the chair, Mr. Lawson, of Longhirst, moved that "The
mixed Council of the Central Chamber might now be benefi-
cially transformed into an Association, constituted solely of
delegated members from the Provincial Chambers ;" and this
motion was carried unanimously. The Sussex Express, in
reporting a meeting of the West Kent Chamber, " thinks it
right to state in reference to the Central Chamber, that
gentlemen subscribing a guinea can attend and vote, and are
thus in a position to swamp those who represent the tenant-
farmers elected by the country Chambers."

DEATH OF MR. THOMAS TWITCHELL, OF WIL-
LINGTON. — It is with regret we announce that a well-known
agriculturist, Mr. Thomas TwitcheU, of Williugton, Bedford-
shire, died on Friday, April 25. Mr. TwitcheU was in the prime
of life, about 48 years of age ; he had been in his usual health
until a fortnight ago, when he was seized with apoplexy, and
never spoke afterwards. The deceased gentleman was a mem-
ber of the Council of the Smithfield Club, at the shows of
which he had often acted as a judge. He learned farming
under that eminent agriculturist, the late Samuel Bennett, of
Bickering's Park, with whom he lived many years, and from
whom he acquired a taste for well-bred stock, particularly
Leicester sheep, of which breed he was for many years the
most successful exhibitor at the Smithfield Club shows. Mr.
TwitcheU was regarded by his brother tenants upon the Duke
of Bedford's estate as one of the very best farmers in that
highly cultivated county ; in the management of sheep he has
for 25 years past been looked upon as an authority. The de-
ceased was a director of Bedfordshire Middle-class School,
founded for the education of the sons of farmers; and last
year the Bedfordshire Agricultural Society did him the honour
of appointing him its vice-president. Being a public-spirited,
wealthy, and liberal man, he was held in high respect, and his
premature death will be universally regretted. The deceased
has left a widow, but no family.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

549

CALENDAR OF AGRICULTURE.

This month introduces the general sowing of turnips
over the kingdom, except in the eastern counties, where
a later season is less exposed to the fly, and less liable to
the mildew of the plants. Sow seeds till the 12th of the
month, then use the green rounds, or any semi-round
varieties, and finish with globes and the red tankards.
These and simQar sorts will aff'ord a succession of quality
for use.

The land having been thoroughly pulverized by repeated
workings by the plough, the harrow, and the roll, and all
weeds and stones removed by hand-picking, a straight
furrow is drawn on the level surface by the common
plough provided with a main tree of five feet in length
to allow the horses to walk widely apart. The plough
returns in the same furrow, throwing a width in the
opposite direction, the horses walking one on each side of
the first furrow at the extremity of the five feet main
tree. The plough moves in succession up and down the
sides of the last furrows at the distance of 28 inches,
making a drill with each passage with a deep furrow of
soil, and thrown widely as possible. This method forms
a drill by a single furrow of the plough on the turnip
lands of the finest alluvium ; in other cases, of more harsh
soils, that are cloddy and crumbling, the drills are made
by a " bout" of the plough, or by the implement passing
twice in the same furrow aad thus moving the laud into
a degree of pulverization, and raising a greater freshness.
The farm-yard dung in a semi-putrescent condition, from
a heap in the corner of the field, is placed in heaps in
the middle hollow of three drills, and is immediately
spread along the hollows of the drills by handforks, and
must cover the bottoms evenly with dung without any
bare spots left uncovered. One person manages each
drill in spreading the dung, which is supplied to afford a
constancy of work. The time will soon arrive when the
dung will be brought from the homestead by light
carriages on moveable railways, and in a fresh condition
of solid and urinary pieces mixed with the litter of straws
cut short by the steam thrashing machinery. Ploughs
in succession split the ridglets of land to cover the dung,
the right hand horse walking iu the last made hollow,
and the left hand animal on the top of the drill next the
one to be split, of which the largest half is thrown over
the dung on the right hand. The plough returns, mov-
ing in the central hole, one of two drills, throwing a
furrow of fresh soil over the dung from the opposite side
of the first split. The dung being covered by two fur-
rows of fresh soil from opposite sides, deeply done as
possible, the turnip seeds are sown as the work is done
by double drill machine, and the drills rolled by a weight
of 5 or 6 cwt. of cast-iron, according as the season is
dry or moist with showers. The large arrangement of
two ploughs opening the drills with one furrow, five or
six one-horse carts bringing forward the dung — a man
pulling the dung from the carts into heaps — thi'ee per-
sons spreading three drills of dung with a superintend-
ent, three ploughs covering the dung with two furrows
over a drill, with a sowing 'machine drawn by a horse
and guided by a man, will finish nine or ten aci'es in a day
of ten hours, provided the arragement be duly combined
and upheld in all its parts. The system can be modified
and reduced for any extent of land, when the performance
will be proportionally more lax and reduced than in the
combined bodies of execution.

Another mode of sowing turnips in drills employs a
double [mould-board plough with a two-winged share,

which opens and covers a drill with one furrow passing up
and down on one side, and splitting the ridglet over the
dung in half to each side. The point of the two-winged
share is unable to penetrate any hardness of ground,
slides along the under stratum as on flagstones, and in
making the drills the mould-boards push together the
surface of the dry and scorched alluvium from the opera-
tions of workings, in which the seeds do not readily vege-
tate. The narrow-pointed share of the common plough
will penetrate to any depth, and raises fresh soil in every
movement of forming the drills, and in covering the dung
with two-furrows, though sometimes done with one in
cases of very fine lands in moist seasons. This advantage
gives the superiority to the common plough in penetrating
the ground and raising a fresh tilth, in which the seeds
will vegetate over the dung. The value is inestimable of
moisture and freshness for the growth of young tur-
nips.

These two modes of sowing turnips have been con-
trived and very steadily practised on the fine turnip soils
of North Britain, which are wholly composed of fresh-
water alluvium over the primitive and secondary rocks
with interruptions of the igneous formations. The in-
tervening beds are all of the tresh-water kinds, in clays
and gravels. These lands occupy the whole of Scotland,
with about one-third part of England, forming a most
favourable cultivation of the turnip, along with a climate
of which the peculiar frigidity permits the formation of
heavy dews, and where the hills and mountains attract
the clouds for the discharge of frequent and abundant
rains. In these countries the climate and alluvial soils
permit the growth of turnips in a very high degree, and
exhibit the cultivation of the plant in the largest extent
of mixed farming.

Southward from the Humber and the Mersey an en-
tirely different constitution begins, both of soil and
climate ; the marine formations of clays and sands com-
mence the formation of the surface ground, and the cli-
mate gradually changes into a dry aridity rather than of
violent heats, and forming by its continuance a heavy
obstacle to the cultivation of turnips along with soils of
clays, sands, and chalks too nearly allied to, and not far
enough removed from, the parent sterility of the marine
constitution.

Under these circumstances, the twice drilling of the
land in the driest time of the year exposes the soil too
much to evaporation, or the escape of moisture, and
accordingly it is more advantageous to sow the turnips
on the flat ground that has been wrought into the usual
pulverization, dunged over the surface in broadcast
spreading, and ploughed under with one furrow into con-
venient breadths of ground. The straws of litter having
been cut into short lengths by the steam-thrashing ma-
chinery, as is often recommended, will place the farm-
yard dung in a condition that will very much facilitate
the covering in the land and prevent the catching of any
straw by the coulters of the sowing machine. The land
levelled by a light harrowing, the seeds are sown by a
machine with two coulters, which penetrate the ground
into ruts to receive any auxiliary manures along with the
seeds. A bush-harrowing, and a rolling in dry seasons
finishes the process. The common corn drill will
answer the purpose, by using the coulters of the proper
width.

The sowing of turnips in rows on the flat ground or
iu broadcast better secures the moisture than by drillingj

hm

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

aud very especially in the case of cloddy, crumbling soils
of arid viscous clays. Willi the scorching sands of the
southern counties, a very strong objection is found in the
want of the convenience of destroying the weeds aud
fallowing the land in the iuten^als without damage to the
young plants. The horse-hoe wauts the freedom for its
work, by going deeply into the ground, the earth is
thrown over the plants, and iu the wet seasons of a pro-
fusion of weeds 'the accumulation of rubbish becomes
higher in the intervals than the growing plants, causing
much damage and inconvenience, and if the cultivation
be wholly confined to the light operations of the hand-
hoe the process will be most imperfect and wanting in
effect. In hollow intervals of the ridglet system the
loose and the weeds are fallowed wholly apart from the
young plants, causing no disturbance, and forming a very
chief part of the benefit from the turnip crop.

Where auxiliary or artificial manures, or bones and
guano, with mixtures of mechanical composition are used
singly to raise a crop of turnips, it may be suggested to
form drills by a single furrow of the common plough 28
inches apart, aud deeply and widely done. The manure
and seeds iu mi.xture are deposited by the coulters of
double drill machine, splitting the drills deeply into ruts,
which are closed and pressed by roll into a level surface
as before being raised into ridglcts. In this way the
turnips will grow on the flat ground, and derive the
benefit of a fresh tilth raised by moving the ground in
which the seeds will germinate aud repose.

The retention of the winter moisture in the land for
the use of the turnip season is the grand consideration
of turnip farming — to obtain a crop of vegetables so
truly valuable, not only in itself as food for animah and
the produce of dung, but for the benefits arising from its
growth by the tap root piercing aud dividing the ground,
by the leaves shading the ground to retain moisture
and prevent waste, and by the exudations from the fleshy
bulbous root.

Plough with a shallow furrow the parched and burned
lands on which the ashes have been spread, harrow the
surface into a fine tilth, sow the turnip seed by hand iu
broadcast, about the end of the month, and cover by a
light harrowing, and with a rolling on rough grounds.
Deep and loamy lauds are wrought into pulverization by
the common processes of plough and harrow, and formed
into drills and sown with seeds. Clay lands are sown
with one furrow of ploughing. Plough the intervals of
the drills, horse and hand-hoe potatoes, beet, carrots, and
parsnips. Plough potatoes deeply, especially on stitT
soils, with the miniature plough drawn by one horse, the
best scarrifier yet found.

Shear sheep and mark by distinctive signs the difi^erent
ages and condition of the animals. Wean the lambs of
the year, aud place them on the best pastures, aud be-

yond the reach of the ewes. Put mares to the stallions
regularly.

Cut and destroy all weeds on pastures ; pull any tall ■
weeds among grain ciops, and destroy all weeds on the I
sides of roads, ditches, and hedges. Many seeds are
winged, and are carried by the wind to a distance, and
propagate very rapidly.

Continue the feeding in the yards of horses and cows
with clovers and vetches, in ample quantity, with a suffi-
cient littering of wheat straw, and convey to the tank
any excess of moisture. Manure equal to the dung of
winter can be made throughout the summer by forming
the bottoms of the yards iuto a shallow basin, aud giving
the animals an abundant supply of green meat, with
frequent littering of short straws, cut as has been recom-
mended, thinly aud regularly over the area in alternation
with the solid fttces, and the surface of the yard kept level
with mixtures of the wet and dry materials in a regular
condition.

In the last half of the month the meadows of natural
grasses will be mown for hay, and are best cut when the
plants are iu full bloom, as the saccharine juice is at that
time most abundant in the herbage. Ted the grass by
spreading the swathes quickly behind the mowers, each
of which will require six hands for making the hay.
Place the grass in small cocks at night, spread it out
thinly iu the morning, cock aud spread it again during
two or three sunny days, and carry it to the rick at the
homestead. In gloomy weather more days will be re-
quired. Place the dried herbage lightly on the rick to
be consolidated by its own weight by daily additions from
the field, and if rain threatens a tarpaulin cloth can be
raised on posts to slope to the sides, aud raised above the
rick to escape the gaseous sweating of the herbage.
When the round rick or oblong stack is finished, the top
aud sides can be pulled and dressed into any shape that
is desired.

In early localities the cutting for hay of artificial
grasses will commence in the end of the month, when
the herbage is repeatedly turned over in the swathes
without being thinly spread abroad, as the handling
tends to shake off the leaves of the clover, which are the
best parts of the plants, turning over the grass instead
of tedding. The cocks a'.e used as for natural grasses, and
the carrying of the crop and the stacking of it are done
as has been described.

Tedding machines are used with a good purpose in the
ease of large extent of natural meadows of which the
herbage is light and of easy management, but the heavy
herbage of clovers and of similar plants impedes the
action of the machine, and the shaking motion of the
implement tends to shake off the leaves, as has been ob-
jected to the tedding of the herbage.

CALENDAR OF GARDENING,

KiTCHEX Garden.
In the first part of the mouth sow peas of the second
early varieties, as Veitch's Perfection and Ne Plus Ultra,
and m the latter part of the month introduce the tall
growers, as .Abergavenny, Waterloo, and Victoria Marrows,
which will produce largely for weeks. Dig the ground
deeply ; manure with moist vegetable compost six inches
under the seed drills ; soak the soil over that ; make the
drills three inches deep ; sow the seed, water it, return
the covering earth, and put it down. By this treatment,
with waterings in the lower ground on each side of the
ridge, peas will succeed iu the driest summers. Peas
sown late rarely escape mildew.

Sow carrots for drawing young aud for standing the
winter.

Repeat the sowing about the close of the month with
onions for drawing or standing, and small salads, lettuces,
and a few turnips.

Sow kidney beans and runners at least twice, as a
succession with round spinach every week or ten days.

Sow cabbage. The early quick growers to come in
speedily for summer and autumn. Aitkeus' Matchless
aud Hill's Dwarf are suitable varieties.

In the fourth week of the month sow again Dutch
turnips for autumn, and salads and lettuce.

About the middle of the month transplant Cape

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZINE.

561

brocoli, cauliflower tbi* August, making the ground rich
with compost. Also transplant borecole, Scotch kale,
savoys, and Brussels sprouts.

Stick and earth up peas. Hoe between crops.

Plant out cucumbers and vegetable marrows : Moore's
A'epetable Cream, as now called.

Asparagus beds still yield, but should not be cut beyond
the 10th. Beds and row are mutilated by too close
cutting ; one shoot should always be left untouched to
each crown. Scatter rich earth with droppings over the
beds, but avoid salt, as any particle falling on a wet leaf
will decompose the tissue, and the plant dies; better to
mix two ounces of salt in a bushel of compost, and it
will be washed into the ground.

Plant young lemon thyme, savory, sweet marjoram,
basil, and also slips of lavender, rosemary, rue, and other
handy sweet herbs in cool, shady beds, for subsequent
transplantation.

Cut the aromatic herbs for drying, when they begin to
flower.

Thin out onions by degrees for use, leaving the bulbing
stock from four to six inches asunder. If the weather be
very dry frequent light hoeiugs to prevent the surface
from cracking will also cause the attraction of moisture
and bring on the plants.

Cut all tall leafy and succulent weeds into short
lengths to fill the liquid tank, and with grass earths from
sides of roads and ditches, along with vegetable matters
of fill kinds. The urinary and soapy liquids of the
dwelling house, placed in the tank, will be imbibed by the
earthy mixtures, which must be applied in quantity to
form a saponaceous mass of a consistency to be handled
by the spade without any liquid droppings. This pre-
paration aff'ords a manure for the stronger vegetables, as
cabbages and beet, and is applied in a fresh state without
any fermentation. Vegetable substances surcharged with
liquids are the best application of both bodies yet known.

The scrapings of roads, the droppings of animals with
all kinds of fine earths makes every good compost along
with a mixture of effete lime, for the purpose already
mentioned of the lighter vegetable crops and for flower-
beds. An ample supply of both kinds of manure must
be provided for the garden. The expense is small, re-
quires some attention, and is essential to any cultivation
of laud.

Fruit Department.

The dwarf and espalier trees, the apple and pear, may
have produced many young shoots ; the ill-placed ought
to be removed to the bottom, the others should be left
for a month longer. Many persons foreshorten yearly
and repeat the operation, but it may be preferable to wait
till near the close of the summer growth. Lay in the
best shoots of cherry and plum trees upon walls.

In dry weather water strawberry beds and rows daily,
if possible, being the only security. Rows should be
stringed on each side, the twine fastened to the short
sticks so as to support the entire ranks of trusses. Net
over the ripening fruit if small birds, particularly black-
birds abound.

Cucumbers in frames must be always stopped at a fruit.
Melons first, at the second or third joint, to secure side
laterals, and then as fruit appears, but not so rigidly as
cucumbers, taking care to impregnate the fruitful flowers.

Plower Garden.

Arrange any green-house plants now brought out in a
neat order under some fence facing the north. Place
flowering shrubs, and also herbaceous plants in situations
where the sizes may graduate from low ones in front to
high ones at back ; attend to order in displacing the
colours whenever the collection is miscellaneous.

At the end of the month pipe and layer pinks, cloves,
carnations and picotees ; succeed last by layers slit
carefully through two joints, pegged down an inch deep
with fern pegs, and covered with sifted earth containing
one-third of chalk or lime rubbish from old mortar, one-
third of sharp sand, and the same of old dung.

Attend to any beds of geraniums, verbenas, &c., to
keep all free from weeds, dead leaves, and every unsightly
object. Earwigs are best destroyed by pots with hay or
tow in them, inverted upon sticks a foot or more high.

Raise bulbs of tulip, narcissus, hyacinth, and other
plants of that order when the green parts change colour
and become dry. Dry the bulbs in the air.

Routine culture consists in hoeing, raking, cleaning,
and sweeping walks and lawns, with the removal of all
litter to manure compost grounds, where every jot of
vegetable matter if deposited in a sunk excavation or
liquid pit, and watered as is constantly directed with
soapy and urinary liquids, will soon be converted into a
most useful manure.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT POR MAY.

Owing to the heavy depletion of the stock of foreign grain
on hand, and the inroads made on the quantity of English
wheat iu the hands of farmers, there was considerable firm-
ness in the grain trade at the opening of the month, and the
quotations had an upward tendency. This movement was
strengthened by the fact that the accounts received from
abroad were not uniformly satisfactory, while our own crop
was decidedly backward. The reopening of the navigation has
been followed by the resumption of shipments ; and a con-
siderable addition has been made to the quantity of wheat on
passage. Nevertheless, the proportion of really choice wheat
on hand is small, the arrivals from the Baltic having been
limited. During tlie last week, however, our receipts from
that quarter have been more limited. The supplies of
grain, on sale, have been small tlirougliout the month,
but fully adequate to the demand, as millers have

adhered to the cautious policy which has charac-
terised their dealings for some time past, and have
operated only as necessity demanded. The produce whicli has
clianged hands has, therefore, gone direct into consumption,
and millers' stocks are still very low. With the return of
genial forcing weather, the wheat trade became very manimate,
and prices tended unmistakeably downwards. After a few
refreshing rains, not so general as could have been desired ;
we experienced a spell of brilliant sunshine and fine open
weather, by whicli the wheat plant greatly profited. Much
progress has been made accordingly, but the plant is still back-
ward for the time of year. The course of prices will now
be cliiefiy regulated by the accounts received of the growing
crops, both here and abroad, and there appears to be little to
fear under this head at present.

Spring corn has ruled fair throughout the month, and good
feeding stuffs have been rather dearer. The supplies coming
forwards have not been heavy, so there has been a steady in -

552

THi3 FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

quiry lor both maize and oats. Annexed is our usual table of
imports of grain, &c., into the United Kingdom :

For the aveek ended May 21.

Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports.
Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt.

Wheat 485,520 ... 6,071 ... 355,876 ... —

Barley 106,089 ... — ... 60,586 ... 3

Oats 175,900 ... 1,491 ... 75,403 ... 6,952

Peas 54,810 ... 606 ... 4,207 ... 32

Beans 37,329 ... — ... 26,092 .., —

Indian Corn. 154,812 ... — ... 195,973 ... 45

Flour 96,670 ... 875 ... 24,498 ... 825

Since September 1.
1869-70. 1868-9.

Wheat 29,955,924 ...253,373 ...20,432,949 ...151,137

Barley 6,067,566... 19,607... 8,112,543... 99,792

Oats 7,280,778 ... 85,875 ... 4,452,899 ... 95,655

Peas 1,045,773 ... 11,782 ... 881,560 ... 23,131

Beans 1,367,402... 2,048 ... 2,028,371 ... 4,453

Indian Corn. 13,572,344... 14,044... 9,953,147... 940
Flour 4,687,333... 17,788 ... 2,885,771 ... 24,567

Potatoes are turning out fairly weU, but would derive much
benefit from more moisture, if that were forthcoming ; which
remark applies to the root crops generally. At the same time,
considering the little rain that has fallen, roots have done well.
Hay and clover continue to come freely to hand at the metro-
politan markets, and values have been sustained.

In the hop market there is no feature to notice. Trade has
been almost suspended, and prices have been altogether nomi-
nal. Some sales of American have been effected at a consi-
derable reduction.

Wool has ruled firm, and the London public sales have
p-assed off very satisfactorily, though just now there is little
animation in the English wool market, owing to the appear-
ance of the new clip.

REVIEW 01' THE CATTLE TRADE DURING THE
MONTH OF MAY.

Devoid of any feature of importance, the cattle trade during
the month has been in a quiet state. The warm weather has
engendered much caution on the part of butchers in con-
cluding transactions, owing 1o the difficulty of disposing of
the stock after slaughtering. Any permanent reduction in
prices, however, has been prevented by the falling-off in the
receipts. The quality of the beasts has continued quite equal
to the average ; but the scarcity of grass in the pastures, the
result of the recent drought, augurs iU for the condition of
future receipts, as it will necessitate a strong inquiry for
feeding stuffs. From our own grazing districts, the arrivals of
stock have been only moderate. From abroad, a fair number
has come to hand ; but, with the exception of some of the
French stock, the quality generally has been indifferent. As
regards the demand, tliere has been an entire absence of brisk-
ness, and the fluctuations have been altogether unimportant.
At the commencement of the month the best Scots were
making 5s. per 81bs., and, with the exception of a temporary
relapse, to 4s. lOd., which has since been recovered ; tlie quota-
tion has been firm thereat throughout.

In respect to sheep, the supply has been tolerably good so
far as number is concerned, but the quality has not been
prime, really fine English breeds being comparatively scarce.
The month opened steadily, at an advance of 2d. to 4d. per
81bs., the best Downs and half-breds selling at 5s. 2d. to 5s.
4d. The top price subsequently receded to 5s. 2d. per 81bs. ;
but the relapse proved to be quite temporary, as at the close
of the month the reduction had been well recovered.

The show of lambs has been good, and the trade has been
quiet, at from 6s. Gd. to 7s. 6d. per Slbs.

Calves have been in moderate supply and fair reciuest, at
from 3s. lOd. to 5s. Sd. per Slbs.

For pigs the demand has been heavy, but prices have been
without change, ranging from 43. 6d. to 5s. 8d. per Slbs.

rhe total supplies of stock exhibited and disposed of in the
.Vietropohtun Market have been as under :

Beasts

.i ... t

. 16,185

Head.

Sheep and Lambs

. 166,085

Calves

..

. 2,764

Pigs

380

Comparison of Supplies,

May

Beasts. Sheep and Lambs.

Calves.

Pigs.

1869

20,112

164,969

2,056

671

1868

17,610

176,000

2,192

1,350

1867

19,860

160,370

1,709

2,260

1866

16,275

125,490

695

2,195

1865

22,030 *

129,140

3,199

2,117

1864

23,240

122,210

2,062

3,080

1863

20,444

126,040

2,129

3,120

1863

19,273

132,450

1,527

3,022

1861

19,500

113,750

1,178

2,950

1860

19,040

124,580

2,059

2,920

1859

17.980

113,512

1,012

2,260

1858

18,722

115,386

1,671

2,760

1857

18,741

104,990

1,415

2,530

1856

18,723

119,640

1,260

2,545

The total imports of foreign stock into London during the
past month have been as follows : Head.

Beasts 5,600

Sheep and Lambs 26,258

Calves 2,845

Pigs 1,578

Total

...

36,281

Imports at corresponding period

s:

Total in

1869 ...

64,332

„

1868 ...

24,627

„

1867 ...

53,485

„

1866 ...

43,930

„

1865 ...

40,729

„

1864 ...

28,833

„

1863 ...

22,161

,,

1862 ...

11,206

„

1861 ...

18,978

„

1860 ...

18,910

„

1859 ...

10,713

„

1858 ...

6,703

„

1857 ...

7,243

„

1856 ...

3,556

The arrivals of beasts from our

own grazing districts, as

•well as from Scotland aud Ireland,

thuscomf

are with the three

previous years :

May,

May,

May, May,

From—

1870.

1869.

1868. 1867.

Norfolk, Suffolk,

&c. 6,640

4,530

9,200 7,460

Other parts of Eng

and 2,104

2,660

2,200 2,600

Scotland

.... 1,086

662

554 950

Ireland

80

229

426 —

Beasts have sold at from 3s. to 5s., sheep 3s. to 5s., 4d.,
lambs 6s. 6d. to 7s. 6d., calves 33. lOd. to 5s. Sd., and pigs 4s.
6d. to 5s. 8d. per Slbs. to sink the offal.

Comparison of Prices.

May, 1866.

May, 1867.

s. d. 8. d.

3. d. s. d.

Beef from

3 10 to 5 2

3 4 to 5 2

Mutton

4 4 to 6 0

3 6 to 5 2

Lamb

6 8 to 9 0

6 6 to 8 0

Veal

5 4 to 6 4

4 4 to 6 0

Pork

4 0 to 5 0

3 0 to 5 4

May, 1868.

May, 1869.

s. d. s. d.

s. d. s. d.

Beef from

3 2 to 5 2

3 0 to 5 10

Mutton

3 4 to 5 0

3 0 to 6 0

Lamb

6 6 to 7 4

5 8 to 7 4

Veal

4 4 to 5 4

4 6 to 6 2

Pork

3 4 to 4 4

3 6 to 5 2

The dead-meat markets have been only moderately supplied
with meat. The trade has been quiet, on the whole, as fol-
ows : Beef from 3s. 2d. to 43. 8d., mutton Ss. 4d. to 5s. 2d.,
lamb 5s. 8d. to 6s. 8d., veal 4«. to 4s. 8d., and pork 3s. 8d. to
5s. 8d. per 8fts., by the carcase.

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

553

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE,

FAIRS, &c.

ALYTH WHITSUNDAY MARKET.— There was a
numerous display of fat cows and three-year-old bullocks. Of
lean one and two-year-olds there was an abundant supply,
especially of the former. For all sorts of cattle prices were
lower compared to last year's market. On good two-year-olds
the reduction averaged £1 lOs. to £2; oa three-year-olds,
about £3 per head. Business opened and continued stiff and
slow, with no indications of improvement on the last Glasgow
market quotations. The best three and four-year-old bullocks
ranged in price from £20 to £23 aud £25 per head ; do., in
forward condition, £16 to £18; fat cows £14 to £16 and £18 —
some of this class sold at £11 each; fat two-year-olds, £10
to £12; lean two-year-old stots aud f[ueys, £7 to £8 10s.;
yearlings £2 6s. to £2 15s. and £3 lUs. per head. The best
beef did not succeed 10s. ; second-class 8s. to 9s. per Dutch
stone. There was a larger number of sheep than usual, with
several lots of ewes with lambs at foot. There was a good
inquiry for all classes, and the most of the lots were sold.
Greyfaced hoggs sold at 13s. to 15s. per head, cross hoggs 20s.
to 25s. blackfaced ewes, with lambs, 30s. to 35s. Eat Euglish
sheep, from 4'Os. to 42s. per head. Mutton, 7d. to Si-d. per lb.
BEMUDIN EAIR, (Monday last.)— The number of sheep
and lambs penned were about an avertxge, but they \a ere not
quickly sold, sellers askiug prices beyond the views of buyers,
ultimately some inclination to elfect sales was evinced when a
fair clearance was made. Tegs were from 26s. to 35s. per
head.

BOSTON FAT SHEEP MARKET. — From 7,000 to
8,000 sheep penned to-day. Hoggs were in slow demand,
at a reduction of from Is. to 2s. a head on the prices ob-
tained at the fair on the 4th inst. A fair amount of business
was done in fat sheep, at 7d. to 74d. per lb.

BOURN MAY FAIR.— At this fair, held on the 12th
instant, there was a slow trade, and only a limited amount of
business was done.

BUNGAY FAIR. — This fair, on Monday, was more
numerously attended, and the show of stock of all kinds
aud classes was larger than has been known for many years.
The trade progressed very slowly during the earlier part of the
day, but as time advanced it became brisker, and we believe
that a fair amount of business was transacted at satisfactory
prices.

CHERTSEY CATTLE FAIR.— On Saturday there was a
thin supply of horned stock at Chertsey, and good steers,
heifers, and barreners for grazing out sold at £8 to £14, milch
cows £14 to £20, and cows to calve down £'J to £15. The
horse show was of inferior character ; cart horses fetched 14
to 24 guineas, nags 18 to 25 gs., and light harness horses and
cobs 15 to 21 gs. The sheep fair was small aud trade dull.

COCKERMOUTH FAIR,.— There was a fair show of
cattle, and a quick sale was experienced, most of the animals
changing hands before mid-day. Three-year-old heifers, £10
to £16 ; two-year-olds, i;10 to £12 ; yearling bullocks, £6 to
£9. Milch and calving cows were scarce, and the prices
realized ranged from £17 to £19 and £22 per head. There
was only a limited show of Irish cattle, and those on offer sold
quickly at good prices — say, from £6 10s. to £10 per head.

DUNFERMLINE MONTHLY MARKET.— The stock
was scarcely up to the average, and consisted chiefly of fat
and grazing cattle and milk cows. The best class of cattle
sold at prices ranging between £15 and £20, or from 10s. to
10s. 6d. per Dutcli stone ; milk cows brought from £10 to
£17 ; several other milk cows and queys from £9 to £10 ; two-
year-old cattle from £8 to £12 10s. ; and one-year-olds from
£4 to £8.

FALKIRK MAY FAIR.— This market, which is the largest
of those held in the Callander Riggs throughout the year, took
place on Thursday, and though the weather proved most un-
favourable, there was a good attendance of farmers and dealers
from the neighbouring districts, and also a number from a
distance. The show of stock was smaller than last year ; but
it included all the classes generally found at this market. The
falling off in quantity is to be attributed to the establishment
of the monthly trysts at Stenhousemuir and to local influences.
The cattle on offer were of very fair quality, and for the more
promising lots of grazing stock there was a good healthy de-
mand, at prices considerably in advance of those current at the

same time last year. Cattle in value of from £7 to £9 would
be up £1 a-head, while those giving less money were relatively
dearer. The milch cow department was most inactive, and
prices were a shade easier than they were a few weeks since.
The Irish stock were not easily sold, and some of the lots had
no bidders. The supply of horses was limited and of a
secondary quality. For the most part the animals were only
suited for farm purposes, and the demand was stiff. A good
many dealers were present both from Edinburgh aud Glasgow,
but they were prevented from doing much business by the
smallness of the show. Mr. Renme, Craigburn, Falkirk,
quoted horses at from £20 to £25. Ponies sold at from
£4 to £7 each.

HANFORD HALL FAIR.— This annual fair, which was
held at Ipswich, on Tuesday, attracted, as usual, a goodly
number of Essex exhibitors and Essex buyers. The fair was
scarcely up to that of last year ; and trade, on the whole,
could not be called active. In the former part of the day the
business done was limited ; but in the afternoon sales were
pushed, aud a fair clearance was effected, at recent prices,

HIGHBRIDGE FORTNIGHTLY MARKET was toler-
ably well supplied with cows aud calves, but the number of fat
beasts was limited. Fat sheep and lambs were in fair supply.
There was a moderate attendance of dealers. For fat beasts
13s. per score was asked, but little or no business was done.
Cows and calves sold at £16 to £18 each. Springers (inferior
quality) sold at £10 each. Fat sheep 8d. to 8|d, per lb.
Lamb 9d. to d^d. per lb. Pigs were in good supply, aud for-
mer prices were sustained.

INVERNESS MONTHLY MARKET.— Generally the
stock was of an inferior description, there being almost an
entire absence of Highland cattle and strong grazing beasts,
which were in good demand. The prices realised were about
the same as those current at the Muir of Ord on the previous
day, from which the market principally took its toue. The
market was considered to be stitt' and duU, and several lots
were unsold. The following are some of the transactions ;
cross stirksat £8 ; two-year-old cross queys from £10 to £12 ;
two-year-old cross stots at £16; cross stirks at £11; cross
stirks at £6 ; Highland stirks at £3 16s. ; two-year-old cross
heifers at £10 10s ; two-year-old cross stots and heifers at
£12 ; a farrow cross cow at £9, a two-year old cross heifer £8.

LINCOLN FAT STOCK MARKET.— A large show of
sheep and beasts. Mutton a ready sale at about 7jd. per lb.,
and beef sold at 9s. per stone. The greater part were sold by
auction. Messrs, Tateson and Richardson sold 445 sheep and
1 2 beasts

NEWARK MAY FAIR.— This fair was held on Saturday
last. The show of cattle was satisfactory, though not what
could be termed a very large one. Two years old steers
realised £10 to £12, three years old steers £14 to £18, tvi'o
years old heifers £10 to £14, three years old heifers £14 to
£20, milch cows £IQ to £18, superior class £20 to £23.
Only 1,024 sheep were penned. Grazing hoggs 60s. to 57s.,
ewes with single -lambs 10s. more. The horse fair was not
extensive, but all animals of good quality were readily sold at
good prices. Cart horses £40 to £60, light harness £30 to
£40, cobs £25 to £30 each,

PENISTONE FAIR. — There was a good supply, princi-
pally milch, in-calf cows, barren heifers, stirks, and Irish.
There was a large attendance of fanners aud dealers from
Shetfield, Barnsley, Huddersfield, and also from Derbyshire. A
fair trade was done in milch cows at from £18 to £22, heifers
£16 to £18, and stirks, from one to two years old, at £6 to
£10. Barren stock were offered at £14 to £15 per head.
There was a good show of sheep and lambs ; sheep at 30s. to
40s., and lambs may be quoted at late rates. The trade in
calves was brisk, and the highest quotations of this day week
were fully realized. The pig pens were quite full, and there
was a good inquiry, sales being effected at previous rates.

SALISBURY FOBTNIGHTLY MARKET.— Although
there was not a very large number of beasts, the supply
included many good and useful descriptions. The best made
late rates, but trade ruled dull, aud a general clearance was
not effected. In the sheep department some excellent qualities
were penned, but the demand was quiet and prices easier, the
whole not meeting with purchasers. Best oxen realised 12s.
to 13s. per score, and heifers from lis. to I2s. Cows, with
their calves, from £10 to £18. Best wether mutton made
from 7d. to 8d., ewe ditto from 6^d. per lb. out of the wool.

554

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE PAST MONTH.

The fall of raia iu the month of May lias not nearly
made up for the deficiencies of April, and its commence-
ment was more like March than itself, there being fre-
quent and severe frosts at night which cut off many pieces
of potatoes, as well as nipping and delaying vegetation
generally. But after a fortnight had thus passed, we
had a sudden outburst of sultry weather, which had it
only been attended with showers, would have done much
to make up for the lateness and delay. As it is Nature
has been freshened, the foliage has tlioroughly expanded,
the fruit buds which escaped the frost will have had an
opportunity to set and rapidly form, and our general
prospects have greatly improved*. But the grass, thouj^h
green, has made little growth. The pulse and oats, "as
well as barley, are all short in the haulm or straw, and
without the needed supply the crops of all spring corn
must be small. The wheat has, however, greatly im-
proved and may yet produce an average yield, though, after
a few days of great heat, the return of the east wind again
brought cold with it. The ungenial aspect of the com-
mencement of the month, the regularly small supplies to
the London market, with much less foreign arrived than
expected, and much more delivered from granary than
contemplated, have somewhat changed the aspect'of the
wheat trade, as shown by a comparison of the London
averages, which note a positive gain of 3s. 7d., though
some, foreboding evil to the farming interest, predicted" a
certain and speedy decline of 2s. Such gloomy prophecies
being often suicidal to their authors— we are by no means
disposed to return a verdict of " felo de se," but rather
would put them down charitably to an insufficient ac-
quaintance with the corn trade', or to mental delusion.
But while the London averages very fairly represent the
rise that has taken place, it must be remembered that the
returns are made about a fortnight after the sales, and so
we cannot report as much for the open market rise of the
month. Indeed the last two Mondays hung fire, as the
consequence of the change in the weather, and some of the
advance was lost. But France has very well maintained
the rise, and so scanty have been the supplies hitherto at
the Baltic ports, and so active the general and consump-
tive demand there, that no foreign port has evinced any
sort of depression, and our last week's supplies, which
consisted of two-thirds American and were but moderate
as a whole, proved previous reports to be correct. We
would now simply suggest the following questions as to
the probability of any serious decline from present rates.
Have not our weekly sales in the country been much
larger than they were last year ? Must these not have
greatly reduced farmers' stocks ? Have nut our granaries
been still more freely relieved 'r' Is not our consumption
rapidly increasing? Are not our future supplies mainly
dependant on America and the Black Sea, and are no"t
France, Belgium, and Holland likely to be our com-
petitors in the receipt of these shipments? And, further,
does our own growing crop warrant sales at unremunerat-
ing rates ? The prices quoted below were those of the
places noted by last accounts. White wheat at Paris
o2s. 6d., red to 50s. ; red in Belgium 48s. to 51s. ; weak
white Zealand wheat at llotterdam 4Gs. ; Polish at
Amsterdam 52s. ; new white at Danzic 48s. ; wheat at
ilambro' 46s. 3d. to 47s. 9d. ; red at Stettin 42s. to 44s. •
wheatatPorrentrny, Switzerland, 463. ; GhirkaatTagonroc
4^8. per qr., cost, freight, and insurance included ; soft

wheat at Genoa 51s. ; at San Francisco 47s. 6d. to
Liverpool, cost, freight, and insurance included ; No. 2
spring wheat at New York 39s. per 4801bs. free on
board.

The first ^londay in jMark Lane opened in moderate
supplies of wheat both English and foreign. The show of
samples during the morning from Kent and Eseex was
short, and factors were enabled to realise an advance of
Is. to 2s per qr., though it was not very freely paid by
millers. There was a good demand for American at an
improvement of 2s. per qr., and other descriptions moved
oft' slowly at an advance of Is. Quite one shilling more
was paid in floating cargoes also. The country markets
this week very readily responded to the London reports.
The smallest advance noted anywhere was was as much as
Is. per qr., more were up Is. to 2s., and the following
places quoted a rise of fully 2s. : viz., Boston, Gainsboro',
Gloucester, Lynn, Louth, Newcastle, Sleaford, and
Stockton. Liverpool, however, only noted an upward
movement of Id. to 2d. percental on Tuesday which was
confirmed on Friday. In Scotland there was also some
advance, Glasgow being 6d. to 9d. per boll higher, and
Edinburgh was up 23. per qr. Native wheat at Dublin
brought tid.per barrel more money, but no advance could
be realised on foreign samples.

On the second Monday the English supply of wheat
was moderate, with a good increase in the foreign arrivals.
The show of samples during the morning from the near
counties was unusually short, and with cold ungenial
weather factors endeavoured to obtain Is. above the rates
of the previous week, but to this millers declined to sub-
mit, and prices were unaltered. The foreign trade was on
a small scale, the demand being only retail, but factors
were very firm and the prices paid rather above the previ-
ous week in «ome cases. Floating cargoes were without
change of value, though the arrivals were but few. This
week there was more quiet in the country, and quotations
generally were the same as on the week previous, but at
some places there was a further rise of Is., as at
Birmingham, Boston, Sheffield, Sleaford, and AVolver-
hampton. At Liverpool the gain for the week was only
2d. to 3d. per cental. Wheat "in Scotland was only firm,
without much passing. Dublin also was quiet and un-
altered both for native qualities and foreign.

On the third Monday's market there was less than the
average quantity of home growth, with some reduction
in the foreign supply, though it was still good. There
was another very limited display of fresh samples from
Essex and Kent, but the weather having been more
favourable, with some fine showers, buyers were dis-
inclined to operate without obtaining some concession on
the previous rates. The oiTers of Is. per qr. less were,
however, declined, and millers remaining firm scarcely
any business was done. The activity too of the foreign
trade was entirely lost, and to have made any sales,
especially of red American, fully Is. reduction must have
been conceded, and indeed it was much the same with
other qualities. The floating trade too felt the change iu
the weather, and though arrivals were limited almost
nothing was done, holders only asking previous rates.
With a summer-like temperature iu the country and the
dull report from town the markets could hardly fail to
show some reaction in prices, and the universal tendency
this week was moderately towards decline, several places

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

65S

quoting a reduction of Is. per qr. Among these were
Lynn, Birmingham, Bristol, Wolverhampton, Worcester,
Chelmsford, Bury St. Edmunds, Rotherham, and Stockton.
Newark and Norwich noted a reduction of Is. to 29., and
Liverpool was Id. to 2d. cheaper per cental on Tuesday,
and as much also on Friday. The Scotch markets showed
the same tendency, Edinbugh and Glasgow being down
Is. per qr. Irish wheat at Dublin was rather lower, and
foreign difficult to sell on former terms.

On the fourth ^londay the supply of English wheat
was small, the foreign being liberal from New York, but
scanty from European ports, with a change to east wind
and much colder weather. Factors on a small supply
from the near counties were asking the previous rates,
but as part of the show was made up of the overleft
samples of the previous week millers would not buy,
unless at a decline of Is. per qr. from the nominal rates
of the former Monday. AVith a good supply of American
red this sort was fully Is. per qr. down as well as all the
lower descriptions of foreign, but tine Baltic from its
scarcity was quite as dear, though but little inquired for.
Floating cargoes were Is. to 2s. lower.

The imports into London for four weeks were 21,773
qrs. English, 76,875 qrs. foreign, against 22,573 qrs.
English, 61,071 qrs. foreign for the same period in 1869.
London exports 5,655 qrs., consisting of low qualities.
The imports into the United Kingdom for four weeks
ending May 14 were 2,011,562 cwts. wheat, 374,62'J cwts.
Hour, against 1,784,957 cwts. wheat, 228,965 cwts. ilour
for the same period in 1869. The general averages
commenced at 42s. 7d. and closed at 44s. 5d., those of
London commenced at 45s. Id. and ended at 50s. 8d.
per qr. The general improvement would therefore appear
only Is. lOd. per qr., while in London it was 5s. 7d.

With good supplies of country flour and fair arrivals
of foreign in barrels the trade has generally been steady,
with but slight variations. On the lirst ^Monday town
millers raised their top price from 4O3. to 43s., at which
it has since stood. The only difference in the value of
country made samples being Is. per sack in sellers' favour,
while barrels gaining 6d. on the first Monday and losing
it on the last have left rates unaltered, say to 22s. for
extra state, and choice about 23s., or according to superior
excellence. The imports into London for four weeks
were 88,610 sacks English, 2,777 sacks 30,059 barrels
foreign, against 96,470 sacks English, 8,829 sacks 100
baiTels for the same period in 1869.

The supply of English barley through the mouth has
been very limited from the apparent exhaustion of stocks
in the country, and the foreign arrivals have been quite
on a small scale. The malting season being virtually
over, the demand has been quite exceptional, and prices
little more than nominal, though there has been no
quotable reduction ; foreign, on the contrary, has some-
what improved in value, the little French coming to
hand having been used for malting at fully Is. per qr.
more money from the deficiency of the English supplies,
and grinding sorts have also increased in value from 6d.
to Is., being worth from 23s. to 2Gs. per qr. The
imports during four weeks were 2,371 qrs. British,
25,602 qrs. foreign, against 2,926 qrs. British, 9,823
qrs. foreign, for the same period last year. The want of
rain is calculated still further to harden values, more
especiallv as maize has lately been advancing.

The malt trade has been very limited, all through the
month, but prices have kept nominally at the previous
range.

The very short supply of maize all through the month
has increased its value Is. 6d. to 2s. per qr., as nothing
comes from America, nor is likely to come. The value
at NewYork is 37s., while in London its extreme price for

white sorts is about 323., or 31s. for yellow. As a substan-
tial food, and substitute for oats, barley, and beans, all of
which are getting in very short supply from British
sources, we thiuk this grain more likely further to im-
prove than decline, though much is coming from the Me-
diterranean and Black Sea.

Notwithstanding heavy supplies of foreign oats, thr^
grain has about maintained its value, as nothing has come
from Scotland or Ireland this month, and the average
weekly returns of English have barely reached 900 qrs.
The great want of rain has kept up a good demand ; and
though prices have much improved from the lowest point,
they are still moderate, after the partial failure of oai'
own crop and the large weekly consumption of London,
381bs. per Ijushel fresh Swedish corn has been only
bringing 19s. 3d. to 20s. per qr., and fine sweet llussian
of the like weight about the same ; while the drought in
France has raised prices at Paris to 24s. ; so, should
rain still be wanting, rates are capable of a further in-
crease. The imports in four weeks into London have
been 3,598 qrs., English 189,026 qrs. foreign, against
1,847 qrs. English, 21 qrs. Scotch, 2,500 qrs. Irish,
93,231 qrs. foreign, in 1869. Our foreign imports,
therefore, are double what they were a year ago.

The supply of Linseed for a month has scarcely ex-
ceeded an ordinary week, and the consequence has been a
rise of Is. to 2s. per qr., cakes having risen 10s. per ton,
with a lively demand, from the great want of feeding
stuffs, through the absence of rain.

Beans have been in short supply, and seem likely to be
so, stocks being nearly used up, and actually wanted in
the country for stock ; so values have improved 2s. per
qr., ticks and Mazagans having become worth 40s.
I'oreigu arrivals, too, have been limited, though the last
accounts from Egypt noted better arrivals at Alexandria
and receding values. The imports into London for four
weeks were 1,607 qrs. English, 3,539 qrs. foreigu,
against 2,095 qrs. English, 3,584 qrs. foreign, in 1869.

Of peas the arrivals have been still more scanty, both
English and foreign ; and though the demand has not
been lively, prices have also risen 2s. per qr. The im-
ports into London for four weeks were 777 qrs. English,
2,557 qrs. foreign, against 335 qrs. English, 2,483 qrs.
foreign, in 1869.

Since the seed season has closed, some speculative de-
mand has been experienced for trefoil, at daily improving
rates. The crop seems a failure in France.

COMPARATIVE AVERAGES.

WHEAT.
Years. Qrs. s. d.
1866... 69,1661 ... 46 1
1867... 51,356* ... 61 11
1868... 40,441| ... 74 3
1889... 57.8181 ... 41 6
1870... 70,154 ... 41 5

BARLEY.
Qrs. s. d.
4,025| ... 36 2
3,162J ... 38 11
2,5701 ... 41 4
2,267J ... 40 1
3,6571 ... 33 9

OATS.
Qrs. 8. d.
3,616| ...25 2
3,1291 ... 27 0
3,301 J ...28 8
1,919 .,.26 11
2,830^ .., 23 1

AVERAGES

Fob thb last Six
Wbkks;

April 9, 1870

April 16, 1870.-.

April 23, 1870

April 30, 1870 ,

May 7, 1870

May 14, 1870

Aggregate of the above ...
The same week in 1869

Wheat.

Barley.

8, d.

s. d.

42 8

31 11

42 10

35 2

42 7

34 11

42 7

33 1

43 3

34 2

41 5

33 9

43 1

34 4

44 6

40 1

Oats.
8. d.

20 9

21 6

20 8

21 7
23 1
23 1
21 9
26 11

FLUCTUATIONS in the AVERAGE PRICE of WHEAT,

Pbice.

April 9.

443. 6d.
433. 3d.
428. lOd.
42s. 8d.
42s. 7d.

April 16. April 23,

:_!

April 30,

May 7.

May 14.

«56

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

HOP MARKET.
Mid and East Kents £7 0 £9 5 £12 12

Wealds...,,

Susses

Bavarians

French

Americans

6 0

5 12

6 6
5' 0
4 5

Yearlings 1 10

7 0

6 6

7 7
5 15
5 5
2 10

8 0
6 13

9 0
6 10
6 0
3 15

SOUTHWARK WATERSIDE.
LONDON, Monday, May 23. — Daring the past week the
arrivals coastwise have been moderate, but owing to the sud-
den change to warm summer weatlier the consumption has
fallen off more than one-half, and the prices of the former
week were barely maintained. The following are this day's
quotations :

Torkshire Elukes 130s. to 150s.

Ditto Regents 110s. to 140s.

Lincolnshire Regents 100s. to 110s.

Dunbar and East Lothian do 110s. to 140s.

Perth, Forfar, and Fife do 95s. to 110s.

Do. do. do. Rocks 95s. to 105s.

'Do. do. do. Reds 90s. to 100s.

Frencli and Belgian whites 80s. to 100s.

BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.
LONDON, Monday, May 23.— The supplies of Potatoes
have been moderate. The trade has been slow at about late
rates. The imports into London last week consisted of 7,358
bags from Antwerp, 534 boxes from Barcelona, 76 sacks 88
tons from Dunkirk, 2,235 barrels from Gibraltar, 154 baskets
1,036 boxes from Huelva, &c., 1,350 boxes Irom Lisbon,
3,536 boxes 211 cases from Genoa, and 2 boxes from Oporte.
English Shaws 120s. to 140s. per ton.

„ Regents 110s. to 130s. „

Scotch Regents 100s. to 130s. „

„ Rocks 90s. to 110s. „

COUNTRY POTATO MARKETS.— Doncaster, (Satur-
day) ; Only a small supply of potatoes at to-day's market, and
this led to rather better prices being made by holders. Re-
gents 12s. 6d. to 14s., and rocks 10s. to lis. 6d. per load. —
Malton, (Saturday last) : There was no settled price for seed
potatoes. Table sorts were firm, and not much offered, dealers
buying at 12s, to 15s. per tub. Frame-grown new pota-
toes Is. 6d. — Manchester, (Saturday last) : Lisbon (new)
28. 9d. to 3s., Cornwall 10s. to lis., Ormskirk 12s. to 14s.
per 21 lbs., Yorkshire (old) ISs. to 20s., Scotch 12s. to 14s.,
Cheshire 10s. to 12s. per 252 lbs. — Y'ork, (Saturday last):
There was a fair supply of potatoes for the season. Regents
sold at 13s. per tub ol 280 lb, wholesale, and 8d to 9d. per st.
retail ; flukes, from 14s. to 15s. per tub, and lOd. per stone,
and rocks 10s. to 10s. 6d. per tub. New potatoes Is. 3d.

PRICES of BUTTER, CHEESE, HAMS, &c.

BUTTER, per cwt. : s. s.
Dorset 126 to 128

. 98
. 90

101

Jersey

102

Fbesh, per doz. .

. 13

16

BACON, per cwt :

Wiltshire, green..

. 76

78

Irish, f.o.b

. 70

76

CHEESE, per cwt. : 8. s.

Cheshire 61 to 91

Dble. Gloucester... 61 78

Cheddar 71 91

American 68 78

HAMS: York, old... 91 108

Cumberland 91 108

Irish, new 88 110

CORK BUTTER MARKET, (Monday last.)— Ordinary :
Firsts 109s., seconds 103s., thirds 93s., fourths 90s., fifths 70s.
Mild.cured : Firsts 116s., seconds 116s., thirds 101s. In
market, 1,300 firkins. (Tuesday). — Ordinary: Firsts 107s.,
seconds 101s., thirds 92s., fourths 90s., fifths 70s. Mild-
cured: Firsts 114s., seconds 103s., thirds lOls. 1,430 firkins
in the market. (Wednesday.) — Ordinary : Firsts 103s , se-
conds 101s., thirds 92s., fourths 89s., fifths 70s. Mild-cured :
Firsts 113s., seconds lOSs., thirds lOls. In market, 1,380 firkins.
(Thursday.) — Ordinary; Firsts 103s., seconds 100s., thirds

91s., fourths 893., fifths 70s. Mild cured : Firsts 112g., seconcU
109s., thirds 101s. Number of firkins at market, 1,700.
(Friday.) — Ordinary: Firsts 105s., seconds 102s., thirds 928.,
fourths 86s., fifths 70s. Mild cured: Firsts 108s., seconds
106s., thirds 99s. There were 1,450 firkins in the market.
(Saturday.) — Ordinary : Firsts 105s., seconds 103s., thirds
91s., fourths 85s., fifths 70s. Mild cured : Firsts 109s., se-
conds 106s., thirds 99s. 1,600 firkins in the market.

GLASGOW, (Wednesday last.) — A good supply of cheese
in market, 1,478 being laid down. A fair demand for fine
qualities at Is. per cwt. advance. Cheddars (old) 62s. to 71s.
per cwt. ; do. (new) 50s. to 563. ; Dunlops (old) 61s. to 68s. ;
do. (new) 48s. to 52s. ; Skim-milk 22s. to 25s.

SALISBURY CHEESE MARKET, (Wednesday last.)—
About 80 tons were pitched. The sale was very dull, especially
for thick. Prices averaged 10s. to 12s. per cwt. less than May
last year. Skims 18s. to 22s,, half-skims 42s. to 54s., Somer-
sets 65s. to 72s.

POULTRY, &c., MARKETS.— Turkeys, 8s. to 10s. ; ditto,
Irish, 6s. to 9s. ; ditto, Irish hens, 4s. to 6s. ; Goslings, 8s. to
10s. ; Duckhngs, 4s. to 5s. 6d. ; Surrey Fowls, 4s. 6d. to 7s.
6d. ; Sussex ditto, 4s. to 5s. ; Boston and Essex, 4s. to 4s. 6d. ;
Irish, 2s. to 2s. 9d. ; Rabbits, tame Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d., ditto
wild Is. ; Pigeons, 6d. to lOd. ; Quails, 7s. per dozen. Eggs,
best 7s. 6d., seconds 6s. 3d. per 120.

ENGLISH WOOL MARKETS. '

CITY, MoND.^Y, May 23.— There has been a healthy de-
mand, principally for the choicest descriptions, and values
have been well maintained. Other qualities have been pur-
chased to a fair extent.

CUBEENT PeICES OF ENGLISH WOOL. S. d. S. d.

Flbeces— Southdown hogs per lb. 1 Oitol 1

Half-bred ditto , 13 14

Kent fleeces „ 13 1 Si

Bouthdown ewes and wethers ... ,, 10 1 li
Leicester ditto ,, 1 2J 1 34

SoEis— Clothing, picklock „ 14 1 4i

Prime „ 1 2i 1 3

Choice „ 11 12

Super , 10 1 Oi

Combing, wether mat ,, 13 13*

Picklock 11 1 If

Common ,, Oil 10

Hog matching ,, 14 1 4J

Picklock matching „ 1 IJ 1 2i

Super ditto , 0 11 10

BRADFORD WOOL MARKET, (Thursday last.)— The
tone of the wool market this morning is tolerably firm. The
operations of consumers, although greatly lacking in spirit,
are just sufiicient to maintain prices at about the late range.
Firmness is most marked in wethers', which are chiefly in
favour. There is now a considerable scarcity of choice, bright
wethers', and those that remain are eagerly sought after at
prices slightly in favour of sellers. This is, of course, only a
small portion of the trade. Most of the descriptions of wool
are more neglected, and for some of the inferior sorts staplers
do not hold out rigidly for extreme rates. In skin v/ools,
however, there is still a fair business doing, and we hear of
some rather considerable transactions in the lowest class of
Down wools. Speaking generally of the whole market, we
should say that its tone, though pretty firm, is spiritless, and
that the near approach of the clip deters buyers from operat-
ing at all in advance of their requirements. — Bradford
Observer.

LEEDS (English and Foreign), WOOL MARKET,
(Friday last.) — The supply of new wool is yet small at the
local markets, so that the prices likely to be given have not
been tested. The quantity of old wool on hand, though suffi-
cient to satisfy every one that there is no dearth, yet is not
so abundant as to produce an impression that the wool market
is greatly overstocked. Prices have undergone no alteration.
The demand for colonial wool is not very brisk, but prices are
well maintained, notwithstanding the large arrivals for the
sales nest month.

END OF VOLUME LXVII.

Priated by JlogeriQa aud Tusfgrd, S65; Strnudj London, W,C,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1 8 r 0.

CONTENTS.

Plate I.-

THE Property of Mr,

Council.

-HOGARTH THE SECOND; a Prize Shorthorn Bull
Kerser Cooper, of Euston, Thetford.

Plate II.— JENNY LIND ; a Prize Hackney Mare, the Property of Mr. Henry Over-
man, of "Weasenham, Norfolk.

page
Descriptions of the Plates ...... 463, 4Q4

The Potato. — By Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S.

Local Taxation and the Tenant Farmer.

Local Taxation ......

The Exhaution op the Soil in Relation to Landlords' Covenants

The Agricultural and Commercial Value op Artificial Manures

Royal Agricultural Society of England : Half-yearly Meeting

Kingscote Agricultural Association : Farmyard Manure

About Hens : The Experience of Hen-wives

Popular Errors Connected with Veterinary Medicine

Quarter-ill in Cattle • « ,

Agricultural Customs . . .

Farming in South America . , ,

Staindrop Farmers' Club . . ,

The Ingredients of a Turnip Crop

Breach of the Cattle Plague Regulations

The Royal Agricultural Society of England Monthly

The Central Chamber of Agriculture ,

The Game Laws ....

" Saddle and Sirloin :" From the Times ,

Cultivation of Beet-root in Ireland . ,

The Lord Advocate's Game Bill . ;

Ayrshire Farmers' Club . . ,

Scottish Chamber of Agriculture. — The Game Laws

The Game Laws and the Gun Tax ,

Kelso Farmers' Club .

Rotation of Crops and the Application of Capital to

The Labourer and his Home .

Herefordshire Agricultural Society .

The Central Farmers' Club. — English Tenant-right

The Tenant-right Question in England

The Law of Hypothec ,

The Carriage of Sheep. — Lincoln County Court

The Price of Wheat in America.

The Central Chamber of Agriculture. — To the Edito

The Condition of the Labourer on the Continent

The Transit of Stock ....

The State of the Veterinary Profession in the United Kingdom

The International Decimal Association

Sale of the late Mr. G. S. Foljambe's Shorthorns

Sale op Mr. Charles Howard's Shorthorn Herd

Sale op Mr. Murton Tracy's Shorthorn Herd ,

Sales of Stock in Shropshire . , .

Edinburgh Town Council. . , .

The Game Laws and Game Bills , ,

Testimonial to Lord Leigh . .

Bath and West op England Society and Southern Cou

Repeal of the Malt Tax . . .

The Dumbartonshire Agricultural Society

The Highland and Agricultural Society ,

Calendar of Agriculture . , ,

Calendar of Gardening , , ,

Agricultural Reports

Review of the Corn Trade during the past Month

MaRKST CvRRBNQIfiS; ImPSRIAI* AvSRAeBS, &Q, ,

Agriculture

NTiES Association

464
468
469
472
473
477
479
481
483
486
488
491
492
494
495
496
493
501
502
504
505
506
507
510
511
512
515
517
518
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
536
537
538
539
£41
543
544
545
546
547
547
547
548
549
560
551
554
55$

THE

MARK LANE EXPRESS

AND

AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL,

IS THE

LARGEST AND THE LEADING FARMER'S AND GRAZIER'S NEWSPAPER.

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY EVENING. IN TIME FOR POST.

Office of Publication and for Advertisements, 246, Strand, London. May be had of all Booksellers and
Ncwsmsii throughout the Kingdom, price Sevenpence, or ^1 10s. 4d. per annum.

POPULAR MEDICAL WORKS,

PUBLISHED BY MANN, 39, CORNHILL, LONDON.

Post Free, 12 Stamps ; Sealed Ends, 16 Stamps.

T)R. CURTIS'S MEDICAL GUIDE TO MARKIAGE : a Practical Treatise ox

J-J' ITS PinsiCAL AND PERSONAL OBLIGATIONS. With instructions to the Married and Unmarried of both
Sexes, for removmg the special disquahfieations and impediments which destroy the happiness of wedded life
founded on the result of a successful practice of 30 years.— By Dr. J. L. CUETIS MD 1^ AinFu/p f
Steeet, Piccadilly, London, W. .r y «. • i^. L^uitiib, .u.i.,, 15, Alblmarle

And, by the same Author, for 12 stamps ; sealed ends 20

jyrANHOOD: A MEDICAL ESSAY on the Causes and Cure of Premature Decline

i 1 '^f f^"" ' the Treatment of Nervous Debility, Spermatorrhcea, Impotence, and those peculiar infirmities
which result from youthful abuses, adult excesses, tropical climates, and other causes ; with Instructions for the
Cure of Infection without Mercury, and its Prevention by the Author's Prescription (his infallible Lotion)

REVIEWS OP THE WORK.

23r?Mareh,V58!"' '' *'"^^' ^ '''^"'^^' ''°'^' '''*^ '^"""^^ ^' '" "'" ^^''^' °^ ^'"''"^ '^^'^ old."-Sv.nday Times,
"The book under review is one calculated to warn and instruct the erring, without imparting one idea that
Tst^'eWy, ISsiS ^^^^ "^ ^^ '^' "''' °^ "^"^ '' t'-^^-t^'^^--^ «-' MifarrGaVele,

fJ^^lftf ? l^esitation in saying that there is no member of society by whom the book will not be found use-
ful whether such person hold the relation of a Parknt, Preceptor, or Clergyman."-5'„„ Evening Paper
Manhood - 'Dr. Curtis has conferred a great boon by publishing this little work, in which is described the

sSr^aji. MrchtrTrssj:'^^' ^^^'"^^ '''''''' ^^ ^°^*^' °^ -^'^ ^-^-"*^^ p— ^-« «i^ ^^^-'-^^

Consultations daily, from 10 to 3 and 6 to 8. 15, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly. London. W.

P fi 1 . ^^^^^-"T^""^^ ' Consumptive Chronic Cough-Bronchitis, &c., immedi-

pronertief of wblh'.'^i permanently cured by Price's Benzodyne, an etherial extract of Benzoin, 'the healing
SE ston to «ll w^^^^^ J'r' Benzodyne possesses a peculiar mechanical power 'of putting I

Rectory throu^honrfl^ IT'"^ '' ^^'*'^'? T^ Dysentery, and should be in every Hospital, Surgery, and
?ortrus\Z'Xnaon W • '^"''"' "'" '^ """ Price, Analytical Chemist, 2 Lowe'r Seymofr ^reet.

TTARDING'S FLEXIBLE ROOFING.

BPnriCEI) TO ONE PENNY PER SaUAEE FOOT.

The BEST ?™HEA?"sT COVERING, fo. IIODSES. SHEDS. FARM .»a otU„ BUILDINGS, ic,

Boanfor Works. &c. Awarded the Silver Medal, Amster-
dam Exhibitlou 1869. for its CheapneBS and Superiority
to Felt, although the «rice. was then 50 per cent, higher
than at present. nnS i3 proved to be a much more
Durable, Efficient, an* Weather-tight RoofinR than
CoiTugated Iron, at One-third the cost, and can be most
easily fixed by any unpractised person. Please send for
samples of present make.

PRICE ONE PENNY per Square Foot, or 238. per Roll
of 25 yards by 44 inches wide.

DRESSING, 29. 6d. per gal, ; ZINC NAILS, 6d. per lb.
SAMPLES AND TRADE TERMS FREE,

HAEDINQ'S COMPOUND GLYCERINE DIP.

CONTAINS NO POISON, AND 18 DESTRUCTIVE TO INSECT LIFE ONLY.

Itisaceraincm^efor Scab in Sheep', who thrlvo and increase in weight after the use of this Dip. It also preserves the
health of all annals belonging to the l^o^estead. offeusive accumulations which always cause functional derange-

xnKSfg a win too^ fectTat S anf co4pt humourB ^"^^ed to remain on the surface are the cause of a great
many diseases which afflict animal li^^^^^^ nerfectlv harmless in use, and most deadly to Ticks, Lice. Maggots, and a sure
cu^e'lSgoriSpveT^n^^^^^^

<:> 1^ «« rwitna rtf '&it>H and lOllfs , at ©<!• pel* Ito. ; and in Drums of
®»MbT Sillbs. a«d«iwa?ds%t5d?perllK
S.J?S. ironmongers, and others tlirougliout the Kingdom.

^ 51b TIN IS SUFFICIENT FOR TWENTY-FIVE SHEEP.
No Dipping Apparatus necessary, common Tubs being all required. (See the simple Directions for Use on each Tin .)

7. HARDING,
Sole Manufacturer, 20, Nicholas Lane, Cannon Street, London, E.C.

LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING COMPANY.

±JKJX^ ^ V-/J-1 -^ BBTABLISHED 1836.

• SUBSCEIBED CAPITAL... £2,500,000, in 50,000 SHARES of £50 EACH.
PAID-UP CAPITAL,..£1,000,000 BESEBYE FUND... £500,000.

DIRECTORS.

NATHANIEL ALJ^AAIn™. .««. I TH?^|.Tff ANcKs?'^'
T. TYRINGHAM BERNAfiD. Esq. I^EDERIOK ^^^NCIS. Esq
PHILIP PATTON BLYTH, Esq. 1 FB^P^MCK^HAKHibUJN, J!jSQ,

NATHANIEL ALEXANDER, Esq.

I LORD ALFRED HERVEY
TRUSTEES.

J. W. BTJRMESTER, Esq. |

AUDITORS.
I WILLIAM NORMAN, Esq.

i WILLIAM CHAMPION JONES, EiQ.
E. HARBORD LUSHINGTON, Esq.
JAMES MORLEY, Esq.
WILLLAM NICOL, Esq.

W. CHAMPION JONES, Esq.

I RICHARD H. SWAINE, Esq.

JOHN WM. BTJRMESTER, Esq.
P. P. BLYTH, Esq |
WILLIAM JARDINE, Esq. ^

^— ''t^^.ZTJl^^^^^^S!^''' ^^'•oHIE.AOaOUNTAKT.
rrNffiirE^. H. J. iiSX an^dl^^sSTRlTlNG, Esq JAMES GRAY, Esq.
• •'■ ^^^'"^^' SOLICITORS-Messrs. STEVENS, WILKINSON, & HARRIES.
Secretary— F. CLAPPISON, Esq.

HEAD OFFICE, 21, LOMBARD STREET.

MAKAGXR-WHITBREAD TOMSON, Esq. 1 Assistant Makager-WILLIAM HOWARD, Esq.

THE LONDON AND COUNTY BANK opens- ^A^^i^n v,«

DRAWING ACCOUNTS with Commercial Houses and Private Indi^dduals. either upon^h^^^^^
other Bankers, or by charging a smaU CommiSBion to those persons to whom it may not fee convemoni, w BUBUiu s

Permanent Balance. . , , - T.r^„„„ ,oo/.«ri nnA-n tVinse Accounts, and Interest is

DEPOSIT AOCOUNTS.-Deposit Receipts are issued for sums of Money placed upon these acco™^^ Market.

allowed for Buch periods and at such rates as may be agreed upon, reference taemg had to the ^^^tJ'l^f -r^s oi the Con-
CIRCULAR NOTES AND LETTERS OF CREDIT are issued, payable m the principal Citiea ana Aowns oi luo v^wii

tinent, in Australia, Canada, India, and China, the United States, and elsewhere.
The Agency of Foveign and Country Banks is undertaken. „ . f,i .« „«v,«fo,i oni\ Dtvti>bwd8.

The PcBCHABB and Sale of GoverWent and other Stocks, of EngUsh or Foreign Shares effected, and DlVlDBifrs,

Ajchwiibb, &c., received for Customers of the Bank. ». „ ii,« m^„„o ttVia™ tha Corn-

Great facUities are also afforded to the Customers of the Bank for the receipt of Money from the Towns where the l/Om-

pany has Branches.
The Officers of the Bank are bouna not to disclose the transactions of any of its l^^stomers. r aT,«riii Manaeep

By Order of the Directors, WM. MoKBWAr<9 v^ieawai «i»n»sef,

STAND 122.

BATH & WEST OF ENGLAND

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MEETING AT TAUNTON, JUNE 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10. '^

BURGESS AND KE

WILL EXHIBIT SPECIMENS OF THE FOLLOWING

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

A>'D OTHBIi

FOE 1870:

MOWING MACHINE for One or Two Horses— the latter specially recom-

mended. It was to this Machine the Royal Agricultural Society's Prize was awarded at Manchester.

REAPERS : M'CORMICK'S SHEAF DELIVERY.— For this Machine the French Emperor
awai'ded the Decoration of the Legion of Honoiu'; and the Highest Prize was also awarded in July,j
1869, at Altenburg, in the great Continental Ecaper Competition with thirty other reapers, including |
those of Hornshy, Wood, Samnelsouj Howard, and other English makers.

SCREW DELIVERY SWATHE REAPER.— This well-known Machine has received Twenty-j
one Piizes, including tkree from the Royal Agricultiu-al Society of England. It has recently been againj
greatly improved.

ONE-HORSE HAND-DELIVERY REAPER.— This is a new Machine, speciaUy designed
meet the requirements of small occupiers.

All the above Macliines are made on Burgess & Key's Patent System, anc
to which the Royal Agricultural Society, in theii* Reports, have called special
attention, and which system is now so generally acknowledged to be the onl^
one on which Reapers and Mowers should be made.

IMMEDIATE ORDERS SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR MACHINES^

FOR THIS HARVEST.

0FFI6ES: 95, NEWGATE STREET, LONDON, E.G. ;j

MANUFAGTORY-BRENTWOOD, ESSEX,

c^