THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.) 



485 



mooted a general impicsision prevailed among the 

 fanners of the country that it was intended to devise 

 some new means of taxing, or of enabling their land- 

 loi'ds to raise their rents. Their fears upon these 

 points, however, appear to mo to be wholly chimerical 

 and illusory. Nobody can demonstrate how the Govern- 

 ment would be provided with an additional means of 

 taxation by obtaining this statistical information ; nor 

 does it seem to me that the landlords can fairly be 

 supposed to have that very imperfect knowledge of 

 their own estates which would render it probable that 

 the meagre and unsatisfactory returns which we might 

 hope to obtain in reference to agriculture would place 

 them in a different position, so far as the question of 

 raising their rents is concerned, from that in which 

 they now stand. I cannot help thinking, therefore, 

 that the fears to which I have referred are wholly 

 unfounded; and my experience tends to convince me 

 that they are now very much dissipated, and are not 

 shared in by the more intelligent members of the agri- 

 cultural classes." 



Again, can any one imagine such a plea against the 

 collection of statistics as that offered by Mr. Drum- 

 mond ? — That this was information only useful for the 

 corn-dealer, and that the farmer should not be en- 

 couraged to hold back or sell, but be left to dispose of 

 his produce as his necessities required ! The answer to 

 so manifest an injustice is self-evident; but it was well 

 put by Mr. Cardwell : — " He held a higher opinion of 

 the farmer than his hon. friend, who thought he must 

 only conduct his business on the hand-to-mouth prin- 

 ciple, and only go into the market to sell his produce 

 under the immediate pressure of necessity. Pursue 

 that train of reflection, and they would see that the 

 British farmer was of all others the most interested in 

 the collection of agricultuial statistics. The persons 

 with whom he made his bargain usually conducted 

 their business on a great scale, but the farmer had only 

 the produce of his own farm to sell, and could have little 

 or no knowledge to guide him except that which the 

 Legislature might afford him. If, as they had just 

 heard, a large purchaser of barley (Mr. Bass) could tell 

 them that it would be of the greatest interest to him, 

 in his trade, to have a collection of agricultural statis- 



tics ; ii', with all his means and intelligence, he would 

 be glad to have such information as he had referred to, 

 how much more glad would be the farmer who dealt 

 with him?" 



Mr. Du Cane quoted evidence to show how impossi- 

 ble it was to make anything like an ac('urate estimate 

 of the yield — which we entirely agree with; 07ily the 

 Bill before the House did not ask for such an Cbtiniate I 

 So good a man as Mr. Kcr Seymer had to content him- 

 self with such mild pleasantry as this (he is speaking 

 for his tenant ): — " 1 am busy growing corn ; you ask 

 me to fill up schedules ; I would rather grow my corn, 

 if you please." And Mr. Benlinck thouglit the effect 

 of the Bill would be to encourage a vicious spirit of 

 speculation amongst the farmers. Mr. Henley, while 

 admitting the principle, made endless objection to the 

 details of the plan by which this information is to be 

 obtained. We are by no means ready to pass the ma- 

 chinery of the proposed Bill as anything like perfec- 

 tion. Sufficient, however, has already been done, even 

 in England, to show that many of the obstacles the 

 right honourable the President of the Board of Trade 

 would raise are hardly worth considei'ation. Nothing 

 is so easy as to anticipate such difficulties; but they 

 smack here chiefly of red tape, and " liow not to 

 do it." 



A far moie important point is, what these returns 

 would be worth when obtained? Would they justify 

 the expense of making them, cither to the producer, 

 the people, or the Government ? In answer to this we 

 have already evidence as to how interesting and useful 

 they have been in demonstrating the improvement of 

 Ireland. They were working on to the same end in 

 Scotland. That their collection here would be followed 

 by any immediate sign or effect we much doubt ; but 

 that they would gradually be developed into a very 

 serviceable guide and test of our condition we doubt 

 very little. We believe, moreover, that such informa- 

 tion might, if only judiciously worked, be had at little 

 trouble and expense. The farmer himself has in a 

 great measure outlived his prejudice; while the exjie- 

 rience of his brethren over the Border and across tho 

 Channel will assure him how little there is in reality to 

 fear. 



THE PESTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Of the many subjects possessing a primary interest to 

 the agriculturist, certainly tho depredations committed 

 upon his crops and produce by insects and vermin are 

 not the least important ; nor is the consideration of this 

 matter alone of interest to the farmer. Every indivi- 

 dual, here or elsewhere, is at times the prey of blood- 

 thirsty vermin — a safeguard against whose voracious 

 attacks would be considered a veritable boon both to 

 individuals and to society at large. Bipeds and qua- 

 drupeds, animals and vegetables— all have their preda- 

 tory enemies and parasites, for which, despite the 

 " catch-'em-alive-o" fly-papers, the insect-destroying 



powders, and other alleged specifics, we have as yet no 

 remedy. Many of the plagues of Egypt arc still per- 

 mitted to annoy our persons and destroy our crops. 



Although at home wasps and flies are occasionally 

 sad tormentors, and the blood-sucking pests of our 

 lodging-houses and dwellings leave unpleasant reminis- 

 cences behind, it is only those who have seen animal 

 life in all its profusion in the tropics who know the in- 

 tense horroi's and inconveniences of insect pests. There 

 swarm mosquitoes, buffalo gnats, small black flies, 

 horse-flies, minute sand-flics, flights of locusts, chigoes 

 depositing their nidus in the flesh, the guinea-worm 



