THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



423 



stock and crops, and for the making and preserving of ma- 

 nure ; to enlarge and square the fields, and to make good 

 fences and farm roads. And let the landlord, or his agent, 

 make himself personally accjuainted with the character, the 

 quality, the capabilities, and the requirements of every 

 tenant, and of every field upon the estate. He thought it 

 ought also to be arranged that the tenant should be pro- 

 vided, at first cost, with the best implements, the best seeds 

 the best hand manures, and the best sires, and that such 

 tenant who required it, and deserved it, should have credit 

 for such matters until after harvest. These things, he was 

 of opinion, could easily bo arranged and done, an^, he 

 thought, ought to be done. Lot local encouragement be 

 given to carry out practically the principles of this society, 

 in encouraging the successful competitors— particularly in 

 green crops and tillage — by adding something to the pre- 

 miums won from this society, as, he was aware, some of the 

 presidents of the society did. He hoped all would follow 

 that example. He did hope and trust that the tenant 



would join hand and heart in this undertaking— that lie 

 would cultivate and manure his farm in the best possible 

 manner. Let him urge his landlord to do what he had ven- 

 tured to recommend, and let him freely take upon himself 

 his full share of the imposts ; as to him, during the exist- 

 ence of his lease, were to accrue the benefits. When such 

 things were, we should have our farmers wealthy and inde- 

 pendent, and our labourers comfortable and contented, and 

 no more emigration. Let them depend upon it, when the 

 farmers provided themselves with an ample supply of good 

 fodder and good roots, a thriving stock would compensate 

 them for more than what they had provided for them, and 

 ho assured them we should have the blessing of Providence 

 vouchsafed on such efforts ; and this country — and this par- 

 ticular district— would become not only the Lothian of 

 Ireland, but would vie with the Lothians of Scotland, "and a 

 bright era shall dawn on us, and this country shall bask in 

 the sunshine of prosperity." 



THE ENGLISH FARMER IN FRANCE. 



Harvest being finished, to those of my brother- 

 farmers who feel inclined for an inexpensive, amusing, 

 and instructive tour, I beg to recommend them to come 

 to Flanders and Belgium. Four friends (one speaking 

 French sufficiently to understand and be understood is 

 enough) should join, with a four-wheeler and a horse? 

 which they should bring with them ; and I'll warrant 

 their daily expenses will not be more than one-half the 

 cost of the same journey in England. No turnpikes ; 

 feed of corn 3^d. : the best roads in the .v orld, and no 

 hills : any horse will do one-third more miles a-day 

 than at home. Start from Irongatc Wharf, Tower> 

 London, and in twelve hours jou are at Dunkirque. 

 Times for starting vide " Bradshaw." Beds at large 

 inns are only 1 or 1^ francs; and at the pefits hotels 

 in the villages and small towns they are clean and com- 

 fortable at from i to 1 franc. Bring English money, 

 and you will get 250 pence for every pound, whether 

 gold or bank notes. Of course, the passport must not 

 be forgotten, or you'll not be allowed to land. Any 

 further information I'll be happy to give, on receipt of a 

 letter. Come, I say, by all means ; and see why, with 

 wheat at this price, the farmer thrives. 'Tis because 

 he grows so many other paying crops our obstinacy or 

 our Government prevents us raising. Where were all 

 the farmers' friends when free trade was discussed ? — did 

 one stand up and claim the right to grow tobacco, or 

 roots for sugar and alcohol .' We car. grow wheat as 

 cheap or cheaper than the Frenchman ; and where 

 would he be without the sugar factories .■' Some day 

 they must he general in England, but why not at 

 once ? Why do not all the farmers form an association 

 — a Free-trade League — to extend that freedom of com- 

 merce which is given to others who buy their corn, and 

 not to them who grow it ? I am sure the majority of 

 my brother-agriculturists cannot know this, or they 

 would be more anxious. Think of a farmer of, say 300 

 acres heavy arable land, growing beet-root, wheat, beet- 



root, wheat, clover, wheat— i. e., 100 acres of beet-root, 

 20 tons an acre, and selling it for 12s. or 14s. or 15s. 

 per ton, receiving ;gl,400, and at 10s. to 12s. a-ton 

 buying back the pressings ! which in fact is all the fatten- 

 ing quality of the raves : the juice to animals is worse 

 than valueless. The land is in a constant state of ad- 

 vancing improvement. Guano and rape-cake are all 

 the manures required, and a sufficient number of beasts 

 would be tied up to consume in litter the whole of the 

 150 acres of wheat-straw. This really seems such a 

 picture of prosperity, that it looks too good to be true ; 

 but that it is exactly the fact here, come and see. Al- 

 cohol can be manufactured from beet in England at a 

 profit. There are some trials being made, but I fear their 

 processes are hardly correct. Of course, we cannot 

 expect to be allowed to do this without paying duty. 

 Wheat on the average will seldom be much above 5s. 

 a-bushel, unless war or some other unforeseen event 

 arises : at that price it cannot be a remunerative crop. 

 At this moment, were not barley, other corn, and all 

 other things selling well, we should hear a great outcry 

 among the landed interest. We have always been told 

 to depend upon ourselves ; let us do so : let us obtain 

 permission to introduce such crops as we please — those 

 paying duty benefiting the revenue as well as ourselves. 

 This is simply a just demand — a right which has been 

 most unjustly withheld from us. We have countless 

 agricultural societies ; why do they not take it up .' To 

 those who prefer hearing to seeing these facts, I shall 

 only be too glad to give all the information I can. I 

 have devoted my time to it the last eight months, and I 

 will not relax till I have a factory in force in England on 

 a proper principle, with no ideal improvements, but the 

 principle which has made the fortune of many during 

 the last five years, and is invariably acknowledged to be 

 sound and good. I cannot help enlarging on this sub- 

 ject, as it seems to be the m.ost important manufacture 

 connected with agriculture of the present day. Many 



