THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



535 



posing "The health of Mr. Mechi," who, after a year of office 

 ia the City, had retreated from the smoke of London, and was 

 now enjoying the pure air of the country (cheera). 



Mr. Mechi said an allusion had been made to his year of 

 office, and his return amongat them. They all had great 

 duties to perform, but he assured them his heart came back 

 with delight to the pursuits of agriculture, and the varied 

 objects of interest which it presented to the observer. He 

 could not help comparing his position fourteen or fifteen years 

 ago with what it was now. He then was considered little less 

 than an impostor — (laughter) — or the promoter of some wild 

 and visionary schemes ; but he knew that he had strong pre- 

 judices to encounter, and that the truth would prevail. For 

 instance, when he put up a steam-engine, it was thought the 

 most absurd act which he could perform ; and now he had 

 the gratification of seeing his neighbours possessed each with 

 his steam-engine, and he heard of one gentleman in Chelms- 

 ford having as many as thirteen, which he let out upon hire. 

 The firmer had now found it to his interest to cast away the 

 flail, which cost Is., as an instrument for thrashing his corn, 

 and to use a machine which cost £300 ; as notwithstanding the 

 enormous disparity in expense, the steam-engine would pro- 

 duce a cheaper result. The other day he went down to 

 Wandsworth, with Mr. Caird and Mr. Morton, to see a scheme 

 of railway adapted for agricultural purposes, patented by Mr. 

 Halkett, by which he promises to plough land at a cost of Is. 

 7d. per acre ; hoe it at Is. 3d., and get in the harvest at Is. 

 per acre, carrying the manure, &c., of the farm at Id. per ton 

 per mile, leaving a margin for the interest of the cost of rail- 

 way, which could be adapted to the farm at a cost of £24 per 

 acre. By this scheme he might plough his land by night as 

 well as by day if he pleased (laughter) ; and if it were neces- 

 sary for the production of a good crop that the land should be 

 brought in contact with the air, they would see how important 

 it was to have a long fallow. Mr. Mechi further described the 

 nature of this implement, and expressed his opinion in favour 

 of its practicabiUty. With reference to the appropriation of 

 sewage manure to the soil, he said Professor Way had been sent 

 to Milan for the purpcse of examiniug the drainage, so as to 

 adopt some scheme for saving the sewage of London, which 

 was of immense value, but which now ran into the Thames, 

 and was entirely lost. He believed the difficulty presented 

 ■was merely a test of scientific skill, aud that it only required 

 some mechanical contrivance to accomplish the object. There 

 were yet many things which might be done by agriculturists 

 to great advantage, but he could not forget how much some 

 had done, aud that there was one gentleman present who every 

 year burnt at least 1,000 tons of earth into ashes, which laid 

 upon heavy clay land greatly increased its fertility. His ex- 

 perience of French agriculturists convinced him that they 

 were not behind themselves in point of intelligence, but he 

 was also convinced of the vast superiority of Englishmen in 

 point of capital and means, the cry in France being " Where 

 is the money to come from ?" Upon the question of thin 

 sowing he was glad to find a great change of public opinion in 

 favour of the adoption of such a plan ; one bushel per acre 

 was enough seed upon his land, and though he would not lay 

 that down as a principle, he would recommend them to try it, 

 and he was certain of the result. He begged again to thank 

 them, and he hoped that his friends would, as far as practi- 

 cable to them, carry out any suggestion which he might have 

 thrown out. 



" The health of the Judges," which was responded to by 

 Mr. Joiix HuTLEY, concluded the toasts, and in the course 

 of an interesting conversation which ensued, Mr. Hutley said 

 his thrashing by flail cost Is. 9d, and 23. 3d. per quarter; he 



had pursued that course for forty years, and he thought Mr. 

 Mechi could not get thrashing done cheaper by machine. — It 

 was also contended, by some gentlemen present, that it was 

 useless to drain heavy lands 3 feet deep, and that generally 

 the fleet drains ran first. — In answer to a question by the Rev. 

 J. W.Dampier, several gentlemen expressed an opinion upon 

 the desirability of destroying moles wherever they existed, as 

 they were found very injurious to drains not laid with pipes, 

 burrowing across and effectually stopping their operation. 



Other topics were discussed, and the business terminated 

 shortly after. 



THE RAPID PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE ; 

 WHAT WILL CE ITS FUTURE .p — Mr. Head, at 

 the Penrith Agricultural Society's Show, on proposing the 

 " Cumberland and Westmoreland Society," said : — 

 " Whilst I have been with you to-day, my thoughts have 

 wandered back to that period of time — I am almost afraid 

 to say how long ago— when I remember the agriculture of 

 the county was in a very different position. I look back 

 and can remember in the neighbourhood of this very town 

 of Penrith extensive tracts of waste land, which are now 

 occupied by waving fields of corn and green crops, showing 

 thn high cultivation into which they have been brought by 

 your skill and perseverance. The remark does not apply 

 to this locality alone, but equally to the whole of the county ; 

 and when we go into the higher districts, there we see the 

 green crops creeping up almost to the very summit of the 

 hills. I have lately been in Scotland, attending a railway 

 meeting ; and there again I was much struck with the re- 

 markable progress they have made in agriculture within the 

 last forty years. The valley of the Clyde presents a very 

 different appearance to what it did then. I saw crops equal 

 to any in Cumberland, growing upon land which was before 

 only fit for the pasturage of sheep ; and upon inquiring how 

 so great a change had been effected, I learnt that the enter- 

 prising farmers of the district had brought the manures 

 from Glasgow, which produced this result, a distance of 

 fifty to sixty miles by railway, and they liave reaped their 

 reward. At the same time, whilst I would accord to every 

 one the praise they deserve, I think that Cumberland keeps 

 pace v/ith any other part of the country. I visit many of 

 the agricultural districts in England, and it is often my pri- 

 vilege to come into this neighbourhood ; and the more I see 

 of Cumberland, the stronger is my wish to concentrate my 

 property in my native county. By far the largest pro- 

 portion of my property is in land, and therefore I naturally 

 feel the deepest interest in its prosperity ; at the same time 

 I feel most desirous to see the success of the commerce and 

 manufactures of our country; and whilst we rejoice in their 

 prosperity, we may very profitablj' take a leaf out of their 

 book ; for if we could only invest a little money to supply 

 the farmers with agricultural implements, possessing all the 

 most recent improvements, we should be able to make even 

 greater progress than we have during the last forty years, 

 in which period the produce of this county has increased 

 one-third in amount. In fact, it is impossible to say to what 

 c:;!or.f '"provements may not be carried. Many years ago 

 I gave it as my opinion that our climate and soil and our 

 agricultural intelligence were equal to the adequate supply 

 of corn for our population. I am not ashamed of what I 

 then said, nor will I retract it; but what may be the result 

 of our exertions is not revealed to us. 



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