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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



structive vermiue, and would reconimeud them to try the 

 Euglish heart of the tenaut farmer, by looking to bim to sup- 

 ply them with field sport in the shape of winged qame, aud 

 am much deceived if many would not return home with as 

 little powder and shot and a much lighter heart than they 

 have a right to do under the present system. But I cannot 

 conclude without attaching a great portion of the blame to 

 the tenant farmers themselves ; for instead of attacking the 

 system as a body, in a proper spirit, they are too apt to try 

 and heal the wounds by grumbling to each other and truckling 

 to the keepers, by treating th°m, &c., and frequently making 

 illnatured remarks about their landlord, when in many cases 

 he is not aware that they are injured, and would be most un- 

 willing to treat any one unfairly. With regard to the systeyn 

 of game preserving, I can, in moat cases, condemn it as worse 

 than highway robbery, on this ground — that one who goes out 

 to rob, may meet a better man than himself; but wheu the 

 farmer (after a promise that he should not be injured) buries 

 his capital in the soil, and then loses a great portion of it by 

 the game, he cannot defend himself. Finally, let me say to 

 the tenant farmers of England, instead of sitting grumbling 

 over your fire-places, and letting your expressions go up the 

 chimney — where they only end in smoke — come to meetings 

 like the present, speak your minds, and 



Be ye like the old apostles. 



Be ye like heroic Paul : 

 If a free thought seeks eipression. 



Speak it boldly— speak it all. 



Face thine enemies — accusers ; 



Scorn the prison, rack, or rod; 

 And, if thou hast truth to utter, 



Speak, and leave the rest to God. 



Mr. Jackson resumed his seat amid general applause. 



Mr. LiLLiNGTON spoke of his diffidence to see gentlemen 

 deprived of a legitimate amount of sport, and asked Mr. 

 JacksoD if he could suggest how this might be secured, and 

 the farmer, at the same time, have his crops secured from 

 "vermin." 



Mr. Jackson replied, that with respect to the ground 

 game, he recommended that they should be killed. 



Mr. Eandall considered that the planting of waste-laud 

 with timber was a very desirable thing, and would not itijure 

 any one ; the only question being, whether they could get the 

 trees to grow in some situation?, especially on the coast. 

 With respect to raising young fences, he was not at all an advo- 

 cate for cutting off the thorns, lie had tried it, but thought 

 there was a better way to go about it — that was, to take care 

 of the fence till five years old, aud then lay thera down and 

 bind them, especially on high land, where what they wanted 

 was a good high fence. The only thing was, that they had to 

 protect the young plants for a year or two ; but the conse- 

 quence was, that they could get up the fence better than 

 any other way. Mr. Jackson had alluded to the damage done 

 by trees in a certain position. Now a somewhat singular 

 fact had come to his knowledge. A gentleman purchased an 

 estate in Somersetshire, and the son finding that great injury 

 was done to the crops by some of the timber, was anxious to 

 have the trees cut down. The old gentleman, however, re- 

 fused to give his consent, and the son entered into a calcula- 

 tion of the damage done by an oak since the estate had been 

 in their possession, which he brought to about £900. No 

 doubt he went to the outside in his anxiety to have the 

 tree removed ; but the old gentleman was so far convinced 

 that he allowed the tree to be cut down, aud it sold for £80, 

 while it had actually cost him about £900. If he could have 



his own way he should like a farm laid out in fields of about 

 five-aud-twenty acres, when the hedge-rows instead of being 

 a nuisance would be an advantage, as affording great shelter 

 to the stock. lie deprecated the system of gentlemen half 

 protecting the game, which was worse than going to the other 

 extreme, and stated that this had been the means of throwing 

 fifteen children and three women upon his parish at this very 

 time (Hear, hear.) If gentlemen would only give tenants 

 the privilege to kill ground game, rabbits, and hares, he was 

 qi'.ite satisfied that every man of principle would be happy to 

 preserve pheasants, aud give good sport for winged game. If 

 these things could only be viewed in a proper light it would 

 do away with heartburnings and animosity between landlord 

 and tenant, and lead to a better imderstanding. 



Mr. Taylor said his opinion was that timber should never 

 be allowed to grow in the hedgerows between arable land. He 

 considered that the poor thin wastes might be advantage- 

 ously planted with firs, but oak and elm required a stronger 

 soil. As to rabbits, he wished every one was destroyed. 



Mr. Clarke observed that Mr. Jackson in his able ad- 

 dress had begun as a hewer of timber, a leveller of hedge- 

 rows, and a destroyer of game, and upon these three points 

 he (Mr. Clarke) had very little to differ with him. He 

 once went to attend a sale in the Isle of Purbeck, and he 

 could not help admiring the magnificent view from the sale 

 yard ; but, happening to carry his eyes right and left of 

 Knowlc, he observed that there were as many hedgerows 

 as acres of land. Now, he quite agreed that it was essential 

 many of these hedgerows should be removed, but it was 

 also necessary that there should he some shelter upon all 

 farms. As to planting fences, a plan he had seen answer 

 admirably was to plant the quick in the side of the bank. 

 It was put in two rows, and allowed to grow for three years, 

 and then cut close to the bank ; and the fence made in this 

 way was so thick at the bottom that it would puzzle an old 

 hare to get through. He was no advocate for ground game, 

 and bcliuved that if the damage they did were properly re- 

 presented to the landlords, they would act upon a different 

 principle than they did. But the fact was that it wag the 

 stock-in-trade of the keepers to profit as much as they pos- 

 sibly could by it. It was only the other day he happened 

 to read in the Times that his H.R.H. the Commander-in- 

 Chief had had a day's shooting at the Duke of Rutland's, 

 and the quantity of game killed seemed almost incredible. 

 '\\'here such a stock of game was kept it must be most 

 destructive to the crops, and most vexatious to the man who 

 sank his capital in the land for his own benefit and the 

 benefit of maukind at large; and such a state of things 

 should not be allowed to exist. He believed that if they 

 were not to grumble quite so much, but represent the facts 

 in the proper quarter, they would get more redress than 

 thoy did under the present circumstances. Were every 

 farmer to make a rough calculation of the damage he thus 

 sustained from these obno.xious " vermin," he was sure it 

 would amount to more than was conceived. With respect 

 to timber, it was very desirable that they should grow it 

 Loth for useful and ornamental purposes ; but fields and 

 hedgerows were not the proper place, and it was impossible 

 for a man to keep up his fence if the banks were encumbered 

 with trees scattered here and there. He did not think the 

 waste lands could be better occupied than by planting 

 Scotch firs. 



]\Ir. Fowler, in reference to the question where timber 

 might be grown, said they could not do better than follow 

 nature itself. Look at the oak, and consider where it grew 

 best. In strong heavy land. An old map of the Isle of 



