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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



looked upon by most of them with a friendly cyo ; 

 for they would rather do anything- now than swing 

 a flail. This laborious work, that cost tliem formerly 

 so much of their muscle and sinew, is now principally 

 performed by the mighty agency of steam : tliis 

 power applied to the operations of the farm is the 

 grand advancement of the present day, and is a boon 

 conferred upon the millions of this great country ; 

 for without its aid the corn could not be brought 

 into the market to supply your daily wants. Ma- 

 chinery raises the intelligence of the farm labourers. 

 I cannot imagine anything more deadening to the 

 intellect than the constant thump, thump, of the 

 thrasher. Let the same man have charge of one of 

 our ingenious steam-thrashing machines : how his 

 mind must become expanded, in spite of surround- 

 ing circumstances! And that working man is blind to 

 his own interest who sets his face against the intro- 

 duction of machinery ; for I can see therein most 

 plainly an agency for raising his social position. 

 The reaping machine is destined to become an indis- 

 pensable implement : we, as farmers, can no longer 

 depend upon those itinerant bands of reapers (for- 

 tunately for them and the country) that a few years 

 ago assisted us to cut down our golden crops; nor 

 is it at all likely we shall ever see again, or perhaps 

 for some years, such a redundancy of labour ; for, 

 with our vast Indian Empire to watch over, and 

 large standing armies being the order of the day on 

 the Continent, our villages will, I fear, be thinned 

 of their youths by the recruiting sergeant. The op- 

 position to this implement is not with the labourer, 

 but I am sorry to say with a widely-ditTerent class, 

 for some landlords have objected to its use, fearing 

 their shooting might be damaged — in my opinion a 

 mistaken notion, and a very short-sighted policy. 

 Are there no ardent sportsmen in the counties of 

 Lincoln and Norfolk? Is not my Lord Leicester, 

 of whose estate I have said so much, as fond of his 

 gun as most noblemen ? And yet h\ these counties, 

 ard on his Lordship's estate, the sickle is scarcely 

 known, the reaping machine and the scythe cutting 

 down all the wheat. But in this county, on more than 

 one large estate, it is a forbidden implement. With 

 some of these proprietors I am most surprised, for 

 they have for many years past wished the people to 

 believe them to be the champions of civil liberty ; 

 and yet their tenants are not to exercise their right 

 in cutting their com in the manner that suits them 

 best. But I must inform these gentlemen that, 

 with onen competition with all the world, with in- 

 creased rents, dear labour, and chcaj) produce, the 

 farmer must, if he is to carry on his business sue- 

 cessfully, avail himself of the best appliances for 

 getting in his crops ; but I have confidence in the 

 good sense of landlords generally that tliey will not, 

 when the matter is properly represented to them, 

 however it might interfere with some little personal 

 gratification, oppose any improvement that is for 

 the welfare of the bread-consumers of this our 

 highly-favoured land. You will expect me to refer 

 to what is now making so much noise in the agri- 

 cultural world, and I will do so oidy for a few 

 moments — steam cultivation. jVIany of you work- 

 ing men, I doubt not, saw one of these inventions 

 in operation on my farm at ]5edford some few weeks 

 since. Several minds Lave had their attention 



turned to this subject, and an immense sum has 

 been spent, one farmer alone having already ex- 

 pended £5,000 in his ctlbrts to bring this to a suc- 

 cessful issue. Its sanguine promoters state that it 

 will revolutionize agriculture, and that it will re- 

 duce the number of our horses to one-half; and 

 some even go so far as to say that by its means they 

 hope to remove the curse. I cannot go quite so 

 far as these gentlemen ; I have no doubt it will be of 

 immense advantage upon the cold heavy clay soils of 

 this country : it will be a ])Owcrful auxiliary in the 

 operations of the farm, and will bring about an im- 

 proved system of cultivation. There is every cre- 

 dit due to these enterprising men; and the country 

 will owe them a deep debt of gratitude; but, with 

 all the advantages it may bring, it will not enable 

 us to do with half our number of horses ; nor will 

 it, I fear, prevent some of us from still growing our 

 twitch and our thistles. 



I have thus given you, very imperfectly I fear, 

 an account of the progress of agriculture in 

 this country. You will perhaps ask yourselves. 

 How has this been brought about? My answer 

 will be. Certainly not by any state patronage, for, 

 unlike our neighbours the I'rench, we have no kindly 

 aid, no fostering care from government; we have no 

 minister, no board devoted to its interest ; but by 

 the skill, energy, and capital of the British farmer, 

 encouraged, as he has been in numerous instances, 

 by the liberality and co-operation of some of our large 

 landed j)roprietors. Unlike our manufacturers, who 

 when anything new strikes them secure it by patent, 

 the iarmer, when he discovers any method hy which 

 he can raise more corn, or by which he can produce 

 more meat, communicates it at the market table, or 

 through the press, for the benefit of the whole com- 

 munity. I know we have been indifferently thought 

 of; we have had hard things said of us; but I have 

 said, and I say it again, that there is no class to 

 whom this country is more indebted, for we all 

 strive with a friendly rivalry to increase the quality 

 and quantity of our jn'oducts, so that the people of 

 this country may be fed at the lowest remunerative 

 price. The agriculture of this country may well be 

 said to be the boast of the nation, and the admira- 

 tion of the world. " We may," said an eloquent 

 foreigner, " rival you in arms, in sciences, in arts 

 and manufacture ; but your agriculture is unrivalled, 

 and, with a people so enlightened and free, mnst re- 

 main so until the end of time." But still, with all 

 the improvement that has taken place, much more 

 remains to be accomplished. We have twelve and 

 a-half million acres of improvable, yet uncultivated, 

 land ; and much of that which is now under tlie 

 plough is very wretchedly managed, and will remain 

 so until some better security is given to the farmer 

 for investing his capital. A man under a shifty 

 landlord, and I am sorry to say there arc many of 

 this description, docs not consider it prudent to 

 spend large sums in improving an estate where he 

 has only a yearly tenure. Well would it be for this 

 country if all its land was in the hands of such 

 noblemen as Bedfordshire can boast of; then should 

 we require but little, if any, foreign supplies. 



The undue preservation of ground game is ano- 

 ther great barrier to good farming : on many estates 

 great mischief is done. This is not so much the 



