THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



399 



the swede, but he thought it would be a great advantage 

 to alternate it with inangokl-wurzel. There was a 

 chemistry in plants which required great attention ; in 

 robbing the soil, as it were, of their own tribe, they pre- 

 pared it for an opposite tribe. 



Mr. Skelton (Sutton Bridge) thought the subject of 

 the progress of agriculture required some reference to the 

 question of establishing a uniformity of weights and mea- 

 sures. Since he entered that room there had been placed 

 in his hands a copy of a bill relating to that subject, which 

 had been recently introduced into the House of Com- 

 mons by Mr. John Locke, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Hunt, 

 and which he thought was well worthy of the attention 

 of agriculturists. Indeed so great was the irregularity 

 which prevailed, so striking the want of a uniform 

 system, that farmers would show themselves behind the 

 age if they did not do something towards securing an 

 alteration. There was another bill before Parliament, 

 besides that which he had mentioned, it having been in- 

 troduced by Mr. M'Cann, an Irish member, connected 

 with the Liverpool trade, the object being to establish 

 the buying and selling of corn by the lOOlbs. Con- 

 sidering that the tithe rent-charge, corn rents, and im- 

 port duties were calculated from returns based on the 

 imperial quarter, he thought that on the whole the best 

 uniform system would be a system of measure. As re- 

 garded the disputes and difficulties connected with the 

 niceties of measuring, he might remark that in Norfolk 

 and South Lincolnshire, the great point being to get at 

 the natural value, it was customary to ascertain how 

 much a bushel weighed, and, whatever the weight might 

 be, the merchant and the farmer were guided by it. 

 He was not prejudiced in favour of measure, though he 

 considered it best on the whole ; but some uniform 

 system must be adopted. He believed the two bills to 

 which he had referred were to come on for consideration 

 about the 13th of April. 



Mr. E. Tattersall (Hyde Park Corner) said, as 

 they were met to discuas the progress of agriculture, it 

 had occurred to him that it depended in a great degree 

 on their being able to obtain a sufficient quantity of 

 the best artificial manure ; and as an inhabitant of a 

 town, he was reminded how little had been done, 

 thus far, to secure that object (Hear, hear). While 

 chemists had said so much on that subject, they 

 seemed to have forgotten that there was at their ov9n 

 doors a mass of refuse which might be converted into a 

 source of untold wealth. It was for farmers to urge 

 that subject on the attention of chemists ; and in his 

 opinion it would be a stigma and disgrace to them if they 

 did not reduce the refuse of London to a suitable form 

 for increasing the crops of their country (Hear, hear). 

 At present it was only a nuisance to society, whereas it 

 might be made an immense advantage, and he trusted 

 the day was not far distant when London alone would 

 supply guano enough for a great part of the lands of 

 England (Hear, hear). As regarded the general ques- 

 tion, he was one of those who thought that agricultu- 

 rists were quite on a level with other classes in the race 

 of improvement. He would be a rash man who said 

 that agriculture had reached perfection ; but looking at 



the increase of crops, and the general progress of agri- 

 culture, he maintained that farmers were quite equal in 

 energy and advancement to any other class of society. 

 As to the deterioration of the turnip, he doubted 

 whether it was not in some degree owing to the constant 

 repetition of a peculiar kind of manure. 



The Chaiuman, in summing up, adverted to the re- 

 marks of Mr. Skelton, observing that that gentleman 

 appeared to be in favour of both measure an 1 wiit,'lit — 

 a combination which he could not at all understand. 



Mr. Skelton said he did not advocate legislation on 

 the basis of measure and weight, but on that of measure 

 alone. 



Mr. Smith, being here called on, said ; In rising, 

 sir, to reply to the several addresses that have been 

 delivered this evening, I must first express my regret 

 that the discussion has not taken a bolder and more 

 comprehensive turn upon this national subject — a 

 subject that embraces the employment of millions of 

 our fellow-men, as also millions of English capital. 

 I could have wished, on the one hand, that our friend 

 Mr. Acton's zeal had been abated for a time, until 

 some one of our country friends had addressed the 

 meeting, a good start being one of the great essentials 

 to a good end. Mr. Bennett has well called your atten- 

 tion to the failure of the turnip crop, and suggested as 

 a substitute the " kohl-rabi" plant. Lest parties might 

 be led away to make an extensive change for this plant, 

 I beg to remind them that this root was tried by my 

 father in Lincolnshire, some thirty years ago, and to the 

 extent in one instance of a ten-acre field, but it was not 

 continued in after-years. This plant, like the cabbage, 

 has its merit in that of being transplanted from the 

 seed-bed to the cultivated soil, after vetches, rye, &c. 

 Still, such a process is an expensive one, and unless the 

 land be rich in nature, the bulbs, from their peculiar 

 formation, will not swell to a great size. When well- 

 grown by early planting, &c., they are found to be a 

 useful portable crop. Mr. Bennett has misconstrued 

 my allusion to the thrashing of corn by manual labour 

 versus steam. I gave it as an illustration of the change 

 of circumstances, showing that the sons of toil must 

 have a better education for the advance and advancing 

 practi.es of the farm. The remarks of Mr. Whistler 

 are worthy of our best consideration, and let us, before 

 we run counter with our friend the Swedish turnip, well 

 consider if we have not committed the error of planting 

 him too frequently in the same field. We talk familiarly 

 about the land being " clover sick :" is there not such a 

 thing as land being " Swedish turnip sick.^" I speak 

 from great experience when I tell you that upon the 

 neio soils of my neighbourhood, we know of no disease 

 in our root crops ; they are vigorous in the extreme. I 

 agree with Mr. Whistler, that there are families of 

 plants, and that they best succeed each other at long 

 intervals, I am not aware that I need reply to any 

 other remarks that have been made upon the subject of 

 my paper. But, sir, I should be wanting in courtesy 

 to the cause of agriculture if I did not reply to Mr, 

 Sidney's attack upon its progress. Indeed, Mr. Sidney 

 seems to be in a dilemma, inasmuch as he has two pur- 



