6ia 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



could alao deservedly cooimend Mr. Fowler for the utter 

 absence of all personality, which characterized the tone of 

 that geutleman's remarks. There was, he (Mr. Browne) be- 

 lieved, no man, who had anything to do with agriculture, wlio 

 would not Booa higlily value steam cultivation. He would 

 like to see it applied to almost every operation on the farm — 

 ploughing and cultivating the land, taking out the manure, 

 sowing the seed, cutting down the corn, bringing home the 

 harvest-waggons, and so forth ; and he could not help thinking, 

 from what he had seen at Salisbury the year before last, that 

 a part of the lion's share would, after all, fall to the trac- 

 tion engine (Hear, hear). One part of Mr. Mechi's paper 

 which had much struck him was the allusion to the depth 

 at which a parsnip had grown on Mr. Dixon's farna. Now 

 that he fully believed, and it proved that they could not culti- 

 vate the soil too deeply for roots. No one could calculate 

 how deep they might go. On the other hand, his experience 

 with regard to the cultivation of corn was, that if his land was 

 •clean, the less the depth of cultivation the better. All he 

 wanted was just a seed-bed, whether for wheat, barley, or 

 oats, Mr. Mechi had compared the amount of steam em- 



ployed in agriculture with that employed iu manufactures. He 

 himself was somewhat of aa amphibious animal —he had had a 

 grtat deal to do witii manufactures as well as agriculture, and 

 he did not think Mr. Mechi's comparison was altogether a fair 

 one (Hear, hear). At the present moment we were only in 

 the infancy of the application of steam to agriculture, and to 

 make the comparison fair v/e ought to look forward a few 

 years ; and he believed that whoever amongst themselves 

 lived twenty or thirty years would be perfectly amazed at the 

 amount of capital which would then be employed in steam- 

 cultivation. He thought that when farmers saw their way a 

 little more clearly they would not be very far behind manufac- 

 turers in the use of steam (Hear, hear). 



Mr. Mechi, in reply to Mr. Browne, asked why agricul- 

 turists had been so long blind to the advantages of steam 

 when manufacturers had had their eyes wide open? He 

 would forgive them, however, if they would only make haste 

 to follow the example of the manufacturers (laughter). 



Thanks were then voted to Mr. Mechi for his paper, and to 

 Mr. Thomas foi* presiding, and the meeting separated. 



THE USE OF MALT LIQUOR IN HARVEST WORK. 



Sir,— A few days since I found myself enjoying the hos- 

 pitality of a gentleman in Bedfordshire, a county magistrate 

 and landed proprietor, who was desirous of influencing the 

 farmers in the neighbourhood to abandon the practice of pay- 

 ing part of the harvest wages of their labourers in malt liquor 

 instead of money. We numbered about fifteen Bedfordshire 

 farmers, the chairman of quarter sessions, a retired captain in 

 the army, and a neighbouring clergyman, besides some visitors 

 from a distance— one a well-known London minister— and four 

 farmers from various parts of the country, who having tried the 

 proposed innovation themselves, were invited to meet their 

 brother-farmers in this manner for discussion upon it. After 

 a pleasant social meal, the question for the evening was intro- 

 duced by our host's saying it was not to be a temperance meet- 

 ing, but a friendly conversation on the advantages, in a busi- 

 ness point of view merely, of abandoning the use of malt 

 liquors in harvest, or at all events of giving them as part pay- 

 ment for labour done. Then a Gloucestershire farmer, a tried 

 and trusty advocate of this reform, gave his opinion, that not 

 only were these drinks useless but pernicious, to a hard-worked 

 harvestman. He had worked when a young man as much as 

 any one : he knew both sides of the case, and he had no hesi- 

 tation in declaring that the labours of the harvest-field and the 

 stack-yard could not be conducted to the best advantage unless 

 all intoxicating beverages were abandoned •, and this statement 

 he supported by numerous facts, arguments, and anecdotes of 

 his own experience. His advice was that the men should be 

 paid in money only, and left to provide themselves with such 

 beverages as they chose : his own men used cocoa principally. 

 An animated discussion followed : questions were asked, ob- 

 jections started and replied to, difficulties removed, and the 

 evidence of the other farmers from a distance candidly con- 

 sidered ; but, in the language of the police reports, it tended 

 only to corroborate that of the first witness. Some further 

 particulars were, however, elicited, showing that modifications 

 may be advantageously introduced, according to the special 

 circumstances of a case ; as where the men are working a great 

 distance from their own homes, it is an advantage to have tea 

 or something similar provided for them by the farmer on the 



spot, or at the least to have a facility afforded for obtaining hot 

 water. 



As to the finances of the subject, it appeared that by the 

 adoption of this plan, a saving of from 8d. to Is. 2d. a day 

 might be effected, which, it was agreed, the men ought to re. 

 ceive the full benefit of. 



The most important testimony, however, was that given by 

 two of the Bedfordshire farmers, who stated they had seen the 

 experiment tried to a limited extent during the past year by 

 one or two men in their employment, who, they admitted, 

 did their work as efficiently without beer as with it, saving 

 more money for the use of their families, proving more valuable 

 servants to their masters, and more respectable and worthy 

 members of the community. 



More than three hours having been spent in this way, we 

 again surrounded a well-spread table, and soon after separated, 

 an impression having evidently been made in favour of this 

 new doctrine on many minds, and in some cases the determi- 

 nation to give it a fair trial was fully expressed. 



It is to be hoped that, for the/r«f year at least, some special 

 effort will be made by those who adopt the plan to remove any 

 prejudice that may exist in the men's minds with regard to it. 

 The great point is to let them clearly see that it is intended 

 for their advantage, even more than for that of their masters. 



Trusting that you will think this to be a matter of interest 

 to your readers, and that it may encourage others to "go and 

 do likewise," I remain, Sir, yours respectfully, Y. H. N. 



"THE USE OF MALT LIQUOR IN 

 HARVEST WORK." 



Sir,— A friend has sent me a letter under the above title, 

 signed " Y. H. N.," which appeared in a late number of 

 your journal. Will you permit me to direct the attention 

 of the writer and his friends, who take so warm an interest 

 in this deeply important subject, to a little work published 

 by Houlston and Stoneman, London, in 1 8-18, the production 

 of a distinguished man, who occupies the position of phy- 

 sician to the Queen — Dr. John Forbes? It is entitled 



