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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



sideration. Is not all this evil owing to the competition 

 of that natural principle of self-reliance which is born 

 with men, but which, broken down and overcome by 

 slavery, gives place to national pauperism, well repre- 

 sented by the human body, with the life-blood sucked 

 out of it ? 



The reform, then, will begin by placing the purchase- 

 money of the serf's liberty into the hands of the nobles. 

 These gentlemen will be freed from the obligation to 

 support the poor and sick by the cession of a certain 

 portion of land, to be funded for that purpose, and may 

 go to the cultivation of that part of their estate which 

 remains to them, and then develope by means of the 

 capital thus received its resources, calling to their aid 

 free labour, and all the wonderful appliances of modern 

 agriculture. Should it please them better, they may 

 carry their capital to the mining districts, and give to 

 their mineral resources a totally new importance in the 

 commercial world. To them and to the country the 

 reform so reluctantly yielded, nay, so doggedly resisted, 

 must be fraught with prosperity and salvation. This 

 increase of wealth to the country will relieve the in- 

 dustrious merchant from the heavy weight of taxation, 

 and impart a new stimulus to him. More of the con- 

 veniences and luxuries of life will be demanded, which 

 he must supply. His office, that of distributing the 

 productions of industry, will be more than ever called 

 into use, and he perforce must rise in importance. 



And what shall we say of the effect to the country of 

 some 20,000,000 of men working energetically for their 

 own benefit, who have been accustomed to work idly for 

 that of another .' What is to be expected when the 

 freed man begins to taste the fruits of his own labour ? 

 when new prospects open to him, and new incitement 

 offered to ingenuity and enterprise are felt ? 



We have risen from indigence to occupy the first 

 position amongst the nations, and date our rise from the 

 removal of feudal bondage from the busy hands of in- 



dustry. The mineral wealth of our country was belore 

 that period undeveloped, our fields were uncultivated. 

 So soon as the incentives of self-interest were felt, and 

 the right of property depended no longer on the will of 

 the lord, but were upheld by impartial courts of juris- 

 diction, the capital, tempted by security, issued from the 

 fenced cities, and employed starving labour to plough 

 and sow the fields, to work the mines, and to busy itself 

 in the various methods of profitable production. For 

 the result we have only to say, '' Look around." 



And is there any special reason why the same causes 

 shall not produce like effects in Russia ? Should energy, 

 push, and love of enterprise ever characterize the Rus- 

 sian, as it does the Englishman and Scotchman, and be 

 brought to bear upon the soil of Russia, of which it is 

 said that in no other country in Europe can corn crops 

 be raised at so little expense of labour, what marvels of 

 production may we not expect to witness.' Her mineral 

 and agricultural products, raised by free labour, and 

 circulated, under the fostering rule of free-trade, by a 

 complete system of railway communication, will give to 

 Russia a power and importance amongst the nations 

 greater than the dreams of Peter the Great or the am- 

 bitious Nicholas ever gave it. 



Should such be the result of the present reform, we 

 may look to Russia as ultimately the granary of Europe. 

 Although the mainspring, free labour, has at last been 

 inserted into the national machinery, considerable lime 

 must elapse before its parts, newly fitted, will be found 

 to work freely. There will be stoppages and hitches 

 now and then ; a band here will be twisted, a spindle 

 there will require oil; there may be a little fouling- 

 occasionally. The time occupied in preliminary adjust- 

 ments depends on the cleverness of the engineer. The 

 experiment to the British farmer is a very interesting 

 one : let him watch it, not with fear, but with attention. 



F. R. S. 



THE ALPACA IN AUSTRALIA. 



From time to time, for several years past, we have 

 rlrawn attention to alpaca wool, and our foreign sup- 

 plies of wool. Recently we noticed prominently tlie 

 deficiency in the general supplies of the raw material 

 for our woollen manufactures, and a very interest- 

 ing paper on the introduction of the alpaca into 

 Australia, read at a recent meeting of the Society of 

 'Arts, offers a fitting opportunity for -present comment. 

 There are two great experiments in connexion with 

 our national prosperity which will probably take the 

 lead of all others during the next quarter of a century, 

 viz., the growth of cotton in India, Africa, Australia, 

 or South America, and the increased production of 

 wool. The acclimatization of the alpaca in Australia 

 simply means the growth of more wool. There are 

 several kinds of these animals indigenous to South 

 America, whether all distinct species or mere varieties i$ 



still a debated point. The guanaco is the largest, 

 but can scarcely be classed as a wool-bearing animal, 

 its coat being short, coarse, and intersected with hair. 

 The meat is the best of the class, and highly esteemed. 

 The animal is very seldom domesticated. The vicunna 

 is the smallest and most graceful animal of the spe- 

 cies ; its wool is finer, and more valued than even that 

 of the alpaca ; but the yield is very small, seldom 

 exceeding a pound a year. Like the chamois, the vi- 

 cunna inhabits the highest tracts of land. The llama, 

 the larger and least valued of the domesticated ani- 

 mals, is used as a beast of burden, carrying a load of 

 from GOlbs. to 1.50lbs., and travelling about three leagues 

 a day. Of these there are stated to be as many as 

 1,800,000 employed in Bolivia and Peru carrying pro- 

 duce to the coast, or from the mines. Their wool 

 is principally consumed in the country to the extent 



