2i)6 Quarterly Beport of the Chemical Committee for Decemher, 



Of tlic two registered letters referred to in the above " Copy 

 of Resolutions " as having been purposely withheld, the fii'st, 

 dated January 1st, was, as will have been gathered from the 

 preceding correspondence, delivered to a firm in the linseed- 

 cake trade, one of whose clerks signed the receipt for it. That 

 firm, on ascertaining that the letter was not intended for them, 

 did not, however, return it to the Secretary of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society, or communicate with him in reference to it at 

 the time. A second registered letter, similarly addi'essed by the 

 Secretary on January 20th, was delivered to the same firm, and 

 apparently opened by them. On January 21st, however, it is 

 alleged that they addressed to him a communication, of which 

 the following is an extract : — 



" We received your communication of the 1st January and also of the 20lh, 

 addressed to the Secretary of the Hull Pure Linseed-cake Association, and 

 will endeavour to- find out who occupies that position so that we can hand him 

 documents. 



" We do not know anything of the constitution of this Association, or 

 whether it exists only in name, but we do know that cakes are being sent out 

 branded ' pure ' that ought not to be so branded, proving to our minds that 

 the only means for the consumer, who, in order to be certain that he gets 

 justice done, should connect himself with people whom he knows to be 

 respectable, and not begrudge a proper price for a good article." 



This communication did not reach the Secretary ; but a copy 

 of it reached him through the post more than a month after- 

 wards, on February 25th, having been posted in Hull the previous 

 day. The writer of the letter, on being asked for an explana- 

 tion, stated that the copy was intended for another person ; and 

 that the non-receipt of the original letter by the Secretary in 

 due course was " Evidently a miscarriage of the ' post,' to the 

 officials of which we have written for an investigation, and on 

 receipt of their reply we will further communicate with you." 

 No further explanation has been received up to the present 

 time. 



A sample of " Economical Manure," a compound to which 

 attention has been more than once directed in the quarterly 

 reports of the committee, was sent by Mr. John Parkin, of Gold- 

 thorpe, Worksop, on behalf of Mr. G. Webster, of Whitwell, 

 near Chesterfield, who bought it at 12Z. per ton, from Mr. W. 

 Jenkinson, Stanfell, near Bolsover, the maker being, as- on a 

 previous occasion, reported to be Mr. B. Coveney, of 11 y 

 Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate Street, London. 



This manure had the following composition : — 



