1823.] Mr. Lawrence on the Mutrit 



as in cases of bankrnptcy, so in cases 

 of seizure for rent, the auction duty is 

 never charged; and,if ko, itstrengtliens 

 tlic idea tbatl siisgesteil, of ;ill furni- 

 ture whatever seized for rent being; 

 sold by public auction ; for, since I 

 sent the article in question to the 

 Monthly Magazine, 1 have met with 

 several instances of extreme liardship 

 pressing upon the poor from the loose 

 and unsatisfactory mode of seizure 

 and selling that is adopted, and from 

 the opinion loo generally entertained 

 by brokers of the jjreatness and almost 

 supremacy of their power, in valuino, 

 and, as it were, condemning, furni- 

 ture, &c. 



I beg to make two or three remarks, 

 which have been suggested by the 

 perusal of Mr. Gilbertson's letter in 

 your last Number. I shall not say a 

 w ord about the priority of invention of 

 the thing in question; and, indeed, it 

 is quite indifferent to the public, whe- 

 ther Mr. Loudon or he were the first 

 inventors, provided the purpose was 

 answered, — viz. (o prevent the neigli- 

 bourhood, where tallow-melting esta- 

 blishments are situated, from being 

 annoyed by the horrible effluvia that 

 emanates from them. I confess that, 

 when I first read Mr. Hawcs's letter, 

 I was a good deal astonished at his 

 stating that the offensivciiess of the 

 effluvia at his manufactory was nearly 

 or altogether done away with, know- 

 ing, as I did, from my business fre- 

 quently leading me to i)rcniisc8 ad- 

 joining Mr. Hawes's, at the Old Barge- 

 house, that the effluvia was still so 

 intolerable, when the wind set in the 

 direction of the wharf where I was 

 engaged, as to be nearly unbearable : 

 I was very mucii inclined to have no- 

 ticed his letter then ; but, as the sub- 

 ject is now started again by Mr. 

 Gilbertson, I nuist, in justice to truth, 

 say, that whatever process Mr. Hawes 

 may have employed to destroy the 

 effluvia produced by his business, it 

 lias quite failed; and can only add, 

 that, if Mr. Gilbertson's improvement 

 does not answer the purpose much 

 better, he has put himself to an ex- 

 pense for nothing. 



J. M. Lackv. 



To the Editor of the MmUhly Mufjazine. 



SIK, 



I HAVE many years known, by 

 report, your correspondent Mr. 

 JSartl(;y, as one of our oldest and most 

 experienced cultivators of the polatoe ; 

 Monthly Mag. No. .38.3. 



j'ue Proptrlles of the Potatoe. 5 1 3 



indeed, he and I have firequently dis- 

 cussed the nature and qualities of 

 tliat valuable esculent, in certain pages 

 which have been some years shut up. 

 Doctors differ ; and Mr. Bartley and I, 

 on this topic, have been always on dif- 

 ferent sides, and so, it appears ex- 

 tremely probable, are likely to remain. 

 The fate of this root has been singular, 

 not to say laughable: for, whilst some, 

 particularly scientific folk, have made 

 it a sort of panacea, placing it at the 

 head of all articles of nutrition, with 

 imaginations so heated and enthusias- 

 tic in its favour, that, were we at this 

 time, blessed with a good heathen sys- 

 tem of religion, they would, beyond all 

 question, have deified their favourite, 

 as the Egyptians of old did leeks and 

 onions; others have formerly decried 

 the potatoe as nearly poisonous ; and 

 Mr. Cobbett, who, you know, says 

 nothing in vain, has not long since 

 stigmatized it as the agricultural curse 

 of Ireland and Britain. 1 certainly 

 cannot take a middle course between 

 the two gentlemen above quoted, be- 

 cause 1 differ with Mr. Cobbett in the 

 affair, toto ccbIo, and esteem the pota- 

 toe as the most useful and important 

 root ever naturalized in this country. 

 That sentiment, however, does not 

 compel me to shut my eyes to those 

 inexpugnible.practical truths and facts, 

 which have been periodically passing 

 before them, during nearly, or up- 

 wards of, half a century. 



The potatoe culture has increased in 

 this country twenty fold, since my 

 first knowledge of it ; when, in fact, it 

 had scarcely become a field culture. 

 The improvement in quality, also, has 

 kept pace with the extent of cultiva- 

 tion ; the yellow colour, as in turnips, 

 generally marking the superior quality. 

 The largest and best I have ever culti- 

 vated, or indeed seen, were from seed 

 procured at Hamburgh. One great 

 cause of the cheapness of wheat, 

 within these few years, has undoubt- 

 edly subsisted in the general use of po- 

 tatoes, as, in part, a substitute for bread, 

 for which they arc certainly a good 

 substitute, where flesh-meat composes 

 the ground work of the meal ; and, in 

 such case, the cheer of a country 

 could not be deemed bad, even in the 

 total absence of bread-corn. 



To lliis extent, I am the advocate of 

 potatoes ; but I cannot consent to sa- 

 crifice truth and coiumon-senso to any 

 scientific fantasm, however splendid 

 and a-la-mode, and although sanc- 

 .3 U tioned 



