1829.] 
voice and aitituce, were meagre, tautolo- 
gical, and exceedingly ill-arranged. He 
was, if we forget not, a supporter of the 
wretched, demoralizing, and now almost ex- 
ploded system of Malthus. However, he 
_was entitled to the merit of cleverness, con- 
sistency, and integrity. 
Active and temperate from youth, and 
strongly attached to rural pursuits, he en- 
joyed an almost uninterrupted flow of robust 
health during his long life, till within about 
the Jast two years, when his constitution ex- 
hibited symptoms of breaking up. He was a 
practical agriculturist of no small note; he 
obtained from the Society for the Encou- 
ragement of Arts, Manvfactures, and @om- 
merce, several gold medals for planting, and 
‘other improvements in agriculture; he also 
completed the most extensive drainage in 
the kingdom; and he held annually, a 
Biographical. Menwirs of Eminent Persons. 
441 
grand sheep-shearing at’ Harrow, on the 
borders of the Windermere lake. 
In the session of Parliament of 1826-7, 
Mr. Curwen began to experience the incon- 
venience of late hours and crowded houses. 
The freshness of the Cumberland breezes 
produced a beneficial effect upon him in the 
summer and autumn of 1827 ; but, as winter 
approached, his debility returned, and he 
found himself unable to encounter his sena- 
torial duties during the succeeding session. 
The summer of 1828 failed in its restorative 
effect ; and he gradually declined till.the 
period_of his decease, on the Lith of De- 
cember. His Unerigg property goes to his 
eldest scn, John Christian, Esq., of the Isle 
of Man; and the Workington Hall estate 
descends to Henry Curwen, Esq., who, for 
many years past, has lived in comparative 
retirement at Belle Isle, Windermere, 
MONTHLY AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
_ Reports from all parts ef the country, whether with respect to the weather, the state 
of the lands, or the forwardness of the various agricultural operations, continue highly 
satisfa¢tory and pleasant. We have, indeed, had an ample share of that wonder-worker 
in the opinion of our three times great grandsires—marcn Dust. The vast and general 
advantages, howeyer, derived from the weather, will not be expected to exist, indeper- 
dently of any drawback or alley. Upon poor soils, and in bleak, exposed situations, vege- 
tation has suffered much from the rigour of this long course of easterly winds, and has 
exchanged that premature and unseasonable bloom which it possessed at Christmas, for 
a pale and sickly green, which stropgly indicates the want of a change of temperature, 
Bating some few breadths of wheat which having perished, and the land has been broken 
up and re-sown with other crops, no material injury has hitherto been sustained ; and 
their season approaching, the advent of genial showers and mild western breezes, may yet 
have the effect of exciting the full of that fertility, of which our poorest soils are suscep- 
tible. In the mean time, we hold ourselves fully compensated for any disadvantages 
which may have resulted, by the uncommonly fine and friable state to which the fallows 
have been reduced, enabling us to put in the spring crops with an uninterrupted facility 
and dispatch which is not an every-year occurrence, and rendering the present one of the 
earliest of Lenten seasons. 
In the forward districts, beans and peas, and a considerable quantity of oats, were put 
into the ground by the end of last month; the pulse, of course, either drilled or dibbed ; 
_though, strange to say, there are too many parts of the country where the old, barbarous, 
and unprofitable method of broad-casting beans, even yet, prevails. The winter beans, 
on proper soils, have stood well, and that article is under experiment in several parts 
_ northward, where it has hitherto been a stranger. Barley sowing has proceeded expe- 
_ ditiously, and yery considerable breadths will have the great advantage of being put into 
_ the ground early. The early sown, and the wheats on good lands, have an appearance 
_ of high promise ; being well stocked and standing thick upon the soil, their roots are so 
‘ell defended from the rigour of the season, that no apprehension is entertained on their 
ount. The thin wheats, here and there, show considerable ravages from the grub and 
Worm ; yet farmers, in their usual tone, are making heayy complaints against the 
e of rooks with which their lands are pestered: to these complaints the old 
5 y, or rather demand, is at hand—if such myriads of insects can co-exist with the 
‘ rooks, the natural prey of which those insects are, what would be the consequence to the 
land and to the farmer, were the rooks destroyed or driven away ? ‘Tillage is very forward 
_ for seeds and roots, and all the spring latter crops. 
The cold and dry weather has preserved the turnips, by checking their growth and pro- 
_ gress towards seeding. In some parts of the North, the surplus of these roots is so con- 
siderable, as to have been offered, gratis, for the consumption of cattle and sheep, in order 
to clearing the lands. A correspondent in the West remarks, that his English turnips, in 
_ the present season, have remained sound, whilst the Swedish (J?uéabaga) decayed very 
early ; and, compared with the former, were a very unprofitable crop. ‘This is not an 
yee occurrence, and the probable cause is the unfitness of the soil for the Swede, 
which requires stronger land than the common English turnip. The autumn continuing 
M.M New Sevies.x—Vou.VII. No. 40. 
3.1L 
